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Should it be the purpose of the President, or of either of the Cabinet ministers, to honor Boston with their presence on the occasion of Mr. Everett's funeral, to which they have been invited, please telegraph me so that this Department may be suitably notified.
On the 18th of January, the
Governor received the following telegram from
Secretary Seward:—
It is impracticable for the President and the Cabinet to leave the Capitol to attend the funeral.
The President of the United States and the heads of departments tender to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts their condolence on the lamented death of Edward Everett, who was worthy to be enrolled among the noblest of the nation's benefactors.
We will only add, that the death of
Mr. Everett was properly noticed, not only by the
Executive and the Legislature, but by the various literary, scientific, and historical associations, and by the people throughout the
Commonwealth.
In the month of December, 1864, a battalion of cavalry was raised, intended for service on the frontier line of New York and
Vermont, as a raid was expected from rebels gathered in the Canadas.
The battalion was completed and mustered in on the 2d of January, 1865; and
Colonel Burr Porter, formerly in command of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry, was appointed major.
Two battalions were raised in the
State of New York, to which the
Massachusetts battalion was attached; and the three battalions were known as and designated the Twenty-sixth Regiment, New-York Volunteer Cavalry.
They were mustered in for one year's service.
So eager were our young men to join this command, that a surplus of upwards of three hundred men were left in camp at Readville, after the battalion had been completed to the maximum.
Governor Andrew was anxious to have these men accepted by the
Secretary of War, and organized into companies.
The Governor's military secretary,
Colonel Browne, who was in
Washington, was requested by the
Governor to call upon
Secretary Stanton, and obtain from him permission to have the men accepted.
He called upon the
Secretary with
Senator Wilson; and it appears, from his letter to the
Governor, Jan. 21, that the
Secretary not only refused to accept them, but received the proposition with a degree
