Chapter 6:
- The campaign of 1862 -- meeting of the Legislature -- Ex-Governor Cliffordelected President of the Senate -- his speech -- Alexander H. Bullock electedSpeaker of the House -- speech of Mr. Bullock -- of Caleb Cushing -- proceedings of the Legislature -- Abstracts of military laws passed -- Massachusetts prisoners in Richmond -- clothing sent -- letter from Adjutant Pierson -- expedition of General Burnside -- capture of Roanoke Island -- Massachusetts troops First to land -- care of the sick and wounded -- Dr.Hitchcock sent on -- the wounded in New York -- Colonel Frank E. Howe -- establishment of the New-England rooms -- care of the sick andWounded -- the Army of the Potomac -- the wounded at Williamsburg -- letters of Colonel Howe -- every assistance given -- the agencies of theState for the care of the men -- the office in Washington -- Colonel Gardinertufts, Mrs. Jennie L. Thomas, Robert C. Carson, William Robinson, appointedAgents -- visits of the Adjutant-General, Colonel Ritchie, and Colonel Johnq. Adams, to the front -- report to the Governor -- the appearance ofWashington -- reports of Edward S. Rand and Dr. Bowditch -- First Massachusetts Cavalry at Hilton Head -- our troops in North Carolina -- appointment of allotment commissioners -- their valuable services -- letters ofthe Governor -- rule for making appointments -- illegal recruiting -- Coloneldudley -- Thirtieth Regiment -- captured rebel flags -- death and Burialof General Lander -- letters of Governor to Secretary of War -- Secretaryof the Navy -- to the President on various subjects -- letter to Generalburnside -- Secretary Chase -- the retreat of General Banks -- great excitement -- troops sent forward -- Militia called out -- the position of our regiments -- the War in earnest.
At the close of the year 1861 and the beginning of 1862, Massachusetts had filled every demand made upon her for troops, and most of them had been sent to the front. The Twenty-eighth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Regiments, nearly recruited to the maximum, were yet in camp; but they were sent forward in January and February, 1862. Massachusetts regiments and batteries were in front of Washington and at Fortress Monroe; five regiments were at Annapolis, ready to embark in General Burnside's expedition against North Carolina. One regiment and a battery were at Ship Island, in Mississippi, waiting orders from General Butler. In the Army of the Potomac, we were [284] the strongest. Gunboats officered and manned by Massachusetts men kept watch and ward on the Southern coast, or carried the flag upon far-off seas. Officers remained here on recruiting service; and enlistments were made to complete new regiments, and to fill the depleted ranks of those at the seat of war. Wounded officers and soldiers were at home on furlough or discharged for disability. The ‘empty sleeve’ was seen daily in our streets; and maimed veterans hobbled up the steps of the State House on crutches, on their return from distant hospitals, to show their honorable discharge papers, and tell in modest words of their toils and dangers. The Legislature met at the State House, on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 1862. Hon. John H. Clifford, of New Bedford, formerly Governor of the State, was chosen President of the Senate, and Stephen N. Gifford, clerk. On taking the chair, Mr. Clifford referred to the present state of the country, to the war which existed, and to the duties which were imposed upon the Legislature. They were then in a new and untried exigency of public affairs, and subject to the solemn and momentous responsibilities which attach themselves to every position of public trust.
We should fail, I am sure, to reflect the prevailing sentiment of the people of Massachusetts, and show ourselves unworthy the generous confidence of our respective constituents, if we could permit a word of party strife to be uttered within these walls. Whatever may be his professions, he is no true patriot, who, in this season of his country's peril, cannot rise to such a height as to lose sight of all those lines of political difference, which, in more peaceful and prosperous times, have divided the people of the Commonwealth, or who is not ready to sacrifice every thing but principle to make and keep them a united people. Already have the gallant sons of Massachusetts, native and adopted, of every class and condition, and holding every variety of opinion upon controverted questions of policy and principle, marched as a band of brothers to the field to uphold the common flag, or to fall in its defence.Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport, senior member, called the House to order; in doing which, he made a short address, and referred to his services as a member in years that were past, and said,— [285]
At other times, the wordy warfare of party, the strifes of faction might be tolerated and endured, if not encouraged and applauded. Such is not the present hour. Higher and greater thoughts occupy us now. I confidently believe that you, gentlemen, will prove yourselves equal to the emergency; that you will rise to the height of your duties; and that, taking the Constitution for your loadstar and your guide through the troubles of the times, you will dedicate yourselves to the single object of contributing, with heart and soul, to uphold, to re-establish, and to perpetuate our sacred and beloved Union. That we resolve and determine to do, with the good help of God.The House then made choice of Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, Speaker of the House: he received every vote cast. William S. Robinson, of Malden, was elected clerk. On taking the chair, Mr. Bullock also referred to the existing war, and to the duty of Massachusetts in regard thereto.
More than thirty thousand of the men of Massachusetts are at this moment far from home, in arms, to preserve the public liberties along the Upper and Lower Potomac, among the islands and deltas of the Gulf, or wherever else they have been called to follow that imperilled but still radiant flag.He closed with these words: ‘In the service of the State at all times, but especially at the present, the least of duties is a part of the impressive whole.’ On Friday, Jan. 3, the two branches met in convention to administer the oath of office to the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor elect, and to listen to the annual address. The Governor, in his address, made a broad survey of the military field of observation, and the part which Massachusetts had taken in the war during the year preceding. The amount of money expended by the State, for war purposes, was $3,384,--649.88, of which there had been reimbursed, by the United States, the sum of $987,263.54; leaving an unpaid balance of about $2,500,000. This was exclusive of the amount paid by the several cities and towns of the Commonwealth for the support of the families of soldiers, under the act passed at the extra session of 1861, which amounted, in the aggregate, to about $250,000, which was to be reimbursed from the treasury of [286] the State, and raised by direct taxation upon the property in the Commonwealth. Upwards of half a million of dollars had been expended in the purchase of Enfield rifles, and about twenty-four thousand dollars for English infantry equipments. Five thousand more Enfield rifles had been contracted for in England; but the English Government had placed an interdict against the export of arms and munitions of war to this country, which prevented, for a time, the completion of the contract. The Governor also referred, at considerable length, to the coast defences of Massachusetts, and the exertions which he had made to have them placed in proper condition. Next to the harbor defences of Boston in importance was the harbor of Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod, which was accessible in all weathers without a pilot, with excellent anchorage, in which whole navies might ride in safety. It was best adapted to be the base of naval operations. It was utterly undefended, and could easily be taken from us by the enemy. The Governor, in referring to other matters, not of a military character, speaks of the national cause; and as the result of the war, which is but the revolt of slavery, he regards its ultimate extinction as inevitable. ‘Yet I mean, as I have done since the beginning of secession, to continue to school myself to silence; nor can I suspect that my opinions can be misconceived; nor do I believe that the faith of Massachusetts can be mistaken or misinterpreted.’ The only question which he could entertain is what to do, and, when that was answered, is what next to do; ‘for by deeds, and not by words, is this people to accomplish their salvation.’ The great rebellion was to be put down, and its promoters crushed beneath the ruins of their own ambition; and now, he says,—
When the beauty of their Israel has been slain in our high places, and when her Lee and Revere, Rockwood and Bowman, lie in felon's cells, and hundreds of her sons wear out their hearts in sad captivity,—victims of their valor, and devotion to our Union,—one irrepressible impulse moves our people, and inspires our people in the field; one prayer to see the day when an army of loyal Americans shall hammer at the doors of their prison-houses, and with both hands [287] pledged to the solemn task of war, and with neither hand averted to uphold the institution which is the cause of all this woe; and that their bow shall not turn back, and their sword return not empty, until their grand deliverance shall be completed.He speaks in fitting words of praise of the action of the Legislature of Maryland, in appropriating money to relieve the suffering condition of the widows and orphans of the Massachusetts men killed by the mob in Baltimore on the 19th day of April, and calls it ‘an oasis in all the resentment of the hour.’ The address concludes as follows: ‘Inspired by trust in God, an immortal hate of wrong, let us consecrate to-day every personal aspiration, every private hope, in one united apostrophe to our country and her cause,— “Where thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried.” ’ The Governor the same day transmitted to the Legislature a letter from Secretary Seward, urging that expenditures be made by the State for the defence of its coast, which he had no doubt that Congress would sanction and reimburse; also, a letter, dated Dec. 20, from Brigadier-General Joseph C. Totten, Engineer Department, U. S.A., giving a detailed statement of the different surveys made in time past of the defences on the coast of Massachusetts; also, a letter addressed to His Excellency by Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, upon popular military instruction, in which a review was given of the different systems in Europe, and recommending that military art be encouraged and taught in some of our public schools, and higher seminaries of learning. Jan. 6. In the House.—Mr. Cushing, of Newburyport, introduced an order that the Committee on the Militia consider the expediency of making provision for the families of citizens of the State engaged in the naval service of the United States during the existing war, similar to that made for those in the land service. The order was referred. Jan. 7. In the House.—On motion of Mr. Maglathlin, of Duxbury, the Committee on the Militia were instructed to consider the expediency of the State paying the expenditures [288] made by the cities and towns of the Commonwealth for uniforming and drilling volunteers during the present war. Mr. Heard, of Clinton, offered an order, which was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, that the Governor be requested to communicate with the President of the United States in regard to obtaining the release of Colonel Lee and Major Revere of the Twentieth Regiment, and of Captains Rockwood and Bowman of the Fifteenth Regiment, who are confined as hostages, in a felon's cell in Richmond, for captured rebel privateersmen. Jan. 8. In the Senate—Mr. Stockwell, of Suffolk, from the Committee on Printing, reported in favor of printing two thousand extra copies of the Adjutant-General's Report. In the House.—Mr. Brown, of Taunton, introduced an order directing the Committee on the Militia to consider the expediency of amending the law of 1861, so that each city and town shall provide for the support of persons who may be dependent on volunteers of this State mustered into the United-States service, and that each city and town shall be reimbursed from the State treasury for the money so expended. Jan. 9. In the House.—On motion of Mr. Stanwood, of Essex, the Committee on the Militia were instructed to report an amendment to the State-aid law, so as to extend its provisions to the families of Massachusetts soldiers who have enlisted in regiments belonging to other States. Jan. 10. In the House.—Mr. Carver, of Newburyport, introduced an order instructing the Committee on the Militia to inquire what amount of money was paid to the three months volunteers, while in the service of the State and before being mustered into the service of the United States, and what amount may now be due them for commutation pay. Jan. 13. In the Senate.—A bill was reported from the Committee on the Militia, granting State aid to the families of the volunteers in the regiments raised in this State by General Butler. An attempt was made to suspend the rules and pass the bill through its several readings, but did not prevail. In the House.—On motion of Mr. Davis, of Plymouth, it [289] was ordered, that the Governor be requested to communicate to the House the correspondence relating to the recruiting of troops in this Commonwealth by General Butler. Jan. 14. In the Senate.—The bill to give aid to the families of volunteers recruited in this State by General Butler was passed to be engrossed. In the House.—Mr. Roberts, of Lakeville, offered an order, directing the Committee on the Militia to consider the expediency of making certain amendments to the State-aid law of 1861. The Senate bill to give aid to families, &c., was passed through its various stages, under a suspension of the rules. Jan. 17. In the Senate.—On motion of Mr. Northend, of Essex, the Committee on Printing were directed to consider the expediency of printing three thousand extra copies of the Adjutant-General's Report, in addition to those already ordered. In the House.—On motion of Mr. Manning, of Reading, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia consider the expediency of amending the militia law, so as to make all the enrolled militia do military duty. Jan. 20. In the House.—On motion of Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia inquire whether the blankets, which were contributed by the people of the State to relieve the necessities of the volunteers in the service, were delivered to the soldiers as gifts, or were charged to them at the market price. Mr. Chandler, of Boston, moved that the same committee consider the expediency of authorizing the Governor to enter into contracts immediately for the manufacture of heavy ordnance for the coast defences of Massachusetts, and also for instituting a camp of instruction for artillery. Jan. 23. In the Senate.—A message was received from the Governor, returning the bill to grant State aid to the families of volunteers recruited by General Butler, with his reasons for not signing it. The Governor was in favor of granting the aid as contemplated; but the bill was imperfectly [290] drawn. He pointed out the errors which it contained. The message was laid upon the table. In the House.—Mr. Burbank, of Boston, from the Committee on the Militia, reported that the troops in the three months service had been paid by the Commonwealth, from the time of being ordered out by the Governor until mustered into the United-States service, $9,580.63. There was nothing more due them, and nothing more had been claimed by them. On motion of Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, the Committee on the Militia was requested to consider the expediency of requiring the State Treasurer, or some suitable person, to act as allotment commissioner for such sums as the soldiers in the field may allot of their pay for themselves or families. Jan. 30. In the House.—A message was received from the Governor, calling the attention of the Legislature to the illegal enlistment of men in Massachusetts by persons coming from other States. Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. Jan. 31. In the House.—Mr. Pierce, of Dorchester, reported a resolve appropriating $500,000 for the manufacture of ordnance for coast defences. Feb. 3. In the House.—The above resolve was debated, and passed to a third reading by a unanimous vote. Feb. 7.—Mr. Burbank, of Boston, from the Committee on the Militia, reported a bill concerning the custody and distribution of funds of the Massachusetts volunteers. On motion of Mr. Curtis, of Roxbury, it was ordered, that the Committee on the Militia be authorized to send for persons and papers on the matter of blankets and other articles contributed for the use of the soldiers. Feb. 11. In the Senate.—The veto message of the Governor, of the bill granting State aid to the families of volunteers recruited by General Butler, came up by assignment. The Governor had informed the Militia Committee, that, since the message was sent in, the Secretary of War had placed these troops to the credit of Massachusetts, and under the authority of the Governor, the same as other regiments; and therefore no further legislation was necessary, as they would come within the [291] provision of the law of 1861. The whole subject was then laid upon the table. Feb. 15. In the Senate.—Mr. Thompson, of Hampden, from the Committee on the Militia, submitted a report upon all the orders which had been referred to them concerning State aid to soldiers' families. The report was accompanied by a bill, which provided that State aid should be paid to the families of Massachusetts soldiers who were in the New-York regiments, and whose families resided in this State. It also provided that the same should be paid to the families of Massachusetts men who should thereafter enlist in the navy. Feb. 20. In the House.—Mr. Chandler, of Boston, from the Committee on Federal Relations, to whom was referred the resolve requesting the Governor to communicate with the President in favor of an exchange of prisoners, recommended that the resolve ought to pass. Mr. Chandler made a long and able report in favor of the object sought for in the resolve, which was ordered to be printed. Feb. 26. In the Senate.—A long debate ensued upon the bill granting State aid to families of volunteers. That part of it relating to families of men in the navy was stricken out. Pending the consideration of other amendments, the Senate adjourned. March 1. In the Senate.—The bill concerning State aid, &c., was amended, and passed to be engrossed. March 3. In the Senate.—Mr. Northend, of Essex, announced the death of Brigadier-General Frederick W. Lander, and delivered a short but touching eulogy upon his life and character. He also introduced a joint resolution in honor of the deceased, which was passed unanimously. March 5. In the House.—A message was received from the Governor concerning three rebel flags, which had been captured by the Massachusetts regiments in the battle at Roanoke Island, N. C. A resolution was adopted to have the flags placed in the House of Representatives during the remainder of the session. Patriotic speeches were made by Mr. Field, of Stockbridge, and by the Speaker of the House, Colonel Bullock. March 6. In the House.—The Senate bill granting State [292] aid to the families of volunteers was discussed during the greater part of the day, and was passed to a third reading, yeas 100, nays 73. Nothing further of material interest to the volunteers, or in relation to the war, was considered during the session. The acts passed by the extra session the year before left little more to be done for the soldiers. The session continued until the 30th of May, when both Houses were prorogued, having passed 226 acts and 117 resolves. Among the laws passed by the Legislature at this session was one declaring that the term of enlistment of a person in the military or naval service shall not be taken as part of the period limited for the prosecution of actions of such persons, and that, if defaulted, he may sue out a writ of review, and that, when absent, the court may continue or suspend the suit; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to build one or more ironclad Monitors for coast defences; also, authorizing the Treasurer to receive and distribute moneys remitted by Massachusetts volunteers, and to notify the treasurer of the town in which the family of the soldier resides, who was to notify the party to whom the money was due, and to pay the same free of charge. All such money was exempt from attachment, by trustee process or otherwise. If the money remained in the State treasury over thirty days, interest was to be allowed. A resolve was passed appropriating five hundred and fifty dollars to reimburse expenditures made for the relief of the Massachusetts prisoners of war at Richmond and elsewhere; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to take measures for the removal of the sick and wounded soldiers of Massachusetts to their homes, the expenses of which were to be paid from the treasury of the State; also, a resolve authorizing the Governor to arrange for the reception and treatment in State hospitals of such of our wounded and sick seamen and soldiers as they can accommodate, to be paid for by the State; also, an act authorizing towns to raise and appropriate money for the aid of the families of the soldiers, not to exceed one dollar a week for the wife, and one dollar a week for each child and parent, provided that the whole sum shall not [293] exceed twelve dollars per month for all the persons named, the money thus expended to be annually reimbursed to the cities and towns from the treasury of the State; also, a resolve thanking Adeline Tyler, of Baltimore, for the kind, humane, and Christian services rendered by her to our soldiers who were wounded in Baltimore, April 19, 1861; also, resolves acknowledging the liberal appropriation of the State of Maryland for the relief of the wounded, and to the families of the killed, of the Sixth Regiment in Baltimore, on that memorable day. The clothing and blankets forwarded to Richmond for the comfort of the Massachusetts prisoners confined there was contained in thirty-six cases. Lieutenant Charles L. Peirson, adjutant of the Twentieth Regiment, was one of the prisoners at Richmond. He was permitted by the rebel authorities to receive and distribute the articles. In a letter addressed by him to the Quartermaster-General of Massachusetts, dated Richmond, he says,—
I have distributed the articles, and find the invoice correct. I find the number of prisoners to be nearly four hundred. By strict economy in the distribution, they are all, with hardly an exception, completely clothed. There are, however, some sailors of the crew of the ‘Massachusetts’ who are badly off. I hope soon to see them provided for. I have sent part of the clothing forward to those Massachusetts soldiers who are in New Orleans and Tuscaloosa. One hundred and seventy-five, including some of the Fifteenth and Twentieth men, are to be sent to Salisbury, N. C., to-morrow; and the remainder will follow in a short time. Mr. Faulkner called upon me yesterday, and assured me that the rebel privateers in New York were much better cared for than Colonel Lee and his associates in Henrico County jail, and promised to use his influence to render their condition more comfortable. I hope soon to represent Massachusetts under the stars and stripes.The military expedition under General Burnside, to invade North Carolina, commenced embarking on board transports at Annapolis, on the fifth day of January, 1862, and sailed from that port on the ninth and tenth. The military force was divided into three brigades, of five regiments each. One-third of the whole force was from Massachusetts; comprising the Twenty-first, in the Second Brigade, commanded by General [294] Jesse L. Reno, and the Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-seventh Regiments, in the First Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General John G. Foster. The most intense interest was felt in Massachusetts for the safety and success of this expedition. The report reached Boston, on the twenty-third day of January, that shipwreck and disaster had befallen the fleet, which gave pain to many hearts. The report, however, proved groundless, although the ships had encountered a succession of severe storms for nearly two weeks the ships were at sea; great difficulty was encountered in crossing the bar at Cape Hatteras, which was at length successfully surmounted. When the fleet came to anchor off Roanoke Island, an escaped slave came on board the ship to General Burnside, with whom he had a long interview, and gave much valuable information in regard to the best place to land, and the force of the enemy on the island. The troops disembarked on the seventh day of February. A detachment of General Foster's Brigade, and the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, was the first regiment to land and invade the soil of North Carolina. The capture of the island, the bravery exhibited by the troops, and the large number of prisoners taken from the rebels, made it one of the most successful and brilliant exploits, up to that time, of the war. The Massachusetts regiments were conspicuous for their bravery and good conduct, and captured three rebel regimental colors. On the reception of the news of Burnside's success, great joy was felt throughout the Commmonwealth, although many homes were made desolate by the death of members who had fought, and won the victory. The news of the battle reached Massachusetts on the fifteenth day of February; the battle having been fought on the eighth. The Legislature was in session; and a number of the members requested the Governor to send a special agent to the island to take care of the wounded. He at once selected, with great judgment, Hon. Alfred Hitchcock, of Fitchburg, a member of the Executive Council, and one of the most experienced and skilful surgeons in the State. The doctor reached the island in the quickest possible time, where his services as a surgeon were put in immediate requisition. He remained there [295] several weeks, and assisted in preparing the convalescents for transportation to New England. On the seventh day of March, one hundred and twenty-five sick and wounded soldiers were placed on board a steam transport, by order of General Burnside; and Dr. Hitchcock was placed in charge of them, with full power to provide for their wants, and procure transportation to their several homes. They reached Baltimore on the evening of the 9th of March. On arriving at New York, the wounded soldiers were welcomed by Colonel Frank E. Howe, our Massachusetts agent, and amply supplied with whatever was necessary for their wants. The Massachusetts men, seventy-one in number, were at once forwarded by rail, and reached their homes or hospitals before the thirteenth day of March. At the New-York and New-Haven depot, in New-York City, a cruel and unjustifiable detention occurred in the embarkation of these wounded men, which elicited some very sharp criticisms in the loyal papers of that day, and in letters of Dr. Hitchcock and Colonel Frank E. Howe to Governor Andrew. Colonel Howe writes to the Governor, from New York, March 11, ‘Received telegram from Dr. Hitchcock at two o'clock at night, got up immediately, did all I could for him and his poor men. Dr. Hitchcock is a remarkable man. It was very rough for him and all his men. I have spent a good many dollars to-day.’ Also telegraphs the Governor the same day, ‘Dr. Hitchcock leaves with his men in halfpast-three-o'clock train. They will need litters, carriages, and refreshments.’ During the month of March, a large number of other sick and wounded soldiers were forwarded by General Burnside. March 25, Colonel Howe telegraphs to the Governor, ‘One hundred wounded men from Burnside left Baltimore this morning, mostly Massachusetts men. Shall take good care of them.’ Same day, he writes to the Governor, ‘Dr. Upham has just arrived, with thirty Massachusetts men,—Major Stevenson, Lieutenant Nichols, Lieutenant Sargent, Sergeant Perkins, and others. We shall get them off to-morrow morning by the eight-o'clock train. A hundred and fifty men, who left Baltimore [296] this morning, have not yet arrived.’ On the fourth day of April, Surgeon-General Dale made a report to the Governor, in which he submitted a plan of forwarding the sick and wounded men of the Massachusetts regiments, which would obviate much of the confusion and delay heretofore experienced. He says that Colonel Howe had leased in New York a large, commodious, and well-ventilated store, on Broadway, for the accommodation of the returning sick and wounded, and that Dr. Satterlee, the army purveyor stationed there, had provided them with one hundred and fifty iron bedsteads, with bed-sacks, blankets, sheets, and pillow-cases. He would also furnish medicines, dressings, and every thing necessary for the comfort of the sick and wounded in this temporary building. Colonel Eaton, U. S. A., would furnish subsistence, and Colonel Tompkins, United-States Quartermaster, would furnish transportation. Nothing is wanted of the State, except an ambulance wagon. Colonel Howe writes, April 6, ‘The store is nearly ready. Every thing is in it but baths and cooking ranges, and those I am at work on day and night, and am ready to take in and care for the wounded soldiers from any and every where. Plenty of money, heaps of hearts ready and determined. I have got all the United States officials with us, and as many of the surgeons as we want. The community is with us, and we feel sure that we have the Almighty with us.’ About the middle of March, General McClellan began his movement against Richmond, by a change of base from before Washington to the James River. It was not until the middle of April that the Army of the Potomac was ready to advance. Yorktown was captured April 26; and the battle of Williamsburg was fought May 5, in which Hooker's brigade bore a conspicuous part, and the Massachusetts First and Eleventh Regiments suffered severely. From that time until the retreat of McClellan, in August, the Army of the Potomac stood with its face towards the rebel capital, every foot of its onward march contested by the rebels, and almost every mile of its advance a battle-field. Many of the Massachusetts dead were embalmed, and sent home to their relatives for burial by the graves of their kindred. Many of [297] the wounded were forwarded to the North; the military hospitals at Washington, Fortress Monroe, and elsewhere being filled to repletion. On the 13th of May, the first instalment of the wounded at Williamsburg reached New York. Colonel Howe on that day telegraphs to the Governor, ‘I am compelled to send off thirty-three wounded to-night, by eight-o'clock train, all able to walk,—all from Williamsburg. Twenty-six of them belong in Boston. The transport “Daniel Webster” in, with three hundred more.’ Next day,—May 14,—he telegraphs, ‘I send, by eight-o'clock train, six bully Chelsea boys, of the First Regiment, in care of a Councilman, John Buck, also five more brave fellows. All will have to ride from the depot. We are with the sick and wounded day and night, ladies and all. Have one hundred at rooms, and one hundred and fifty coming in this morning. Not one complains.’ Every assistance in the power of the Governor, the Surgeon-General, and other State officers, was rendered the brave men, upon their arrival in Boston. Among the many despatches received at this time is one dated New York, May 18, to the Governor: ‘Have sent forty-eight men,—Twenty-third Regiment,—by five-o'clock train, to Boston, from Burnside's Division, all able to travel.’ This, on being referred to Surgeon-General Dale, was returned to the Governor, with this characteristic indorsement: ‘The men came four hours ago; and I am sorry I was not informed of it, though none of them required medical assistance, probably; yet it is better to be there when they arrive. It looks more friendly, and as if the State was solicitous about them. No harm done now, however.’ From this period until the end of the war, the number of our sick and wounded soldiers increased; and the duties of the several State agents were rendered more important and arduous. The Governor was fortunate in the selection of gentlemen to fill these places, and discharge these duties. The most important of these agencies was the one established in Washington, of which Colonel Gardiner Tufts, of Lynn, was placed in charge. A brief sketch of its origin and subsequent growth deserves a place in this volume, and may as well be given now as hereafter. [298] When our Sixth Regiment reached Washington, April 19, 1861, it was ordered to the Capitol, and quartered in the Senate wing. No provision had been made for the wounded; but by advice of Major McDowell, U. S. A., they were taken in carriages by the Massachusetts residents, who met the regiment at the depot, to the Providence Hospital. This institution is under the direction of the Sisters of Charity. Here the first wounded in the war were kindly and tenderly cared for. On the same evening, a meeting of the Massachusetts residents was held, to organize a society to look out for the wants of the Massachusetts soldiers. We have before us the original copy of the constitution which was adopted, with the names of the original members, who signed it. The preamble is in these words:—
The undersigned, now or formerly citizens of Massachusetts, in order to secure, by organization and mutual co-operation, proper care for the wounded and disabled, and decent interment for the dead, of the Massachusetts troops which are now or may be on duty in this vicinity, do form ourselves into a society, to be called the Massachusetts Association.This preamble expresses, in clear language, the object of the association. This was the first organization of the kind formed in the war. The names of the original signers were Ben. Perley Poore, George W. McClellan, Charles F. Macdonald, Arthur W. Fletcher, Arnold Burgess Johnson, Ira Murdock, William Stimpson, I. O. Wilson, Nathan S. Lincoln, Edward Shaw, Henry O. Brigham, H. H. Pangborn, J. Wesley Jones, Z. K. Pangborn, Judson S. Brown, B. Fanuel Craig, B. W. Perkins. The meeting for the choice of officers was held in the old Senate Chamber, in the Capitol. George W. McClellan, Second Assistant Postmaster-General, was elected president; Z. K. Pangborn, vice-president; Charles F. Macdonald, surgeon and treasurer; and A. B. Johnson, secretary. This society appointed Miss Lander, of Salem, to distribute proper articles for the sick and wounded. Before the end of April, it was in successful operation. Upon the arrival of our Eighth Regiment at Washington, Lieutenant Herrick, of the Beverly company, whose foot was severely wounded by the accidental discharge of a musket [299] in the rotunda of the Capitol, was taken to the supreme-court room, where his foot was amputated. It was then decided to fit up the room as a field hospital; and it became the first army hospital established in the Rebellion. Its beds were soon all occupied; and the care of sick and wounded devolved upon the members of the association, who were promptly seconded by the Massachusetts ladies then in Washington. Miss Lander, of Salem, sister of the late General Frederick W. Lander, was a leader in these good works. She ‘headed the advance-guard of that corps of mercy.’ This volunteer association fulfilled its mission. As the war went on, many of the most active members entered the army and navy. The demands for hospital accommodations now required the action of the Government, and an organized system. In the summer of 1862, when the sick and wounded were returned in great numbers from the peninsula of Virginia, the Governor decided to appoint Gardiner Tufts the agent for Massachusetts in Washington; and, on the 18th of July, Mr. Tufts was commissioned for that purpose. His instructions were prepared at the State House, and forwarded to him. He was to prepare a weekly report of the disabled Massachusetts soldiers in Washington, with the company and regiment to which they belonged. As far as practicable, he was to visit the hospital in person, and supply all proper wants of our men. He was to communicate with the families of the patients, stating their wants, and how the needed supplies could be forwarded. He was to have an oversight of the burial of the dead, and, when requested by their friends, to have the bodies forwarded, at the expense of the parties requesting it. He was to aid the soldiers with money in returning home, if they had not sufficient for their wants themselves. The instructions were very comprehensive, and drawn with marked ability. They covered every service which an agent could do, or a soldier require. Mr. Tufts entered upon his duties July 28, 1862. There were, at that time, forty-four army hospitals in the District of Columbia, Fairfax, and Falls Church, Va. The battles of Cedar Mountain, second Bull Run, Chantilly, and Centreville, [300] soon after increased the sick and wounded to sixty hospitals, which were filled. The first business of the agent was to ascertain the number of Massachusetts soldiers among the sick and wounded, also their condition, the regiments to which they belonged, and what assistance they required. Nearly five hundred of our men were in these hospitals; and the whole number upon the books of the agency, as having been in the hospitals in that department, during the war, was seventeen thousand four hundred and eighty-eight, of which seven hundred and thirty-six died. Soon after the appointment of Mr. Tufts, another society, composed of Massachusetts men, living in the district, was organized, under the name of the ‘Massachusetts Soldiers' Relief Association,’ the members of which visited the hospitals regularly, and ascertained the name and condition of every Massachusetts soldier, and relieved his wants. This organization ceased some time in 1863; and the labor which the members had performed devolved upon the State agent, who was empowered to employ persons to visit the soldiers, for which they were paid by the Commonwealth. By systematic effort, the agent, during the entire war, was enabled to ascertain the exact condition of every patient belonging to the State, and to have a perfect record in his office. The greatest number of persons employed at any one time was eighteen. This was in December, 1864. All accessible battle-fields were visited by the agent, a knowledge of our wounded obtained, and assistance rendered. In May, 1864, when General Grant began his memorable advance toward Richmond from the Rapidan, a field-agency was established, following the army, which continued in successful operation until the end of the war. During the general exchange of prisoners, which began in December, 1864, a force of the agency was maintained at Annapolis, Md., and information of great value obtained in regard to our men who had suffered and who had died in rebel prisons, and much needed assistance was rendered. Up to Jan. 1, 1867, over twenty-five thousand letters had been written at the agency at Washington, which covered twenty thousand pages of letterpress. During the same period, about five hundred and sixty thousand dollars had [301] been collected from the Government for soldiers or their heirs without charge. During this period, the total amount of money transactions of the agency was $721,722.87. The total number of names of Massachusetts soldiers invalided during the war at the agency was 36,151, the names of whom had, from time to time, been reported by Mr. Tufts to the State authorities. Many more interesting facts connected with the agency might be given; but those already stated are sufficient to show its importance, and to make manifest the arduous and faithful labors of the agent, in grateful recognition of which the Governor appointed Mr. Tufts an assistant adjutant-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. The entire cost of the agency to the Commonwealth was thirty-five thousand dollars. We cannot close this brief sketch without expressing our acknowledgments to Colonel Tufts, for the services rendered by him to the sick and wounded soldiers of the Commonwealth; and also to Mrs. Jennie L. Thomas, of Dedham, who was appointed in October, 1862, to assist Colonel Tufts in his humane labors, and whose devotion to the cause and kindness to the worn and weary of Massachusetts soldiers, suffering from honorable wounds or from fevers engendered by exposure in the Wilderness of Virginia, the morasses of the Carolinas, and the swamps of Mississippi and Louisiana will never be forgotten by them. Agencies were also formed in Baltimore and Philadelphia. William Robinson was appointed to take charge of the first named, and Robert C. Carson of the last. Mr. Robinson had been kind to our soldiers who were wounded on the 19th of April; and Mr. Carson had been distinguished for his attention to our men on their way to the front, and on their return, while in Philadelphia. Mr. Robinson died before the close of the war; Mr. Carson was appointed assistant quartermaster-general, and commissioned by the Governor lieutenant-colonel. These two agencies were of much assistance to the State authorities, and of material service in many ways, especially as useful auxiliaries to the two great agencies in New York and Washington, at the heads of which were Colonel Howe and Colonel Tufts. [302] In addition to the agencies established by the Governor to guard the rights and protect the suffering soldiers of Massachusetts, members of his staff, at various times, were sent to the front to look after them, to report their condition, and ascertain if any thing could be done by the State to render them more comfortable. The Governor also frequently visited the Massachusetts regiments, and made himself personally acquainted with their condition. During the year 1862, which was one of much disaster and suffering, the Adjutant-General, Colonel Ritchie, Colonel John Q. Adams, and Dr. Bowditch, were sent to the front and visited our men, and reported to the Governor all matters of interest in relation to them. An abstract of these reports we now present. The Adjutant-General left Boston on the 21st of January. He remained in New York one day, and visited the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which was in the old fort on Governor's Island, New-York Harbor. The cold and gloomy casemates, in which they were quartered, and the badly provided commissariat, caused much suffering and discontent among the men. He hurried on to Washington that night, and the next morning, accompanied by Senator Wilson, called at the War Department, and had an interview with Adjutant-General Thomas, and acquainted him with the condition of the regiment. The latter promised to lay the subject before the Secretary of War immediately. The Adjutant-General says, ‘I waited three days before I could see him again; and it was not until I received your Excellency's letter, inclosing a copy of a letter from Captain Barrett complaining of the treatment of this regiment, that I was enabled, with Senator Wilson's assistance, to have action taken by the War Department. Secretary Stanton issued orders immediately, by telegraph, to the commander of the fort and to the colonel of the regiment, which I subsequently ascertained were of great service in obtaining the necessary comforts for the men. On my return to New York, a fortnight after, I found the regiment in good condition.’ The Twenty-eighth sailed, on the 16th of February, from New York, to join General Sherman at Port Royal, S. C. The Fifth Battery was encamped on Capitol Hill, and had [303] been assigned to General Franklin's division. The officers had preferred to be put in General Fitz John Porter's division, as he had many Massachusetts regiments in his command. This he effected with the aid of Messrs. Elliot and Gooch, members of Congress. He next visited the camps of the Seventh and Tenth Regiments at Brightwood, about six miles from Washington. He says, ‘Although the weather had been bad, and the roads were in a condition hardly conceivable by a New-Englander, I found the officers and men in good health and excellent condition. There was but one man sick in the Seventh, and the Tenth had not a single person in the hospital. The men lived in comfortable log huts, which they had built themselves, and were quite well satisfied with their quarters. After spending some pleasant hours with the officers, and making an inspection of the men's quarters, I returned to Washington, much pleased with the day's labors.’ The journey was made on horseback; and he was accompanied by Captain Dudley, U. S. A., then stationed in Washington, but who was shortly after appointed by the Governor colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment; and by Major Fletcher, United-States paymaster. The next two days, he remained in Washington, transacting business at the War Department, and endeavoring to secure the acceptance of Maxwell's company of sharpshooters, but failed to accomplish it. The report then proceeds:—
Having obtained a pass from General McClellan, I proceeded to the Virginia side to visit the Massachusetts troops beyond the Potomac. I passed over the Long Bridge about nine o'clock, and was surprised at the number of wagons, equestrians, and pedestrians, moving through the mud into Virginia. At the end of the Long Bridge is Fort Runyon, garrisoned by a company of the Massachusetts Fourteenth [shortly afterwards changed to the First Heavy Artillery]. The other companies of this command are near, at Forts Albany and Hamilton; the main body being at Fort Albany, the headquarters of Colonel Green.Here he spent an hour, and then rode on to visit the Ninth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-second Regiments, and the Third and Fourth Batteries in General Porter's division. The roads were shocking. He stopped at General Blenker's headquarters, [304] which were in what had formerly been a cross-roads tavern. He was kindly received, and was introduced to a number of the staff officers. They were all foreigners, among whom was Prince Salm-Salm, who has since become famous for his exploits in Mexico, under the late Emperor. Blenker's brigade was composed almost entirely of German regiments. The Massachusetts regiments named above were encamped near Hall's Hill. The camps of many of the regiments were decorated with evergreens; beautiful arches, made of pines and cedars, adorned the company streets. On a large, open field, between the German and the Massachusetts camps, he witnessed a spendid sham-fight, in which upwards of five thousand men, of all arms of the service, took part. After making a pleasant call at the headquarters of the Eighteenth and Twenty-second Regiments, where he found the men in good health, and supplied with every necessary for camp life, he passed on over Hall's Hill and Minor's Farm, through fields made desolate by war, to the camp of the Ninth Regiment, stationed within a mile of Fall's Church, which was plainly in sight, though it was within the rebel lines, where pickets were plainly visible. ‘Between Hall's Hill and the camp of the Ninth is a large field, where a skirmish had taken place some months before. The graves of the men who had fallen, and the skeletons of dead horses, half buried, mark the spot.’ He found Colonel Cass in his tent, and received from him a warm and hearty welcome. The regiment was full, and not a sick man among them. General Morrell, who commanded the Brigade, came over to Colonel Cass's quarters in the evening, and stopped several hours.
That night I slept under canvas; and, although it rained incessantly, not a drop came through. The next morning, I saw the regiment in line; and, notwithstanding the snow and rain which continued to fall, the ranks were full. I saw most of the officers, and passed many pleasant hours with this regiment. On my return, Colonel Cass accompanied me as far as Fort Albany. On our way, we called on Major-General Porter, and arranged with him about receiving our Sixth Battery. We also called at the headquarters of Brigadier-General Martindale, but he was absent; but I was glad to find, in a [305] tent near by, our old friend Dr. Lyman; also, Captain Batchelder, late of the Twenty-second Regiment, now on Martindale's staff. We then proceeded over fields of fallen timber, and across ravines, for about four miles, to Fort Cass, which was constructed last summer by the Ninth, and named in honor of their colonel. After warming ourselves and drying our clothes, we started across the country towards Fort Albany, passing through several camps; among them, that of the Nineteenth Indiana, commanded by an old veteran friend of mine, Colonel Meredith. At Fort Albany, we parted with Colonel Cass; he returning to his regiment, and we to Washington, and reached our hotel about six o'clock.We never saw Colonel Cass in life again. He was mortally wounded before Richmond, and died July 12, 1862. The report continues,—
I had been two days on horseback, through a continued storm of rain and snow, with mud up to the stirrups part of the way; and yet I never had a more delightful journey.Two more days were passed in Washington, transacting business at the War Office. On the third day, accompanied by Colonel Coffin, of Newburyport, went on board a steamer, and were taken to Budd's Ferry, about fifty miles down the Potomac, on the Maryland side. Here were the First and the Eleventh Regiments, which formed part of General Hooker's brigade. We quote again:—
On the opposite side from the landing, one of the rebel batteries was distinctly visible. The roads from the landing to the camps of our regiments were the worst I ever saw. At one place, a wagon of the Second New-Hampshire Regiment was stuck fast in the mud. The forward wheels were completely out of sight, and the thin, red mud was running into the bottom of the wagon. We soon came to a detachment of the First Regiment, under command of my friend, Captain Chamberlain, of Roxbury, making a corduroy road. After a tiresome ride on horseback of two hours, we came to General Hooker's headquarters.We had a pleasant interview with the General, and then went forward to the regiments, where we met with a hearty welcome. Colonel Cowdin was acting Brigadier-General. The regiments were comfortably quartered, and there were but few in the hospitals. [306] We remained in Colonel Cowdin's quarters all night, made an inspection of the regiment next morning, and, taking a friendly good-by of officers and men, rode back to the ferry, and reached Washington that night.
‘The next day’ (says the report), ‘I went to see General Barry, chief of artillery, with Captain Davis, of Lowell, to have his company, which has been at Fortress Monroe ever since May last, changed to a light battery, as recommended by Major-General Wool.’The change was made the next day, and the company was from that time known as the Seventh Light Battery Massachusetts Volunteers. On the following day, we went to Baltimore, where the Seventeenth Regiment and the First Light Battery were stationed. We received a hearty welcome from officers and men; visited the barracks and the hospital. There was more sickness in the regiment than in any others we had visited, which we attributed to its close proximity to a large city. The number in hospital was thirty. The report says,—
The officers take good care of the health of the men. Both the regiment and battery are highly esteemed by the loyal citizens of Baltimore, several of whom I saw, and conversed with.On the same evening, we left Baltimore in a steamer for Fortress Monroe, and arrived there the next morning. We paid our respects to Major-General Wool, who was in command of the department. He spoke warmly in praise of our State, and of the Massachusetts troops in his command. We quote again:—
I remained three days at Fortress Monroe and Newport News, and had an excellent opportunity of becoming acquainted with the condition of our Sixteenth and Twenty-ninth Regiments. Here, as elsewhere, I found our men in general good health, and earnestly desiring to advance on the enemy. Colonel Wyman is almost idolized by his regiment (the Sixteenth), which he has brought to a high state of discipline. Colonel Pierce had taken command of the Twenty-ninth a short time before my arrival. From all I can learn, his appointment seemed to give general satisfaction; and I believe he will be an efficient and popular officer. The New-York Ninety-ninth is stationed near Fortress Monroe, and commanded by my old friend, Colonel [307] Wardrop.1 As nearly one-half of his regiment is composed of Massachusetts men, I regret he does not hold a Massachusetts commission. Captain Davis's company, to which I have before alluded, is stationed inside of the fortress, and is permanently attached to the garrison.We remained at Fortress Monroe three days, and then returned direct to Boston. We succeeded in getting from the regiments correct rolls of desertions, discharges, and deaths, since they had left the Commonwealth. These rolls were of great value in correcting the descriptive rolls at the State House, and in preventing frauds in paying the State aid to the families of soldiers. We were absent from the State about three weeks. It was difficult to realize the change which the war had made in Washington and vicinity. Soldiers were everywhere. From the dome of the Capitol, a splendid view was obtained of the different camps, in which were stationed a hundred thousand armed men,—the nucleus of what afterwards became the Grand Army of the Potomac. The railroad from the Susquehanna was guarded by soldiers, along the entire line, to Washington. Pennsylvania Avenue was patrolled by detachments of infantry and cavalry. New regiments arrived daily, marched up the avenue, crossed the Long Bridge into Virginia, selected their camp-ground under orders of brigade commanders, pitched their tents, lighted their camp-fires, and became a part of the living mass wherein were centred the best hopes of loyal America, and for whom the prayers, from a million family altars, ascended daily to heaven. No one can fully realize the grandeur of the army, and the magnitude of the Rebellion, who never visited Washington in the years when it was being fought. On or about the 20th of July, the Governor despatched Colonel Ritchie, of his personal staff, to the James River, to make a personal examination into the condition of the Massachusetts regiments in General McClellan's army, which had fallen back from before Richmond to the James River, near Harrison's Landing and Malvern Hill. On the 28th of July, Colonel Ritchie had [308] reached Harrison's Bar, James River, Va., where he wrote a long and interesting letter to the Governor. It appears that Colonel Ritchie went by way of Washington, where he found General Burnside, who had been summoned from North Carolina to a consultation with General Halleck; ‘and they both left, that same day, for this place, to confer with General McClellan. This move on the part of General Halleck was intended to be kept a great secret, and he left Willard's almost in disguise; but, though no one at Fortress Monroe or this point knew of the visit, it was duly recorded by those admirable spies for the enemy, the New-York papers. Generals Halleck, Burnside, Reno, Parke, Cullom, and Sedgwick have all made most earnest inquiries concerning the success of the recruiting in Massachusetts, and expressed the greatest satisfaction at your determination to fill up the old regiments first. At the same time, I find that the almost universal feeling of the army is against the system of bribing men to do their duty by large bounties, and in favor of an immediate draft.’ General Burnside offered Colonel Ritchie passage to Fortress Monroe in his flag-boat, which offer was accepted; and, finding that our Twenty-first and Twenty-eighth Regiments were at Newport News, he determined to visit them at once. Captain Davis (Seventh Battery) had left Fortress Monroe, that morning, with a force of infantry, to reinforce against an apprehended attack. It was represented to be in splendid condition. The Colonel then writes,—
It may be useful to remark, that General Dix, in command at Fortress Monroe, exercises a discretionary power, or revising power, at Old Point, as to passes from the Secretary of War; and the vise of the provost-marshal is absolutely necessary to enable any one to get up this river. I will also notice, for the information of any of the staff whom your Excellency may see fit to send out here at any time, that, contrary to General Reed's opinion, I find my uniform an “open sesame,” while a civilian's dress would stop a man at every step.Colonel Ritchie found, at Newport News, three divisions of Burnside's corps, and General Stevens's division, from Hilton Head. General Burnside expected to have, in a short time, thirty thousand men; but it was a curious fact, that not a regiment [309] had been sent up the river to Harrison's Landing. He found the Twenty-first Regiment, which had come from North Carolina, ‘in fine condition,’ and only requiring a hundred and fifty recruits to fill it up. Colonel Clarke, who commanded the Twenty-first, informed Colonel Ritchie, ‘that he had forwarded his recommendations for promotions, and had nothing more to add, excepting that he hoped your Excellency would not give any commissions to officers who had resigned. I will add here, that this is a point upon which I find the greatest sensitiveness, in every direction. The number of resignations have been scandalously large; only those are accepted which are considered beneficial to the service; and it would have a most disastrous effect to send back men with increased rank, or with any rank, who have shirked the hardships and exposures of the army.’ Colonel Ritchie next visited the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which was composed, in great part, of men of Irish birth, and which had been brought up from South Carolina to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. It was stationed at Newport News, and formed part of General Stevens's division. Of this regiment, the Colonel writes,—
They have made full returns of the number of recruits required. Colonel Monteith is under arrest, and is now before a court-martial. He has been very ill, and is such a sufferer as to be unfit for duty. The lieutenant-colonel has resigned. Major Cartwright is in command, and is an excellent officer. The regiment is composed of splendid material; but it requires two new field officers, of energy and capacity, and who are also gentlemen, to bring up its morale and discipline, which is, at present, very unsatisfactory.Colonel Monteith was a citizen of New York. He was strongly recommended by James T. Brady, Esq., of that city, and by prominent Irish gentlemen of Boston. The Governor had no acquaintance with Colonel Monteith, but commissioned him upon the representations made of his fitness by the gentlemen referred to. In five days after Colonel Ritchie wrote the report from which we quote,—viz., on the 5th of August,— Colonel Monteith was discharged. Colonel Ritchie left Fortress Monroe on Saturday, the 26th, for Harrison's Landing, [310] in the mail-boat, taking a gunboat as convoy from James Island, about sixty miles up the river. The passage was somewhat hazardous, and very exciting. On landing, he says,—
I should have been miserably helpless, had not General Devens sent down his orderlies, with horses and wagon, and Lieutenant Church Howe, aide-de-camp to General Sedgwick, to show me the way. We had to take refuge at this general's headquarters. This gave me a chance of talking with him. He spoke most warmly of the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth, which are in his division, Sumner's corps. The officers he particularly commended were Hinks, whom he has repeatedly urged for a brigadier-generalship; Palfrey, who, he says, is a most excellent officer; and Major Paul Revere, who, he says, ought to have a regiment. General Sumner says that he has offered Revere the inspector-generalship of his staff. Revere hesitates, as he has made application for a position in one of the new regiments.The brigade commanded by General Devens included the Seventh and Tenth Massachusetts Regiments. The brigade was in Keyes's corps. These were next visited by Colonel Ritchie. The Seventh had been but little exposed in action, and was ‘in magnificent condition. The colonel is held in high esteem.’ The lieutenant-colonel was regarded as inefficient; the major, a most excellent officer. A board had been appointed to examine the lieutenant-colonel, and he would probably resign. He was discharged Oct. 4, 1862. A great many officers and men were at this time in hospitals, and a good many enlisted men had deserted. General Marcy, of General McClellan's staff, ‘urged the importance of some appeal, by the Governors of States, to the authorities of cities and towns, and the people in general, to force deserters to return to their duties, and give such information concerning such men as to get them returned.’ Colonel Ritchie reports at great length in regard to filling the existing vacancies in the Seventh and Tenth Regiments, and gives a full and impartial review of the qualifications of those who were naturally looking for promotions. The Tenth Regiment wished to have an army officer appointed colonel in place of Colonel Briggs, wounded, and promoted brigadier-general. Captain Dana, of the regular army, was the choice of nearly all. [311] ‘Dexter F. Parker, who has resigned his commissariat to go into the line is highly recommended by General Devens, for a major-ship in the Tenth. Captain Parker said he would not go into the regiment; but, on the suggestion that the regiment might get Captain Dana for colonel, Parker said, that, in such a case, he would be too glad to go into it; that he knew Dana well, and considered him one of the entirely honest and reliable men and gentlemen in the Quartermaster's Department.’ Captain Dana was not commissioned colonel of the Tenth, but Henry L. Eustis, a graduate of West Point, was. Captain Parker was commissioned major, and served until he was mortally wounded in General Grant's advance from the Rapidan, and died May 12, 1864. The remaining part of Colonel Ritchie's report relates to matters not of general interest, though of importance to the Governor, in furnishing information to guide him in making appointments to fill the vacancies in the Massachusetts regiments in the Army of the Potomac. Edward S. Rand, Esq., of Boston, who had a son, an officer, in the First Regiment of Massachusetts Cavalry, in April, 1862, visited the regiment, then stationed at Hilton Head, S. C. Of this regiment, much complaint had been made, even before it left the State, concerning the severity of the discipline imposed by Colonel Williams. These complaints reached the State House; and Mr. Rand was requested by the Governor to inquire into them, and report the facts upon his return. The report made by Mr. Rand was in the highest degree complimentary to Colonel Williams, and to the condition of the regiment, which had been brought to an excellent state of efficiency. The charges of undue severity and cruelty, made by interested parties, were declared to be entirely groundless. The men were satisfied, were well cared for, and in good health. In conclusion, he says,—
I cannot omit mentioning a custom introduced by Colonel Williams, which I could wish prevailed in all the regiments of our vast army. At the close of the dress-parade, each day, and before the parade is dismissed, the chaplain, who has been standing in the rear of the colonel, advances to the front, and, while officers and men stand uncovered, offers a short and earnest prayer to Him who is the only shield from danger, and the only Giver of all victories.[312] Mr. Rand also visited the camp of the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry, who were encamped near the cavalry. The camp was kept clean, and the general health of the men good, for which, he says,—
Much praise is due to the skilful and attentive surgeon, Dr. O'Connell, for his faithful discharge of duty, his care of the men; and perhaps the highest praise will be found in the fact that in the hospital were but four patients, all convalescent.Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, of Boston, who also had a son, an officer, in the regiment, visited the regiment about the same time. On his return, the Governor requested him to state, in writing, his opinion in regard to the regiment, and upon the general question of the best way to preserve the health of the soldiers on duty in the extreme Southern States. Of the condition of the regiment, he fully confirms the favorable report of it made by Mr. Rand. He says,—
The drills are actively carried out, and the highest officers in the army agree that, at times, they are equal to any in the regular cavalry. Three times a week, the colonel has recitations, at which the highest principles of military tactics are enforced. To sum up my opinion in one sentence: I have very near and dear relatives, and many young friends, in that regiment; I should greatly regret, if, from any cause, any of them should be compelled to leave the service of such a commander.Colonel Williams, at the time of his appointment, was a captain of cavalry, U. S.A. He was a graduate of West Point, and distinguished as a cavalry officer. He was a Virginian by birth, but never hesitated which was the path of duty for him to tread. He was a strict disciplinarian, but he was kind to his men. During the last two years of the war, Colonel Williams was assistant adjutant-general of the army, and was brevetted brigadier-general, for brave and meritorious services. John Quincy Adams, who was appointed on the personal staff of the Governor to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Colonel Horace Binney Sargent, who was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the First Massachusetts Cavalry, [313] was directed by the Governor, in September, to visit the Massachusetts regiments in the Department of North Carolina, and to report their condition on his return. These regiments were the Seventeenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and the Twenty-seventh. The Seventeenth he found in camp upon a fine plain across the river, westward from Newbern. It was stationed there to guard the ends of two bridges which span the river. The regiment was in excellent order, and the men looked hardy and cheerful, and were under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fellows. Colonel Adams requested a report showing the exact condition of the regiment on that day,—their wishes, wants, notes, or information in any way appertaining to their condition,—in order that he might lay the same before the Governor. But the regiment was ordered on an expedition up the Roanoke River, and LieutenantColo-nel Fellows promised to send the report home by mail. Colonel Amory, of this regiment, had been for some time acting as brigadier-general. Colonel Adams witnessed a review of the regiment, and afterwards made a thorough inspection of each company. He says,—
I examined every musket personally, and almost every equipment, and can say, with perfect satisfaction that their condition, in almost every case, was admirable. The arms, particularly, were as clean and bright as when they were issued. The regiment was then drilled by Lieutenant-Colonel Fellows in various evolutions, concluding with the drill as skirmishers, in all which the men showed careful and faithful training, and most commendable proficiency.The Twenty-third Regiment, Colonel Kurtz, had been stationed, since May preceding, in the town of Newbern itself, where it performed the duties of provost guard, Colonel Kurtz acting as provost-marshal. He could not, therefore, speak of the condition of their camp-equipage; but the barracks, which he visited, were clean and orderly, and the appearance of the men tidy and excellent. He also reviewed the regiment, and inspected their arms and equipments, which were in perfect order. ‘Altogether,’ he says, ‘the condition of the regiment was very satisfactory, and reflects great credit upon their officers.’ [314] Colonel Adams next visited the Twenty-fourth Regiment, Colonel Stevenson, who had been for some time acting as brigadier-general; and the command had devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Osborne. The regiment was in camp on a fine, dry plain, about a quarter of a mile from the town. Every thing was in perfect order, as he found upon careful inspection of the arms and equipments, and of the camp. ‘Both officers and men might well be a source of pride to the Commonwealth.’ On the morning of the second day of his stay in Newbern, he rode out to the camp of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Colonel Upton; but neither he nor the lieutenant-colonel nor the major were in camp at the time; but the adjutant was there, and with him he examined carefully the camp, which was on a fine, beach plain of very large extent, and admirably adapted for a drill and parade ground, about half a mile from the centre of Newbern, and westerly from the camp of the Twenty-fourth Regiment. He says,—
I was entirely satisfied with the appearance of the camp, and the aspect of the men. Great neatness was evident in the cleanliness of the company streets, and the men seemed tidy, cheerful, and contented. I attended a dress parade of this regiment with General Foster, and found their appearance admirable, and their drill excellent.Colonel Adams says General Foster told him,—
The first thing an officer should do is to try to make every man of his regiment a dandy, proud of his appearance, the glitter of the musket, and the polish of the brass on his equipments. When you see such a man, be sure he is a good soldier.The Twenty-seventh Regiment, Colonel Lee, he found under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman. Colonel Lee was acting as brigadier-general. There were only five companies in camp, the remaining five being engaged in picketing the railroad to Beaufort, and thus scattered, in small squads, along twenty miles of road. Colonel Adams could not see them. Those in camp looked as well as any companies he had seen. These comprised all the Massachusetts regiments in that department; and as each had made regular reports to the [315] Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth, showing their exact condition, nothing more was necessary to be done. Colonel Adams says,—
Major-General Foster repeatedly assured me, that he considered them as good as any regulars in the army; and he was never weary of extolling the energy, efficiency, accomplishments, and bravery of Massachusetts officers, and the intelligence, docility, discipline, and courage of Massachusetts privates.Colonel Adams concludes his report in these words:—
I was much impressed with the untiring energy and interest with which General Foster looked after every thing within his reach; and I was pleased at the high commendation he bestowed upon Colonels Stevenson, Amory, and Upton, in especial. I was the bearer of a recommendation from him to the Secretary of war, that Colonels Amory and Stevenson should be appointed brigadier-generals. He desired me to solicit your recommendation for them also.During the early part of the year 1862, three allotment commissioners were appointed by the President, as provided by acts of Congress, passed July 22, 1861, and Dec. 24, 1861. These acts provided,— First, for the transmission, free of expense, of portions of the soldiers' pay to their families or friends, as had been done under the half-pay system in the navy. Second, for the appointment, by the President, for each State which chose to adopt this system, of three commissioners, without pay, who should visit the troops, and invite each soldier to avail himself of this opportunity. In February, 1862, President Lincoln, upon the recommendation of Governor Andrew, appointed, as commissioners for Massachusetts; Henry Edwards, of Boston; Frank B. Fay, of Chelsea; and David Wilder, Jr., of Newton. They immediately proceeded to visit all the Massachusetts volunteers,—in the Army of the Potomac, under General McClellan; in the Shenandoah Valley, under General Banks; and at Warrenton, under General McDowell: and, when the Army of the Potomac moved to James River, they accompanied it to Fortress [316] Monroe, and to Yorktown. Allotments were made by the First, Second, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, and Thirty-second Regiments, and the Third and Fifth Light Batteries, and, subsequently, by the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, and Forty-first Regiments, and the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Light Batteries; at a still later period, allotment rolls were made up for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Forty-third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-second, Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Regiments,—making, in all, forty-one different organizations which were visited, either in the field, or at the camps at home, before the men were sent forward. The Legislature of Massachusetts passed an act, March 11, 1862, to carry out more perfectly the system of payments. Mr. J. P. Wainwright, as a volunteer agent of the commissioners, aided in getting the soldiers to make allotments, and, in the fulfilment of this work, visited the Massachusetts regiments in the Department of the Gulf. Communications were made by the commissioners to the officers of the Massachusetts regiments, pressing upon them the advantages, to the soldiers and to their families, of the system. No allotments were received, however, from regiments not visited, except, in a solitary case, of the Twenty-fourth,—Colonel Stevenson's regiment. Much of the success in securing allotments in regiments depended upon the interest felt, and the encouragement given, by its officers. For instance, in one company, containing eighty-three men, seventy-four, following the example of a worthy captain, allotted a portion of their pay; and thirty-three of these, mostly young men, placed it in the State Treasury on interest, subject, at any time, to their order, properly approved by the commanding officer of their company; and two regiments allotted about seven thousand five hundred dollars a month each. The allotment system was simply this: The sums allotted were deducted by the paymaster on each pay-day, and forwarded to the State Treasurer for distribution, or by separate checks to [317] the family, according to the system adopted by the State. Our Massachusetts system proved most satisfactory, as it avoided all risk of chance of omission by transmission of a check by mail, and secured payment directly to the family at home. The payments to the soldiers, from the General Government, were to be made at or near the close of every two months, commencing with January. But, owing to sudden or hazardous movements and other causes, these payments were often delayed, and both the men and their families were much distressed. To remedy this evil,—in part, at least,—and secure, if possible, the retention of a large share of the soldiers' wages at home, the Massachusetts Legislature, in 1863, at the suggestion of Governor Andrew, passed an act, authorizing the State Treasurer to assume the payment of all the Massachusetts volunteers, provided that Congress would permit this to be done. For some reason, permission was not given, much to the regret of the soldiers and the Massachusetts authorities. The act passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts, March 11, 1862, provided that the Treasurer of the Commonwealth should receive and distribute, without expense to the soldiers or their families, all money which our volunteers might forward for this purpose; and that the distribution should be made to parties in the State by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth, through the town and city treasurers, who were to notify the persons to whom the money was assigned, and, if they failed to call for it, return the money to the State Treasurer, who placed it on interest, until further order from the soldier. Persons living out of the State, to whom money was assigned, were to be notified; and, upon the return of a proper order or draft, the amount was forwarded, by a check upon a bank in Boston or New York, as would best serve the interest of the claimant. In many cases, the money was directed by the soldier to be placed at once in the State Treasury, where it drew five per cent interest, thus virtually making the State Treasury a savings bank. It appears, from the report of the State Treasurer for 1866, that the first allotments forwarded to him were in April, 1862; and that— [318]
| The whole amount, for that year, including about $10,000, placed on interest, was | $202,905.56 |
| In 1863, including $90,000 on interest, was | 698,297.76 |
| Also, allotments of State bounties | 190,012.50 |
| In 1864 and 1865, including State bounties | 2,144,136.65 |
| In 1866, for deposits by State paymaster | 2,294.65 |
| – – – – – | |
| Total. | $3,237,647.12 |
Such considerations impress me with no force. The appointment is in no manner a political one. The man I shall commission is he who can best command his men, care for their health, lead them bravest in battle, and, by his intelligence and capacity, save life and limb from needless sacrifice. This I owe alike to the men themselves, to their families they leave behind, and to common humanity.Of course, he did not, at all times, make the best choice; but he endeavored to, and thought he had succeeded. We remember one rather remarkable case, where the Governor erred in making selection of a captain in the Twenty-second Regiment. The Governor believed the person whom he selected to be best fitted for the command. The Adjutant-General believed, and so reported, that the gentleman who was to be a lieutenant in the company should be made captain. The Governor, however, did not change from his original purpose; and the commissions were made out as originally determined upon. The person commissioned captain never attained higher rank: the one commissioned lieutenant rose to be a major-general of volunteers, and gained a reputation second to none, as an able and accomplished volunteer commander, in the Army of the Potomac,—we refer to Major-General Nelson A. Miles, now colonel of infantry in the United-States army, who began his military career as first lieutenant in the Massachusetts Twenty-second Regiment, and whose military record reflects great honor upon his native State. Governor Andrew, however, seldom erred in his judgment of men; and we have no question that the officers selected by him will bear a favorable comparison with those of any other State. When a vacancy occurred after the regiment left the State, his rule was to wait until a recommendation of a person to fill the vacancy was received from the officer in command of the regiment, which recommendation required the approval and [320] indorsement of the officer in command of the brigade. If the person recommended appeared, by the roster, to be junior to others of the same rank, the colonel was written to for his reasons for deviating from the military rule of seniority: if the reasons returned were satisfactory and properly indorsed, the promotion was made, and the commission issued; but, if the reasons given were not satisfactory,—if they disclosed favoritism, family influence, or unjust prejudice,—the appointment was not made, but the officer properly in the line of promotion was commissioned. The Governor's mind was eminently just; he despised trickery and treachery, and all the small devices to which mean natures resort to gain their ends. On the 11th of January, the Governor writes to Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General, calling his attention to a bill reported in the United-States Senate by Senator Wilson, ‘providing, among other things, that vacancies occurring in regiments of volunteers mustered into the United-States service shall be filled by presidential appointment,’ and gives strong reasons why it should not become a law. He concludes by saying,—
It is simply impossible that the volunteer officers can be well selected at Washington. I make mistakes, make some exceptionable appointments, find it out, and try to avoid similar errors again; and I know how difficult is the task. Knowing its difficulty, I write you this note, though the passage of the bill would relieve me personally from much irksome and anxious duty.The bill here referred to never became a law; and appointments continued to be made by the Governors of States, until the end of the war. On the same day, he writes a long and interesting letter to Major-General McClellan, thanking him for the ‘assurance of your valuable aid in establishing our coast defences, furnishing instructors for our volunteer artillerists,’ and asking his influence to have a company accepted, ‘the rank and file of which will be mechanics, riggers, carpenters, smiths, &c., for the special duty of garrisoning Fort Independence, putting the fort in order, mounting and serving the guns.’ This company was, long afterwards, raised and accepted, of which Stephen [321] Cabot was commissioned captain, and became the nucleus of the Fort Warren Battalion. On the 13th of January, the Governor writes three letters, in regard to our coast defences,—one to the President, one to our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and one to Secretary Seward,—in which he argued the importance of the subject, and that the General Government authorize it to be done by the State, as ‘the State can do it with more expedition and economy than it can be done otherwise.’ These letters were taken to Washington by Colonel Charles Amory, master of ordnance of Massachusetts. Jan. 18.—Colonel Browne, by direction of the Governor, writes to Henry N. Hooper, of Boston, respecting an exchange of prisoners—
Every thing that the Governor can do by prayers, entreaties, arguments, and remonstrances, to induce the Federal Government to do justice to our prisoners by instituting a proper system of regular exchanges, has been done in vain. The Federal Administration have obstinately refused to institute such a system; and it is only by individual effort that our fellow-citizens can extricate their fathers, brothers, and sons from that Southern captivity.Jan. 22.—Governor writes to Hon. Roscoe Conkling, United-States House of Representatives, and now United-States Senator:—
I have received, and perused with lively gratification, your speech, delivered on the 6th inst. For its lofty eloquence, and its tribute to the valor and devotedness of our soldiers,—particularly of the men of the Fifteenth and Twentieth Regiments,—I beg to tender you the homage of respectful and hearty gratitude.Jan. 27.—Governor writes to Edwin M. Stanton, who was recently appointed Secretary of War, in place of Mr. Cameron,—
I have the honor to introduce John M. Forbes, Esq., of Boston, one of the most eminent citizens and business men of Massachusetts. He takes great interest in the subject of coast defences, of which Mr. Seward wrote me, last October, but which, I believe, is now in the care of your department. It is very desirable that Massachusetts should act [322] promptly in every way in which her action is needful; and I desire not to be remiss in any duty, but rather to anticipate than delay. Any views imparted to Mr. Forbes would be received for the common good.Same day, to Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury:—
I have the honor to give notice, that Massachusetts assumes, and will pay, her quota of the direct national tax; and I inclose you a copy of the resolve of the General Court, giving me authority to that end.Reference having been made, in the newspapers, to the letter written by General Butler, reflecting upon the personal character of Colonel Powell T. Wyman, of the Sixteenth Regiment, and the answer which the Governor made to it, it would appear that Colonel Wyman, on the 24th of January, wrote to the Governor, as we find a letter written by the Governor, Jan. 27, to Colonel Wyman, from which we extract the essential part:—
Nothing contained in General Butler's letter lessens my estimation of your qualities as a soldier and a gentleman; nor, to my knowledge, is there any officer connected with my staff who entertains any other feeling towards you than such as was manifested continually during your intercourse with us, while organizing your regiment. I have heard but one expression of sentiment with regard to the affair; and that has been of very cordial sympathy with you, under the infliction of so wanton, unprovoked, and unmerited an attack.On the 30th of January, the Governor was suddenly called to Washington, and was absent about ten days. It was while in Washington at this time that the troops raised by General Butler in Massachusetts were placed in the charge of the Governor, and the irregular and illegal manner of raising regiments ended; and the Department of New England was discontinued. In January and February, persons representing themselves recruiting officers for a Maryland regiment came to Boston, and, by their misrepresentations of large pay and little service, induced some thirty or forty men to enlist, and go with them to [323] Baltimore. Upon arriving there, they found how miserably they had been imposed upon. The promises held out were delusive, and the men whom they had trusted were cheats. They were left without money to support themselves; and many letters were received by the Governor and the Adjutant-General, asking that transportation be furnished to return to Massachusetts. Strenuous efforts were made by the Governor to have the men released from the trap in which they had been caught. We find among his letters, at this time, many relating to this unfortunate occurrence. He wrote to General Dix, then commanding at Baltimore; to the Secretary of War; to our members of Congress; to the Governor of Maryland; and to the men themselves. In a letter to one of our members of Congress, he thus describes the transaction:—
It has been done by the most dishonorable and outrageous fraud; and my efforts have been baffled, and these men and others have been entrapped into organizations in which they find only discomfort and misery; and I think that their condition appeals strongly to the sympathy, as well as to the sense of justice, of the War Department.He had the satisfaction in a few weeks to know that his efforts had been successful. The men were released, and afterwards enlisted in Massachusetts regiments. Feb. 18.—The Governor writes to the Secretary of War,—
I am informed by Colonel Dudley, that, from conversations he has had with Major-General Butler, he is satisfied, and feels it his duty to report to me, that, if I commission any other person than Mr. Jonas H. French as lieutenant-colonel, he will compel him (Colonel Dudley) to recognize Mr. French as such, and to repudiate the gentleman I appoint, notwithstanding the commission. Colonel Dudley states, that, as a pretence for this action, General Butler states to him that he proposes to rely on Special Order No. 11, of the current series of your department, which is of course inoperative, so far as it undertakes to designate officers over a body of men which it rests with me alone to organize by the appointment of commissioned officers, but which, nevertheless, Major-General Butler cites, in opposition to the law. I respectfully suggest to you, that that order should be annulled, and that General Butler should receive, from his commander-in-chief, directions suitable to the occasion, and to the demeanor thus assumed by him.[324] Colonel Dudley, who is here mentioned, was a captain in the United-States army,—a Massachusetts man,—and had been commissioned by the Governor colonel of the Thirtieth Regiment. At this time, the Governor had offered the lieutenantcol-onelcy of the regiment to William S. Lincoln, of Worcester; but, from some cause, a change was made, and William W. Bullock, of Boston, received the appointment, and served with the regiment until ill health compelled him to resign, Nov. 25, 1863. The following is the answer of the Secretary of War to the letter above quoted:—
This Department recognizes the right of a Governor to commission volunteer officers. If General Butler assumes to control your appointment, or interfere with it, he will transcend his authority, and be dealt with accordingly. The Adjutant-General will transmit to General Butler an order that will prevent his improper interference with your legitimate authority.Feb. 19.—The Governor telegraphed Hon. John B. Alley, member of Congress,—
The gentlemen said to have been designated by the President, as allotment-commissioners for Massachusetts troops, have received no notice of their appointment. Will you ascertain why, and see that notice is immediately forwarded? Telegraph, if you succeed.Feb. 20.—The Governor's private secretary, Colonel Browne, writes to Colonel Dudley,—
Governor Andrew directs me to inclose to you the within photographic likeness of the young gentleman, Mr. Joseph W. Morton, of Quincy, of whom he spoke to you, and who is acting as a noncom-missioned officer in the Thirtieth Regiment. He hopes you may find him qualified to be recommended for appointment to a first or second lieutenancy: He is represented to be a person of careful education, extensive travel, and general capacity.It is proper to state here, that the Thirtieth and Thirty-first Regiments of Infantry, recruited by General Butler in this [325] Commonwealth, and originally designated by him as the Eastern and Western Bay-State Regiments, were sent from the State to Louisiana without a single commissioned officer. Persons selected by General Butler had been designated by him to act as officers. As many of these persons acted in good faith, and were believed to be competent to command men, Colonel Dudley, of the Thirtieth, and Colonel Gooding, also an army officer, who was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-first, were directed by the Governor, upon joining their regiments in Louisiana, to make a careful examination of the qualifications of the gentlemen acting as officers, and to report to him the names of those who were qualified, that they might receive their commissions. This duty was performed, and, in due time, the officers were properly commissioned. The young gentleman, Mr. Morton, referred to in the above letter, was afterwards commissioned by the Governor in one of the cavalry companies raised by General Butler, and serving in the Department of the Gulf. He was a good officer, and died at his home in Quincy, before the end of the war, from disease contracted in the service. Feb. 20.—The Governor writes to Mr. Stanton,—
I earnestly desire authority to change the battalion at Fort Warren to a regiment. It consists of six companies, and needs the staff officers pertaining to a regiment. Major Parker has repeatedly urged this, and is by my side while now writing.The battalion here spoken of was raised by Francis J. Parker, of Boston, for garrison duty at Fort Warren, and remained there until the retreat of General McClellan, in the summer of 1862, from before Richmond, when it was sent forward to the front, at a day's notice, to meet the pressing exigency, which then existed, for additional forces. Previous to this time, Mr. Stanton persistently refused to allow the battalion to be recruited to a regiment. After it had left the State for the seat of war, permission was given, and four new companies were added to it, and it was designated and known, to the end of the war, as the Thirty-second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. [326] Feb. 27.—The Governor writes to Colonel Tompkins, United-States Quartermaster at New York,—
The Rev. A. L. Stone, pastor of the Park-street Church in this city, desires to visit Port Royal for the purpose of gathering information concerning the moral and spiritual condition of the ‘contrabands’ in that quarter. He is a suitable person to accomplish such a mission. May I hope that you will do what you can to facilitate Mr. Stone's transit to and from Port Royal?Feb. 28.—The Governor writes to the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts,—
I have just, this afternoon, had time to read your interesting report, and I beg you would do what it reminds me of; namely, send to Captain Davis, at Fortress Monroe, and learn what is the present state of his company. General McClellan agreed to change it to artillery; but as yet I have received no orders about it.This letter refers to the report made by the Adjutant-General of his visit to the front, of which an abstract is given in preceding pages in this chapter. March 3.—The Governor addressed a letter to Hon. A. H. Bullock, Speaker of the House of Representatives, calling his attention to a general order issued that day by the Adjutant General of the State, concerning three rebel flags taken at the battle of Roanoke Island by the Massachusetts regiments, and says,—
Such trophies are always prized by the soldier. They are earnest proofs of his efforts and achievements in the performance of his perilous duties. I confess that I received these with the utmost sympathy; and I can but pay to the men who won that day my humble but hearty and admiring gratitude.The Governor then states that the House of Representatives would probably like to pay to our soldiers the honor of having the flags displayed for a time in their hall, and that any direction as would enable this to be done he would gladly concur in. The flags were subsequently presented to the House, and were displayed there until the end of the session. March 3.—The Governor writes to Right Rev. Bishop Fitzpatrick that he had no power ‘to order private McDonald's [327] discharge: that rests alone with the Federal authorities. I will, however, be happy to unite with you in presenting to the Secretary of War, or the General-in-chief of the army, any statement of reasons for requesting the discharge which is desired.’ March 4.—The Governor writes to Colonel Kurtz, Twenty-third Regiment, at Newbern, N. C.,—
I wish to learn the place of burial of James H. Boutell, late private in Co. K, Twenty-third Regiment. He died in the service, and is supposed to have been buried at Hatteras; also, the best means for his friends to get his remains to Massachusetts. His wife, Mrs. Abbie P. Boutell, resides in Wrentham.March 9.—The Governor writes to Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War,—
No words of ours can add to the respect and esteem with which General Lander was held by the people of this Commonwealth; [328] and no words of eulogy can be added which would give significance and strength to the letter we have just quoted. March 28.—The Governor wrote to Mr. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, by which it appears that Mr. Fox had sent to the Governor a copy of a letter ‘taken out of a pocket of a secesh pea-jacket’ by Commodore D. D. Porter, commanding the fleet at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and which related to a Mrs. Sarah A. Blich, of Holmes Hole, who, it appeared, had been giving information to the rebels at New Orleans. Inquiry was made by the Governor, and it was ascertained that a person of that name resided there. He writes,—
She is a native of New Orleans, and was married to Blich last spring. Her maiden name was Sarah A. Stickney. She has a brother in the South, named William Stickney, who is undoubtedly the writer of the letter in question. Her husband, Blich, is a seafaring man, and sailed recently on a voyage to Rio Janeiro; he has a brother who keeps a jewelry shop at Holmes Hole, and is now there. Mrs. Blich is known to have used very violent language of a treasonable character during the progress of the rebellion, and is believed by my informants to be disposed to aid the rebels by information or otherwise. My informants think it more than probable that she has been a medium of communication with the rebels as intimated in her brother's letter. I have not been able to ascertain who is the person named “Dora,” to whom the letter is addressed; but I expect within a few days to obtain information on that point also.Nothing further in relation to this matter appears in the Governor's correspondence. On the ninth day of April, the Governor writes to Colonel Frank E. Howe, New York, that Surgeon-General Dale had made arrangements by which to have an ambulance kept at the city stables, and that city horses would be furnished, without expense, to be used for our wounded soldiers, whenever required. An ambulance, therefore, was purchased; and Colonel Howe was authorized to purchase one, to be used for our wounded in New York. April 8.—The Governor writes to the President of the United States:— [329]
I have the honor, by the hand of Hon. Francis W. Bird, who is specially deputed therefor, to place in your hands an engrossed copy of the resolves of the General Court of Massachusetts, in approval of your recent message to the Congress of the United States, in favor of national co-operation with any State of this Union, in the abolishment of slavery. I deem it due to the solemnity, interest, and importance of the occasion, and to the earnest devotion of this ancient Commonwealth, alike to the Union, the fame, and the happiness of these States and people, as well as to her hereditary love of liberty, that this expression of her hearty concurrence with your great act, should receive the most formal and cordial utterance....I devoutly pray that the good providence of God will conduct your administration and this nation through all the perils they encounter, and establish our country on eternal foundations of impartial justice to all her people.April 9.—The Governor telegraphs to the Secretary of War,—
Accept my congratulations on victories at Corinth, and the Mississippi. Do you desire extra surgeons from Massachusetts for the care of wounded, there or elsewhere? If so, there are several here, of professional eminence, who, under the direction of our State Surgeon-General, are prepared to start immediately to any point of active operations, giving their professional services gratuitously, from motives of patriotism.April 12.—The Governor writes to General Burnside, at North Carolina, congratulating him upon his well-deserved promotion, which has given ‘sincere as well as universal pleasure.’ He then refers to a letter which he had received from Brigadier-General Foster, that seven hundred and fifty recruits were needed to supply the losses in the four Massachusetts regiments in his brigade. But just at this time, an order had been issued from the War Department, discontinuing recruiting in every State, and requiring recruiting parties to close their offices, and join their regiments. The Governor telegraphed to Mr. Stanton for permission to recruit for the Massachusetts regiments under General Foster, and leave was granted. At this time, the general superintendence of recruiting, in the different States, had passed into the hands of the War Department; and army officers were detailed, in various States, as military commanders, who assumed control of all enlistments, mustering, subsistence, [330] and transportation of men. The military commander in Massachusetts, in April, 1862, was Colonel Hannibal Day, U. S. A. This change in mode of recruiting was not satisfactory at first; but, after it was in operation some time, certain modifications were made by the War Department, and the State and United-States authorities worked in harmony together. The men asked for by General Foster were soon recruited, and forwarded to North Carolina. April 19.—The Governor writes to Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, calling his attention to a communication of the Treasurer of Massachusetts, which he inclosed to him, and says,—
The prominent fact to which I beg to allude with emphasis is, that, after the passage of the tax act, we very much more than paid our share of it by heavy expenditures, made at Mr. Cameron's request, and on which we are losing the interest. I ask, therefore, that at least as much as the amount of the tax assessed on Massachusetts should be paid to us before we pay this tax. This is safe for the United States, and only just to Massachusetts.On the same day, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of the Navy, introducing Hon. Joel Hayden, of the Executive Council, and Edward S. Tobey, President of the Boston Board of Trade, who were deputed to confer with him in relation to iron-clad ships. These gentlemen had a plan for iron-plating four steamers, belonging to the Government, at Charlestown and the Kittery Navy Yards, which, the Governor said, ‘would render them invulnerable, and present them ready for action and in sea-going trim in fifty days. If those vessels belonged to us,’ he continues, ‘we would undertake to prepare some of them for service in this way; but they belong to the United States. If you will turn over to us one or two of them, we will be glad to take them, and have the work done; and we desire that the four should be thus treated.’ The proposition here made was not complied with. As one of the many evidences of the firmness of purpose and justness of decision of Governor Andrew, we give an extract from a letter, dated April 29, to Brigadier-General Doubleday, then on duty at Washington. A lieutenant-colonel of one of [331] our regiments had been accused, by the colonel, of certain delinquencies; and charges were preferred to bring the case before a court-martial. In a hasty and inconsiderate moment, the lieutenant-colonel resigned, rather than stand trial. After the resignation was accepted, the officer repented of his hasty act, and sought to be restored by the Governor. Before acting upon this request, he wrote to General Doubleday, to make inquiry into the charges, and inform him what he thought of them. From this letter we quote:—
While I feel kindly towards Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver, I wish only for exact justice, and would not restore him to the regiment, unless he was unjustly accused. I am jealous of the honor of the Massachusetts corps, sensitive to every thing which affects them, desirous of doing exactly right, hit where it will. The matter lies in a narrow compass; and I wish to reach a speedy conclusion, founded upon a basis of established proofs, which shall satisfy the demands of justice, truth, and honor.Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver was not restored to the regiment from which he resigned, but was afterwards commissioned major in the Second Regiment Heavy Artillery, which shows that the Governor had been satisfied that the charges against him did not affect his standing as an officer and gentleman. April 30.—The Governor received the following despatch from Major-General Wool, dated—
This is the first despatch received at the State House in relation to the sick and wounded of General McClellan's army, from which, for months following, the brave and ghastly sufferers of that memorable campaign returned, to fill the homes of their friends, and the hospitals of the Government. In connection with these wounded and suffering men, we find a letter written by the Governor, May 1, addressed to all officers of [332] Massachusetts corps volunteer officers in the field, commending to their courtesy and co-operation Dr. Alfred Hitchcock and his assistant, Mr. J. W. Wellman, who were detailed to visit the Massachusetts troops at Yorktown, Newbern, or elsewhere, and to render such aid as might be practicable to the sick and wounded in the field or hospitals, and transporting them to their homes. Of Dr. Hitchcock's services, while thus detailed, we have already spoken, but shall have reason to speak of them again, when he visited, by direction of the Governor, the sanguinary but victorious field of Antietam. The first mention we find, in the Governor's letters, of raising colored troops, is in a letter addressed by him to Mr. Francis H. Fletcher, Pratt Street, Salem, in which he says,—
No official information has been received at this department from the United-States Government, concerning the plan, which is now mentioned with favor, of raising colored regiments for garrison duty in the Gulf and cotton States; nor is any thing known at this department of the intentions of the United-States Government in that regard, beyond what is published in the public prints. General Saxton, who is mentioned in the newspapers as being detailed to organize such a force, is a native of Massachusetts, and a most worthy and humane gentleman, as well as a skilful officer; and, if the report is correct, it is a very judicious selection for such a duty and command.It appears that Mr. Fletcher was a candidate for a commission in such regiments; and the Governor offered him a letter to General Saxton, and such other assistance as was in his power, to obtain what he desired. Dr. Le Baron Russell, of Boston, at the request of a committee of teachers and other friends of education in Massachusetts, visited Washington, for the purpose of arranging some plan, under the sanction of the Federal authority, to enable Massachusetts teachers and agents to participate in the humane and benevolent work of improving the intellectual and moral condition of the emancipated slaves within certain of our military posts. He carried letters from the Governor to the Secretary of War and other official persons, highly approving the purpose of his mission. This appears to have been the commencement [333] of the educational labors among the liberated slaves, which has been attended with so much good. On the 19th of May, the Secretary of War telegraphed to the Governor to know if he could raise four more new regiments at short notice, to which he replied affirmatively; but, in the letter expressing his readiness to comply with the Secretary's demand, he says,—
If our people feel that they are going into the South to help fight rebels, who will kill and destroy them by all the means known to savages, as well as civilized man, —will deceive them by fraudulent flags of truce and lying pretences, will use their negro slaves against them both as laborers and as fighting men, while they themselves must never fire at the enemy's magazine,—I think that they will feel that the draft is heavy on their patriotism. But, if the President will sustain General Hunter,—recognize all men, even black men, as legally capable of that loyalty the blacks are waiting to manifest, and let them fight with God and human nature on their side,—the roads will swarm, if need be, with multitudes whom New England would pour out to obey your call.A copy of this letter was sent to the Governors of the New-England States, in the thought that mutual conference might be useful, and tend to unite and concentrate opinion in New England upon the subject to which it relates. On the 25th of May, received from Mr. Stanton the following telegrams:—
Send all the troops forward that you can, immediately. Banks is completely routed. The enemy are, in large force, advancing on Harper's Ferry. Intelligence from various quarters leaves no doubt that the enemy, in great force, are advancing on Washington. You will please organize and forward immediately all the volunteer and militia force in your State.Upon the receipt of these telegrams, orders were immediately issued by the Adjutant-General for the militia of the Commonwealth to report at once for duty on Boston Common, to proceed to Washington; and four thousand men were in Boston, and ready to start, on the 27th. But, on the morning of the [334] 27th, the Governor received the following, dated midnight, May 26, from the Secretary of War:—
Two despatches have been received from General Banks, one dated at Martinsburg, the other between Martinsburg and Williamsport, which state that he has saved his trains, and the chief part of his command, and expected to cross the Potomac at Williamsburg in safety. We hope he may accomplish his purpose.In consequence of the favorable change of affairs in General Banks's command, the order to send forward the militia was countermanded, and the men returned to their homes, most of them disappointed that they were not to go forward. The battalion raised for garrison duty at Fort Warren, composed of six companies of three years men, left, on the 27th, for the front, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Francis J. Parker; and orders were received to recruit four new companies, and make it a regiment, which was speedily done. This was what was called afterwards ‘the great scare,’ and many people blamed Mr. Stanton for the semi-sensational character of his telegraph messages. They certainly created the wildest excitement throughout the Commonwealth; and Boston, in a degree, resembled Edinburgh on receipt of the fatal news of Flodden Field. June 2.—Governor telegraphs General Banks, Williamsport, Md. :—
Telegram received yesterday. Surgeon-General Dale has arranged to supply your requisition immediately. I greet you cordially. All honor to our brave Massachusetts men!This was a request to send forward additional surgeons to take care of the wounded in General Banks's command. On the 4th of June, the Governor wrote Colonel George H. Gordon, Second Massachusetts Volunteers, who had command of a brigade under General Banks,—
Permit me, in closing, to congratulate you upon your nomination to the rank of brigadier-general, and also upon the brilliant success achieved by the withdrawal of our forces, with so little loss, from the heart of the enemy's country, and against a force so completely overwhelming.[335] The Governor had written, the day before, to Senator Sumner, in favor of the confirmation, by the Senate, of Colonel Gordon's nomination, and hoped ‘it would be unanimous.’ The letters written by the Governor from the first of January to the first of July, 1862, fill five volumes, of five hundred pages each: from these volumes we have made the extracts immediately preceding. The letters in these volumes relate to every matter of detail connected with our regiments in the field, the proceedings of the Legislature, recruiting at home, coast defences, building monitors, the sick and wounded, the State aid to soldiers' families, the selection of officers, the discipline of the army, the delay of the Government to hasten warlike measures,—all which, though of great and lasting interest, are too voluminous even to name by their titles and dates, in a work like this. This herculean labor of correspondence was continued by the Governor until the end of the war; and he retired from the gubernatorial chair, after five years of official service, which required more active thought and exertion, and was freighted with higher duties and responsibilities, than had been imposed upon all the Governors of the Commonwealth in the preceding fifty years. In the first six months of 1862, four thousand five hundred and eighty-seven men had been recruited for three years service, and sent to the front; also, a company of light artillery, known as Cook's Battery, which was mustered in for six months service,—these men were in the Thirtieth Regiment; three companies of unattached cavalry, which left the State by transports for the Department of the Gulf, Jan. 3, 1862; three companies of infantry, to complete the organization of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, which was sent forward, Jan. 7, to Fortress Monroe; the Twenty-eighth Regiment, which left the State for South Carolina via New York, Jan. 8; the Sixth Battery, which sailed from Boston for Ship Island, Department of the Gulf, Feb. 7; the Thirty-first Regiment, which sailed in transport for Fortress Monroe, Feb. 21, and from Fortress Monroe to Ship Island, Department of the Gulf; seven companies, comprising what was known as the Fort Warren Battalion, and afterwards as the Thirty-second Regiment, which were [336] sent forward to the Army of the Potomac, May 26; two companies for the Fourteenth Regiment, shortly afterwards changed to the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, which were sent to join the regiment in Virginia, March 1, 1862. One company, designated the First Unattached Company of Heavy Artillery, was enlisted for three years, for service in the forts in Boston Harbor, of which Stephen Cabot was commissioned captain. On the twenty-sixth day of May, the First Company of Cadets, Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. Holmes, was mustered into the service to take the place of the Fort Warren Battalion, which was ordered to the front on that day. The Cadets remained on duty until July 1. The Second Company of Cadets, of Salem, commanded by Captain John L. Marks, was mustered in May 26, for garrison duty in the forts at Boston Harbor, and was mustered out Oct. 11. The company raised by Captain E. H. Staten, of Salem, was also mustered in for garrison duty, and remained on duty until Jan. 1, 1863. In addition to these new organizations, which were mustered into the service in the first six months of 1862, upwards of three thousand volunteers were recruited, and sent forward to fill the ranks of the Massachusetts regiments in the field. It was the policy of Governor Andrew to keep the regiments in the service full, rather than to organize new regiments while the old regiments were wanting men. In pursuance of this policy, seven thousand men were enlisted during the year 1862, assigned to regiments in the field, and forwarded to their several destinations. On the 28th day of May, an order was received from the President of the United States for thirty companies of infantry, twenty of which were to compose two regiments,—the Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth,—six for a battalion to garrison Fort Warren, and four to complete the organization of the Thirty-second Regiment. The Thirty-third regiment was recruited at Lynnfield, and left the State to join the Army of the Potomac, Aug. 14, 1862. The Thirty-fourth Regiment was recruited at ‘Camp John E. Wool,’ on the Agricultural Fair Grounds in Worcester. It left the State for Washington, Aug. 15, 1862. The other ten companies were recruited in a few weeks, and assigned to duty. [337] The Massachusetts regiments and batteries in the spring of 1862, and previous to the commencement of the campaign in North Carolina under Burnside, and in Virginia under General McClellan, were stationed as follows: The First, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-second, Twenty-ninth, and Thirty-second Regiments of Infantry, the First, Third, and Fifth Batteries, and the two companies of Sharpshooters, were in the Army of the Potomac. The Second, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Regiments of Infantry were in the Army of Virginia, in the upper waters of the Potomac. The Seventeenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-seventh Regiments of Infantry were in General Burnside's army, in North Carolina. The Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Regiments of Infantry, three unattached companies of cavalry, the Second and Sixth Companies of Light Artillery, were in the Department of the Gulf in Louisiana. The Twenty-eighth Regiment of Infantry and the First Regiment of Cavalry were in the Army of the South, in South Carolina. The First Regiment of Heavy Artillery was stationed in forts near Washington, on the Virginia side of the Potomac. The Seventh Company of Light Artillery was stationed at Fortress Monroe; and the Eighth Company of Light Artillery (Cook's), was stationed near Washington. Thus the soldiers of Massachusetts were stationed in array of battle, at the beginning of this eventful year, at different points,—from the valley of the Shenandoah to the lowlands of Louisiana. In the year before, they had been the first to reach Washington, and to plant the colors of the Commonwealth upon the soil of Virginia. So they were the first, in 1862, to land in North Carolina, and ‘carry the flag, and keep step to the music of the Union,’ in the far-off plains of Mississippi and Louisiana. Before the end of the year, as we shall proceed to show, Massachusetts soldiers were the first to land on the soil of Texas, and display the ensign of the republic in the city of Galveston.
