Читать книгу Twelve Months with the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry in the Service of the United States - Harry Endicott Webber - Страница 7

Table of Contents

Shortly after 2 o'clock on the afternoon of May 5th, the Eighth marched onto the State Camp Grounds at South Framingham. The Second and Ninth Regiments turned out with a hearty welcome as the Fife and Drum Corps swung through the gate playing "Teddy Was a Sojer."

When the four volunteer regiments were mustered into the service, they dispensed with bands. The Eighth, however, took its drum corps, which as early as March 16th had volunteered, through the Drum Major. Drum Major Thomas was and still is (1908) an institution in the regiment. No one remembers when he was not Drum Major. Rumor says he was drummer boy at Bunker Hill, Lundy Lane and Chepultepec, and all know he marched with Sherman to the sea. Invincible against fever and malaria, he is never sick. Always busy, never complaining or tired, he is a cheerful regimental inspiration. Time does not change him, except as it adds new glories in the form of service stripes. His reveille from Low Scotch, through Austrian, Hessian, Double Drag, Dutch, to Quick Scotch, is always welcome as an eye opener. It is a tradition that the Colonel gets up before reveille for the mere pleasure of seeing Thomas lead, and of watching the drum sticks rattle. It is certainly true that the regiment was never late when Thomas led the band.

Camp was soon established. The Second Regiment, which assembled May 3rd, occupied the right of the line; next came the Ninth, which came into camp May 4th, followed by the Eighth. On the left was reserved a position for the Sixth, which was to assemble the next day. Adjutant Edward H. Eldredge was detailed as Brigade Adjutant General, and his place on the Regimental Staff was filled by Lieutenant Thomas D. Barroll of L Company.

Dame Rumor was soon busy spreading reports that the United States, personified by impartial and inexorable army surgeons, was rejecting men as unfit for foreign service. Already ten officers of the Second had been rejected for physical deficiencies. What pledges, words and wills had been unable to accomplish, the dread of a full service medical examination accomplished, and officers and men, who for years had smoked or broken minor rules of health, stopped on the moment to brace themselves for this ordeal.

The officers were ordered before the doctors the day after arriving in camp, and at intervals of twenty minutes they reported in groups of threes. Major Dudley B. Purbeck, who had recently suffered from a serious illness, was rejected. There was much excitement in the streets of Company C when it was reported that Captain James Tucker, Lieutenants Edgar J. Marshall and Frank B. Denning had failed to pass. The Selectmen and influential citizens of Marblehead were appealed to, and in some way secured a re-examination and a reversal of the finding in the case of Lieutenant Denning, who was finally mustered and commissioned as Captain.

After the officers had passed, the enlisted men faced the surgeons, the companies going up in alphabetical order. Many men were rejected and sent home. It was the rule not to muster a company until it had a full complement of qualified officers and men. The process was slow, and it was not until May 10th that the first company of the Eighth was mustered, followed in rapid succession by the others. The last company was mustered May 11th, and the Colonel sworn in.

The ceremony of mustering was interesting and impressive. Companies were marched to Brigade Headquarters, with the men arranged alphabetically in line. Facing the colors, taking off their hats, and raising their right hands, after roll call, they subscribed the following oath administered by Captain Erastus M. Weaver, U. S. A.:—

"All and each of you do solemnly swear that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of America, and that you will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever, and that you will obey the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over you, according to the rules and articles of war, so help you God."

There was much pleasant rivalry between the Eighth and Ninth Regiments in a race to be first mustered in the United States service. The last company of the Ninth was mustered in just before the last company of the Eighth, and the Colonel of the Eighth being the last officer in the Regiment to be mustered into the service, was mustered in before the Colonel of the Ninth. The important question was never settled, which regiment was first mustered into the United States service.

After a company was mustered into the service, its Captain was given a copy of the Articles of War, and directed to read them to his company. From this tiresome reading of all the articles at once, a company wag said it was the general impression that the whole regiment was ordered by the President to suffer death or such other penalty as the court martial should prescribe.

The designation of the Regiments as finally mustered into the United States service, early became a matter of interest. It was rumored that in as much as Massachusetts sent sixty-two regiments to the Civil War, the numbering of the regiments in the Spanish War was to begin where the numbering of the Civil War regiments left off. In that case the Eighth would be known as the Sixty-Third or Sixty-Fourth Regiment. This enumeration was followed in some states. The designation of the regiment was left to Governor Wolcott, who published as the official name, Eighth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, U. S. V.

The facings on the uniform was immediately changed from blue to white, and a collar device adopted consisting of crossed rifles with the figure eight above, and the abbreviation "Mass." below the rifles.

During the stay at Framingham everyone was busy, recruits were drilled, the regiment was exercised in striking and pitching tents, company cooks and kitchen police were made familiar with the army ration, battalions and companies were drilled, guards were instructed, and the usual parade and daily ceremonies held. The days were crisp and clear; the evenings, however, were chilly, but the dampness was dissipated by roaring camp fires on the parade, about which the soldiers clustered until taps.

It was the intention of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts to have the regiments leave the State in order of the seniority of the Colonels. This would give third place to the Eighth.

On May 13th, the Adjutant-General of the United States Army telegraphed the United States mustering officer at South Framingham to notify the Colonels of mustered regiments to report direct to the War Department when their regiments would be ready to leave the State. This notice was sent to the Headquarters of the Eighth and Ninth. Colonel Pew immediately telegraphed the War Department that the Eighth was ready to leave at once, and in a few hours received a telegraphic order to take the regiment to Chickamauga Park, Georgia. Owing to the lack of railroad transportation, it was impossible for the Regiment to get away until May 16th.

Saturday, May 14th, was Eighth Regiment day at Camp Dewey. On Friday evening as soon as the soldiers were notified that the regiment was to hold itself ready to move at once, they rushed to the telegraph station and sent word to their friends at home that if they wished to see them, they should come to Camp Dewey in the morning, as it was expected that the Regiment would be on its way south by Saturday night.

Early in the morning, the friends of the soldiers began to arrive on the field, and every train brought crowds until by noon there were hundreds from every town and city having a company in the regiment. As the families of the soldiers came into camp, they brought with them boxes and bundles of the good things which a New England housewife knows so well how to cook, and during the hours between drills, there were family picnics all about the camp.

In the afternoon, Governor Wolcott and some of his staff visited the camp to present the officers with their commissions in the United States service. After passing in review before His Excellency, the Regiment formed three sides of a hollow square, with officers in the center. The Governor and his party formed a fourth side. The square was surrounded by friends of the Regiment, who covered half of the great parade ground. The remarks of His Excellency were deeply impressive, and at times he visibly showed the emotion which he felt. In a voice audible to everyone on the field, Governor Wolcott said:—

"Men of Essex and Middlesex:—Two days ago your parting cheers made sweet music in the ears of your comrades of the Second Regiment as they left the Commonwealth in the high service of the United States of America. Today you obey the same summons, and are ready, as they were, to endure hardship and suffering in the same exalted cause.

Your cause, men of Massachusetts, is a just and righteous one. I greatly misread the heart of this great nation if the historian of the future shall not record that this war was entered upon by a mighty and free people, who had heard, as long as they could endure them, the sighs and groans of an oppressed neighboring population, bending beneath the tyranny of a nation of the old world.

It is to set free the oppressed and to bind up their wounds that you now enter the service of the United States. You will find yourselves shoulder to shoulder with the men of other states. Let there be no other rivalry than generous emulation, that you shall show that the men of Massachusetts, where valor calls for sacrifice, or where the duty of the soldier calls for prompt obedience and good discipline, are second to the sons of no other Commonwealth and no other State in the United States of America.

You leave with the prayers and the confidence of the people of this Commonwealth. Officially, as the Governor of the Commonwealth, I bid you Godspeed! And may the God of battles bring you victory and an honorable peace!

It is now my privilege and honor to present to the officers of the Eighth Massachusetts Infantry, United States Volunteers, the commissions under which they enter the service of the United States."

After presenting the commissions, Governor Wolcott said:—

"Colonel Pew:—You have a regiment worthy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and of the service of the United States of America."

The following officers received their commissions from Governor Wolcott on this occasion:—

Colonel—William A. Pew, Jr. of Salem.

Lieutenant Colonel—Edwin W. M. Bailey of Amesbury.

Majors—William Stopford of Beverly; Frank A. Graves of Marblehead; Edward H. Eldredge of Boston.

Adjutant—Lieutenant Thomas D. Barrol of Boston.

Quartermaster—Lieutenant Charles F. Wonson of Gloucester.

Surgeon—Major William Cogswell of Salem.

Assistant Surgeons—Lieutenant Thomas L. Jenkins of Topsfield; Lieutenant Frank P. T. Logan of Gloucester.

Chaplain—Rev. George D. Sanders of Gloucester.

Company A, Newburyport—Captain, Alexander G. Perkins; First Lieutenant, George W. Langdon; Second Lieutenant, George H. Dow.

Company B, Amesbury—Captain, Horace S. Bean; First Lieutenant, John M. Pettingill; Second Lieutenant, Frank Stinson.

Company C, Marblehead—Captain, Frank B. Denning; First Lieutenant, Linville H. Wardwell; Second Lieutenant, Frederic P. Smith.

Company D, Lynn—Captain, Charles T. Hilliker; First Lieutenant, Thomas J. Coby; Second Lieutenant, William F. Young.

Company E, Beverly—Captain, Frederick W. Stopford; First Lieutenant, Charles H. Farnham; Second Lieutenant, Francisco A. DeSousa.

Company F, Haverhill—Captain, William C. Dow; First Lieutenant, Per Justus Swanberg; Second Lieutenant, David E. Jewell.

Company G, Gloucester—Captain, Edward J. Horton; First Lieutenant, Charles M. McIsaac; Second Lieutenant, James C. Nutt.

Company H, Salem—Captain, Walter P. Nichols; First Lieutenant, George N. Jewett; Second Lieutenant, Augustus G. Reynolds.

Company I, Lynn—Captain, John E. Williams; First Lieutenant, Francis H. Downey; Second Lieutenant, William H. Perry.

Company K, Danvers—Captain, A. Preston Chase; First Lieutenant, Henry W. French; Second Lieutenant, Stephen N. Bond.

Company L, Lawrence—Captain, James Forbes; First Lieutenant, James H. Craig; Second Lieutenant, Roland H. Sherman.

Company M, Somerville—Captain, Herbert W. Whitten; First Lieutenant, George I. Canfield; Second Lieutenant, Frederick W. Pierce.

From May 14th to May 16th the Regiment waited, uncertain when its train transportation would arrive. Shortly after noon on the 16th, camp was struck. It was a damp and dreary day. There was no large crowd to cheer their departure, as the home stations of the companies were too remote, and the movement too sudden for the friends of the regiment to see them off. Late in the afternoon the regiment passed in review before Governor Wolcott, and took up its line of march for the railroad station. There it was quickly embarked in three sections. Each battalion had a section consisting of eleven cars, one for baggage, one for guard quarters, and two for each company. A Wagner sleeper was furnished on each section for the accommodation of the officers. The first section pulled out of the station at South Framingham at 6 o'clock, followed shortly afterwards by the others. The last section left at 6.30. The three sections carried 47 officers and 896 men.