THE OLD “TIGER” FIRST
It now becomes necessary to go back and trace out the origins of the
organizations which were consolidated with the 1st Regiment in 1878. Let
us first give attention to the companies which bore the title of 4th
Battalion. We shall discover a battalion or regimental history
stretching back to 1834, and company records commencing as early as
1787.
Three “independent companies” of infantry were listed in the roster of
1788 as connected with the 1st Division, Suffolk. One of these
disappeared from the records the following year, and another in 1792.
The lone survivor yet survives--in fact is the 3d Company, M. C. A.,
otherwise known as the Independent Boston Fusiliers.
On May 11, 1787, the Governor’s Council voted to approve an application
signed by Thomas Adams and fifty-three others, and to charter a company.
Gov. James Bowdoin presided at the Council meeting and himself
introduced the petition. On the following July 4, he stood with the
members of the new company on the slope of Bunker Hill and, at that
shrine of American liberty, presented them their official charter. They
next proceeded to the home of John Hancock, soon to be Governor, and at
his liberal table, as his guests, enjoyed an inaugural dinner. The
Fusiliers have excelled in many military lines thruout their long and
honorable history--by no means least of their attainments is the
masterly skill with which they have maintained the custom of dining
together. Their motto, _Aut vincere aut mori_, seemed high-sounding in
the early years. “Conquer or die” presented harsh alternatives. But the
time was to come seventy-five years later when the nation needed just
such stern, self-sacrificing devotion; and then the Fusiliers indeed
lived up to their motto. The Fusiliers wore red coats, in commemoration
of certain gallant foemen with whom America had recently been engaged.
As the Cadets were then clad in white and another company in blue, a
striking patriotic ensemble was produced by the grouping of uniforms
whenever the independent companies paraded. William Turner was elected
the first Fusilier Captain; the names of his successors are recorded
elsewhere in this book. No wonder that the Fusiliers, actives or
veterans, have always been noted for maintaining the most successful and
distinguished military ball in all Boston, the military-social event of
the year; for their first Captain was, by profession, a dancing-master.
Capt. Turner was succeeded by Capt. Joseph Laughton, who when not on
militia duty, was occupied as a clerk in the Treasurer’s office.
[Illustration: THE FUSILIERS ABOUT 1845]
After 1798 the Fusiliers were never without vigorous and congenial
companionship. Enthusiasm was then in full flood; George Washington had
shown his patriotism by consenting to accept a subordinate position,
that of Lieutenant General of the army under President John Adams; and
men were enrolling themselves in the new legionary brigade. America was
aflame with indignation over French injustice. On September 4, 1798, the
Boston Light Infantry was organized after four months of preliminary
meetings--the body which today reports to the Adjutant as the 2d
Company, M. C. A. Their motto, “Death or an honorable life,” is a
ringing echo of Charles C. Pinckney’s immortal words, “Millions for
defence; not one cent for tribute.” At the first banquet of the company,
Oct. 18, 1798, when the charter was received, the principal toast
was--“The United States of America; as they have drawn the sword of
justice with reason, may they never sheathe it with disgrace.” Would
that this sentiment might always prevail with the authorities in
Washington! Amongst the members present at this banquet were sons or
near relatives of such patriots as Paul Revere, James Otis and Joseph
Warren. Truly the sons were rallying about the standard of the fathers.
Drills were first held in the old State House, and after 1802 in Faneuil
Hall.
There were lovers of Shakespeare in the Boston Light Infantry. At a
dinner in 1815 one of them gave point to his speech by quoting the words
of Henry V, hero of Agincourt:
“In peace, there’s nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness, and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger.”
All of the speech was forgotten except the final words of the quotation,
“The tiger!” Company orators kept repeating the expression. Ere long the
Boston Light Infantry found itself provided with a nickname--and it is
best known thruout its long history as “The Tigers.”
In 1800 the Fusiliers under Capt. John Brazer and the Tigers, Capt.
Daniel Sargent (a merchant in civil life), were the two light infantry
companies constituting the sub-legion of light infantry--both being
entirely independent. Indeed the sub-legion of light infantry had no
field officer until Feb. 14, 1806, when Capt. Daniel Messinger of the
Winslow Blues was elected Major. The Blues were organized in 1799 and
first appeared on the sub-legion roster in 1802. The Washington Light
Infantry were organized in 1803.
When in 1810 the legionary brigade was transformed into the 3d Brigade,
1st Division, Maj. Messinger’s sub-legion of light infantry was broken
up and the companies were distributed amongst the infantry regiments of
the brigade. The Fusiliers and the Washington Lt. Inf. were incorporated
with the 1st Reg., the Tigers with the 2d, and the Winslow Blues with
the 3d. These infantry regiments, former “legionaries,” were neither
train-band militia nor independent uniformed volunteers. Their status
was somewhere between the two; it was hoped that the light infantry
companies might serve as leaven for the infantry, and bring all up to
the volunteer standard. The arrangement continued until 1834. By that
time it was clear that only the independent companies, the “light”
infantry, retained any vitality; and they were separated from the
infantry regiments, and organized into a separate “Regiment of Light
Infantry, 3d Brigade.”
Non-commissioned officers of the light infantry companies manifested
active interest in the training school, “The Soul of the Soldiery,” from
1811 until 1819 and later.
Another company was born amid the war excitement of 1812, the New
England Guards. Even from the days of their first Captain, Samuel Swett,
it was felt that a distinguished destiny awaited the organization.
During their entire half century of existence, they made constant effort
to maintain their personnel at the highest standard; and the effort was
crowned with success. An extant lithograph, in the museum of the A. & H.
Art. Co., shows the Guards in the year 1836 parading with four platoons
of twelve files each--numbers indicative of the company’s popularity.
They were added to the 2d Regiment, and thereafter were associated with
the Tigers.
During the war with England the light infantry companies rendered
service at the harbor forts similar to that of the artillery. By
request of the commandant of the Charlestown Navy Yard, the New England
Guards were stationed at the Chelsea bridge for eleven days from June
13, 1814, in order to prevent an expected raid by a hostile landing
party. The entire membership of the Fusiliers was on duty from Sept. 12
until Oct. 10, under Capt. Gerry Fairbanks (a hatter in civil life); and
detachments continued doing garrison duty several weeks longer. The
Tigers helped to build Ft. Strong on Jeffries Point, East Boston;
similar activity characterized the other companies. Massachusetts’ crest
is a sword borne by the arm of a civilian: Massachusetts citizens in
1814 bore the sword effectively and well.
The light infantry companies participated in the same parades and public
festal occasions as did the artillery companies. These events are
elsewhere described in sufficient detail. In the sterner task of
maintaining public order the New England Guards were on duty twice--July
7, 1824, and Feb. 11, 1825,--in connection with conflagrations. In both
instances personal property had been saved from the fire and temporarily
deposited in a place of safety; and the troops mounted guard against
pillagers. The Tigers subscribed the first $100 toward the cost of
Bunker Hill monument.
From the disbandment of Maj. Messinger’s battalion in 1810 until the
organization of the regiment of light infantry in 1834, the companies of
light infantry were associated only in the larger unit of the 3d
Brigade. While the Coast Artillery includes all the surviving units of
that Brigade, and altho the 3d Brigade was the most solid and efficient
part of the old militia, still it does not seem wise to treat Brigade
history in particular detail. Suffice it to say that four strong
companies of light infantry continued active in the infantry regiments
of the brigade--the Fusiliers in the 1st Regiment, the Tigers and the
New England Guards in the 2d, and the Winslow Blues in the 3d. Lists of
company commanders are recorded elsewhere. A new branch of the service
came into existence, the “Rifles,” and were accorded precedence over
others--were given the right of the line in parades. In appearance they
differed from other troops, as they wore jaunty green uniforms, and
carried short flint-lock rifles without bayonets. These riflemen aimed
to reproduce the famous corps under Daniel Morgan and others in the
Revolutionary war, the frontiersmen and rangers clad in buckskin
hunting-shirts who were so terrifying to America’s enemies. It has
always seemed strange to the writer that the frontiersman’s costume, the
only distinctively American garb ever devised, should not continue in
use. Not even these new riflemen, however, succeeded in remaining true
to type. While they were fond of picturing themselves in the
hunting-shirt, the uniforms which they actually wore followed German
models. One valuable contribution the new rifles did make to militia
life, they were pioneers in setting up target practice as part of the
soldier’s training.
Light infantry and rifles were distinguished from other infantry by the
fact that they were trained in the skirmish drill, and were alone
qualified to perform outpost duty. In line, they formed on the flanks of
other companies. From time to time additional commands aspired to become
light infantry, and some realized their aspirations. By 1834 there were
eight companies altogether in the infantry regiments who felt
dissatisfied with their regimental connection, and resented the waning
interest which regimental neighbors displayed in things military. Their
plan was to separate from the infantry, and revive the old battalion of
light infantry, whose members should all be volunteers and uniformed,
the battalion which had been broken up in 1810--in short, to organize a
Light Infantry Regiment in the 3d Brigade. From the 1st Regiment came
the Fusiliers, the Washington Lt. Infantry and the Mechanic Rifles; from
the 2d the Tigers and the New England Guards; and from the 3d the
Winslow Blues, the City Guards (organized Sept. 21, 1821), and the Rifle
Rangers (organized 1820). In 1835 a new company was added, the Lafayette
Gds.
The new regiment was organized in Aug., 1834, with eight companies, and
Col. Amasa G. Smith of the 2d Regiment was elected to command. A
succession of field officers, which had begun in 1806 with Major
Messinger and had been interrupted from 1810 until 1834, was thereafter
to be continuous. Col. Smith’s commission was dated July 29, 1834; he
continued in command until Feb. 23, 1838.
Judged by the standards of the day, Col. Smith’s regiment was a very
fine one, indeed was a “crack” command. No less an authority than
President Andrew Jackson is reported to have testified, “I have never
seen its equal.” Most of the companies wore blue swallow-tail coats and
white duck trousers--the latter quite regardless of weather; gradually
blue nether garments were added for use on stormy days. The two rifle
companies wore green, the Rangers having frock coats and uhlan hats;
while extant engravings of the City Guards in 1844, the year of their
famous march to Baltimore, show them clad in gray suits of a pattern
precisely the same as those worn by the New York 7th. The City Guards
were the first corps to wear gray in Boston; and the Fusiliers were
equally distinguished by reason of their scarlet coats. While there was
lack of regimental uniformity, there must have been a striking ensemble
when the companies formed battalion line.
To the Fusiliers, in June, 1835, fell the honor of introducing an
important tradition into the regiment. For at that time, after a year’s
preparation, they undertook an excursion to Washington, as a compliment
to President Andrew Jackson, who was soon to give place to Martin Van
Buren. The start was made after partaking of a collation at Gov. John
Davis’ house; progress was made by march, stage, steamboat and rail;
they camped on Capitol Hill; and dined with Gen. Jackson at the White
House. This was not exactly a trip to “the inauguration,” but it proved
to be the commencement of a custom which today takes the command to
Washington once every four years.
In 1837 a company came into existence which was destined to prove the
temporary undoing of the Light Infantry Regiment, and was also to
subject Boston’s spirit of fairness and right to its most searching
test. The “Montgomery Guards,” they were called. Altho named after the
same heroic Richard Montgomery who was to give title to another and more
famous company of Montgomery Guards fifteen years later, they must not
be confused with the latter body. The critical point was that the
members were all of Irish birth; and Boston, for the first time in sixty
years, found a company of foreign soldiery in her midst. At least that
was the view of the matter taken by old-timers. The race prejudice which
later issued in the Know Nothing movement, at once flamed up. On the
other hand, these guardsmen had all declared their intention of becoming
American citizens, and were entitled to bear arms. The guards were
attached to Col. Smith’s regiment. On Sept. 12, 1837, the date of the
fall field-day and the first assembly of the regiment since the
organization of the Montgomerys, the other nine companies took post on
the regimental line,--the Montgomerys arriving last of all. No sooner
had the latter swung into position than the enlisted men of the City
Guards, breaking away from their officers, marched off the Common.
The enlisted men of the Fusiliers, the Blues, the Mechanics, the
Washingtons and the Lafayettes followed this example of insubordination
and broke ranks. It was sheer mutiny--mutiny with which many of the
public sympathized, but mutiny nevertheless.
[Illustration: THE GRAY UNIFORM--THE CITY GUARDS AT BALTIMORE, 1844]
Courts martial resulted, followed by prolonged public discussion.
Presently it became evident that the Boston sense of fairness and right
was strong enough even to meet this test; and on Feb. 23, 1838, the
offending companies were punished by disbandment. Col. Smith went out of
office at this time. The Montgomery Guards were themselves disbanded
April 6, 1838. As a consequence the Regiment was reduced to a battalion
and placed under the command of Maj. Charles C. Paine. The Tigers, the
New England Guards, and the Rifle Rangers alone survived the
disbandment.
June 1, 1839, found the organization a regiment once more, made up of
the following companies: Tigers, New England Guards, Pulaski Guards, who
now transferred from the 3d Reg., 3d Bri. (and who seem to have been
temporarily called Mechanic Greys in 1849), Columbian Greys, Hancock
Light Infantry, Rifle Rangers, Highland Guards and Suffolk Light Guard.
As the disbandment had been intended for punitive purposes merely,
encouragement was held out for the companies to reorganize. The device
of reorganizing and “continuing the record” was not then thought of. Had
it been, it would doubtless have been ordered; four companies took
advantage of the opportunity. The Columbian Greys were merely the old
City Guards under a new name; in 1844 they appeared on the records as
the City Greys, and by 1851 were known once more as City Guards.
Similarly the Hancock Light Infantry continued the Fusiliers, the
ancient corps being saved by the loyalty of two former captains. Noah
Lincoln, Jr., a prominent Boston shipwright, was in command of the
company when disbanded in 1838. On a May date in 1839 the Hancock Light
Infantry elected the same Capt. Lincoln to be their commander; but he
did not deem it best to accept. On May 17, 1839, the company proceeded
to elect Louis Dennis, a former Captain of Fusiliers who had risen to
field rank; and Maj. Dennis proved his loyalty to the old corps by
accepting a commission as Captain. Maj. Dennis was a builder in civil
life, and felt that the present emergency called for constructive work
along military lines; Capt. Lincoln thereupon agreed to become 1st
Lieutenant of the company. After four or five years we cease to find
reference to the Hancock Light Infantry--the records again deal with the
Fusiliers. The Mechanic Rifles similarly reorganized in 1843, and the
Washington Light Infantry a few years subsequently. Col. Charles R.
Lowell, formerly Captain of the Rifle Rangers, commanded the reorganized
regiment from June 1, 1839, until March 20, 1840.
On April 24, 1840, in connection with the general state-wide
reorganization of the militia and the discontinuance of the train-band,
the Light Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade, received a number--it became
the 1st Lt. Inf., 1st Brigade. The following colonels commanded: George
W. Phillips, Aug. 27, 1840--May 18, 1841; Charles A. Macomber (formerly
captain of the disbanded City Guards), June 15, 1841--Aug. 24, 1841;
George T. Bigelow, formerly captain of the New England Guards, Sept. 11,
1841--Jan. 23, 1844; William H. Spooner, April 15, 1844--Jan. 19, 1847,
the same Col. Spooner who had commanded the train-band regiment, the 1st
of the 1st Brigade, to which the Roxbury Artillery was temporarily
attached in 1832; Benjamin F. Edmands, March 15, 1847--July 11, 1848
(then elected Brig. Gen.); Col. Samuel Andrews, a former captain of the
Tigers, July 28, 1848--May 13, 1850, when he became Brig. Gen.
When the New York 7th visited Boston in June, 1843, they were guests of
the Fusiliers (yet called Hancock Light Infantry). After church services
on Sunday, June 18, the visitors were shown around to the chief points
of interest. How fashions do change! The principal shrine to which
pilgrimage was made was--Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
Veterans of the Mexican War organized a company in the 1st Regiment on
June 18, 1849, to which they gave the title, National Guards; and were
the recognized representatives of the 1st Mass. Mexican War Regiment.
Ben Perley Poore, a prominent newspaper correspondent, was elected
Captain. As it became difficult to secure a sufficient number of Mexican
veterans in Boston, admission was granted to all militia veterans, after
a few years. Capt. Poore presently removed from Boston for business
reasons, and made his residence in Newburyport. There he became famous
as Major of an independent battalion of infantry; and altho absent from
his Boston comrades, continued to retain a warm place in their hearts.
In Nov., 1856, he had made an election bet with Col. J. J. Burbank,
proprietor of the Tremont House, Boston, to the effect that Millard
Fillmore would get the Massachusetts electoral vote for President; and
lost. So on Saturday, Nov. 8, he paid the forfeit--by wheeling a barrel
of apples, on a wheelbarrow, all the way, thirty-six miles, from
Newburyport to Boston. Maj. Poore’s popularity caused a wide-spread
interest to develop in this feat; especially in Boston were the streets
thronged with friendly spectators. When the Fusiliers learned of the
plan, they determined to have a part in it; so the doughty Major,
himself in citizen’s dress, was met in Charlestown by a company of
thirty-four red-coated soldiers, and solemnly escorted across the
bridge into Boston. Then, as a slight recompense for all the fun which
had been provided, when the procession arrived at the Tremont House, the
apples were sold at $1.00 apiece, for the benefit of the man who had
transported them. Maj. Poore’s portrait, as well as two pictures of the
event, are today in the A. & H. Art. Company museum.
When on April 25, 1842, the companies received distinguishing letters,
the Tigers became Co. A, the New England Guards B, the Pulaski Guards C,
the Highland Guards D, the City Guards E, the Fusiliers F, the Suffolk
Lt. Gds. G, the Washington Phalanx H, the Rifle Rangers I, and a company
of rifles K.
Charles L. Holbrook became Colonel on Aug. 31, 1850, and continued in
command until Aug. 15, 1854; William Schouler, destined to be the great
Civil War Adjutant General of Massachusetts, was Lieutenant Colonel. To
Col. Holbrook fell the painful duty of marshalling his regiment against
the mob on June 2, 1854, at the time of the Burns riot. In that year the
organization consisted of eight companies. To him also fell the more
congenial privilege, in Oct., 1862, of leading his command, the same
regiment but then known as the 43d Mass. Vols., during its campaign in
North Carolina. Col. Holbrook was, in civil life, a bookkeeper, first in
the Suffolk National Bank, and subsequently in the Custom House; as a
soldier he jumped from the Adjutant’s office to the Colonelcy.
Owing to the formation of new companies it became desirable to organize
an additional battalion of infantry in 1853, to which the number 3d was
given. This included Capt. Poore’s National Guards as Co. A, the Union
Guards of East Boston, organized in 1852, as Co. B, and the Sarsfield
Guards as Co. C, all under command of Maj. Robert I. Burbank.
Col. Thomas E. Chickering commanded the 1st Regiment from Oct. 25, 1854,
until Jan. 29, 1856; and during his administration the name of the
organization was changed from Light Infantry to “Infantry.” Col.
Chickering commanded the 41st Mass. Inf., which became the 3d Cavalry,
1862-1865, and served in the department of the Gulf, transferring to
Gen. P. H. Sheridan in Virginia during 1864. In 1855 the 3d Battalion of
Infantry disbanded, the National and Union Guards going into the 2d
Regiment as 9th and 6th Cos. respectively, while the Sarsfield Guards
passed out of existence. The transfer of two strong companies to the 2d
was a sign that the latter regiment was increasing while the 1st
decreased. Six years later the 2d was to receive the much-desired number
which had thitherto belonged to the “1st.” Maj. Joseph Bradley had
become commander of the 3d Battalion at the time of its disbanding.
Col. Robert I. Burbank, formerly of the 3d Battalion, was the last
commander of the old 1st Regiment, serving from March 25, 1856, until
March 2, 1859. The regiment had several strong companies and might have
been the leading military body in Boston; but it suffered from an excess
of company loyalty and an utter absence of regimental spirit. Moreover
there was a tendency to elect men of political prominence to the chief
command, with slight regard for their military talents. Colonels were
changed too frequently. The 2d Regiment under Cols. Bullock and Cowdin
presented a striking contrast to the 1st in these particulars. The
military authorities, since they recognized the inevitable tendency of
the times, disbanded the 1st Regiment, and transferred four of the seven
companies to the 2d, on March 1, 1859. The companies to enter the 2d
Regiment were: C, the Pulaski Guards; D, the Washington Light Guard; F,
the Fusiliers; and H, the Mechanic Rifles; these became the 4th, 2d, 3d,
and 5th Companies in Col. Cowdin’s regiment. The three companies
remaining of the old 1st--the Tigers, the New England Guards, and the
City Guards--were reorganized as the 2d Battalion of Infantry, under
command of Maj. Charles O. Rogers, former captain of the Tigers. The
latter command were highly prosperous at this time; in 1858 we find them
giving the first grand ball ever held in the Music Hall, and a year
later enlarging the scope of their social activities by moving the
function into the Boston Theater, the first such event ever held in that
celebrated amusement center.
Sentiment assumed striking forms in the military life of Boston during
the years preceding the Civil War. Two visiting military bodies, the New
York 7th in 1857 and the Ellsworth Zouaves from Chicago in July, 1860,
presented such examples of military efficiency that a desire grew
up--was encouraged by the Adjutant General--for the formation of a
“crack” regiment in Boston. At the same time, the designation, “4th
Battalion,” came to be coveted and sought after. The reason for the
latter sentiment is obscure; there never had been a 4th Battalion in
Boston, never any of prominence in Massachusetts. But the old sub-legion
of Lt. Infantry in the 3d Brigade, standing as it did beside three
infantry sub-legions, and brilliantly outclassing them, had been a “4th
battalion” of which all Boston was proud. From 1859 on, many
organizations were attempting to secure the designation, “4th
Battalion.”
The 2d Battalion, organized March 1, 1859, under Maj. Rogers, included
three strong companies, and might have been the nucleus of the desired
“crack” organization; however the units did not cohere, and the
battalion speedily flew to pieces. Maj. Harrison Ritchie of the New
England Gds. became commander July 21, 1860.
Gen. Samuel H. Leonard had removed from Worcester to Boston for business
reasons, and had thereby lost his brigade in the former county. Becoming
associated with Boston military men who were ambitious for a new and
highly efficient regiment, he placed himself at the head of the
movement. Ex-Gen. Leonard presently succeeded Capt. Clark B. Baldwin in
command of the Boston Artillery, and proceeded to transfer that company
from Col. Cowdin’s 2d Regiment to a new battalion. The City Guards had
disbanded Dec. 26, 1859, and most of the members went into the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company; now former members of the City Guards
were reenlisted and consolidated with the Boston Artillery. Indeed these
City Guardsmen were the instigators of the movement. Capt. Augustine
Harlow (a printer in civil life), formerly in command of the National
Guards, the 9th Company of the 2d Reg., joined in the movement and
organized a new company. On Dec. 15, 1860, Capt. Leonard’s as Co. A,
Capt. Harlow’s as Co. D, and two new companies designated B and C were
associated as the 4th Battalion. At length the much desired numeral was
in use,--and by men of large military ability and soaring ambition.
Since “rifles” took precedence over other branches, the new battalion
became “Rifles”; and wore gray Zouave or chasseur uniforms. We have seen
elsewhere how this movement became deflected by the call for volunteers,
and ultimately issued in the splendid 13th Mass. Inf. If the 4th
Battalion of Rifles did not become a “crack” regiment--it achieved a
nobler destiny.
On March 11, 1861, the New England Guards became independent of Maj.
Ritchie’s 2d Battalion; and expanded their organization into a
two-company battalion, for which they claimed the coveted numeral,
becoming the 4th Battalion of Infantry; Capt. Thomas G. Stevenson of the
New Englanders became Major, and was in fact the leader of the movement.
The ensuing month brought war and put an end to the militia dreams. On
April 25 Maj. Stevenson’s battalion entered upon a one-month tour of
volunteer garrison duty at Ft. Independence, the men serving without
pay. It was at this time that they achieved the distinction of “bringing
out” the most famous band-leader of the generation, Patrick S. Gilmore.
Gilmore’s music and the fine marching of the New England Guards
battalion immediately brought Maj. Stevenson’s command a high degree of
popularity.
More three-year regiments were needed in the autumn of 1861, and members
of the New England Guards battalion decided to enlist. Upon further
thought it seemed wiser to use their proved skill in military matters in
a higher capacity--they would organize a new regiment of recruits, and
themselves go as officers. With the approval of the War Department,
accordingly, the 24th Mass. Reg. came into existence, having Thomas G.
Stevenson as Colonel and Gilmore as band-leader. No prophet then foresaw
the future; but a bronze bas-relief in the State House (erected in 1905)
today reminds us of the record of heroic service in North Carolina,
South Carolina and Florida; the transfer to Virginia May 1, 1864, and
participation with the Army of the James in the operations around
Petersburg and Richmond. Their commander, now Gen. Stevenson, was killed
in battle at Spotsylvania. Gilmore continued with his regiment as long
as the Government permitted regimental bands--during the entire first
year of the service.
Members of the New England Guards who were unable, for business or
family reasons, to go for three years, were quick to respond, in the
autumn of 1862, to the call for nine-months men. Part of the 4th
Battalion had organized and officered the 24th Regiment (there was
already a 4th Reg.)--clinging to the coveted numeral others now raised
the 44th Reg. and followed their comrades--to the coast of North
Carolina. So very few New England Guardsmen were left at home in Boston
that the battalion passed out of existence--died of patriotism.
Maj. Ralph W. Newton, former captain of the Tigers, succeeded Maj.
Ritchie in command of the 2d Battalion on Apr. 17, 1861, and continued
in office until May 22, 1862. Nothing remained of the old 1st Reg., or
of the 2d Bat., except the Tiger company. In order to retain the
battalion organization, the Tigers sub-divided into three companies.
From this point on it will be literally correct to designate the
battalion organization, the sole surviving remnant of the old 1st, as
the Tigers.
On April 29, twelve days after assuming command, Maj. Newton moved his
Tiger battalion to Fort Warren, and remained there a full month
rendering unpaid volunteer service. Owing to the extreme shortage of
trained soldiers, the Government was glad to have the services of the
battalion at Boston’s most important fort. Old Andrew Fletcher has
claimed that the song-writer of a nation is more influential even than
the law-maker. So far as this is true, the 2d Company, the Tigers, have
exerted a huge national influence. For while at Warren, it fell to the
lot of their glee-club to originate one of America’s greatest war-songs,
one which until “Marching thru Georgia” was composed, stood supreme, the
song, “John Brown’s Body.” Both words and tune trace back to the 2d
Company. The tune is an adaptation of a southern revival hymn familiar
before the war; but is so complete a revision as to be practically an
original composition. The words were written as a joke on Private John
Brown of the Tigers, who always seemed a shining mark for the wit of his
comrades, and whose name of course suggested the hero of Osawatomie and
Harper’s Ferry. Fletcher Webster’s regiment, the 12th, was in process of
recruiting at Fort Warren that month. This song, at first intended
humorously, was taken up in serious earnest by Webster’s men, was sung a
little later by them as they marched to Bull Run; and within a year
hundreds of thousands in blue were firing their enthusiasm for battle
with the great refrain, “His soul is marching on.”
Ex-Col. Charles L. Holbrook proved his loyalty to his old command by
accepting the lower office of Major on June 23, 1862. This
responsibility he did not lay down until Oct. 13, 1862, when he led the
43d Reg. to war.
To the Tigers, as to others of Boston’s best citizens, the call for
nine-months men came as a personal summons to service. Maj. Holbrook’s
2d Battalion at once began enlisting recruits, until it had expanded to
a complete ten-company regiment. Practically all the officers were
chosen from the Tiger battalion; and the new regiment, the 43d, was
known as the “Tiger Regiment.” The ancient title, “Boston Light
Infantry,” had remained attached to Co. A of the 2d Battalion;--now the
“Lt. Inf.” Co. transferred itself bodily to the new regiment, and became
Co. A of the 43d. Company commanders were: A, Henry J. Hallgreen; B,
Edward G. Quincy; C, William B. Fowle, Jr.; D, Thomas G. Whytal (Capt.
Whytal later became a Lt. Col. of U. S. Vols.); E, Henry Doane (of
Orleans); F, Charles W. Soule; G, Everett Lane (of Abington, who was
elected Major Oct. 20, 1862); H, George B. Hanover (of Chelsea); I,
George O. Tyler (of Cambridge); K, J. Emery Round. Maj. Holbrook, as we
have already seen, became colonel. John C. Whiton, who later was
Colonel of the 58th Mass., was Lt. Col., and Everett Lane, Major. Co. D
was from Dedham, E from Orleans, G from Abington, H from Chelsea and I
from Cambridge. The other companies were recruited at large--that is,
from Boston. The regiment was mustered in Sept. 20, 1862.
Co. H of the 43d had an origin prophetic of the regimental consolidation
which was to give us the present Coast Artillery. Springing as it did
from the membership, and commanded as it was by the 1st Lieutenant of
the Chelsea Rifles, and they in turn being the “depot” or reserve
company of the Chelsea Volunteers (the 5th Co. in the three-year 1st
Regiment), Co. H was in direct relationship with both of these commands.
After the war, veterans of all three companies joined forces,
transformed the Rifles into the “Chelsea Veterans,” and thus created our
present 5th Company, M. C. A. For three years it was actually made up
exclusively of veterans.
Tiger veterans and friends joined in giving the 43d a notable
“send-off.” Once more the motto was “Death or an honorable life.” The
historic banquet of Oct. 18, 1798, was repeated on Nov. 5, 1862, and the
famous toast was again drunk, “The United States of America; as they
have drawn the sword of justice with reason, may they never sheathe it
with disgrace.” Hon. R. C. Winthrop, standing on Boston Common,
presented the regiment a handsome stand of colors, a gift from the
Boston Light Infantry.
A few weeks later the 43d found themselves under Gen. John T. Foster in
North Carolina, far indeed from Boston and their friends, but side by
side with the 3d and 44th Regs., which also enter into our history. The
old Tiger spirit had accompanied them. In Dec, 1862, came their great
march thru the swamps and sand barrens, when they were face to face
with the enemy during eleven continuous days. They were able to claim as
their list of battles, Kinston, Whitehall and Goldsboro.
The loss of the North Carolina coast was a great blow to the
Confederacy, opening as it did the way for Sherman’s march northward.
Foster’s army was really an outpost of the greater force threatening
Richmond.
In July, 1863, their service was completed and they were homeward bound
once more. Travelling by boat to Baltimore, stopping for a visit at Fort
Monroe, thence by train to New York, and having a square meal en route
at Philadelphia, by boat to New Haven and train to Boston, they were
given a hearty welcome home at old Boylston Hall, the Tiger armory, on
July 21. The Boston Light Infantry at once became the 24th Unattached
Company, M. V. M.
A few months of quiescence succeeded the Tigers’ nine months of duty in
the 43d. Not until Aug., 1864, is there record of further activity. The
war was drawing to a close, the nine-months regiments had been mustered
out and the three-year commands were returning. Once more the ambition
to have a “crack” regiment was stirring in Boston. Veteran and exempt
members of the Tigers had formed the “Boston Lt. Inf. Assn.,” Nov. 1,
1862, during the absence of the active company. On this August date in
1864 the Light Infantry reorganized themselves as the “7th Infantry.”
Maj. Charles O. Rogers, first commander of the 2d Battalion, was offered
the colonelcy but declined; Daniel G. Handy was then elected, and
received his commission on Nov. 6, 1865. (Col. Handy had been Maj. of
the 12th Mass. in 1861 and 1862--indeed had been with the recruits in
Ft. Warren when “John Brown’s Body” originated.) A vigorous attempt was
made to form new companies and maintain the 7th at regimental standard.
The 7th Mass. Inf., a Taunton command, had made a noble name for itself
during three years of hard service; and had been mustered out just
before the Tiger 7th came into existence. The traditions connected with
the number were certain to prove stimulating. But the choice of a number
had further significance; it was a deliberate attempt to reproduce the
New York 7th. Gilmore became band-leader, and it was hoped that his
famous musicians would lend brilliancy to the new regiment. It was in
his capacity as leader of the 7th Regiment band that Gilmore arranged
and conducted his first “Peace Jubilee Festival” in 1869, with ten
thousand singers and eight hundred instrumentalists in a “coliseum”
seating fifty thousand, and not exceeded in size even by Billy Sunday’s
tabernacle of 1916. Music by wholesale, this, and very different from
the original classical “Peace Jubilee” in King’s Chapel, Feb. 22, 1815,
from which Gilmore obtained the suggestion. New England liked it; and
derived benefit from the popularization of good music. And the 7th
received no little advertising.
Nine new companies came into existence within two years, mostly by the
process of subdividing older commands, while the Tigers continued their
organization as Co. A. Charles F. Harrington, former Captain of the
Tigers, became colonel in 1869. Distinguished soldiers were willing to
serve as company commanders in the 7th. B had for a Captain, Walter
Scott Sampson, who had led the 7th Co. of Col. Cowdin’s regiment, the
Washington Light Guard, into the 6th, and had commanded it (Co. K of the
6th) during its famous march thru Baltimore. Capt. Sampson had meanwhile
been in command of a company in the 22d Mass. He was, in civil life, a
successful Boston builder. E was commanded by no less a personage than
Henry J. Hallgreen, war Captain of A or the Tiger Company in the 43d. A
had for its Captain, David W. Wardrop, war Colonel of the 3d Reg. The
entire regiment was quartered in a single armory, at Pine and Washington
Sts. Co. B had developed by fission from Co. A in 1864 and was first
called the Handy Guard or 32d Unattached Co. In 1869 so many veterans of
the old Washington Light Guard joined Co. B that the Handy Guard became
known as the Washington Light Guard. In 1873 the company transferred its
headquarters from Boston to Cambridge, and, as part of the process, the
name was again changed, becoming the Massachusetts Guards. Claim has
been made that Co. B perpetuates the old original Washington Light
Guard, and it also claims to be the Tigers, as truly as the 2d
Company;--it exists today as the 6th Company, Mass. C. A. Gen. W. E.
Lombard holds its older record books. The 7th Company, Mass. C. A., the
Pierce Light Guard, came into existence as Co. E of the 7th; Henry L.
Pierce after whom it was named donated $1,000 to the company treasury.
Young men, however, are more successful than veterans in maintaining the
interest of an active regiment; and apathy concerning military matters
characterized the public thinking during the years immediately following
the war. By 1870 the 7th had only four live companies remaining; on July
20 of that year the regiment was reduced to a battalion. The Tigers now
recovered their old regimental number--they became the “1st” Battalion,
and Maj. Douglass Frazer commanded. The 1st Battalion was on duty in
1872 at the great Boston fire, and protected the most important section
of all, the financial district along State Street.
Austin C. Wellington, formerly 1st Lieutenant in the 38th Mass., became
captain of the Tiger Co. A in 1870, and with his advent began the era of
prosperity and efficiency for which the Tigers had long been wishing. In
1873 Wellington became Major of the battalion, and on March 25, 1874,
came a change in designation, bringing, after failure to get back their
war number, 2d, the long-coveted numeral, “4th.” As an indication of how
this ambition had persisted from ante-bellum days, we find the
organization, in 1875, unofficially describing itself as the 4th
Battalion “of Rifles.” In 1872 the “Maverick Rifles” had been organized
as Co. D of this battalion; today they are the 11th Co., Mass. C. A.
It was the privilege of the Tigers, in 1875, to receive and entertain
the Old Guard of New York City and the Washington Lt. Infantry of
Charleston, South Carolina, the latter being the first southern military
body to visit the north after the war. The following year the Tigers and
Old Guard returned this courtesy, visiting Charleston and assisting in
the celebration of the centennial of the battle of Fort Moultrie on June
28.
It was at once appreciated that Boston had a “crack” battalion and Maj.
Wellington’s command was in great demand for parades and reviews. Its
drill became a standard for other infantry bodies, while its striking
quasi-Zouave uniform made such an impression upon the authorities that
the costume was, in 1884, adopted as the State uniform. Such was the 4th
Battalion which, on Dec. 3, 1878, by a process of consolidation, became
part of the 1st Regiment.