CAPTAIN JONAS K. TYLER’S COMPANY, AFTERWARDS COMMANDED
BY CAPTAIN ISRAEL N. WILSON. [“M” IN THE THIRD REGIMENT, “M”
OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BATTALION, AND “B” OF THE TWENTY-NINTH
REGIMENT.]
As early as the first of March, 1861, Jonas K. Tyler, Esq., a member
of the Suffolk bar, and who had seen service in the war with Mexico,
offered his services to Governor Andrew in raising a body of troops
to serve either the State or National governments in the impending
war. But in a letter dated March 8, 1861, the Governor declined these
services, on the ground that no call had been made upon the State for
troops, and that he possessed no legal authority to raise troops except
upon an order issued by the President of the United States.
A month later, when it became apparent that a call would be made for
troops, Captain Tyler readily obtained permission from His Excellency
to raise a company of militia, with the understanding that they were
not to be mustered unless such a call should issue.
On the 17th of April, a roll was opened by Tyler at his office, and
by the night of the 18th it was filled with the names of young men,
principally residents of Boston.
On the 19th of April, the company was organized by the choice of Jonas
K. Tyler of Boston, Captain; Samuel A. Bent, First Lieutenant; Albert
Blakeslee, Second Lieutenant; E. Dexter, Third Lieutenant; and Thomas
H. Adams, Fourth Lieutenant.
As no quarters were provided by the State, the men were lodged in
hotels and boarding-houses, and were drilled daily by a competent
drill-master in the school of the soldier and company evolutions. The
expense attending the organization of the company and quartering the
men was borne by the officers and men, for which they have never been
reimbursed.
On the 3d of May, the President having made an actual demand upon the
State for troops, the Governor consented to the issue of arms to the
men, and on the following day Captain Tyler obtained a requisition for
a partial supply of underclothing.
On the 9th of May, Captain Tyler received orders to leave for the
seat of war on the 10th; but at this time not a member of the command
possessed a uniform, and, what was still more embarrassing, the State
had none to furnish.
How was the outfit to be obtained in so short a time? Happily, Boston
possessed a mayor, the Hon. Joseph M. Wightman, whose whole heart was
enlisted in the cause of the country. In this emergency, Captain Tyler
turned to him for assistance, and the promptness with which that aid
was furnished reflects the greatest credit, not alone upon the Mayor
himself, but upon the city of Boston.
It was well into the evening when the Captain called upon Mayor
Wightman and made known the wants of his men. The Mayor comprehended
the nature of the situation at once, and in company with Tyler,
immediately commenced the search for clothing. Going upon School
Street, a number of hacks were found in front of the Parker House,
and these were at once secured. The first person called upon was Mrs.
Harrison Gray Otis, who furnished them with a large number of useful
articles not included in the list of military equipments. From thence
the two gentlemen went to the various depots of clothing belonging to
the city, where were obtained a sufficient number of coats, trousers,
shoes, and stockings. These articles were quickly loaded into the hacks
and conveyed to the hall on Washington Street, where the company had
assembled upon its brief notice to march.
At eight o’clock the next morning, May 10, the command reported at
the State House, ready for service, and were here joined by Capt.
William D. Chamberlain’s company from Lynn. The men of both companies
engaged to serve for three years without hesitation, were inspected
by the Adjutant-General, and ordered to embark at once on the steamer
“Pembroke.” The commissions of both captains bore date of April 19,
but Captain Chamberlain having at one time held the rank of major in
the militia, was given the command of the battalion, and, at the same
time, sealed orders, with instructions not to open the same till the
vessel had passed beyond Boston Light. On the march to Rowe’s Wharf,
where the “Pembroke” was lying, the battalion halted at a place on
Federal Street, and there received the gray overcoats.
The short notice to march made it impossible for Captain Tyler to warn
all his men, some of whom lived out of the city, and consequently about
twenty were left behind; these, however, afterward joined the company
at Fortress Monroe.
The “Pembroke” was at this time in the service of the Commonwealth, was
armed with two 42-pounder Dahlgren guns, had a guard of armed seamen,
and flew both the State and National colors. As she passed the forts
in Boston Harbor, she was saluted by them, and the men, being gathered
upon deck, returned the salutes by rounds of cheers. It was not until
the vessel had passed beyond Boston Light that either officers or
soldiers learned their destination. Then the sealed orders were opened,
revealing the fact that they were bound for Fortress Monroe, Va., and
were to be assigned to the Third Regiment.
There were few events of the trip that were of much moment, though the
voyage under such circumstances was necessarily different from any
which the soldiers (some of whom had been sailors) had ever before
taken. They were going to war,--to the rescue of the nation’s most
important fortress, which was already being besieged by the traitorous
militia of Virginia.
About midnight of the 12th of May, when, by the judgment of the
officers,--all lights on that part of the coast having been
extinguished,--it was calculated that the steamer was about forty miles
from her destination, suddenly from the south, and directly in her
course, “_shone out what seemed nothing less than the light of a heavy
bombardment. Within a narrower space, as it appeared to us, fierce
flashes broke forth, and from the opposite quarter were as fiercely
answered again_.”[4] That Fortress Monroe was being bombarded, was the
belief of all on board, and the soldiers kept the deck nearly all
night, watching and speculating upon these novel scenes. As the steamer
sped on her way and neared the scene of the apparent battle, hugging
the shore closely, the view increased in splendor, and occasionally
there came wafted over the water the low, hollow sound of a distant
gun. When morning broke, leaden-colored, though wasted, clouds in the
south showed that the soldiers had been watching from a distance a
terrific thunder-storm. A little after sunrise, the form of a frigate
was observed approaching the steamer from seaward, which in the course
of an hour came up and spoke the “Pembroke.” The frigate proved to be
the “Minnesota,” then engaged in cruising off the coast.
On the 13th of May, the “Pembroke” reached Fortress Monroe, the
battalion entered the fort, and both companies were attached to the
Third Regiment, Captain Tyler’s company receiving the letter “M.” On
the following day, May 14, both commands were mustered into the service
for three years by Lieut. C. C. Churchill, U. S. A.
Captain Tyler’s company served with the Third Regiment till the term
of the latter expired, and then became a part of the Massachusetts
Battalion, retaining its letter “M” till the formation of the
Twenty-ninth Regiment, when, by order of Governor Andrew, it became a
part of that regiment, and its letter was changed to “B.”
The number of officers chosen at the time of the organization of the
company was greater by two than that authorized by the laws of the
United States, and the only officers who accompanied the command to
the seat of war were Captain Tyler, First Lieutenant Samuel A. Bent of
Boston, and Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Adams of Boston. Captain Tyler
resigned on account of ill-health, July 18, 1861, and Lieutenant Bent
the same day. Israel N. Wilson of Billerica, who was a First Lieutenant
in Capt. P. A. Davis’s company, was commissioned Captain July 24, 1861,
and succeeded Tyler. On the same day, Ezra Ripley of Cambridge, an
able lawyer, was commissioned First Lieutenant, and assigned to this
company, joining it soon after, and while it was doing duty at the
“Rip-Raps.”