CAPTAIN JOSEPH H. BARNES’S COMPANY, “GREENOUGH GUARDS.”
[“K” IN THE FOURTH REGIMENT, “K” OF THE MASSACHUSETTS
BATTALION, AND “K” OF THE TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT.]
On the 20th of April, 1861, Joseph H. Barnes, a citizen of East Boston,
and a native of Hingham, Plymouth County, having been authorized by the
Governor, raised a company of infantry, chiefly composed of East Boston
men.
On the 25th of April, there was an election of officers, conducted by
General Bullock of the militia, resulting in the election of Joseph
H. Barnes, Captain; James H. Osgood, Jr., First Lieutenant; William
T. Keen, Second Lieutenant; Albert H. Townsend, Third Lieutenant; and
Joseph D. Ellis, Fourth Lieutenant. The commission of Captain Barnes,
dated April 27, was as a “Captain of company of infantry in the First
Division of the Militia of the Commonwealth.” By an order accompanying
the commission, the company was assigned to the First Regiment of
Militia, then commanded by Col. Robert Cowdin of Boston, and the
following order was also received by Captain Barnes:--
“HEADQUARTERS FIRST REGIMENT INFANTRY, }
“FIRST BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, M. V. M., }
“BOSTON, April 27, 1861. }
“ORDERS, NO. 14.
“By Special Orders, No. 100, of this date, from the
Commander-in-Chief, transmitted by Division Special Orders,
No. 48, of the same date, and Brigade Special Orders, No. 27,
of the same date, this regiment is detailed for active duty in
the service of the United States. Commandants of companies are
hereby ordered to report at the Hancock House, on Sunday, the
28th instant, at 9 o’clock, A. M., for orders. They
will assemble their commands at their armories forthwith, ready
to march at a moment’s notice.
“By command of
COL. ROBERT COWDIN.
“GEORGE W. BEACH, _Adjutant_.”
The company assembled as directed, but, by reason of a change of
affairs, the regiment did not leave the State as soon as expected.
Subsequently, they were mustered into service as the First (three
years) Regiment, and left for the field, June 15, 1861. We give this
order, however, as a part of the record of Captain Barnes’s company,
and as showing at how early a date it was ordered into the service;
also, its connection with the First Regiment. In the course of a few
days after the company organized, it took quarters at the Maverick
House, East Boston, and continued to occupy them till the eighteenth
day of May. The citizens of the “Island Ward” paid, by voluntary
contributions, the chief part of the expense attending the quartering
of the volunteers, and, in common with the other citizens of Boston,
provided them with a uniform consisting of a full suit of gray clothes,
the jacket being trimmed with red braid. The arms were Springfield
rifle-muskets, furnished by the State.
May 17, the company was detached from the First Regiment of Militia,
and the following order issued:--
“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
“ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, }
“BOSTON, May 17, 1861. }
“CAPT. JOSEPH H. BARNES.
“SIR: You are directed by His Excellency the
Commander-in-Chief to report yourself and command at
headquarters, on Saturday, May 18, at 10 o’clock, A.
M., for actual service. You are required to sign, and have
your men sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years.
You will proceed from Boston in the steamer ‘Cambridge,’ for
Fort Monroe.
“Respectfully yours,
“WILLIAM SCHOULER, _Adj. Gen._”
The words of this order, “You are required to sign, and have your men
sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years,” probably were not
intended to convey the idea that the Governor had the power to compel
the officers and men to sign such a paper, but that their acceptance as
soldiers was on the condition of their enlistment for the term named
therein.
Captain Barnes reported at the State House with his company, numbering
seventy-three enlisted men, at the hour named, where all willingly
engaged to serve for three years. They then returned to East Boston,
and the men were dismissed for a hurried dinner. Early in the
afternoon, the company again assembled at its quarters, and were
escorted to the ferry by a body of militia and an immense throng of
people, the latter so crowding the streets, that it became difficult
for the command to reach the wharf; and so eager were the people to
follow the soldiers, that large numbers of them crossed over on the
ferry.
Before Captain Barnes and his men left the Maverick House, William W.
Greenough, Esq., whose name the company had adopted, and who performed
a great variety of services for its members, both before and after they
entered the service, presented them with the sum of two hundred and
fifty dollars, in gold.
This worthy gentlemen was not the only warm friend which the soldiers
of this company left at home. When the command assembled at its
quarters in the afternoon of this day, a large number of the ladies
of East Boston, together with several of the teachers of the public
schools, gathered at the Maverick House, and presented the volunteers
with a great many useful articles, including rubber blankets,
underclothing, knives, forks, spoons, and cases containing thread,
needles, yarn, and towels; a fine pocket-bible was also given to each
officer and man.
The combining the gift of a Bible with that of clothing and other
articles of physical comfort, was a faithful and touching compliance
with one of the injunctions which the holy book itself contained. These
Christian women did not say to the soldiers, “Depart in peace; be ye
warmed and filled,” but gave them “... those things which are needful
for the body.” Nor did the kindness of these gentle ones end here; for
as long as the company remained in the service, they continued in this
work of love, sending to the field many well-filled boxes of clothing
and other needed supplies.
Upon the arrival of the company at the steamer, later in the afternoon,
Captain Barnes received the following order:--
“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
“ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, }
“BOSTON, May 18, 1861. }
“CAPT. JOS. H. BARNES:
“As senior officer of the Massachusetts troops embarked to-day
on board the ship ‘Cambridge’ for Fortress Monroe, you will
detail such guards and sentinels as may be necessary for proper
discipline and for the care and safety of the ship, under the
direction of the captain of said vessel.
“Company from Plymouth, Capt. Doten; company from Sandwich,
Capt. Chipman, which are to be attached to the Third Regiment,
Col. Wardrop, now at Fortress Monroe; company from East
Bridgewater, Capt. Leach; company from East Boston, Capt.
Barnes; together with 32 men belonging to Co. H of Quincy; 37
men belonging to Co. I of Hingham; 12 men belonging to Co. F,
Foxborough; 22 men belonging to Co. D, Randolph; and 45 men
belonging to Co. A, Canton, severally of the Fourth Regiment,
Col. Packard, now at Fort Monroe, will be attached to the
regiment upon their arrival at their place of destination. You
are to have command of the troops until you report yourself to
the officer in command of Fort Monroe.
“You are to take good care of the men, and to use your best
efforts to cause discipline and harmony.
“By order of His Excellency, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
“WILLIAM SCHOULER, _Adj. Gen._”
May 21, the “Cambridge” reached Fortress Monroe. The company having
been assigned to the Fourth Regiment, received the letter “K,” and
was made the color-company of the regiment. It was mustered into the
service for three years, on the following day (May 22), and, five days
later, went with the Fourth Regiment to Newport News. It retained the
letter “K” throughout its service, became a part of the Massachusetts
Battalion, July 16, 1861, and, in December following, was incorporated
with the Twenty-ninth Regiment.
The gentlemen who were elected to the offices of third and fourth
lieutenants upon the first organization of the company, could not,
under the laws of the United States, be mustered with that rank.
Lieutenant Ellis, however, accompanied the command to Fortress Monroe,
but soon afterwards returned to Massachusetts. Charles Hewett, one of
the original members, was rejected upon the surgical examination at
Fortress Monroe, being the only one of the command rejected, and was
furnished by General Butler with transportation to Boston.
The commissions of the two lieutenants, Osgood and Keen, bear the same
date as that of the Captain; namely, April 27, 1861.