WELL aware of this condition of affairs, Governor Wolcott thought it
prudent—even before the actual declaration of war—to have his foot
batteries assembled in the vicinity of the guns at which it seemed more
than likely that their services soon might be required, and by his
direction permission was asked from Washington to send the First Heavy
Artillery to Fort Warren, under State orders. This request met with the
prompt approval of the Secretary of War, and on Sunday, April 24th,
there came to regimental headquarters orders from General Dalton
directing the command to "hold itself in readiness for immediate service
in the defenses of Boston Harbor."
It hardly need be said that this order caused little surprise to the
officers of the regiment. From the day when the naval court of inquiry
reported the destruction of the _Maine_ as due to external explosion,
until the day that marching orders actually came, the command at any
time could have reported for duty with full ranks, and on three hours'
notice. It is a matter of official record that this regiment, for years,
has been held in constant readiness for field service; the "Vigilantia"
on the regimental badge has long stood for something more than an empty
boast. As a strict matter of fact, though the officers had been
convinced that war could not long be averted, there had been but little
extra effort made on that account, for but little remained to be done;
here and there battery rolls were judiciously weeded, all alarm-lists
received final and careful revision—and that substantially was all. On
the recommendation of the Military Advisory Board, to be sure, enough
recruits had been enrolled to bring the regimental strength up to twelve
hundred, and these new men had been faithfully drilled; but, as events
proved, this labor was to result in small benefit to the regiment
itself, though other commands ultimately profited by it.
Matters now were moving swiftly enough to suit the most impatient, and
there were many impatient ones among the officers and men of the Old
First. On the 23rd of April, President McKinley had issued his call for
one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers; on the 24th, the
regiment had been ordered to hold itself ready for instant response to
marching orders; on the 25th, Congress resolved that a state of war then
existed—and late in the afternoon of that day came the long-awaited
summons to duty.
"Colonel Charles Pfaff, commanding First Regiment Heavy Artillery, First
Brigade, M.V.M.," so ran the third paragraph of Special Orders, No. 42,
from the office of the Adjutant-General, "will report with his command,
fully armed and equipped, to the commanding officer at Fort Warren, for
eight days' duty in the defenses of Boston Harbor." An eight days' tour?
It was destined to be exactly two hundred and three days before the
regiment should be released from the service on which it started under
the order signed by General Dalton that afternoon.
Colonel Pfaff was awaiting developments at the State House when the
decision was reached to call out the regiment, and the order was given
to him direct. Hastening at once back to the South Armory, he handed the
order to Adjutant Lake, who lost no time in putting in motion the
mobilization machinery which for years had been in readiness to meet
just such an emergency as this. Quietly and systematically the orders
for assembly went out over the telegraph and telephone wires, until, in
less than an hour, every officer of the command knew that the end of the
long waiting had come. And then the non-commissioned officers passed the
word to the men of their squads, while staff officers hurried by rail to
the stations of each of the out-lying batteries, to make sure that
nothing was omitted in the carrying out of the final orders. Long before
midnight, through their reports, the commanding officer knew that his
regiment would be ready to march out with full ranks on the following
morning. There was little sleep for officers or men; many passed the
night in their armories, while those who returned to their homes spent
the hours before daylight in making hurried arrangements for an
indefinite absence. It would be idle to say that there was no
excitement, for each armory was a seething whirlpool of enthusiasm; but
in spite of it all, matters moved on methodically, and morning found the
twelve batteries ready in every respect for the mobilization.
With the early dawn, the batteries of the Third (Bristol-Plymouth)
Battalion—years ago christened the "Cape" Battalion—formed at their
armories for the march to the trains which were to transport them to
Boston. Their departure was the signal for the wildest enthusiasm in
their respective cities. In Fall River, Brockton, Taunton, and New
Bedford the same scenes were enacted: cheering crowds lined the streets,
and the Grand Army veterans, cadet corps of the schools, and civic
organizations turned out to escort the departing troops. Very much the
same sort of feeling prevailed in Cambridge and Chelsea; but in
Boston—though excited crowds gathered about the great South Armory—there
was no organized demonstration.
By nine o'clock, the batteries of the First and Second Battalions were
assembled in the South Armory, where they were joined, a quarter of an
hour later, by those of the Third Battalion, just off their
troop-trains. Arms were stacked in the great drill-hall, knapsacks were
unslung, and ranks were broken for a brief rest, while a travel ration,
with hot coffee, was issued to the men, many of whom, in all
probability, had been too excited to do full justice to breakfast at
their homes.
It was at this time that a fact developed which—though overlooked in the
rush of events at the time—must be placed on record now to the credit of
the regiment. It must be recalled that definite orders for assembly were
received late on the afternoon of the 25th, and that the men reported to
their commands almost at daybreak on the 26th; recalling this, it
certainly should give cause for just pride to the friends of the
regiment, as well as to those who in the past have labored long and
untiringly for the efficiency of the militia of Massachusetts, that in
this emergency over ninety-nine per cent. of the regimental strength
answered at morning roll-call, and reported for whatever service might
be forthcoming. The commissioned and enlisted strength, under the State
organization, aggregated seven hundred and ninety-three. The morning
reports handed to the adjutant, during the short rest before the
regiment took up its march towards the wharves, showed fifty officers
and seven hundred and thirty-six enlisted men present, with only seven
enlisted men absent—and of the latter, all were satisfactorily accounted
for by reason of sickness or absence from the State. Much has been said
during the past few months of the unreliability of militia in grave
national emergencies, and it unfortunately is too true that in many
States the records of the late war have tended to give force to such
charges, but let it be remembered in Massachusetts, so long as there
exists a First Regiment in its military establishment, that when a
sudden call came, to meet what was felt to be a very real danger, the
absentees when assembly was sounded numbered less than nine-tenths of
one per cent. of the strength borne upon the regimental rolls.
Soon after ten o'clock, the regiment formed in line of masses. The
regimental colors were brought from the colonel's quarters, and were
received with three hearty cheers. Then the battalions stood at
attention while Chaplain Horton earnestly addressed the men on the
significance of the day's events. At the close of his remarks the
regiment broke into column of detachments, the heavy doors of the armory
swung wide, and the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery—literally the
first militia regiment in the country to come to the assistance of the
general Government—marched out for the war, with its band at the head of
the column playing the time-honored "March of The First."