Regimental Surgeon.
]
When such engineering work as was imperatively required had been brought
to completion, both officers and men settled down to the monotony of
garrison routine. Lieutenant Stockwell was appointed post adjutant,
while Lieutenant Keenan served in the triple capacity of post
quartermaster, commissary, and ordnance officer. Though the health of
the command was uniformly good, the medical officers yet found their
time amply occupied, since in addition to their duties at Pickering they
were required to visit the sub-posts at Gloucester, Marblehead, and
Nahant. On June 24th, Lieutenant Rolfe, assistant surgeon, was relieved
from duty at Fort Warren, reporting immediately at regimental
headquarters; but in July, failing to recover from a severe illness
contracted during the earlier service of the regiment, he found himself
compelled to resign, thus depriving the command of the services of an
efficient and popular officer. Later in the same month, Assistant
Surgeon Bryant received promotion which took him from the First, and
from this time until the close of its volunteer service the regiment had
but one medical officer, Major Dearing, senior surgeon, whose unflagging
devotion to the welfare of the command won for him the gratitude and
esteem of every officer and man. On July 26th, Captain Frothingham, with
Lieutenants Nostrom, McCullough, and Francis, proceeded to Fort Preble,
Me., for duty on a general court martial, making several visits
thereafter to that post before the final adjournment of the court.
For lack of opportunity at artillery drill, attention was turned to
infantry work, and the garrison was hardened into condition for field
service by a succession of practice marches and field manœuvres over the
country in the vicinity of the post. The garrison evening parade, held
outside the main work, was a never-failing source of interest to the
people of Salem, and on every pleasant afternoon crowds came out from
the city to attend the ceremony. On July 25th, "A" Battery changed
station from Nahant to Pickering, marching in over the road with its
field guns and wagon train. Late in August, "B" Battery was ordered to
rejoin at Salem from its station at Portsmouth, N.H., thus bringing the
garrison strength up to a battalion of four batteries. Such officers as
could be spared from this post, with many from the other posts
garrisoned by the regiment, were present, on August 12th, at the funeral
of the lamented Colonel Bogan, of the Ninth Massachusetts Infantry, who
long had been a friend of the First, and had been detailed as its
inspecting officer while serving on the staff of Governor Russell; and
again, on August 30th, the battalion at Pickering performed a sad duty
by parading as escort, under command of Major Dyar, at the funeral of
Major O'Connor, of the Ninth. No further event of especial moment
appears on the records of the post until its abandonment on September
19th.
Major Quinby, with "K" Battery, under command of Captain Howes, reached
his station at Stage Fort, Gloucester, on the 7th of June. This post,
though admirable as a camping site, hardly could be considered desirable
from an artillery point of view. The old fort itself, an earthen battery
commanding the inner harbor and its approaches, had lain abandoned since
the close of the Civil War, and this long period of neglect had brought
the inevitable results. Under the action of wind and weather its
parapets gradually had worn away, and its magazine was in a ruinous
condition. For armament there were rapid-fire guns, supplemented by
3-inch, muzzle-loading field guns turned over by the departing militia
garrison. Fortunately for the peace of mind of the people of Gloucester,
the fort was not the sole defence of the harbor; for the historic old
monitor _Catskill_, manned by volunteer seamen recruited from the ranks
of the Massachusetts Naval Brigade, lay there at anchor during the
greater part of the summer. With the two 15-inch Dahlgren guns in its
battered turret, this relic of 1862 might still have been a factor in
any dispute with privateers or unarmored cruisers of the enemy. It was
the intention of Colonel Pfaff to secure for this post two 8-inch
converted rifles, but his request for the guns was not complied with.
There were no barracks at Stage Fort, and the garrison went into camp
under canvas. After settling the matter of quarters, work was begun
without delay, and the ravages of time on the old fort were repaired as
thoroughly as possible. When everything had been put into condition for
action, the command quietly took up the customary post routine.
Lieutenant Packard was detailed as post adjutant, performing the duties
of the position until July 18th, when he was ordered to Fort Columbus,
New York Harbor, where he remained on detached service until relieved on
September 12th. After his departure from the post, the adjutant's duties
fell to Lieutenant Gleason, who already had been acting as post
quartermaster and commissary. On September 15th, at the request of the
city whose name she bore, the famous little auxiliary cruiser
_Gloucester_, with laurels fresh from her victorious fight with the
Spanish torpedo-gunboats _Pluton_ and _Furor_, made a visit to the
harbor. As she came to her anchorage, the garrison at Stage Fort fired a
salute in her honor; and on the following day, at the reception given by
the city, the battery paraded as escort to Captain Wainwright and the
men of his crew.
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