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1st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

(Redirected from 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry)
For other uses, see 1st Massachusetts (disambiguation).

The 1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. It was the first regiment to leave Massachusetts for a three-year term (several had previously left for 90-day terms) in response to President Abraham Lincoln's May 3, 1861, call for three-year regiments.[1] It was also the first three-year regiment from any state to reach Washington, D.C., for federal service.[2] The core of the regiment was five companies from the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a peace-time unit which was formed in 1858, replacing an earlier, disbanded unit of the same designation. Five companies of new recruits were added to the regiment and the unit was mustered in by companies beginning May 23, 1861, at Camp Cameron in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
"Charge of the First Massachusetts Regiment on a Rebel Rifle Pit near Yorktown," by Winslow Homer, 1862
ActiveMay 23, 1861–May 25, 1864
Country United States of America
BranchUnion Army
TypeInfantry
Part ofIn 1863: 1st Brigade (Carr's), 2nd Division (Humphreys's), III Corps, Army of the Potomac
Battle honours
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Insignia
III Corps (2nd Division) badge

After arriving in Washington, the regiment became part of Major General Irwin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia and saw their first combat during the Battle of Blackburn's Ford. The 1st Massachusetts was engaged during the First Battle of Bull Run. When Union forces surrounding Washington were reorganized, the regiment became part of the Army of the Potomac, with which it was associated for the rest of its term of service. It was involved in the Peninsular Campaign and was present for virtually all of the major battles in which the Army of the Potomac fought, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg and Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant's Overland Campaign.

Organization

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At the start of the war, with the firing on Fort Sumter, the 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Militia consisted of five companies based in and around Boston, Massachusetts.[3] The peace-time unit of militia was organized in 1858 not long after an older unit of the same name disbanded.[4] The regiment was initially built around five companies (later companies , D, E, F, and G) of the First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.[5] These five companies were the "Union Guards" of East Boston (B), the "Roxbury City Guards" of Roxbury (D), the "Pulaski Guards" of South Boston (E), the "National Guards" of Boston (F), and the "Independent Boston Fusiliers" (G).[6] The commanding officer, Colonel Robert Cowdin, originally offered their service in response to Lincoln's first call for 75,000 volunteers to serve a term of 90-days. But as the unit did not yet have the ten companies required for a regiment, the request was set aside.[7][note 1] The state the added five other militia companies in part or as a whole to fill the complement of ten companies as A, C, H, I, and K. A was drawn from thw two militia companies in Brookline, C from the North End True Blues in Boston, H from the Chelsea Volunteers in Chelsea, I from the Schouler Guards in Boston, and K from the Chadwick Light Infantry of Roxbury.[8]

The regiment first made its headquarters at Faneuil Hall in Boston and began recruiting volunteers for five new companies. This progressed for about a month until a full complement of companies was reached. When Lincoln's call for three-year regiments was issued on May 3, 1861, the men of the 1st Massachusetts unanimously agreed to serve for that term.[5] The first four companies were mustered into federal service on May 23 and the remaining six over the next few days.[7] On May 25, the regiment was ordered to occupy an improvised training camp outside of Boston dubbed Camp Ellsworth. The barracks were located in an old ice house next to Fresh Pond in North Cambridge, Massachusetts.[5][note 2] The regiment began active training and drilling here, however, the camp and barracks turned out to be unsuitable and unhealthy, resulting a growing sick list.[9] On June 13, the unit moved to a different location in North Cambridge where new barracks were constructed.[note 3] This came to be known as Camp Cameron. Just two days later, the War Department summoned the regiment to active service.[11]

Initial service in 1861

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The 1st Massachusetts left Boston on the Boston and Providence Railroad in seventeen passenger and four baggage cars, drawn by two locomotives.[12] Arriving in Groton, Connecticut, the regiment detrained and embarked on the steamship Commonwealth[12] It sailed out and south outside Long Island and landed in Jersey City where the men disembarked and, after a meal, again entrained, this time on the New Jersey Railroad, for Washington.[12] Since the Baltimore riot two months earlier when the 6th Massachusetts was attacked by a large crowd of civilian Confederate sympathizers, new Union regiments headed southward generally avoided passing through that city.[11] Col. Cowdin decided to travel through Baltimore which required the regiment to march on foot between two of the city's train depots as the 6th Massachusetts had done. The men of the 1st Massachusetts were ordered to load their muskets before conducting the march. A large crowd of civilians assembled but remained silent as the 1st Massachusetts passed.[13] After boarding train cars without incident, the regiment arrived in Washington on the evening of June 17. It was the first of the three-year regiments to reach the capital.[7]

On June 19, the regiment marched through Washington and Georgetown and established a camp on the north side of the Potomac River which they called Camp Banks.[note 4] The 1st Massachusetts spent nearly a month there, drilling and preparing for the upcoming campaign. The men shared an opinion with the other New England troops that the further they travelled south, the felt there was the ratio of increase travellers'discomforts and inconveniences, poorer living, exorbitant charges at accomodations, complete indifference to human comfort, and disregard of human life and happiness. This seemed to feed the very dim view they of the local white population who they saw as overtly or covertly supportive of secession.[14]

As a result, strict military discipline was enforced. The men were learning to be soldiers with a tight schedule of instruction, physical training, and inspections.[15] They were attached to the Fourth Brigade (commanded by Col. Israel B. Richardson) of the First Division (commanded by Brigadier General Daniel Tyler) of Maj. Gen. Irwin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia.[16] As part of their brigade, the regiment soon took up its part in patrolling and protecting portions of the Washington Aqueduct.[17]

First Bull Run Campaign

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Further information: First Bull Run Campaign
 
"Attack on the batteries at Bull Run by three companies of the First Massachusetts Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Welles, commanding"

On Tuesday, July 16, the regiment received orders to march with their brigade into Virginia as Gen. McDowell commenced to move his army to meet the Confederate forces gathered around the important railroad junction at Manassas, Virginia. At 3:00 p.m., the 1st, in company with the 2nd and 3rd Michigan and the 12th New York Regiments,[18] constituting Col. Richardson's brigade, crossed the Potomac via the Chain Bridge into Virginia, and began a march towards Vienna. The men noted the support of local Unionists as the marched and reached their bivouac at 11:00 p.m. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, the regiment saw evidence of the rebel army in trees felled as obstacles across the road and various pieces of clothinbg and equipment left along the road side.[19]

Battle of Blackburn's Ford

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Further information: Battle of Blackburn's Ford

Thursday, July 18, Tyler's division was ordered to probe the Confederate position on the other side of Bull Run. Richardson's brigade led the reconnaissance-in-force known as the Battle of Blackburn's Ford during which the 1st Massachusetts acted as the leading regiment of the brigade by Col. Cowdin's request.[20] As they started off at 7:00 a.m., the heat was extremely oppressive, and water was scarce, and the 1st turned left from Centreville down the road leading down to Blackburn's Ford across Bull Run, a tributary of the Occoquan River.[21][22] Its banks were covered with a dense undergrowth of bushes and thickets. Either side of Bull Run was peculiarly well adapted to defensive warfare, with a gentle slope downs to the water, which had carved a deep chasm thus forming a barrier to cavalry and artillery. The men of the regiment noted that the road to the ford ran apparently through a farm or plantation, with a house, barn, outbuildings, and orchard on the left, and a large wheat-field on the right. Around 11:00 a.m., the men saw rebel pickets in thick woods along Bull Run, who withdrew as the brigade approached.[22] The 1st was wearing their gray Massachusetts militia uniforms (the typical color for many state militia units). This caused considerable confusion for both Confederate and Union units that encountered the regiment later that day and might have confused the pickets.[23]

The brigade's skirmishers advanced half-way down the hill to make observations and, across Bull Run, they saw rebel infantry in numerous cleared spots and around certain buildings, interspersed here and there by cavalry, but no artillery. Richardson immediately ordered up his artillery, and the rest of his regiments.[24] The first battery was posted in the wheat field fired twelve or fifteen shots before rebel batteries replied with four or five rounds of accurate fire. When the second battery arrived, and was posted by the orchard, it fired on the enemy's batteries who ceased firing after four rounds.[24]

When the full brigade arrived, it deployed athwart the road with the 1st Massachusets on the left. Two companies pushed into the woods along Bull Run and made contact almost immediately who opened fire but seemed only to prevent the crossing of Bull Run and not advance themselves.[note 5] Another company took the house and barn on the left and followed the skirmishers into the woods. Once again, confusion over the regiment's uniforms made it difficult to identify friendly soldiers from the rebels.[25][note 6]

Eventually, they crossed Bull Run, and three companies of the 1st Massachusetts were ordered forward as skirmishers to probe the Confederate position.[note 7]

That night the regiment returned to Centerville for its bivouac. At Blackburn's Ford, its first taste of battle, the 1st Massachusetts lost 13 killed, including 2nd Lieut. William H. B. Smith of Cambridge, and over 20 wounded and missing.[16] On Friday, the next day, it returned the ford to man a picket line at Bull Run for through to Sunday, July 21.[16]

First Battle of Bull Run

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Further information: First Battle of Bull Run

Due to the failure of the reconnaissance at Blackburn's Ford, McDowell determined that a frontal assault on the Confederate lines across Bull Run would be necessary. The result was the First Battle of Bull Run fought on July 21. During the battle, the 1st Massachusetts and their brigade were posted at Blackburn's Ford to hold the crossing and to make demonstrations, or lightly engage, the forces on the other side of the ford to prevent them from reinforcing the rest of the Confederate line.[28] The 1st Massachusetts, relatively sheltered in woods near the ford, waited for hours while the main action played out several miles to their northwest, upstream along Bull Run. In their position, mail and rations had been brought forward, and it seemed everything was going in the Union's favor. Various bodies of rebel troops could be seen gathering in the 1st's front and on the left. The men had strengthened their position with a parapet of earth and an abbatis extending several hundred feet to the right and left. Skirmishers in the woods soon fell back to the regiment reporting large numbers of rebels.[29]

When the main Union force retreated in extreme disorder, the Confederate troops at Blackburn's Ford advanced to attack.[16] The 1st Massachusetts resisted this advance for a short time, returning fire from their fortified position driving the rebels back into the protection of the woods. During this action, the regiment suffered its only casualties of the battle including 2nd Lt. ELijah B. Gill of Company I who had been holding the farmhouse.[30] Soon, however, an order came for them to immediately retire. Having no knowledge of the general retreat, this order came as a surprise to the regiment.[29] They marched northward towards Centreville but did not join in the general retreat. Instead they halted and bivouacked just in the rear of the artillery, buried Lt Gill, and rested until orders came near midnight to march for Washington. Theirs was the last Union brigade to leave the field.[31]

Defense of Washington and Maryland

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Map of Civil War forts near Alexandria, showing Fort Albany (ca. September 1861)

The Union command and public opinion feared that the 14,000 Confederate tyroops who had not fought in the battle would advance on the capital. As a result, the 1st Massachusetts and its brigade were withdrawn all the way back to the city and went back into Camp Banks. The Northern public was shocked at the unexpected defeat of their army when an easy victory had been widely anticipated, and both sides quickly came to realize that the war would be longer and more brutal than they had imagined.[32] On July 22, President Lincoln signed a bill that provided for the enlistment of another 500,000 men for up to three years of service.[33] Soon, the immediate threat of an attack abated.

A strategic threat remained and the United States continued building extensive fortifications to protect Washington from the rebels. On the hills surrounding the capital, across the Potomac in northern Virginia, and on the Potomac Approaches, the U.S. government built a complex system of Civil War fortifications. This system, as projected, was to be connected by unbroken lines of rifle-pits, covered ways, and breastworks to shield infantry. The forts were all located on the highest hills surrounding the city of Alexandria and the District of Columbia, and were constructed of earth, timber, and some masonry, in the most thorough and careful manner.[34] These strategic buttresses transformed the young capital into one of the world's most fortified cities. To man these defenses, the U.S. Army amassed an army of troops as big as any of its field armies. [note 8] These forts were arranged to command all approaches too the seat of government and were designed to mutually support their neighboring fortifications. As well as the forts, designed to house soldiers and store artillery and other supplies, the system included prepared but unarmed batteries for field guns and seven blockhouses that could be manned on an ad hoc basis.[35]

Fort Albany

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Further information: Fort Albany (Arlington, Virginia) and Civil War Defenses of Washington

On Tuesday morning, July 23, the 1st Massachusetts received orders to pack up everything, and move across the Potomac to the vicinity of Arlington Heights. By 12:00 p.m., the regiment was on the march. At nightfall the men turned into a field on the canal which crossed the river at that point. The night was passed in the open air since the tents were still enroute and the camp proved to be an unfortunate selection, on account of its dampness and the heavy fogs at night, On Thursday, the regiment moved to Fort Albany, a bastioned earthwork that the Union Army built in Arlington County [note 9] in Virginia. The Army constructed the fort during May 1861 as part of its Civil War defenses of Washington. The site was the most elevated spot of ground on Arlington Heights, overlooking not only Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, but the country round about for nearly a dozen miles in every direction. Overlooking a long stretch of the Potomac River, and nearly the whole extent of the capital, from the Georgetown line above to the Washington Navy Yard below, its heavy guns commanded not only the river and city in front, but also the whole sweep of farming country extending to the south and west.

At Fort Albany, yhe 1st Massachusett's numbers had been somewhat diminished by discharges for disability and other causes, but those remaining were realizing the struggle would be harder and longer than first expected and still maintained good morale.[36] For the first few days, the men worked at improving the fort in the mornings, felling timber all around the fort, and in the afternoons, they drilled by battalion or brigades. New clothing of standard army blue jackets and skyu blue trousers was issued to replace the gray militia uniforms, and, on July 29, the men were paid the first of the month in gold and silver.[37]

The men seemed fully to appreciate the gravity of their duty to hold and defend Fort Albany.[37] Despite beinmg infantry, the men learned how to operate the fort's big guns. The heavy pieces were rolled backwards and forwards from their positions, and loading and firing drills conducted until the men handled them easily amd quickly.[38]|[note 10]

Blasdnsburg

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Further information: Bladensburg, MD; Battle of Bladensburg; and Bladensburg Dueling Grounds

Friction between the regiment and the rest of Richardson's brigade led to a request for transfer to another. This request was granted on Friday, August 9, when the command was orderedto march to the vicinity of Bladensburg, MD on the other side of the river and the capital. An alert for an impending Confederate attack delayed the move until the following Thusday, August 15. At 8:00 a.m. in a drenching rain, the regiment and its twenty-five wagons left the fort, recrossed the Potomac over Long Bridge, marched through Washington, and stopped on a knoll just short of Bladensburg, MD (ten miles in all). There, a new camp, known as Camp Union, was laid out and tents pitched. The 1st Massachusetts joined Brig.-Gen. Joseph Hooker's brigade alongside the 11th Massachusetts, the 2nd New-Hampshire, and the 26th Pennsylvania.[40]

The men, only four decades removed frtom the War of 1812 were familiar with Bladensburg's historical reputation as the site of the disastrous 1814 battle and the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds. The regiment found most of its inhabitants were Unionists, although not as overt as the people in New England, on account of threats from secessionist partisans.[41] The men also became familiar with its spring which proved a good source of water.Soon after arriving the men joined the rest of the brigade in building Fort Lincoln—one of the cordon surrounding Washington.[42]

Securing Maryland

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Operations in the second year - 1862

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Peninsular Campaign

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Ordered to Fortress Monroe, Va., April 7, 1862; thence to Yorktown. Siege of Yorktown April 16-May 4. Affair at Yorktown April 26 (Cos. "A," "H" and "I"). Battle of Williamsburg May 5. Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, May 31 – June 1. Seven days before Richmond June 25 – July 1. Battles of Oak Grove June 25; Savage Station June 29; White Oak Swamp and Glendale June 30; Malvern Hill July 1. At Harrison's Landing until August 15.

The Northern Virginia Campaign

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Movement to Fortress Monroe, thence to Centreville August 15–26. Bristoe Station or Kettle Run August 27. Catlett's Station August 28. Battles of Groveton August 29 and Bull Run August 30. Active also Chantilly, Sept. 1, 1862

Duty near Washington

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Duty in the Defences of Washington until December --. At Fort Lyon until September 13. Near Fairfax Seminary until October 20 and at Munson's Hill until November 1. Duty at Fairfax Station November 2–25. Operations on Orange & Alexandria Railroad November 10–12.

Fredericksburg campaign

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Moveed from Munson's Hill November 1. Duty at Fairfax Station November 2–25. Conducted operations on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad November 10 through 12. Fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12–15.

Under Burnside, Hooker, and Meade - 1863

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The post-Fredericks burg AoP

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"Mud March" January 20–24, 1863.

Hooker takes command and the Chancellorsville Campaign

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At Falmouth until April 27. Operations at Rappahannock Bridge and Grove Church February 5–7. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27 – May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5.

Lee's invasion amd tje Gettysburg Campaign

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Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11 – July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1–3. Pursuit of Lee until July 24.

The Draft Riots

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Moved to New York July 30 – August 1. Duty at Governor's Island Ricker's Island and David's Island, New York Harbor until October 15.

Return to Virginia

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Moved to Washington October 15 thence to Union Mills, Va., and rejoin Corps October 17. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8. Kelly's Ford November 7. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. Payne's Farm November 27.

The last six months of service - 1864

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Grant comes east

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Duty near Brandy Station until May 1864. Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6–7.

The Overland campaign

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Rapidan Campaign May 3–20. Battles of the Wilderness May 5 7; Spottsylvania May 8–12; Spottsylvania Court House May 12–21. Assault on the Salient at Spottsylvania Court House May 12. Harris Farm or Fredericksburg Road May 19.

End of enlistment

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Ordered home for muster out May 20 Veterans and Recruits transferred to 11th Massachusetts Infantry May 20. Mustered out May 25, 1864. Expiration of term.

Affiliations, battle honors, detailed service, and casualties

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Organizational affiliation

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Attached to:[1]

List of battles

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The official list of battles in which the regiment bore a part:[43]

Detailed service

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Detailed service is as follows:[1]

1861

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  • Left State for Washington, D. C., June 15,
  • Arrived in Washington June 17.
  • Duty at Camp Banks, Georgetown, D. C., until July 16, 1861.
  • Advance on Manassas, Va., July 16·21.
  • Occupation of Fairfax Court House July 17.
  • First Battle of Bull Run July 21.
  • At Fort Albany until August 15.
  • Moved to Bladensburg August 15 and duty there until September 7.
  • Expedition to Lower Maryland September 7-October 7.
  • Moved to Posey's Plantation October 25–27.
  • Duty there and at Shipping Point until April 5, 1862.
  • Affair at Mattawoman Creek November 14. 1861.

1862

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  • Ordered to Fortress Monroe, Va., April 7, 1862, thence to Yorktown.
  • The Peninsula Campaign
    • Siege of Yorktown April 16-May 4.
    • Affair at Yorktown April 26 (Cos. "A," "H" and "I").
    • Battle of Williamsburg May 5.
    • Battle of Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, May 31-June 1.
    • Seven days before Richmond June 25-July 1.
    • Battles of Oak Grove June 25.
    • Savage Station June 29.
    • White Oak Swamp and Glendale June 30:
    • Malvern Hill July 1.
  • At Harrison's Landing until August 15.
  • Movement to Fortress Monroe, thence to Centreville August 15–26.
  • Bristoe Station or Kettle Run August 27.
  • Catlett's Station August 28.
  • Battles of Groveton August 29, and Bull Run August 30.
  • Duty in the Defenses of Washington until December
  • At Fort Lyon until September 13.
  • Near Fairfax Seminary until October 20
  • Munson's Hill until November 1.
  • Duty at Fairfax Station November 2–25.
  • Operations on Orange & Alexandria Railroad November 10–12
  • Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 12–15.

1863

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  • "Mud March" January 20–24, 1863.
  • At Falmouth until April 27.
  • Operations at Rappahannock Bridge and Grove Church February 5–7.
  • Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6.
    • Battle of Chancellorsville May 1–5.
  • Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24.
    • Battle of Gettysburg July 1·3.
    • Pursuit of Lee until July 24.
  • Moved to New York July 30-August 1.
  • Duty at Governor's Island, Ricker's Island and David's Island, New York Harbor, until October 15.
  • Moved to Washington October 15
  • Union Mills, Va., and rejoin Corps October 17.
  • Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7–8.
  • Kelly's Ford November 7.
  • Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2.
    • Payne’s Farm November 27.
  • Duty near Brandy Station until May 1864.
  • Demonstration on the Rapidan February 6–7.
  • Overland Campaign May 3–20.
    • Battles of the Wilderness May 5–7.
    • Spottsylvania May 8–12.
    • Spottsylvania Court House May 12–21.
    • Assault on the Salient at Spottsylvania Court House May 12.
    • Harris Farm or Fredericksburg Road May 19.
  • Ordered home for muster out May 20.
  • Veterans and Recruits transferred to 11th Massachusetts Infantry May 20.
  • Mustered out May 25, 1864, at expiration of term.

Casualties

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During its term of service, it lost 8 Officers and 108 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 55 Enlisted men by disease for a total of 179. Seven further men were lost as prisoners of war.[44]

Armament & uniforms

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Armament

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Because the core of the regiment was an existing militia regiment, they temporarily furnished with old muskets of various patterns. Around June 12, 1861 the regiment went to the Watertown Aresenal where they received Springfield Model 1855 rifled musket with which they equipped all companies (some of which were the 1858 modification with simpler rear sight, a patch box on the side of the buttstock, and an iron nosecap).[45] The 1855 Springfield was a .58 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading fire-arm. It was issued with a square socket bayonet. The regiment did not use the Maynard tape primer in the field, but standard percussion caps. The regiment used these rifles through its service, replacing them with newer 1861 and 1863 modelsNational Armory (NA) and contract[note 11] manufactured rifle-muskets when necessary.[48][49]

Ordnance Surveys

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Survey for Fourth Quarter, 1862'[50]

  • A — 51 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • B — 55 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • C — 44 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • D — 50 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • E — 59 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • F — 52 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • G — 53 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • H — 39 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • I — 45 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • K — 65 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)

Survey for First Quarter, 1863'[51]

  • A — 49 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • B — 55 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • C — 46 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • D — 45 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • E — 50 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • F — 51 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • G — 49 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • H — 40 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • I — 42 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • K — 55 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)

Survey for Third Quarter, 1863'[52]

  • A — 36 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • B — 39 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • C — 41 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • D — 34 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • E — 37 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • F — 40 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • G — 49 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • H — 26 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • I — 28 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • K — 42 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)

Survey for Fourth Quarter, 1864'[53]

  • A — 37 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • B — 34 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • C — 34 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • D — 36 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • E — 35 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • F — 42 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • G — 38 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • H — 31 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • I — 36 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
  • K — 44 Springfield Rifled Muskets, model 1855, 1861, NA and contract, (.58 Cal.)
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  • Issued weapons
  •  
    Springfield Model 1855
  •  
    Springfield Model 1861

Uniform

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Initially, the 1st Massachusette wore the Massachusetts militia uniform which consisted of a dark blue regulation shako, grey shell coat and collar, black shoulder straps, dark blue trousers, and black leather belts, pouches, and straps.[54] By the time of the peninsula campaign, the regiment was wearing standard blue sack coats and sky blue wool trousers.[55]

Medal of Honor

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  • Nathaniel M. Allen[56] At Gettysburg on 2 July, when his regiment was falling back, already carrying the national color, he returned in the face of the enemy's fire, pulled the regimental flag from under the body of its fallen bearer saving it from capture.[57]

See also

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References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Immediately after the fall of Ft. Sumter, when the Capital seemed in imminent danger, Cowdin and a number of other militia Colonels reported to Governor Andrew. Cowdin immediately offered to one of his militia companies which was accepted. This company, with others that had previously been ordered, made a full regiment, and left for Washington, April 17, 1861. Although, on paper, Cowdin's regiment would retain the ordinal designation of its militia core, Andrews sent out the Regiments as soon as they were fully staffed, ergo, the 3rd, 5th, and 8th Massachusetts volunteers left before the 1st.[3]
  2. ^ It was named Camp Ellsworth, in honor of the gallant colonel of the New York Fire Zouaves, whose murder by the secessionist Jackson, at the Marshall House, Alexandria, Va., on the morning of May 24, was still fresh in the public mind.[5]
  3. ^ Cowdin also found the condition of the arms and equipment drawn from the Watertown Arsenal to be in poor condition and the regiment spent a lot of its time in camp repairing its arms, uniforms, and equipment to suitable condition for field service[10]
  4. ^ Named after the politician and Massachusetts resident, Nathaniel P. Banks
  5. ^ The men of the regiment noted a couple men from the 11th New York, Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves, who eager to fight had left their regiment, at least six miles behind, and joined the advancing troops being among the first to enter the woods. Subject to no orders, they roamed about at will, doing well and picking off several of the enemy's forces.[25]
  6. ^ From Cudworth:"Lieut. William H. B. Smith discovered the enemy, as he supposed; but seeing how they were attired, and fearing to give the order to fire, lest he might shoot some of our own men, he ran forward, exclaiming, "Who are you?" The rebels replied with the same question, "Who are you?" when Lieut. Smith incautiously responded, "Massachusetts men;" and no sooner had the words left his mouth than the rebels replied with a volley which laid him dead upon the spot."[25]
  7. ^ Again, their gray uniforms caused another moment of confusion as they were almost fired on by These two companies took the brunt of the unit's casualties during the engagement, although the entire regiment was exposed to heavy fire.[26] The 1st Massachusetts found that the Confederates were present in force on the other side of Blackburn's Ford and had a strong position. Tyler ordered a complete withdrawal. Any attempt to flank the Confederate position by Blackburn's Ford was thereafter lost.[27]
  8. ^ The forts contained veils, bomb-proofs, and magazines; were surrounded with ditches, fringed and planted with abatis of sharp pointed branches; and mounted variously a dozen, fifteen, twenty, or more guns, of every caliber. To give these guns the widest possible range, forest-trees, proves, and orchards were levelled with the ground all around them; and, in some instances, houses and barns torn down or removed. By 1865, 68 forts and 93 batteries armed with over 800 cannons encircled Washington, DC. Today, 17 of the original sites are managed by the National Park Service.[35][34]
  9. ^ The county was known at the time as Alexandria County.
  10. ^ A May 17, 1864, report from the Union Army's Inspector of Artillery (see Union Army artillery organization) noted the following: ... two 24-pounder field howitzers, four 24-pounder siege, two Parrotts, one Coehorn mortar, one 10-inch mortar."[39] (See: Official Records of the War of the Rebellion)
  11. ^ In government records, National Armory refers to one of three United States Armory and Arsenals, the Springfield Armory, the Harpers Ferry Armory, and the Rock Island Arsenal. Rifle-muskets, muskets, and rifles were manufactured in Springfield and Harper's Ferry before the war. When the Rebels destroyed the Harpers Ferry Armory early in the American Civil War and stole the machinery for the Confederate central government-run Richmond Armory, the Springfield Armory was briefly the only government manufacturer of arms, until the Rock Island Arsenal was established in 1862. During this time production ramped up to unprecedented levels ever seen in American manufacturing up until that time, with only 9,601 rifles manufactured in 1860, rising to a peak of 276,200 by 1864. These advancements would not only give the Union a decisive technological advantage over the Confederacy during the war but served as a precursor to the mass production manufacturing that contributed to the post-war Second Industrial Revolution and 20th century machine manufacturing capabilities. American historian Merritt Roe Smith has drawn comparisons between the early assembly machining of the Springfield rifles and the later production of the Ford Model T, with the latter having considerably more parts, but producing a similar numbers of units in the earliest years of the 1913–1915 automobile assembly line, indirectly due to mass production manufacturing advancements pioneered by the armory 50 years earlier. These rifles were also produced by contracted commercial arms compnies who, by the contract, had to meet the NA manufacturing specifications. [46][47]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b c Dyer (1908), p. 1248.
  2. ^ Federal Publishing Company (1908), p. 168.
  3. ^ a b Cowdin (1864), p. 5.
  4. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 14; Headley (1866), p. 145-146; Stevens (1931), p. 1.
  5. ^ a b c d Cudworth (1866), p. 15.
  6. ^ Bowen (1889), p. 99-100; Headley (1866), p. 146.
  7. ^ a b c Bowen (1889), p. 99.
  8. ^ Cudworth (1866), pp. 15–16.
  9. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 16.
  10. ^ Cowdin (1864), pp. 7–8.
  11. ^ a b Headley (1866), p. 146.
  12. ^ a b c Cudworth (1866), p. 19.
  13. ^ Cudworth (1866), pp. 24–25.
  14. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 27.
  15. ^ Cudworth (1866), pp. 29–32.
  16. ^ a b c d Bowen (1889), p. 101.
  17. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 33.
  18. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 35.
  19. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 36.
  20. ^ Headley (1866), p. 147.
  21. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 41.
  22. ^ a b Civil War in the East, 1st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (2020).
  23. ^ Cudworth (1866), pp. 41–42, 44.
  24. ^ a b Cudworth (1866), p. 42.
  25. ^ a b c Cudworth (1866), p. 43.
  26. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 49.
  27. ^ Headley (1866), p. 149.
  28. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 54.
  29. ^ a b Cudworth (1866), p. 65.
  30. ^ Bowen (1889), p. 101; Cudworth (1866), p. 64.
  31. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 66.
  32. ^ Rawley (1989), pp. 56–57.
  33. ^ Rawley (1989), p. 58.
  34. ^ a b Cudworth (1866), p. 69.
  35. ^ a b NPS, Civil War Defenses of Washington, (2020).
  36. ^ Cudworth (1866), pp. 69–74.
  37. ^ a b Cudworth (1866), p. 70.
  38. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 72.
  39. ^ Howe (1864), p. 888.
  40. ^ Bowen (1889), p. 102; Cudworth (1866), p. 74.
  41. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 75.
  42. ^ Bowen (1889), p. 102.
  43. ^ Higginson (1896), p. 197.
  44. ^ Dyer (1908), p. 1409; Higginson (1896), p. 197.
  45. ^ Cowdin (1864), p. 7.
  46. ^ Smithsonian, Civil War symposium, (2012).
  47. ^ NPS, Springfield Armory NHS, (2010).
  48. ^ Mink, Armament in the Army of the Potomac, (2008), p. 36.
  49. ^ Mink, Armament in the Army of the Potomac, (2018), p. 37.
  50. ^ Research Arsenal, Summary Statement of Ordnance 31 December 1862.
  51. ^ Research Arsenal, Summary Statement of Ordnance 31 March 1863.
  52. ^ Research Arsenal, Summary Statement of Ordnance 31 August 1863.
  53. ^ Research Arsenal, Summary Statement of Ordnance 31 December 1864.
  54. ^ Stevensson (1987), p. 691.
  55. ^ Cudworth (1866), p. 92.
  56. ^ Acton Memorial Library, Civil War Records of Nathaniel M. Allen (2012).
  57. ^ CMOHS, Corporal ALLEN, NATHANIEL M., U.S. Army (2012).

Sources

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