David W. Wardrop of New Bedford, June 26, 1858, John H. Jennings of New Bedford, May 10, 1862, until Aug. 25, 1862, and Silas P. Richmond of Freetown, Oct. 7, 1862, were the war Colonels of the 3d. Col. Wardrop was a Philadelphian by birth, but in young manhood removed to New Bedford. For a time he was a cadet at West Point. During a temporary residence in Boston he had been a member of the Fusiliers. In his home city he served in the City Guards, and was connected with the whaling industries of the port. Following the three-months’ service with the 3d, he became Colonel of the 99th New York Volunteers; and after the war he was inspector of customs at Boston. Col. Richmond had been a charter member of the Assonet Lt. Inf., and subsequently its Captain. Giving up his farm in 1857, he spent a year with John Brown in Kansas repelling “border ruffians.” During the three-months’ tour of duty, as we shall see, he was captain on the brigade staff; under Col. Jennings he was Lieutenant Colonel. At the conclusion of his nine-months’ service, he became Colonel of the 58th Mass. and Assistant Provost Marshal General of the Department of the South. After the war he returned to Freetown, and continued active in business and political spheres.
Col. Wardrop’s regiment received orders to mobilize at Boston on the evening of Monday, Apr. 15, 1861. As the headquarters of the 3d were more remote from Boston than those of any other regiment called out, a severe handicap rested upon the command. Its members were mostly busy farmers or mechanics. Furthermore a cold, spring northeaster was raging and roads were almost impassable because of mud. Yet the energy of the colonel and his staff officers and the loyalty of the men overcame these difficulties, and enabled the regiment to report in Boston on the 16th—as early as any of those residing nearer. Credit must be given to Pres. Horace Scott of the Fairhaven Railroad for free use of a special train on the night of April 15, by which alone the prompt circulation of the order became possible; but the real praise belongs to the officers and men of the companies, whose patriotism produced the magnificent response. The six companies of the regiment, together with a Cambridge company which was attached, embarked on the steamer, “S. R. Spalding,” April 17, and lay in the harbor that night awaiting supplies. When on the following morning final drafts of men had arrived, bringing the total up to more than five hundred, the steamer sailed under sealed orders; and found, when nine miles out, that her destination was Fort Monroe. As communication with Washington was temporarily interrupted, these orders emanated from Gov. Andrew and are a mark of his patriotic sagacity; Gen. John E. Wool, in command of Fort Monroe, had sent a messenger by water requesting help. The officers of the regiment were, besides Col. Wardrop; Lieutenant Colonel Charles Raymond, a former captain of the Standish Guards; Major John H. Jennings of New Bedford; Captains, Co. A, Joseph S. Harlow, who, like his predecessor of 1814, was well over six feet in height; B, Charles C. Doten of Plymouth (afterwards Captain of Co. G, in the 38th Mass., and today Secretary of the Pilgrim Society); C, the Cambridge company, Capt. James P. Richardson; G, John W. Marble of Assonet; H, Lucien L. Perkins of Plympton; K, William S. McFarlin of South Carver (subsequently Captain of Co. C, 18th Mass. Vol. Inf.); and L, Timothy Ingraham of New Bedford. Four new companies were later added to the regiment; and after the expiration of the three-months’ service, these became the nucleus of the 29th Regiment. Companies from the 4th Regiment also joined the 29th. As the 4th Regiment was included in the expedition to Fort Monroe, going by boat from New York, and thus both units of the 2d Brigade, 1st Division, M. V. M., were involved, Gen. Ebenezer W. Peirce, of Freetown, went as brigade commander; and on his staff was Capt. Silas P. Richmond. The 3d Regiment had worn gray uniforms since 1845, and after the war were to continue the color until 1874. So we may picture them as clad in that dressy yet serviceable garb.
Fort Monroe, often called “Fortress” Monroe to indicate that it consists of a fort within a fort, is known as the “Gibraltar of America.” Certainly it is a tribute to the political power of the dominant “House of Virginia” in the early days of our Republic, that the largest and strongest fortification of all should be erected for the defence of Norfolk and the James river. Incidentally it affords some protection to Washington and Baltimore; but that was not a controlling consideration in 1819, when construction began, nor in 1830, when the work was completed. Monroe is a five-bastioned fort of masonry work, and accordingly might be roughly described as a huge pentagon. The walls surrounding it extend for the almost incredible distance of two miles, while the enclosed area is eighty acres in extent. Two picturesque features are the clumps of live oaks growing on the parade, which are not found anywhere farther north, and the sea-water moat in which tide-gates hold the water at a constant depth of six feet.
Such a fort is impregnable when adequately garrisoned—Monroe requires at least fifteen hundred men to render her secure. A Secretary of War with southern sympathies had stripped the fort of soldiers, until little more than a caretakers’ party remained. This tiny regular garrison was compelled to keep all its members under arms continually in order to man the guard-posts. Part of the moat had become an oyster-bed and was so filled up as to be fordable.
Sailing from Boston on the 18th, the men of the 3d experienced rough weather rounding Cape Cod. The last meal the soldiers had eaten before leaving Boston harbor did them no permanent good. Just as in a rambling conversation, so with landsmen on the ocean—one thing brings up another. On the historic 19th of April, while the 6th was fighting its way thru Baltimore and the N. Y. 7th was receiving an ovation along Broadway, the 3d and 4th were enjoying (?) life on the ocean wave. All things, however, have an end; and the 20th found both transports off Monroe, at the entrance of the Chesapeake bay. At first they were uncertain whether the fort remained in loyal hands or not; but the morning gun fired as a salute, and “old glory” ascending the staff, soon reassured them. No troops were ever more heartily welcomed than were the Massachusetts militiamen by the regulars of the garrison. First the 4th and then the 3d marched thru the sally-port, and bivouacked beneath the live oaks; America’s most important fort was manned by loyal troops.
After barely time to snatch a luncheon and reassure themselves that such a thing as solid ground existed, the 3d was ordered under arms. Commodore Paulding had just arrived from Washington in the S. S. “Pawnee,” with orders to secure soldiers, and proceed to Norfolk for the purpose of destroying the Gosport Navy Yard. Norfolk lay far within the newly established Confederate lines. Across Hampton Roads, up the Elizabeth river, past Sewell’s Point where the exposition of 1907 was to stand and where in 1861 the Confederates were erecting an earthwork, past Fort Norfolk, which was then held by Confederates, the “Pawnee” proceeded in cool disregard of threatened shot and shell. It was nine P. M. when the Navy Yard was reached, and here another peril became imminent. The tiny crew and garrison of the Yard were at their guns, not knowing whether the “Pawnee” were an attacking Confederate or a Union reinforcement. Presently, however, identity was cleared up, and the principal business of the night was allowed to proceed.
A Secretary of the Navy, a southern sympathizer, had accumulated ships and material at Gosport worth not less than $10,000,000, for the express purpose of allowing them to fall into Confederate hands. It was the duty of Commodore Paulding and Col. Wardrop to prevent such a disastrous consummation. Both officers felt that the Yard could be held against hostile attack; but their orders were explicit—to destroy and abandon. History has decided that the destruction might have been avoided. As, however, the leaders of the expedition had no choice, they endeavored to make the destruction complete. The “Merrimac” was set afire and sunk. Everything that would not burn was thrown overboard. At 3 A. M. Sunday, the men of the 3d, tired and smoke-begrimed, reembarked on the “Pawnee”; and towing the “Cumberland,” with the Navy Yard garrison on board, started down the Elizabeth river, leaving a raging hell of flames behind them. While the regiment had not been permitted to remain and hold Gosport as they desired, they had been the first northern troops to engage actively in military operations within hostile territory.
By the middle of May the four additional companies had arrived and joined the regiment. Gen. B. F. Butler, having completed his task of pacifying Baltimore, came to Monroe as Major General in command of the “Department of Virginia and North Carolina.” On May 24, Private Charles R. Haskins of Co. G (Assonet) had the honor of bringing in the first escaped negro slaves who reached the Union lines, Haskins being on guard at the time in Hampton. By one of the happy flights of practical genius for which he was distinguished, Gen. Butler decided that he could not return the run-aways because they were “contraband of war.” The north had been waiting in anxious suspense to know what would happen when southern slave-owners should demand the return of their property. Very much depended upon the decision of the question. Men certainly would refuse to enlist in the Union armies if they were thereby to become slave-drivers. Butler’s decision caused a sigh of relief thruout the loyal states. It must not be forgotten that this first long step toward ultimate emancipation was taken in connection with the activity of the 3d Regiment.
One can scarcely overestimate the importance of these early days at Monroe. The fort has always been the coast artillery headquarters of the United States. During the Civil War it was far more than this—it was the gateway of Virginia. Its possession enabled McClellan and Grant to operate against Richmond. Without it neither the Peninsular campaign nor the siege of Petersburg could have taken place. Nearby Hampton, fanned by the sea-breezes, became the sanitorium of the northern armies. Burnside’s expedition, which made possible Sherman’s march, depended upon Monroe as a base. When on July 16, five days after the 4th Regiment had departed, the men of the 3d embarked on the S. S. “Cambridge” to sail for Boston, they felt with reason that they had rendered priceless service to their country.
One company of the 4th Regiment, Co. G, which served three months at Fort Monroe, and subsequently for nine months of 1862-63 at New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, became, in 1866, Co. G of the 3d; and in 1878 was consolidated in the 1st. Co. G had been organized at Taunton as the “Light Guard” in 1855.