Nathaniel Wales was elected Brigadier General on Feb. 21, 1882, and on Feb. 24, Austin C. Wellington became Colonel. The Tiger battalion, during the eight years of Wellington’s command, had become the most prominent military institution in Boston; now the entire 1st Regiment was to profit by the skill of the same man, a skill truly amounting to genius. Peculiar qualities are demanded of one who is to succeed in highest degree as a National Guardsman. He must be a well-trained soldier and a hard worker as a matter of course. He must command respect for his personal character and must be able to impart knowledge to others. He must enforce rigid discipline, and must do it without resorting to regular army methods of punishment. On top of all, there has to be sufficient personal magnetism in his make-up to attract men, and enthusiasm enough to overflow and fire others. This description of a model Guardsman is nothing more or less than a description of Austin C. Wellington. No wonder that during his six years of command, the regiment was to register a new high-water mark of success.
Now the old companies began to come back. When in 1883 the Standish Guards suffered disbandment, their place was promptly taken by the company which had originally held it, the Chelsea Rifles. The Taunton Light Guard ceased to exist in 1884, and at first, the vacant 3d number was filled by the formation of a new company in Natick. Four years later the Natick organization transferred and became Co. L of the 9th, and then the Fusiliers returned to their proper place as 3d Company.
1882 was notable for the Daniel Webster centennial. Pres. Chester A. Arthur honored Boston with a visit on this occasion, and on Oct. 11, the 1st Regiment served as Presidential escort during the celebration at Marshfield. The habit of visiting distant cities now grew on the regiment, so that on August 8, 1885, they were found in New York participating in the tremendous funeral procession in honor of their old-time commander-in-chief, U. S. Grant. Their fame grew.
All Roxbury joined in celebrating the centennial of its favorite corps, the City Guard, in 1884. March 22 of that year will long be remembered for its parade, and other demonstrations of affectionate enthusiasm. In 1886 the 12th Company visited Providence, R. I., as guests of the Light Infantry; and assisted their hosts to celebrate in fitting manner the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of Rhode Island’s settlement. 1887 brought the Fusilier centennial; and was likewise properly observed.
In 1887 the United States celebrated the centenary of the signing of its constitution, choosing Philadelphia, where the document had been drafted, as the place for the demonstration. Massachusetts decided to send Gov. Oliver Ames and to provide, as his military escort, the most proficient regiment in the State. It was not necessary to lose any time searching for the regiment—orders were promptly issued to Col. Wellington, that he prepare his command for the Philadelphia trip, the Commonwealth to pay expenses. Sept. 15 found the regiment on its way to Philadelphia, Sept. 16 saw them marching as one of the most brilliant units of the great parade under command of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, while Sept. 17 was signalized by their return to Boston. D. W. Reeves was band-leader that year—no unworthy successor to Fillebrown and Gilmore—and he contributed, as his share in the event, a new march, “The March of the First.” Chaplain Minot J. Savage, who added to his gift of eloquence the rarer talent of poetry, wrote words for Reeves’ music,
“We’re brothers of all noble men,
Who wear our country’s blue;
We brothers find in any race,
Where men are brave and true.
But we’ve a pride in our own band,
And we are all agreed,
Whatever grand deeds others do,
The ‘Old First’ still shall lead.”
The fame of the regiment became nation-wide as a consequence of the Philadelphia trip.
Col. Wellington’s most notable innovation was the introduction of artillery instruction, or the re-introduction, as it was for those companies originally in the old First. The change was made for the purpose of rendering drills more interesting. It is easier to maintain the interest of artillerymen—they have their guns as a rallying-point. Moreover the artillery virus was in the 1st Regiment blood and was bound eventually to manifest its presence.
That year of Col. Wellington’s accession, 1882, the legislature appropriated $5,000 for the construction of “Battery Dalton” at Framingham. Named in honor of the Adjutant General, Samuel Dalton, it was truly a marvelous work of coast defence. Its mortars had a range of five hundred yards. After firing the projectile, the cannoneers walked over and solemnly dug the same up from its self-made grave, and fired it over again. Artillery practice was economically conducted in those pioneer days. Sept. 13, 1883, the regiment was permitted to hold one day’s practice at Fort Warren, a great concession by the War Department, and a long step in artillery progress. Sept. 4, 1885, one month after the Grant funeral, the privilege of artillery practice was repeated.
A riot in Cambridge brought the 6th Company into active service for two days on Feb. 21 and 22, 1887.