Colonel Pfaff, with his staff and attachés, reached Salem on June 3d. Headquarters at once were established at Fort Pickering, situated on Winter Island, at the entrance of the inner harbor. On the 6th, "C" and "D" Batteries arrived at the post, reporting to Major Dyar, who had been detailed as post commander. The batteries at once pitched camp on the glacis outside the wet ditch surrounding the old fort, while the headquarters tents were located inside the parapet of an outwork covering the landward approach. The fort itself was but a ruin. Since the earliest colonial days the site had been occupied by defensive works, and the present Fort Pickering had been rebuilt and garrisoned in 1861; but from that time on it had been allowed, through the storms of a third of a century, to crumble into decay. There were no quarters for troops, there was no armament of heavy guns; and, worst of all, the location of the work was such that bombardment under modern long-range conditions could not be prevented.
MAJOR PERLIE A. DYAR, U.S.V.
Commanding First Battalion.
But Salem, with its heavy property interests, its large coastwise trade, and its enormous coal-pockets—so tempting to a coal-hungry enemy—had to be protected as best might be; and, as soon as the camp had been settled, Captains Frothingham and Nutter, under the supervision of Major Dyar, set their men at work, with shovel, pick, and barrow, on the feeble defenses. Time was lacking for the remodelling of the entire work, even if the numerical strength of the working details had permitted, and work was confined to strengthening the weak channel face of the fort. Here, from plane drawn by Lieutenant Francis, a civil engineer by profession, an earthen parapet of strong profile, with stone revetment, was constructed. The working tools and derricks required in the undertaking were supplied by the city authorities of Salem, who in this, as in many other ways, showed a desire to be of every assistance to the garrison. Guns of at least medium calibre were urgently needed, and Colonel Pfaff endeavored, through the department commander, to obtain a battery of six 8-inch converted rifles. In this attempt he was unsuccessful, though a number of guns of this type lay idle at Fort Warren, where they had been dismounted and removed from the casemates. While the carriages of these guns were not properly adapted for use in a barbette battery, they yet might have served the purpose after a fashion; especially since this war, it always must be borne in mind, was from first to last a war of makeshifts. As the event proved, however, the garrison at Fort Pickering was forced to remain content with the armament of small-calibre, rapid-fire guns supplied through the enterprise of the State of Massachusetts. It so happened that both Captains Frothingham and Nutter, prior to the war, had been conspicuous for their devotion to the study of modern artillery work; their men were well grounded in the principles of sea-coast gunnery, and their being thus stationed at a post absolutely destitute of modern heavy ordnance seemed no light hardship.
MAJOR HOWARD S. DEARING, U.S.V.
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.