LIEUT.-COL. ERASMUS M. WEAVER, U.S.V.
(Captain 1st U.S. Artillery.)
Mustering-out Officer for Regiment.

Reaching Boston at two o'clock, the command formed in column for its final parade. By this time the drizzle of the forenoon had become a drenching downpour, but the men now were thoroughly wet through, and no attention was paid to the muddy streets. The regiment had gone out under like conditions, and was disposed to accept them as part of the established order of things. Without waiting for the rear-most batteries to emerge from the station, the command for marching was given, the band struck up the stirring strains of the "Stars and Stripes," and the regiment started over its route to the State House. Here Governor Wolcott, with the officers of his staff, reviewed the returning artillerymen. On reaching the foot of Beacon Hill, the Third Battalion halted, while the leading battalions marched on and formed line on Charles Street. Then the Bristol-Plymouth batteries, with arms at port, tramped past their Boston comrades, forming line on their right and presenting arms as they, in their turn, marched by—and with this brief ceremony the twelve batteries, as volunteers of 1898, separated forever. Colonel Pfaff, with his staff, the band, and "A," "C," "D," "G," "K," and "L" Batteries, proceeded to the South Armory, where, after cheering their commanding officer, the men broke ranks and scattered to their homes. Major Frye, with the Third Battalion, marched to the Park Square station, where "I" Battery was detached to entrain at Kneeland Street, and "E," "F," and "M" Batteries took their special train for their home stations. "B" and "H" Batteries proceeded by the most direct routes to their armories at Cambridge and Chelsea. The thirty days' furlough had begun, and all active service for the regiment now was at an end.

On November 4th, the officers and men of the twelve batteries reported back from leave and furlough at the armories at their home stations, and the final formality of physical examination for discharge was begun. In the First and Second Battalions this work was carried on under direction of Captain Newgarden, assistant surgeon, United States Army, assisted by Lieutenants Gates and Hitchcock, of the medical department, Second Massachusetts Infantry, while in the Third Battalion the examining surgeons were Major Magurn and Lieutenant Shea, Ninth Massachusetts Infantry. Owing to the small enlisted strength of the command, as well as to its magnificent physical condition, the examinations were concluded in a comparatively short time, and the regiment was given a clean bill of health by the board of surgeons through whose hands it had just passed.

The last detail now had been attended to, and on November 14th the First was ready for the final step towards leaving the volunteer service. Early in the forenoon of that day Majors Dyar and Quinby assembled their batteries at the South Armory, where, with the field, staff, and non-commissioned staff, they formally were mustered out of the service of the United States by Lieutenant-Colonel Weaver. At the same time Major Frye had accompanied Lieutenant J. P. Hains, Third United States Artillery, to the stations of the "Cape" batteries on a like mission. Lieutenant Hains enjoyed the distinction of having received almost the last wound in the Porto Rican campaign, having intercepted a Mauser bullet in the action at Aibonito, almost at the time when the peace protocol was being signed. He had become very popular among the officers of the First, and his selection as mustering out officer was much to the satisfaction of the Third Battalion.

Of the seven hundred and fifty-seven officers and men whose names had been borne on the rolls of the regiment during its term of service, there were mustered out at this time seven hundred and eleven. The regiment had lost two commissioned officers—Major Bryant by promotion, and Lieutenant Rolfe by resignation—and forty-three enlisted men, of whom Private Henry A. Williams, "F" Battery, had died while on furlough, one had received promotion, six had been discharged for physical disability contracted in the line of duty, and the remainder had been transferred to the regular service, the greater number of these enlisting in the Second United States Artillery. Major Dearing was not mustered out with the other officers of the staff, remaining in the service until Jan. 28th, 1899, for duty as examining surgeon with other returning Massachusetts regiments.

At this time what had threatened to be a serious complication was averted through the thoughtfulness of the regimental commander. Though the final muster and pay rolls of the command had been prepared in ample time, the pay department, through inadequate clerical equipment at this station, found itself unable to make the final settlements with the men at the time of their muster-out. In addition to money for clothing allowances and commutation of furlough rations, there was due to the batteries over six weeks' pay, a very considerable sum in the aggregate. As in all other volunteer regiments, not a few of the men had returned from service only to find their patriotism rewarded by the loss of their situations in civil life, and cases were not infrequent in which delay in final payment meant serious hardship. Fully understanding these conditions, Colonel Pfaff relieved the stress of the situation by unhesitatingly drawing his personal check for $10,000, thus making it possible on the day of mustering out to advance to each enlisted man $15 with which to tide over the interval before the final appearance of the paymaster. This thoughtful act met with the appreciation which it merited, and it hardly need be added that the trust shown in the integrity of the men proved not to have been misplaced. On November 18th the batteries of the Third Battalion were paid off, and on the following day the remainder of the regiment received its money—the last dollar advanced by Colonel Pfaff being repaid at the time the Government fulfilled its obligations. This, from every point of view, was a pleasant incident and one that reflected equal credit on the commanding officer and his men.

AN HONORABLE REGIMENTAL
RECORD

XV.

After bringing to its conclusion another eventful chapter in its already long and honorable history, the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery again has left the service of the United States to reënter that of the Commonwealth. In addition to the jealously cherished "White Diamond" badge, eloquent of its campaigning from 1861 to 1864 with the old Second Division, Third Corps, Army of the Potomac, it now has won the right to bear the device emblematic of service in the Artillery Corps of the War of 1898—the crossed conical projectiles, surmounted by the spherical shot. The record of the regiment in this, its latest war, is in every way worthy of its proud traditions. During its term of service there were no desertions from its ranks, no dishonorable discharges blemish its rolls, and the records show that its men, in conduct and discipline, steadily maintained the high standard for which the command long has been noted. The work allotted to the regiment was intelligently and well performed, and it is a most significant fact that of the seven hundred and eleven discharge papers issued to its officers and men on Nov. 14th, 1898, there was not one which failed to bear the endorsement coveted by every true soldier: "Service honorable and faithful."