The material composing Company H were worthy, steady farmers’ boys, with the addition of several iron workers from Somerset and Dighton. Many of the men were old neighbors at home, several of them being from the same families. For instance, there were four pairs of brothers, and when one heard from home all the others were interested to hear the news. No more rugged or better men than Company H ever enlisted. Accustomed from early life to hard work, plain, and good fare, and the best of health, they were already fitted for the hardships of the march and the privations of soldier life. They were an honest set of men, and anything left in their tents was sure to be found where it was left.
Of the military experiences of Company H I will say nothing, as the history of the company is the history of the regiment. It was never on detached or detailed duty, and wherever the regiment went there went Company H. There are no tragic events to record. The company has the unique distinction of bringing home every man that went out with it. It is the only company of which I have any knowledge that served so long a period in the war and never lost a man, either by sickness or by bullet. I believe this is due largely to the early life and temperate habits of the men of this company; but we cannot close our eyes to the fact that since the close of the war more than fifty-two per cent. have answered the last call.
In conclusion, let me extend my thanks to those comrades who so ably assisted me in gathering facts, especially to Captain Baker, Comrade Walker, of Dighton, and Samuel L. Buffington of Swansea. Those men, together with the record of the company in 1862, and notes and facts preserved in diaries, has made it possible at this late date to write such a correct history of the company. We are growing old, our ranks are fast thinning, our roll calls are growing shorter and shorter, it behooves us to quit ourselves like men. Like all other men I have done many things for which I am sorry, and some things for which I am ashamed, but there is one incident in my life of which I am neither sorry nor ashamed, and that is the fact that I enlisted and served in Company H, Third Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.
Corrected Roster of Company H, Third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.
[The first figures indicate age at enlistment: the city and town, the place of enlistment.]
Otis A. Baker, Captain; 24; Rehoboth. Enlisted as a private in Company A, First Rhode Island Detached Militia, April 16, 1861. Wounded at battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. Discharged. Re-enlisted in September, 1861, first sergeant of Company A, Fourth Rhode Island Infantry. Promoted second lieutenant, Nov. 20, 1861. Resigned, Aug. 11, 1862. Re-enlisted Sept. 18, 1862. Chosen captain of Company H, Third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Mustered out June 26, 1863. Re-enlisted Aug. 1, 1864; captain of the Eighteenth Unattached Company. Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Discharged Nov. 14, 1864. Re-enlisted Dec. 10, 1864; captain of Eighteenth Unattached Company for one year, or until the close of the war. Mustered out May 12, 1865. Resides in Rehoboth, Mass.
Robert Crossman, 2d, First Lieutenant; 34; Dighton. Mustered out with regiment, June 26, 1863. Re-enlisted and was chosen captain in the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Infantry. Wounded at battle of Cold Harbor. Discharged for disability, Oct. 11, 1864. For many years one of the State Constabulary. Died in Taunton, July 25, 1876.
Joseph Gibbs, Second Lieutenant; 35; Somerset. Detached Nov. 21, 1862, for signal corps service. On duty at Port Royal and at Charleston Harbor, during the bombardment of Charleston. Died Apr. 7, 1863.
Arnold D. Brown, First Sergeant; 24; Rehoboth. Enlisted May 26, 1862, as a private in Co. B, Tenth Rhode Island Infantry. Discharged Sept. 1, 1862. Re-enlisted in Company H, Third Massachusetts Volunteers. Discharged June 26, 1863. Re-enlisted sergeant-major Third Rhode Island Cavalry, Aug. 7, 1863. Promoted second lieutenant Feb. 6, 1864. Discharged 1865. Died Oct. 26, 1874.