The march of the company to Boston was one continued ovation. At Chelsea it was entertained by the militia of that city, and in Charlestown and Boston the citizens vied with each other in showering upon the volunteers numberless favors and courtesies. The company returned to Lynn on the same day, by the Eastern Railroad, and, upon arrival, every man engaged to serve for three years.
May 9, the company was ordered to report at the State House, on the following morning, at nine o’clock.
Promptly at the hour named, the command presented itself to the Adjutant-General, at the State House, here received Springfield rifles and other equipments, and were ordered to report on board the steamer “Pembroke,” together with Captain Tyler’s company, sailing on this day (May 10) for Fortress Monroe. Before embarking, a committee of the citizens of Lynn presented the company with nearly three hundred dollars in money. The same committee had previously given the officers a complete outfit.
The facts concerning the sealed orders and the voyage to Fortress Monroe have already been given in Chapter IV.
Upon arriving at Fortress Monroe, the company was assigned to the Third Regiment, in which it was designated as Company I, served with that regiment till July 16, and then composed a part of the Massachusetts Battalion, and, in December, 1861, a part of the Twenty-ninth Regiment. Captain Chamberlain’s commission, as also those of Lieutenants Oliver and Smith, bear date of April 19, 1861; and the members of this company, together with those of Captain Tyler’s command, were the first volunteers in New England who enlisted for a period of three years.
CHAPTER VIII.
Captain Joseph H. Barnes’s Company, “Greenough Guards.” [“K” in the Fourth Regiment, “K” of the Massachusetts Battalion, and “K” of the Twenty-ninth Regiment.]
On the 20th of April, 1861, Joseph H. Barnes, a citizen of East Boston, and a native of Hingham, Plymouth County, having been authorized by the Governor, raised a company of infantry, chiefly composed of East Boston men.
On the 25th of April, there was an election of officers, conducted by General Bullock of the militia, resulting in the election of Joseph H. Barnes, Captain; James H. Osgood, Jr., First Lieutenant; William T. Keen, Second Lieutenant; Albert H. Townsend, Third Lieutenant; and Joseph D. Ellis, Fourth Lieutenant. The commission of Captain Barnes, dated April 27, was as a “Captain of company of infantry in the First Division of the Militia of the Commonwealth.” By an order accompanying the commission, the company was assigned to the First Regiment of Militia, then commanded by Col. Robert Cowdin of Boston, and the following order was also received by Captain Barnes:—