“Headquarters First Regiment Infantry, } “First Brigade, First Division, M. V. M., } “Boston, April 27, 1861. }
“Orders, No. 14.
“By Special Orders, No. 100, of this date, from the Commander-in-Chief, transmitted by Division Special Orders, No. 48, of the same date, and Brigade Special Orders, No. 27, of the same date, this regiment is detailed for active duty in the service of the United States. Commandants of companies are hereby ordered to report at the Hancock House, on Sunday, the 28th instant, at 9 o’clock, A. M., for orders. They will assemble their commands at their armories forthwith, ready to march at a moment’s notice.
“By command of Col. Robert Cowdin.
“George W. Beach, Adjutant.”
The company assembled as directed, but, by reason of a change of affairs, the regiment did not leave the State as soon as expected. Subsequently, they were mustered into service as the First (three years) Regiment, and left for the field, June 15, 1861. We give this order, however, as a part of the record of Captain Barnes’s company, and as showing at how early a date it was ordered into the service; also, its connection with the First Regiment. In the course of a few days after the company organized, it took quarters at the Maverick House, East Boston, and continued to occupy them till the eighteenth day of May. The citizens of the “Island Ward” paid, by voluntary contributions, the chief part of the expense attending the quartering of the volunteers, and, in common with the other citizens of Boston, provided them with a uniform consisting of a full suit of gray clothes, the jacket being trimmed with red braid. The arms were Springfield rifle-muskets, furnished by the State.
May 17, the company was detached from the First Regiment of Militia, and the following order issued:—
“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
“Adjutant-General’s Office, } “Boston, May 17, 1861. }
“Capt. Joseph H. Barnes.
“Sir: You are directed by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief to report yourself and command at headquarters, on Saturday, May 18, at 10 o’clock, A. M., for actual service. You are required to sign, and have your men sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years. You will proceed from Boston in the steamer ‘Cambridge,’ for Fort Monroe.
“Respectfully yours, “William Schouler, Adj. Gen.”
The words of this order, “You are required to sign, and have your men sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years,” probably were not intended to convey the idea that the Governor had the power to compel the officers and men to sign such a paper, but that their acceptance as soldiers was on the condition of their enlistment for the term named therein.
Captain Barnes reported at the State House with his company, numbering seventy-three enlisted men, at the hour named, where all willingly engaged to serve for three years. They then returned to East Boston, and the men were dismissed for a hurried dinner. Early in the afternoon, the company again assembled at its quarters, and were escorted to the ferry by a body of militia and an immense throng of people, the latter so crowding the streets, that it became difficult for the command to reach the wharf; and so eager were the people to follow the soldiers, that large numbers of them crossed over on the ferry.
Before Captain Barnes and his men left the Maverick House, William W. Greenough, Esq., whose name the company had adopted, and who performed a great variety of services for its members, both before and after they entered the service, presented them with the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, in gold.
This worthy gentlemen was not the only warm friend which the soldiers of this company left at home. When the command assembled at its quarters in the afternoon of this day, a large number of the ladies of East Boston, together with several of the teachers of the public schools, gathered at the Maverick House, and presented the volunteers with a great many useful articles, including rubber blankets, underclothing, knives, forks, spoons, and cases containing thread, needles, yarn, and towels; a fine pocket-bible was also given to each officer and man.
The combining the gift of a Bible with that of clothing and other articles of physical comfort, was a faithful and touching compliance with one of the injunctions which the holy book itself contained. These Christian women did not say to the soldiers, “Depart in peace; be ye warmed and filled,” but gave them “... those things which are needful for the body.” Nor did the kindness of these gentle ones end here; for as long as the company remained in the service, they continued in this work of love, sending to the field many well-filled boxes of clothing and other needed supplies.
Upon the arrival of the company at the steamer, later in the afternoon, Captain Barnes received the following order:—