The following anecdote shows the dry humor of General Mansfield, and his efficient tact in the management of citizen-soldiery. One day a man neglected to salute him. He stopped his horse, and said, “My man, did you know it was my duty, by the army regulations, to touch my hat to you every time I meet you?” “No, sir; I am sure I never thought of such a thing.” “Yes; but it is yours to touch your hat to me first. I hope you will never allow me again to fail in my duty to you.” Civility at Newport News, after that, was not so often forgotten.
When the cold weather approached, early in December, a general order was issued, directing the erection of barracks for winter quarters. Each regiment, and each company of a regiment, were required to build their own houses. All who could be spared from duty were provided with axes, and, under the charge of an officer, marched daily into the neighboring pine forest, where they cut the tall trees, and fashioned them into proper shapes for building purposes; the logs were hauled into camp by the mules and horses; and as each company had its complement of carpenters and other mechanics, a village of comfortable log-houses soon covered the plain, promising the troops ample protection from the biting blasts and drenching rains of the coming winter storms.
About this time, an effort was being made in Massachusetts to raise three companies of infantry, which were to be united with the Battalion, and thus form a full regiment.
Sometime in October, 1861, Dr. Henry B. Wheelwright of Taunton received permission from Governor Andrew to raise a company of infantry, and succeeded in enlisting a number of men. On the 2d of November, 1861, the Governor issued an order, that the men raised by Dr. Wheelwright, which were then in charge of Willard D. Tripp of Taunton, a corporal of the Fourth Regiment, be sent to camp at Assonet, a village of Freetown, to report to Brigadier-General E. W. Pierce, and be there merged, so as to form a company, with the men recruited by General Pierce. By the same order, Dr. Wheelwright was authorized to raise another company “immediately, ten days being allowed for that purpose,” from the 4th of November, and directing that all men recruited by him be sent to Assonet, and be under the command of General Pierce. The Quartermaster-General and Commissary-General were ordered to “furnish clothing, transportation, and rations” for the men, upon requisitions made upon them by General Pierce.
During the time the men were at Assonet, they were quartered in an ancient building known as the “Old Post-office”; they were lodged in that part of it called “Pierce’s Hall,” while their food was cooked in the basement. This old house was erected about the year 1745, and at the commencement of the Revolution, was owned and occupied by Colonel Thomas Gilbert, a captain at the siege of Louisburg. Gilbert was a Tory at the breaking out of the Revolution, and this house was confiscated and sold, he having gone into the English army. In April, 1775, a large body of Whigs assembled to tear down the house, but for some reason refrained from doing so.
The recruits remained in Assonet till the middle of November, and were then ordered to Pawtucket, where was established a rendezvous for recruits, under Captain Milo M. Williams of the Fourth Regiment. By the middle of December, ninety-eight enlisted men had been secured for this company, representing nearly every county in Eastern Massachusetts, and on the 13th of December, Tripp was commissioned Captain, and the following order issued:—
“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
“Headquarters, Boston, December 13, 1861.
“Special Order, No. 627.
“Willard D. Tripp of Taunton, having been commissioned as Captain in the Twenty-ninth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, will forthwith assume command of recruits stationed at ‘Camp Pierce,’ in Pawtucket.
“Captain Tripp will make daily reports to the Adjutant-General of the number and condition of recruits under his command.
“By order of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
“William Schouler, Adj. Gen.”
The lieutenants of this company, whose commissions bear date of December 13, 1861, were First Lieutenant Alfred O. Brooks and Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Husband, both of Boston.
Two other companies were raised about this time,—one by Charles T. Richardson of Pawtucket, and the other by Henry R. Sibley of Charlestown. Richardson’s company was recruited mostly in Pawtucket and neighboring towns in Rhode Island. He secured a good class of men, who afterward became excellent soldiers, and, what was better, none were bounty men, nor secured by promise of additional pay.
On the 16th of December, Richardson was commissioned Captain, and this order issued:—