Frederick Morse Cutler

“ Once in four years there is a trip to the inauguration at Washington; lesser excursions occupy some of the intervening time. Most valuable of all are the life-long friendships formed by men who stand side by side in the service of the country. These endure and keep warm after all else is forgotten.
The better soldier a man learns to be, the better citizen he makes himself. Such training in team-work is of priceless [6] value; this service has become a passport to business success, and today there is no better recommendation for employment. ”

“ Did anyone even guess that twenty-nine years later the 5th Artillery and the remnant of the 1st Light Infantry were to consolidate in a new 1st Regiment? While a two and one-half day camp must necessarily be chiefly occupied with pitching tents, escorting visitors, engaging in those social festivities which are “absolutely essential” on all military occasions, and then taking down the tents, there is no doubt that the men acquired much real military knowledge in between-times, and that the new custom registered a long step forward. ”

“ Yorktown is historic ground. Going by water from Budd’s Ferry, the regiment landed upon the same shore which Washington’s Continentals had trodden eighty years earlier. Their progress thru the fields of yellow broom was over ground rendered memorable by the Revolutionary heroes. Near the present beautiful National cemetery and in sight of the present charming Yorktown battle-monument stood a Confederate intrenchment which occasioned annoyance to McClellan’s army. ”

“ The Tiger battalion, during the eight years of Wellington’s command, had become the most prominent military institution in Boston; now the entire 1st Regiment was to profit by the skill of the same man, a skill truly amounting to genius. Peculiar qualities are demanded of one who is to succeed in highest degree as a National Guardsman. He must be a well-trained soldier and a hard [130] worker as a matter of course. He must command respect for his personal character and must be able to impart knowledge to others. ”

“ While under every militia law ever adopted by Congress, not only the 1st Company but also the command as a larger unit might claim “ancient privileges” on the ground of continuous organization thruout these decades, it is just and right to state that the pride of the “Old First” has always been not to claim any privilege at all, except that of serving wherever and however it could be of the most use. At this date no battalion organization existed amongst the volunteer foot companies, [20] each being an “independent” divisionary corps of infantry. ”

“ They are soldiers at the sacrifice of their own leisure, and often of their comfort. A modern National Guardsman is averse to boasting or heroics—he is the most matter-of-fact citizen of all. But surely the Chaplain will be pardoned for saying, what the Guardsman would be most reluctant to claim, that in the old regiment patriotism is not a matter of words, it is made up of deeds.
Massachusetts looks in large degree to the command for the coast defence of Boston. America’s center of wealth and manufacturing, the Commonwealth holds the key to the whole country. ”

“ A regiment is a closely united body, and is supposed to operate as a unit. A corps, on the contrary, is a group of smaller units associated for administrative purposes, but acting more or less independently in warfare. Tactically a corps is not a unit; each of its members is. Inasmuch as few forts require so much as a full regiment of coast artillery to garrison them, it was deemed best to organize the artillery in smaller units, in companies, better suited to the needs of the average fort. Companies are combined in fort commands of two or more each. ”

“ Their service in 1814 goes far to render the name of militia honorable.
One moment of relaxation came during the war when the battalions paraded in Boston as escort to President James Madison.
The year 1815 marked a turning point in American military history, and the artillery companies of Boston felt its influence. Danger from foreign foes was at an end; the Indians were then so far to the westward as no longer to be a serious menace. America felt free to enter upon a career of peaceful conquest—and to get rich. ”

“ As if the choice of a motto were prophetic, or at least significant of the regimental character, the Coast Artillery have always managed to be so fully prepared that they were able to get into active service amongst the very leaders. No troops were more prompt in reaching the post of danger than the “minute men of ’61”; and amongst them were our companies in the 3d and 4th and 5th and 6th Regiments. A few weeks later the 1st Mass. was the first long-term regiment to be mustered in thruout the entire United States, the first not only in the Civil War, but in any war. ”

“ With our wealth of noble heritage from the past, comprising as we do all that remains of the old “Legionary Brigade” and its successor, the 3d Brigade of the 1st Division, [156] once Boston’s pride, and including all the 3d and 4th Regiment organizations having continuous history, it is desirable that the Coast Artillery should have an active association of veterans which may combine the forces now scattered amongst the company associations; the provision in the National Defence act for a “reserve battalion” seems to open a door of possibility. ”

“ Business firms made lavish gifts toward the equipment of the regiments; indeed everyone seemed ready to give whatever he had. All one needed to do was to appear in uniform in order to be accounted a hero—much to the discomfort of many genuinely modest men.
And thruout these opening days the 1st Regiment was subjected to the very hardest test, in that nothing whatever happened to them. They could not take comfort in the knowledge that the 3d Regiment, one of the very earliest to go, would by and by become consolidated with them, and so share the honors which they were earning. ”

“ The target, the moving target, at which the shot is fired, floats on the water at a distance of eight to sixteen miles; and without the use of powerful glasses is all but invisible. Range and direction (azimuth) are determined by a combination of most delicate scientific observing instruments. Now the great gun swings majestically into place. “Fire!” A concussion follows as if many railroad trains were coupling—mighty, stunning. Then ensue seconds of eager watching from the battery, but not many such; for the projectile travels twice as fast as sound itself. ”

“ In theory, the members of the artillery battalions had been excused from the compulsory drill done by every able-bodied man in their districts on the ground that they were rendering more than the prescribed military service in their volunteer organizations. In fact, the district companies and regiments of the train-band had long since ceased to do any true drilling and were little more than a mere name. Courage is required to abate a long-standing abuse. New York continued to endure the train-band system until 1862, well into the Civil War. ”

“ Increased importance attached to the Roxbury Artillery and other volunteer companies as the train-band became increasingly inactive. Let us inspect them, bearing in mind that they are now the chief military reliance of the Commonwealth. Discipline, judged by modern standards, may not have been strict. Men came and went pretty much at will. But they had some discipline, while their fellow-citizens did not know what the word meant. No “basic course for officers” as yet existed, and it is a fact that the higher officers were apt to be chosen more for political than military reasons. ”

“ While most of the Union army went up the York river by boat, the 1st Regiment made the journey on land. Altho the country was naturally fertile and the climate of the best, a general seediness and “run down” condition prevailed, so that it was like a desert to the weary, hungry marchers. Finally the Williamsburg road brought the troops to Seven Pines—the spot from whose tree-tops could be seen the spires of Richmond, six miles away. Doubtless everyone has passed thru some experience so terrible that it comes [66] back in his moments of nightmare. ”

“ In the beginning, volunteer companies which owned uniforms separated themselves from the train-band of their day, and assumed duties and responsibilities outside of what the State demanded from every citizen. The train-band drilled not more than four times a year, and mainly on the fourth Wednesday of May—the volunteers at least thrice or fourfold that amount. In order the more easily to distinguish themselves from the train-band, the volunteers became artillery or light infantry or grenadiers or rifles or cavalry; and each class sought proficiency in some special kind of drill. ”

“ Men certainly would refuse to enlist in the Union armies if they were thereby to become slave-drivers. Butler’s decision caused a sigh of relief thruout the loyal states. It must not be forgotten that this first long step toward ultimate emancipation was taken in connection with the activity of the 3d Regiment.
One can scarcely overestimate the importance of these early days at Monroe. The fort has always been the coast artillery headquarters of the United States. During the Civil War it was far more than this—it was the gateway of Virginia. ”

“ All the “hurrah” spirit had gone out of the war by 1864—indeed men were too weary to feel enthusiasm of any kind. There is therefore something all the finer in the grim way in which the 42d and the unattached companies responded to this call.
Remarkable as it may seem, eight of the companies which served during the nine months’ tour had retained their organization sufficiently to respond a second time. As one of those missing in 1864 was the “tough” 5th Company (N. B., of Boston, not Chelsea) the task of recruiting the needed units was not altogether an unwelcome one. ”

“ But the money invested by the authorities in camp and “rendezvous drill” pay did unquestionably testify to the higher esteem in which, with the passing years, the Guard came to stand. One noticeable consequence of the increasing military strictness was the gradual lowering of average age amongst the companies. Older men cannot be away from their business or families for so many hours and days, under ordinary circumstances. American armies have always been made up of very young men; and under the stress of increased requirements, the National Guard came to be similarly constituted. ”

“ By a stroke of [88] genius the law-makers had created a twelve-company regiment, organized in three battalions each under command of a Major; and had devised a new plan of organization which was destined to work so well that, twenty years later, Congress would adopt it for use all over the United States. As the companies from the 3d Regiment were located in Plymouth and Bristol counties, they introduced a new geographical element into the 1st. Thereafter “The Cape” was to stand side by side with Boston, and right nobly were the Cape companies to uphold the regimental traditions. ”

“ Wellington’s accession, 1882, the legislature appropriated $5,000 for the construction of “Battery Dalton” at Framingham. Named in honor of the Adjutant General, Samuel Dalton, it was truly a marvelous work of coast defence. Its mortars had a range of five hundred yards. After firing the projectile, the cannoneers walked over and solemnly dug the same up from its self-made grave, and fired it over again. Artillery practice was economically conducted in those pioneer days. ”

“ There seemed to be unlimited reserves of vitality in the 1st and 3d Companies—indeed one is reminded of the way bees swarm from a hive as one notes how these wonderful organizations made contribution after contribution to the army and yet remained as vigorous as ever. All honor to the old Roxbury Artillery and the Fusiliers. The Roxbury Artillery had a full company in the three-year regiment, in the 42d on its first tour, and again on its second service. The Fusiliers did even more. ”

“ Music was furnished for these military displays by the only band then in Boston, one consisting of Hessians who remained behind from Burgoyne’s army, under the leadership of Frederick Granger.
Let the narrative pause a minute while we paint in a background for the picture. Do we understand who the militia are? Citizen-soldiers, citizens who serve as soldiers when necessary, without relinquishing their civil occupations, part-time fighting men—such have always been the chief reliance of free peoples when it becomes necessary to defend their territory or to enforce their sovereign will. ”

“ Its battle-flags have mostly passed out of its reach and are irrevocably in the possession of the Commonwealth. When one visits the Hall of Flags and gazes reverently upon the tattered silk banners of the 1st Infantry, five in number, the 3d Infantry, two of them, the 24th Infantry, two, the 42d Infantry [7] and the 43d and the 44th, two each, and in the Spanish War case the two colors of the 1st Heavy Artillery, seventeen flags in all, one may possibly remember that a Massachusetts Coast Artilleryman would be whispering to himself, “Those are our battle-flags.” ”

“ So the eight were directed to parade. The Dorchester Artillery were not present; but the Roxbury and Boston companies had prominent places in the procession. There were three other companies present, infantry companies, which would have interested anyone gifted with prophetic foresight. For just ninety years from that time, the three infantry companies were destined to unite with the two artillery in forming the 1st Regiment of today. Meanwhile, unconscious of the future, they are all parading in honor of the new Federal government; watch them. Grave, dignified men they are. ”

“ But changes were projected in the interests of efficiency, and first of all, in that very year, 1880, it was decided to adopt the 4th Battalion uniform for the entire twelve companies. So satisfactory did this prove that the Commonwealth utilized the same costume as a state uniform, and issued it to all the organizations of Massachusetts in 1884. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; but it can scarcely be said that the 1st relished sharing their distinctive uniform with all the militia,—they felt that they had paid dearly for this flattery. ”

“ Measured by this test, regimental patriotism has shown itself to be trustworthy. In the days just prior to the attack upon Fort Sumpter, there were in existence seventeen companies which were destined sometime to become associated in the present Coast Artillery. In the seventeen companies were twelve hundred members. By some process of magic, of patriotic magic, when the alarm of war sounded, the twelve hundred militiamen multiplied themselves into no less than seven thousand five hundred volunteers. The “Old First” never failed in seasons of public need; they were always a fighting regiment. ”