FIRST MASSACHUSETTS
 CAVALRY

     Prior to the opening shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, the Regular Army of the United States was scattered from the Atlantic coastline to the Canadian border and along the expanding frontier territories.  Records indicate that on January 1, 1861, the Regular Army included 1,098 officers and 15,259 enlisted men organized into 19 regiments (10 infantry, 4 artillery, 2 dragoon, 2 cavalry, and 1 mounted rifles). Of the 198 company-sized units in these regiments, 183 were scattered at 79 posts along the frontiers. The other 15 [units] manned posts along the Atlantic Coast and Canadian border, and the arsenals.¹  Later, when a third cavalry regiment was added, all 6 mounted regiments were redesignated as cavalry.²  After hostilities commenced and succession began, 313 of the Army's brightest and best officers resigned their commissions in order to go South and fight for the Confederacy. Four out of the five regimental commanders of the mounted regiments left the Army; however very few enlisted men followed. When the call went out for volunteers in April of 1861, a request was made for 39 regiments of infantry to be raised but only one of cavalry. This proved to be a mistake since it cost the Federal Army in trying to catch up to the expertise of the Confederates later in the war.

     When the Federal government finally realized that the Civil War could not be fought without additional volunteer cavalry, Governor John Andrew organized various mounted militia units of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts into a regiment of cavalry. The 1st Massachusetts was one of the first of the 272 volunteer cavalry regiments to be accepted for Federal service, being organized at Camp Brigham, Readville, Massachusetts, in September 1861. Located near the present day town of Dedham, the Readville site was used for a variety of pre-Civil War activities including camping, agriculture, a race course, and militia drill field. The town of Dedham wholly supported the war effort with troops,  loans, and donations. In July of 1861, a detail from Dedham was sent to the Readville area known as Sprague Plain to pitch tents and make ready for the recruits who would soon be coming to train at what became Camp Brigham. Another camp, called Camp Massasoit, was opened adjacent to the original training grounds. In the fall of 1862, the two camps were combined under the designation of Camp Meigs. 

The grounds were flat and well adapted to drilling but in wet weather were muddy and in the winter season bleak and cheerless. The barracks were great barn-like structures of wood with sleeping bunks on either side. The field staff and company officers were quartered in small buildings. The camp had a chapel for religious services and a hospital for the sick. Camp Meigs was a place of great interest to visitors, especially for dress parade which was held every afternoon. At times visitors were counted by the thousands, and on special occasions extra trains were run from Boston. ³

Hundreds of people visit the camp every day and it seems rather a fine thing to be a soldier. It grows so cold at last we have stoves put up in all the tents, where we can keep comfortable though nearly all of us have a cough and keep barking all night. Nearly every tent has a sign over it. There is the Parker House, and most every hotel in Boston is represented. Our tent is known as the "Owls Nest" and the inmates are known as the "Owls." In speaking of those belonging to any of the hotel tents, they are called boarders of such a place, thus although we did not know each other's names we got along first rate. We had guard duty to do and take care of our horses. It was so icy we did not drill. ⁴

The 1st Massachusetts cavalry was made up almost entirely from existing military organizations. Companies A and B were made out of the Boston Dragoons; companies C, D, and G from the Boston Lancers; companies L and M from the Waltham Dragoons (the latter company received a large number of men recruited in Haverhill by Lieutenant Batchelder); companies I and K from the North Bridgewater Dragoons, in the Old Colony; E and F from near Springfield, from the Springfield Horseguards; company H was raised in Essex County, from no cavalry militia company. Its original officers were from Marblehead. ⁵

The men and officers trained throughout the fall of 1861. Drill was perfected and discipline learned. And, of course, there was the most important element of cavalry service - the care and riding of the horses. The regiment received their horses early in the course of their training although the horse-equipments did not come until somewhat later. Thanks, in part, to the militia background of many of the troopers, the regiment did not have as many problems regarding horses as many other regiments did. To be sure, there was confusion, short tempers, and sore muscles, but the men settled to mounted service fairly quickly. Mounted service depends on the horse. In being supplied with horses, the First Massachusetts Cavalry was fortunate to be mounted on horses brought in from Canada. These horses, known as "canucks," were ideal for cavalry service. They were small and tough and accustomed to variable weather and little food. Only one of this hardy original issue of horses made it through to 1864 when it was stolen from its owner at a river crossing in Virginia.

Here I am at sea once more and heading north, but not as I had hoped I  might be going north about this time, leaving this conflict literally settled behind me, but only on my way to the dark and bloody ground in Virginia. Our regiment most unexpectedly received orders for the north one day last week at about the same time that I received my orders to report to General Pope. Accordingly, I go north with them. As to my future, this unexpected change has set it all afloat.

(Charles Francis Adams Jr., to his Father while at sea on the Steam Transport McClellan, August 22, 1862.)⁶

     By September 12, the regiment was attached to Colonel Farnsworth's Second Brigade (consisting of the 3d Indiana, 8th Illinois, and the 1st Massachusetts), of the Division under the command of General Pleasonton.  Rations were finally issued for men and horses on the 19th of September. They had been foraging from the countryside since September 4. Although Maryland never succeeded from the Union, many of its citizens were loyal to the Confederacy and charged excessively high prices for their produce and other provisions.
 

     Ordered up in time for the Antietam campaign, the still unprepared regiment was sent out to assist in the pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia. They caught up with troops already in the field and witnessed Lee's defeat at the Battle of South Mountain. At Sharpsburg, the Cavalry Division crossed Antietam Creek at the middle bridge and deployed in a field within 600 yards of the Confederate artillery. A small rise in the terrain concealed the Federal force from the enemy. Despite being in a position to cause great harm to Lee's army, the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry and other cavalry units positioned opposite Lee's center, and also Porter's division of infantry, were never ordered to engage in the battle. General Porter declined to commit the troops under his command and this was part of another opportunity lost. It had been reported that Lee's center elements were his weakest. A charge by the cavalry at that time may have succeeded in cutting the Rebel army in two. Instead, while under artillery fire for the first time, it is recorded that many of the exhausted cavalrymen fell soundly asleep to a cannonade lullaby as the shells flew overhead.

     During the rest of September McClellan's cavalry continued as pickets along the Potomac and did  reconnaissance into Virginia. One such reconnaissance mission cost the the 1st Massachusetts three men in a skirmish with the enemy. On September 30, the regiment found itself in Hagerstown and attached to General W.W. Averell's brigade, which then consisted of the 5th United States Cavalry (regulars), 3d and 4th Pennsylvania, the 1st Massachusetts, and a battery of horse artillery.

     October again was spent in reconnaissance missions and skirmishes with further losses of men and horses. Serious attempts were started to bring the regiment back into a viable fighting condition. Many horses had died of disease or had been killed. Men were without proper clothing and many were in rags. They had been without their stores and equipage since their arrival in September.  The surgeon and the field officers had the only two tents. Colonel Williams obtained permission to purchase horses from the surrounding areas and stores, clothing, and tents were eventually obtained. Colonel Williams then made a trip to Washington and when he returned he handed in his resignation. In November, Horace Binney Sargent was promoted to Colonel and took command of the regiment. Other reassignments and reorganizations of the regiment and of the entire cavalry were also taking place. However, by November 22, the regiment was fully restored and supplied and was on its way to Potomac Run, which would become its winter camp. Again the bridesmaid and not the bride, the regiment found itself witness to the Union defeat at Fredricksburg in December 1862 without an active role to play.

     In 1863 the regiment became more involved. Throughout the winter there were nearly constant picket duties and reconnaissance missions. Like all cavalry regiments winter quarters were hardly a place for rest. With the effects of exposure and fatigue from constant duty, winter was almost as hard as active campaigning. Most men spent as much as one third of their time on picket duty. when most of the Virginia countryside consisted of seas of mud and impassible roads. The horses did not have shelter and were often in mud partway to their knees at the picket-ropes. While on picket the horses were kept saddled for days at a time except those that were being groomed or tended to.

     On the 12th of February, the cavalry was again reorganized after General Joseph Hooker took command of the Army of the Potomac. The 1st Massachusetts Cavalry was now assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division of the Cavalry Corps along with the 1st Rhode Island, 4th New York, and 6th Ohio.

     Campaign season started in March with a battle between the two opposing cavalry forces at Kelly's Ford.  Unpredictable spring weather made for delays and changes to further planned engagements. In April it was decided that a raid towards Richmond would be made under the command of General Stoneman. However, a  nor'easter storm caused many rivers to overflow their banks and destroyed roads and bridges. Because of the weather delays, the Confederates learned of the raid and succeeded in stopping the Union army from reaching its objectives.

     In April, Colonel Sargent was placed in command of the First Brigade and Lieutenant-Colonel Greely Curtis assumed command of the regiment. June 9, 1863, brought the battle of Brandy Station. The entire brigade had been under fire for most of the morning without orders to advance or retire. As the day wore on the men became increasingly impatient to move. As if on impulse one battalion sprang forward in a singular charge. They advanced with such force that the two South Carolina regiments in their path routed without a fight. Shortly thereafter the rest of the Union brigade took up the charge and the field was soon cleared.

     After Brandy Station, the Federals pursued that Confederates northward. There were many skirmishes and nasty little fights whenever the opposing cavalry troops met. One such encounter resulted in the battle of Aldie on June 17.  It seems that the fight at Aldie was a surprise to both sides. Both General Hooker and General Lee had lost touch with their opposition and had sent their cavalry to learn the positions of the adversary which led to the encounter at Aldie. Although it was considered a minor engagement, the regiment paid dearly in casualties as did the entire cavalry brigade. The 1st Massachusetts Cavalry was at the head of the column when the Rebels were spotted at a distance. The first squadron was ordered to give chase and quickly outdistanced their range of support. They did not know they were heading into a trap and were quickly decimated. When the rest of the regiment arrived, they too fell prey to the Rebels. Poor decisions on the part of General Kilpatrick made cannon fodder of the brigade.  Although in the end the Union held the ground, it was a Pyrrhic victory at the cost of so many soldier's lives. In his report  Confederate Colonel Munford stated: 

"Captain Newman, having rallied his small command and a good many men from other commands, was again ready to relieve Colonel Owen as he fell back, and by a timely charge repelled another effort to flank him. As the enemy came up again, the sharpshooters opened upon him with terrible effect from the stone wall, which they had regained, and checked him completely. I do not hesitate to say that I have never seen as many Yankees killed in the same space of ground in any fight I have ever seen, or on any battlefield in Virginia that I have been over. We held our ground until ordered by the major-general commanding to retire, and the Yankees had been so severely punished that they did not follow...." ⁷

We were engaged at Aldie's Gap day before yesterday and very roughly used. I went into action with ninety four men in my squadron and fifty seven in my Company and came out with between thirty and forty in my squadron and just twenty five in my Company. My company lost thirty two out of fifty seven - nine killed, twelve wounded and eleven missing; the squadron loss was sixty one out of ninety four. All the killed were of my Company. My poor men were just slaughtered and all we could do was to stand still and be shot down, while the other squadrons rallied behind us. The men fell right and left and the horses were shot through and through, and no man turned his back, but they only called on me to charge. I couldn't charge, except across a ditch, up a hill and over two high stone walls, from behind which the enemy were slaying us; so I held my men there until, what with men shot down and horses wounded and plunging, my ranks were disordered and then I fell slowly back to some woods. Here I was ordered to dismount my men to fight on foot in the woods. I gave the order and the men were just off their horses and all in confusion, when the 4th New York on our right gave way without a fight or an instant's resistance, and in a second the rebs were riding yelling and slashing among us. Of course, resistance was impossible and I had just dismounted my squadron and given it to the enemy. For an instant I felt desperate and didn't care whether I was captured or escaped, but finally I turned my horse and followed Curtis and Chamberlain in a stampede to the rear. Here I lost my missing men, for almost all my men were captured, though some afterwards escaped. In twenty minutes and without fault on our part I lost thirty two as good men and horses as can be found in the cavalry corps. They seem to pick out my best and truest men, my pets and favorites. How and why I escaped I can't say, for my men fell all around me; but neither I nor my horses was touched, nor were any of my officers or their horses... ⁸

     Much to President Lincoln's dismay, General Meade did not promptly follow Lee as the Confederate Army retreated back towards Maryland and Virginia.  Receiving the news of  Gettysburg and the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, the President wrote in a correspondence, "Now, if General Meade can complete his work, so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the literal or substantial destruction of Lee's army, the rebellion will be over." ⁹

     On July 7, after slowly following Lee's army towards Fredrick City, reinforcements were added to the regiment and it was reorganized again into four squadrons under the commands of Captains Adams, Bowditch, Crowninshield, and Tewksbury. Several days later Colonel Curtis resigned because of ongoing bouts of malaria, and Captain Crowninshield took over the regiment. A minor engagement at Jones Cross Roads on July 11 cost the First Massachusetts two killed and five wounded. By this time, the troopers were more than familiar with the territory they were passing through than their own properties back home. Lee's forces were stopped at the flooded Potomac River and it was expected that an aggressive offensive would finish what had been started in Gettysburg. Again, the orders were not forthcoming and Lee was allowed the time to successfully escape back to Virginia. The cavalry continued to Harper's Ferry engaging in reconnaissance and skirmishes with the retreating Army of the Virginia while Lee settled to camp between the Rappahannock and the Rapidan.

     From the early days of the first U.S. dragoons and mounted riflemen, the functions of the cavalry were essentially unchanged. Using the cavalry for reconnaissance, an army commander could sometimes keep covert track of the enemy and, by the same token, use them also to keep the enemy from finding out about the maneuvers of his own army. Cavalry was used to cover the flanks and the rear of  his troops and provide additional support and diversions for retreating forces. Raids into enemy territories by the cavalry were initiated to destroy supply lines and communications. The inevitable picket, courier, and provost duties were others tasks assigned to the mounted troopers. ¹⁰   During the first two years of the Civil War frequent changes in organizational structures and command staffs often kept the Union Cavalry Corps role ill-defined and under-utilized. It was not until 1863 that the Corps finally came into its own.  Successful raids and engagments brought hard won respect and honor for the cavalrymen.

     On August 1, 1863, Colonel Horace Binney  Sergeant returned  to assume command of the regiment from Captain Crowninshield.
 
 

Officers and NCOs, Companies C and D, Petersburg, Virginia, 1864 (Library of Congress Photo)

    The 3rd battalion was never reunited with the 1st and 2nd. It served as a detached battalion of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry until August 1863, when it was permanently detached and made an Independent Battalion, Massachusetts Cavalry. It remained this way until February 1864 when it reassigned to the 4th Regiment Massachusetts Cavalry, becoming the 1st Battalion of that regiment. If you would like to read more about what happened to this battalion, check out these links to Letters from Olustee and the Battle of Olustee Home Page. Please be aware that we are not affiliated with the organizations responsible for these web pages and are not responsible for their content.
 
 

    ^2. Randy Steffen, "The Civil War Soldier, Part One, Federal Cavalryman," The United States Cavalry, Patton Museum Society Publication No. 2, Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor,  Fort Knox, Kentucky, p. 38. ^Back

    ^3. Smith, Frank, A History of Dedham, Massachusetts, The Transcript Press, Inc., Dedham Massachusetts. 1936. pp. 480-481. ^Back

    ^4. Bacon , Henry Herbert, Personal Journal from September 1861 to 1864. Unpublished manuscript.

    ^5. Ibid., p. 41. ^Back

   ^6. Worthington Chauncey Ford, A Cycle of Adams Letters, 1861-1865, Volume I, Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, Boston and New York. 1920. p. 175.^Back

    ^7. Crowninshield, p. 157. ^Back

     ^8. Worthington, pp. 36-37. ^Back

    ^9. Denney, Robert E., The Civil War Years, A Day-by-Day Chronicle, Gramercy Books, New York, 1992. p. 304. ^Back

   ^10. Schiller, Laurence D., "A Taste of Northern Steel, The Evolution of Federal Cavalry Tactics 1861-1865," North & South, The Magazine of Civil War Conflict, January 1999, p. 32. ^Back