Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 4: Civil and Spanish-American Wars, 1924

"We, the inhabitants of Attleboro, fully appreciating the value of the free institutions under which we have so long lived and prospered, and alive to the dangers which threaten the existence and dismemberment of the Republic, are ever ready to do our part in sustaining those institutions and transmitting them unimpaired to those who shall come after us."

That was the kind of sentiment that enthused the doings of Attleboro town meeting, and that roused the patriotic ardor of the townsmen and women in the days of the threatening of Civil War, when the town unanimously voted to furnish the quota of volunteers for the town, under the call of President Abraham Lincoln. That sentiment increased in its fervor, and the practice of patriotism became a part of the daily life of the people from that time onwards.

When the last of the "Old Guard" in Attleboro and the final remnant of General William A. Streeter Post, No. 145, G. A. R., shall have passed on, there shall always be those who shall keep their Memorial Day and celebrate their times and deeds. While the compilation of this history is in progress, the veteran "Boys in Blue" are rapidly becoming less in number, the gatherings of the Old Seventh and other regiments hereabouts are represented by no more than forty, and the roll-call of the local post adjutant has become a very brief one. All honor to the Attleboro men who were of the tried and proven army of the sixties, for out of the nearly eight thousand inhabitants of the town at the time, there were four hundred men who joined local and other companies in various regiments entering the service of the Union; and it is recorded in the carefully prepared record and list of Major Everett S. Horton that many of these soldiers reenlisted upon other occasions and in other contingents.

This town was prepared; the conflict was foreseen; and the community's part in the drama was being provided for, by the ready enlistments of the townsmen for service, and by the town government's appropriations for military purposes - both in order that the soldier go forth well equipped and that the families left behind be cared for. Recruiting offices were | opened, and military drill became the leading order of the day. The young men of Attleboro found themselves facing inevitable war, and some time before the declaration of that war, they were forming their first company, outward expression of their patriotic purpose. They themselves assumed the expense of the direction of their drill, when they hired Boston drillmasters to perfect them in their work. Theirs was the nucleus of Company I of the Seventh Massachusetts Volunteers. Yet the town and the selectmen kept pace with them, and in the substantial way of town governments at the north, arranged for their outfit and the first steps ot their entering the service. In the town warrant of April 24, 1861, as prepared by the selectmen - H. N. Daggett, A. H. Robinson and Lewis L. Read - one of the articles desired to know what the town might do in behalf of the enlisted men, besides what the United States provision might be for them. Thereupon having arrived at decision in the matter, it was voted on May 3 that the sum of $10,000 be appropriated for military purposes, and that actively enlisted men be paid from that sum a bounty of fifteen dollars a month in addition to the sum to be paid by the United States; and that each man accepted for service be paid ten dollars a month while drilling, and be furnished with uniform.

And besides these welcome items, the town at a later meeting agreed to furnish the men additional articles of clothing, and the officers, regulation swords, pistols and additional equipment. And so on May 3, the date of that town meeting when funds were provided for the soldiers, Company I's organization for three years was announced, the mustering-in taking place June 15. This was the official roster at the moment: Captain John F. Ashley; First Lieutenant William W. Fisher; Second Lieutenant Charles B. Desjardins; Third Lieutenant Eben L. Sylvester; Sergeants E. E. Kelly, Bayles B. Richards, Prentiss M. Whiting, William H. Wade; Corporals John E. Paige, Jolin N. Hall, James M. Day, Charles W. Snell.. There were eighty-five men in this company, besides the officers at this time, but two of whom were not of Attleboro. Meantime, there was no halt in the provision for the men about to go to war, for in September the town treasurer was authorized to borrow a sufficient amount of money to aid those who were dependent upon the enlisted men. In July, 1862, the town voted a bounty of $100 to volunteers, which sum was later increased to $200. These men were active in assisting the selectmen in recruiting duty: Willard Blackinton, E. I. Richards, Elisha E. May, L. W. Dean, L. W. Daggett, H. K. W. Allen, Ira M. Conant, Stephen Richardson, Stephen A. Knight Again, in August of 1862, a bounty of $100 was voted for nine months enlisted men, at which time the recruiting committee consisted of Frank S. Draper and L. T. Starkey. Thereupon the second company of Attieboro townsmen, the nine months' men, seventy-six in number, exclusive of the commissioned officers, was formed here that year, though Boston clainied them as part of the quota of that city. When this company went into camp at Boxford, September 18, 1862, the officers elected were as follows: Captain L. T. Starkey; First Lieutenant F. S. Draper; Second Lieutenant E. S. Horton; Sergeants H. A. Burchard, J. H. Godfrey; Corporals H. S. Adams, S. G. Bassett. This company was organized as Company C, Forty-seventh Regular Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, at the muster-in on September 23.

The earliest draft in which the town was concerned took place in July, 1863, with one hundred and twenty-one names drawn from the four hundred and four ballots placed in the box, fifty-three of the names being exempted under the law. November 18 of that year, Captain Everett S. Horton was appointed recruiting officer for the Fifty-eighth Regiment of Infantry, and forty-nine men enlisted from here for that regiment, thirtyseven of them in Company C, with Captain Horton in command.

Thenceforth and to the end of the war, the town government and the townsmen conjointly mapped out and continued their own patriotic enterprises such as those when the town meeting voted to refund money subscribed by the townsfolk for recruiting purposes; when it was voted to raise by taxation a sufficient amount of money to procure the quota of volunteers under the President's call of March 14, 1864; when the selectmen themselves voted to act as recruiting agents in filling that quota, with H. N. Daggett, J. R. Bronson and George D. Hatch to assist them in the work. The number of men from this town who had enlisted for three years' service was 320, atid the aggregate bounty paid them was $20,505.

From the first, the women of Attleboro proved their own deep and unfailing interest in the welfare work of the time, and as early as May 30, 1861, they offered their services in the preparation of clothing for the men departing to the front. Sewing societies were formed in all sections of the town for that purpose, and in North Attleboro they held their meetings in the hall of the Masonic building, and in East Attleboro in Union Hall.

When Company I, before referred to, had attained the desired quota of one hundred and five men, only nine were not of Attleboro. Their drill-ground was on the old "Tom French place," so-called, on the road from Farmers' to Robinsonville; and with the Seventh Regiment they went into caimp at Taunton from June 12 to July 12, 1861. Thence they proceeded to Washington, and thereafter they followed and participated in most of the fortunes of the regiment so notably a portion of our country's military story, taking part in all the principal battles. Company I lost its valiant captain, Prentiss M. Whiting, at the battle of Chancellorsville, at which tine Lieutenant William Wade took command. In July, 1864, with less than one-half of the original number in ranks, they returned to Attleboro, where they were given that hearty greeting that only the home-town can give its sons. In the spring of 1862 forty-five men from this town enlisted as members of Company C of the Forty-seventh Massachusetts Regiment, with Lemuel T. Starkey as captain, and Everett C. Horton as one of the lieutenants. The company shared in the various regimental fortunes recorded in our military history.

While in the South, Captain Starkey resigned from his company, and he was succeeded in its leadership by Lieutenant Horton, the former continuing in the service as a recruiting officer at Providence. He was the

Again, forty-two men from Attleboro were mustered into service in the Fiity-eighth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, on February 20, 1864, most of them in Company C, the regiment being mustered out July 14, 1865. Attleboro men in this regiment participated in the battle of the Wilderness, and some of them were confined in southern prison-pens. A number of men from this town were in Companies I and H of the Twentyfourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, enlisting in the fall of 1851. They took part in a number of the prominent fights; they were at thie sieges of Forts Sumter and Wagner, and in the Morris Island campaign of 1863. The regiment shared with Grant's army the experiences of the fighting during the summer of 1864 and the spring of 1865, and it was among the first of the regiments to enter Richmond after the surrender of Genera! Lee.

There were fifty-four men of Company H, Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, over one-half of the company being men from this town. Enlisting early in August, 1862, they proceeded to camp, and on September 1 they were in Washington, and the regiment joined the Army of the Potomac at Yorktown, June 23, 1863. At the expiration of their service, they were mustered out June 16, 1865.

Spanish-American War Service. - At the breaking out of the Spanish- American War, a company of infantry was located in Attleboro, and in June, 1898, by orders from the adjutant general's office, Captain George H. Sykes of that company was directed to recruit it to war strength, which was 106 men. The company was enrolled at Attleboro by the abovenamed officer, beginning June 22, 1898, and on June 30th proceeded to Boston, where it joined the other companies of the Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and was reviewed by the Governor, after which the regiment proceeded to South Framingham, Massachusetts, and went into camp. The company was mustered into the service of the United States as Company I, Fifth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, July 1, 1898, by Captain E. M. Weaver, U. S. A., the officers being: Captain George H. Sykes, First Lieutenant Charles A. Richardson, and Second Lieutenant Edward P. Coleman, and ninety-eight enlisted men. All-the officers and a good part of the men were from Attleboro. Remaining in camp until September 11, 1898, the company and regiment left for Middletown, Pennsylvania, arriving there on the twelfth of September, and remaining at Camp Meade until November 16, 1898, when they left for Camp Wetherill, Greenville, S. C., arriving November 18, 1898, remaining there until March 31, 1899, when they were mustered out of the service of the United States. Leaving for Boston on that date the regiment as a unit was reviewed by the Governor after which Company I left for its hometown, Attleboro. The company was in the United States service nine months. Its duty was chiefly training, with provost guard duty at Greenville, S.C. here were no casualties while in service.