Early in July, 1862, when the war of the rebellion had been in progress a little more than a year, President Lincoln issued an order for three hundred thousand volunteers, to serve three years, or during the war. It was a time of sore discouragement and general depression throughout the loyal States. Our army in Virginia, under General McClellan, during a seven days' fight near the Chickahominy, had met with such reverses that it had been compelled to "make a change of base," and fall back to the James river, near Harrison's Landing. Nobly, however, and cheerfully, did the people of the North respond to the President's call for reinforcements. On every hand was heard the chorus:—
"We're coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more."
Massachusetts was not behind her sister States in raising her quota, which was fifteen thousand men. In a general order, dated July 7, 1862, Governor Andrew announced the call which had been made upon him by the President, stated the number of men which every city and town would be required to furnish, and closed with these words: "The government demands new regiments, and our brave men who have so nobly upheld the honor of Massachusetts call loudly from the battle-fields of the South to their brethren at home to come forward at once and fill their decimated ranks, and take the places of the brave men who have fallen and suffered in the cause of the Union and of American Constitutional Liberty." Like the blast of a trumpet this order stirred the hearts of the people in all parts of the state, and cities and towns vied with each other, in patriotic endeavors to hurry forward the work of enlistment.
A subsequent order, dated July 16, 1862, containing instructions relative to the new recruitment, designated Camp John E. Wool, at the city of Worcester, as the general rendezvous for the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester. Colonel George H. Ward, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, who had lost a leg at the battle of Ball's Bluff, and was now at home on account of disability, was placed in command of the camp.
The order of July 7th contained this announcement: "The new regiments now partly formed, and to be formed, are the Thirty-second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-sixth, and Thirty-seventh. To complete these regiments to the maximum standard, the Thirty-second regiment requires 300 men; the Thirty-third, 650 men; the Thirty-fourth, 800 men; and the Thirty-fifth, 850 men." It was accordingly ordered that recruiting for the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh regiments should not commence until the four first named were filled. The order, however, was not strictly observed.
The first detachment for the Thirty-sixth entered Camp Wool August 1st, and was a part of the quota of the town of Fitchburg. This detachment consisted of sixty-four men, under the command of Captain T. L. Barker. Recruits for the regiment had been received at Camp Wool previous to August 1st; but this was the first organized company in camp, and, in the organization of the regiment, it was assigned to the right of the line, and known as Company A. As early as August 6th this company had its minimum number of recruits; and, in a few days, others, from Fitchburg, Leominster, and adjacent towns, raised the number to the maximum.
Company B, Captain John B. Norton, was recruited in Charlestown during the month of July. It was at first intended that this company should be attached to the Thirty-fourth Regiment as a flank company, and the officers at first received commissions in that regiment; but the requisite authority for such a company could not be obtained at the War Department, and the company was transferred to the Thirty-sixth, and the officers recommissioned. For a time, very naturally, it was a disappointment to the members of this company that they could not remain in the Thirty-fourth; but of the survivors there is, doubtless, not one who is not satisfied that the record of the company was made with the Thirty-sixth.
Recruiting for Company C was commenced in the city of Worcester, August 8th, and on the 12th the company was full. Eight days after, under the command of Captain Arthur A. Goodell, the company entered Camp Wool. No other company in the regiment was raised in so brief a space of time.
Company D was recruited principally in the towns of Templeton and Winchendon. The first detachment entered Camp Wool, August 4, under the command of Captain Amos Buffum, of Baldwinville, late second lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers. In a few days the ranks of this company were full.
The men of Company E were recruited from the towns of Palmer, Monson, and the western towns of Worcester County. The first detachment entered Camp Wool, August 10th, under the command of First Lieutenant R. M. Cross. Captain S. C. Warriner, who had been discharged from the Tenth Massachusetts Volunteers, in order to accept a captain's commission in the Thirty-sixth, arrived in camp about the 20th of August, and assumed command of the company, and completed its organization.
Company F was formed principally of recruits from Milford and vicinity, with a detachment from Sutton. The first detachment arrived at Camp Wool August 10th, under the command of Second Lieutenant A. S. Tuttle. He remained in command of the company until September 17, when Captain William F. Draper, promoted from first lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers, joined the regiment then in the field, and assumed command of the company.
Company G was organized from unassigned recruits, representing the eastern towns of Worcester County. S. Henry Bailey, of Northboro', was commissioned captain of the company August 22d.
Company H was formed by adding to the quotas of Gardner and Orange the unassigned recruits then in camp; and Christopher Sawyer, of Templeton, who had entered Camp Wool as first sergeant of Company D, was commissioned captain of this company August 22d.
Company I was recruited in Berlin, Marlboro', Upton, Uxbridge, and adjoining towns, and entered Camp Wool in the early part of August, under the command of Captain Christopher Hastings, of Berlin. The company was filled to the maximum a few days after entering camp. Indeed, Captain Hastings recruited men enough nearly to fill two companies.
Company K, like G and H, was formed of unassigned recruits from the various towns whose quotas reported at Camp Wool. James B. Smith, late first lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers, was commissioned captain of the company.
On the 27th of August these ten companies, constituting the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, having completed their organization, were mustered into the United States service, for three years, unless sooner discharged.
The field, staff, and line officers were not mustered into the service until September 2d, the day the regiment left Camp Wool for the seat of war. Indeed, for the most part, the field officers were not appointed until after the mustering in of the regiment.
Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Kimball, of Fitchburg, then serving in the Fifteenth Regiment,—a true and accomplished officer,—was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-sixth, August 11th, and application was made by Governor Andrew for his discharge from the Fifteenth, in order to accept promotion. But, in the critical state of affairs at that time, it was not deemed advisable by the authorities at Washington to grant the governor's request. Consequently, on the 22d of August, Major Henry Bowman, of the Thirty-fourth regiment, then at Camp Casey, on Arlington Heights, was promoted to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth; and, receiving his discharge from the Thirty-fourth, he at once joined his command at Camp Wool.
Captain John B. Norton, of Charlestown, who entered Camp Wool as captain of Company B, was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, August 28th, and on the same day, James H. Barker, of Milford, was commissioned major.
James P. Prince, of Lynn, was commissioned surgeon, with Warren Tyler, of North Brookfield, and Albert H. Bryant, of Natick, as assistant-surgeons. Rev. Charles T. Canfield, of Worcester, was commissioned chaplain, and F. B. Rice, also of Worcester, as first lieutenant and quartermaster. An adjutant was not appointed until a later date.
The regiment was now nearly ready for the field. Most of the men had been hurried into camp, with the promise of a few days' furlough before leaving the State. Many of them had left their business affairs unsettled and their families unprovided for. But all applications for furlough were denied by the United States officer at Boston, who was in charge of mustered regiments. Colonel Ward endeavored to secure a furlough for the men; but his efforts proved unavailing. Colonel Bowman, on joining the regiment, and learning the condition of affairs, renewed these efforts, stating his unwillingness to leave the State until the pledge which had been given to the men had, in a measure at least, been redeemed.
On Saturday, August 30th, Colonel Bowman received orders to have the Thirty-sixth Regiment ready to leave for Washington as early as September 2d. At the same time he was given permission to grant to his men furloughs for twenty-four hours, one-half of the regiment only to be absent from camp at the same time. This order was not received by Colonel Bowman until late Saturday afternoon. Accordingly, furloughs were granted first of all to those men whose homes were at the greatest distance from the camp. These were to return Monday morning, when the rest of the men would receive their furloughs. This second half of the regiment, by some mysterious process, became very small Saturday evening and on Sunday. The sentinels paced their beats, but in some instances so absorbed in their duties as seemingly to have lost the sense both of sight and hearing.
A sergeant, with a comrade, making the rounds of his guard late on one of these nights, found a faithful son of Erin walking his beat with soldier-like precision. As they approached he promptly challenged: "Who goes there?" and was as quickly answered, "Friend, with the countersign." As they approached to give the countersign, the sergeant asked, in confiding tones, "Could anyone get out here?" The sentinel, as confidingly, asked, "Would ye bring a little whiskey? Be jabbers a pint of whiskey might make a man both blind and dafe!" He then turned his back, and marched away.
But while it was a great disappointment to the men to lose the few days' furlough which had been promised to them, and especially to those who had important business interests that demanded attention, leading in some cases to a seeming disregard of discipline, yet all of the companies were in camp on Tuesday morning. At an early hour on that day the company commanders drew arms (Enfield rifles) and equipments for their men, and these were at once distributed among them. All was bustle and confusion throughout the camp. Few of the men had had any experience as soldiers, and the selection and adjustment of their arms and equipments, as well as the brief space of time allotted for these and other preparations for moving, made it look still more difficult and annoying.
Late in the forenoon the regimental line was formed, and a beautiful national flag was presented to the regiment by Honorable P. Emory Aldrich, Mayor of Worcester. In presenting the flag the Mayor said:—
"Colonel Bowman,—Your friends, and the friends of your command in this city, have procured this beautiful banner, and requested me to present it to you as the worthy commander of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers for the war. It will be seen that its azure fold is studded with the full constellation of stars, representing the undivided Union, and that not one of the original stripes is omitted or erased, showing that, however much your friends may deplore the present unhappy condition of our distracted and bleeding country, they still firmly believe that, when the clouds of war that now lower upon us shall have passed away, these stars will again shine as from a clear and cloudless sky with none of their ancient lustre lost or obscured. And permit me to say that this flag, still unchanged and radiant, signifies, in the truest and highest sense, the kind of service expected of you and this noble regiment you are about to lead from this comparatively peaceful camp of preparation to the stern and heroic duties of the field; that you are to aid, by force of arms, in restoring the Union, which traitors have temporarily impaired, and in reestablishing the supremacy of the constitution and laws over every portion of territory lying within the acknowledged boundaries of the Union, from the great lakes to the gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, so that, when you and your brave comrades return, as we trust you will, with this flag, soiled and rent it may be by the smoke and leaden hail of battle,[1] you shall bring it back, not as the sign of a shattered constitution, and dissevered Union, but as the proud emblem of a reunited and indivisible republic, and then it shall continue to be known and honored throughout the civilized world, and everywhere become a free and safe passport to all men of every race who have the right to claim protection beneath its ample folds.
[1] "Soiled and rent," its staff shattered, this flag, which was carried by the regiment throughout its entire period of service, is now preserved in the State House, in Boston, with the flags of the Massachusetts regiments.
"In delivering this proud ensign of our nationality into your hands, your friends know they are entrusting it to one who is not only familiar with the ordinary duties of the soldier, but to one who has been tried and not found wanting amidst the perils and carnage of the battle-field, and who has suffered what is more intolerable to every true soldier than any dangers of field or camp, and that is captivity and confinement for weary months in the loathsome prisons of the enemy; and now, after protracted and vexatious delays, you have but recently been relieved from your parole, so that you can, without dishonor, enter again the military service of your country; and, having availed yourself of the earliest opportunity to return to avenge your own and your country's wrongs, may a propitious Providence and all good influences attend you, and protect you, and your command in every hour of trial and danger.
"Yours is the fourth regiment which has been organized within this enclosure, which may now very properly be called our Campus Martius, and the fifth that has gone out from our city within the last twelve months. The Fifteenth, beginning its brilliant career at Ball's Bluff,—where, indeed, it encountered a repulse for which neither its officers nor men were responsible,—has with signal gallantry fought its way over many a bloody field to a high position on the roll of fame. And the Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth, being with each other in the performance of patriotic duty, and in the memorable race for military renown, have made Roanoke and Newberne, and other fields, wherein they have exhibited the highest qualities of the soldier, ever memorable both to friend and foe. And it is not altogether improbable that the Thirty-fourth, which took up its line of march but a few days since from this camp, under the accomplished Wells,[2] may have already found itself involved in the smoke of its first battle, and taking its first lesson in the art of war. And scarcely will your regiment have left our presence, before another will encamp within the limits of the city. And we bid you tell our brethren in the field that thus shall regiment after regiment, in endless succession, be sent to their aid until this accursed rebellion is utterly extinguished.
[2] Colonel Wells was killed near Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 13, 1864.
"The lateness of the hour, the necessity of your moving at once, admonish me that I should omit a portion of what I had proposed to say on this occasion; but this is of little account, and I would not delay your march for a single moment to listen to any poor words of mine. Words in this hour are simply air. Action—instant, resistless, heroic action—is the only thing that can avail us in this perilous crisis. And I can only add that, while you and these brave men who are to follow you, will do your full duty in upholding and restoring the authority of the constitution and its laws, you can never fail in loyalty, and the great idea of liberty which now inspires the hearts and nerves the hands of all the loyal men of the land; and that, when you have marched through rebel districts, none but loyal and free men shall be found. And now accept this standard, proffered by friendly hands, and let it be borne in your regiment as the emblem of liberty and law. And should you or any of those, your comrades in arms, fall in its defence, your memories shall be held in grateful remembrance, and history will preserve their names among those of heroes and martyrs who have died to defend or consecrate a great and noble cause. Remember that the life is longest which best answers life's great end, and that to die upon the battle-field in defence of the liberties of mankind is the most cherished road to immortality."
The band played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and Colonel Bowman responded in patriotic terms.
The several companies of the regiment then marched to Agricultural Hall,—a large building on the camp ground,—where a bountiful collation had been provided by the friends of the regiment. Then followed the filling of haversacks, the packing of knapsacks, and all were soon in readiness for the order to move.