"The Readville Mutiny" Topic
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Tango01 | 04 Jan 2020 10:07 p.m. PST |
"In April 1861, the blood of Patriots still coursed through the veins of many young men in Massachusetts. While thousands of men and boys with no military experience rushed to recruiting offices around the state, hundreds of others waited for a call they knew could not be long in coming. Like many of their forebears, these men belonged to local militia cavalry units, with names like the Boston Light Dragoons and Springfield Horse Guards. These men and officers had drilled together for years, and their sessions, held on the local common, often drew hundreds, if not thousands of spectators. In October 1860, the Prince of Wales and Gov. Nathaniel Banks reviewed several local companies on Boston Common. The largest gatherings often included stirring speeches, in which officers recalled the exploits of their ancestors on the hallowed fields of "Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord," and vowed to stand "ever ready to charge the enemy and discharge [their] duties to the country." But as the ranks of infantry regiments quickly filled, these cavalrymen, including those in the Boston Lancers and the Waltham Dragoons waited four months for their chance. In September, after Gov. John Andrew finally received authority to raise the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry, he authorized five militia captains to each raise a squadron (two companies) of cavalry. Men from the existing militia units would be accepted, if they weighed less than 175 pounds. Within days, a newspaper editor in Boston reported the ranks would "soon be filled," but he had reservations. "We trust," he wrote, that especial pains will be taken in enlisting men for this service, with a recollection that something more than a mere muster-field parade is before them." Continuing, the editor opined, "It is more than all important, that the new regiment should be well commanded and officered. There must be something more than holiday practice or theoretical knowledge… We know of no reason to doubt that officers of experience in the regular army can be had for this service… We hope that every proper effort will be made to secure the services of such men."…" Main page link Amicalement Armand
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