CHAPTER XXIX. THE MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY. AVALRY has in many minds a knightly, romantic char CAVAL acter. The ordinary rules of discipline and the hardships of the field are not usually associated with this branch of the service; but, in fact, the tactics are difficult, the training severe and perilous, the work-picketing and scouting constant, with only occasionally an opportunity for the "glorious charge." The severity of the service is indicated by the great loss of horses through neglect, disease, over-work, and in battle. Gen. Halleck, in his report for 1863, states, that, from May to October, thirty-five thousand horses were furnished for about one-third that number of cavalry. The weapon which pre-eminently belongs to the cavalry is the sabre. When the civil war opened, the rebel cavalry was superior to that of the North, on account of the better horsemanship of the planters of the South and their sons, and the attention given by them to the training of horses. Northern energy and patient endurance, however, soon reversed this state of things; and our troopers were able to drive the chivalry in a sabre charge, -a kind of warfare the latter particularly disliked. Light cavalry has been almost the only form of this service in our late war; and its largest, perhaps its best service, was done in protecting the rear of armies, raiding, scouting, and picketing. The intelligent instinct of the war-horse is often wonderful. Capt. B., a Massachusetts boy, took from a rebel officer a handsome steed, which could tell the hostile forces apart; would fly from one ambush to another, keeping the enemy in sight, without a touch from the rein. It is not strange that the brave rider wept when the noble creature, in fording a stream which no other horse attempted to do, sank into a quicksand on the opposite shore, and was lost. The cavalry of the Bay State, as the brief annals which follow will prove, was not behind that of other States in gallantry, heroism, and achievement. THE FIRST REGIMENT OF CAVALRY Went into Camp Brigham at Readville, Sept. 9 and 16, 1861, and left the State in battalions between the 25th of that month, and January, 1862; the first going directly to Annapolis, Md., while the second and third remained several weeks in New York. A part of the troops were in the battles of James Island and Pocatoglio. The officers of the regiment were, In the heat of Aug. 19, 1862, ten companies were sent from Hilton Head to Fortress Monroe, Acquia Creck, and Tenallytown, D.C.; joining, at the latter place, Gen. Pleasanton's cavalry brigade. They were in the skirmishes that preceded the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and afterwards were transferred to Gen. Averill's brigade. With Major-Gen. Fitz-John Porter's corps, and in Florida expeditions, the companies did good service. The third battalion was detached from the regiment, and another recruited in Massachusetts to fill its place. Whether acting as body-guard to Gen. Hooker; destroying railroad bridges on the Rappahannock; in battle at Kelley's Ford, Rapidan Station, and Stevensburg; raiding with Stoneman; picketing; charging through Aldie, and holding the ground while the stone walls were lined with sharpshooters; in the running fight, or on the night-march to Gettysburg; and then in the great battle of July 3, 1863, followed by escorting twenty-five hundred rebel prisoners to Winchester on the memorable 4th; in the war-path or field, the First Cavalry never disgraced its arm of the service, or the State proud of her troopers. If the space were at our command, it would be a grateful task to follow this regiment from Gettysburg to Williamsport, Auburn, Todd's Tavern, Richmond, Vaughn Road, St. Mary's Church, Cold Harbor, and Bellefield: but we must leave the honorable record, and only add, that its last service was in the defences of Washington, where it was mustered out June 26, 1865; reaching Readville on the 29th to receive its final discharge and pay The recruiting of the Second Cavalry commenced in November, 1862; one company (A) being offered and accepted from California. It reached Readville Jan. 3, 1863. Soon after, a whole battalion followed from the modern Ophir, under command of Major D. W. C. Thompson, men representing nearly every State in the Union, and, for the most part, engaged in lucrative business when they gave themselves to the country. The first detachment of the Second Cavalry left Camp Meigs, Readville, Feb. 12, 1863, under Major Crowninshield; reporting on the 18th to Major-Gen. Dix at Fortress Monroe. It was ordered to Yorktown, and Gen. Keyes designated Gloucester Point opposite as the camping-ground. Reconnoitring and expeditions followed until May 6, when the command marched into King and Queen's County to meet the raiding troops of Stoneman from the fortifications of Richmond. In another expedition into that and other counties, the regiment marched over a hundred and forty miles in sixty hours. The capture of the rebel fortifications at South Anna River June 26 (the troops crossing the river "on a single floating log boom "), and charging the breastworks, were a brilliant affair, and highly complimented by the officers. The Dix White-house Expedition marched July 1; but no marked assaults attended it. July 27, the detachment was ordered to Washington, D.C., to join the rest of the regiment under the gallant Col. Lowell. The entire force crossed the Potomac at White's Ford June 11, and pursued the guerilla Mosby; patroled the Potomac; followed Stuart's cavalry; acted Cold Harbor, and Bellefield: but we must leave the honorable record, and only add, that its last service was in the defences of Washington, where it was mustered out June 26, 1865; reaching Readville on the 29th to receive its final discharge and payment. The recruiting of the Second Cavalry commenced in November, 1862; one company (A) being offered and accepted from California. It reached Readville Jan. 3, 1863. Soon after, a whole battalion followed from the modern Ophir, under command of Major D. W. C. Thompson, men representing nearly every State in the Union, and, for the most part, engaged in lucrative business when they gave themselves to the country. The first detachment of the Second Cavalry left Camp Meigs, Readville, Feb. 12, 1863, under Major Crowninshield; reporting on the 18th to Major-Gen. Dix at Fortress Monroe. It was ordered to Yorktown, and Gen. Keyes designated Gloucester Point opposite as the camping-ground. Reconnoitring and expeditions followed until May 6, when the command marched into King and Queen's County to meet the raiding troops of Stoneman from the fortifications of Richmond. In another expedition into that and other counties, the regiment marched over a hundred and forty miles in sixty hours. The capture of the rebel fortifications at South Anna River June 26 (the troops crossing the river "on a single floating log boom "), and charging the breastworks, were a brilliant affair, and highly complimented by the officers. The Dix White-house Expedition marched July 1; but no marked assaults attended it. July 27, the detachment was ordered to Washington, D.C., to join the rest of the regiment under the gallant Col. Lowell. The entire force crossed the Potomac at White's Ford June 11, and pursued the guerilla Mosby; patroled the Potomac; followed Stuart's cavalry; acted |