Massachusetts 32nd Regiment Companies A, C & E

The Thirty-Second Regiment has three connections to Camp Cameron. The Regiment as a whole was an out growth of the First Battalion stationed at Fort Warren.
Company A of this group received at thirty one men from Camp Cameron sometime in Nov. 1861. They had come to Fort Warren via Hingham, Mass. with Lt. Charles Dearborn of Salem.  At the fort this company was under the command of Captain Luther Stevenson, Jr. of Hingham, Mass. Company C was mostly if not entirely recruited at Cameron. The November 11, 1861 edition of The Boston Evening Transcript stated that 96 men where at the camp for Co. C and Captain Jonathan Pierce.
When the state decided to enlarge the 1st Battalion into a full regiment, Company E was recruited at the camp. They entered the camp on DEC. 13, 1861 and left on Dec. 24, 1861 to join the rest of the regiment at Ft. Warren.  Being mustered in on the 17th. They were under the command of Capt. Cephas C. Bumpus.


DAN SULLIVAN

Melrose Public Library, Local History Room

The library in Melrose, Ma. has a great local history room. Besides books on general regional history, they have a very good Civil War collection. Many regimental histories, a few Grand Army of the republic volumes, books on the war in general, Butlers book, Melrose, Massachusetts, New England and Geneology books etc. One cool collection is from the Barry family. These are letters to and from members of the family who enlisted plus a collection of letter to and from family members left at home. One piecethat realy stands out is Royal Pierce Barrys' uniform coat. He served in the 45th, CO "D" that went through Camp Miegs in Readville, MA. One of his letters mentions how Readville was so much cleaner than Camp Cameron.

DAN SULLIVAN

John H. Chipman Jr. G.A.R. Post # 89

http://garpost89ma.tripod.com/

This is a great web site dedicated to the memory of the Beverly Mass. Grand Army of the Republic Hall.
Included in its information are some bios of the members with some photos. Three, Thomas N. Drawbridge, a Pvt. in the 1st Regiment CO "H", George V. Bowden, a Pvt. in the 1st Regiment, CO "C" and George W. Fray who was alsi a Pvt. in the 1st, CO "H" were at Camp Cameron. Check out their pictures.


DAN SULLIVAN

A recruit from the 28th celebrates in Winchester Mass.

The Oct. 25, 1861 Woburn Budget relates this story.
The previous Saturday evening a member of the 28th took a furlough and visited Winchester. After getting very drunk he went downtown and gave a speech on the merits of enlisting and the dangers of puppies. "He called upon all patriotic citizens to rally for Meager! rally for Corcoran! enlist under the "Star Stangled Banger," and march on to victory!" Eventually the constable was called who brought him to the vestry at the enginehouse. While in captivity he became indignant  and accused his captures of being "sessionists, traitors, and other rebellious folk, but in spite of his protestations he was safely housed."


DAN SULLIVAN 

Massachusetts 1st Regiment diary captured at Bull Run

The July 28, 1861 edition of the New Orleans Daily True Blue published a story of how a local soldier took a diary off a dead Massachusetts recruit and sent it home. Neither soldier, North or South are named. The Southerner is referred to as "H" and belonging to the LA 7th. 

The diary entrees are from Camp Ellsworth on Fresh  Pond in Cambridge. This could only be the MA First.

Here are the entrees.

May 16 - Enlisted in the Fusiliers. (Independent Fusiliers, CO "G", of Boston)

May 23 - Sworn into United States service by Lieut Amory.

May 24 - Alexandria taken - Col. Ellsworth shot by the secessionists.

June 1 - Marched to Camp Ellsworth, fresh pond in Cambridge - very long march. 

June 2 - Firtst day in camp; a very noisy and busy day; at a dress parade morning and afternoon.

June 11 - Ran the guard; went to the city to class-meeting - very good time. (another recruit at Ellsworth mentioned how the officers would dress as enlisted men and try to run the guard. A Camp Cameron soldiers also talked about "French Leaves."

June 14 - In the city and at the rehearsal.

June 15 - Started for the seat of war, five miles march to Boston.

June 16 - Arrived at Jersey City; met father, mother, uncle and cousin Alice; had a collation in the depot.

Bull's Rub, July 18 - This diary was suddenly brought to a close this day, by a musket ball from the Louisiana Seventh regiment. 

DAN SULLIVAN

Michael Driscoll 28th Massachusetts Regiment

Michael's parents were Irish emigrants. His parents left Ireland for Nova Scotia. He was born in 1826-27.  He moved  to Boston by 1850. Here he would meet and marry Hannah Smith who was born in Ireland and came to America sometime after 1827. They would eventually settle in North Cambridge, MA. The Driscolls would have four children, Elizabeth, Ellen (Nellie), Thomas (Tom Dick) and Hannah.
Michael is listed as a laborer. In North Cambridge this most likely meant he worked in the brick yards. Neither Michael or Hannah were literate so we have nothing in their own words. Young Hannah was born on either Sept. 10 or  Oct. 11, 1860. Sadly she would live just over a year. On Sept. 28. 1861 she passed away of Cholera Infantum.
I do not know if it was simply a difference in customs between America and the old country or the fact that the Driscolls were so poor they could not afford to act otherwise but on Oct. 5, 1861 Michael was brought before Judge Ladd of the Cambridge Police Court for violation of the Registration Law. He  buried his little Hannah with out going through an undertaker and obtaining a permit from the Cambridge Clerks office. The grave digger on duty at the North Cambridge Catholic Cemetery tried to stop him to no avail.  He pleaded guilty and the fine should have been $2.00 - $20.00. No record survives of the sentence, not a small amount at the time.
Just a few weeks later, on Oct. 28, Driscoll enlisted in the 28th, an Irish regiment. I think these two events are related. I have read of other instances were men enlisted out of grief, guilt or some other trauma. Another possibility is money. They were already poor. Now they may have been under the weight of both doctors bills and a court fine. I think the most likely reason is Judge Ladd. Ladd had a history of passing sentences that amounted to pay the fine or enlist.
The 28th was recruited at Camp Cameron and left the state for further training at Ft. Columbus in New York on Jan. 11, 1862. Much of his time was spent in Hospital duty. After suffering a hand wound at the Battle of South Mountain he made an Ambulance driver. While the 28th was chasing Lee toward Gettysburg he fell out of the march and was captured near Dunfries Va. He was paroled and eventually returned to his regiment on Oct. 5, 1863. He re-enlisted after his initial three years and was mustered out at the end of the war.
He returned home to Cambridge. His war wound would never completely. This made it difficult for him to use his right hand for the rest of his life.
In 1884 he purchased what would become 120 Reed Street, just two blocks from "Old Camp Cameron".  At the time of the purchase the he could see the property of the camp from his new front porch.  Even though he would pass away of stomach cancer the following year his family would live in that house until 1999 and on a portion of the property for several years after that. A sign on the corner of Reed and Dudley Streets remembers their time on the street.

DAN SULLIVAN

Camp Cameron closes!

Like most camps through out the Union, Camp Cameron was plagued with a bounty jumping problem. Soon after Hannibal Day assumed command of the Boston area he petitioned Washington to close the camp. He was given it if he saw fit with the right to replace the camp with either Ft. Independence or Ft Warren on the Harbor.
First he needed to wait until the lease ended on Nov, 21, 1862. He then had to find a new home for the Southern prisoners  at Ft. Independence. Because of this the Army stayed at Cameron until Jan. 22, 1863. On that date the final 75-100 recruits were transferred to Boston. Counting Camp Ellsworth,  this ended almost 21 months of military recruiting and training in the area.

Whenever the reasons for closing the camp came up the practice of bounty jumping is given. I have come to believe that this is only part of the reason. Bounty jumping was also practiced in camps that did not close. Desertion was exaggerated at Cameron by the lack of a fence. Fences though not universal in the camps were not unheard of. What was the difference between this camp and other camps that stayed open and those that had erected fences? When the regular army took over other options were now available. Yes, they had a problem with desertion. Yes, a fence could have lessened this problem. The Army had other facilities in the area, namely the harbor forts and they were not far away. Even without the problem of bounty jumping Camp Cameron may have seemed redundant. It was an expense to rent when they already owned other bases. The harbor forts where crowded so it is possible that the army did not go into this already thinking of closing the camp.  Discussion of this did begin quickly. (3) It may not have been a predetermined result, but why would the army want to continue an extra expense to maintain a property that was not working well when other option where at hand. This only becomes clearer when you consider that they would have to incur more expense to improve the camp by building a fence. Remember the forts by their very nature already had walls around them. Hannibal Day also had an office in Boston so the Fort Independence would have been closer.


DAN SULLIVAN