Captain Jonas K. Tyler’s Company, Afterwards Commanded by Captain Israel N. Wilson. [“M” in the Third Regiment, “M” of the Massachusetts Battalion, and “B” of the Twenty-ninth Regiment.]

As early as the first of March, 1861, Jonas K. Tyler, Esq., a member of the Suffolk bar, and who had seen service in the war with Mexico, offered his services to Governor Andrew in raising a body of troops to serve either the State or National governments in the impending war. But in a letter dated March 8, 1861, the Governor declined these services, on the ground that no call had been made upon the State for troops, and that he possessed no legal authority to raise troops except upon an order issued by the President of the United States.

A month later, when it became apparent that a call would be made for troops, Captain Tyler readily obtained permission from His Excellency to raise a company of militia, with the understanding that they were not to be mustered unless such a call should issue.

On the 17th of April, a roll was opened by Tyler at his office, and by the night of the 18th it was filled with the names of young men, principally residents of Boston.

On the 19th of April, the company was organized by the choice of Jonas K. Tyler of Boston, Captain; Samuel A. Bent, First Lieutenant; Albert Blakeslee, Second Lieutenant; E. Dexter, Third Lieutenant; and Thomas H. Adams, Fourth Lieutenant.

As no quarters were provided by the State, the men were lodged in hotels and boarding-houses, and were drilled daily by a competent drill-master in the school of the soldier and company evolutions. The expense attending the organization of the company and quartering the men was borne by the officers and men, for which they have never been reimbursed.

On the 3d of May, the President having made an actual demand upon the State for troops, the Governor consented to the issue of arms to the men, and on the following day Captain Tyler obtained a requisition for a partial supply of underclothing.

On the 9th of May, Captain Tyler received orders to leave for the seat of war on the 10th; but at this time not a member of the command possessed a uniform, and, what was still more embarrassing, the State had none to furnish.

How was the outfit to be obtained in so short a time? Happily, Boston possessed a mayor, the Hon. Joseph M. Wightman, whose whole heart was enlisted in the cause of the country. In this emergency, Captain Tyler turned to him for assistance, and the promptness with which that aid was furnished reflects the greatest credit, not alone upon the Mayor himself, but upon the city of Boston.

It was well into the evening when the Captain called upon Mayor Wightman and made known the wants of his men. The Mayor comprehended the nature of the situation at once, and in company with Tyler, immediately commenced the search for clothing. Going upon School Street, a number of hacks were found in front of the Parker House, and these were at once secured. The first person called upon was Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, who furnished them with a large number of useful articles not included in the list of military equipments. From thence the two gentlemen went to the various depots of clothing belonging to the city, where were obtained a sufficient number of coats, trousers, shoes, and stockings. These articles were quickly loaded into the hacks and conveyed to the hall on Washington Street, where the company had assembled upon its brief notice to march.

At eight o’clock the next morning, May 10, the command reported at the State House, ready for service, and were here joined by Capt. William D. Chamberlain’s company from Lynn. The men of both companies engaged to serve for three years without hesitation, were inspected by the Adjutant-General, and ordered to embark at once on the steamer “Pembroke.” The commissions of both captains bore date of April 19, but Captain Chamberlain having at one time held the rank of major in the militia, was given the command of the battalion, and, at the same time, sealed orders, with instructions not to open the same till the vessel had passed beyond Boston Light. On the march to Rowe’s Wharf, where the “Pembroke” was lying, the battalion halted at a place on Federal Street, and there received the gray overcoats.

The short notice to march made it impossible for Captain Tyler to warn all his men, some of whom lived out of the city, and consequently about twenty were left behind; these, however, afterward joined the company at Fortress Monroe.

The “Pembroke” was at this time in the service of the Commonwealth, was armed with two 42-pounder Dahlgren guns, had a guard of armed seamen, and flew both the State and National colors. As she passed the forts in Boston Harbor, she was saluted by them, and the men, being gathered upon deck, returned the salutes by rounds of cheers. It was not until the vessel had passed beyond Boston Light that either officers or soldiers learned their destination. Then the sealed orders were opened, revealing the fact that they were bound for Fortress Monroe, Va., and were to be assigned to the Third Regiment.

There were few events of the trip that were of much moment, though the voyage under such circumstances was necessarily different from any which the soldiers (some of whom had been sailors) had ever before taken. They were going to war,—to the rescue of the nation’s most important fortress, which was already being besieged by the traitorous militia of Virginia.

About midnight of the 12th of May, when, by the judgment of the officers,—all lights on that part of the coast having been extinguished,—it was calculated that the steamer was about forty miles from her destination, suddenly from the south, and directly in her course, “shone out what seemed nothing less than the light of a heavy bombardment. Within a narrower space, as it appeared to us, fierce flashes broke forth, and from the opposite quarter were as fiercely answered again.”4 That Fortress Monroe was being bombarded, was the belief of all on board, and the soldiers kept the deck nearly all night, watching and speculating upon these novel scenes. As the steamer sped on her way and neared the scene of the apparent battle, hugging the shore closely, the view increased in splendor, and occasionally there came wafted over the water the low, hollow sound of a distant gun. When morning broke, leaden-colored, though wasted, clouds in the south showed that the soldiers had been watching from a distance a terrific thunder-storm. A little after sunrise, the form of a frigate was observed approaching the steamer from seaward, which in the course of an hour came up and spoke the “Pembroke.” The frigate proved to be the “Minnesota,” then engaged in cruising off the coast.

On the 13th of May, the “Pembroke” reached Fortress Monroe, the battalion entered the fort, and both companies were attached to the Third Regiment, Captain Tyler’s company receiving the letter “M.” On the following day, May 14, both commands were mustered into the service for three years by Lieut. C. C. Churchill, U. S. A.

Captain Tyler’s company served with the Third Regiment till the term of the latter expired, and then became a part of the Massachusetts Battalion, retaining its letter “M” till the formation of the Twenty-ninth Regiment, when, by order of Governor Andrew, it became a part of that regiment, and its letter was changed to “B.”

The number of officers chosen at the time of the organization of the company was greater by two than that authorized by the laws of the United States, and the only officers who accompanied the command to the seat of war were Captain Tyler, First Lieutenant Samuel A. Bent of Boston, and Second Lieutenant Thomas H. Adams of Boston. Captain Tyler resigned on account of ill-health, July 18, 1861, and Lieutenant Bent the same day. Israel N. Wilson of Billerica, who was a First Lieutenant in Capt. P. A. Davis’s company, was commissioned Captain July 24, 1861, and succeeded Tyler. On the same day, Ezra Ripley of Cambridge, an able lawyer, was commissioned First Lieutenant, and assigned to this company, joining it soon after, and while it was doing duty at the “Rip-Raps.”