Captain Charles Chipman’s Company, “Sandwich Guards.” [“D” in the Third Regiment, “D” of the Massachusetts Battalion, and “D” of the Twenty-ninth Regiment.]

With a notice of only a few hours, a very large meeting of the inhabitants of Sandwich, Barnstable County, was held on the evening of Saturday, April 20, 1861. The news of the assault upon the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, in Baltimore, had reached the town, and produced extreme excitement. The meeting was called “to devise ways and means for the raising a company of troops for the defence of the country,” and was called to order by Theodore Kern, Esq. Dr. Jonathan Leonard was chosen to preside, and E. S. Whittemore, Secretary. After appropriate remarks upon the objects of the meeting, Dr. Leonard introduced to the people, Major S. B. Phinney, editor of the “Barnstable Patriot,” who made a stirring address, “... declared his unwavering fidelity to the Union, and determination to sustain the National Administration in its efforts to crush out treason and rebellion.”

Addresses were also made by Dr. I. N. Swazey, E. S. Whittemore, Nathaniel F. Fessenden, and Otis Freeman.

“On motion of Theodore Kern, Esq., it was voted, that the sum of $20 be immediately raised by subscription, as a bounty to each man who should enlist in the campaign, and by a subscription-paper the sum of $626 was pledged in the course of the evening, in sums varying from $5 to $70; Major Phinney contributing $70, and promising a stand of colors to the company when formed.”8

An informal enlistment-roll was opened at this meeting, receiving the signatures of a large number of young men, among whom was Charles Chipman, who had served in the regular army as a sergeant. A committee of nine gentlemen was chosen “to thoroughly canvass the town and raise the balance of the bounty money,” while another committee of three was appointed to wait on the Governor and offer the services of the company to be raised; also to make arrangements for equipping it.

Nothing that we could say would so well serve to show the good spirit and patriotism of the people of Cape Cod, excited by the then recent acts of treason on the part of the South, as the language and tone of the local papers of that period. A copy of the “Barnstable Patriot” (the chief paper of the Cape) of May 23, 1861, is before us as we write, and by its loyal utterances, calls back freshly to our memory those days when the great free North was preparing itself to strike a blow for liberty and the Union.

The paper of which we have spoken, as indeed were most of its issues of that period, is principally devoted to war news, its principal editorial column being headed by these familiar lines,—

Following these words was a picture of the American flag, and beneath, this motto,—

The work of recruitment progressed so rapidly, that on the 6th of May the company was ready to complete its organization by the choice of commissioned officers. The election was presided over by the selectmen of the town; namely, Mason White, Seth B. Wing, and Isaiah Fish. Charles Chipman was chosen Captain; Charles Brady, First Lieutenant; Henry A. Kern, Second Lieutenant; Alfred E. Smith, Third Lieutenant; James H. Atherton, Fourth Lieutenant; and the company adopted the name of the “Sandwich Guards.”

Two days later, May 8, in obedience to orders from Governor Andrew, Captain Chipman proceeded with his company to Boston, with the assurance from headquarters that he was to be sent to Fortress Monroe, Va., on the steamer “Pembroke,” then lying in Boston Harbor. The departure of this body of soldiers was of course a great event in the history of the town, as well as that of Cape Cod; for it was the first volunteer company raised in that section of the State, and a great multitude of people gathered at the railway station to bid the soldiers farewell, and to strengthen by kind words their purposes of duty. The kind feelings of the citizens prompted several of them to follow the company to Boston, among them Major Phinney, and provide for the men a bountiful supper at the United States Hotel. On the night of the 8th, the soldiers were quartered in the hall of the Old Colony Railroad Company’s depot, on Kneeland Street, and during the evening were visited by Adjutant-General Schouler, who addressed them upon the state of the country and the nature of their duties as soldiers, but gave them no intimation of the disappointment that was in store for them on the following day.

The company had enlisted for the term of five years in the State’s service, and with the understanding that it was to be attached to the Third Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, then at Fortress Monroe. On the morning of the 9th, each member of the company was provided with a full Third Regiment uniform, and, later in the day, when they had been joined by the company from East Bridgewater (Captain Bates), Colonel Horace Binney Sargent, aide-de-camp to the Governor, visited them, and without making any explanation, informed them that, in order to be accepted as a part of the volunteer forces of the United States, they must enlist for the term of three years. This was a great blow to the enthusiasm of the men; for while they were willing to enlist for this term, yet they had left their homes and their families without making adequate preparations for so long a time, and they thereupon quite unanimously determined to return.

On their arrival in Sandwich, on the evening of the 9th, they proceeded at once to the Town Hall, to which they were escorted by a large body of citizens. Here, after an eloquent speech by Hon. J. M. Day, Judge of Probate for Barnstable County, who explained to them the military reasons for changing the term of enlistment, Captain Chipman called the roll, and, with a single exception, the men engaged to serve for three years.

As an essential and deeply interesting part of the early history of this command, we now come to the action concerning it of the town of Sandwich, in its capacity of a corporation, such actions being always more solemn than those of individuals, because more deliberate, and taken after more mature consideration.

The voters were summoned to meet at the Town Hall on Saturday, the 11th of May, 1861, “then and there to act on the following articles:—

“1st. To choose a Moderator to preside at said meeting.

“2d. To consider the duty of the town in the present condition of the country, and to take any action that may be thought expedient to assist in the defence of the national honor, and to see if the town will vote to raise the sum of four thousand dollars, or such other sum as may be agreed upon, to be applied to the support and maintenance of the families of such persons as may volunteer and act in the service of the United States, to aid in the defence of our country and the preservation of our Union, and to act upon all matters relating to the above.”...

The following is a transcript of the records of this meeting:

“Sandwich, May 11, 1861.

“Pursuant to the warrant, the inhabitants of the town of Sandwich assembled in the Town Hall, and proceeded to the business named in said warrant.

“1st. Chose Charles B. Hall, Esq., Moderator.

“2d. The second article in the warrant coming up, viz., ‘To consider the duty of the town in the present condition of the country, and to take action thereon,’ it was voted that a committee of five (5) be chosen to retire and make a report, and present the report to the meeting.

“The following persons were chosen said committee: Theodore Kern, Dr. Jonathan Leonard, Charles Dillingham, Charles Southack, and Benjamin F. Bourne; and the following is the report of the committee:—

“‘First, That the treasurer of the town, with the consent and at the discretion of the selectmen, be authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars ($4,000), in sums as shall be needed, for the benefit of the families of those persons from this town who may enlist in the service of the Government in defence of our constitutional liberties. Second, That the sum so borrowed shall be disbursed by the selectmen in the following manner: A man that leaves a wife shall receive two dollars per week; a wife and child, three dollars per week; and fifty cents per week for each additional child under fourteen years of age. Third, That the selectmen be authorized and instructed to assist such families who are dependent upon any volunteer for their support, to which in their judgment the above rule does not apply. Fourth, That the town furnish the company, when called for, a suitable uniform, with this condition: when the company is officially accepted.

“‘Theodore Kern. “‘J. Leonard. “‘Charles Southack. “‘B. F. Bourne. “‘Charles Dillingham, Sec’y.’

“The foregoing report was read and accepted.

“The several parts of the report were then taken up separately, and, after discussion, were unanimously adopted.

“Voted, That all citizens of Sandwich volunteering in companies out of Sandwich, having families,—and also all persons from other towns volunteering in this company, having families,—be included in the above appropriation, provided there should not be an appropriation for them by the towns from which they come, or in which our citizens have volunteered.

“Voted, To raise the sum of five hundred dollars ($500), to defray the expense of purchasing uniforms for the company.

“Voted, That a committee of four be chosen to purchase the material for uniforms. The following were chosen as that committee: Captain Charles Chipman, Joseph B. Hersey, Charles Southack, J. Henry Peirce.

“Voted, That the families of volunteers receive their money once in two weeks.”

Under this action of the town, uniforms were furnished the officers of the company; but, as already appears, the State provided clothing for the enlisted men. As in other communities, the ladies of Sandwich contributed with loving hands to the patriotic work of equipping these volunteer soldiers, fitted them out with cases of thread, needles, towels, etc., and provided each man with comfortable underclothing and other articles of necessity.

On the 16th of May, Captain Chipman received an order from Adjutant-General Schouler to report with his command, in Boston, on Saturday, May 18, to leave for the seat of war. At nine o’clock on the morning of the 18th, the company, with full ranks, assembled at the town-house, and, in the presence of a large audience, Major Phinney presented the company the flag he had promised them, accompanying the presentation with a well-considered and eloquent speech. The flag was a beautiful and costly gift, was of fine blue silk, bearing—

“... on one side, in the centre, ... the figure of an uplifted right arm grasping the sword of Liberty. Above this figure were the words, in golden letters, ‘The Right Arm of Old Massachusetts,’ and below it the motto, ‘God Speed the Right,’ the whole being enclosed in a circle of gold stars. On the reverse side was an American eagle, grasping in one talon a sheaf of arrows, and in the other the olive-branch of peace, and holding in its beak a ribbon-scroll, bearing the words, ‘E Pluribus Unum,’ and below it the motto, ‘Our Whole Country,’ all surrounded by gold stars.”9

Captain Chipman accepted the flag, and responded for himself and his command, promising to protect both the flag and the Union to the extent of their ability. Hon. George M. Marston of Barnstable was the last to address the soldiers, speaking of the company as “the representative of Cape Cod, the first and perhaps the only company from the old right arm of the Commonwealth that will be mustered into the service of the United States.” He fitly concluded his remarks by “a generous offer of personal or professional service to each or all of themselves or families who might need such service.”

Upon the conclusion of these deeply-interesting exercises, the company formed, and, escorted by a band of music and nearly the entire population of the town, and large numbers of people from the surrounding towns, marched to the railway station and proceeded to Boston, where they were generously entertained by Sewall H. Fessenden, Esq., agent of the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company. At about five o’clock in the afternoon of the same day (May 18), the command, together with those of Captains Leach, Barnes, and Doten, embarked on the steamer “Cambridge” for Fortress Monroe, arriving at this post on the 21st. They were mustered into the service for three years on the 22d, by Lieut. C. C. Churchill of the Third Artillery, U. S. A., and at once assigned to duty with the Third Regiment, M. V. M., taking the letter “D,” and retaining it throughout their whole term. In July, 1861, when the three months’ term of the Third Regiment expired, and that regiment returned to Massachusetts, Company D became a part of the Massachusetts Battalion (formed of this and the six other three years’ companies spoken of in this work), and, in December, 1861, a part of the Twenty-ninth Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteers.