Captain Joseph H. Barnes’s Company, “Greenough Guards.” [“K” in the Fourth Regiment, “K” of the Massachusetts Battalion, and “K” of the Twenty-ninth Regiment.]

On the 20th of April, 1861, Joseph H. Barnes, a citizen of East Boston, and a native of Hingham, Plymouth County, having been authorized by the Governor, raised a company of infantry, chiefly composed of East Boston men.

On the 25th of April, there was an election of officers, conducted by General Bullock of the militia, resulting in the election of Joseph H. Barnes, Captain; James H. Osgood, Jr., First Lieutenant; William T. Keen, Second Lieutenant; Albert H. Townsend, Third Lieutenant; and Joseph D. Ellis, Fourth Lieutenant. The commission of Captain Barnes, dated April 27, was as a “Captain of company of infantry in the First Division of the Militia of the Commonwealth.” By an order accompanying the commission, the company was assigned to the First Regiment of Militia, then commanded by Col. Robert Cowdin of Boston, and the following order was also received by Captain Barnes:—

“Headquarters First Regiment Infantry, } “First Brigade, First Division, M. V. M., } “Boston, April 27, 1861. }

“Orders, No. 14.

“By Special Orders, No. 100, of this date, from the Commander-in-Chief, transmitted by Division Special Orders, No. 48, of the same date, and Brigade Special Orders, No. 27, of the same date, this regiment is detailed for active duty in the service of the United States. Commandants of companies are hereby ordered to report at the Hancock House, on Sunday, the 28th instant, at 9 o’clock, A. M., for orders. They will assemble their commands at their armories forthwith, ready to march at a moment’s notice.

“By command of Col. Robert Cowdin.

“George W. Beach, Adjutant.”

The company assembled as directed, but, by reason of a change of affairs, the regiment did not leave the State as soon as expected. Subsequently, they were mustered into service as the First (three years) Regiment, and left for the field, June 15, 1861. We give this order, however, as a part of the record of Captain Barnes’s company, and as showing at how early a date it was ordered into the service; also, its connection with the First Regiment. In the course of a few days after the company organized, it took quarters at the Maverick House, East Boston, and continued to occupy them till the eighteenth day of May. The citizens of the “Island Ward” paid, by voluntary contributions, the chief part of the expense attending the quartering of the volunteers, and, in common with the other citizens of Boston, provided them with a uniform consisting of a full suit of gray clothes, the jacket being trimmed with red braid. The arms were Springfield rifle-muskets, furnished by the State.

May 17, the company was detached from the First Regiment of Militia, and the following order issued:—

“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

“Adjutant-General’s Office, } “Boston, May 17, 1861. }

“Capt. Joseph H. Barnes.

“Sir: You are directed by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief to report yourself and command at headquarters, on Saturday, May 18, at 10 o’clock, A. M., for actual service. You are required to sign, and have your men sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years. You will proceed from Boston in the steamer ‘Cambridge,’ for Fort Monroe.

“Respectfully yours, “William Schouler, Adj. Gen.”

The words of this order, “You are required to sign, and have your men sign, an enlisting paper, to serve for three years,” probably were not intended to convey the idea that the Governor had the power to compel the officers and men to sign such a paper, but that their acceptance as soldiers was on the condition of their enlistment for the term named therein.

Captain Barnes reported at the State House with his company, numbering seventy-three enlisted men, at the hour named, where all willingly engaged to serve for three years. They then returned to East Boston, and the men were dismissed for a hurried dinner. Early in the afternoon, the company again assembled at its quarters, and were escorted to the ferry by a body of militia and an immense throng of people, the latter so crowding the streets, that it became difficult for the command to reach the wharf; and so eager were the people to follow the soldiers, that large numbers of them crossed over on the ferry.

Before Captain Barnes and his men left the Maverick House, William W. Greenough, Esq., whose name the company had adopted, and who performed a great variety of services for its members, both before and after they entered the service, presented them with the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, in gold.

This worthy gentlemen was not the only warm friend which the soldiers of this company left at home. When the command assembled at its quarters in the afternoon of this day, a large number of the ladies of East Boston, together with several of the teachers of the public schools, gathered at the Maverick House, and presented the volunteers with a great many useful articles, including rubber blankets, underclothing, knives, forks, spoons, and cases containing thread, needles, yarn, and towels; a fine pocket-bible was also given to each officer and man.

The combining the gift of a Bible with that of clothing and other articles of physical comfort, was a faithful and touching compliance with one of the injunctions which the holy book itself contained. These Christian women did not say to the soldiers, “Depart in peace; be ye warmed and filled,” but gave them “... those things which are needful for the body.” Nor did the kindness of these gentle ones end here; for as long as the company remained in the service, they continued in this work of love, sending to the field many well-filled boxes of clothing and other needed supplies.

Upon the arrival of the company at the steamer, later in the afternoon, Captain Barnes received the following order:—

“COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.

“Adjutant-General’s Office, } “Boston, May 18, 1861. }

“Capt. Jos. H. Barnes:

“As senior officer of the Massachusetts troops embarked to-day on board the ship ‘Cambridge’ for Fortress Monroe, you will detail such guards and sentinels as may be necessary for proper discipline and for the care and safety of the ship, under the direction of the captain of said vessel.

“Company from Plymouth, Capt. Doten; company from Sandwich, Capt. Chipman, which are to be attached to the Third Regiment, Col. Wardrop, now at Fortress Monroe; company from East Bridgewater, Capt. Leach; company from East Boston, Capt. Barnes; together with 32 men belonging to Co. H of Quincy; 37 men belonging to Co. I of Hingham; 12 men belonging to Co. F, Foxborough; 22 men belonging to Co. D, Randolph; and 45 men belonging to Co. A, Canton, severally of the Fourth Regiment, Col. Packard, now at Fort Monroe, will be attached to the regiment upon their arrival at their place of destination. You are to have command of the troops until you report yourself to the officer in command of Fort Monroe.

“You are to take good care of the men, and to use your best efforts to cause discipline and harmony.

“By order of His Excellency, Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

“William Schouler, Adj. Gen.”

May 21, the “Cambridge” reached Fortress Monroe. The company having been assigned to the Fourth Regiment, received the letter “K,” and was made the color-company of the regiment. It was mustered into the service for three years, on the following day (May 22), and, five days later, went with the Fourth Regiment to Newport News. It retained the letter “K” throughout its service, became a part of the Massachusetts Battalion, July 16, 1861, and, in December following, was incorporated with the Twenty-ninth Regiment.

The gentlemen who were elected to the offices of third and fourth lieutenants upon the first organization of the company, could not, under the laws of the United States, be mustered with that rank. Lieutenant Ellis, however, accompanied the command to Fortress Monroe, but soon afterwards returned to Massachusetts. Charles Hewett, one of the original members, was rejected upon the surgical examination at Fortress Monroe, being the only one of the command rejected, and was furnished by General Butler with transportation to Boston.

The commissions of the two lieutenants, Osgood and Keen, bear the same date as that of the Captain; namely, April 27, 1861.