The Old First Massachusetts Coast Artillery in War and Peace

usic was repeating a message to him. Was there something in the brazen voice of the horns, a magical harmon

hers of all

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are brav

pride in o

are all

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hythmic swing characteristic of well-trained troops, they also hear the message which was written do

whose patriotism was not silly or vulgar, but strong and serious. Today likewise the Inspector General reports that the personnel is unexcelled; only men of good character are enlisted; standards are very high. And for the largest part the men are not in the service for any personal profit to themselves-there is too little pay to make money the attraction. They are so

hin a radius of two hundred miles from Boston is manufactured practically every kind of supply and equipment; while New York, the world's center of wealth and finance, is only slightly m

pounds of powder, and a projectile weighing more than half a ton, costing upwards of $150, and sufficient in itself to destroy a hostile warship. The target, the moving target, at which the shot is fired, floats on the water at a distance of eight to sixteen miles; and without the use of powerful glasses is all but invisible. Range and direction (azimuth) are determined by a combination of most delicate scientific obser

ting and aviation all enter into the training of the Coast Artilleryman. Oppor

r years there is a trip to the inauguration at Washington; lesser excursions occupy some of the intervening time. Most valuable of all are the l

his service has become a passport to business success, and today there is no better recommendation for employment. Civil Servic

ented. Even more truly than the Boston companies these organizations offer advantages of the greatest value; each is the pride of its own

d of the past contains worthy, and even heroic, passages. Not only is the Coast Artillery the surviving heir to most of Boston's finest militia traditions and honors, but by the consolidation of 1878 it also inherits the proud record of the Third R

tered silk banners of the 1st Infantry, five in number, the 3d Infantry, two of them, the 24th Infantry, two, the 42d Infantry and the 43d and the 44th, two each, and in the Spanish War case the two colors of the 1st Heavy Artillery, seventeen flags in all, one may possibly remember that a

ce it was given by those who had borne it into the custody of the veterans who made up the National Guards, the 9th Co. of Coast Artillery. The Natio

State flag retained to replace a lost Commonwealth color presented by the people of Chelsea. As often as May 25 rolls around, veterans of the regiment bear these flags, together with the present National colors of the command, to the hall where the anniversary dinner is held; and under the sacred silken folds the white-haired warriors renew the memories of Fredericksburg and Chancell

, and Post 35 of Chelsea pos

s' wall, that of George S. Newell as Colonel of the 1st Reg., 1st Bri., 1st Div., dated May 11, 1839, signed by John P. Bigelow, Secretary of the Commonwealth; and the warrant of Daniel Horatio Belknap as Quartermaster Sergeant of the 1st Reg., 3d Bri., 1st Div., issued July 20, 1824, by Co

Hurney's organization. In their room one sees Capt. J. J. Spooner's original commission signed in 1784 by Gov. John Hancock, the first flag carried by the company-a flag with fourteen stars, the complete parchment roll of members from the very beginning, a drum which helped to keep up the company's courage at

uable possession is a Stuart oil portrait of their "patron saint," George Washington. The same company also display a set of ancient by-laws inherited from their predecessor, the Independent Light Infantry, and perhaps also a set of their ancient breast-plates. If more is demanded, members of the company will fill their lungs and emit the old "tiger" yell or growl; and this is certain to prove sufficient so far as the 2d Company is concerned. The 3d Company room does not contain much of historical interest. Their proudest possession is an entry on the records of the Governor's Co

chusetts, duly engrossed and framed, together with an order of the Council approved by Gov. John L. Bates on April 6, 1903, not only certifies that the First Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia responded to the call of the President of the United States in April, 1861, for troops to suppress the rebellion, but also, and more importantly as concerning our present difficulty, that the First Massachusetts Hea

tory between 1842 and 1905 was recorded in terms of company letters, since 1905 the letters have rapidly passed into oblivion; and today have become almost entirely forgotten. For the purpose of interpreting the past in terms intelligible to the pre