AN HONORABLE REGIMENTALRECORD

XV.

Afterbringing to its conclusion another eventful chapter in its already long and honorable history, the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery again has left the service of the United States to reënter that of the Commonwealth. In addition to the jealously cherished "White Diamond" badge, eloquent of its campaigning from 1861 to 1864 with the old Second Division, Third Corps, Army of the Potomac, it now has won the right to bear the device emblematic of service in the Artillery Corps of the War of 1898—the crossed conical projectiles, surmounted by the spherical shot. The record of the regiment in this, its latest war, is in every way worthy of its proud traditions. During its term of service there were no desertions from its ranks, no dishonorable discharges blemish its rolls, and the records show that its men, in conduct and discipline, steadily maintained the high standard for which the command long has been noted. The workallotted to the regiment was intelligently and well performed, and it is a most significant fact that of the seven hundred and eleven discharge papers issued to its officers and men on Nov. 14th, 1898, there was not one which failed to bear the endorsement coveted by every true soldier: "Service honorable and faithful."

It is much to be regretted that certain enlisted men of the regiment, and even a few among its officers, since their return from the service, have felt constrained to apologize for the nature of the duty which it fell to their lot to perform. It equally is a matter for regret that some of their civilian friends, unquestionably through honest ignorance, have made the absurd mistake of commiserating the command on its failure to reach what they are pleased to term "the front." While it seems almost a waste of energy, it yet may be worth while to note here a few facts concerning the functions of the coast artillery in the late war, as well as to emphasize the point that any probable foreign war of the future will demand precisely the same sort of service from troops of this arm.

Photograph by T. E. Marr, BostonTHE LAST EVENING PARADE.Framingham, 3 October, 1898.

In the first place—and so long as the term "front," in its accepted military sense, shall continue to mean the point of expected or probable contact with an enemy's forces—it requires no argument to prove that the First Heavy Artillery was at its post,at the front, on the 26th day of April, 1898. This, to be exact, was fifty-seven days before the Second Infantry disembarked at Baiquiri, sixty-six days before the Ninth Infantry landed at Siboney, and ninety days before the Sixth Infantry left its transport at Guanica, at which points respectively these three Massachusetts commands for the first time found it possible to gain tactical touch with the Spaniards. In other words, in a war with a maritime power, every strategic point on navigable waters accessible to an enemy's ships of war is of necessity at "the front," so long as the hostile fleet remains undestroyed, and the First therefore justly may claim actual service at the front from the day following that on which Congress declared war to exist, until the 3rd of July, when the annihilation of Cervera's squadron finally and definitely relieved the coast from the threat of Spanish attack. While the five Massachusetts regimentsof infantry were passing their earlier weeks of service at inland camps of instruction, absolutely beyond the reach of any possible fighting, the First Artillery—from the very day on which it left its home stations—was continuously on duty at vital points open to attack at any hour of day or night. This claim, it should be well understood, is made only in simple justice to the regiment and in the interests of historical accuracy, for not an officer or a man in the First would detract from the hard-won honors of the Second, the Sixth, or the Ninth—honors in which, as Massachusetts soldiers, they ever will feel an honest pride.

The earlier portion of this narrative may have served to show roughly the condition of our harbor defenses at the outbreak of the last war, as well as the imperative need of heavy artillery troops with which to garrison them. The time has not yet arrived when the whole truth may be told safely, or even with propriety, but since the actual artillery strength on duty during the war is a matter of easily accessible record, it may here receive momentary attention. Briefly summarized, therewere in service for the protection of our four thousand miles of sea-coast but ninety-three heavy batteries, of which seventy were in the regular establishment and twenty-three were in the volunteers. Over one-half of the latter were contributed by Massachusetts alone, in her First Heavy Artillery, and it seems fitting again to refer to the fact that her twelve trained and disciplined batteries were the only ones obtainable from the militia of the entire country at the outbreak of hostilities. Of the remaining volunteer heavy batteries, four each were hastily recruited in California and Maine, two in Connecticut, and one in South Carolina. The event proved that but six of the entire ninety-three batteries were destined to take part in any actual fighting. These were four from the Third United States Artillery and two from the California volunteers, which—when the destruction of Montojo's fleet had allayed all fears for the safety of the Pacific coast—were relieved from duty in the fortifications and ordered to report to General Merritt, under whom they saw service as infantry in the land operations around Manila.

After what already has been said, it would seem that no elaborate explanation should be required to show why the heavy artillery arm failed to obtain more brilliant service in the last war. It must be borne in mind that its first and most important function is the defence of coast fortifications; its second, operations with the siege train in the reduction of fortified places; its third—and this only in rarely occurring emergencies—service as infantry. In the late war with Spain, as in any future European war, it was a matter of vital necessity to man our coast defenses, and to keep them manned until the threatening fleet had been swept from the seas; that once accomplished, and the artillerymen might reasonably have hoped for further service in the expected final operations at Havana. But with the naval victory off Santiago came the collapse of the war—and the ending of hope for the artillery.

By the legislation which transferred the First from the infantry to the artillery arm, the regiment was deprived of its opportunity of foreign service. Entrusted with the defence of the coast, it quietly accepted the responsibilities devolving upon it, and met them in away that entitles it to the gratitude of the Commonwealth. First in the field, it had the mortification of finding itself soonest forgotten, for no correspondents followed it in its faithful service, and no newspaper filled its columns with the daily gossip of its camps. Accepting the situation, it faithfully went on with its duties until the end came, and then returned quietly to its place in the militia, content to apply to its own case the words of its commander-in-chief, President McKinley, "The highest tribute that can be paid to the soldier is to say that he performed his full duty. The field of duty is determined by his Government, and wherever that chances to be, there is the place of honor. All have helped in the great cause, whether in camp or in battle, and when peace comes, all alike will be entitled to the Nation's gratitude."

THE END.

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