The Third Massachusetts Regiment Volunteer Militia in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1863

In Short

Compiled decades after the Civil War by a former corporal turned minister, this regimental history documents the service of Massachusetts volunteers during their deployments to Virginia and North Carolina. Through first-hand recollections, officer profiles, and detailed personnel rosters, the volume captures both the military maneuvers of the campaign and the mundane realities of camp life. It endures as an intimate, unembellished portrait of nineteenth-century civic duty, tracing the men from their initial mobilization through dynamic battles like Goldsboro, and finally into their peaceful post-war lives as small-town tradesmen, public servants, and aging veterans.

The Story

The narrative opens with the sudden call to arms in the early days of the American Civil War, calling young men away from the towns of Bristol and Plymouth counties. Driven by civic conviction rather than financial gain, these volunteers enlist to form the Third Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. Initial deployments carry them to Fortress Monroe and the sweltering Virginia peninsula, where they encounter the harsh reality of military life: rough hemlock-board beds, strict officers, heat rising above 110 degrees, and early skirmishes along local bridges and picket lines. They suppress internal insubordination, build defensive earthworks, and shelter contraband slaves entering Union lines before returning north at the expiration of their initial three-month term.

Re-enlisting for a longer nine-month tour in 1862, the regiment journeys south to North Carolina aboard crowded transport steamers. Based out of Newbern, the men take part in major expeditions into the interior under General Foster. The narrative follows their tactical marches through dusty roads and pine swamps toward strategic targets like Kinston, Whitehall, and Goldsboro. At Whitehall, the troops cover the main advance by shelling enemy positions and destroying a Confederate gunboat under construction. Pushing forward to Everettsville and the Wilmington railroad, the regiment receives orders to stack arms and tear up miles of railroad track. Unarmed and vulnerable, the men burn the wooden ties with such vigor that they narrowly avoid capture by nearby rebel posts.

When an ambushing Confederate brigade launches a sudden charge against their supporting artillery batteries, the regiment quickly resumes its arms to help deliver double-shotted canister fire, shattering the enemy assault. With the railroad bridge destroyed and track torn up, the expedition completes its objective and marches back toward Newbern under punishing heat, guided toward safety by the sight of the flag over Fort Totten.

The closing chapters follow the regiment's eventual return to Massachusetts. Welcomed home by enthusiastic crowds in Boston, the men are mustered out and re-enter civilian life. The text extends its narrative arc across forty years, tracking the individual soldiers through short biographical sketches that detail their post-war careers, re-enlistments in other units, and eventual deaths. It concludes with accounts of the regimental association's annual post-war reunions, where aging veterans gather over clam dinners to maintain the bond forged in their youth.

How It Unfolds

The call to duty Volunteers from southeastern Massachusetts leave their schools, trades, and families to form militia companies without demanding large bounties. They gather in local training camps, where raw recruits adapt to hard rations, hemlock-board beds, and strict military discipline enforced by quick-witted officers.

Deployment to the Virginia peninsula Transported south to Fortress Monroe, the early companies perform guard detail, build earthworks in scorching weather, and secure strategic bridges. They integrate escaped contrabands into quartermaster operations and take part in early reconnaissance missions before completing their initial short term.

The expedition to Goldsboro Re-organized for nine months' service in North Carolina, the regiment marches inland through heavy dust and heat. They engage Confederate forces along rivers and crossroads, using dynamic battery fire to mask tactical troop movements toward key railway junctions.

Tearing up the track Upon reaching the Wilmington railroad, the soldiers stack their weapons to destroy the line, burning three miles of ties in under an hour. A sudden surprise attack by an ambushing enemy brigade forces a rapid return to their arms, supporting artillery batteries to repel the charge.

Return and quiet legacy The regiment returns to Boston to face joyous public receptions, hand-shakes from proud families, and an honorable discharge. Decades later, survivors record their rosters, track fallen comrades, and gather at annual seaside reunions to keep their shared history alive.

The People

• Rev. John G. Gammons: The author and former corporal of Company A who takes up the task of writing the regimental history decades after the war. Driven by a sense of obligation to his deceased chaplain, he records his memories of double-duty service on seasick transport ships and hard marches through southern swamps.
• Colonel Silas P. Richmond: The commanding officer whose firm discipline and quick thinking earn the lifelong affection of his men. He halts a potential riot at the sutler's tent with a sudden five-minute roll call and later leads the regimental association in peace.
• Chaplain Charles A. Snow: The original designated historian of the regiment who knew every officer and man. His unexpected death at age seventy-four passes the responsibility of recording the regiment's history into Gammons's hands.
• Major John Morrissey: A forty-five-year-old native of Plymouth and former State House sergeant-at-arms who enlists purely out of patriotic duty. He serves as an agreeable, steady officer who speaks little but leads by consistent action.
• Adjutant Lucian L. Perkins: A dedicated officer who rises from company leadership in 1861 to serve as regimental adjutant, earning respect for his performance on battalion drills before succumbing to yellow fever in North Carolina after the war.

In Its Own Voice

"To pick up the thread after it has been dropped; to supply the missing link after forty years; to step into the shoes of a dead comrade are things to be desired only by a conceited egotist, yet all these things were forced upon me by a unanimous vote of the Third Regimental Association..."

Context: The author explains how he came to write the history after the original chaplain passed away.

"How good the shores of Cape Cod looked to us; even the sand on the tail-end of grand old Massachusetts looked far more glorious to us than all the magnolia swamps of North Carolina..."

Context: Gammons describes the collective relief felt by the soldiers upon sighting the Massachusetts coastline from their return steamship.

"During the meetings of the Association no liquors have been used at dinner, neither sold nor used by the comrades, nor has any one been seen under the influence of liquor."

Context: The compiler notes the decorum maintained by the veterans during their post-war annual reunions.

What It's Really About

Beyond the immediate maneuvers of the North Carolina campaigns, the work examines the nature of citizen-soldiery in nineteenth-century America. It reflects on how community identity shapes military service, showing how local ties from Bristol and Plymouth counties sustained men through disease, combat, and logistical hardship. The text argues that true patriotism rests on voluntary sacrifice rather than financial reward or professional military ambition. By tracing each soldier's life long after their discharge, the book emphasizes that military service is not merely a brief interruption, but a defining civic duty that permanently shapes a veteran's identity, responsibilities, and connection to his community for the rest of his life.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers of military history and social historians seeking an authentic, unvarnished look at the Civil War through the eyes of the common soldier. Rather than offering grand strategic analyses, the narrative focuses on the physical texture of soldiering—the choking dust of southern roads, the misery of seasickness, and the sudden panic of an ambush while working without arms.

Reading it feels like opening an old family trunk filled with letters, duty rosters, and faded photographs. While modern readers may find the exhaustive company rosters, genealogical lists, and repetitive casualty data slow to navigate, these details ground the narrative in real human lives. The book's enduring value lies in its biographical entries, which candidly trace what happened to these young men after the guns fell silent—showing them becoming town clerks, factory superintendents, oystermen, or dying young from wartime diseases—offering a clear window into post-war American life.