One of the first great heated debates over the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry occured when Cols. Gordon and Andrews insisted that the Regular Army blue uniform be procured. They wanted no misunderstanding about their regiment being a militia unit. They wanted to impress their men--and anyone else who came into contact with the 2nd MA, that it was in the service of the United States Government. Strong efforts were made by outsiders to have a gray uniform adopted, but Gordon stood firm, and had, in fact, when helping Gov. Andrew get the Massachusetts Militia off to Washington, even then recommended the army uniform. A high-ranking officer protested such an action, recalling that a similar attempt had nearly caused a mutiny within a Massachusetts regiment during the Mexican War.
Gordon dismissed the argument: "I believe that the war is to be one of no short duration, and, as troops may wear out the clothes they start with, it would be almost impossible for the Governor of Massachusetts to follow each soldier to the field to supply a pair of Massachusetts trousers. Besides, all that saved the Massachusetts regiment in Mexico from returning in the 'Uniform of the Georgia Militia' (shirt collar and pair of spurs), was due to the fact that they were supplied with United States uniforms which they wore homw."
Captain Abbott Lays Down the Law
Capt. William Cogswell's men arrived at Camp Andrew in grayish blue uniforms made by the ladies of Salem, the trousers which, according to Edward Phalen, were minus one very important feature.
Lts. Robert Gould Shaw and Henry Sturgis Russell were very familiar with Brook Farm. They had played their as children. Their parents had removed their families from what they considered the unhealthful atmosphere of Boston to the fresh air of West Roxbury. While the Shaws did not join the Transcendental community, they were big supporters, both idealistically and financially. Now an army camp was laid out upon the ground where Pilgrim House once stood, and Shaw felt "very odd" to be there, and reported finding some quartz "in the same place we used to get it."
Color-Bearer, Sgt. Francis Lundy, had fought in a Russian regiment during the Crimean War and had been captured by the English. According to a regimental story, he now discovered one of his former captors serving in the 2nd MA INF.
At the beginning, the subtleties of military protocol were hard to master. One day, Sgt. David Casey of Company C, was on duty as Sgt. of the Guard. Gordon instructed that should anyone desire to see him, to announce them by name, and he would indicate whether or not to admit him. Before long, one of the as-yet uniformed enlisted men appeared and asked to speak to the Colonel.
"A gentleman desires to see you," Sgt. Casey informed Gordon.
"Show him in."
This Casey did. In short order the enlisted man returned. "The Colonel wants to see you."
"Sergeant," Gordon explained patiently, "in civil life all men are presumed to be gentlemen. In the military service, none are gentlemen but commissioned officers. Hereafter, when a soldier desires to see me, announce him as a man."
For the Shaw family, one of the first of many sad reports of a death in combat came while Shaw was still in camp. His good friend from the 7th NY Militia, Theodore Winthrop, was killed at Big Bethel on June 10th. Shaw wrote; "I think that, if he expected it, he would not have been sorry, excepting for the sake of his family."
The regiment suffered its own premature losses when a couple of men, Pvt. Duncan F. Finlayson of Whitney's Company F, drowned while swimming in the Charles River.
The Officers of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Learn That a Regiment Is Not a Democracy.
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