March 24, 1862

2d Lieut. Elliot:
Diary:

     March 24-Monday
     Weather very fine. warm and pleasant.
     One of Gen. [Gov.] Andrews newly appointed Lieut has been assigned to Comp. F. Reltys [Kelty's] fire Zouares as 2nd Lieut Vici Claiborne mustered out or discharged.
     Lieut Penny another of the same stamp has been appointed 2nd Vici Parker. Post Master of the Department of the Gulf as our Dept. is known now the poor N.E 2nd is no more it has had its last struggle but died game and no doubt the officer of the Eastern Bay State will also.
     Lieut N.R. Reed of Comp. D has been appointed on fatigue duty permanently. got his appointment yesterday. A hard job and neither thanks or honor attach ed to it.
     Had out first Battalion drill to day under our new Colonel to day. He knows his business thoroughly I should judge. and I was lucky enough to appear in command as Lieut L. was sick. Lieut Lovrin has tendered his resignation. and is going home if it is accepted. no doubt it will be for applicants for us poor unfortunate Lieuts are as plenty as fish in the sea for our positions. it matters not wether they come by them honorably or no as long as they get them. that is all they want.
     Three Rebels came over here to day from New Orleans in a small boat. they report things as getting quite desperate there now. no provisions, no ammunition & no anything, and not much feeling for Sesession. but this is all humbug.

Corpl. B. B. Smith:

Diary:

      Monday 24
     Another fine day.  Com drill from
     7 to 8 Oclock.  the colonel drilled us
     Today the gun boat isle de cuba
     Arrived to day with a mail and
     Orders.  Bussiness i driving all over
     The island.  there was a number
     Of Commd. officers come with
     The Colonel.

February 18, 1862

2d Lieut. Elliot:
Diary:
     February 18-Tuesday
     In fatigue & Police duty with the whole Company to day. our first duty was leveling up the encampment and filling holes. 2nd getting a requisition of lumber 6400 feet of boards. and 1400 “ of old lumber to build Quartermaster store house. bringing these boards from wharf to camp on our mens shoulders. 3rd pitching tents for Colonel & Major lugging stores for commissary.
     The Conant boys out with knap-sacks fully equipped for Shirks drill for not turning out at roll call.
     Gun boat arrived to night with Paymaster Watson and his company of money deliverers on board. they report the Pensacola run aground on Florida reefs where she lay some 7 or days, stove a hole in her bottom. and they were com-pelled to throw over her guns and everything of any weight in order to get her off.
     By order of Col French the Officers of E.B.S. Reg’t. (of nobodys any without any authority or legal right or in other words the unorganized mob from Massachusetts) attend School for the instruction of said Officers. Lesson to night on the manual of arms as far as Aim. had quite a variety of ways for the manual, not laid down in Hardee
 
Corpl. B. B. Smith:
Diary:
     Tuesday, February 18, 1862
     Still rainy.  just come off
     Guard duty.  next 24 hours
     Nothing but police duty and dress
     Parade went up to the sutlers
     And when i came back was checked
     By sargeant.  Knapsack drill for
     The first time tomorrow.

January 2, 1862

Today we have selections from three men in the 30th:
Quartermaster Sergeant Henry Warren Howe,
2d Lieutenant Richard A. Elliot (Co. C),
& Corporal Bartholomew B. Smith (Co. A).

Flags of the 30th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Colors return to Governor Andrew, 1865

In general I would like to follow the chronological order of how the 30th Massachusetts was formed, how it fought, and what its men had to say about their experiences.  When it comes to the flags of the 30th, I feel that perhaps I should share all of the information that I have up front.  The colors were the physical embodiment of the regiment, and while the men have all passed on, the colors still survive.  They are a symbol that we can still see and touch, and for some of us may even bring a deeper connection to our relatives and the men who served.

Enlistment: Michael Harkins

150 years ago today marks the day the Michael Harkins (18) enlisted as a private in Co. A of the Eastern Bay State Regiment (later 30th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry).  At this same time dozens of other men were also enlisting in the regiment.  The reason why I focus on this one enlistment is because Michael Harkins is my Great Great Great Grandfather...it is through Michael that I have my connection to the 30th Mass. and why I am interested in tracking the events of his enlistment and of the regiment through the rest of their service in the war.

Field & Staff + Company Officers: 1861

In the coming months there will be a great deal of information for me to add if not on a daily basis, at least several times a week.  Posts reflecting the time frame of 1862 will be quite plentiful, mainly due to the fact that I have two very good diary accounts to draw from (one from Henry Warren Howe as I have presented already.  I will add more information about the second diary a few days before its entries begin).

Henry Warren Howe

As I begin documenting the history of the Eastern Bay State Regiment, perhaps the most prominent figure in the unit (from a documentation point of view) is Henry Warren Howe.  Howe's service in the war began several months before the formation of the EBS Regiment.  He ended up on Gen. Ben Butler's staff in his expedition into North Carolina in 1861, and as the EBS Regiment was formed, he was given the position of Quartermaster Sergeant (and would one day make it to a much higher rank).  Without a doubt, the best and most useful source of information that I have ever come across for the 30th Massachusetts is a book that was published from the diary and collected letters of Mr. Howe.  He also threw in some other compiled information on the regiment and its officers, and what is of more use (to some of us) is very detailed information on the colors carried by the regiment into battle and throughout the duration of the war.

Eastern Bay State Regiment

     

Image from The Daily Journal for 1862
kept by Captain Richard A. Elliot.
Placed online by the Center for Lowell History,
University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries.
http://library.uml.edu/clh/all/el1.pdf

Between September 25th and December 31st of 1861 the Eastern Bay State Regiment was being recruited and trained at Camp Chase in Lowell Massachusetts.  Almost 5 years, 2 redesignations, and many battles later the regiment was finally mustered out of Federal service on July 5th 1866...making it the last volunteer regiment from a state to leave the Federal service.

Whether being referred to as the Eastern Bay State Regiment, the 30th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, or its final designation of the 30th Massachusetts Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the unit is not a well known regiment within the community of museums, historians, or even living historians.  To date it has had no major claims to fame like some of its predecessors (the 28th and 29th regiments both belonged to the Irish Brigade at one point in time or another), it has not had a movie made about it (like the 54th), and it did not have a colonel who went on to famous deeds that wrote constantly about the unit and engrained them into popular history (like the 20th Maine).  The regiment was composed of average Union men who no doubt joined the ranks for the same reasons as countless other federal soldiers did from 1861-65.