|
The War of the Rebellion — The Great Civil War
President Lincoln, on July 4, 1862, called for three hundred thousand troops. Massachusetts created nine new three-year regiments (from the 33rd to the 41st regiments), contributing fifteen thousand troops to the war effort. The following month, on August 4th, the President issued a call for an additional three hundred thousand troops to serve nine month tours and to be raised by draft if necessary. Massachusetts responded by activating seventeen of its state militia regiments thus enabling the state to meet its quota of 19,090 troops. By war's end, in 1865, more than 300 Milton townsmen had served the Union cause and some 30 of "our fallen heroes" are memorialized in Teele's The History of Milton. The Letters of George Henry Moulton
We will be emailing the transcribed letters to interested members on the 150th anniversary of each letter. You will receive the letters as his family did, every two or three weeks. In these years of revisiting and commemorating the Civil War, you will not find a more personal, direct understanding of the era. When Henry's final letter from Savannah arrives, you will likely feel about his safe return much as he did: "such a joyous time that I feel like putting it off as long as I can." To receive the letters, simply email . On September 18, 2012, the anniversary of Henry's first letter as a soldier, your journey will begin. The transcribed letters are available only to Milton Historical Society members, so if you are not, please join! The Journal of Charles W. Cook
The transcript has been researched and footnoted and includes the military abstracts of the soldiers referenced in the journal with a short sketch of the Cook family. It is scheduled to be released here in September 2012 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam.
The program included music of the Civil War period performed by Emma Jean Moulton and ended with a ceremonial reading by Selectman John Michael Shields of the names of those from Milton who sacrificed their lives in the Civil War.
|
The first call to arms was received from Washington, by telegram, at the Massachusetts Governor's office on the 15th day of April 1861. It asked for 20 companies (fifteen hundred soldiers) to be sent forward at once. Many believed the 'Rebellion' would be short lived and the federal government would prevail, but by the summer of 1862 the Union's 'Army of the Potomac' had failed in its objective to capture Richmond.
George Henry Moulton kept his commitment to "serve out" his "Three Year Enlistment," and over the course of it wrote to his family sixty-two letters, donated by great-grand nephew Robert Schaefer. Moulton often mentions "the Milton boys" in his outfit, including Walter Bradlee, Johnnie Cross, Chas Hunt, Hiram Nye, Charlie Thayer and others. He inquires of girls back home and asks to be remembered to some and not others who "don't have the time to return my mail." His patriotism is constant but his youthful bravado tempers as he experiences the reality and horror of war. The one- to two-page letters are devoid of grandiose and gore, and comment on food, religion, politics, and the war. Mostly, though, they describe the personal experience of a young soldier, and we invite you to partake of that experience.
Charles W. Cook, a resident of Milton and a civil war soldier, kept a journal. The journal's whereabouts are currently unknown but a transcript or chronology of entries excerpted from the journal has existed from at least the early 1960s when a copy was given to me by my uncle, Charles Bent. Cook, my great-great grandfather, was a corporal assigned to Company E, 35th Regiment, Mass Volunteer Infantry. The 35th, one of the three year regiments, consisted of 1,013 officers and enlisted men making up ten companies. Company E drew its recruits from the towns of Milton, Randolph, Stoughton and Canton. The journal spans less than a month's time but gives a firsthand account of Cook's participation and observations at the battle of Antietam - the bloodiest single day in American history; culminating in more than 23,000 casualties.
On Thursday, November 10, 2011, at 7pm, at the Milton Council on Aging, 10 Walnut Street, we presented our first commemoration of Milton's participation in the Civil War, in honor of Veterans Day and all veterans. Our historian, Dennis M. (Mike) Doyle gave an interactive lecture on the experiences of Milton soldiers, interspersed with readings from letters and journal entries. As Mike recounted the paths of the Boston Cadets, the 35th, and the 38th Massachusetts Volunteers, each member of the audience was given the identity of one of the Milton soldiers in those groups, learning only at the end the fate of the soldier. For those who wish to learn more, the journal of Charles Cook of the 35th, and the letters of Henry Moulton of the 38th will be released by the society (see above). The Boston Cadets, before being sent out as line officers, served together at Fort Warren on Georges Island. The New York Times recently ran an article about