Life in Camp & Training

The majority of the Forbes Library Civil War Collection contains documents and records of the 37th MA regiment and 10th MA regiment during the Civil War. The 10th Massachusetts Regiment, which arose from the Tenth Regiment of the State Militia, which had begun drilling for months in anticipation of war, was made up almost entirely of Western Massachusetts men. They trained at Camp Brightwood, in the Washington D.C. area.

This Report of Target Practice by Company C was taken on the very day, Feb. 15th 1862, that some of the first members of the 10th MA were chosen to be sent to their very first active duty, upon hearing good news from the Battle of Roanoke Island. Shortly after midnight on the morning of Mar 10 1862, the regiment received orders that they were to march at daybreak and embarked on the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia.

On Sunday Sept 7, 1862 the newly formed 37th Massachusetts Regiment marched to the Pittsfield depot with crowds of well wishers cheering, where they rode to Hudson, NY and boarded the steamer Oregon. Some soldiers smuggled “considerable quantities of bad liquor aboard” but it was discovered shortly and dumped into the Hudson. The next day they landed at Jersey City wharf where they boarded trains first for Philadelphia, then for Baltimore where two serious train accidents occurred (at least one of them apparently due to sabotage), before heading onto Washington, then Camp Chase in Arlington Heights, where further drills, training and division reviews awaited them, before undertaking a long march through the Maryland mountains.

The Rest of the 37th MA Regiment’s wartime experiences took place primarily in the Virginia Theater, with the notable exceptions of dramatic appearances at Gettysburg and in New York City to quell the Draft Riots. Their timeline is an exhaustive list of notable battles of the Army of the Potomac fought including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Franklin’s Crossing, Marye’s Heights, Salem heights, Banks’ Ford, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, Brandy Station, The Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Winchester, Appomattox, Petersburg, Sailor’s Creek and finally, the 37th were present at Appomattox Court House for the surrender of Robert E. Lee.

Insert blurb on 37th training at Camp Edwards