Veterans of the 'Minutemen of 1861', those among the first to answer President Abraham Lincoln's call to arms on April 15, 1861, in a group photograph on the 36th anniversary on April 15, 1897
English: Identifier: historycompleter00naso (find matches) Title: History and complete roster of the Massachusetts regiments, minute men of '61 who responded to the first call of President Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1861, to defend the flag and Constitution of the United States ... and biographical sketches of minute men of Massachuetts Year: 1910 (1910s) Authors: Nason, George W. (George Warren), 1834-1913 Subjects: United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Regimental histories Massachusetts Massachusetts -- Militia Massachusetts -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Publisher: Boston, Mass., Smith & McCance Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ntry, eight hundred and twenty-nine men; commanded In- Colonel vSamuelC. Lawrence. vSixth Regiment Massachusetts Volun-teer Infantry, seven hundred and forty-seven men; conmianded .by ColonelEdward F. Jones. Eighth Regiment Infantry, seven hun-dred and eleven men; commanded byTimothy Munroe, afterwards by the lateColonel Edward W. Hincks. This made a total of thirty-eight hun-dred and five men. Some of our friendshave had an idea that these Minute Menwere only three months in the service ofour country, but at their first camp-fire inFaneuil Hall, Boston, 1887, it was shownthat of the eight hundred and fiftv-threeMinute Men present, ALI. BUT SIXTEEN AGAIN VOLUNTEERED in defense of our flag and country; fourhundred and eighty-six, or over half, hav-ing had experience at the front, weremade officers in new regiments and bat-teries. \\ith this ratio it would appearthat over two thousand of these MinuteMen were made officers and did much forthe discipline and instruction of new regi-ments. Text Appearing After Image: Minute Men of 61 331 THE VANGUARD VOLUNTEERS To measure the full effect and import-ance of the rally of the Minute Men iswell-nigh impossible. Let me try to out-line my estimate of this vangaiard move-ment of the patriots of the North, at theopening of the Civil War. The first call revealed, as in a flash ofclear light, the reserve of patriotism andthe supply of loyalty that is on hand inour Republic. Equipments of all kindswere lacking, but not lacking were cour-age and devotion to country. It did notneed to be manufactured, to be created byartificial means. The citizens of a freeland, such as ours, do a great deal ofthinking; they have convictions, and thecourage of them. When the crisis broke,and the challenge came, our response wasprompt, because we had thought over theissues and the duty long before the firingof Sumters gun of rebellion. The Northwas not ready in military and navalresources, but • the decision, back of gunand sword, was in full existence. Thatspirit was a resol Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.