Col. Robert I. Burbank, formerly of the 3d Battalion, was the last commander of the old 1st Regiment, serving from March 25, 1856, until March 2, 1859. The regiment had several strong companies and might have been the leading military body in Boston; but it suffered from an excess of company loyalty and an utter absence of regimental spirit. Moreover there was a tendency to elect men of political prominence to the chief command, with slight regard for their military talents. Colonels were changed too frequently. The 2d Regiment under Cols. Bullock and Cowdin presented a striking contrast to the 1st in these particulars. The military authorities, since they recognized the inevitable tendency of the times, disbanded the 1st Regiment, and transferred four of the seven companies to the 2d, on March 1, 1859. The companies to enter the 2d Regiment were: C, the Pulaski Guards; D, the Washington Light Guard; F, the Fusiliers; and H, the Mechanic Rifles; these became the 4th, 2d, 3d, and 5th Companies in Col. Cowdin’s regiment. The three companies remaining of the old 1st--the Tigers, the New England Guards, and the City Guards--were reorganized as the 2d Battalion of Infantry, under command of Maj. Charles O. Rogers, former captain of the Tigers. The latter command were highly prosperous at this time; in 1858 we find them giving the first grand ball ever held in the Music Hall, and a year later enlarging the scope of their social activities by moving the function into the Boston Theater, the first such event ever held in that celebrated amusement center. Sentiment assumed striking forms in the military life of Boston during the years preceding the Civil War. Two visiting military bodies, the New York 7th in 1857 and the Ellsworth Zouaves from Chicago in July, 1860, presented such examples of military efficiency that a desire grew up--was encouraged by the Adjutant General--for the formation of a “crack” regiment in Boston. At the same time, the designation, “4th Battalion,” came to be coveted and sought after. The reason for the latter sentiment is obscure; there never had been a 4th Battalion in Boston, never any of prominence in Massachusetts. But the old sub-legion of Lt. Infantry in the 3d Brigade, standing as it did beside three infantry sub-legions, and brilliantly outclassing them, had been a “4th battalion” of which all Boston was proud. From 1859 on, many organizations were attempting to secure the designation, “4th Battalion.” The 2d Battalion, organized March 1, 1859, under Maj. Rogers, included three strong companies, and might have been the nucleus of the desired “crack” organization; however the units did not cohere, and the battalion speedily flew to pieces. Maj. Harrison Ritchie of the New England Gds. became commander July 21, 1860.