1, The Roxbury Artillery or City Guard.
2, The Boston Light Infantry.
3, The Taunton Light Guard.
4, The New Bedford City Guards.
5, The Standish Guards of Plymouth.
6, The Massachusetts Guards of Cambridge.
7, The Pierce Light Guard of Boston.
8, The West Roxbury Rifles.
9, The Taunton City Guard.
10, The Cunningham Rifles of Brockton.
11, The Maverick Rifles of East Boston.
12, The Fall River Rifles.
The Fusiliers and the Chelsea Rifle-Veterans were temporarily detached
from the regiment, and the Claflin Guards were gone, never to return so
far as we now know.
The 1st and 8th Companies were directly from the 1st Regiment. The 2d,
6th, 7th and 11th Companies came from the 4th Battalion; the 3d Company
came originally from the 4th Regiment and immediately from the 3d; the
4th, 5th and 9th Companies were from the 3d Regiment; the 10th was
originally from the 3d and immediately from the 1st. A new 12th Company
was organized on Dec. 12, 1878, with Capt. Sierra L. Braley in command.
The new company speedily forged to the head in efficiency and has always
been one of the three or four leaders in the entire regiment.
Boston celebrated the 250th anniversary of its settlement on Sept. 17,
1880, and along with other features included a magnificent military
display. Everyone conceded that, while other bodies presented a fine
appearance, the feature of the parade was the twelve-company 1st
Regiment. That day, for the last time, the companies wore their original
uniforms--old 1st Regiment, gray with towering bearskin shakos; 4th
Battalion, a semi-Zouave costume with low shakos, double breasted blue
coats, light blue bloused knickerbockers, and high leather leggins; and
the 3d Regiment, low shakos, short blue coats, single-breasted but with
three rows of buttons, and blue trousers. The regiment was received
enthusiastically by the people of Boston and the day was one long to be
remembered.
But changes were projected in the interests of efficiency, and first of
all, in that very year, 1880, it was decided to adopt the 4th Battalion
uniform for the entire twelve companies. So satisfactory did this prove
that the Commonwealth utilized the same costume as a state uniform, and
issued it to all the organizations of Massachusetts in 1884. Imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery; but it can scarcely be said that the
1st relished sharing their distinctive uniform with all the
militia,--they felt that they had paid dearly for this flattery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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