Composite Collection of 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & The Baltimore Riots of April 19th, 1861 – The First Blood of the Civil War!

Composite Collection of 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry & The Baltimore Riots of April 19th, 1861 – The First Blood of the Civil War!.

Four men from the 6th Massachusetts Volunteers were the first to die in the American Civil War. Most people will think there were Union casualties at the Southern bombardment upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC harbor.  A bit closer, but still not correct is Colonel Elmer Ellsworth taking a shotgun blast to the chest while descending the stairs at the Marshall House in Alexandra, Va, carrying in his arms the First National Confederate flag that had been raised there.

One the morning of April 19, 1861, while changing train cars at Baltimore, Maryland, the last four companies of the 6th Mass, were attacked by a large mob of Southern sympathizers trying to prevent their passing through the city. The companies were under the command of Captain Albert S. Follansbee (Col. Edward F. Jones was with the companies that had already reached the train station on the other side of the city), with companies C, D, I, & L. Dozens  of soldiers were wounded, and over a dozen of the rioters were killed. Having braved that fight through the city, the regiment arrived at the Capital at Washington, D.C., being the first volunteer regiment to do so, complying with President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops to defend the capital.

This is a long and in depth story, and not for this time.  I will say however that the date of April 19th, is the most apropos connection to these 6th Massachusetts soldiers, who very ancestors answered the Alarm of April 19, 1775, and fought the British Regulars at Lexington and Concord, Mass, the first day of our glorious American Revolution. Again, Massachusetts men were the first to bleed in the righteous cause for freedom and for Country.

This important collection provides a great look of that day in 1861, and should for some the impetus to what to build upon. Included are the following:

• A CDV album containing 19 photographs of men who went through Baltimore, 1 of the Lowell, Mass. monument for privates Ladd & Whitney and 1 for Governor Hicks of Maryland.  In order as placed; Col. Edward F. Jones, Id’d on image (not mounted); Captain Albert S. Follansbee, signed “Respectfully Yours A.S. Follensbee” by Clarkson, Salisbury, Mass; Joseph Austin Bacon, pencil inscription on reverse by later family member and photo by Ross, Groton Junction, Ma.;   Melvin Beal, signed, “Yours Truly Melvin Beal Lt.Col. 6 Regt Mass Vols, Lawrence (Ma.), photo by Hall, Lawrence (trimmed at bottom):   Samuel G. Blood, by Warren, Lowell:   George V. Barrett, by Whipple, Boston;    Edward Canby, signed,” Yours Lieut E. Canby”;   Eben H. Ellenwood, signed,”Lieut E,H, Ellenwood Co I  6th Regt, Suffolk, Va. with regards;    John Hadley, by Sanborn & Co, Lowell (trimmed at bottom);    Alfred J. Hall, by Sanborn & Co, Lowell (trimmed and some small loss of image at left top);   James W. Hart, by Sanborn & Co;   Augustine L. Hamilton, by Hall, Lawrence, Mass, (trimmed at bottom);   Thomas Brent Johnson;    Samuel Otis Le Forest, by Miller, Boston (lightly trimmed);   Hiram D. Muzzy, signed, (front bottom of mount) Lieut H.C. Muzzy, by Warren, Lowell:   Samuel C. Pinney, by Mitchell’s Gallery, Lowell;   Charles E, Poor, Truly Yours C.E. Poor   1st Lieut Co H, 6″ Mass., by A.J. Simpson, Lowell (trimmed);   Sgt Major Nathaniel K. Reed, by Warren, Lowell;   James A. Troy, signed, (lower mount front) “Jas. A. Troy, Capt,” by Wilson’s Savannah, Georgia (trimmed);  Gov. Hicks, by Brady, New York.  The cdvs in this album are from two sources, some from the Gil Barrett Collection, and another album which came out of Wisconsin, containing several 6th Mass soldiers, and other Lowell citizens. Included with this combined lot, are a hand-full of civilian images of men who are of military age and could be 6th Mass soldiers as well.
• 4 stereoviews from Lowell, Mass;  2 with green colored mounts are similar views of Ladd and Whitney’s monument taken in the 70s, the top one photographed by Towle, Lowell.  The next 2 show the 6th Mass Regiment in full dress at Lowell, but which 6th Mass? 3months, 100 days, or the last – 9 months.  Follansbee commanded the last two. The last one with yellow mount shows a further off view of the dedication of the monument.  All VG.
• 6 patriotic covers beginning upper left and going counter-clockwise;  Image of Luther Ladd: Washington via Baltimore; The way to go through Baltimore -armed and provisioned for a siege; Mass seal, April 19, 1861; Washington via Baltimore with Zouave; The game cock of the Baltimore Rioters wishes for a taste of the poisonous Palmetto fruit, upon which Charleston is feasting. All are in fine unused condition.
• Print entitled “Massachusetts Militia Passing Through Baltimore,” depicting the riot. Printed in 1862; and a map plate of Baltimore, entitled “Diary of Events” printed Woolworth Colton, NY courtesy of the N.Y. Tribune.  Made in the period.
• Book, Baltimore And The 19th of April, 1861, by George William Brown, Baltimore 1887. Hard cover, 176 pages with one map plate.  VG.
• Book, Massachusetts Minute Men of ’61, by George W. Nason, Boston, 1910.  Hard cover, 416 pages with Index, well illustrated. VG.
• Massachusetts Minuteman (First Call) Medal, dark bronze, issued to Moses J. Emory, enlisted in the 3 month regiment under Col. Jones, and went through Baltimore with Co. k. He re-enlisted in Dec of 1861 into the 28th Mass as a commissioned officer with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He was wounded at the 1st Bull Run battle.
• A large, heavy section of granite from Pratt street, the kind pried up and thrown at the Mass soldiers. This came from a friend who was able to get through a contact of his working for the Baltimore DPW many years ago when doing some work on Pratt street. The paint on the granite was done by my friend.  Guaranteed original Pre-Civil War Pratt Street granite!

A great deal of this collection rests with the images, and the Granite block I have sold two for $400.00. An historic group of material relating to the first bloody day of the Civil War.