The 19th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service history
The 19th Massachusetts was organized at Camp Schouler in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, in April 1861. The 19th was largely composed of Essex County men. Its core began as three companies of the state militia's 1st Battalion Massachusetts Rifles from Essex County.
Initial training
The three militia Rifle companies were Company A from West Newbury, B from Newburyport, and C from Rowley. Seven other companies were recruited. D, E, and I were recruited in Boston. F and G were men from Middlesex, Cambridge and Lowell respectively. Company H was recruited in Roxbury. The final, tenth company, Company K, was formed from the Tiger Fire Zouaves of Boston.
Men in the regiment were initially issued uniforms from the stocks of the dark-green militia rifle coats that would be replaced by the standard U.S. blue frock or sack coats that were issued just before the Peninsula Campaign in the spring of 1862. These stocks were soon depleted so that most of the companies other than the first three and last were without uniforms. Up until August 1, the regiment was slowly building up. The Commonwealth issued the new recruits either Model 1841 Mississippi rifles that had been upgraded with sights, bayonets, and new bores from the existing stocks within the Essex and Middlesex armories or Model 1842 Springfield smoothbore muskets from armories in Boston and Middlesex.
The regiment followed the standard structure of the three-year volunteer regiments of ten companies of 83-101 men (which could be split into two battalions on an ad hoc basis) and a field staff of 36-66. The officers were divided into field staff who ran the regiment and battalions and the line or company officers who ran the companies.
On August 1, the 19th received its colonel, Edward W. Hincks, and as its lieutenant colonel, Arthur F. Devereux. Both men had prior militia and federal experience. Colonel Hinks, originally from Maine, had moved from Bangor to Boston as a printer in 1849. By 1855, he had been a state legislator and a Boston city councilor. He had affiliated and drilled in the Commonwealth's militia service with the 8th Massachusetts Militia Regiment as one of the regiment's field officers, and commanded the 8th Massachusetts during its three months' service from April to July 1861. Lieutenant Colonel Devereux had also mobilized with Hincks as commander of the regiment's Company J, which had historically been the Salem Light Infantry but Devereux had outfitted and trained as the Salem Zouaves. The same order that assigned Hincks as the colonel, also named the 19th as "the proper rendezvous for all members of the Eighth Regiment desirous of again enlisting in the service of the country."
Hincks and Devereux were both experienced militia officers who had already seen service when the 8th Massachusetts had been mobilized for 90-days service in April 1861. The 8th had earned a good reputation for discipline, drill , and ability. Deverux's company of Salem Zouaves had a reputation as one of the best drilled companies in the Commonwealth. The 8th had mustered out on July 29 and Hincks, Devereux, and the Salem Zouaves re-enlisted upon their return and immediately reported to the training camp in Lynnfield. The injection of Devereux and his Zouaves into the regiment led many to realize their prior training had been inadequate. Hincks and Devereux remedied the situation by assigning a Salem Zouave to each company as the drill sergeant. The non-commissioned officers (NCOs) from this company also were commissioned and assigned to each company. By the end of their time in Lynnfield, every company in the regiment had officers and NCOs who had served 90-day service in the 8th Massachusetts Militia's Salem Zouaves.
In the camp, the regiment turned in most of their Windsor, Vermont produced Model 1841s and received the Model 1856 Enfield Rifle. Also known as "the 2-band Enfield" and "Sergeants' Rifle," it was the rifle thst the British army issued ti its rifle regiments and to sergeants in its line battalions. A handful of the Model 1841s that were in excellent condition and had been modified to .58 caliber and with rear sights and bayonets were retained, but most of the men received the new rifles and were impressed with them.