Beschreibung:

28 items. Francis Jewett Parker’s Civil War service began with the command of the emergency battalion of volunteers formed to garrison Fort Warren, in Boston harbor. This battalion formed the nucleus of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry. As the new regiment was four companies under-strength, Parker stayed behind in Boston to recruit more men, as the 32nd joined McClellan on his disastrous Peninsular Campaign. Promoted to Colonel, Parker rejoined the regiment with the four new companies in August of 1862. Upset over the removal of McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac, Parker resigned from the service on December 27, 1862, after the disaster at Fredericksburg. This archive consists of retained copies of war-date letters written by Parker, as well as original letters received. The collection begins with a letter to Massachusetts governor John Andrew, outlining Parker’s ideas for the proposed “Irish Regiment” to be raised in Boston, noting that he had been approached to command the unit. Governor Andrew sends an apologetic reply, stating that it was decided that the regiment would be officered only with men of Irish descent. This “Irish Regiment” would become the 28th Massachusetts, and join the famed Irish Brigade. Parker’s November 23, 1861 letter to Governor Andrew, as commander of Fort Warren, urges an urgent reinforcement of cannon for the fort. Confederate diplomats Mason and Slidell were being held prisoner at the fort after they were seized from a British vessel, and Parker feared an attack by the Royal Navy in retaliation. Several letters written to Parker in the summer of 1862 kept him apprised of the dreadful condition of the regiment in the field, due to typhoid fever and malaria. The major asks Parker if he can authorize a shipment of whiskey from Boston, so the men can be dosed with whiskey and quinine. Parker, who had rejoined the regiment, pens a scandalous letter to fellow officers on November 30, 1862. He predicts disaster in the upcoming offensive that would result in the battle of Fredericksburg. Saying that the army has lost its spirit since McClellan was sacked, he even goes so far as to urge his fellow officers to sell any government securities they hold before the campaign begins (a section that was later crossed out.) After Parker resigned his commission, he received several letters from his officers, keeping him up to date on news from the regiment, and comparing their new commander very unfavorably to him. The officers actually had a little table made for the officers’ mess as a monument to Parker, inscribed with sentiments dedicated to him. One letter, dated January 11, 1863, is from Lt. Henry Northey Hooper, disappointed in being passed over for promotion, but holding no ill will towards Parker. Hooper would go on to command the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry after the death of Robert Gould Shaw. The 54th was immortalized in the film Glory.