In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

16 Lt. Col. William W. Bullock, Thirtieth Massachusetts Infantry Carte de visite by unidentified photographer, about 1862–1864 17 Political War The fates of the officers of the Thirtieth Massachusetts Infantry were at stake in a political war between Governor John Andrew18 and Benjamin Butler, the U.S. congressman turned general who recruited the regiment. Andrew questioned Butler’s authority to raise troops in the state, and battles were waged in the newspapers and the statehouse. When the dust settled in early 1862, the Thirtieth was mustered in without its officers. One soldier con- fided in his diary, “Governor Andrew has gained the day over General Butler and he is sending out officers to take the place of Butler’s appointments. It seems hard, after the old officers have recruited and drilled their men.”19 The same soldier wrote home, “It is astonishing to see the wire-pulling for commissions; nearly all who succeed do so through influence only, no matter whether they are dummies or not. . . . It causes hard feelings, I assure you.”20 The new lieutenant colonel was William Bullock of Cambridge. His resumé was impressive. A member of the Massachusetts militia since 1849, he had made brigadier general in 1858.21 His service in the Thirtieth did not live up to expectations, and he lasted only a year-and-a-half in the regiment. Speculation had it that Bullock left because of a personal conflict with a fellow Governor Andrew appointee,22 but his official resignation noted that he was departing “on account of age.”23 This explanation only served to fuel the rumors, as he was forty-three and in generally good health. Bullock returned to Massachusetts and found a job as a clerk in the Adjutant General’s Office in Boston. In 1868, he became a pensioner after complications from an infection contracted during the war impaired his sight—by 1874, his right eye was blind. His last appearance on the pension rolls was 1878, when he was sixty. ...

Share