The uniform, equipment and bearskin cap worn by this militiaman closely resemble those worn by members of the 6th Massachusetts Infantry.
Established in 1855 in a reorganization of the state militia system to increase its efficiency, the 6th received national attention on April 19, 1861, when pro-secession rioters attacked it in the streets of Baltimore. Dozens of militiamen and citizens were killed and wounded as it passed through the city and made its way to Washington, D.C.—the first of the three federal wartime activations.
The author of a historical sketch, Chaplain John W. Hanson, wrote with pride of the regiment’s Civil War service: “First to offer its services; first to reach its State’s capital; first to reach the nation’s capital; first to inflict suffering on traitors; first to attest its sincerity with its blood,—was the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment of Volunteer Militia.”
Today’s 181st Infantry Regiment traces its lineage to the 6th.
Whether this unidentified volunteer served during the Civil War is unknown.
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