Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania, Samuel P. Bates, 1876 - Part 1, Chapter 17, 362- 384 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com and transcribed by Judy Banja, Judith Bookwalter, Cyndie Enfinger, Linda Horn, Margaret Long, Patricia Martz, Barbara Milhalcik, Leah Waring and Marjorie B. Winter Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ________________________________________________ MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA by SAMUEL P. BATES. PHILADELPHIA: T. H. DAVIS & CO., 1876. MILITARY DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 362 PART I. GENERAL HISTORY. CHAPTER XVII. THE MILITIA - CAPTURE OF MORGAN - BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - FINAL TRIUMPH - DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT. Owing to the suddenness with which the battle of Gettysburg was precipitated and won, the militia which had been called out for this emergency did not come to mortal conflict except in Cumberland valley, and after the battle, in advancing upon his flanks as he retired to the Potomac. General (Baldy) Smith, who had the active command in the valley, when he found the enemy retiring before him for the purpose of participating in the great battle, moved forward with his column cautiously, and when General Meade came up with the foe at Williamsport, which was expected there to take place. But the Enemy having made good his escape across the river, the services of the militia were no longer needed. The Thirty-sixth and Fifty-first regiments were sent to Gettysburg, where Colonel H. C. Alleman, the commander of the Thirty-sixth, was Military Governor of the district embracing the battle ground and all the territory contiguous in any way pertaining to the battle. He was charged with gathering in the wounded and stragglers from both armies, in collecting the debris of the field, and in sending away the wounded as fast as their condition would permit. The following trophies are reported to have been gathered and turned over to the agent of the War Department deputed to receive them, or were shipped directly to the National Arsenal at Washington: 26,664 muskets, 9250 THE MILITIA - CAPTURE OF MORGAN - 363 bayonets, 1500 cartridge-boxes, 204 sabres, 14,000 rounds of small arm ammunition, 26 artillery wheels, 702 blankets, 40 wagon loads of clothing, 60 bridles, 5 wagons, 510 horses and mules, and 6 wagon loads of knapsacks and haversacks. From the various camps and hospitals on the field and in the surrounding country, were sent away to hospitals in northern cities, 12,061 Union soldiers, 6197 wounded rebels, 3006 rebel prisoners, and 1637 stragglers. The Forty-seventh, Colonel Wickersham, was sent to the mining regions of Schuylkill county, where trouble was threatened; but through the resolute front, and timely precautions of the Colonel commanding, no collision occurred. The Thirty-eighth, Colonel Horn, the Forty-ninth, Colonel Murphy, and the Fifty- third, Colonel Royer, were sent into the north central portions of the state, to enforce authority where disturbance was apprehended. The Forty-sixth, Colonel John J. Lawrence, the Fifty-ninth, Colonel McLean, and the Thirty-fourth, Colonel Albright, were sent to Philadelphia. Rioting and wild disorder was at the moment prevailing among the turbulent classes in New York city, and seemed ready at any moment to break forth here in lawless acts. By the prudence of these officers the excitement was allayed, and bloodshed averted. John Morgan, a daring rebel cavalry leader, that he might make a diversion in favor of Lee, who was moving on Gettysburg, set out from Sparta, Tennessee, on the 26th of June, the day after that on which the last of Lee's forces crossed the Potomac, with two thousand men and four guns, for a raid through the border free states. Recruits joined him on the way through Kentucky until his numbers were doubled, and his guns increased to ten. He crossed the Ohio river at Brandenburg, forty miles below Louisville, on the 7th of July, and struck out boldly through the country, burning mills, destroying railroads and telegraph lines, and levying contributions of money and horses. Trees were felled to impede his course, and the militia sprang up on all sides to harass, but not in sufficient force to corner him. He was followed by Union cavalry under Generals Hobson and Shackleford, and gunboats upon the Ohio patrolled the river. Having passed through Salem, Versailles, Sardinia, Piketon, and Jackson MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 364 without encountering any considerable opposition, he approached the Ohio river at Pomeroy on the 19th and commenced crossing, intending to make good his escape, when suddenly the gunboats hove in sight, and a force of infantry appeared upon his rear. Without awaiting a contest he betook himself to flight, leaving his guns, wagons, and about six hundred of his men to be captured, and made the best of his way to Belleville, where, on the following day, he again commenced to cross; but the gunboats again cut short the passage. Shackleford and Hobson, coming up in his rear, he was driven to an inaccessible bluff, where the major part of his command, after a brief parley, was compelled to surrender. The terms of the surrender were supposed to embrace all, but Morgan with considerable body of his men stole away, and made for a point upon the river further up. As soon as it became evident that he was heading towards Pennsylvania, and seemed likely to reach it, General Brooks, in command of the Department of the Monongahela, sent a portion of his forces by rail from Pittsburg, to guard the upper fords of the Ohio. The fifty-fifth Pennsylvania militia, Colonel R. B. McComb, was sent on the 11th to Parkersburg, and in company with troops under General Wallace, was posted in the vicinity, a part of the Fifty-fifth occupying the lower portion of Blennerhassett island. On Friday the 24th, General Brooks moved his headquarters temporarily to Wellsville, and ordered three regiments, the Fifty-fourth, Colonel Thomas F. Gallagher, the Fifty-seventh, Colonel James R. Porter, and the Fifty-eighth, Colonel George H. Bemus, to move down, and take position at the different fords along the river, between Steubenville and Wheeling. The Fifty-Seventh arrived first, and halted at Portland Station to cover the Warrenton ford, Colonel Porter, with the right wing occupying strong ground on the Hill road, and the left wing under Major Reid, on the valley road. The Fifty-eighth arrived next, and in conjunction with a section of artillery, and two companies of Kentucky cavalry, occupied LeGrange opposite Wellsville. The Fifty-fourth came last, and was ordered first to Mingo Station, and afterwards to the ford at Rush Run, midway between the positions of the other two regiments. On Friday night, the 24th, Morgan was near Mount THE MILITIA - CAPTURE OF MORGAN - 365 Pleasant, heading for Warrenton ford, where he would have crossed but for the timely arrival of Colonel Porter. On Saturday morning, being pressed in the rear, he again attempted to break through at Warrenton; but finding his way blocked, he turned northward towards Smithfield, feeling successively the positions of Gallagher and Bemus. Seeing that escape by these routes was equally hopeless, he again struck out and made for Richmond, passing by Steubenville. At Wintersville, on Saturday afternoon, he encountered the Steubenville militia, and at night bivouacked between Richmond and Springfield, his scouts reconnoitring the fords above. To checkmate this last move, Porter's command was moved up to Island Creed, while Gallagher and Bemus were posted at fords higher up, to intercept him, if he should strike for Shanghai, Yellow Creek, or points further on. Learning by his scouts that all the avenues of escape were strongly held, he did not await the coming of the morning, but moved in the darkness in the direction of Salineville, where he was early attacked by Major Way, of the Michigan cavalry, and lost some three hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Colonel Gallagher had reached Salineville by the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad, and had formed line of battle near the village; but after the charge of Major Way, the enemy drew off in the opposite direction, and turned again northward, as if to strike Smith's Ferry, or Beaver. Again were the Pennsylvania regiments moved up, and preparations made to meet this new disposition, when tidings were received that General Shackleford had captured Morgan, and what was left of his band. The prisoners were at once placed in charge of the Fifty- eighth, and were held until turned over to the authorities of the Department, by whom they were incarcerated in the Ohio Penitentiary in retaliation for alleged irregular treatment of Colonel Straight by the rebel government. As soon as the chase for Morgan was over, the Pennsylvania regiments returned to camp, near Pittsburg. With the close of this raid ended the rebel invasion of the North of 1863. Further service for which the militia had been called was no longer required, and during the months of August and September, the majority of the men were mustered out. In the department of the Monongahela, there were five regiments MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 366 and a company of artillery, and one of cavalry, an aggregate of 3750. In the department of the Susquehanna were thirty-one regiments of infantry, besides a number of independent companies of infantry and artillery, aggregating 28,354. There were, in addition, 4486 troops recruited in this period in these departments for six months' service. The sum total called forth by the invasion in addition to the regular contributions to the United States service, was 36,574. With few exceptions, they did not engage the enemy. But they, nevertheless, rendered most important service. They came forward at a moment when there was pressing need. Their presence gave great moral support to the Union Army, and had that army been defeated at Gettysburg, they would have taken the places of the fallen, and would have fought with a valor and desperation worthy of veterans. Called suddenly to the field from the walks of private life, without a moment's opportunity for drill or discipline, they grasped their muskets, and by their prompt obedience to every order, showed their willingness - all unprepared as they were - to face the enemy before whom veterans had often quailed. The bloodless campaigns of the militia may be a subject for playful satire; but in the strong arms and sturdy hearts of the yeomanry of the land, who spring to arms at the moment of danger, and when that danger has passed cheerfully lay them down again, rests a sure guaranty for the peace and security of the country. The year 1863 closed hopefully for the Union. The capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson in mid-summer had opened the Mississippi river, and had saved the Union Army there from destruction, to which it was threatened, and rendered that important position secure. Longstreet, who had besieged Burnside at Knoxville, was foiled in his purposes and driven away with considerable loss. And the gaining of the Battle of Gettysburg by the Army of the Potomac had relieved the border territory at the east, and had so broken the power and esprit of the Army of Northern Virginia, as to greatly modify the dread which it had inspired. But the rebel authority was everywhere defiant; and while the armies were in winter quarters, vigorous efforts were put forth to BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 367 fill their depleted ranks, and be prepared to enter upon the spring campaign with renewed power. So thoroughly was the country searched and the men gathered up that General Grant afterwards very significantly observed: "The little boys and old men are guarding prisoners, guarding railroad bridges, and forming a good part of their garrisons in intrenched positions. A man lost by them cannot be replaced. They have robbed the cradle and the grave equally to get their present force." In the Union Army, a large portion of the Pennsylvania troops, recruited for three years, would in a few months be entitled to discharge. Opportunities were given them to re-enlist for an additional term, and thus become veteran regiments. On this condition a liberal furlough was offered, and the privilege afforded to fill up their depleted ranks with new recruits. Large numbers embraced this proposition, and the winter of 1863-64 was made memorable by the return of veteran soldiers, and activity in recruiting fresh levies. The spring campaign of 1864 opened early in May on the part of the Army of the Potomac, General Grant, who had been made Lieutenant General and placed in command of all the armies of the United States, accompanying it, and having the general direction of its operations. The Battle of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg followed in rapid succession and with terrible destruction of life. In the meantime General Sigel had been left in command of the Department of West Virginia, and by his order, simultaneously with the movement of Grant into the Wilderness and Sherman towards Atlanta, General Crook moved from Kanawha for the destruction of the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, and General Averell, with another column, pushed out from Beverly to cooperate with Crook. Sigel was defeated and retired to Cedar Creek. He was soon after relieved, and General Hunter succeeded him, who, having repaired losses and stripped to light marching order, again commenced an advance up the valley. At Piedmont a battle was fought in which Hunter gained a handsome victory, and the rebel commander, William E. Jones, was MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 368 killed. Hunter pushed forward to form junction with Crook and Averell, who had been ordered up, fought at Quaker Church, and moved upon Lynchburg, an important depot of supply to the rebel army, repulsing the enemy on the 18th of June in their attack upon him. From prisoners taken Hunter discovered that he was fighting veteran troops of Lee's army, and that Early had been detached with an entire corps, which was hourly arriving by rail. Hunter found that he was in a perilous situation, two hundred and fifty miles from his base, with ammunition running low, and greatly outnumbered. He, accordingly, determined to retire by the Kanawha Valley, and thence back by the Ohio river and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Martinsburg. This left the Shenandoah Valley open to the enemy, and he was not slow to take advantage of his opportunity. Early advanced into Maryland at the beginning of July, was checked for a while at the Monocacy by General Lew Wallace, but soon forced his way to the outer defences of the city of Washington. By this time troops from the Army of the Potomac arrived - the Sixth corps under General Wright, and the Nineteenth under General Gilmore - and Early was driven back into the valley. The approach of the enemy to the border created much solicitude among the inhabitants of Maryland and Pennsylvania, who had felt the weight of the invaders' blows in the previous years. Upon intelligence of the enemy's advance being received, the formers again sent away their stock, and the merchants in the towns and villages their merchandize and valuables. General Couch was still at the head of the Department of the Susquehanna, and when it was discovered that Hunter had been driven, and that Early with a large army was moving down for the annual invasion, a call was made for volunteers from Pennsylvania to serve for the period one hundred days in the States of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and at Washington and its vicinity. Under this call six regiments and a battalion of six companies were raised. Recognizing the great danger to which the border was exposed from daring rebel raiders, Governor Curtin, and Governor Bradford of Maryland united in a request to the General Government that the forces raised for this emergency BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 369 should be retained within the limits of these states; but this was refused. General Couch also made a request that the General Government should simply furnish uniforms to citizen soldiers to be raised in the six border counties most exposed, who should hold themselves as minute men ready to fly to arms the moment a rebel force was found approaching. This also was refused. The regiments of one hundred days men as fast as they were got ready for the field were called away, the last regiment leaving the state on the 29th of July. On the very evening of this day, the rebel Generals McCausland and Johnson, with some three thousand mounted men with six guns, crossed the Potomac at Clear Spring and moved at once to Mercersburg, seizing and cutting the telegraph wires before any messages could be sent. The place was picketed by forty-five men under Lieutenant McLean, who gallantly checked the advance, as he withdrew, keeping his face to the foe. Another rebel column under Vaughn and Jackson, consisting of three thousand more mounted men, crossed at Williamsport, and advanced to and beyond Hagerstown, and a third crossed at Shepherdstown and marched to Leitersburg. General Averell with the remnants of his command, consisting of less than 2500 effective troops, worn out with the hard service in the Hunter campaign, was in the neighborhood of Hagerstown, and finding himself overmatched and hemmed in on three sides, withdrew towards Greencastle, and thence by Mount Hope, fearing a combined attack. Lieutenant McLean, at the instant he was apprised of the presence of the enemy, and found that the telegraph wires were broken, sent a messenger to warn General Couch, who was at Chambersburg. This officer, though a Major General, and in command of a department, was without troops, and the most he could do was to gather all the Government stores and move them away by rail, and give notice to the citizens to prepare themselves for the advent of the foe. Lieutenant McLean, who kept a bold front, was driven as far as the western turnpike at St. Thomas by one o'clock a.m., of Saturday the 30th, and at three a.m. had reached the western toll-gate leading into the town of Chambersburg. As the stores were not yet all ready for shipment, Major Maneely of Couch's staff determined to hold the enemy in check until all MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 370 could be got away, boldly pushed out with one gun, aided by a squad of men, and planting it on a hill a short distance west of the fair ground, opened fire, killing one and wounding five by his first discharge. As it was too dark to discover just what force was opposing them, the enemy halted until daylight. By that time the trains had all been moved, and, being well mounted, Maneely and McLean with the handful of men were able to withdraw without loss. The enemy employed his time, while thus checked, in planting his batteries in commanding positions, and in bringing up his entire column. At six a.m. he opened with his batteries upon the town; but after firing a few shots, which fortunately did no damage, and discovering that there was no force opposing him, he ordered an advance. Suddenly his skirmishers entered by every street and alley leading from the south and southwest, and finding the way clear, four hundred and fifty of the cavalry came dashing in. McCausland was in command, accompanied by General Bradley Johnson and Harry Gilmore. While the leaders were making terms with citizens whom they met for the ransom of the town, the soldiers were busy in plundering. "Hats, caps, boots, watches and silver-ware, and everything of value were appropriated without ceremony from citizens on the streets, and when a man was met whose appearance indicated a plethoric purse, a pistol was presented to his head, with the order to 'deliver,' with a dexterity that would have done credit to the freebooting accomplishments of an Italian brigand." Not finding any representative persons to furnish the money demanded to save the place, McCausland ordered the Court House bell rung to draw the people together. But few persons, however, came. Captain Fitzhugh, an officer of McCausland's staff, produced an order, which he read to those present, signed by General Jubal Early, directing the command to proceed to Chambersburg and demand $100,000 in gold, or in lieu thereof $500,000 in Northern currency, and if the demand was not complied with, to burn the town in retaliation for six houses alleged to have been destroyed, or in some way injured by Hunter in his campaign in the upper part of the valley, - a town of 6000 inhabitants, with all its dwellings and public edifices, set BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 371 against six buildings of some sort, far up the Shenandoah Valley. But no attention was paid to the threat. Infuriated by the indifference of the citizens, Gilmore rode up to a group, consisting of Thomas B. Kennedy, William McLellan, J. McDowell Sharpe, Dr. J. C. Richards, William H. McDowell, W. S. Everett, Edward G. Etter, and M. A. Foltz, and ordered them under arrest. Hoping to gain by intimidation what he had failed to obtain voluntarily, they were told that they would be held for the payment of the sum demanded, and in default they would be driven captives to Richmond, and the town destroyed. While he was thus employed the torch was applied, and the fell work of destruction was begun, the hostages being released when it was found that threats would have no effect. Scarcely ten minutes from the time the first building was fired, the whole business and most thickly peopled part of the town was in flames. No notice was given to the inhabitants of the intention to burn, and no time was allowed for the removal of women and children, but like fiends let loose form the nether world, they went straight to their work. Burning parties were sent into each quarter of the town, and having apportioned the streets, the work was made thorough and quick. Every house, or, at most every other house, was fired. Entering by beating down the door, if found closed, they would break up the furniture, and pouring oil upon it, apply the torch. No conception can be formed of the horrors of the scene. The following graphic account, published in the Rebellion Record, is understood to be from the pen of Mr. McClure, previously quoted: "They almost invariably entered every room of each house, rifled the drawers of every bureau, appropriated money, jewelry, watches, and any other valuables, and often would present pistols to the heads of inmates, men and women, and demand money or their lives. In nearly half the instances, they demand owners to ransom their property, and in a few cases it was done and the property burned. Although we have learned of a number of persons, mostly widows, who paid them sums from twenty-five to two hundred dollars, we know of but one case where the property was saved thereby. The main object of the men seemed to be plunder. Not a house escaped rifling - all were plundered of everything MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 372 that could be carried away. In most cases houses were entered in the rudest manner, and no time whatever allowed for the families to escape, much less to save anything. Many families had the utmost difficulty to get themselves and children out in time, and not one half had so much as a change of clothing with them. They would rush from story to story to rob, and always fire the building at once, in order to keep the family from detecting their robberies. Feeble and helpless women and children were treated like brutes - told insolently to get out or burn; and even the sick were not spared. Several invalids had to be carried out as the red flames threatened their couches. Thus the work of desolation continued for two hours; more than half of the town on fire at once; and the wild glare of the flames, the shrieks of women and children, and often louder than all, the terrible blasphemy of the rebels, conspired to present such a scene of horror as has never been witnessed by the present generation. No one was spared save by accident. The widow and the fatherless cried and plead in vain that they would be homeless and helpless. A rude oath would close all hope of mercy, and they; would fly to save their lives. The old and infirm who tottered before them were thrust aside, and the torch applied in their presence to hasten their departure. So thoroughly were all of them masters of the trade of desolation, that there is scarcely a house standing in Chambersburg to-day that they attempted to burn, although their stay did not exceed two hours. In that brief period, the major portion of Chambersburg - its chief wealth and business - its capital and elegance, were devoured by a barbarous foe; three millions of property sacrificed; three thousand human beings homeless and many penniless, and all without so much as a pretence that the citizens of the doomed village, or any of them, had violated any accepted rule of civilized warfare. Such is the deliberate, voluntary record made by General Early, a corps commander in the insurgent army. The Government may not take summary vengeance, although it has abundant power to do so; but there is One whose voice is most terrible in wrath, who has declared, 'Vengeance is mine, - I will repay!'" The Rev. Dr. Schneck, who was an eyewitness and a sufferer, BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 373 in addition to his own vivid description of the scene, has given, in a little volume devoted to this subject, the testimony of several citizens who saw all. "As to the result, "says the Rev. Joseph Clark, "I may say that the entire heart or body of the town is burned. Not a house or building of any kind is left on a space of about an average of two squares of streets, extending each way from the centre, with some four or five exceptions where the buildings were isolated. Only the outskirts are left. The Court House, Bank, Town Hall, German Reformed Printing Establishment, every store and hotel in the town, and every mill and factory in the space indicated, and two churches were burned. Between three and four hundred dwellings were burned, leaving at least 2500 persons without a home or hearth. In value three-fourths of the town was destroyed. The scene of desolation must be seen to be appreciated. Crumbling walls, stacks of chimneys, and smoking embers, are all that remain of once elegant and happy homes. As to the scene itself, it beggars description. My own residence being in the outskirts, and feeling it the call of duty to be with my family, I could only look on from without. The day was sultry and calm, not a breath stirring, and each column of smoke rose black, straight ,and single; first one, then another, and another, and another, until the columns blended and commingled, and then one lurid column of smoke and flame rose perpendicularly to the sky, and spread out into a vast crown like a cloud of sackcloth hanging over the doomed city; whilst the roar and surging, the crackling and crash of falling timbers and walls, broke upon the still air with a fearful dissonance; and the screams and sounds of agony of burning animals made the welkin horrid with echoes of woe. It was a scene to be witnessed and heard but once in a lifetime." Mr. McClure owned a beautiful residence about a mile from the town, called Norland. Passing over all the houses on the way this was singled out for destruction, and Captain Smith, son of the Governor of Virginia, was sent to apply the torch. Mrs. McClure had for several days been confined to her bed by severe illness. But her weak and infirm condition could not avail to save the home from destruction. This lady had shown great kindness to sick and wounded soldiers of both armies, care MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 374 which had been acknowledged since their departure in the most grateful manner; but even this service, the evidence of which was exhibited in the missives which had just been received, had no weight, and the mansion and well-stored barns were converted to a mass of ruins. "The Streets," says Mr. John K. Shryock, "were filled with smoke and flame, and almost impassable. After we had reached a temporary shelter, my wife returned to the scene of destruction, as a bird to its nest, and on her way was stopped before a burning house in which a corpse was lying and a little child at the point of death. The dead woman was gotten out with difficulty and buried in the garden without shroud or coffin, and the child was barely rescued and placed in her arms. . . . In some cases women attempted to extinguish the fire, and were prevented by threats and personal violence. Some were thrust from their houses, others were struck, and in some instances pistols were drawn upon them. One lady had a bucket of water, which she had brought to extinguish the fire, thrown in her face. In almost every case the sick and infirm were hindered from leaving their homes. There appeared to be a desire to have some burned if possible by accident. . . . Cows and dogs and cats were burned, and the death cries of the poor dumb brutes sounded like the groans of human beings. It is a picture that may be misrepresented but cannot be heightened." "Never was there so little saved," says the Rev. T. G. Apple, "at an extensive fire. Sixty-nine pianos were consumed. The most sacred family relics, keepsakes, and portraits of deceased friends, old family bibles handed down from past generations, and the many objects imparting a priceless value to a Christian home, and which can never be replaced, were all destroyed. In the dim moonlight we meditated among the ruins; chimney stacks and fragments of walls formed the dreary outline of ruined houses. Not a light was left but the fitful glowing of embers, amid the rubbish that fills the cellars. The silence of the grave reigns where oft we have heard the voice of mirth and music, of prayer and praise. Now and then some one treads heavily along in the middle of the street; for the pavements are blocked up with fallen walls." BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 375 Of the spirit which was preserved under these calamities the Rev. Dr. Schneck says: "In regard to the first, I am enabled to say, that during the whole course of my life, I have not witnessed such an absence of despondent feeling under great trials and sudden reverses of earthly fortune, never such buoyancy and vigor of soul, and even cheerfulness amid accumulated woes and sorrows, as I have during these four weeks of this devastated town; and I leave you to imagine the many cases of extreme revulsion from independence and affluence to utter helplessness and want. The widow and fatherless, the aged and infirm, suddenly bereft of their earthly all, in very many instances, even of a change of clothing; large and valuable libraries and manuscripts, the accumulations of many years, statuary, paintings, precious and never to be replaced mementoes, more valuable than gold and silver, - gone forever. . . . A highly intelligent and pious woman in a remote part of the county, a few days after the burning, called at the house in which a number of the homeless ones were kindly cared for. The large dining table was surrounded by those who, a few days before, were in possession of all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Pleasant and cheerful conversation passed around the board. The visitor alone seemed sad and out of tune. Tears stood in her eyes as she looked around upon us. 'I am amazed beyond measure at you all,' she said ,'I expected to see nought but tears, hear only lamentations and sighs, and here you are as I have seen and known you in your bright and happy days, calm, serene, and even cheerful!' When one of our number replied, that no tear over the losses sustained had yet been shed by herself, but many tears at the numerous tokens of Christian sympathy and generous aid from far and near to relieve the immediate necessities of the sufferers, she added: 'God be thanked for your words; they flow like precious ointment, deep down into my heart. Oh, what a commentary on the promised grace of God.' And we all felt, I am sure, that among the many gifts of our heavenly Father, not the least was 'A cheerful heart, That tastes those gifts with joy.' "In regard to the feeling of revenge, so natural to the human MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 376 heart, I have been gratifyingly disappointed. Among the heaviest sufferers, by far the largest proportion have not only expressed themselves decidedly opposed to the spirit of retaliation, but have used their best efforts to dissuade our soldiers from carrying their threats into execution when an opportunity should offer. They have gone farther, and have drawn up a petition in which they earnestly implore the Government in Washington to prevent to the utmost anything of the kind on the part of our army. They believe it to be morally wrong, no matter what may be the provocation from the other side, and have always condemned the destruction of private property by our troops in the South, whenever isolated instances of the kind were reported. They believe, moreover, with our wise and judicious Governor, that retaliation, 'can do no good to our own people, but a great deal of harm.'" The leading journals of New York city were loud in their denunciation of the people of Chambersburg, because they did not rise and beat back the foe. But how senseless was this fault-finding will be apparent when we consider that the force actually surrounding the town was 3100 mounted men, accompanied by two batteries, and there were in addition two other columns within supporting distance amounting at least to 5000 more; that the advance guard stole upon the force at Mercersburg, and cut the wires before intelligence of their coming could be sent forward; and that the few officials and guards at Chambersburg had hardly time to gather up government property and get it away before the enemy were within the town, holding complete sway. There were not men enough in the town, nor the whole county together, had they been armed and thoroughly drilled, to have made any head against these veteran troops, well furnished with artillery, which were engaged in this raid. There were barely one hundred and fifty Government soldiers under General Couch's command, and consequently he was powerless. General Averell, with two or three thousand cavalry, was ten miles away, and might possibly have interposed, together with such help as he could have extemporised, a sufficient resistance to have saved the town, had he previously known the enemy's purpose. But he was himself expecting an attack, and was bracing himself to receive it, well knowing that he was inferior in numbers to the BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG - 377 foe, and that his command was broken down with hard service in the recent disastrous campaign in West Virginia. The large wagon train of Hunter's army, which had been sent back from the Potomac, had passed through Chambersburg on the afternoon of the 29th. With this train was a strong guard which, if it could have remained at the town, might also have afforded some protection, and with Averell's command would for a time at least have been more than a match for the advanced column of the enemy. But these, as well as Averell's troops, were under the command of General Hunter, and over them General Couch had no authority. So that to no party could any blame be reasonably attributed. We can now see how, if the purpose of the foe had been known in advance, Averell and the train guard, and the soldiers of Couch, and the citizens, might have been gathered up and moulded into a force sufficient to have protected the town for the moment, yet even then not to have made headway against the combined forces of the enemy. But McCausland came as a thief in the night, and his work in two hours was done. Averell reached the town at three P.M. of the 30th; but the foe had then been gone five hours. The city of New York, whence these diatribes came which were levelled against the people of Chambersburg, had throughout the war been the seat and hiding place of a most turbulent and dangerous class, and it had been necessary to call veteran soldiers from the front in large bodies to hold it in subjection. If, then, that great and populous city could not control the disaffected class in its own midst, with how poor a grace could it point the finger of reproach to the people of a defenceless town for not beating back a powerful body of veteran enemy, when suddenly attacked? Governor Curtin, on the 1st day of August, issued his proclamation calling together the Legislature, which convened on the 9th of that month, to take measures for the state defence. In his message to that body, on this occasion, his Excellency referred in just terms of rebuke to the sentiment which had been so ruthlessly displayed. "How could an agricultural people, in and open country, be expected to rise suddenly, and beat back hostile forces which had defeated organized veteran armies of the Govern- MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 378 ment? It is of course, expected that the inhabitants of an invaded country will do what is in their power to resist the invaders; and the facts hereafter stated will show, I think, that the people of the counties have not failed in this duty. If Pennsylvania, by reason of her geographical position, has required to be defended by the national forces, it has only been against a common enemy; it has never been necessary to weaken the army in the field, by sending heavy detachments of veterans to save her cities from being devastated by small bands of ruffians, composed of their own inhabitants, nor have her people been disposed to sneer at the great masses of law-abiding citizens in any other state who have required such protection. Yet when a brutal enemy, pursuing a defeated body of Union forces, crosses our border and burns a defenceless town, the horrid barbarity, instead of firing the hearts of all the people of our common country, is actually in some quarters made the occasion of mocks and jibes at the unfortunate sufferers, thousands of whom have been rendered homeless; and these heartless scoffs proceed from the very men who when the state authorities, forseeing the danger, were taking precautionary measures, ridiculed the idea of there being any danger, sneered at the exertions made for the purpose of meeting it, and succeeded, to some extent, in thwarting their efforts to raise forces. These men are themselves morally responsible for the calamity over which they now chuckle and rub their hands. It might have been hoped - nay, we had a right to expect - that the people of the loyal states, engaged in a common effort to preserve their Government and all that is dear to a freeman, would have forgotten, at least for the time, their wretched local jealousies, and sympathized with all their loyal fellow citizens, wherever resident within the borders of our common country. It should be remembered that the original source of the present rebellion was in such jealousies, encouraged for wicked purposes by unscrupulous politicians. The men who for any purpose now continue to encourage them; ought to be held as public enemies - enemies of our Union, our peace - and should be treated as such. Common feelings, common sympathies, are the necessary foundations of a common free government." MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR CURTIN - 379 After reciting the history of previous invasions of the state and the measures taken for its defence, he recommended the raising of a special corps for the protection of the border. He says:" I also recommend that the Governor be authorized to form, either by the acceptance of volunteers or by draft, in such parts of the state as he may deem expedient, a special corps of militia, to consist in due proportions of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, to be kept up to the full number of fifteen regiments, to be styled Minute Men, who shall be sworn and mustered into the service of the state for three years; who shall assemble for drill at such times and places as he may direct; who shall be clothed, armed, and equipped by the state, and paid when assembled for drill or called into service; and who shall at all times be liable to be called into immediate service for the defence of the state, independently of the remainder of the term enlisted for. As this force would be subjected to sudden calls, the larger part of it should be organized in the counties adjoining our exposed border, and as the people of those counties have more personal interest in their protection, the recommendation is made to authorize the Governor to designate the parts of the state in which it shall be raised, and save the time and expense of transporting troops from remote parts of the state, and the subsistence and pay in going to and from the border. A body of men so organized will, it is believed, be effective to prevent raids and incursions." In compliance with the recommendations of the Governor, the Legislature promptly passed acts of the 22d and the 25th of August, providing for the organization to be known as the State Guard, to consist of fifteen regiments. Lemuel Todd was appointed Inspector General, under whose immediate agency the corps was to be organized. An order was issued on the 30th by the Governor calling for volunteers, to form three regiments of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and four batteries of field artillery, as the first portion of this corps. "Although strenuous efforts were made," says General Todd in his annual report, "to recruit the forces in nearly every county of the Commonwealth, the attempt proved a total failure, attributable to inherent defects in the law, and the then pending United States draft." the acts MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 380 provided that if volunteering failed to bring out the requisite strength, a draft should be resorted to, and the assessors were required to make a careful enrolment of the arms-bearing population. An order was issued by the Governor directing such an enumeration to be made. Much time was consumed in this labor, and in hearing appeals for exemptions. In the meantime a new military character had come upon the scene, destined to eclipse by the boldness of his achievements all previous conduct of affairs in the Valley, and to render a force for the defence of the border unnecessary. On the 2d of August, General Philip H. Sheridan was sent to Washington, and a few days after was put in command of the Middle Department including that of West Virginia, Washington, and the Susquehanna, and an ample force of all arms was given him. He soon initiated a campaign of unexampled brilliance, and so thoroughly beat the enemy in repeated encounters, and laid waste the fertile region whence the rebel supplies had heretofore been largely drawn, as to make it untenable even for a defensive army. No force being needed in Pennsylvania, further attempts to recruit the contemplated corps were abandoned. The work of recruiting the national army, however, was vigorously pushed, a record of the number furnished by each locality was kept in the Provost Marshal General's office at Washington, where all recruits were accredited, and when calls were made for additional troops, each township and village was allowed the opportunity of filling its share by volunteers. If not able to do so, then the draft was resorted to. The campaign for the spring of 1865 opened early, and with great activity along the whole front. Indeed, the army of Sherman had not stopped to go into winter-quarters, but in its march to the sea and its subsequent campaign through the Carolinas had been kept in almost constant activity. Sheridan having pushed from the valley upon the James River canal which he destroyed, and the railroads leading to the rebel capital, marched for Grant's army before Petersburg, which he reached on the 27th of March. This was the signal for the general advance, of which Sheridan took the lead. Leaving only the Ninth corps before Petersburg, the remaining corps followed the cavalry by the left FINAL TRIUMPH-DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT - 381 flank. At first, it was a movement for the destruction of the Two railroads by which the rebel army was fed; but as the Union commander warmed to the work, and saw the success of his encounters with the enemy, he changed his plan, and instead of confining himself to cutting off supplies and hemming in the foe, he wrote to Sheridan "I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible to do so, before going back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the enemy's roads at present. In the morning push round the enemy, and get on his right rear. We will act altogether as one army here, until it is seen what can be done with the enemy." That was all the order that a soldier like Sheridan needed, and on the 9th of April the army of Northern Virginia surrendered. The tidings of this triumph were every where received with great joy. Not long after, the army opposed to Sherman likewise capitulated. But in the meantime, when every household was filled with rejoicing, and while preparations were in progress for public demonstration, a great sorrow fell upon the whole nation. Mr. Lincoln, who had borne the burden of a great war, who had at times been so depressed with the ill fortune of the cause he upheld as to count life as of no value, who, having finally seen his purposes consummated, was about to sit down in peace and quiet to heal the wounds which war had inflicted, and during the evening of his official term to enjoy the fruits of the triumph, while, surrounded by his family and friends, he was witnessing the personation of the play, Our American Cousin, was assassinated by an obscure actor, Wilkes Booth, who stealing unobserved from behind, and coming upon the President unawares, shot him down. His sad fate touched every heart, and he was mourned more sincerely the civilized world over, and especially among his own people, than any American, or it may not be too much to say than any human being, ever was. Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson very justly remarked on the occasion: "We meet under the gloom of a calamity which darkens down over the minds of good men in all civilized society, as the fearful tidings travel over sea, over land from country to country, like the shadow of an uncalculated eclipse over the planet. Old as history is, and manifold as are its tragedies, I doubt if any death MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 382 has caused so much pain to mankind, as this has caused or will cause on its announcement." After impressive services at the executive mansion and beneath the great dome of the capitol, the mourning cortege started with the body of the dead President for his home amid the prairies, and it was determined to return by the same route by which he had travelled to the capital a little more than four years before. Officers of the army and navy, representatives of the many departments of the Government, and of the national Congress, were of the sorrowing train. General E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General of the army, as the representative of the War Department, had charge of the ceremonies in the cities through which it Passed. In reply to the telegram of General Townsend indicating the intention to pass through Harrisburg, and to remain there from eight o'clock p.m. of Friday to twelve, noon, of Saturday, Governor Curtin returned the following answer "I propose to take charge of the remains at the line of the state, and to accompany them till they leave it. I will meet them at the border. At Harrisburg they; will be placed in the capitol. All military and civil honors will be shown." The greeting of the Governors of Maryland and Pennsylvania was cordial as the latter joined the train. Everywhere as the cortege passed, crowds were gathered, and attested, by uncovered heads and subdued expression, their deep sorrow. Flags were displayed draped in mourning, and many were the emblems of grief. At York, a company of ladies asked permission to lay a wreath of flowers upon the bier. This having been granted, six of their number entered the funeral car, and amid the tolling of bells and the strains of solemn music deposited the flowers upon the coffin, the witnesses to this touching mark of affection being moved to tears. It was raining heavily when at eight o'clock the train arrived at Harrisburg, but, notwithstanding this, dense crowds filled all the streets and the capitol grounds as the funeral car, escorted by cavalry, infantry, and artillery, passed along. Upon a catafalco erected in front of the Speaker's stand in the Hall of the House of Representatives, richly draped with sable stuffs, and caught by silver stars, the casket which held all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln was deposited. The face was exposed to DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT - 383 view, and presented the expression which it bore in life, though changed in hue; the lips firmly set but half smiling, and the whole indicating the energy which had characterized the living man. As soon as the doors were thrown open a constant stream of citizens, who had waited patiently for hours under a drenching rain, commenced passing through the hall on either side of the dead, which continued until midnight, when the building was closed. At dawn the concourse again began to move, and continued until the time of departure at midday, thousands being unable to gain admission. A delegation of ladies bore a beautiful floral offering to the capitol, and laid it upon the bier. At Lancaster a similar offering was made. At Philadelphia, after having been escorted by an imposing display of the military through the city, the body was deposited in Independence Hall, where it lay in state during Sunday. At dawn, the avenues through the Hall were opened, and in two lines the sorrowing people moved through, taking the last look at the remains of the Martyr. "Before daylight lines were formed east and west of the Hall, guards being posted at Fifth and Seventh streets, preventing the passage of all except those in lines. By ten o'clock these lines extended from the Schuylkill to the Delaware river." It was estimated that not less than 100,000 persons passed through. Seventy-five veterans who had each lost a leg in the service came in a body and hobbled past his dead corpse, as did also 150 sick and wounded soldiers brought from the hospitals in ambulances. It was a touching spectacle, and no one beheld it unmoved. Flowers, the most rare and beautiful, wrought in every variety which the hand of affection could devise, were placed upon and about the remains with that loving and tender regard which the nearest of earthly ties can excite. At four o'clock on the morning of Monday, the 24th, under imposing escort, the body was moved to the train which took it to New York. Never was a scene so grand seen in the metropolis. The military with trailing arms, the upturned, sorrowing faces of the multitude, the long, sad train which followed, the whole city, as it were, turned out to pay the tribute of grief, presented the spectacle of a people lamenting a common parent. Thus onward, through all its way to the final resting place in MARTIAL DEEDS OF PENNSYLVANIA - 384 the rural cemetery at Springfield, near his former home, there was the outpouring of sorrow and demonstrations of bereavement. His deeds and his utterances had enshrined him in the popular heart. "Such was he, our martyr chief, Whom late the nation he had led, With ashes on her head, Wept with the passion of an angry grief. Nature, they say, doth dote, And cannot make a man Save on some worn-out plan, Repeating us by rote: For him her Old World mould aside she threw, And, choosing sweet clay from the breast Of the unexhausted West, With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. How beautiful to see Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, Not lured by any cheat of birth, But by his clear-grained human worth, And brave old wisdom of sincerity! They knew that outward grace is dust; They could not choose but trust In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, And supple tempered will, That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. . . . His was no lonely mountain peak of mind, Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind; Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined, Fruitful and friendly for his humankind, Yet also known to heaven and friend with all its stars. He knew to bide his time, And can his fame abide, Still patient in his simple faith sublime, Till the wise years decide. Great captains, with their guns and drums, Disturb our judgment for the hour, But at last silence comes: These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, Our children shall behold his fame, The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, New birth of our new soil, the first American."