Military: Civil War: Taylor's Philadelphia in the Civil War, 1861-1865: PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Val. USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= PHILADELPHIA in the CIVIL WAR 1861-1865 =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE SHADOW OF ARMED CONFLICT Ante Bellum Conditions in Philadelphia In the disturbed period preceding the actual outbreak of the Rebellion, Philadelphia, situated but a few miles above the latitude of the old divisional line of Mason and Dixon, was far from being locally united upon the problems of the time. Although this city, by reason of its Revolutionary shrines and traditions, is the very Mecca of the American patriot, there were important political and commercial reasons why she should hesitate to become actively arrayed against the South and its institutions. Twenty-three years before the commencement of civil war, an uncontrollable riot, representing, in a degree, the sentiment of a large proportion of the people, had destroyed the new Pennsylvania Hall, "devoted to the rights of man," and driven from the city the little group of anti-slavery enthusiasts there assembled. New England looked upon Philadelphia as a southern rather than a northern community. From early in the century a large percentage of the manufactured goods made here had been shipped by sea to every southern port. The completion, in 1838, of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, having its headquarters at Eleventh and Market Streets in this city, provided another strong bond uniting Philadelphia to the South. The tonnage rates from this port to all southern points were far below those of New York and Boston. The South, long the most wealthy and luxury-loving section of the country, was Philadelphia's best customer. The extensive jobbing houses arrayed along Market, Chestnut and the river front carried, as a rule, profitable lines of slave-state accounts. Every Southern belle considered Philadelphia-made boots as a necessity, while Philadelphia household furnishings were to be found in every southern store. Southern side-boards were inevitably provided with Philadelphia ales. This city, in turn, was a great consumer of the products of the South. Lumber and turpentine were especially required by our industries, and our mills were large users of southern cotton. Prior to the completion of the Pennsylvania (Central) Railroad through to Pittsburgh, New York and New England commanded the Western trade. Philadelphia merchants were, it will be seen, by virtue of location and direct rail and water connection, driven to foster their traffic with the South and the West Indies, and to shrink from whatever circumstance might endanger it. In the fifties the capital invested in Philadelphia factories exceeded, according to Freedley (the industrial authority of the city), $100,000,000 and our operatives numbered 132,000. We required a market for goods to the value of $145,000,000 annually. Against this generally close relationship of business with the southern people there stood, almost alone, the conscience of the Society of Friends, which was either passively or actively arrayed, upon moral grounds, against slavery. The main route of the once famous "underground railway" led through this city toward the further north and freedom. Bryant, in his History of the United States, records that in 1850 "Philadelphia was the only place in the country, probably, where any feeling upon the subject (of slavery) asserted itself and that there it was chiefly confined to Friends." The first anti-slavery society in America was organized by Philadelphia Quakers before the Revolutionary War. In a pamphlet, recently from the pen of Ex-Attorney General William U. Hensel, relating to "The Christiana Riot and Treason Trials of 1851," it is stated that the "Vigilance Committee" of Philadelphia, which included Robert Purves, J. Miller McKim and William Still, had been instrumental, directly or indirectly, in effecting the escape, in the course of a few years, of not fewer than nine thousand slaves. The affair near Christiana, a small hamlet upon the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, close to the eastern border of Lancaster County, followed closely upon the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. A Maryland slave-owner named Gorsuch, with his son and several other persons, undertook to reclaim two of his slaves. In the ensuing fight he was killed and his son was wounded. Mr. Gorsuch was acting within the law, but the trials, held in Philadelphia, resulted in the acquittal of the two members of the Society of Friends and the blacks who resisted the Marylanders. Col. Alexander K. McClure, in his "Recollections," dignifies this as "the first battle of the war." It stirred the whole south and further affected the southern trade of Philadelphia, which was drifting steadily toward New York City. But all of the milestones along the thorny road of anti-slavery were regarded in Philadelphia by the masses with little more than passive interest. The "Underground Railway" was commonly spoken of as somewhat of a mythical joke.[2] [2] The body of John Brown was taken through Philadelphia December 4th, 1859. The incident was attended with a pro-slavery demonstration at the railroad station, Broad and Prime Streets. The New York Tribune of May 1, 1857 stated that "Philadelphia has at least twenty manufactories of textile fabrics where New York has one, and her superiority in the fabrication of metals, though less decided, is still undeniable." The most welcome patrons of our hotels came from the South. There were frequent interchanges of visits between our local military organizations and those of Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston and other southern cities. New Jersey's leading seashore resort, Cape May, was filled in summer with slave-holding families. Our medical colleges constantly graduated southern students, and many of the remedial preparations, as well as the medical books then in use all over the South, were made here. Politically, the Philadelphia vote was almost uniformly of a shade agreeable to the watchful southern people. Our congressional representatives affiliated, generally, with the southern members when at Washington. Between 1845 and 1857 the vessels engaged in the coal-carrying trade from Port Richmond largely exceeded in number and capacity the whole foreign tonnage of the city of New York. Much of this traffic was coastwise southward. In 1858 a list of twenty-five millionaires was compiled in Philadelphia. This was a rich showing for that period, and to such capitalists more business with the South spelled prosperity.[3] Baldwin locomotives were in use upon every southern railroad. Philadelphia wagons and carriages were common all over the South. Southern printers obtained their type from this city, and here also were made the Bibles and school books for the southern trade. [3] In a list of two hundred and fifty-seven names of local citizens who paid Government assessments upon their incomes, thirty-one were taxed for $100,000 or more, thirty-three upon $75,000 or more, thirty-four upon $50,000 or more, and one hundred and fifty-nine for sums less than $50,000. The spirit of the Mexican War, in which Pennsylvanians fought side by side with southern troops, was an influence in this city for the ensuing twenty years or more in cementing southern affiliations despite the agitation of the anti-slavery group. The ascendancy of anti-southern ideas in Philadelphia may be said to date from June 17, 1856, when the first Republican Convention assembled in the city. The Union sentiment engendered by the excitement of the Buchanan-Fremont Presidential campaign remained aglow through the following years. It found expression in a variety of seemingly insignificant ways. But the business interests remained, as a whole, in an attitude of waiting and hoping. In the closing months of 1860, although orders and remittances were still reaching Philadelphia merchants from their southern customers, there was a considerable falling off of a demand from that portion of the country, and an equally evident hesitation upon the part of shippers to seek further trade in that field. Commercial bodies were greatly concerned and many good citizens still believed that Philadelphia's duty was that of an arbitrator between the extremists of both North and South. George William Curtis of New York was announced to lecture in the city upon December 13th, as the representative of anti-slavery elements, but the threats of riot were so loud that Mayor Henry dissuaded him from the attempt. Instead, upon the same date, a monster citizens' meeting was held in Independence Square for the purpose of extending the olive branch to the South through promises of concessions. The resolutions adopted were sent to South Carolina, but evoked no reply.[4] [4] At this meeting two hundred and fifty vice-presidents and secretaries, included nearly everybody then prominent in the city. Addresses were made by Mayor Henry, presiding officer; Joseph R. Ingersoll, Theodore Cuyler, and Judge George W. Woodward. The resolutions there adopted recognized the validity of the Fugitive Slave Law, deprecated all denunciations or interference with slavery and generally went to the limit of oratorical conciliation, an attitude which was soon resented by many who had been brought into the matter with the expectation of hearing something more patriotic in flavor. Another meeting, called by "one hundred and fifty prominent citizens," was assembled to devise measures "to remove all ground of complaint against the northern States and to secure the perpetuity of the Union." This meeting developed bitterness over the resolutions and accomplished nothing. About the same time the Board of Trade met for a similar purpose with no effective results. Still another gathering, called by leading Democrats, met at National Hall upon January 16th to protest against "coercion." One of the speakers, Benjamin Harris Brewster, Esq., said that it was uncertain whether Pennsylvania "would go with the North or with the South or stand by herself." A resolution carried at this meeting claimed "the wrongs of the South as our own." Judge Woodward, afterward Democratic candidate for Governor, expressed the hope that Pennsylvania would also secede. Among the wealthier families of the city there had always been a considerable infusion of southern blood. Southern men were engaged in business here, and their wives and daughters had a conspicuous part in society affairs. The Sunday DispatchÊof April 14, 1861 stated that in a single square of Walnut Street, "occupying palatial residences," were twenty-two southern families; also that the commander of the First Division of Pennsylvania Militia owned one of the largest plantations in Louisiana, and that the officer in command of Fort Delaware was a southerner. Many of these adopted Philadelphians continued true to the Union cause. Many such families were divided and subjected to great distress. Upon the day when President Lincoln succeeded to his high office, of the 974 southern officers in the army and navy of the United States, but 172 had resigned. They, too, doubted the coming of the war and were slow to turn their backs on the old flag.[5] [5] With the beginning of hostilities, 322 naval officers of southern birth or affiliations resigned from the national service; they were replaced by volunteer officers. Many southern officers remained loyal and served faithfully in the Union Fleets through the war. Twenty- five of the thirty Major-Generals and forty-two out of ninety Brigadier-Generals in the Confederate army were graduates of West Point Military Academy. Following the accession of the new administration there ensued a marked avoidance of mention in the Philadelphia newspapers of local military matters, although activity continued all over the city in recruiting and drilling. There was still a hope that the southern people, a large proportion of whom were not favorable to separation, might yet advance new propositions. It was thought well to give the President a chance to meet them halfway. This policy of silence and waiting continued for several weeks. Meanwhile, Philadelphia merchants were responding to the urgent orders of retail customers in Charleston and other southern points, and were hurrying shiploads of merchandise down the coast to reach destinations in advance of the date set for the enforcement of the Confederate import duty. Agents of southern bankers were scouring the financial quarters of Philadelphia and New York trying to find a market for Confederate bonds. In at least one Philadelphia factory, rifles were being made during March and the early days of April for southern soldiers. Very little activity was seen at the Navy Yard. Upon April 6th the total number of workmen engaged there was two hundred and eighty- five. No effort had been made to refit the dismantled frigate St. Lawrence, long moored at the wharf. The conciliationists at this time called themselves "Silver Grays." Their opponents stigmatized them as "dough faces." When the test of courage was applied, many a "Silver Gray" went gamely away in the ranks and many of their defamers stayed safely at home. A report having been spread about that the southern business men intended to repudiate their northern debts, numbers of them forwarded checks, with indignant denials, accompanied with friendly assurances that the South did not want war and her merchants deplored separation.[6] [6] However willing the southern merchants may have been to make payment to northern shippers of goods it was soon beyond their power to do so. Under the provisions of a Confederate Statute enacted upon May 21st, 1861, payment was forbidden upon all debts due to northern individuals or corporations. The money thus due was ordered into the Confederate treasury. (American Historical Review, October, 1912) Upon the twelfth day of April the Confederates opened fire upon Sumter, and Philadelphia, in common with all sections of the loyal North, awoke from her dream of peace. Upon April 15th the President called upon Pennsylvania for sixteen regiments of volunteers. At this time the number of uniformed militia of Philadelphia aggregated about 4,500 men. Several organizations had already tendered their services. The local regiments and battalions became the nuclei toward which the majority of recruits were drawn. The first of the recruiting posters, later so familiar, was pasted around the city on the 13th, inviting citizens to rally at Military Hall for the formation of a company. The story of the patriotic support given by the city of Philadelphia to the cause of the Union during the following years of the great war begins here. It was a part of the supreme effort of twenty-two million people, living in the free and border States and the Territories, to compel less than six million in the slave States to stay in the Union and submit to its laws. The emancipation of 3,700,000 slaves, which was to come later, was not a question at issue upon the commencement of the struggle. The impending conflict was purely a matter of saving the nation. The war was now on. Upon April 18th the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment arrived and took quarters at the Girard House, which had been closed upon March 1st. At three o'clock on the morning of the 19th, a body of Philadelphia recruits under General Wm. F. Small started, via Baltimore, for Washington. The Massachusetts regiment, which left at the same time, forced its way through Baltimore and reached Washington, but the attempt of the Philadelphians, without arms or uniforms, to traverse Baltimore resulted in disaster and humiliation. The scattering return of these demoralized volunteers was followed by the destruction of bridges upon the Washington route. This compelled the New York Seventh Regiment and the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment to embark from the foot of Washington Avenue, on April 20th, upon steamers for Annapolis. The honor of being first to reach the national capital was already held by the infantry companies from Allentown, Reading, Pottsville, and Lewistown, which had proceeded from Harrisburg via the Northern Central Railroad. Philadelphia now devoted herself, with characteristic energy and system, to the one great duty of providing the Government with soldiers properly armed and equipped as far and as fast as they were needed. In the course of the war which then began, this city was represented in nearly 150 regiments, battalions, independent batteries, cavalry troops and other detached bodies (including emergency troops not called outside of the State), the majority of which were entirely local, and in addition to which were numbers of Philadelphia companies serving in regiments of other States, as well as thousands of sailors, marines and regular army recruits who cannot be accurately enumerated. The effect of war upon business in Philadelphia in the early months of the struggle was a source of great anxiety among large employers. At the establishment of M. W. Baldwin & Co., where eighty locomotives had been built in the preceding year, matters were nearly at a standstill. Many of the hands were discharged and plans were considered for turning the plant into a factory for shot and shell. Unexpectedly, however, the National Government ordered many engines and the "war railroads" required many more. Between 1861 and '65, Baldwin's turned out 456 locomotives, many of them the heaviest and most powerful ever constructed. At the shipyards, machine shops, textile mills and in factories of many lines, Government contracts soon afforded abundant employment. Our workmen were able to provide heavy and light artillery, swords, rifles, camp equipage, uniforms and blankets in great quantities. This activity continued throughout the period of the war. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= PRESIDENT-ELECT ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT PHILADELPHIA A Night Journey to Washington Many and widely different accounts of the journey through Baltimore to Washington, undertaken on the night of February 22d, 1861 by the President-elect, have been published. The following story has been written after a careful study of the formal statements left by the officials who were participants in the event. Upon January 30th, 1861, President S. M. Felton of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, summoned Allan Pinkerton, a well-known detective of Chicago, to Philadelphia, engaging his services to assist in safeguarding the railroad against threatened injury in Maryland. Mr. Pinkerton placed a number of his men along the line. One of these detectives, Timothy Webster, joined a disloyal company of cavalry at Perryman's, Maryland. It was through this source that Pinkerton learned the details of the proposed murder of Mr. Lincoln while en route through Baltimore. When Mr. Lincoln arrived at Philadelphia from New York city upon the evening of February 21st, a messenger summoned Mr. Norman B. Judd, of his party, to a conference with Mr. Pinkerton. Later in the evening the latter was introduced to Mr. Lincoln and told him of the plot. A similar warning was brought by Mr. Frederick Seward from his father in Washington. It was difficult to convince Mr. Lincoln that the danger was real. He insisted upon proceeding, with his entourage, to Harrisburg at once after the ceremony of raising the flag upon Independence Hall early upon the following morning. At the conclusion of the reception at the State Capitol a consultation was held at the hotel, where Mr. Pinkerton urged his story upon Judge David Davis, Capt. John Pope, Col. Ward H. Lamon, John G. Nicolay and David Hunter. There were also present G. C. Franciscus, General Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and Henry Sanford, of the Adams Express Company. These officials finally induced Mr. Lincoln and his advisers to abandon the Northern Central Railroad train, scheduled for the journey to Baltimore, and to return to Philadelphia. Governor Curtin called at the hotel in a carriage, ostensibly to carry Mr. Lincoln to his residence. The only member of his traveling party who entered the carriage was Col. Ward H. Lamon. Unobserved, the President- elect boarded a special train which was hurried eastward. The persons with him were Mr. G. C. Franciscus, John Pitcairn, Jr., General Baggage Agent; T. E. Garrett, Col. W. H. Lamon, General Superintendent Enoch Lewis, and Allan Pinkerton. At Harrisburg, two officials of the American Telegraph Company, Messrs. W. P. Westervelt and Captain Burns, with Andrew Wynne, an employee, drove two miles out of the city and grounded the wires of the Northern Central line. No dispatches went out of Harrisburg that night. Mr. Lincoln's "special" reached West Philadelphia late in the evening, but too soon for close connection with the train for Washington. The closed carriage containing Mr. Lincoln and Col. Lamon, together with Allan Pinkerton and General Superintendent H. F. Kenny, of the P., W. and B. Railroad, the latter on the box with the driver, proceeded slowly down Market Street, up Nineteenth Street to Vine Street, and thence down Seventeenth street to the P., W. and B. Depot. Chairs for the party had been arranged for by "Mrs. Warne," one of Pinkerton's agents. It was represented to the chair car conductor that one of the passengers was an "invalid gentleman" who must be admitted at the rear of the coach, and have a rear chair. The other engaged seats were occupied by Allan Pinkerton and his agents.[7] Two officials of the Company, Messrs. George Stearns and William Stearns, remained on guard throughout the night. So carefully were the plans consummated that none of the train employees of either road were aware that Mr. Lincoln was aboard. Col. Thomas A. Scott,[8] waiting anxiously throughout the night at Harrisburg in company with Col. Alex. K. McClure, was rejoiced to receive, soon after six A.M. upon the 23d, a dispatch from Washington assuring him of the safe arrival of Mr. Lincoln. [7] This narration has been read and approved by Comrade Wm. B. Spittall, a surviving Pinkerton who was one of the guards upon the car. Allan Pinkerton was delegated by Gen. McClellan to organize the Secret Service Corps of the Army. He held a commission as "Major E. J. Allen," this being the maiden name of his wife. [8] Col. Thomas A. Scott, then Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, acted for a time upon the staff of Governor Curtin. On April 27th, 1861, he was appointed, by the Secretary of War, Superintendent of Railways and Telegraphs, his immediate duties being the restoration of transportation between Annapolis and Washington. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE STATE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT The report of the Adjutant-General of the State of Pennsylvania of January, 1861, estimates the militia of the State (men subject to service) at 350,000, enrolled as follows: Twenty divisions, sixty-seven brigades, three hundred and one companies, of which forty-seven were cavalry, fifty-four artillery, one hundred and twenty-five infantry and seventy-five rifle corps. The actual organized and uniformed State force aggregated 56,500 and comprised four hundred and seventy-six companies. The arms owned by the State, chiefly apportioned from the Federal Government, were 12,080 muskets, many of them flint-locks, 4,706 rifles, 2,809 cavalry swords, 3,147 pistols and 60 six-pound bronze cannon. A large percentage of this material was unfit for service. This condition accounts for the inability of the State to equip newly- formed bodies of soldiery with weapons for which they were constantly appealing in the winter and spring of 1861. The inadequacy of the State military establishment in 1861 is evidenced by the Act of the Legislature dated April 12th, providing for the office of adjutant-general, which official was also designated to act as paymaster-general, inspector-general and judge advocate. He was bonded in the sum of $20,000. His salary was $500 per year, with an allowance of $3 per diem for each day "when actually engaged in the service of the State."[9] [9] Report of Adjutant-General, State of Pennsylvania, 1866. The lessons of unreadiness upon the part of the State, taught by the experiences preceding the invasion of September, 1862, do not appear to have resulted in any legislative measures of improvement. According to good authority, the State militia law in effect in June, 1863, had been in force since 1822. Under this law, when any portion of the enrolled militia was required for duty, it was the business of the Adjutant-General to notify the brigade inspectors who were to order officers of the regiments or companies to divide their commands into ten parts by drawing names from a box. The first tenth was to be first called and the other parts or classes in the order of their numbers, but it was provided that men who had served in the War of 1812 should only be called out as a last resort. Amendments were made in 1849 and 1858 which enrolled all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 years, with the proviso that those who did not care to identify themselves with the uniformed militia might escape service by paying fifty cents annually.[10] [10] Inquirer, June 24th, 1863. The effort to summon, muster and forward emergency militia through the operation of this antique machinery was largely responsible for the friction which now and then occurred between the officials at the State Capital and the military officers of Philadelphia.[11] [11] The officials of the reorganized Pennsylvania State Military Establishment included Henry H. Smith, Surgeon General; Reuben C. Hale, Q. M. General; Col. William McMichael and Major Craig Biddle, all of Philadelphia. It is only fair to reflect that Pennsylvania has never been, in times of peace, other than an example of a commonwealth founded upon high principles of humanity and devoted to the development of internal resources. It was the confidence of her strength as expressed in the minds of generations of her law makers, so largely of Quaker influence, that led to the neglect of the State military arm and of the martial spirit dormant within the borders. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA, PHILADELPHIA COMMANDS, 1861 The Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania enacted a law "for the Regulation of the Militia of this Commonwealth," which was approved by the Governor, April 21st, 1858. Section First reads: "Be it enacted, etc., that in addition to the three Brigades of the First Division of the City of Philadelphia, authorized by the Act to which this is a supplement, there shall be organized within the City of Philadelphia another Brigade to be called the Reserve Brigade, which shall consist of four Regiments of Infantry and one Squadron of Cavalry, for the special defense of the City." The Philadelphia militia regiments, when thus reinforced, consisted of the following organizations: First Regiment, First Brigade, First Division, which includes the old National Grays. Rifle Battalion, First Brigade, First Division. First Regiment, Pennsylvania Artillery Second Regiment, Second Brigade, First Division First Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division, Philadelphia Light Guard First Regiment, Third Brigade, First Division The new Reserve Brigade, Brig.-Gen. Patterson, was composed of: First Regiment, Gray Reserves, Col. P. C. Ellmaker Second Regiment, Blue Reserves, Col. Alfred Day Third Regiment, Gray Reserves, Col. C. M. Eakin * The Scott Legion, Washington Grays, and First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry were independent organizations. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE RESERVE BRIGADE INFANTRY, PENNSYLVANIA MILITIA While the active members of the Artillery Corps Washington Grays were preparing to accompany Col. Francis E. Patterson's new regiment into the field, a number of the retired and contributing members of this historic corps met, pursuant to a newspaper notice, upon April 17th, 1861, to consider the formation of a 'Reserve Guard' "for the protection of the city and support of the Constitution and laws of the United States of America." At a second meeting, held two evenings later at Sansom Street Hall, an organization was completed which was, by resolution, entitled "The First Regiment Infantry, Gray Reserves, of the City of Philadelphia." Peter C. Ellmaker was elected colonel and was commissioned by the Governor of the State on April 21st.[12] [12] The North American and United States Gazette printed, April 22d, 1861, a list of six hundred and fifty-eight names of citizens who had enrolled in this regiment which included those of a large number of men then prominent in the official, business and professional life of the city. This list has been preserved upon the pages of the History of the 1st Regiment, of which Major-Gen. James W. Latta is the author. As a part of the organized militia force of the State, this regiment was known as the "3d." By Act of Assembly dated May 3d, 1861, and enforced by the Adjutant-General on September 7th, 1861, Col. Ellmaker's command was designated the "1st Regiment Infantry, Reserve Brigade." Col. Ellmaker's regiment was quickly uniformed, and, in June, was armed, by special order of Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, with smooth- bore percussion muskets from the United States Arsenal at Frankford. Drills, occasional parades and escort duty provided plenty of work for the command throughout the year. Changes of personnel among the officers and men, due to a desire for volunteer service, were constant. Under the call for emergency militia, the 1st Regiment served in 1862 as the " 7th Regiment, Infantry Militia," this tour of duty covering two weeks. In 1863 the "Gray Reserves" were enlisted for the Gettysburg campaign into the national service as the "32d Regiment, Pennsylvania Ninety-day Militia." This command was on duty forty-two days. The 118th (Corn Exchange) Regiment, and the 119th, in the three years' service, were both largely composed of both officers and rank and file of men connected with the "Gray Reserves."[13] [13] The militia of the State of Pennsylvania was re-organized by Act of Assembly dated April 7th, 1870, and by a supplement to the Act of 1864, as the "National Guard of the State of Pennsylvania," and thereafter the regimental commands were numbered serially. The 1st Regiment, Gray Reserves, retained its original number. The old National Guards' organization, an effective and popular regiment, ready for any service required of it, was known in the Reserve brigade as the First Blue Reserves.[14] [14] "Historic Militia Commands of the City." The 3d Regiment, Reserve Brigade, commanded by Col. Constant M. Eakin, served as the 25th Regiment, under the emergency call of September, 1862, as guards at Camp Brandywine, Delaware, for the protection of the Dupont Powder works. The 4th Regiment, known as the "Second Blue Reserves," was identified, under Col. Alfred Day, as the 8th Regiment of the Emergency force of September, 1862, and as the 33d Regiment, Col. William W. Taylor, in the Emergency Campaign of July, 1863. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= HISTORIC MILITIA COMMANDS OF THE CITY From these well-trained bodies of State and independent soldiery, hundreds of officers, many of whom gained high rank, were supplied to the volunteer regiments of Pennsylvania and of other States. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE FIRST TROOP, PHILADELPHIA CITY CAVALRY The origin of this, the oldest military organization in the United States, is co-incidental with the beginning of the colonial movement, which resulted in the war of the Revolution and the eventual union of the American States under the Constitution. In the course of the deliberations of the first Continental Congress, in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, the colonial delegates appointed a Committee of Correspondence, charged, among other duties, to initiate a force of defense "to maintain the rights of the people against the continued oppression of the British Government." This committee of three met on November 17th, 1774 at the State House, and on the evening of the same day, with twenty-five other gentlemen, formed a company of cavalry designated "The Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia." The troopers were identified with the old and exclusive clubs long famous as the Colony in Schuylkill, founded in 1732, the Schuylkill Company of Fort St. David's, dating from 1753, and the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, formed in 1766, and several were also members of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Scottish St. Andrew's Society, which dates from 1749. The Troop was the first to carry a flag bearing thirteen stripes. In the course of the Revolutionary War the Troop and detachments of its members performed many notable services in the patriotic cause. The command was also in the field in the course of our second war with Great Britain. The present title and the existing uniform were adopted in 1833. Between the years 1793 and 1865 the Troop furnished to the Pennsylvania Militia (National Guard) eleven major-generals and thirteen brigadier- generals. In the course of the Civil War seventy-three members of the Troop became officers in the Union armies. Eight of them were killed or died in the service.[15] [15] The officers who perished while in the service were Gen. David B. Birney, Col. William Sergeant, 210th Infantry; Major Charles F. Taggart, 2d Cavalry; Major Robert Morris, Jr., 6th Cavalry; Capt. Henry J. Biddle, A.A.G.; Brevet Lieut.-Col. J. Penrose Ash, 5th U.S. Cavalry; and Lieut. J. Hamilton Kuhn, 27th Infantry. The Troop tendered its services to the Government upon each occasion of emergency and was in the field in the summer of 1861, and again during the Gettysburg campaign, two years later. The command occupied its first armory, on Twenty-first street above Chestnut street, in 1874, and its present armory in 1901. The Troop is now identified with the Pennsylvania National Guard; but whether clad in khaki of the field and camp or the picturesque dress uniform familiar in our local military parades, its members continue to maintain the honorable traditions of readiness and self-sacrifice for which the command has ever been distinguished. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= ARTILLERY CORPS, WASHINGTON GRAYS A number of citizens who had served during the War of 1812 in Captain John Swift's Second Company of Washington Guards, met upon April 19th, 1822, and organized the "Volunteer Corps of Light Infantry," of which Captain Swift (afterward Mayor of the city) was elected commander. Upon June 27th, 1827, the title was changed to that of "The Light Artillery Corps Washington Grays." Six years later it was modified to that of "The Artillery Corps, Washington Grays." This command, independent in character, was exclusive in its personnel, and long enjoyed a reputation as a "crack" organization. Among its honorary members was the Marquis de Lafayette. At the call of the Government in 1861, two companies of infantry represented the Grays as A and F in the 17th Regiment in the three months' service. Upon April 17th, 1861, the honorary and contributing members, chiefly composed of those over forty-five years old, met at the Wetherill House, upon Sansom street above Sixth street, and decided to form a "Reserve Corps." At a second meeting, held upon the 19th, at Sansom Street Hall, an organization was perfected which became the "First Regiment Infantry, Gray Reserves, Reserve Brigade of the City of Philadelphia." Every commissioned officer, with one exception, had been at some time a member of the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays. The old command of the Grays continued to maintain its distinctive organization. From this well-drilled body, in 1862, Company A of the 21st Regiment Emergency Militia was recruited, and in 1863 the Grays furnished Company A and part of B to the 49th Regiment, Ninety Day Militia. In the course of the Civil War the Grays were represented by members in the volunteer troops of seven other States, the District of Columbia, the Regular Army, Marine Corps, and the Navy. From a total of four hundred and forty-two members of the Grays' Battalion who volunteered, one hundred and eighty-one received commissions. Among these officers three became Major-Generals, nine Brigadier-Generals, eleven Colonels, fifteen Lieut.-Colonels, twenty Majors, sixty-one Captains and sixty-two Lieutenants. Twelve of these officers were killed or died while in the service. In February, 1878, the corps was increased to a battalion of four companies. In 1879, the battalion lost its independent status as a military body, being then merged with the Weccacoe Legion and designated the "Third Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania." Subsequently, through the intervention of the veteran members, the active contingent was transferred, as Company G, to the First Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania. A fund having been provided, of which $2,000 was presented by Col. Edwin N. Benson, for the erection of a monument to the members who participated in the Civil War, it was dedicated at Broad street and Girard avenue upon April 19th, 1872. It was subsequently adorned with the figure of a soldier in the uniform of the corps at a cost to the Old Guard of about $5,000, and placed in Washington Square. Grays Who Entered The Regular Service George Alexander H. Blake, Brig.-Gen., U.S. Cavalry William Blanchard, 1st Lieut., 2d U.S. Cavalry Robert Lyon Burnett, Major, U.S. Army James M. Brown, 1st Lieut., 111th U.S. Colored Infantry Archibald Hill Engle, Major, 13th U.S. Infantry Louis Estell Fagan, Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Enon M. Harris, 1st Lieut., 8th U.S. Colored Infantry Alfred Lacey Hough, Colonel, 9th U.S. Infantry Charles L. Kneass, Brevt.-Major, U.S. Army William K. Pollock, ad Lieut., 1st U.S. Artillery Wallace Fitz Randolph, Major-Gen., U.S. Army George W. Wallace, Lieut.-Col., 12th U.S. Infantry John Chester White, Major, U.S. Army =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= LANDIS' BATTERY On April 19th, 1861, at a meeting held in the office of Chapman Biddle, Esq., it was determined to revive an old company of artillery dating from 1844 as the basis of a new organization, which became Company A, 1st Regiment, Pennsylvania Artillery, and of which Chapman Biddle was elected captain. This command included in its membership many of the best known and most affluent citizens of that period. Captain Biddle and Lieut. Alexander Biddle resigned in August to recruit the 121st Regiment of Infantry. Henry D. Landis, who had also been active in old Company I, was elected captain. In addition to repeated service in periods of emergency, Company A (Landis' Battery) furnished from its membership many officers who were identified with the regular and volunteer service, among them Captain Frank H. Furness of the 6th Cavalry (Rush's Lancers); Captain T. C. Williams of the regular army; Captain James M. Lennard, Jr.; Dr. S. Weir Mitchell of the Medical Corps, U.S. Army Hospitals at Philadelphia; Major Harry C. Egbert of the regular army; Col. John M. Gries, 104th Infantry; Major A. G. Rosengarten, 15th Cavalry; Captain William Elliot Furness; Surgeon William F. Norris; Captain Charles Chauncey, 2d Cavalry; Joseph B. Blakiston, 15th Cavalry; Captain Charles E. Cadwalader, 6th Cavalry (Rush's Lancers), and Gen. Isaac J. Wistar. Some other distinguished Philadelphians who were attached to this command and served in emergency periods were C. Stuart Patterson,[16] John G. Johnson, Judge Robert N. Willson, Judge F. Amedee Bregy, Charles Morgan, Charles G. Leland, W. G. Leland, A. A. Outerbridge, Edward W. Patton, C. Redwood Wright, Francis I. Maule, Clement Biddle, William H. Rawle, Samuel C. Perkins, Woodruff Jones, Edward C. Bullard, Thomas Hart, Jr., William D. Winsor, William S. Stewart, Richard S. Willing, Duffield Ashmead, Alexander Johnstone, Alfred C. Lambdin, Joseph Meehan, John B. Thayer, James D. Young, Rodman Wister, Thomas M. Newbold and Edward Pennington, Jr. [16] Dr. Charles K. Mills relates in a recent narration of his experiences as an infantryman at the shelling of Carlisle by the Confederates, that he saw Mr. Patterson, of the battery, wounded in the sword hand. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE NATIONAL GUARDS The National Guards Regiment of Philadelphia originated in a single company formed in 1840 under Capt. Thomas Tustin, who was succeeded in 1844 by Capt. Stephen B. Kingston. In 1846 Capt. Peter Lyle became commanding officer and recruited the company for the Mexican War but its services were not required. In 1856 the organization was incorporated as the "Infantry Corps, National Guards of Philadelphia." The armory built by the command, located on Race street below Sixth street, was opened on November 16th, 1857. The National Guards first paraded as a regiment on December 11th, 1860. As a part of the Reserve Brigade Militia the regiment was known as the "First Blue Reserves." The regiment tendered its services to the Government on April 16th, 1861 and was mustered in on April 27th, for three months, as the 19th Regiment Volunteers. Following this term of service the 2d Regiment, National Guards, became the basis of the 90th Regiment Volunteers under Col. Peter Lyle. A large proportion of the three-year regiments originating in Philadelphia contained field and company officers who had been schooled in the National Guards. Under command of Major Jeremiah W. Fritz the regiment was in the field in September, 1862, during the Antietam Campaign. In addition to its services as the 90th Regiment, the National Guards were active in organizing, and furnished officers for Baxter's Philadelphia Fire Zouaves (72d Regiment), the 196th and 213th Infantry, the 52d (2d Union League 90-Day Regiment, 1863), and other bodies of troops sent into the field. The Old Guard of the Regiment, composed of veterans and retired members, has long maintained a distinctive organization. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE SCOTT LEGION Of the Philadelphia militia companies which volunteered for service in the war with Mexico the City Guards, Monroe Guards, Light Guards, Cadwalader Grays, and Jefferson Guards were organized as the First Regiment. After the return of the survivors they formed the "Scott Legion," and this veteran body not only supplied many well-drilled officers to the Union forces, but became the nucleus of the 68th Regiment Infantry Volunteers, one of the most notable of Pennsylvania's fighting commands of the three-year enlistment. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE STATE FENCIBLES[17] [17] The list of organizing members, as they are given in the newly published history of the corps ("One Hundred Years with the State Fencibles," Lanard), includes representatives of a large proportion of the leading Philadelphia families of the time. The first public mention of the organization appeared in the American Daily Advertiser, July 9th, 1813. This infantry corps dates from the martial period of our second war with Great Britain. It was organized in June, 1813 and served in the field during a portion of the following year under Capt. Clement Biddle as part of the advance Light Brigade. Lieut. Hartman Kuhn was elected captain in 1815, being soon afterward succeeded by John C. McCall. Two years later James Page became captain, remaining in this rank nearly fifty years, in the course of which the command enjoyed a national reputation as a "crack" drill corps. When the Civil War impended, a second company of Fencibles was recruited, the two serving as Companies E and K of the 18th Regiment of the three months' enlistment. Subsequent to this tour of duty, the majority of the officers and men entered the three years' service, principally in the 72d and 82d Regiments. The reorganized Fencibles responded to the emergency call of 1862, serving in Col. Alfred Day's 8th Regiment, and again, in the Gettysburg campaign, the command volunteered, being attached to Col. W. W. Taylor's 33d Emergency Regiment. In the course of the war the Fencibles furnished to the army two hundred and five of its active and retired members, a large proportion of them holding commissions. After the war ended, the old military spirit was dormant, but in 1871, with the election of John Ryan to the captaincy, the State Fencibles entered upon a new and brilliant career. The command was increased to a battalion of four companies in 1877, and, under Major Ryan, attained the highest proficiency in precision of drill. Major Ryan died in 1886. Subsequent commanders have been Majors Wesley Chew, William A. Witherup, Thurber T. Brazer (to June, 1913), and Thomas S. Lanard. Incident to the Spanish-American War the State Fencibles formed a battalion of the 6th Regiment, N.G.P., but later withdrew from the National Guard and is now an independent body sustained by the city. A feature of the Centennial parade of the battalion in May, 1913 was the presence of the "old guard," under Major Emanuel Furth, costumed in uniforms of the type worn by the command a century ago. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE UNITED STATES ARSENALS AT PHILADELPHIA Upon April 3d, 1861, Capt. Josiah Gorgas, the commandant at the depot of military materials at Bridesburg (Frankford Arsenal), Philadelphia, who was a native of Pennsylvania, had resigned in order to cast his fortunes with the South, and had been succeeded by a loyal officer.[18] [18] Captain Gorgas was a Pennsylvanian, appointed cadet from New York. He went South, where he attained, in the Confederate service, the rank of brigadier-general and chief of ordnance. This important establishment, generally called "The Frankford Arsenal," had been a part of the Government property in this city forty-five years. The reservation covered fifty-nine acres upon the shore of the Delaware River. The principal structures were the usual barracks, two large Arsenal buildings, two store-houses, a hospital, powder magazine and work-shops. At the opening of the war, the materials on hand were supposed to include about 18,000 muskets, a great amount of saltpeter and sulphur, 50,000 pounds of powder, percussion caps, primers, cartridges and general military stores, of which horse equipments were the most important. These supplies were being sent away by the new commandant to "the front" as rapidly as possible, and space was being cleared for an augmented force of work-people to be employed in the preparation of ammunition. A brief paragraph appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper upon January 30th, 1861, stating that, upon the preceding day twenty car-loads of rifles had been shipped from the Frankford Arsenal "to Washington." A few weeks earlier an attempt to ship munitions of war from the United States Arsenal at Pittsburgh to southern points had created a riot and the order was countermanded. It may well be doubted if that consignment of rifles from the Frankford Arsenal ever reached the national capital.[19] [19] On November 1st, 1859, there were stored at the Frankford arsenal, as set forth in an official report of that date, 19,404 muskets. In the course of the year 1860 the traitorous Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, had caused to be sent from Springfield, Watervliet and other Northern arsenals to those of the South, or had sold to the Governors of the Southern States at $2.50 each, muskets and rifles to the number of 119,500. With his connivance, experts, some employed from abroad by the agents of the South, were openly allowed the use of models and drawings of weapons, field guns and machinery at the Northern arsenals, and were instructed in the making of shells and fuses at the Government armories. This continued to the date of Floyd's resignation at the end of the year. One of his last official acts was to telegraph to the commandant of the arsenal at Baton Rouge to deliver 5,000 guns to the Governor of Louisiana. In April, Gen. William F. Small, searching for arms for his "Washington Brigade," applied (after receipt of urgent telegrams from Washington) to the commandant of the Frankford Arsenal, and the latter replied that he had no authority to issue anything to troops not mustered, and, in any event, could only provide fifteen hundred guns, a large proportion being of doubtful value. When, in May, strenuous efforts were being made to equip and forward the 18th, 19th, 22d and 23d (three months) Regiments, the officers of those long-suffering troops protested, with one accord, against the useless, antiquated and misfit muskets offered to them from this Arsenal. The United States Arsenal, located upon Gray's Ferry Road, between Carpenter street and Washington avenue, and commonly called "The Schuylkill Arsenal," was established in the year 1800.[20] Adjoining it upon the north is the United States Naval Hospital and Naval Home. The Arsenal was, throughout the Civil War, an important depot for uniforms, blankets and equipments for the outfitting of the armies of the Republic. In addition to the large regular force employed in the several workshops and warehouses, a great number of persons, chiefly from families of soldiers and sailors in the service or who had died under enlistment, were kept employed in thousands of the humble homes in this section of the city. The operations here were so constantly urgent that warehouses outside were leased by the Government. One of these "branch Arsenals" was the building adjoining the Custom House, upon the west, afterward replaced by the Post Office. Other storehouses for military clothing and equipment were created at William Gault's brew-house at Twenty-first and Spruce streets, at the old hotel building Twenty-fourth and Chestnut streets (built in 1833) and at Murphy & Allison's machine shop on the Schuylkill river north of Market street. In the "emergency" summers of 1862 and 1863 a company of the employees was recruited to assist in defending the State. At one period of the war the increase of the "contract system" in making uniforms threatened the employment of several thousand women. A committee of their number visited Washington and secured an order from President Lincoln ensuring a continuance of their means of support. [20] The official name of this Arsenal was changed in 1873, by order of the Government, to "Philadelphia Depot of the Quartermaster's Department, U. S. Army." =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE WASHINGTON BRIGADE, 1861 Among men of military experience engaged early in 1861 in the formation of tentative bodies of volunteers in the City of Philadelphia were Col. William F. Small and Col. Charles Angeroth. Col. Small's battalion was known as the Washington Guards. These organizations had headquarters at Military Hall, upon Third street, below Green street, and it was there, on January 19th, that the two commands resolved to unite as the Washington Brigade, and elected Col. Small commander. The First Regiment was composed chiefly of recruits of American birth. The Second Regiment (Angeroth's) was strongly German in composition. On January 28th, 1861, Gen. Small had offered to President Buchanan the services of eight hundred men for garrison duty, in order to relieve an equal number of regular troops for more urgent work in the South. On February 4th the Washington Guards organization was offered to Governor Curtin for any emergency service required. This tender was acknowledged, by order of the Governor, on March 2d, 1861.[21] [21] Andrew Gregg Curtin, War Governor of Pennsylvania, was born at Bellefonte, Pa., April 28th, 1817. He became Minister to Russia in the Grant Administration in 1869. When the attack on Fort Sumter stirred the North to action, Gen. Small renewed his offer of assistance, and on April 15th received a dispatch from the Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, promising "acceptance if in Washington this week." This was followed by a dispatch from the War Department stating that arms and equipments would be furnished at Washington. On April 16th, Major George P. M'Lean, of the First Regiment, Washington Brigade, telegraphed from Washington, "The Governor (Curtin) expects your command here at once." Urgent messages were also received from Hon. Eli Slifer, Secretary of the Commonwealth, dated from Harrisburg the same day. Under date of April 17th, Mr. Dickinson, Aide-de-Camp to Governor Curtin, forwarded to him a list of officers for the brigade, which had been prepared by General Small, for whom commissions were desired. Without waiting for these commissions, Gen. Small arranged with President Samuel M. Felton, of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, to entrain the brigade at Philadelphia, at midnight on the 18th, and to pass through Baltimore at daybreak. On the evening of April 18th, Gen. Small assembled his men at Jones' Hotel, on Chestnut street, above Sixth street. At the appointed time seven companies of the 1st Regiment and five companies of the 2d Regiment marched to Broad and Prime Streets Depot, from which they departed at 3 A.M. April 19th. A second train, carrying the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, which had barracked the previous evening at the Girard House, closely followed. Before reaching Baltimore the train of the 6th Massachusetts troops, who were uniformed and armed, was given precedence. The Washington Brigade reached the Baltimore Station at noon upon the 19th, only to be surrounded by a dense mob, frenzied by the street battle incident to the march through the city of the Massachusetts soldiers earlier in the day. The attack of the infuriated secessionists upon Gen. Small's unarmed men, who were without protecting escort, resulted in injury to many, the dispersal of others into the country, and the return of the balance, after long delay, by train, to Philadelphia. One of the recruits, George Leisenring, was repeatedly stabbed as he sat in a car and died four days later at the Pennsylvania Hospital, the first volunteer of Philadelphia who perished in this war for his country.[22] [22] Records of the Pennsylvania Hospital show that George Leisenring, aged 26 years, single man, born in Germany, was brought to the hospital April 19th, 1861, suffering from penetrating wound of thorax, and died on the 22d. This volunteer was a private in Company C, Captain Henry Ungerer, 2d Regiment Washington Brigade. No information regarding location of the grave in which he rests has been found after search among the city records. Those of the Philadelphians who did not succeed in regaining the comparative safety of the cars were either temporarily concealed by friendly residents or made, in squads, for the open country. Some of these hapless fugitives experienced considerable hardship and indignity, but all eventually reached friendly territory east of the Susquehanna. Smarting beneath a certain amount of undeserved ridicule the majority of the men sought enlistment in other regiments then forming. Gen. Small was criticized severely in many quarters for his rash attempt to take his men through Baltimore without the means of defending themselves, but the records show that had the railroad company fulfilled its understanding regarding the hour of arrival there, he would probably have led his men into Washington and have been acclaimed a hero. The result of this mischance was the disbandment of the Washington Brigade. Gen. Small persisted, however, in his patriotic efforts and, making his headquarters at the Montgomery Hotel at Sixth and Willow streets, finally had the satisfaction of being mustered into the National service as Colonel of the 26th Penna. Infantry on May 25th, 1861. The mustering date was, however, moved back to May 5th, and this command became the first of the three years' regiments of the State of Pennsylvania. The Second Regiment of the Washington Brigade became the 27th Regiment Penna. Light Artillery under Col. Max Einstein, and was mustered for three years' service upon May 31st, 1861. The Washington Brigade appears in the official list of volunteer organizations in the National service in 1861, as published by the War Department in 1885, and the 26th Regiment was permitted to inscribe upon its battle-flag the legend, "Baltimore, April 19th, 1861." Nearly a year after the Baltimore incident, the General Assembly of Maryland voted the sum of $7,000.00 to be distributed to the families of the three men killed and of the seventeen men wounded upon that date in the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, but no indemnity or apology was ever offered by Maryland for the indignity placed by Baltimore upon the men of the Washington Brigade, or the murder of one of its members. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE CLOSED GATE AT BALTIMORE April 18th, 1861, the Secretary of War, Hon. Simon Cameron, telegraphed to Governor Thomas H. Hicks, of Maryland, notifying him that the Government had reason to believe that Northern troops passing through Baltimore would be interfered with. Upon the same date, Bvt.-Lieut.- General Winfield Scott informed Major Clark, Quartermaster, U.S.A., stationed at Baltimore, that two or three Massachusetts and one New York regiment would pass through that city "within two or three days." Meanwhile, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company had refused to transport troops being forwarded by Ohio. Transportation was also refused to the 7th Regiment, of New York, and other volunteer organizations. Like Philadelphia, Baltimore had assumed, in the winter of 1860-61, the role of mediator between the discordant sections North and South. In the preceding October a reform Mayor and City Council had been elected by a large majority. It was the "departing dynasty," according to J. Thomas Scharf, the historian of Baltimore, that led to the trouble that followed. Late in October, at the ceremonies incident to the opening of Druid Hill Park, several thousand children sang the "Star Spangled Banner," accompanied by the band of the "Blues."[23] This sentiment of love for the national song in the city where the words were first given to the nation was rudely shaken, however, by the election of Abraham Lincoln, of whose character and intentions the newspapers of the city reported nothing but evil. [23] Among the citizens of Baltimore afterward arrested by the Union troops garrisoned in the city and placed, as a prisoner of war, in Fort McHenry, was Francis Key Howard, Esq., the grandson of the author of the "Star Spangled Banner." Mr. Howard was also detained nearly a year at Fort Lafayette and Fort Warren. The first of the rioting in Baltimore, in April, 1861, was that of a crowd angered by the display of a Confederate flag upon a vessel in the harbor. Four days later a mob captured a Confederate flag and a cannon on Federal Hill. The flag was destroyed and the cannon thrown into the harbor. But upon the same day another mob followed five companies of Pennsylvania Militia (the "First Defenders") across the city with jeers and insults. Baltimore, as far as the excitable elements were concerned, was in a chaotic frame of mind. The city was persuaded, through its newspapers, that the State was "being invaded." The logical consequence was the mobbing of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment upon April 19th, and the repulse of Gen. Small's helpless and un-uniformed Philadelphians. Whatever of loyalty to the Union then remained in Baltimore was dormant. It was only after the occupation of the city by Federal regiments (which included Col. Morehead's Philadelphia Light Guard and Col. Lyle's National Guards) and the arrest or flight of the secession leaders that the loyal people dared to come forth. A committee of these citizens then published an address, in their effort to set the city right in the eyes of the North, which was distributed to all passing regiments. It was as follows: "Soldiers, we welcome you to this city as men who are willing to defend the best Government on earth in the hour of its greatest need. We do not view you as barbarians whose only idea is hatred of the southern people, whose only intentions are to commit shameful crimes in violation of all law, as is charged upon you by the leaders of the Rebellion. We believe you to be actuated by a noble and honest patriotism, desiring only to preserve unimpaired the National Union. With this understanding, we wish you success and ask God's blessing upon your bodies and souls during your perilous marches. May we again behold this nation united and prosperous under one government and one flag." --The Loyal Citizens of Baltimore =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= ORGANIZATION AND WORK OF THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA Major-Gen. Robert Patterson was appointed on April 19th, 1861 to the command of the "Military Department of Washington," which included not only the District of Columbia, but also Maryland and Pennsylvania. A few days later this Department was limited to Pennsylvania, Delaware and a part of Maryland, and officially designated "The Department of Pennsylvania." Major-Gen. Patterson, in his capacity of department commander, telegraphed under date of April 19th to Lieut.-Gen. Scott for authority to requisition arms and clothing from the Government Arsenals in Philadelphia. In response he was ordered to send 5,000 muskets to arm the regiments near Harrisburg. On April 19th Gen. Patterson telegraphed to Gen. Scott, saying "The law of necessity over-rides all laws. We must have arms, ammunition, clothing and equipments. Gen. Cadwalader is decided, as I am, that our men shall not be made inmates of hospitals for want of comfortable garments which the Government has at our doors and which may be taken by others." Still there was no equipment forthcoming. President J. Edgar Thomson, of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, wrote to Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, on April 23d, that "the people of Philadelphia are mortified that the Bostonians have got nearly a week ahead of them, and that few troops are ready." Four days later Simon Cameron wired Mr. Thomson as follows: "I am really gratified to hear from you that our military friends in Philadelphia have opened their eyes to the existing state of affairs in the country. * * * * All of my orders and wishes of the past week have been neglected." Lieut.-Gen. Scott telegraphed to Gen. Patterson to send no troops deficient in equipment. Still the doors of the Arsenals remained locked. Gen. Patterson busied himself in establishing camps of instruction for his unarmed regiments at York, Chambersburg, Lancaster, Harrisburg and Philadelphia. In reporting these arrangements he added, "The impoverished condition of the Quartermaster's Department here in regard to tents, canteens and other camp and garrison equipment will prevent the execution at an early day of any plan of operations." The Secretary of War sent an order to Gen. Patterson on May 5th as follows: "Send immediately six regiments of Pennsylvania volunteers to this city (Washington) via York, Pa." Of the sixteen regiments being fitted for service in this State at that time, but one had tents, and much of the ammunition did not calibre with the guns. About this time Baltimore, having been roundly anathematized by the entire North, sent out word that the northern soldiers might go through their streets, but they would like to have some regular troops pass through first. In partial concession to this request, when the fine "1st Artillery" Regiment, armed as infantry, under the command of Col. Francis I. Patterson, left for the South on the morning of May 9th, the command was accompanied by a battalion of regular infantry (three companies) and a battery of regular artillery. Thus, three weeks after the passage through of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, Philadelphia had a regiment in the field. Every effort was now being made to outfit the 18th, 19th, 22d and 23d Regiments. When the muskets, so long awaited, were finally delivered to these commands, their respective Colonels, W. D. Lewis, Jr., Peter Lyle, Turner G. Morehead and Charles P. Dare, made a protest, stating that a large proportion of the guns were worthless, having broken locks, rusted barrels and misfit bayonets. Major Porter, A. A. G., wrote that "the guns are horrible, and if a collision should arise the responsibility is fearful. The officers will not take it." With regard to the issue of these defective fire-arms to our patient and patriotic regiments of the three months' service, the Department Commander, exasperated from his experiences and depressed by his heavy task, wrote on May 9th to his Assistant Adjutant General: "It appears that the regiments here are now entirely neglected by the State authorities, who are sending everything to the regiments in the interior." Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, with the 6th Massachusetts and 8th New York Regiments and Cook's Battery, occupied Federal Hill, Baltimore, on the night of May 12th. Two days later the 18th, 19th and 22d Regiments left Philadelphia, in command of Gen. Cadwalader, for that city. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE THREE MONTHS VOLUNTEERS, 1861 The traditions of the Pennsylvania militia are interwoven with those of the American Revolution and of subsequent wars in which the nation has been engaged. The various subordinate commands in the State have always been the nuclei of companies and regiments which have instantly responded to the call of the Commonwealth and the nation, and it was logical that the "three months' regiments" of the State, recruited under the first call of President Lincoln, should have been largely composed of these Keystone guardsmen. It will ever stand to the glory of Pennsylvania that five companies of her militia were the "First Defenders" of the City of Washington and the guardians of the Capitol building and archives in April, 1861. That these "minute men" were all from interior cities does not detract from the spirit of military ardor and activity then pervading Philadelphia. All of the then existent State militia commands in this city were included in the volunteer regiments from Philadelphia, which served under the three months' call in 1861, and these organizations included many of the best, most patriotic soldiers which this State provided. A large proportion of the officers of the three years' regiments, formed later, had a part in the three months' campaign, and the majority of the rank and file, upon discharge, promptly re-enlisted for the long service that the war exacted from the three years' soldiers. The Pennsylvania militia organization was the school of the Pennsylvania volunteers. In the confusion of the time, due to the necessity of protecting the rail route leading directly from Harrisburg to Washington, the process of mustering and forwarding to exposed points in Maryland the hastily- formed regiments at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, had the earliest attention of the Government mustering officers. Thus it happened that the first of the waiting regiments at Philadelphia to become soldiers of the nation was numbered the 17th, although it was actually inducted into the volunteer army before some of the Camp Curtin regiments to whom lower designations were given. Pennsylvania regiments raised under later call by the Government were sent forward singly and brigaded from Washington. The three months' troops of the Keystone State formed a complete army of twenty-five regiments of infantry and a small force of cavalry, officered by the Governor of the State. This force numbered 20,979 officers and men. The services performed by the Philadelphia volunteers of the three months' campaign were most important, as they had an active part in guarding the routes leading southward and in keeping Maryland within loyal territory pending the formation of an army of the North under the call for "three years or the war." They also enabled the veteran Major- General Robert Patterson to enter northern Virginia and thus prevent a strong Confederate advance upon Washington at that time. The task of the regiments along the upper Potomac river under Gen. Patterson, in the early summer of 1861, was not battle, but a show of force.[24] Fifteen months prior to the event of Fort Sumter, ex-President Franklin Pierce had written to Jefferson Davis: "I have never believed that the actual disruption of the Union can come without blood, and if through the madness of Northern abolitionism, that dire calamity must come, the fighting will not be along Mason and Dixon's line merely. It will be within our own borders, in our own streets."[25] Although one great battle and eight minor engagements were fought upon the soil of Pennsylvania, and thirty battles and skirmishes occurred in Maryland, the three months' campaign, under the direction of Major-General Robert Patterson, determined that the chief theater of the drama of war should be in the heart of old Virginia. [24] Major-Gen. Patterson, then a prominent manufacturer of Philadelphia, was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1792. He came to America while yet a boy. He served as a volunteer in the War of 1812-1814, with the rank of captain. In the Mexican War he held a commission of major-general. As a result of his three-months' campaign and due to contradictory orders from Washington he was unjustly treated by the military authorities in 1861. He was afterward exonerated. His death occurred on August 7th, 1881. [25] McPherson's History of the Rebellion Jefferson Davis, in an address made at Stevenson, Alabama in February, 1861, said: "Your border States will gladly come into the Southern Confederacy within sixty days, as we will be their only friends. The grass will grow in the Northern cities where the pavements have been worn off by the tread of commerce. We will carry war where it is easy to advance--where food for the sword and torch awaits our armies in the densely populated cities, and though they may come and spoil our crops, we can raise them as before, while they cannot rear the cities which took years of industry and millions of money to build."[26] [26] The American Conflict, Greeley The best answer to this deliverance ever made was the salvation of Maryland by the soldiers of Pennsylvania, under Patterson, with the approval and aid of the loyal citizens of that "border State." Truly, the months of weary and nearly bloodless marches and counter- marches of the Pennsylvania brigades through Maryland and northern Virginia in 1861 were not in vain. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= PHILADELPHIA COMMANDS OF THE THREE MONTHS SERVICE, 1861 The eight regiments, one cavalry troop, one artillery company and one independent company furnished by Philadelphia under the first call by the President, dated April 15th, 1861, to serve three months, were as follows: SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel Francis E. Patterson The First Regiment of Artillery was mustered upon April 25th 1861. This organization included the Washington Grays, Philadelphia Grays, Cadwalader Grays, National Artillery, West Philadelphia Grays, Independent Grays, and State Guards. Col. Patterson had been, twenty years previously, a member of the Washington Blues of Philadelphia, organized by his father, Gen. Robert Patterson. After a brief business career in New Orleans he had joined the Texas Rangers, became a Lieutenant in Magruder's Regular Battery, of the First Artillery, U.S.A. Later he had held the rank of captain in the 9th Regiment Infantry (regulars), on duty in Oregon, finally accepting his present command, which, leaving Philadelphia via Baltimore, upon May 10th, 1861, was the first Philadelphia regiment to reach Washington. Upon May 15th the regiment was designated, by Governor Curtin, "The 17th Regiment, Penna. Volunteer Infantry." This regiment was, at first, quartered in the Capitol building, but later performed guard duty along the upper Potomac river, as a part of Gen. Patterson's column operating in that section. Companies B and C of the regiment were engaged in a skirmish at Edward's Ferry, Va., upon June 17th. Mustered out upon August 2d, 1861. EIGHTEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel William D. Lewis, Jr. The old First Regiment Infantry Militia was mustered upon April 24, 1861. This regiment included the State Fencibles, Washington Blues, Minute Men of '76, National Grays, Garde Lafayette and Zouaves. The officers whose State commissions dated from 1858 were continued in their respective ranks. Upon May 14th this command proceeded to Fort McHenry and upon May 22d entered Baltimore, then under military control of Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, and was here engaged in provost duty. Two companies were dispatched to the National Arsenal at Pikesville, from which they removed the Government property to Fort McHenry. The regiment continued in service ten days beyond the period of enlistment, and was mustered out at Philadelphia upon August 7th, 1861. NINETEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel Peter Lyle The Second Regiment Infantry Militia, nine companies, mustered April 27th, 1861. Part of this regiment was already on duty at Perryville, guarding the railroad and the Susquehanna river bridge. The regiment, which had been increased from a militia battalion in 1860, was ordered to Fort McHenry and Baltimore upon May 10th, where it remained during and for some days beyond the term of service, engaged in the maintenance of loyalty and good order. Mustered out at Philadelphia August 29th, 1861. TWENTIETH REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel William A. Gray The Scott Legion (an independent organization) was mustered April 30th, 1861. This regiment was barracked in the building adjoining the Custom House upon the west. The men were clad in the uniform of the pattern worn by many members in the War with Mexico. Later, after a considerable stay at Suffolk Park, the regiment was sent to Major-Gen. Robert Patterson's command, with which it remained until mustered out July 20th, 1861. TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel John F. Ballier "The German Rifle Regiment" mustered April 29th, 1861. Included were the Lafayette, Sarsfield, Washington, Philadelphia and Jackson Rifle Companies. From the 20th to the 29th of May the regiment was engaged in drill and target practice at Suffolk Park. It then joined Major-General Robert Patterson's command operating upon the upper Potomac river, and was mustered out August 8th, 1861. A majority of the enlisted men and officers subsequently became identified with the several distinctively German regiments raised for the three-year service in Philadelphia and New York City. TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel Turner G. Morehead This regiment was formed from the First Infantry Militia, Philadelphia Light Guard, and was mustered April 24th, 1861. Upon the day of the surrender of Fort Sumter, April 14th, this command had been accepted by Governor Curtin, and, with headquarters at the State Arsenal, had filled its ten companies at the date of muster. Logan Square was used as a drill ground. In company with the 18th and 19th Regiments the command departed May 14th, by rail, for Fort McHenry and Baltimore, where it remained to date of muster out, August 7th 1861. TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel Charles P. Dare This command was originally the Artillery Battalion, Third Brigade, First Division, Pennsylvania Militia. It was mustered as infantry upon April 21st, 1861, and immediately sent to Perryville, Havre de Grace and other points near the lower Susquehanna river. It had been preceded to this section by Col. Dare, temporarily assigned to command of the 4th Regiment, from Montgomery County, who also took with him Company A, of the 23d (Continental Guards). This was, therefore, the first fully equipped Philadelphia company to leave for the scene of the war.[27] At Perryville, Col. Dare was placed in command of the post, which included regulars, volunteers, and a fleet of gunboats and transports. Relieved, upon May 11th, by the 11th Pennsylvania Regiment, the 23d Regiment proceeded to Chambersburg, Pa., and there joined the force of General Patterson, being engaged in the several movements of that campaign. The 23d formed part of a force of Union troops composed of regulars and volunteers which met the Confederates at the action of Falling Waters, West Virginia, upon July 2d, 1861, and shares with the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry, also present, the honor of participating in the first battle of the Civil War which was fought south of the Potomac river, in which Pennsylvania troops were engaged.[28] The regiment was mustered out upon July 31st, 1861. The 23d was the first properly enlisted regiment of Philadelphia troops in the field. When the regiment re-enlisted in the "three years'" service it was allowed to retain its original number in the Pennsylvania line. Under the synonym, "Birney's Zouaves," the reorganized regiment was uniformed as zouaves, but when this showy costume was worn out it adopted the regulation blue of the infantry. [27] Bates' History, page 40 [28] Dyer's Compendium, page 1578 TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT INFANTRY Colonel Joshua T. Owen The 24th was recruited from the old 2d Regiment of the Second Brigade. It was composed largely of men of the Irish birth or descent. Being well advanced in its formation, it was accepted and mustered upon May 1st, 1861. The command included the Irish Volunteers, Hibernia Greens, Emmett Guard, Meagher Guard, Jackson Guard, Shields Guard, Patterson Light Guards and United Guards. Company H was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. Early in June this command arrived at Chambersburg, Pa., and a participated in the several movements of Major-General Robert Patterson's troops, ending at Harper's Ferry. At the urgent request of the General in command the 24th Regiment remained on duty two weeks beyond its term of service, being mustered out August 15th, at Philadelphia. THE COMMONWEALTH ARTILLERY COMPANY Captain James E. Montgomery This company was raised in Philadelphia and mustered upon April 24th, 1861, to serve three months. The command was promptly sent to reinforce the small garrison of regulars at Fort Delaware. At the end of its tour of duty the battery was mustered out upon August 5th, 1861.[29] [29] This command is not included in Bates' list, but is recorded by Dyer, pp.216 and 217. THE FIRST TROOP PHILADELPHIA CITY CAVALRY Captain Thomas C. James Thirty officers and men of this Troop having been mustered into the United States service upon May 13th, 1861, at Point Breeze, Philadelphia, four weeks after its tender to the Governor of the State, reported at Carlisle, Pa. Upon May 30th, the Troop was attached to the Second Regular Cavalry, Col. George H. Thomas. The Troop had been provided at Philadelphia with regulation cavalry uniforms. Moving thence to Shippensburg and Chambersburg, the cavalry encamped at the latter point. On June 7th the command, with other troops, arrived at Greencastle, Pa., and then advanced to Williamsport, Maryland, upon the upper Potomac river. The division, under Gen. Cadwalader, here crossed the river into West Virginia. At Falling Waters, upon July 2d, the Troop was engaged with the enemy, thus winning the distinction of being the first body of Pennsylvania cavalry under fire during the Civil War. The Union column re-crossed the Potomac upon July 2d. Skirmishing upon the way to Martinsburg, Charlestown was reached upon the 17th. Here the objective point was changed to Harper's Ferry, where the column arrived upon July 21st. While in the field the Troop was reinforced by forty-one recruits. The Troop was afterward stationed at Sandy Hook, Maryland, from which camp it returned to Philadelphia, and was mustered out upon August 17th. McMULLIN RANGERS This company was organized chiefly from the membership of the Moyamensing Hose Company, on May 20th, 1861, and served with Gen. Patterson's force in the three months' campaign. The McMullin Rangers are credited, together with the 23d Regiment, with participation in the action at Bunker Hill, W. Va., July 15th, 1861. The number of officers and men from Philadelphia in the three months' service of 1861 was about 5,700. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE PHILADELPHIA HOME GUARD By authority of an Act of Assembly adopted upon May 16th, 1861, the Mayor and Councils of Philadelphia decided to form a Home Guard Brigade, not to exceed ten thousand men, to be composed of five regiments of the line, one regiment of light infantry, one regiment of riflemen, one regiment of cavalry and two regiments of artillery. These troops were intended to be distinct from the State Militia and to be subject to the orders of the city authorities. Membership in this organization did not exempt citizens from liability of draft. Philadelphia was empowered to collect a special tax to uniform and equip the Home Guard. Brig.-Gen. A. J. Pleasonton was appointed in command. In November, 1861, the use of the market house, at Broad and Race streets, was given to the Home Guard as an armory. Many independent companies were absorbed into this organization. On February 22d, 1862, the Home Guard paraded the following troops: First Regiment Infantry - Col. John M. Bickell Second Regiment Infantry - Col. Charles P. Dare Third Regiment Infantry - Major William B. Thomas First Battalion, First Regiment Rifles - Major Harry Pressner First Battalion, Second Regiment Rifles - Major Charles E. Graeff Company B, First Regiment Artillery - Capt. Matthew Hastings Company C, First Regiment Artillery - Capt. Mark G. Biddle Company D, First Regiment Artillery - Capt. E. Spencer Miller First Troop, City Home Guard - Capt. John Bavington Washington Light Cavalry - Capt. J. W. Hall In an official report to the Mayor, Brig.-Gen. Pleasonton stated that he had in line, upon that occasion, 2,096 men, all well armed and provided with uniforms, including overcoats. He reported as absent 2,162 men. At a later period the brigade commander claimed that the Home Guard had supplied to the army 3,000 infantry and a battery of artillery. A number of officers who afterward became distinguished in the volunteers graduated from this force, and it is probable that the most valuable results gained from this local attempt to maintain a municipal military body is to be found in the foregoing fact. During the Confederate invasion of the State in September, 1862, nineteen companies of the Home Guard were sent to the Cumberland Valley and elsewhere. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= MAY AND JUNE, 1861, A SURPLUS OF ENLISTMENTS In the latter days of May, a rush of enlistments beyond all requirements, possessed the youth of the city.[30] New companies were constantly projected, each having its distinctive name and enthusiastic enrollment. The streets, public squares and suburban tracts were alive with drilling squads of recruits. The Philadelphia newspapers clamored at the injustice of the Government in allowing the State of New York to send fifty-two regiments into the field while accepting from Pennsylvania but twenty-six regiments. Hundreds of men, impatient of the uncertainty of local enlistment, went individually to New York City and there entered the National service. The agents of other States opened recruiting offices in Philadelphia. The regular army, marine corps and navy absorbed much of the best material.[31] [30] Probably the most notable instance of enlistments from a single Philadelphia family was that of the seven Neilson brothers, six of whom served in the army and one in the navy. Of this group two are now living, one of the survivors being Gavin Neilson, Assistant Clerk of Common Council, who lost an arm at Spotsylvania. [31] The first of the military funerals of which Philadelphia was destined to see so many was that of Lieut. John Trout Greble, U. S. A., a young officer of artillery, killed on June 10th, 1861, at Big Bethel, Va. The military burial, on June 14th, impressed the public greatly with the sad realities of war. Many of the tentative companies, advertised in hand-bills and through the daily papers, were afterward merged, and others of the surplus finally became identified with the Home Guards, the first company of which, the City Grays, was enrolled at the Philadelphia Bank Building on May 25th, 1861. The names of many colonels and lesser officers, much in evidence in the newspapers of that period, were conspicuously absent from the roster of the field and staff of the regimental organizations. The fighting colonels who were to lead many a regiment through historic campaigns were often, in the beginning, modest officers of the line or men in the ranks. When a company had found its place and letter in a regiment, its recruiting title was generally forgotten, but every old soldier who first handled musket or sabre in one of those ambitious formative organizations has always held a sentimental interest in the original names by which they were known. Separate Companies Forming In Philadelphia In 1861 Spring Garden Minie Rifles - joined 71st Regiment Franklin Guards - joined 71st Regiment Pennsylvania Guards - joined 71st Regiment Marion Guards - joined 29th Regiment 2d Company West Philadelphia Grays - joined 29th Regiment United Rifles - joined 29th Regiment Belmont Guards - joined 29th Regiment Koska Guards - joined 29th Regiment Wayne Artillery Corps - joined 29th Regiment Federal Guards - joined 29th Regiment Henry Clay Fencibles - joined 29th Regiment Morgan Artillery - joined 29th Regiment Dougherty Guards - joined 29th Regiment Lincoln Cavalry (3 companies) - joined 1st New York Cavalry State Fencibles, 3d Company - joined 82d Regiment Read Guards - joined 4th Pennsylvania Reserves Able Guards - joined 4th Pennsylvania Reserves Dickson Guards - joined 4th Pennsylvania Reserves Quaker City Guards - joined 4th Pennsylvania Reserves Harmer Guards - joined 4th Pennsylvania Reserves Wayne Guards - joined 12th Pennsylvania Reserves Duncan Guards - joined 8th Pennsylvania Reserves City Guards (Schuylkill Arsenal Employees) Wetherill Blues - joined 82d Regiment Penn Rifles - joined 2d Reserves Governor's Rangers - joined 2d Reserves Hibernia Target Company - joined 2d Reserves Governor's Rangers, 2d Company - joined 2d Reserves Governor's Rangers, 3d Company - joined 2d Reserves Taggart Guards - joined 2d Reserves Independent Rangers - joined 2d Reserves Constitution Guards - joined 2d Reserves Consolidation Guards - joined 2d Reserves Scotch Rifles - joined 2d Reserves Germantown guards - joined 3d Reserves Ontario Infantry - joined 3d Reserves De Silver Grays - joined 3d Reserves Philadelphia Guards - joined 7th Reserves Ridgeway Guards - joined 7th Reserves Douglas Guards - joined 7th Reserves Philadelphia Merchant Troop - joined 3d Cavalry Curtin Hussars became 12th Cavalry Regiment Washington Troop - joined 14th Cavalry Garde Lafayette - joined 82d Regiment Gymnast Zouaves - joined 23d Regiment Other companies then being recruited in different sections of the City were the Washington Rifle Reserve Guard, Minute Guards (from Jefferson Grammar School), Atalanta Guards, Henry Guards (city police), Kirkwood Rangers, Wissahickon Rifles, Brownell Zouaves, Light Infantry Corps (U. of P.), Commonwealth Light Infantry, Quaker City Artillery (1st and 2d companies), National Guard Cadets, Pennsylvania Cadets, Garde Lafayette Cadets, Boys' Own Infantry, United States Zouaves, Washington Zouaves, Philadelphia Cadets, Hamilton Rifles, Jayne Rifles, Bustleton Home Guard, Ellsworth Zouave Cadets, Penn Treaty Home Guard, Girard Home Guard, Ironside Guards, Union Artillery Guard, Municipal Guard, Buena Vista Rangers, Maennerchor Rifles, Blucher's Home Guards, Freeman's Rifle Corps, Gas Works Company.[32] [32] As an example to the employees of the City Gas Works, the Board of Trustees took the Oath of Loyalty to the United States Government. It was subsequently administered to all of the workmen, who were represented, in August, 1862, by one hundred and eighteen men in the army, in addition to which two companies were afterward formed which joined Roberts' Artillery. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA The Military District of Philadelphia was commanded in the course of the war by the following officers: Brig.-Gen. William R. Montgomery Brig.-Gen. O. S. Terry Major-Gen. N. J. T. Dana Lieut.-Col. William D. Whipple, U. S. A., and Major-Gen. George Cadwalader The latter officer succeeded Major-Gen. Darius N. Couch in June, 1865, as commander of the Department of Pennsylvania and established his headquarters at Philadelphia. Later he was succeeded by Major-Gen. A. A. Humphreys. The provost headquarters in the city was stationed, under Capt. John Orr Finnie, at the old Pennsylvania Bank building on Second street near Dock. The site is now covered by the U. S. bonded warehouse. The United States provost marshals for the several districts comprising the City of Philadelphia were: 1st District, Captain William E. Lehman 2d District, Captain Edwin Palmer 3d District, Captain Jacob S. Stretch 4th District, Captain D. M. Lane 5th District, Captain Mahlon Yardley In January, 1864, the provost guard at Philadelphia consisted of about two hundred and fifty men, detached from numerous regiments and under command of Lieut.-Col. H. A. Frink, with headquarters at Fifth and Buttonwood streets. A provost company of eighty men, under Capt. Finnie, was stationed at this time at Fort Mifflin. The District of Philadelphia was an important command. The provost marshal held supervision of the thousands of convalescent soldiers then in the local military hospitals, returning them to their respective regiments when again fit for further service. He provided hospital supplies and issued vouchers for the payment of soldiers in hospitals or on special duty. Good order among the multitude of soldiers always thronging the streets required his constant attention. His force was increased in the spring of 1864 to a full regiment, the 186th Infantry. The Military District of Philadelphia was discontinued in August, 1865. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= WAR SERVICE OF THE RAILROADS In 1861, Philadelphia's rail connection with the South consisted of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, the Pennsylvania, the Northern Central and the Cumberland Valley Railroads.[33] The importance of the first and second, from a military standpoint, was recognized long before the outbreak of the war. The third and fourth became, in the course of the struggle, "bones of contention" between the Union and the Confederate forces upon many occasions. Although the burden of responsibility was heavy and constant, the officers of these corporations worked nobly to assist the National Government throughout the war. This patriotic attitude of the railroad officials had already been shown in the safe conduct of President-elect Lincoln to Washington upon the night of February 22d, 1861. [33] The Pennsylvania Central Railroad occupied the building upon the south side of Market street, east of Eleventh street, in 1852, when the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company vacated it upon completion of its new terminal building at Broad and Prime streets. It was here that the "Pennsylvania" was organized, and it was, for a dozen years or more, its main point of arrival and departure, the cars being hauled to and from West Philadelphia by mules. The hotel on the site of the present New Bingham House was built in 1812 by Gen. Thomas Leiper, and was then quite out of town. In the Civil War period it was still called the "New Mansion House." It was conducted at that time by James London, and was practically an annex to the railroad "depot." Realizing that the resentment of the disloyal element south of the Susquehanna River, because of this feat, would probably result in damage to the company's property, President Samuel M. Felton, of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, organized a select force of about two hundred men to guard the bridges, and act, if necessary, as a military body. A train was kept in readiness to concentrate them at any time, and in order to allay suspicion, they were put at work whitewashing the bridges, some of which were given, it is said, six or seven coats, a very good protection against fire. Immediately following the transportation of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment and of the unarmed Philadelphians under Gen. Small into Baltimore, with the attendant rioting, the Mayor and Police Commissioners of that city ordered the destruction of the bridges. The work was entrusted to a force in charge of Isaac R. Trimble, formerly a superintendent of the railroad company. As a result, upon April 20th, the Harris Creek bridge at Baltimore, and the Bush River bridge were burned. The draw of the long Gunpowder River bridge was burned six days later. All telegraph wires leading from Baltimore were cut. It required twenty-four days of hard work to repair the damage, and, in the meantime, troops and supplies were carried from Perryville and Havre de Grace upon the large transport steamer Maryland, the Philadelphia ice boat and other vessels, to Annapolis, Md. With the occupation of Baltimore by an effective Federal force under Gen. B. F. Butler, and the arrest of the pro-southern leaders, the latent Union sentiment of the city again manifested itself. The only further damage to the P., W. and B. line was done in July, 1864, by a raiding party from Gen. Jubal Early's force, known as Gilmour's guerrillas, which partially burned the Gunpowder River bridge and a few cars. The P., W. and B. was destined to become, in the following years, the greatest military highway in history. Mr. Thomas A. Scott was granted leave of absence from the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, in order to serve the Government as Assistant Secretary of War. He was, at this time, thirty-seven years old, and endowed with great energy as well as experience. It was his task to facilitate the movement of troops by rail and to establish telegraphic service in the field. At his insistence the first military telegraph station in America was opened in the office of Governor Curtin at Harrisburg, April 17th, 1861, by William Bender Wilson, who later became manager of military telegraphs at Washington. Mr. Scott was given a commission by President Lincoln as Colonel of the District of Columbia Volunteers. Among the young men he summoned to Washington to aid him was Frank Thomson, who was not yet twenty years old, but who was well versed in the line of work assigned to him. Under the orders of Col. Scott he organized the Military Telegraphic Corps, the first auxiliary of its kind in the world, from among the dispatchers of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was the duty of this corps to maintain the important lines used by the armies in the field in serviceable condition.[34] [34] In May, 1861, Major Fitz-John Porter, A. A. G., Department of Pennsylvania, acting under orders, had prepared to burn the bridges of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway and of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, if necessary, to impede any general advance of the Confederates northward. The Northern Central Railroad, in which the Pennsylvania Railroad Company soon afterward acquired a controlling interest, was operated as a separate corporation under President James Donald Cameron. Joseph N. DuBarry, superintendent of this line, Col. O. N. Lull, of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, and other officials co-operated with General Superintendent Enoch Lewis and Division Superintendent Samuel D. Young, of the Pennsylvania System, in maintaining a mounted patrol along the southern border of the State as a safeguard against raids. The members of this patrol made constant use of a line of telegraph extending from Chambersburg to Bedford, keeping the railroad officials at Harrisburg, and through them, the War Department, fully informed of predatory movements by the enemy. It was due to the energy of the Northern Central officials that the five companies of Pennsylvania militia, known in history as the First Defenders, were promptly and safely conveyed to Washington when President Lincoln summoned troops for the defense of the National Capitol. Until the opening of the Civil War the railroad had never been a factor in army campaigns. The alternate destruction and rebuilding of tracks in the disputed territory in the earlier part of the war made it imperative to employ experts familiar with work of that character. In April, 1862, the Secretary of War called to Washington Mr. Herman Haupt, of Philadelphia, an engineering graduate of West Point, who had previously occupied the position of the Pennsylvania Railroad's first general superintendent, and was, at the time, engaged upon important work in Massachusetts. He was appointed Chief of Construction and Transportation, with the rank of Colonel. In recognition of invaluable services rendered the Government, Col. Haupt was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in September, 1862. Gen. Haupt and his subordinates performed heroic service in many times of need and danger. Prominent among the railroad men who served in this branch of the army were W. W. Wright, of the Pennsylvania Railroad staff, who became Gen. Sherman's Chief of Construction upon the campaign through Georgia and the Carolinas; General Adna Anderson and E. C. Smeed formerly of the Catawissa Railroad. It was with the co-operation of such practical engineers that, under the active personal supervision of Col. Thomas A. Scott, Col. D. C. McCallum, successor to Gen. Haupt, was able to transport General Hooker's force of twenty-two thousand men with all their impedimenta from Catlett's Station, Va., to Georgia and Tennessee, over a distance of nearly twelve hundred miles in eight days. William J. Palmer, private secretary in 1861 to President John Edgar Thompson of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, resigned to take command of the famous "Anderson Troop" of cavalry, and in 1862 recruited and took command of the 160th Regiment, better known as the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, which he continued to lead to the end of the war. The list of officers of the line and field in the Federal armies who thus left the service of the railroads for that of their country was large and their achievements brilliant. One of the most distinguished instances was that of President George Brinton McClellan, of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company, a former captain of the regular army.[35] [35] Capt. McClellan was a native of Philadelphia. He was attached to the Corps of Engineers, having graduated at West Point in 1846. He had resigned from the army in 1857. He was a son of Dr. George McClellan of Philadelphia. He was born at the southwest corner of Seventh Street (then Columbia Avenue) and Walnut Street, December 3d, 1826. The patriotic attitude of the Philadelphia railroad officials is illustrated in a circular issued to all employees by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, proposing to them to devote one day's pay in each month to the purchase of Government bonds, the interest to be reinvested until the close of the war. This was generally done. The Railroad Companies voted large sums of money to the relief of soldiers' families.[36] The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company performed valuable service throughout the war by the rapid transportation of troops and actively providing coal at its tide-water terminals for naval use. And while considerable rioting among the foreign miners in the coal regions, in resistance to drafts, required the presence of troops, that section of the State sent some splendid regiments to the front.[37] [36] In later years a large proportion of the men who occupied important and responsible positions with the railroad companies centering at Philadelphia were returned veterans of the armies of the Union cause. [37] In the summer of 1864, the wide-spread spirit of disloyalty, existing in the Pennsylvania coal regions, manifested by strikes and riots, induced the Government to take military control of the Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad in order to secure the necessary supply of coal for naval purposes. In September, 1863, troops stationed at Pottsville were the 10th N. Y. Infantry, 1st N. Y. Artillery and the Invalid Corps. Through at least a portion of the war period the official envelopes of the Pennsylvania Railroad bore the then popular device of cannon and flags. The subscriptions made at various times by the Pennsylvania for the help of the Sanitary Fair and the military hospitals amounted to $220,000, and for homes for orphans of deceased soldiers and sailors, $50,000. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=