USA > Maryland > Fifth regiment, I., M.N.G. : a history of the regiment from its first organization to the present time > Part 7
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That night the men of the Fifth slept on their arms. Sixteen senti- nels guarded Camden Street, and the men not on sentinel duty lay in the street with knapsacks for pillows and their arms beside them. There was a small, two-story frame house, used then as a tobacco stand, on the north side of Camden Street. Over this house the rocks began to fall, and they continued to drop down upon the soldiers for hours. The auditor's office, on the third floor of the depot, was used as a hospital, and here Drs. Alan P. Smith and Wm. H. Crim were kept busy. Seventy-seven men needed their services during 'the first two days of the riot. No man was expected to remain long off duty on account of any but serious injuries. One of the men, whose nose had been broken, went up to the hospital and had the organ straightened by some rough surgery, best described
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by stating that it was knocked back into place, and was sent down stairs again. The sentinels were relieved every two hours, with four hours off duty. For about two days the men obtained their meals at Joyce's Hotel, on the north side of Camden Street, until the arrangements for rations had been made.
Saturday dawned upon a city convulsed with excitement. Pitts- burg's bloody drama was not to present its terrible scenes for some. hours. The wires were kept hot with messages to President Hayes for assistance, and to Federal commandants, directing the movements of troops. In Baltimore all business was suspended. Bank presi- dents were alarmed, and United States property became the subject of no little anxiety. During the day, Hon. John L. Thomas, the Collector of the port of Baltimore, concluding that strong measures of a preventive nature ought to be taken to assure the protection of the Custom House and the United States bonded warehouses at Locust Point, telegraphed to Washington for a small body of troops. In the answer it was suggested that he might organize a force. This was impracticable. . However, on Saturday night, Collector Thomas ordered the revenue cutter Ewing, which had arrived in port, over to Locust Point, to watch over the Government warehouses. In half an hour after receiving the order, Captain Fengar, the commander of the cutter, had steam up and crossed the channel. The cutter's guns were soon trained on the approaches to the warehouses, and a detail from Fort McHenry came to aid in the guard work. On the same night, the Light Street steamers, upon coming into port, anchored in the stream instead of at their wharves, to remove the danger of fire.
Thomas A. Symington, the Adjutant at the time, was present at Camden Station. Besides Captain Zollinger, Captain Robt. P. Brown commanded Company C; Captain W. S. Anderson, Company F; Cap- tain John D. Lipscomb, Company B ; Captain Chas. H. Reeves, Com- pany G; Captain- Wm. P. Herbert, Company K ; and Captain Sands Mills, Company D. E. C. Johnson, the Commissary, and Robt. J. Miller, the Quartermaster, also reported at the armory.
In 1877 the regiment did not have the Gatling gun which it now possesses. This piece was obtained in August, 1878, two old brass howitzers being given in exchange for it.
Nightfall on Saturday found everything quiet at Camden Station and but few people on the neighboring streets. Increasing darkness required a stronger guard. It was not long before the number of
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listless spectators had been quadrupled, and the listless manner itself had disappeared. At the Eutaw Street crossing of Camden Street the crowd became dense, and the turbulent element strong and threatening. Large stones, every few minutes, were hurled towards the depot.
At the Eutaw Street crossing was the line of sentinels belonging .to Company H of the Fifth, and at the Howard Street crossing the sentinels of company K were posted. On the north side of Camden Street all was dark and the buildings seemed deserted. The main body of policemen were in the depot. and with them were Police Commissioner Gilmor, Marshal Gray, Deputy Marshal Frey, and some of the district captains. A short distance in front of the sentries were dense masses of men. Hardly an hour of darkness had elapsed when a light appeared in the distance, growing brighter and larger every moment, and a short time after the bells rang out an alarm from box 42. This was the signal for action. At both ends of the guarded space on Camden Street, the mob burst into a chorus of yells, and surged toward the soldiers, throwing such a storm of rocks, sup- ported by a rattling of pistol shots, that scarcely a soldier in the street escaped unhurt. The two companies were on their feet in an instant. Down at Howard Street, Captain Herbert called his sentinels in, and the next moment the command " Load, ready, aim !" was given and the muskets were leveled, but the crowd knew enough about military affairs to understand the order which generally followed, and fled from that part of the street with such astonishing speed that any firing was unnecessary. At Eutaw Street the sentinels were not called in. Company H threw its line up the street, with fixed bayonets, and then followed a struggle in which the mob, which did all of the firing, strove to break the line. But the soldiers kept their line solid until the struggle had ended. When the outbreak occurred, a body of policemen sallied from the depot, headed by Marshal Gray, and with revolver in one hand and espantoon in the other, grappled with the mob, and while the bayonets of Company H pressed the rioters back, the police madearrests by the dozen. A temporary guard-room was established in the depot, and there the captured rioters who could not be transferred at once to a police station, were held under a guard of the Fifth. Some of the prisoners showed such frenzied excitement and reckless ferocity, while crazed with drink, that there was great danger of bloody scenes in the depot. Some of them turned on the guards, and would have got the contents of their muskets, but that the officers ordered the men not to fire.
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The first United States troops appeared at Camden Station on Sunday morning, and the wearied men of the Fifth, who had been on duty since Friday evening, "turned in" to take a rest which nobody doubted that they had well earned. In doing guard duty afterwards at Camden Station, the Fifth and the United States soldiers took equal shares. The Federal artillery troops brought with them two long Napoleons, guns of a formidable pattern. On the night following the arrival of the artillery, a false alarm was acciden- tally given. With the celerity of trained regulars, the artillerymen were up and had their two guns out on Camden Street in a twinkling, pointing east and west ; then the whole force turned out, to find that it was all a mistake.
Mt. Clare was naturally the object of solicitude. Infuriated men who wanted to destroy the railroad company's property would natu- rally be expected to apply the torch to the company's workshops, especially as they were so easily accessible. Measures to prevent destruction there were taken promptly, and although the force to guard the place was a small one, it proved to be a fairly efficient one. The rioters were out in great numbers on Saturday night, on the line between the station and Viaduct Switch. At ten o'clock a crowd of over one hundred collected at the foundry at the Carey Street bridge, and loud threats to burn the building were freely made. There is not much doubt that these threats would have been put into execu- tion but for the appearance suddenly of Captain Lipscomb with Company B of the Fifth. An unexpected volley from these officers fired over the heads of the rioters put them to flight, and for a few hours there was comparative quiet about the neighborhood.
A long train of coal-oil cars stood upon the track at Viaduct Switch. Two hours after midnight the mob set it on fire. The police fought both the rioters and the flames. Later, a company of fifty marines came to their assistance. Much was saved, but the damage amounted to over twelve thousand dollars.
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CHAPTER XVI. THE RIOTS DIE OUT.
REMARKABLE INCREASE IN THE FIFTH'S MEMBERSHIP .- FIVE HUN- DRED MEMBERS .- THE FEDERAL TROOPS .- GEN. HANCOCK .- NEW REGIMENTS .- THE ARMORY A BUSY PLACE .- AN ELECTION OF OFFICERS .- GUARDING TRAINS .- THE RIOTS AT AN END .- WARM PRAISE FOR THE REGIMENT.
The military and civil forces gathered in Baltimore on Sunday morning were such as to set at rest any fear of a resumption of mob rule. Business on Saturday had been almost totally suspended, and the riots were the all-engrossing topic of conversation. The Fifth had doubled its first strength. Members of the regiment who had been out of town on business or pleasure hastened back to the city when they heard that their services were needed. They came from such cities as New York and summer resorts as Cape May, with all the speed possible, and in addition to them there was no lack of applicants for enlistment among men who might never have thought of joining the Fifth but for such an emergency as that which had arisen. The recruiting officers of the regiment were able to take their pick of those who offered themselves. The thin ranks became well filled with the best soldier material. In two days the Fifth numbered about three hundred and fifty muskets, and before the regiment returned to its armory it had a force of upwards of five hundred. On Sunday morning there were two thousand soldiers in Baltimore, and there were expected two thousand more in a day or two. This strength it was intended to increase by the presence of the war vessels Powhatan and Swatara, with five hun- dred marines, which had been ordered to Baltimore. The police force of the city had been doubled by swearing in five hundred special policemen, to be held in reserve at the various police stations and to patrol the posts from which the regular force had been with- drawn. Among these special policemen were some of the most eminent men in the city. Disorderly crowds showed their hostile feeling towards the United States troops which were arriving,
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frequently, but open attacks were not attempted. About noon, a special train rolled into the President Street Depot, and a corps of United States Engineers disembarked. The battalion came from Willis Point, New York, and consisted of Company A, Captain J. S. Hanbury ; Company B, Captain M. Miller, and Company C, Captain W. S. Livermore, with seven officers and one hundred and seven men. Brigadier-General H. G. Abbott commanded the detachment. Its arrival had not been expected, but a crowd gathered, and greeted the soldiers with groans and hisses. As the detachment marched up President Street to Pratt Street, stones were thrown. Finally, one of the soldiers in Company A was struck on the head. The com- manding officer sharply ordered a halt and turned his men on the crowd, which immediately fled. The battalion resumed its march to the Sixth Regiment armory.
Major-General Winfield 'S. Hancock, commanding the Military Division of the Atlantic, arrived at ten o'clock in the morning from New York and established his headquarters at Barnum's Hotel. He was accompanied by General R. Arnold, Inspector-General; Colonel W. G. Mitchell, his aide; and General C. G. Sautelle. The scenes at Barnum's, after General Hancock's arrival, recalled those of military headquarters during the war between the States. Such a gathering of prominent men, chiefly those who were or had been engaged in military life, had not been seen in Baltimore for many years. The staff officers were kept busy by their chief. Every few minutes orderlies arrived or departed. Passenger travel to Washington was resumed at nine o'clock on Sunday morning.
That the citizens of Baltimore were thoroughly aroused and resolved to protect the city from mob-rule was shown by the rapid manner in which preparations were made for the organization of two new regiments, to be called respectively the Seventh and the Eighth, and the hundreds of men who answered the first call for recruits. Men of wealth and prominence gladly volunteered to serve in the ranks. The Fifth Regiment's armory was used as a recruiting sta- tion, and early on Sunday it was occupied by the corps of United States Engineers, who brought with them from the armory of the Sixth Regiment the two brass howitzers, sets of harness, two thousand rounds of ammunition, two hundred and fifty muskets and accoutre- ments, as well as a number of uniform suits, left behind by the Sixth Regiment, of whom there was not a man to be found. Governor Carroll, with his staff, and Adjutant-General Bond had their head-
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quarters at the City Hall. Numerous consultations were held with General Hancock during the day, the principal subject discussed being the action to be taken in the event of grave emergencies. It was the common opinion that the day would be a quiet one, and that no exertion of military strength would be needed.
The call for volunteers for the two new regiments was made by the Governor and Adjutant-General, after consultation with a number of prominent citizens. Each regiment was to consist of one thousand men, in ten companies, commissioned officers to be selected from citizens who had been in active service during the war between the States. General James Howard was commissioned as colonel of the Seventh Regiment, and General Charles E. Phelps was appointed colonel of the Eighth. From that time the armory of the Fifth was alive with men until all fear of riots had subsided.
General Herbert, whose headquarters continued to be at Camden Station, was the senior officer of that rank at the depot, and com- manded all of the force there. General R. B. Ayres, who had come from New York in command of the United States forces from Gov- ernor's Island, also had his headquarters there. General Abbott's Engineer Battalion and Torpedo Corps removed on Monday to the Camden Station barracks. These troops made a formidable body of men, and with their "shovel" bayonets, intended primarily for trench-digging, but suggestive of ghastly wounds, and their axes, were able to overawe the rioters in their own locality by their mere appearance. About the same time, Colonel Haywood's company of marines left Baltimore for Philadelphia. By the order of the Presi- dent, General Hancock departed from Baltimore at ten o'clock on Monday morning. Before leaving, he called on Governor Carroll at the City Hall and held a final conference with the latter. The Gov- ernor expressed his great satisfaction at the prompt manner in which the President answered his call for aid, and also for the efficient way in which that aid had been extended. General Hancock himself was thanked for his presence and counsels. In the Governor's opinion, the troubles in Baltimore were in a fair way to be settled. The event showed that he was right, but two weeks elapsed before public tran- quillity was restored. The riot died very hard, and the State was forced to spend eighty thousand dollars to restore peace.
There was a demonstration at Camden Station on Sunday morning, which did not become more than a passing agitation. Large crowds again assembled at the Eutaw and Howard street crossings of
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Camden Street, as well as at the Barre and Lee street openings of the depot. They were regarded with suspicion, although it was clear that curiosity was the only motive of many of the people. There was, however, no lack of turbulent men, whose threats were both loud and deep. Deputy Marshal Frey, with twenty picked police officers, announced that he was going to clear Howard Street. Part of the crowd, by his advice, departed, and then the line of police- men forced the crowd back to Pratt Street, when it dispersed. Squads of policemen also cleared Camden Street eastward for about two hundred yards, during the day, and a detachment of the Fifth dispersed a crowd on Eutaw Street.
There is but little doubt that the gathering of the great crowds which beset the Fifth Regiment on Eutaw Street and the Sixth Regiment at its armory was largely due to the sounding of the mili- tary call. Governor Carroll opposed it, but after a consultation with his associates, General Herbert decided to hasten the gathering of the militia by having it struck. Accordingly, the fire-bells sounded the call, 1-5-I, throughout the city, and the unfortunate excitement at once arose. Before the call, there were only a few hundred people at Camden Station, but within fifteen minutes after it had been made, the number had increased to thousands. Information was received that the Fifth was marching down Eutaw Street, and when the regi- ment reached Pratt Street, piles of bricks were to be seen there, which had evidently been hastily collected for a manifest purpose. There were even some women in the crowd, as violent as any of the men. The call was sounded about 6.40 o'clock, while the Fifth was at the armory. The crowd at that place cheered the regiment as it marched out to the street.
The regiment had been in camp a few days when an election of field officers was held. These would have been elected earlier, per- haps, had not the events of the first few days kept the men too busy for an election. The command of the regiment was naturally given to Captain William P. Zollinger, of Company H. Captain Robert P. Brown, of Company C, was elected lieutenant-colonel, and Captain John D. Lipscomb, of Company B, major. Captain Zollinger wore during these days one of the two handsome swords presented to him by the men of his company.
On Saturday, July 29, in accordance with a decision of the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company, freight business over their road, which had been suspended for eight days, was resumed, and the
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brigade-for such the military force had become-was marched to the south side of the railroad tracks extending from the Locust Point elevators westward. Company C, of the Fifth, was thrown out as a body of skirmishers on the north side of the track, while the brigade was drawn up in line of battle on the south side, with the regulars on the right, Ramsey's battery in the center, and the Fifth Regiment on the left. An immense crowd gathered and hissed the train crews, but there was no offer of violence. About one dozen freight trains were started up the road with ten or twelve soldiers on each, and the cars were taken through to their respective destinations without any trouble. A few days before this, two companies had been detailed each day to watch the bridges along the line of the railroad as far as Frederick Junction. After freight traffic had been re-established, the brigade was dismissed, and the Fifth went into camp at Riverside Park. There the regiment remained until the following Saturday, and then the command was marched to the city and dismissed. The service rendered by the regiment during the riot called forth the following expressions of appreciation :
Special Order No. 18.
BALTIMORE, August 4, 1877.
I. The Fifth Regiment, I. M. N. G., is hereby directed to move from the camp at Riverside to the armory in the city.
II. The regiment will be held in readiness to assemble at short notice, should any necessity arise for its further service.
III. The excellent discipline and soldierly bearing displayed by this regiment under the trying circumstances of the late disturbances is highly creditable both to the officers in the command and to the citizens who have been called upon suddenly to perform military duty.
IV. In the name of the people of the State of Maryland, the commander-in- chief tenders them his sincere thanks for the service they have rendered, and gladly expresses the belief that the State will sustain with pride the organiza- tion which has thus given additional proof that the civil powers will be main- tained in the execution of the laws and the suppression of disorder.
V. Brigadier-General Herbert is charged with the promulgation of this order. By order of the commander-in-chief, FRANK A. BOND, Adjutant-General. JAMES R. HERBERT, Brigadier-General Commanding.
When the regiment was dismissed, the men were ordered to report at the armory twice every day. Quiet and order again prevailed in the city, but another outbreak was regarded as possible. One hun- dred men were detailed as a permanent guard, which remained on duty at the armory for about ten days. The riots had ended in a very uneventful manner.
CHAPTER XVII. PHILADELPHIA, ATLANTIC CITY, CAPE MAY.
THE FIFTH AT THE CENTENNIAL .- THE GATLING GUN USED .- CAMP HAMILTON .- AT WINCHESTER .- THE DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT TO THE MARYLAND CONFEDERATE DEAD .- COLONEL BROWN ELECTED .- AN EXCELLENT SHOWING AT YORKTOWN .- WITH THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
In the great parade in Philadel- phia on the Fourth of July, 1876, on which day the celebration of the centenary of American liberty reached its height, Maryland was represented by a detachment of the Fifth. The military proces- sion in that city included thirteen centennial companies, represent- ing the original States. One hun- dred men of the Fifth Regiment, with Colonel H. D. Loney as cap- tain, and Captains R. P. Brown, COLONEL THOMAS A. SYMINGTON. Zollinger and Lipscomb as lieut- enants, left Baltimore on July 3, escorting Governor Carroll, and after participating in the ceremonies of the nation's birthday, returned to Baltimore two days afterwards.
The summer encampment of 1876 was held at Cape May, and was called "Camp Jenkins," in honor of the late commandant of the regiment, whom Colonel Loney had succeeded. At this time the regiment was in fairly good condition, but not up to the standard which it had established two years before.
Lieutenant-Colonel Symington was elected on April 27, 1878, to succeed Colonel Zollinger. While holding the rank of lieutenant- colonel, the former had command of the regiment, there being no colonel during that period. Colonel Zollinger had resigned the command of the regiment, but still had his rank as the senior captain.
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At a drill held on May 30, 1878, in Druid Hill Park, the regiment turned out about four hundred muskets, the immense stimulus which had been given the regiment by the riots being still active. No encampment was held in 1878. North Point Tivoli was suggested as a suitable place, and a few favored an encampment there, but the project was abandoned.
In 1879 the Fifth held an encampment at Ocean City, Maryland. Lieutenant-Colonel Symington had resigned, and the regiment was commanded by Colonel Zollinger as the senior captain. The regiment left Baltimore on July 16 and proceeded to Ocean City by rail. There were in all three hundred and thirty men in the command at " Camp Carroll," which was situated at Hummock Point, across Synepuxent Bay from Ocean City. Two hundred excursionists from Baltimore visited the camp a few days later. The Berlin Horse Guards, Captain J. W. Pitts, were among the other visitors to the camp. The regiment took the Gatling gun to Ocean City, and in practice with it, the party commanded by Captain William P. Herbert fired 388 shots, of which 225 struck the target at a range of 325 yards. The firing continued two and a quarter minutes. This record was excelled a day or two later. The regiment had a pleasant time at " Camp Carroll," except for the gloom which the accidental drowning of Mr. B. S. Ford-one of the most prominent citizens of the Eastern Shore-cast over the entire community of Ocean City.
On June 17, 1880, the monu- ment to the Maryland Confederate dead, in the Stonewall Cemetery, at Winchester, Virginia, was un- veiled and dedicated. The ancient town was in such a state of activity as it had not often been since the dark days when the Valley lay desolate under the cloud of war. The monument had been erected 1 by the Maryland Society of the Army and Navy of the Confed- COLONEL WM. H. S. BURGWYN. erate States. It is one of the most conspicuous and handsome monuments in the cemetery, and it has an honored place there. The Shenandoah Valley never looked more beautiful than on the June day on which the Fifth Regiment and other Maryland troops came
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from Baltimore for the purpose of dedicating this statue. Mayor Latrobe accompanied the troops. The town was lavishly decorated, and many an inscription on walls, banners and arches said " Wel- come." Personal greetings were not less cordial. The entire Valley did honor to the occasion, and the people of Charlestown, who could do nothing more, cheered the trains as they passed. Twenty thous- and people crowded into Winchester, and all of the military organi- zations of the neighboring towns were there, and not a few men were present who had served with the Stonewall Brigade-the Old Guard, the Tenth Legion, in America's history. An artillery salute greeted the Fifth when the men stepped from the cars. Colonel Burgwyn commanded the regiment then. In a short time the other soldiers and their friends arrived and the line was formed. It moved through the town until the head of the procession reached the place where the chief people of Winchester were waiting to extend the visitors a formal reception. In the necessary absence of Governor Holliday, Mr. Holmes Conrad, one of the prominent citizens of Winchester, delivered an address of welcome, as hearty as it was sincere, and Mayor Latrobe responded. The line of march was taken up for the cemetery-one of the most attractive spots of a valley which that day smiled like Eden. With arms reversed, the procession entered the cemetery and marched in the direction of the decorated stand, which was near the statue. Soon after the veil fell from the marble figure, and as the artillery reports shook the ground, the glitter of arms and the sight of military trappings made it easy for the old soldiers to imagine that fifteen years had not passed since the last hostile shot had been fired, and that on those same fields, under the shadow of those same mountains, Hector and Ajax still contended for victory. The oration upon the Maryland dead, delivered by Spencer C. Jones, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, was a masterpiece of eloquence, and was heard with spellbound attention. Among those on the platform who heard it were the widow and daughter of General Stonewall Jackson, the late General Isaac R. Trimble, and the late Colonel Harry Gilmor. After the ceremonies the soldiers were dined in a great hall by the people of Winchester, before returning to Baltimore.
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