USA > New York > Saratoga County > History of Saratoga County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. > Part 28
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On the 13th day of December, 18G4, the 77th Regi- ment was duly paid and mustered out of the service, hav- ing served faithfully for three years, the whole term of its enlistment. As has been previously stated, many of the men who enlisted during the winter of 1863-64 re-enlisted, and, together with the recruits added to the regiment in 1862 and later, were formed into a battalion, under the command of Capt. D. J. Caw, and assigned to the place vaeated by the regiment, and remained in the service until the close of the war. The battalion, with the 6th Corps, on Dee. 9, 1864, returned to the vicinity of Petersburg.
On the 26th of March the 3d Brigade was ordered to take and hold the rebel picket line to the left of our army, which it did with some loss, Capt. Oakey, Lient. Pierce, and many others being killed. In the charge of the 6th Corps, AApril 2, which broke the rebel lines, the 77th and 49th New York had the advance, the corps being formed en echelon, like a wedge. Dr. Stevens thus describes the charge :
" Axemen were ready to be sent forward to remove aba- tis, and Capt. Adams had twenty cannoneers ready to man captured guns. Every commanding officer of battalions was informed what he was expected to do, and thus all was in readiness. At half-past four in the morning of April 2 the signal-gun from Fort Fisher sounded the advance. Without wavering, through the darkness, the wedge which was to split the Confederacy was driven home. The abatis was passed, the breastworks mounted, the works were our own. Thousands of prisoners, many stands of colors, and many guns were our trophies, while many of our friends, dead or wounded, was the price of our glory."
This was the erowning aet of the war. Lee's army was broken and put to rout; then came the fight at Sailor's ereek, and then the surrender of the Army of Virginia, which for three years had stood before the Army of the
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IHISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Potomac like a wall of fire. The war over, the battalion returned to Albany, where it was mustered out June 27, 1865.
This is the history, in brief, of Saratoga County's pet regiment, the 77th, a record of noble deeds without a single blot. It never by any act on the field or in the camp, on the march or in the fight, disgraced the county from which it was sent. It never flinched or wavered from any duty, however perilous, which was assigned to it, nor, until properly ordered, did it ever turn its back upon the foe. From the beginning to the end of its service the regiment bore its colors untouched by the hands of the enemy. They were often shattered and torn by shot and shell, often lev- eled to the dust by the death or wounds of their bearers, but they were always kept sacred, and on the muster-out of the regiment were deposited in the Bureau of Military Sta- tisties at Albany.
A beautiful Quincy granite monument, surmounted by a bronze statue of a soklier, erected to the memory of the dead of the regiment, stands in a public square in the vil- lage of Saratoga Springs. The plain Greek cross and the words " 77th Regiment New York State Volunteers," cut upon its face, indicate that the soldiers whose deeds it com- memorates belonged to the 77th Regiment New York State Volunteers, of the 2d Division of the 6th Corps, Army of the l'otomac.
The following is a list of the officers of the Seventy- seventh Regiment, N. Y. Vols., with promotions, discharges, resignations, and deathis, from Nov. 23, 1861, to close of war :
FIELD AND STAFF.
James B. McKean, col., resigned July 27, 1863.
Joseph C. Henderson, lient .- col., resigned June 19, 1862.
Selden Hetzel, maj., dismissed by order of secretary of war, May 15, 1862.
Lucius Shnitliffe, q. m., resigned June 21, 1862.
John L. Perry, surg., resigned Feb. 1, 1862.
Augustos Campbell, surg , resigned Fel. 7, 1863.
Inhn 3. Fay, asst. surg , dism ssed March 2, 1863.
David Tully, chap., resigned July 8, 18G2.
Winsor B. French, adj., promoted maj. June 1, 1862; lieut .- col. July 18, 1862; rol. Ang. 25, 1863 (not mustered out as col., regt. being reduced below minimum number of mien ; breveted brig .- gen. U. S. Vols., for gallant anul meritorious conduct on the field; mu-tered ont with regt.
Nathan S. Babcock, capt., promoted nrij. Aug. 31, 1862; mustered ont with
William 11. Fursman, Ist lient., Co. K, promoted adj. May 3, 1863; resigned Fol. 12, 1×64.
Lawrence Van Demark, 21 lieut., Co. C, promoted Ist lieut. Feb, 18, 1964 ; adj. Feb 23, 1864 ; resigned Sept. 20, 1864.
William W. Worden, seigt., Co. C, promoted 2d lieut. Nov. 23, 1863; adjt. Oct. 2.1, 18G1; mustered out with regt.
Thomas M. White, private, Co. C, promoted Feb. 27, 1863; com, sergt. Feb. 10, 1863, 2d lieut ; March, 1865, Ist lieut, and adjt. ; mustered out with bat- tal on ; breveted major for services rendered in battle, April 2, 1865.
Jacob F. Hayward, Ist lieut., do. 1. promoted quar,-mas, June 21, 1862; mus- tered out with regt.
George T. Stevens, asst. Burg, promoted Feb. 27, 1863, surg. ; mustered out with regt.
Justin G. Thompson, asst. surg., Nov. 17, 1862; transferred and mustered out with battalion.
Norman Fox, Jr., chaplain, appointed from civil life Dec. 10, 1862; mustered ont with regt.
Job S. Safford, promoted from sorgt., Co. F, to sergt .- major.
Seymour Bunch, sergt .- major; discharged Feb. 1, 1962.
Wendell Lansing, com. serg .; discharged.
Aaron B. Quivey, private, Co. C, promoted June 5, 1862, com. sorgt .; dis- charged March 1, 1863; re-enlisted, and killed on picket May Jx, 1804. Luther F. Irish, prin. musician : discharged.
Isaac D. Clapp, corp., Co. O, prontoted May 15, 1862, sprst .- major; June 1, 1862, adjt .: June 6, 1863, capt. ; June 13, 1864, major (but not mastered); mus- tered out with regt.
W'm. A. De Long, asst. surg., appointed from civil life March 2, 1863; mustered ont with regt.
Cbas. D. Thurber, private, Co. D, promoted q -m. sergt .; afterwards 2d lieut., Co. E; then q .- in. ; mustered out with battalion.
Andrew Van Wie, private, Co. C, promoted July 1, 1864, prin. mus.
Alex. l'. Waldron, private, Co. D, promoted Sept. 8, Is62, hosp, stew.
Sidney O. Cromach sorgt. Co. B, promoted May 3, 1863, sergt .- maj. ; June 5, 1863, 1st lient. ; discharged March 11, 1865.
George II. Gillis, sergt. Co. (, promoted Nov. 17, 1802, sergt .- maj. ; Feb. 25, 1863, 2d lient. ; nmustered out with regiment.
Edward S. Armstrong, corporal Co. C, promoted Jan. I. 1862, q .- m. sergt. ; May 10, 1862, 1st lient. Co. B; discharged Jan. 14, 1863.
Thomas S. Fowler, private, Co. D, promotel April 3, 1802, q .- m. sergt. ; Oct. 2, 1863, 2d lieut .; discharged on account of wounds, Ang. 12, 1861.
Gilbert F. Thomas, corporal Co. C, promoted Jan. 6, 1863; 2d lieut., May 1, 1863; killed in action Oct. 19, 1864, Cedar Creek.
Chas, Il. Davis, sergt. Co. D, Feb, Is, 1865, promoted a lj. of battalion ; April 22, 1865, captain ; mustered ont with battalion.
Obed M. Coleman, private Co. C, promoted q .- m. sergt.
Edward HI. Thorn, private Co. C, promoted com. sergt.
David J. Caw, promoted to 2d lient., Co. 11, May 21, 1862; Ist lieut. Sept. 23, 1862; capt. Dec. 10, 1862; maj. Dec. 20, 1864; Bent .- col. Dec. 24, 1864 ; col. July 6, 1865 (not mustered as colonel) ; mustered out with battalion.
LINE OFFICERS.
Company A.
Capt. Ruel W. Arnold, resigned April 3, 1862.
Ist Lient. William Douglas, resigned April 21, 1802.
1st Lieut. Stephen S. Hastings, resigned Dec. 23, 1862.
2d Lient. James II. Farnsworth, resigned Feb, 8, 1862.
Capt. George S. Orr, promoted from lient. April 3, 1862; lost right arm at Cedar Creek ; mustered out with regt.
Capt. Charles E. Stevens, promoted March 21, 1862, 2d lieut. : Jan. 23, 1863, Ist lieut .; Sept. 16, 1864, captain ; commissioned but not mustered colonel ; ministered out with battalion.
2d Lient. Lewis T. Vanderwerker, promoted Jau, 27, 1863, 2d lieut. ; Nov. 10, 1863, Ist lient .; minstered out with regt.
2il Lient. Sorell Fountain, promoted April 22, 1865, 20 lieut .; mustered out with regt.
Ist Lient. Adam Flansburgh, promoted Ist lieut. in battalion.
Company B.
Capt. C. C. ITill, resigned July 1, 1862.
Capt. Stephen S. Horton, promoted from 2d lient. lo capt., July 25, 1862; dis- charged May 31, 1863, on account of wounds received at Antietant.
Capt. Fred. Smith, dismissed.
Ist Lient. Noble P. Hammond, resigned July 24, 1862.
20 Lient. G. R. MeGnonigle, dismissed.
2il Lieut. Sidney O. Cromack. (See Stuff.)
2d Lient. Wm. II. Quackenbush, promoted Feb. 16, 1805; mustered out with battalion.
Company C.
Capt. Benjamin F. Judson, resigned March 29, 1862.
Capt. Luther M. Wheeler, Ist lient., promoted March 29, 1862; killed in action at Fredericksburg, Va .. May 3, 1863.
1st Lient. Juhn Patterson, resigned Sept. 8, 1862.
Capt. E. W. Winne, Ist sergt., promoted March 29, 1862, 2d lient. ; Sept. 8, 1862, Ist lieut .; captain Co. F, May 9, 1863; discharged Sept. 9, 1864.
2dl Laent. Gilbert F. Thomas. (See Mail.)
2d Lieut. Stephen II. Pierce, transferred to battalion; promoted March 15, IS64, Ist lient. ; killed in action, March 25, 1855.
2d Lient. David Panghirn, promoted from sergt.
Capt. John Caw, resigned, May Is, 1862, at White House, Va., on account of disability, and died before reaching home.
Capt. Seth W. Deyoe, promoted from Ist sergt. to Ist lieut., Nov. 23, 1861 ; Sept. 3, 1862, capt .; discharged July 26, 1864, on account of wounds received in action.
21 Lieut. I'bester II. Fodow, resigned May 31, 1862.
2d Lieut. Robert 11. Skinner, promoted June 4, 1862, 2dl lieut .; discharged on account of wounds received in action, March 12, 1863.
1st Lieut. Joseph H. Loveland, promoted Nov. 2, 1563, capt .; mustered out with regt.
Capt. Sumner Oakley, sergt., promoted Sept. 16, 1864, Ist lient. ; transferred to battalion 77th, Jan. 20, 18G5 ; killed in action March 25, 1865.
2d Lieut. Robert E. Nelson, sergt., prontoted May 25, 1864, 2d lient. ; Ang. 20, 1864, Ist lieut. ; transferred to and mustered ont with battalion.
Capt. Lewis Wood, discharged on account of disability, Oct. 4, 1862.
Capt. William B. Carpenter, Ist lient .; promoted apt. Dec. 25, 1862; killed in action May 10, 1864.
2dl Lient. Halsey Bowe, accidentally shot in camp at Harrison's Landing, Vn., and died of the wound at Philadelphia, Aug. 16, 1862.
1st Lient. Henry C. Rowland, promoted from sorgt. Jan. 23, 1863; mustered out with regt.
2d Lient. William F. Lyon, promoted March 17, 1863; missing ; supposed to have been killed in action May 10, 1864.
2d Lieut. Chas. D. Thurhier. (See Stuff.)
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
2dl Lieut. Thomas M. White. (See Staff.)
Ist Lieut. James A. Monroe, promoted from Ist sergt. Nov. 15, 1864; mu-tered out with battalion.
Company F.
Capt. Jndson B. Andrews, resigned July 16, 1862.
Capt. Jes.( White, promoted from Ist lient. Sept. 23, 1862; discharged Feb., 1863, for disalulity.
2d Lieut. Emmett J. Patterson, resigned Dec. 18, 1862.
20 Lieut. Thomas S. Fowler. (See Staff.)
2'd Lient. John J. Cameron, died May 6, 1862, on Peninsula, Va.
Company G
Capt. Calvin A. Rice, dismissed Oct. 4, 1862, by order of secretary of war. 1st Lient. Edward S. Armstrong. (See Stuff.)
2d Lient. Wmn. K. Young, resigned April 15, 1862.
Capt. George Ross, sergt., promoted 2d lient., Jan. 23, 1863; to Ist lient., March 17, 1863 ; to capt., Dee. 28, 1865, and mastered ont with battalion.
2d Lient. George H. Gillis. (See Stuff:)
Capt. Orin P. Rugg, promoted from sergt., April 28, 1862, 2d lient .; Dec. 10, 1802, capt .; killed in action May 12, 1864.
Company II.
Capt. Alfred II. B-ach, resigned Jan. 28, 1862, on account of physical disability. Capt. N. Hollister Brown, promoted from Ist lieut., Jan. 30, 1862; resigned Dec. 26, 1862.
1st Lient. George D. Storey, promoted from 20 lient., Jan. 30, 1862; resignetl May 31, 1862.
Ist Lieut. Frank Thomas, promoted from Ist sergt, Co. C, Jan. 23, 1863, 20 lient .; March 13, 1863, 1st lieut. ; discharged Ang. 10, 1864, on account of wounds received in action May 10, 1864.
Capt. David J. Caw. (See Field.)
Ist Lient. Alonzo Howland, appointed 2d lieut., from civil life, Ang. 10, 1862; promoted, Nov. 15, 1864, Ist lieut. ; mustered out with battalion.
2d Lient. Wm. Caw, promoted from sergt., Jan. 20, 1865; mustered out with battalion.
Company I.
Capt. Franklin Norton, resigned Ang., 1862 ; appointed lieut .- col. 123d N. Y. Vols. 2d Lieut, Carlos Rowe, promoted June 1, 1862, from seigt .; May 1, 1863, mus- tered out with regt.
Ist Lient. Jacob F. Ilayward. (See Stuff.)
Ist Lient. William E. Merrill, promoted Nov. 15, 1864, 2d lieut. ; April 22, 1865, B.t lient. ; mustered out with battalion.
Capt. Martin Lennon, promoted from 2d lieut. Dec. 10, 1802; died Nov. 1, 1864, of wounds received at ('edar ('reek, Oct. 19, 1864.
1st Lieut. John W. Belding, promoted March 19, 1863, 1st lient .; killed at Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864.
Company K.
Capt. N. S. Babcock. (See Field.)
Ist Lient. Ansil Dennison, prontoted from sergt., Feb. 6, 1862, to 2d lieut .; March 11, 1862, Ist lieut .; died Feb. 28, 1863, of wounds received in ac- tion at Antietam, Md.
1st Lieut. William Fursman. (See Staff.)
"aut. John R. Rockwell, discharged for disability, Oct. 2, 1867.
1st Lieut. John W. McGregor, discharged Feb. 10, 1862.
1st Lieut, Philander A. Cobb, discharged May II, 1862.
2d Lient. Cyrus F. Rich, resigned on account of physical disability, Nov. 30, '62. 20 Lieut. Stephen Redshaw, dismissed Oct. 31, 1863.
Ist Lient. William J. Taber, promoted from sergt., May 3, 1863; killed in ac- tion, Oct. 19, 1864.
2d Lient. Jeremiah Stebbins, promoted from sergt., May 9, 1863; mustered ont with battalion.
The thirteen hundred and sixty-nine enlisted men who joined the regiment, as before stated, were accounted for as follows on the 13th day of December, 1864, when the regiment was mustered out :
Mnstered out with regiment. 105
Transferred to battalion and left in the field-veterans. 151
recruits. 364
Killed in action
83
Died of wounds received in action .. 40
disease. 140
Missing in action, most of whom are supposed to be dead Died in rebel prisons 20
Deserted
Discharged on account of disability 300
" wonuds received in action. 56
Promoted to commissioned officers .. 24
Total .. 1369
II .- THE 77TH REGIMENT NEW YORK STATE VOLUN- TEERS.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
At last the long controversy growing out of slavery had culminated. Lincoln had been elected President. State
after State, following the lead of South Carolina, had seeeded from the Union. The southern senators and rep- resentatives had withdrawn from Washington. The Con- federate government had been organized. Fort Sumter had fallen. The Federal army had been beaten at Bull Run. The nation was stunned, bewildered, and, for the moment, paralyzed. Gen. Marey, chief of staff to Gen. McClellan, had written to that commander, advising that he eall upon the government to order a draft of troops, saying, " Volunteering is at an end." In this supreme crisis of our history as a nation, The Daily Saratogian contained, and from it was copied into other newspapers far and wide, a call to arms .*
More than fourteen years afterwards, the Saratogian contained an interesting account of the unveiling, at that place, of a monument erected to the memory of the dead of the 77th Regiment, New York Volunteers, otherwise called " The Bemus Heights Battalion." The principal speech on the occasion was made by Gen. W. B. French, who commenced as follows :
" COMRADES AND FELLOW. CITIZENS, -On the 21st day of August, 1861, IIon. James B. MeKean, then our representative in Congress, issued a circular letter to the citizens of the then Fifteenth Congressional district appeal- ing to the patriots of his constituency to rally in defense of their country. It was published in the Daily Saratogian of the 22d of August, and immediately thereafter by all the papers of this Congressional district."
Gen. French here read the circular, and then added :
" This call to arms rang out 'from northern lake to southern strand,' like the 'thunder stroke' of the Bell Roland that hung in the city tower at Ghent.
' It was the warning call
That freedom stood in peril of a foe.'
" The whole north was smarting under the disaster and defeat at Bull Run, the severing of all connection with the national capital, and the arrogance and treachery of the rebels. The patriotic pride of the loyal people had been greatly humbled by our country's misfortunes, and the young men along the shores of that historic lake, Cham- plain, about Fort Ticonderoga, at Johnstown, Saratoga, Still- water, and Bemus Heights, were impatiently waiting for a leader whom they could follow to the front. This was the opportunity, and the response to the eall was instantaneous and beyond the expectation of the most sanguinc."
The author of this " call" at once took the fiehl in a campaign of war-meetings ; and along the Iludsou, the Mohawk, the Sacandaga, on the shores of Lakes George and Champlain, at Ticonderoga, Fort Miller, Fort Anne, Fort Edward, Saratoga, everywhere, farmers' sons, me- chanics, clerks, pupils, teachers, students of law, of medi- cine, of divinity, came to hear him. They said to him, " Judge MeKean, are you going to the war?" llis answer invariably was, " Yes, I will not ask you to do what I will not do myself." They said, " Then we will go with you ;" and enlisted. He sent them at once into camp on the fair ground, at Saratoga Springs. Thus in a short
. For this call see previous account at page 106 of this work.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
time was raised a regiment composed, not of " city roughs" or "bounty-jumpers," but of the best blood, morals, and intellects of the rural regions and beautiful villages of the most classical and historic portions of the State.
When, after the fall of Sumter, the Baltimore bridges were burned, and Washington was cut off from communi- cation with the north, although Congress was not in session, several senators and representatives were in the city. Not a few of them hired private conveyances, left the supposed-to-be-doomed capital, traversed the State of Maryland, and escaped into Pennsylvania. McKean re- mained .* Detectives discovered that secret Confederate military organizations existed there, and were drilling in halls in the night-time, with closed doors and windows. The President and cabinet were in imminent peril of being kidnapped and carried off to Richmond. The government had not a single company of troops in or near the city. The permanent residents of the city were almost wholly disloyal. History has not yet given sufficient prominence to the awful peril of that moment. A movement was set on foot to organize, if possible, the non-resident friends of the gov- ernment then hemmed in there into an armed force. Mckean threw himself zealously into this movement ; and after inviting and urging everybody he knew to co-operate, he enlisted as a private soldier in Cassius M. Clay's bat- talion. Another battalion was organized under Gen. J. II. Lane, of Kansas.
These two battalions, consisting of several hundred men, were regularly enrolled in the War Department, and armed by the government. Clay's battalion headquarters were in Willard's Hotel assembly-room, opening ou " F" street. There, by day and by night, a reserve of the force was on duty ; while the rest were patroling the city and guarding the departments and the executive mansion. Armed with a breech-loading carbine, with fixed ammunition in his pockets, Judge MeKean frequently paced to and fro as a sentinel before the front door of the " White House" in the night-time, while President Lincoln slept. Soon after these demonstrations were commenced, the most active leaders of the secret Confederate organizations slipped over the Potomac into Virginia and disappeared. At the end of about two weeks troops arrived from Massachusetts and New York. They were hailed as deliverers by the few beleagured loyalists in Washington.
That peculiar phase of "the times that tried men's souls" having passed away, Clay's and Lane's battalions now petitioned to be mustered out of the service. The petition was granted, and they were honorably discharged, with the written thanks of Secretary Cameron and Presi- dent Lincoln. Some day some competent historian will write the history of those two battalions. It will make an interesting chapter in our national annals.
Events crowded fast upon cach other in those days. Soon the Federal and Confederate armies were to meet. Obtaining a pass from Gen McDowell, Judge MeKean was present at the battle of Bull Run. A month thereafter he issued his call for troops, and soon had a regiment.
The battle of Bemus Heights was fought in the year 1777,
and in the numbering of the regiments raised in this State during the war the number 77 fell to the Bemus Heights Battalion. It is known in the records as the "77th Regiment New York State Volunteers." The officers and men of the regiment unanimously elected Judge Mckean to be colonel. He was commissioned by Gov. Morgan, and accepted the position.
The ladies of Dr. Luther Beecher's Female Seminary at Saratoga Springs presented the regiment with a beautiful silk stand of national colors ; and a new organization, called " Sons of Saratoga Resident in New York City," wrote to Colonel Mckean, apprising him that it was their intention to present to him, for his regiment, a State regimental flag, and asking him to suggest some device to be painted upon the flag by a competent artist. Col. Mckean answered, calling their attention to the historie facts that the first flag ordered by the Continental Congress was a flag of union, but not a flag of independence, consisting of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, but retaining the field of the British flag, indicating the union of the colonies, but loyalty to the home government; while the second flag, ordered about the time of the " Declaration," was indica- tive both of union and independence, and consisted of the thirteen stripes, red and white, and thirteen argent stars arranged in a circle on a blue field. He called attention to the further fact that the battle at Bemus Heights was fought under the first of these flags, while, when Burgoyne's army marched out to surrender, the second was thrown to the breeze. Ile therefore suggested that two devices be painted on the regimental flag, one representing American troops, in Continental uniform, in action under the first flag, and the other representing a commander and troops in British uniform surrendering to the Americans under the second flag. About this time, Samuel B. Eddy, Esq., of Still- water, presented to Col. Mckean a pike-head or halberd, which had been captured from the British at Benus Ileights.
On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 29, 1861, amid the huzzas and adieux of thousands of people of the village and sur- rounding country, Col. Mckean and his regiment marched from their barracks to the railroad depot, and embarked for the seat of war. In New York city the "Sons of Sara- toga" entertained the regiment with refreshments, and pre- sented the gorgeous banner bearing the devices suggested by the colonel, with the pike-head presented by Mr. Eddy crowning the tip of the staff.
(The battered and tattered remains of this beautiful banner are now-1878-preserved among the archives of the State at Albany, while the pike-head is retained by the first colonel of the regiment as one of his mementos. )
The " Old Cooper Shop" of Philadelphia, where men made barrels by day, and the ladies fed the marching troops by night, has become famous. While many chivalrous and knightly soldiers were entertained there, some were very coarse and rude. One night a regiment, largely composed of New York city " roughs," had behaved very badly there, and the lights had to be turned down before the profane and boisterous boors could be got rid of. The next regi- ment marched in in perfect order, filed round the tables, came to an "order arms," " rest," and stood as if on dress
* For a biographical sketch of Judge MeKean, see history of Saratoga Springs.
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HISTORY OF SARATOGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.
parade. With the utmost civility they partook of what was offered them, and the " Old Cooper Shop" was as quiet as the dining-room of a first-class hotel. The ladies and their few male companions could be overheard saying, " Did you ever see such a contrast ? What gentlemanly fellows they are !" An officer of the regiment was asked a question by a lady, and, saluting in true military style, he answered, " The 77th New York, Col. MeKean com- manding." The lunch ended, the colonel called " At- tention !" and then proposed the sentiment : "The loyal ladies of the City of Brotherly Love!" The men gave three rousing hurrahs, passed quietly out, and resumed their march.
At Washington, the regiment was put into the provi- sional division of Gen. Silas Casey. and went into camp on the grounds of the Porter mansion, on Fourteenth Street, near the north suburbs of the city. The daily sessions of Congress commenced at noon. Col. MeKean slept in camp every night, drilled his men, and attended to regimental duties during the foreuoon of each day, and at half-past eleven o'clock rode to the capitol, gave his horse into the care of a livery-man near by, took his seat in the Ilouse, sat through the session, and in the evening rode back to camp. This busy routine lasted several mouths. In the spring following the regiment crossed the Potomac into Virginia, and the colonel was excused from attending upon the sessions of the House. When the army was organized into corps the 77th became a part of the 4th Corps, Gen. Keyes commanding. Gen. William F. Smith (" Baldy Smith") was division and Gen. John W. Davidson brigade commander. Col. McKean was present in command of his regiment in the second advance upon Manassas, in the descent of the Potomac, in the Peninsular campaign, at the battle of Lee's Mills, in the siege of Yorktown and opera- tions in that vicinity, and at the battle of Williamsburg. While the army was lying on the Pamunky river the 6th Army Corps was organized, and Gen. Smith's division, to which the 77th belonged, became the second division of this new corps,-a corps destined never to be routed, alnost always to be victorious, and when compelled to retreat to do so in order and in obedience to command ; a corps whose achievements alone would make glorious the military annals of the nation.
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