USA > New York > History of the Twenty-second regiment of the National guard of the state of New York; from its organization to 1895, pt 2 > Part 10
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The centre of the camp was situated between two car tracks, and the low and swampy character of the land between Buffalo Creek and Lake Erie making the use of tents undesirable, empty box cars were pushed up
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CRAIN LINE TRANSIT COMPANY
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the side-track into the positions desired. These served throughout the campaign as sleeping quarters, and were found a positive luxury that night to soldiers worn out by their sleepless journey of the night before and a day of activity. The men covered the floor of the
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cars with straw, and, with their knapsacks for pillows, laid down side by side, covered with their army blankets, and were conscious of nothing until the sound of re- veille. The next morning regular camp routine was established, " wash up," roll-call and breakfast (such as it was), then the formation of the guards, the relief of those on duty, and thereafter steady sentry. duty.
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SCENE ON BUFFALO CREEK R. R.
The work of this detachment was exceedingly ardu- ous. They were required to protect all trains sent out over the tracks of the Lake Shore, Lehigh Valley and Buffalo Creek railroads, and in addition to guard a number of trestle-bridges, switch-towers, engine-houses, and the like. Frequently, after a night of sentry duty upon the trestle-bridges, the men were obliged to guard freight trains sent out in the daytime. The number of men was inadequate for the amount of work assigned. but no complaint was uttered during the entire tour of
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service. On the contrary, a spirit of cheerful obe- dience and a prompt response to all calls for extra duty distinguished alike the officers and enlisted men.
The presence of the command and the thorough- ness of its discipline and deportment soon caused its immediate territory to be abandoned by the riotous strikers. Constant vigilance was, however, required and was exercised.
The outposts of Col. King's battalion were centred at a switch-house on the L. S. & M. S. R. R. between the B. R. & P. Junc- tion and the iron bridge over the Erie Canal, and a short distance from Camp King (which the camp had already been christened). Shortly after its oc- cupation, a couple of ragged little urchins, who were loitering around, were captured by the sergeant of the guard, ushered into the guard-house and "pumped." These afterwards proved valuable adjuncts to that camp. From these contrabands, who were dubbed " Lapsy Telwingus" and " Buzzazzar," a good deal of useful information was obtained. As they showed a decided disposition to earn an honest dollar, Col. King at once dispatched them with orders for fresh meat. As this, a few hours later, found a welcome reception in camp, they were established as per- manent messengers. Tobacco, stationery, fruit and wet goods were obtained through this medium, as
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well as postal service during the remainder of the cam- paign. During the same day, however, the faminc which had previously existed ceased. Supplies arrived from regimental headquarters, such as canned goods, soups, corned meat, ham and cheese, and were well cooked by volunteers, some of whom demonstrated abilities as cooks that Delmonico might have envied. After nightfall, the men gathered around the glowing camp-fires and indulged in songs and stories that would have done credit to the best vaudeville on the boards, including a wonderful serpentine dance, dialect songs and monologues.
The sudden call of the State for troops had been responded to in such haste that many of the men had no time to procure the necessary equipment. These soon required additional underwear and shoes. So nu- merous were the applications for permission to go into Buffalo to procure what was needed that instructions were issued to the commanding officers of companies C and F to make up a list of such wants, and to detail two men from each company to do the purchasing. This was done, but on the following morning, when reveille sounded, the larger portion of the outpost turned out in underwear so gorgeous in colors and ribbons that an examination was not necessary to disclose the fact that such underwear was "built for the female sex."
Wherever there is a camp of soldiers there are always exciting rumors. The rank and file are not taken into the confidence of the commanding officers, and are usually ignorant of operations and conditions outside of their own limited observation. But what they lack in
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information they make up in surmises : every hint or remark dropped by any officer is worked up into a startling fact. Buffalo was no exception to the general rule. During the first week of service, in particular, the air was full of the most exciting reports.
When tattoo sounded on the first night of their arrival the men of the battalion turned in with the con- fident expectation that they would be called to arms before daybreak. They were disappointed, however, for they were not disturbed until reveille. The same thing occurred on a number of other nights, until they learned the truth of the proverb, "they say is a liar." That guard duty was incessant goes without saying. It was also most fascinating, although fatiguing. It involved patroling up and down the tracks and bridges in the long, still hours of the night, peering into the darkness, listening intently to every sound, and watching every bush or shadow seeming to ambush an enemy. It was no child's play, as was shown by the number of assaults on sentries that were reported. In one case a man ap- proached a sentry of the battalion, and, feigning to give the countersign, attempted to wrest his rifle from him. The sentinel gallantly resisted and yelled lustily for the . patrol. In the struggle both men fell, but the sentinel on the adjoining post came to the rescue, and, striking the assailant with the butt of his piece, stunned him. The corporal and reserves arrived immediately and arrested him. It then proved that he was under the in- fluence of Buffalo "tanglefoot," and probably meant no harm beyond resenting being challenged. The sentries' vigilance was also stimulated by frequent surprises by the officers of the guard and Lieut .- Col. King. The
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latter could be found almost anywhere at almost any hour. One dark night a sentry patroling his post be- tween two long lines of freight cars was startled by the sound of voices, and, peering under the car, could see the outline of men's legs as they hauled themselves up between the cars, preparatory to crossing his post. He at once stealthily executed a flank movement, and arrested them as they appeared in sight, only to find that the supposed marauders were two of the battalion's captains, in the act of inspecting the guard lines. The men on guard got but little sleep while off post, but usually sat around the guard-house, smoking their pipes, discussing the situation and telling stories.
On August 23, Lieut. Charles E. Asten, of Co. C, with a detail of five men, viz., Sergt. Wm. S. Conrow, Corp. Benjamin Ronzone, Private J. F. Lutz of Co. C, and Private Benjamin F. Hall and Harry E. Brown of Co. F, was sent out upon a freight train of some sixty cars moving from Lehigh Valley yard, with in- structions to protect it. Upon approaching a switch at Ganson Street the engine stopped, and one of the non-striking switchmen alighted from the train and ran some distance ahead of the engine to turn the switch. As soon as he approached the latter he was set upon by five striking switchmen and brutally kicked and beaten, his assailants pounding him with stones after he had been knocked down. A volley of stones was also thrown at the guards upon the cars. Lieut. Asten and a portion of his detail hastened to his assist- ance, and while doing so were fired at by a mob of the strikers who had collected at this point, most of whom were armed with revolvers. Lieut. Asten then drew
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history of the twenty: Second Regiment .561 his revolver and ordered Sergt: Conrow (who had caught up with him) to load, select one striker and fire at him, while he (Asten) would select another. Sergt. Conrow's shot took effect. The remainder of the de- tail having come up, the strikers, pursued by the guard, fled to a neighboring liquor saloon and locked and bar- ricaded the doors. Lieut. Asten demanded admission. This being refused, he ordered his men to break down the doors with the butts of their rifles. This was promptly done, and, entering the place, he put all the men in the room under arrest. The wounded striker, Jerry Manaher by name, was carried to the hospital, where his right arm was amputated and a wound in his side properly treated ; the others were turned over to the civil authorities to receive just punishment.
Lieut. Asten had no sooner entered the saloon than it was surrounded by a crowd of nearly a thousand strikers and their sympathizing friends, who threatened vengeance upon the squad. Lieut. Asten, however, stood his ground firmly and held his prisoners until the Fourth Separate Company, which one of the guard had been sent to summon, came up on the "double," and with its aid the crowd was dispersed and the prisoners secured .*
After the prisoners had been delivered to the police, Lieut. Asten and Serg. Conrow accompanied them to police headquarters to make certain that they were not released on the way. On arriving there, they were greatly surprised to find themselves detained by
* Lieut. Asten received much praise for his gallant conduct upon this occasion, and was promoted to be First Lieutenant of C Company shortly afterwards.
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the police authorities, under the charge of having been guilty of a civil offence in attacking and wounding the injured striker. Information of this action was at once communicated to Gen. Doyle, the brigade com- mander, who instantly transmitted orders to Col. Camp to release the soldiers from the custody of the police
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MAJOR HART.
authorities, if it took all the military force there was at Buffalo to do so. Col. Camp at once ordered Maj. Hart, with a detachment of 150 men, to effect a rescue. On his way to the police station Maj. Hart notified Maj. Bartlett that if he found the force under his com- mand insufficient he would call upon him for reënforce-
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ments, and Maj. Bartlett at once got his entire battalion in readiness to act. Upon reaching the station-house, Maj. Hart, however, found that the police authorities, after holding Lieut. Asten and Sergt. Conrow for two or three hours as prisoners, had released them, so that no necessity arose for his taking any action in the matter.
While this incident was somewhat exceptional, the number of those of a similar description which occurred in different quarters during the strike was too numer- ous to recount. This occurrence created the utmost indignation among the other regiments. The previous conduct of the police had been such as to excite a strong feeling against them. This arrest of soldiers for doing their duty in maintaining order, by a force that was daily allowing those to go free who had been caught in the act of assaulting peaceable men, capped the climax. From this time they regarded all Buffalo policemen with the greatest aversion and disgust.
This strike was no exception to the rule that all dis- turbances in which violence is used attract a horde of thieves and vagabonds, who mingle with the strikers in case of a strike, and are often the prime factors in all lawlessness which occurs. On one occasion a train of freight cars, coming into the city from the West, halted in front of one of the posts of Col. King's battalion, and the picket on duty discovered that one of the cars had human occupants. The sergeant of the guard ordered them to come out. They proved to be five tramps, armed with leaden slung-shots and knives, who had made their way to Buffalo to engage in the depre- dations which they had heard were going on. Much
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of the discredit which attaches to strikes like that of Buffalo arises from the acts of men like these.
Notwithstanding the services which the Twenty- second Regiment rendered during this campaign, and the reputation which it earned, it did not escape the shafts of calumny. Yet the principal insinuation made against it was of such a nature that it is impossible for any credence to be given to it by anyone who is familiar with the regiment. It seems that one day the commis- sary of one of the New York regiments, who, like sev- eral other officers holding those positions, had not had any previous practical experience in his department, was sent to the brigade quartermaster's office in Buffalo for the purpose of procuring much-needed supplies for his regiment. Full rations for the entire organization were issued to him, for which he duly receipted. These were thereupon put in a wagon, and, to insure that there should be no mistake in their delivery, he took his seat beside the driver of the wagon and started for his regi- mental camp. The drive covered some six or seven miles. When the wagon arrived at the regimental camp it contained the regimental commissary and the driver, and substantially nothing else. What became of those rations was then, and has ever since been, a profound mystery. Yet, merely from the fact that the wagon passed through the portion of the lines which was garrisoned by Lieut .- Col. King's command, and that it was believed that the commissary descended from his post beside the driver in or about the region where Company E (Capt. Thurston) was posted, "to see a man," it was asserted by some malicious people that the rations which the wagon contained had been embezzled
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or otherwise misappropriated by the members of that battalion, and particularly by more or less men belong- ing to Company E. Nothing in the shape of proof, however, was ever brought forward. The charge there- fore rested solely upon the fact that the wagon stopped at this place, and that the members of Company E did not thereafter complain of not having sufficient to eat. No attention, consequently, was ever paid to it in offi- cial circles, and Capt. Thurston did not ask for an in- vestigation. But the wrath of the regiment to which the commissary belonged, on finding their wagon of sup- plies empty when they expected it contained rations for the day, can be better imagined than described.
On Friday, August 26, it rained in torrents, and there is nothing like wet clothes to prevent riotous demonstrations. Those of the battalion not on guard kept within the shelter of their cars, recounting to their comrades their many experiences. In some cases these were believed to be more the product of imagination than memory.
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CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE RETURN FROM BUFFALO.
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T HE strike was formally declared off at midnight of August 24, and the waking camp was put in possession of the glad tidings early the following morning. The effect was instantaneous : there was a 'wild shout of jubilation, and the men, in their joy danced and capered around the camp like possessed beings. A crowd from Company A, which was always a musical company, marched around the camp of Maj. Bartlett's battalion singing :
We're going home to-day, We're going home to day, The strike is o'er, we'll fight no more; We're going home to-day.
The joy was short-lived, for a few hours afterward occurred the disturbance which resulted in the killing of Broderick, and all hope of starting home that day was suddenly dissipated.
The detachment from the Fourth Separate Com- pany was the first to break camp the following morn- ing, and they were given a hearty and boisterous God- speed by the men of the Twenty-second, in whom their straightforward and manly behavior and the soldierly
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STATE HISTORIAN'S OFFICE, ALBANY, N. Y.
COL. JOHN T. CAMP AND OFFICERS AT TIFFT FARM HOUSE, BUFFALO, 1893.
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energy with which they had discharged the duties assigned to them, had created a warm feeling of esteem and affection.
During the afternoon of the 26th the weather be- came very fickle. Occasional showers gave way to sudden bursts of sunshine. The switchmen began to return to work in large numbers. The battalion camps became astir with a rumor that they were about to move, and every man set at work polishing buttons, blacking up equipments, and making preparations.
The work of strik- ing and stowing the tents, etc., was rapidly performed. Each man was pro- vided with rations -- of crackers, hard- boiled eggs and can- teens filled with cold boullion. At about noon the bat- talions of Col. King and Maj. Bartlett, with drums beat- ing, swung off with light hearts to join the remainder of the regiment at Tifft Farm, where they were received with great enthusiasm. Shortly after the arrival of these battalions, the Twenty-second boarded a special train, and Camp King and Tifft Farm became but mem- ories. Through the courtesy of the railroad company, the regiment was permitted to stop off several hours at Niagara Falls. This was a great treat to the men, many of whom had never seen the wonderful sights of the place. Upon the arrival of the train they were sent out in squads, each in charge of a non-commis- sioned officer, who was made responsible. for the safe
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return of those under his supervision. The most at- tractive spot seemed to be the territory across the sus- pension bridge, and most of the men made an early expedition into Her Majesty's dominions.
The trip homeward was tame compared with the journey in the other direction. The excitement inci- dent to the departure had ceased. The men had had but little sleep, and, for the most part, now that the strain was over, were heavy with a fatigue that enabled them to slumber without regard to obstacles. They slept in every variety of pose, the favorite method being to turn the backs of two seats so that they faced each other; the upholstered seats were then taken out and laid lengthwise across the framework, and the backs of the chairs were tilted at an angle sufficient to allow the feet to protrude into the space between that particular chair and the one next to it. This allowed an oppor- tunity for the sleeper to stretch his legs somewhat, and while not comfortable, strictly speaking, it was a vast improvement over the accommodations had going up to Buffalo. But, as before stated, no obstacles stood in the way of the much-needed rest, and the man who was kicked out of the seat by his uncomfortable bed- fellows accepted his fate without murmur and slumbered peacefully on the floor until morning.
The train bearing the regiment arrived at the Grand Central Station about 10.30 A. M. on Saturday, August 27. Notwithstanding their attempts to "police them- selves," a more bedraggled and unkempt set of soldiers has never been seen in New York than the members of the Twenty-second as they filed out of the depot. Not a man in the regiment had shaved in the ten days'
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service. They were brown with tan and sunburn, and grimy with coal dust, which the ice-water in which they washed in the cars would not remove. The fatigue uni- forms, many of which had seen hard service in the armory and at camp for years previously, were torn and ragged. These were also soiled with oil, soot and coal dust. Their shoes were either worn out and tattered, or had been replaced by others of the brogan pattern. These, although rough and uncouth, were really much better adapted to the service to which they had been subjected than their predecessors had been. All sorts of camp utensils had been brought home as souvenirs, and were carried by the men as a part of their equipment. At the bottom of the haversacks dangled the tin cups; nearly every knap- sack was decorated with a tin plate. One man had brought away an axe, which he carried by thrusting the helve through his belt, and strapped on the back of another hung a large water pail.
On being dismissed at the armory, with expressions of gratification and congratulation by the commanding officers, civilian dress was donned and the majority of the men hurried to their homes. A large number, how- ever, remained to partake of the generous breakfast that had been provided by the generosity of the late Col Elliott F. Shepard ; and the Buffalo campaign be- came a matter of history.
It is safe to say that the programme followed by each man on his arrival home was, first, a bath, then a shave, and then-what matter if it was broad daylight ? -bed! Several men have been heard to remark that not until it had been occupied at least twenty-four
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hours did the unaccustomed luxury of the latter item begin to pall upon them. Others assert that they could not rest comfortably in bed for some time.
And now, when the Buffalo riots are forgotten, save when two veterans of the service get together to talk over old times, it only remains to be recorded that there is not a man in the Twenty-second who went through that campaign, with all its hardships, rough fare, and other disagreeable features, who would not gladly go through the same experience again should occasion demand it.
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CHAPTER XLIX.
THE BROOKLYN TROLLEY WAR .:
E ARLY in the week, commencing January 14, 1895, a dispute arose between the labor organi- zations controlling the motormen, conductors and other employees of the trolley system of surface rail- roads in Brooklyn, and the companies which operated those railroads, in regard to the claim of the former for higher wages, fewer hours, or both. A little tact and generosity on the part of the railroad companies, ap- parently, would have avoided all trouble. But they would make no concessions (although the claims of the men were not considered by the public to be unreason- able), and a strike was ordered.
A strike is not likely to prove successful in securing the demands of the outgoing employees, if the condi- tion of the labor market is such that their places can be filled within a short period. When new men offer themselves, unless the strikers are able by peaceful means to induce those who accept employment in their places to abandon it, the strike must fail, unless the new men can be prevented by force from working. Peaceful measures were at first adopted by the Brook- lyn motormen. They contented themselves by aban-
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doning their employment in a body, in the hope that this would so seriously cripple the operations of the railroads that the companies would be obliged to accede to their demands. But the times were hard. Labor - was largely unemployed all over the country, and many applicants eagerly sought for the positions thrown up by the strikers, and refused to listen to the solicitations of the latter that they should give them up. As it became apparent that the railroads would succeed in filling the vacancies caused by their quitting work, the " old men" saw that their struggle was lost if they continued to depend solely on peaceable measures, and turned toward violence. The "hoodlum" element, ever present in great cities, and ready to welcome dis- orders in which they may gain something, if only amusement, and can lose nothing, made haste to join in the disturbances. Soon obstructions appeared on the tracks, cars were stopped and overturned, trolley wires were cut, and "scabs" (the term of contempt applied by the strikers to the men assuming their positions) were assaulted and forced from their cars.
The leaders of the strike of course disavowed all this unlawful turbulence, but nevertheless the violence continued, and with a singular conformity to the plans of the strike leaders. The Brooklyn police depart- ment failed to cope with the situation. It was claimed that its numbers were insufficient in numbers, and that the officers and men were largely in sympathy with the strikers. This sympathy was also felt by the general public, who considered the corporations unjust and avaricious in their dealings with the men, although the violence that ensued very rapidly alienated this
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sympathy from the strikers. The main difficulty with the police was poor management. The authorities of the city were weak and timid. Instead of proclaiming their purpose to maintain order and remove every member of the police who failed to do his duty, they held the latter back, and tried to be friends to both sides at the very time when a firm course was indis- pensable to prevent an outbreak. The disturbances consequently became serious. The railroad companies, being unable to run their cars, formally called upon the city authorities for protection. These then went to the other extreme, and instead of using the police vig- orously, applied to Gen. James McLeer, commanding the Second Brigade, N. G. N. Y., for a military force, a step which at that time might have been avoided. Gen. McLeer promptly responded, and on Friday, Jan- uary 18, called out his entire brigade, and distributed it so as to guard the affected territory as well as its num- bers would permit. But it was soon evident that neither the police nor the Second Brigade was sufficient to maintain order and protect 200 miles of tracks and 60,000 miles of trolley wire. Mayor Schieren therefore called on Gov. Morton for an additional military force.
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