USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 4
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and hazardous retreat of the two brigades (of Bar- low's Division) across a deep stream in the face of
the advancing enemy, lay in so handling his regi- ment that it came in safety from a field in which superior forces had surrounded it on three sides, while the woods through which his retreat lay were on fire." His coolness and bravery were constantly
conspicuous, as was also his tender regard for the
wounded. In the brave and bloody charge ordered by Grant, which broke the rebel line at Spottsylva- nia, Colonel Beaver and his men signally distin-
guished themselves, at a heavy loss to the com-
mand. While they were yet in the fight, a Con-
federate officer pushed through the struggling
mass, and surrendered to Colonel Beaver. It was General George H. Stuart. On May 13th Colonel
Beaver was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade, First Division, Second Corps. He re-
be allowed to decline the honor, as he preferred to ported to General Barlow as ordered, but asked to
remain with his own men. In reply to Barlow's
question as to when he would be willing to take a
brigade he replied : " When the losses of war leave
me the ranking officer of the brigade in which my
Brooke fell, he left Colonel Beaver in command of their bravery and success; and when General and his gallant men were again conspicuous for command. In the assault at Cold Harbor, Beaver dred killed, wounded and missing-almost half the tions Beaver's regiment had lost nearly four hun- regiment is serving." In these early May opera-
the brigade, with orders to push into the enemy's
works. The latter made a rush for the salient, but before he reached it the enemy's supports crowded in and the attacking force fell back. In the face of the converging fire of a long line of works, and, as General Hancock testified, " with a gallantry rarely exhibited under such circumstances," the Union troops "faced to the enemy within a short distance of his line, and held their ground until they had constructed with their bayonets and hands a cover which enabled them to hold on permanently." Col- onel Beaver while conversing with an aide, Captain J. B. Brady, was struck by a spent ball which had passed through the latter's body. A few minutes later while talking to Colonel Morris of the Seventh New York, the later fell dead-shot through the heart. In an hour's fighting Hancock's corps lost 3,024 men-the "One Hundred and Fifty-eighth" having its full share of casualties. At Petersburg, June 16, 1864, Beaver commanded a brigade, and when Grant ordered the assault he got his men to- gether, gave the necessary instructions and then, in person, led them in the charge, being first over the Union works. His men had every confidence in him, and with a shout they swept over the plain under his lead amidst a perfect shower of shot and shell. "Just as the charge was at its height, with every prospect of victory," says an eye-witness, " I saw a shell strike beneath General Beaver's feet, bury itself in the ground and explode. It threw him into the air, and he fell," severely wounded. This was his third wound received in battle. Before it was healed he returned to the army. Hancock saw his enfeebled condition and sent him home, but his impatience was so great that he reported before his
leave expired, and the day after his arrival, in the battle of Ream's Station, August 25, 1864, while in command of a brigade, he received the wound which ended his fighting days. It was in the leg, and am- putation was necessary. Conscious throughout,
General Beaver never lost his interest in the fight.
The day's reverse saddened him, but he bore his sufferings like the hero that he was. "He was
brevetted a Brigadier-General, U. S. V., for his con- duct throughout the campaign of 1864, and particu- larly for his services as a brigade commander at
being so badly injured that it was impossible to save Cold Harbor." His leg was amputated at the hip,
even the stump. For a long time his recovery was despaired of, but his pure life was in his favor. He was mustered out of the service, at his own request
Brigadier-General of Volunteers, December 22, 1864. by reason of wounds received in battle, as a Brevet
He now turned his attention to his profession. He was a hero, known and loved, and the business of his firm rapidly increased. He had always taken a
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
hearty interest in affairs at Bellefonte, and now, after the war, more than ever before, identified himself
with everything of public interest. Yielding to pressure he consented to accept the Republican nom- ination for the State Assembly, and was almost suc- cessful in overcoming the large Democratic major- ity of nearly nine hundred votes. Thereafter, many times, he was urged to accept nominations for various offices, but for many years steadily adlıered to professional work. Nevertheless, his qualities were of a kind which attract and hold friends. General Beaver is an effective and brilliant speaker, and his known ability in this direction has led to his services being in constant request on the stump in party interests. In no sense of the word a politi- cian, he has always yielded as full a measure of service as possible, and never expressed a hope or expectation of reward. In every political campaign since the war, he has thus taken a prominent and useful part in furthering Republican success. This was noticeably the case in the State campaign of 1878 and in the National campaign of 1880, in both of which he rendered brilliant servicc. In the first mentioned, his friends brought forward his name for Governor, and from that day his strength grew, and he became looked up to as the standard-bearer of his party in the State. Pronounced in his sup- port of Grant, he was sent as a delegate from Cen- tre County to the Chicago Convention of 1880, and was unanimously chosen Chairman of the Pennsyl- vania delegation. Although he was its choice for the Vice-Presidency, and had the support of Ohio, Tennessee and eight other delegations, he perempt- orily declined to be a candidate for this office, saying that his friends at home had other views which lie desired to respect. He seconded Garfield's nomina- tion to the Presideney in an able speech which deci- dedly influenced the Convention in favor of the nominee. In 1881 his friends, against his expressed wishes, brought his name before the State Legisla- tnre in connection with the office of United States Senator, and for several days it was prominent among those voted for. Long before the meeting of the Republican Convention at Harrisburgh, June 10, 1882, General Beaver was the favorite for the first place on the State ticket. " His distinguished servi- ces in the field, his unselfish and unrewarded labors in behalf of his party, his spotless character and sterling ability made him the popular choice." His name when presented to the Convention evoked a whirlwind of applause, and the enthusiasm continued unabated throughout the canvass. Owing to an in- dependent movement in the Republican party, the regular nominee was defeated by Gov- ernor Pattison, the Democratic candidate. In 1886
General Beaver was a second time the unanimous nominee of his party for the Chief Magistracy of the State, and in this canvass he was successful, re- ceiving a majority of 42,651 votes over his Demo- cratic opponent. No man ever assumed office with a greater or more sacred sense of its obligations, to the discharge of which, at his inauguration Janu- ary 18, 1887, lie solemnly dedicated his best powers of body and mind. He entered upon his duties with "a fearless determination to faithfully exe- cute the laws for the whole people," and his admin- istration has shown that no pressure or crisis could swerve him from this resolve. "More than any other Executive," writes one entirely familiar with his official acts, "he has shown himself one of the people, and in greater degree has mingled with the people in their every-day life, acquainting himself with their wants, their sentiments, and their opin- ions as to State polity." The abuse of the military power of the State in the execution of civil process has been prevented by his firm stand in this vital matter. He resolutely approved the joint resolution of the Legislature providing for the submission to the people of an amendment to the Constitution looking to the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors, and an Act providing for "high license." He has shown himself a firm friend of industrial education, the great advantages of which in an in- dustrial Commonwealth he has been quick to perceive and the first officially to urge. Taxation has been materially and wisely reduced. Upwards of three millions of the State debt has been extinguislied, and the affairs of the Commonwealth have seldom been in a more satisfactory condition, from whatever point viewed. Conscientious to the last degree, his administration of public affairs has been marked by a scrupulous regard for the general weal. " In appointments to place, fitness therefor has been the first consideration, and for retention therein-fidel- ity to the trust imposed. His full and broad com- prehension of all questions of State policy, the can- dor which has characterized the spirit with which he has met every issue, and his straightforward and independent disposal of every question requir- ing his consideration, have established him firmly in the confidence of the people," and have aided in making his reputation National. Governor Beaver's interest in the cause of industrial education deserves special mention. Chosen in 1873 to fill the vacancy in the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania State College, occasioned by the death of his law partner and father-in-law, the Hon. H. N. Mc- Allister, one of its originators and founders, he was unanimously elected President of the Board in the year following. By unceasing devotion to the in-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
terests of the college he succeeded, by the aid of other devoted friends of the institution, within ten years, not only in paying off the mortgage debt of eighty thousand dollars, and in reducing the floating debt from fifty-five thousand to forty thou- sand dollars, but also in making permanent improve- ments and additions to the college, the value of which was not less than forty thousand dollars. He accomplished this magnificent result only by the most diligent labor, and without pay or salary, working with no other hope of reward than the suc- cess of the institution, and freely expending of his private means in his efforts to achieve that result. His thorough acquaintance with the problem of in- dustrial education, gleancd through his experience in connection with this college-the field in which the State is testing it-seems to have confirmed him in the wisdom of the attempt to league manual with mental training. Referring to this subject in his Inaugural Address, he said :
" The main fault of our present system [of edu- cation] is that it leads directly and inevitably to that which is abstract, and away from that which is practical. It deals in words and signs, and not with facts and things. The graduate of our average high schools, as all experience proves, is educated away from what are called industrial pursuits, and into a fitness for those employments which involve only mental training. In short, the head is developed at the expense of the hand, and we are compelled to rely upon the skilled labor of other countries to fill the most lucrative and important positions which our industrial establishments offer. The value of mere intellectual training is not underestimated, nor is its importance overlooked. But years of success- ful experiment in America have demonstrated bc- yond question that mind and hand can be developed together as quickly, as fully, and with much better results, than can the mind alone. There is no rea- son why industrial manual training cannot be engrafted upon our present school system, with little of expense, with little, if any, change in the machin- ery of school management, with no change in our general system of laws relating thereto, and with infinite advantage to our industrial development and to our common weal."
In common with many of the bravest surviving participants in the Civil War, Governor Beaver has always taken an advanced stand in the matter of burying all sectional animosity born of that terrible strife. On every appropriate occasion, public and private, he has eloquently voiced this sentiment. Nothing could be more clear, terse and emphatic than his speech in behalf of the Society of the Army of the Potomac, to the Confederate soldiers present at the reunion on the battle-field of Gettys- burg, July 2, 1888. In the course of his remarks he said :
"My own case is that which will, doubtless, illus- trate many, many similar ones. My mother lived
in Pennsylvania. She had three boys who wore the blue. Her only sister, and the only other child of her father, lived in Virginia. Her three boys wore the gray. They served in the Army of Northern Virginia; we served for the most part in the Army of the Potomac. Our deadly shots were aimed at each other in many battles of the war in which those two armics confronted each other. Did that fact, think you, obliterate the love which those sisters bore to each other, or that which animated their sons ? Nay, verily. On our side the war was one of principles, of abstract ideas largely. On your side, we admit, with your views of what was to be ex- pected in the future, your property rights and pri- vate interests were directly involved; and hence the more intense feeling and ardor which you dis- played. It is not necessary to follow the details of the struggle in arriving at a final decision as to the question involved. It is not necessary to recount the varying successes of your side and ours. It is sufficient for our present purpose that the sword, to whose dread arbitrament you had submitted, de- cided against you, and that your representative and ours so agreed at Appomattox. The questions in- volved are no longer at issue ; that issue was settled and settled forever. The judgment of the court of last resort was pronounced. Your representative- honorable nian that he was-accepted it for you. You as honorable men have stood by, and are bound to stand by, the decision. We, as honorable men, are bound to see to it that that decision is respected, and that you shall not be called upon to admit more or to promise more than is involved in the de- cision."
But while wise, just and far-seeing in this partic- ular, General Beaver is no less fervid in his appre- ciation of what is due to the defenders of the Na- tional honor, the Constitution and the supremacy of the law.
"I have no sympathy," said lie, to the veterans from Wisconsin, present on the same battle-field, to dedicate a monument to their fallen comrades, " with the sentiment that we should not recognize this devotion to duty. I have no sympathy with the sentiment that these monuments should not be reared in granite and in bronze, that may, so long as earthly material can, outlive the attacks of the cor- roding tooth of time. Let us mark them well; let us rear them high ; let us make them of material which shall, so far as human ability goes, never de- cay ; and let them teach the lessons to the genera- tions unborn, that these men who died here died in the cause of truth, and that their memory should be held in sacred reverence so long as there is a loy- al heart that beats in unison with loyalty, and truth, and duty."
Recognizing the great importance of the political campaign of 1888, he accepted the invitation of the National Republican Committee to take part in the discussion of the questions involved in it in States other than Pennsylvania. He visited Maine in the preliminary canvass in September, and spoke in New York, New Jersey, West Virginia and Indiana during the month of October, devoting special at- tention to the discussion of the various phases of the
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
tariff question, the principle of protection being one of the cardinal doctrines of his political belief. Governor Beaver has recently been chosen Grand Marshal of the ceremonies at Washington in con- nection with the inauguration of General Benjainin Harrison as President of the United States. Since the agitation in this country of the forestry question, Governor Beaver has taken a deep interest in the subject; and in the Convention held at Atlauta, Georgia, September 5th, 1888, when the American and Southern Forestry Congresses were consoli- dated, he was, although uot present, unanimously elected President thereof. Governor Beaver is a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte. He was clected by the Presbytery of Huntingdon in April, 1888, to represent it in the Centennial meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United
States of America. At that Assembly he was Chairman of the Committee on the report of the Board of Ministerial Relief. He was appointed by the Moderator of the Assembly, Vice-Modera- tor, and as such presided at several meetings of the Assembly, being the first layman in the history of the church who ever occupied that position. General Beaver married, on December 25, 1865, Miss Mary McAllister, the young and accomplished daughter of the late Hon. H. N. McAllister, of Bellefonte. This lady "who has inherited much of her father's strength of mind and force of character," has proved a fitting and worthy help-meet to her distin- guished husband. Five sons have been the issuc of this marriage: Nelson McAllister, Gilbert Addams, Hugh McAllister, Thomas B., and James A., Jr. The first named died in infancy. The last named died in Harrisburgh within a week after his father's inauguration as Governor. The survivors are bright young men who give promise of useful lives, and are being educated with the view to rendering faithful service to their kind in this intensely prac- tical age.
GEORGE CADWALADER.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE CADWALADER, U. S. A., a distinguished American soldier and for many years a prominent citizen of Philadelphia, was born in the city named, May 16, 1806, and died there, after a long, active and conspicuous career, February 3, 1879. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating there in 1823. Family tradition and early associations, as well as inherited tendencies, led him to take great interest in military affairs and to make a study of the tactics of artillery,
cavalry and infantry. In 1824 he joined the first troop, " Philadelphia City Cavalry." In 1832 he was commissioned Captain of the " Philadelphia Grays." Ten years later he had risen to the rank of Briga- dicr-General of the First Brigade, First Division, Pennsylvania State Militia, and as commandant of the military forces of the State in the city of Phila- delphia was called upon in May and July of 1844 to aid the civil authorities in suppressing the riots in the districts of Kensington and Southwark. These deplorable outbreaks, having their origin in the bit- terness of feeling existing between the so-called "Americans" and the Irish Catholics of the city, completely paralyzed the civil power, and re- course was had to the militia. General Cadwalader was a thorough soldier and as just as he was brave, but his duty was clear, and when no lieed was paid by the mob to his admonitions, he unhesitatingly executed it. The bloody consequences of their open defiance of law infuriated the rioters to such an ex- tent, that they erected a gallows at the Wharton Street Market, intending to hang General Cadwala- der the moment he was captured. Nothing but the General's firmness in dealing with his misguided fellow citizens averted the reign of mob law with all that that implies. Order was at length restored, and, although for a time, a very bitter feeling ex- isted in some quarters against the General, it com- pletely died out when the reign of reason began. The point, long questioned, as to the right to invoke the aid of the military forces of the State in sup- pressing outbreaks too powerful to be dealt with by the ordinary officers of the law, was definitely and permanently settled at this time, and the State Leg- islature enacted a law preventing thereafter a civil magistrate holding a military officer for his acts performed under the direction of the civil authori- ties. At the beginning of the Mexican War, Gen- cral Cadwalader tendered the services, to the Presi- dent of the United States, of the "Philadelphia Grays," and, although still holding the rank of Brigadier-Gencral, offered to relinquish it and ac- company the command to the field as its Captain. The Governor of the State would not accept his res- ignation, and the President declined the offer of the company, but the latter soon called upon the Gen- eral for his personal services in the field, and ap- pointed him Brigadier-General in the United States Army. When he took the field as such, the situ- ation of General Taylor at Monterey, from a mili- tary point of view, was very critical. The regular troops had been withdrawn from his command to reinforce General Scott, about to invest Vera Cruz. Santa Anna, taking advantage of the situation, ad- vanced with a much superior force to attack him.
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
General Cadwalader was selected by the President and immediately ordered to proceed to the Rio Grande clothed with authority to change the desti- nation of the troops, about to leave New Orleans and the Rio Grande for Vera Cruz, and to hasten to the relief of General Taylor. Acting under the ample discretionary power accorded him, he moved with reinforcements to the assistance of Taylor, but learning on his arrival at Matamoras that the latter had won the battle of Buena Vista, he moved his column to the support of General Scott as originally designed. During the remainder of the war he was an active figure in it, and, in 1847, participated with distinction in the battles of National Bridge, June 11th, La Hoya, June 20th, Contreras, August 19th- 20th, Cherubusco, September 12th-13th, and San Cosme Gate, City of Mexico, September 14th, " displaying " in all, according to the testimony of his superiors, " great judgment, high military skill and heroic courage." He was especially compli- mented for his services at Contreras, August 19th, which an eye-witness of high rank declared made the success of the 20th possible. At the storming of Chepultepec, after General Pillow had been wounded, the command devolved upon General Cadwalader, who valiantly led his men right into the enemy's fortifications, and personally received from General Bravo his sword in token of surrender. For his "gallant and meritorious conduct" on that day, he was brevetted a Major-General in the United States Army with rank from September 13, 1847. In January, 1848, by order of General Scott, he oc- cupied the city and valley of Tolusca, of which he remained Military Governor two months, his forces consisting of four thousand regular troops of his own selection. The outbreak of the Rebellion found General Cadwalader still holding the commission of General in the State troops, and he was among the first of the general officers to be sworn into the ser- vice of the United States. While on his way to the seat of war at the head of Pennsylvania regiments, he was ordered by General Scott to assume command of the Department of Annapolis, with headquarters at Fort McHenry. The first writ of habeas corpus issued during the Rebellion was served upon him here in the case of a Mr. Merryman. He refused to acknowledge the validity of the summons, and was sustained by the Government. Leaving Baltimore June 9, 1861, he joined General Patterson's column, then advancing upon Harper's Ferry, and at Green- castle, Pa., was placed in command of the First Divi- sion, consisting of the brigades of Col. George H. Thomas, Gen. Williams and Col. Longnecker, with which he crossed the Susquehanna and advanced up- on Martinsburg, Va. On April 25, 1862, he was com- missioned Major-General of Volunteers, and on
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August 5, following, was ordered to the command of the First and Sixth Divisions of the Army of West Tennessee, with headquarters at Corinth, Mis- sissippi. In July, 1863, he was ordered to the command of the United States forces in and around Philadelphia. At Columbia, Pa., in Au- gust, 1864, he broke up the armed resistance to the Provost Marshal in the execution of the draft, and about the same time distinguished himself by the promptness with which he averted what might have proved a serious catastrophe to the Govern- ment. Learning from the report of Gen. Crossman, Assistant-Quartermaster-General on duty in Phila- delphia, that the Government contractors had failed to keep their contracts in supplying coal, and that there was great consternation in consequence at Old Point Comfort, whither the expected supplies were destined, General Cadawalder investigated the matter in person, and finding that the employes of the Reading Railroad had struck for higher wages and were obstructing the movement of coal from the mines, he immediately seized the rolling stock of the road, and telegraphing to Washington for the necessary number of experts, soon had one hundred and fifty engincers and firemen on duty, and ample supplies of coal in movement. His promptness in shipping coal to Norfolk and neigh- boring points, alone enabled the requirements of Grant's army in front of Petersburg to be met, and prevented consequences which might have seriously jeopardized the success of the Union arms. The closing year of the war found General Cadwalader on duty protecting the frontiers of Pennsylvania, which costly experience had proved could not be left defenceless. During this period he caused to be made a topographical survey of the Susquehanna from its mouth to a point some distance beyond Har- risburg, with a view to its defense. Other duties of importance were in connection with the for- warding of convalescents to their regiments at the front, and in maintaining regular transit to and fro between the North and the National Capital. On May 15, 1865, he was detailed as President of a Board to prepare lists of officers, who it was con- sidered desirable should be retained in or discharged from the United States service. In July, 1865, General Cadawalder tendered his resignation as Major-General of Volunteers, which was duly ac- cepted by the War Department. The remainder of his life was spent in the city of Philadelphia, where he continued in a private capacity to exercise great influence in the affairs of his fellow-citizens. For nearly half a century he filled the position of Presi- dent of the Mutual Assurance Company, and for some years before his death that of Commander of the Loyal League of the United States.
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