USA > Pennsylvania > History of the First regiment infantry, National guard of Pennsylvania (Grey Reserves) 1861-1911, pt 1 > Part 19
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Captain Jacob Loudenslager, of equal energy and like con- stancy of firm purpose and resolute will, was for a long time his cotemporary. A distinguishing feature in Captain Loudenslager's military career was the warm attachment he had for his men and the ever-abiding affection they bore for him. He repeatedly de- clined promotions that ultimately would have made him the colonel of the regiment. He joined the Artillery Corps of Wash- ington Grays in 1828 at eighteen years of age, and resigned his captaincy December 5, 1868, having thus completed his full forty years of continuous military service.
Major J. Ross Clark, recalled from his retirement of Octo- ber 20, 1870, was elected to succeed Major Keyser August 28, 1871.
The regiment, through its Board of Officers, announced its purpose to participate in both the inaugural ceremonies of the Governor of Pennsylvania, on the third Tuesday of January,
IST3
174
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1873, and those of the President of the United States, on the fourth day of March, 1873, by a resolution adopted at the stated meeting, June 7, 1872. The former was consummated, the lat- ter was not. The importance of making the proposed attendance at the Harrisburg inaugural a success was strenuously urged. The movement was designed largely in the interest of legislative betterment. It was believed that a large and effective display of the militia foree of the Commonwealth might help the measures then pending. If the force appeared so well with its own unaided efforts, what might not be expected from it with a secure and more substantial publie support ? The minutes of the Board of Officers sustain this conclusion. At the January stated meeting, January 8, 1873, as it appears from the minutes: " The Colonel called the attention of the Beard to the importance of making the trip to Harrisburg a success. It depends largely on the efforts of this command that the proposed legislation for the militia of the State may be passed, and he asked that every officer will do his utmost to impress upon the men the importance of the ocea- sion."
The seasons for inauguration ceremonies seem to be inauspi- ciously chosen. They more frequently fall upon a day of storm than of sunshine. It was the misfortune of the participants in the outdoor ceremonies attendant upon the first inaugura- tion of Governor Hartranft to feel the weather disappoint- ment keenly. The regiment, with Colonel Latta in command, entrained at the West Philadelphia depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad at S.30 o'clock on the evening of Monday, January 20, 1873. Delayed by the unavoidable detentions ineident to a heavy train and a weather-encumbered track, it did not reach its destination until five o'clock on the following morning. Har- risburg was a storm-ridden, overcrowded, comfortless town. The snow was on the ground some six inches in depth and it was still falling. In about an hour it turned to hail and rain, and when the column moved in regular procession at ten-thirty, the march was through the deep and heavy slush that followed. The route completed, the ceremonies over, at two o'clock the men were permitted for a while to eare for themselves. At seven o'clock the regiment re-entrained. and after less than the usual delays. then so frequently a subject for complaint in the movement of
1-73
175
ADJUTANT-GENERAL LATTA
troops by rail, reached Philadelphia at one o'clock on the morn- ing of Wednesday, the 22d, " heartily disgusted," so states our first sergeant diarist, " but ready to go again."
The discomforts did not seem to divert the purpose of the regiment to do its best to so appear in the public eye that it might secure a recognition for its own betterment and the betterment of its fellows. It was, too, rumored afterward-the rumor did not seem to have had lodgement at the time-that whatever regiment on duty on that occasion the consensus of opinion should pro- nounce to be the best, the colonel of that regiment should have the adjutant-generaley of the State under the then incoming ad- ministration. Though no verification of that rumor ever came directly from the governor, it seemed to have had some confirma- tion in the merits apparently conceded to the First Infantry in the appointment of its colonel as the adjutant-general of Penn- sylvania a few months afterward.
At the stated meeting of the Board of Officers, May 7, 1873, Colonel Latta made formal announcement of his appointment as adjutant-general of Pennsylvania. Resolutions reported from a committee " to draw up a series of resolutions expressive of the high feeling held toward Adjutant-General Jas. W. Latta and the pride they felt in his advancement " followed later, and on June 2, 1873, the date of his commission, General Latta was duly qualified and entered upon the duties of his office. He served through the two administratious of Governor Hartranft and the one of Governor Hoyt-June, 1873, to January, 1883-and was subsequently, upon its creation, placed upon the retired list of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, with the rank of major-general.
CHAPTER VI
COLONEL BENSON, JUNE 4, 1573-DECEMBER 4, 1578-SUSQUE- HANNA DEPOT, APRIL, 1ST4-CENTENARY FIRST TROOP, NO- VEMBER 17, 1874-HAZLETON, APRIL, 1875-BOSTON BUNKER HILL CENTENARY, JUNE 17, 1875-REGIMENTAL BADGE --- FUNERAL VICE-PRESIDENT WILSON-SECOND INAUGURATION
GOVERNOR HARTRANFT-CHANGES IN OFFICERS, DIVISION, BRIGADES, REGIMENTAL-CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, MAY TO NOVEMBER, 1876-" INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES, 1877 "- COLONEL BENSON RESIGNS-CAPTAIN MULDOON COMMANDING, DECEMBER 8, 1877, TO OCTOBER 1, 1878
Mrs. Henry de La Pasture, an English woman, a novelist of promising repute, of recent appearance in the literary field, so says The Outlook, " commends Americans for not being afraid to praise a man or call him great while he is still living," and by implication regrets the reserve and tradition which make it diffi- cult for the Englishman unreservedly to commend any person or anything that is not stamped with the "hall-mark of time."
Colonel Benson's administration began with energy and with a purpose. Permitted to select his own field officers, their selec- tion with his was confirmed by an election on the 4th of June, 1873, and as of that date Col. R. Dale Benson was commissioned as colonel, Lieut .- Col. John Ross Clark as lieutenant-colonel, and Major Charles K. Ide as major. On the same day the staff an- nouncement included Joseph B. Godwin as adjutant, Caspar II. Duhring as quartermaster, William S. Stewart as surgeon, and Alonzo L. Leach as assistant surgeon. Rev. Thomas A. Jaggar, D.D., was subsequently named as chaplain. The non-commis- sioned staff was made up of H. Harrison Groff, sergeant-major; Stephen K. Philbin, quartermaster-sergeant, and Henry L. Elder, commissary-sergeant. With the creation of the officers of pay- master and commissary these changes subsequently shortly fol- lowed: Caspar HI. Duhring was made captain and commissary ; William A. Rolin, captain and paymaster; Stephen K. Philbin, first lieutenant and quartermaster, and Albert Haverstick, quar-
176
Dale Mondore.
177
COLONEL BENSON
1873
termaster-sergeant. The captains as they stood at the beginning and within the first six months of Colonel Benson's indnetion were: Captain Washington II. Gilpin, Company A; Captain Thomas J. Dunn, Company B; Captain William W. Allen, who returned to his old place after the resignation of Captain O'Cal- laghan, Company C; Captain William J. Barr, Company D, who succeeded Captain William A. Seeger, who for a time had filled the vacancy created by the resignation of Captain Charles K. Ide a short while before his elevation to the majorty; Captain James Muldoon, Company E; the captaincy of Company F was vacant; Captain F. W. Kretschmar, Company G; Captain Albert H. Walters, Company H ; and Captain Rudolph Klander, Company I.
With the conviction that Colonel Benson was from Company D -- he was not of the regiment, until his appointment as adjutant -criticism was freely offered, as both Lieutenant-Colonel Clark and Major Ide had been closely identified with that company, that his selection of his two field officers savored too much of com- pany favoritism. Without suggestion that the criticism had been too inclusive, it was graciously accepted in the confidence that with capacity tested the choice would be approved.
No field officer, in fact, was ever selected as an expedient; if the choice did not follow from direct promotion-and it was but rarely that it did not-service in war or military experience in peace was alone the test.
The coloneley, too, had been singularly free from any special company domination. There has been a reasonably fair distri- bution of the honor. Colonel Smith was from A, Colonel Prevost from C, Colonels Latta and Wiedersheim from D (Wiedersheim had had previous membership in F), Colonel Bowman from H, Colonels Good and Eidell from B. The others, Colonels Ellmaker and Kneass, were chosen in the beginning each from their well- established military records, and Colonels MeMichael and Benson subsequently for their services in war. Colonel Bonnaffon, of the Twentieth Emergency Regiment, was from H, and of the lieu- tenant-colonels and majors, Lieutenant-Colonel Starr was of the Battery Company L, Lieutenant-Colonel Clark from D. Gilpin from A, Huffington from F, Williams from G; Majors Piersoll from F, Nicholson. Kensil (Clarence T.) and Kensil ( Eugene J.) 12
178
1873
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
from H, Keyser from 1, Ide from D, Allen (William S.) from B, Zane from G, Hunt and Pierson from E, and Scattergood from C.
Measures to encourage discipline, increase efficiency, strengthen numbers, heretofore inaugurated at Colonel Benson's own in- stance while he was lieutenant-colonel, were now vigorously pressed. Means and methods to touch the great public pulse, "to assure the moral and pecuniary support of merchants, business men, and citizens generally "; to show to the community at large by " a spirit of determination and energetic action " that the regiment was in earnest in its efforts and endeavors to improve, were adopted by the Board of Officers and their demonstration assigned to competent committees well calculated to consummate their intended purpose. Colonel Benson's career opened auspi- ciously and closed successfully. His was a varied experience. There were display and pageant, function and celebration, show and parade, utility and purpose, exposure and danger, through- out his term. The commemoration of its centennial anniversaries was upon the nation and the calendar was crowded with cele- bration after celebration. Then each year there were industrial disturbances, bloodshed and riot, when the soldier was summoned to restore the peace and preserve order. To the prestige of a war service ever efficient, at times brilliant, notably in the Peach Orchard at Gettysburg, Colonel Benson added the splendid repu- tation he had made for himself and his regiment, which when he retired from its coloneley survived him in an unsought, well- deserved popularity that he has ever since retained. Even at this distant day his appearance anywhere before or with his old com- mand when the proprieties will permit it, is the occasion for an enthusiastic demonstration. His activities in the Veteran Corps still keep him in close touch with the regiment's present energies, and make him a moving spirit for its betterment.
The regular summer encampments, now prescribed by law, had not yet come about, and the usual inactivities incident to the season followed. There was, however, the regular spring in- spection at Fairmount Park on the 9th of June, of 1873, and the Fourth of July was made the occasion for the ceremonies attend- ant upon the dedication of the grounds set apart in Fairmount Park for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. The regiment par- ticipated, and proceeded by rail to Belmont Station on the Read-
179
INSPECTIONS AND MUSTERS
1473
ing Railway, and thenee to the site near by. The weather was not propitious. It was excessively hot, and the hour selected- two o'clock-did not invite a large attendance, nor had a real enthusiasm for the occasion yet been awakened. The display was consequently meagre, confined largely, as a memorandum of the time reads, to the " regulars only."
The first of the inspections and musters under the provisions of the Act of 1873, which were to determine the fitness, capacity, and standing of the various organizations of the National Guard, was made at the regimental armory on the evening of the 27th of October by the adjutant-general of the State. The result, emi- nently satisfactory, appeared in his official report for the current year (1873), and was as follows: " The First. Regiment, Col. R. Dale Benson, an officer of high repute, in numbers, personnel, and efficiency ranks in the National Guard service of Pennsylvania, as shown by its inspection, as most excellent. It has no equal. In detail it appears to be well, thoroughly, and efficiently managed."
The vigorous pursuit of instruction in drill, company and regi- mental, with occasional outings for more extended manœuvres, was unexpectedly interrupted by a sudden call upon the Gov- ernor by the sheriff of Susquehanna County for troops to sup- press a riotous disturbance, incident to a stoppage of travel by mob interference on the Erie Railway at Susquehanna Depot that had gotten beyond the control of the civil authorities. In obedi- ence to instructions from Harrisburg, communicated through divi- sion headquarters, the regiment specially designated by the Gor- ernor, assembled at the Broad and Race Streets armory, equipped with knapsack, overcoat, three days' rations, and ten rounds of ball cartridges, at ten o'clock on the morning of Sunday, March 29, 1574, preparatory to a movement to the point of disturbanee. The other organizations of the first division were all in readiness, but their services were not required.
The following field return appeared in the Philadelphia Sun- day Mercury of April 13, 1574:
The First Regiment consisted of the following companies, and field and staff :
Colonel R. Dale Benson: Lieutenant-Colonel J. Ross Clark: Major Charles K. Ide: Adjutant Jos. B. Godwin; Surgeon Wmn. S. Stewart; Assistant Surgeon Alonzo L. Leach.
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
18:4
Men
Total
Captains
Com.
A
3
2
29
34
Gilpin
B
2
2
44
48
Dunn
C
1
2
26
29
Allen
D
2
2
42
46
Fell (Lt. C.)
E
3
2
39
44
Muldoon
F
2
1
30
33
Benson
G
2
2
29
33
Kretschmar
H
1
1
34
36
Walters
I
2
2
22
26
Klauder
24
16
295
335
Field and Staff Officers Musicians
6
6
The regiment, some 350 strong, with Colonel Benson in eom- mand, had rendezvoused fully an hour before the time fixed, and after a delay from higher up ineident to transportation provided for the one way requiring to be changed to another, left the armory about five o'clock, and some two hours later entrained at the North Penn Depot for its Susquehanna Depot destination, which it reached about noon on the following day. With the rising alti- tudes of the intervening mountain ranges there came a decided fall in temperature, and by morning snow had fallen to an appre- ciable depth. The nearer the approach to the seene of disturb- anee, the more demoralized became the railway service, and at Nineveh Junetion on the Jefferson branch of the Erie the regi- ment was detrained at the eastern end of the great viaduct, and the last four miles of the journey were made on foot. General Edwin S. Osborne with a portion of his division, troops from the Luzerne region, had already arrived, and to him Colonel Benson reported in accordance with his instructions.
Susquehanna Depot, in the northeastern corner of the State, some two hundred and fifty miles from Philadelphia, is a divisional point on the Erie system. Extensive railway repair shops there located supplied an industry upon which its 8,000 inhabitants were almost solely dependent. The situation was peculiar, the cause seemed to be without a precedent, and no in- eident just its parallel is familiar of such a subsequent happening. It was a strike not for a raise or rate of wages, but for the pay of wages already earned. The embarrassments of the Erie at the time seemed to have left it so financially helpless that it had permitted the neglected pay-rolls of these striking shopmen to accumulate an
181
GOVERNOR HARTRANET'S REPLY
18:4
aggregate unpaid wage of $100,000. It was a condition that could not but help arouse a sympathy for the wage-carner as well as bestir a bitterness against the delinquent corporation. The situation was briefly summed up in an answer of Governor Hart- ranft's to a complaint of the chief burgess of the town that there was no need for troops, that there was no disturbance beyond civie control, and that the sheriff had been assured by the strikers that they would assist in making arrests and preserving order. The answer was as follows:
As an individual I may sympathize with your people in their misfor- tune in not receiving prompt payment of their dues, but as Chief Executive of this state I cannot allow creditors, however meritorious their claims may be, to forcibly seize the property of their debtors and hold it without due process of law, much less can I allow them to take and hold illegal posses- sion of a great highway and punish the innocent public, either as passengers or transporters. for the default of a corporation with which they have no concern. Whenever the laws of this Commonwealth shall provide that the employees of a railroad company may suspend all traffic upon it until their wages are paid, I shall acquiesce, but I cannot do so while the law refuses to contemplate any such remedy.
My duty is not to make laws or to criticise them, but to execute them, and that duty I minst discharge without fear or favor. General Osborne is the officer in command. I have implicit confidence in his impartiality, firminess and discretion. I have ordered him to confer with the sheriff of your county, who is its proper peace officer. If the laws are not set at defiance the sheriff will so inform General Osborne. If they are set at defiance General Osborne has been ordered to enforce obedience to them. If unfortunate consequences follow, the responsibility must rest with those who endeavor to redress their wrongs by violence, in contempt of the laws of their country and of the officers whose sworn duty it is to take care that they are faithfully executed.
The regiment was quartered in the machine shop of the Erie Railway, where it remained until relieved. The regular and daily routine of garrison duty was immediately ordered, guards mounted and posted, police details made, dress parades had, and roll-calls, as the regulations required. All reports made of these roll-ealls ineluded every man present for duty or properly ac- counted for. The strictest discipline was at all times enforced and cheerfully accepted. There was a demonstrative but rather pacific parade of some 1500 of the striking shopmen on the day following the arrival of the regiment. Contrary to the usually expected conditions, there was little manifestation of ill-feeling, and within twenty-four hours the situation was under control, and
182
IHISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
18:4
the long lines of stalled and hindered ears, freight and passenger, began to move; negotiations had worked to a satisfactory conclu- sion and the strike was over.
A memorandum constructed in the easy way of the Company C journalist coneludes as follows :
Notwithstanding the tour of duty was short, there were many hardships that to men unused to such life were hard to bear, but all was taken with- out a murmur. It was amusing to see all hands turn in for the night; every man wanted to be the "inside man," for the thermometer ranged from 10 to IS degrees above zero, and for sleeping on a hard plank floor without blankets and no fire it was rather eold. However, we all enjoyed the trip and look forward for another chance to show our patriotism.
The regiment was relieved from duty on Wednesday, April 1, made the return journey on Wednesday night, and reached Philadelphia on Thursday morning, April 2d. Ample provision had been made for its entertainment, notably by the staff of the first division, and a comfortable breakfast served in the vicinity of the depot greeted officers and men on their arrival. The com- mand then proceeded over the following route: Fourth to Chest- nut, to Third, to Walnut, to Fourth, to Chestnut, to Broad, and thenee to the armory at Broad and Race Streets, where, its ser- vices being no longer required for the duty for which it had been summoned, it was formally dismissed. At Third and Chestnut Streets the column was reviewed by General Prevost, and in front of the State House by Governor Hartranft.
The official recognition by Maj .- Gen. Edwin S. Osborne of the services rendered by the regiment, to be found in the report of the adjutant-general of the State for the year 1874, is deserv- ing of rescue from the obscurity of the public document where a busy posterity would never bother to look for it:
At ten minutes past twelve o'clock P. M. on Monday [said General Os- borne in his report] the First Regiment of Infantry, commanded by Col. R. Dale Benson, reported to me for duty. It affords me pleasure to say that I found Colonel Benson to be a gentleman and a soldier. Hle commands an excellent body of men and is assisted by a corps of efficient officers. He and his command rendered valuable service, for which I extend to them my thanks and commendation.
And then Colonel Benson's congratulatory order, so aptly framed, is well worthy of historic preservation, that a military
183
CONGRATULATORY ORDER
1874
progeny of such high repute as is now the First Regiment may know of the worth of its ancestors :
HEADQUARTERS
IST REGIMENT INF'Y 2D BRIGADE, IST DIV. N. G. OF PA.
Philadelphia, April 4, 1874.
GENERAL ORDERS NO. S.
The Colonel Commanding, with a pardonable feeling of pride, desires to congratulate the command upon its prompt response to the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, to proceed to Susquehanna Depot, in this State.
The numerical strength of the several Companies-the cheerful sub- mission to strict military discipline under trying circumstances-the alacrity with which every demand made upou this Regiment was met, have called forth the admiration of superior Head-quarters, and that of your fellow- citizens.
The Colonel Commanding is not unaware of the valuable cooperation of his brother officers of the Field, the support of the Line, the faithful and intelligent performance of duty by the Regimental staff in their several departments-but where all vied in the strict rendering of that which was but their duty, special commendation is unnecessary.
By your promptness this command was ready to move, fully equipped, one hour before that which had been designated. By your military bearing and discipline you demonstrated the efficiency of your troops. By your pres- ence at the designated point, in connection with other troops, you have main- tained the laws of this Commonwealth without shedding blood, leaving you a record of which you may be justly proud.
By order of Col. R. Dale Benson. Jos. B. GODWIN, Adjutant.
This disturbance, the first of the several that were to follow, each increasing in intensity, seemed to awaken the community to a better thought for its military. The " great awakening " of the '60's had fulfilled its mission so faithfully that the need for the soldier other than for the pageant had not yet reached a dem- onstration. The prevailing apathy was discouraging. The sol- dier needs the public countenance as well as the public confi- dence. He gives his services freely and expects at least appre- ciation, nor must it be tardy and await a manifestation only, when a peril impends. Newspaper comment viewed the situation rigorously and with some severity.
From one, the clipping of which has been preserved, but not the name, the following editorial extract follows:
Our citizen soldiery seem to have been the target for all manner of abuse and unkind remarks from the very people who would most benefit by
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
18:4
their action in any extremity requiring their aid, and yet, notwithstanding all this, these men have proved themselves true soldiers in the hour of trial.
On Sunday morning last, the First Regiment, N. G. of Pennsylvania, Col. R. Dale Benson commanding, was ordered to report for duty at Sus- quehanna Depot, a town two hundred and fifty-six miles from this city. ..
They returned on Thursday morning, tired and fagged out, and for all their self-sacrifiee on that occasion, what was the reward? They marched through our principal streets, a remarkably fine body of men, presenting an appearance that should have brought a hearty "hurrah " to the lips of every spectator, which, if not elicited by admiration, was certainly due from grati- tude. But no such compliment was vouchsafed them, and they reached their armory, at length, unthanked and unnoticed, save for a moment, by men, women, and children. who indirectly owe them just as much as the citizens of Susquehanna Depot, and by a few members of their organization, who improvised for them a lunch. .
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