USA > Pennsylvania > History of the First regiment infantry, National guard of Pennsylvania (Grey Reserves) 1861-1911, pt 1 > Part 29
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1852
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
mon. He selected a text, suggestive of the occasion, from Luke 1: 15: "He shall be great in the sight of the Lord."
The armory scheme had its beginning in the very early times, when, as has been seen, in 1862 a charter was procured and a company organized authorized to purchase a desirable site and creet a building suitable for the purposes of an armory, to be used and occupied by the First Regiment Infantry, Gray Re- serves. The nation, so engrossed in the stupendous struggle for its own existence, had but little time for aught else, and the scheme, despite the manly efforts to sustain it, ultimately failed, and the charter became inoperative for want of use.
The matter does not appear to have been again seriously con- sidered until when, at a meeting of the Board of Officers on June 3, 1874, on motion of Maj. Charles K. Ide, a committee was appointed "to take into consideration the subject of procur- ing an armory suitable for the regiment." The motion pre- vailed, and Major Ide and Captains Rolin (quartermaster) and Klauder were named as the committee. There were some nego- tiations and numerous propositions from owners to and by the committee to owners concerning properties likely to suit. One assumed something of a tangible shape. Mr. Addison Hutton as architect prepared and submitted plans for a building that it was proposed should be erected on an ideal site, the then vacant lot at the southeast corner of Broad and Locust Streets. Messrs. Alexander Whilden & Sons, the owners, had apparently received the proposition with some favor, suggested consultation with an architect, seemed disposed to go further, but the project never passed beyond the preliminary interviews and the preparation of the plans. Then Mr. John Rice, the contractor and builder, submitted a plan for the alteration of the Adams Express build- ing, Sixteenth and Market Streets, into an armory, but a closer investigation proved the scheme impracticable. Another propo- sition from the same source to erect a temporary structure in West Philadelphia was dismissed "because of the location being so unsuitable."
On February 3, 1875, the committee seem to have submitted. as the records disclose nothing further, what was, in fact, a final report. It was full and in detail of their " exertions and inquiries
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THE ARMORY SCHEME
ISS2
in endeavoring to secure accommodations for the command "; ac- knowledged " the activities displayed by Captain Allen and Lieu- tenant MacCarroll, of Company C"; " urging like laudable in- terest on each of the officers and men." There was no action on this report. None appeared to be necessary, as it was rather of progress than of conclusions, and the subject was for the time dismissed.
The substantial revival came when, in the absence of any pre- vious definite action, the subject meanwhile under continuous dis- cussion, a special meeting of the Board of Officers was called for October 23, 1878, where, again fully and freely discussed, the subject of the erection of an armory was referred to a committee of thirteen representatives of the Board, the Trust Funds, and the Veteran Corps, " to report such suggestions as they deemed proper in the matter." Besides the Regiment's Armory Fund, with its accumulations, there was quite a handsome sum returned by the State to the subscribers, citizens of Philadelphia, to a fund raised for the equipment of the Twentieth Regiment during the 1577 industrial disturbances; advanced for that purpose and not needed, it was afterward returned. This sum upon its return the subscribers had unanimously placed to the credit of the First Regiment Armory Fund. It amounted to $11,902.15; the regi- mental trust fund had been accredited by accumulations to $14,559.13. The two together aggregated the sum of $26,461.28.
The project thus energized by this strong basic foundation, stimulated by the early subscriptions which followed the issu- ance of the circular of the General Committee-$5,000 each from Maj. Edwin N. Benson and the Pennsylvania Railroad; $1,000 each from Messrs. Drexel & Co., Mr. George W. Childs, Phila- delphia National Bank, Philadelphia Saving Bank, and Philadel- phia Contributionship: $500 each from Mr. Wm. M. Singerly, First National Bank, Mutual Assurance Company, Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, Fidelity Insurance and Trust Company, and Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities, was materially strengthened by the forceful character of the committee, with Col. Theodore E. Wiedersheim as its chairman, which had been wisely selected in obedience to the directions providing for its appointment. Its
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1SS2
other members were Lieutenant-Colonel Gilpin. Major Bow- man, Captains Muldoon, Snyder, Poulterer, Burroughs, Kienzle, Elder, and Taber, Lieutenants Tappey, Dole, and Conrad, and of the Veteran Corps, Colonel Ellmaker, Majors Kern and Allen, Lieutenants Charles J. Field and Henry S. Field. They were men of wide acquaintance and strong influence, well known and much respected. They were just such men as the chairman himself stood typical of, business man and soldier as he was, and aptly alluded to by Col. Win. MeMichael in his address as the orator at the laying of the corner-stone: " It was," he said, " just and fitting that on that day, so gratifying to all its friends, there should ride at the head of the First Regiment a prominent young business man of Philadelphia, who enlisted in its ranks originally as a private soldier, and through continuous and effi- cient service won those eagles which he now wears, illustrating the wise belief of these times, that genuine leadership comes from the ranks, and promoted by merit, rests its strength upon the free . assent of popular approval."
Publie sentiment was awakened and the movement popular- ized by the generous and hearty endorsement of the united press of the city. The editorial page was always open with words of encouraging comment and the news columns with items of help- ful support. Every measure that would be furthered by pub- licity was given the widest circulation; all others that indicated material progress were speedily noticed. Fairs, functions, bene- fits, displays, whatever was intended to be productive of a finan- cial result, were given prominent place. The organization from its earliest times was traced through all its perils and exposures, its dangers and vicissitudes. its ventures and successes. Con- tribution of itself as a unit and of the officers and men it had supplied from its ranks to the country, when it needed soldiers for battle. and to the State when it required them to maintain order and suppress violence, were all made the subject of special mention. The men of that time were ever profuse in their grate- ful acknowledgment of this needful aid, so freely and graciously supplied.
A charter was procured under the provisions of the Aet of Assembly. approved April 29. 1874. through the Court of Com-
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THE ARMORY SCHEME
mon Pleas No. 1 of the County of Philadelphia, October 29, 1881, of an " organization and association named and known as the First Regiment Infantry of Pennsylvania." And the pur- poses for which the corporation was the more specifically formed were " for the education, training, and discipline of its members as soldiers for lawful purposes and service and for the erection, owning, and maintenance of an armory for the use and accommo- lation of its members and for the benefit and purposes of the cor- poration."
This "association," not to be a stock company, having no shares of stock, bears some of the characteristics of the "holding company " of to-day. Its membership was limited by its by-laws to the officers of the regiment, while they held their commissions; to the officers of the Veteran Corps while they were in office, and the past colonels of both organizations. It took title to the prop- erty, made contracts and engagements concerning it, managed its rentals and revennes, and assumed, adopted. and approved all that had been done of and concerning the new armory by the gen- eral committee. Col. Theodore E. Wiedersheim was elected presi- dent, Col. P. C. Ellmaker secretary, and Henry S. Field treasurer. The fifteen directors chosen for the first year were: Theodore E. Wiedersheim, Washington H. Gilpin, Wendell P. Bowman, James Muldoon, Thomas E. Huffington, Eugene Z. Kienzle, J. Lewis Good, Charles 1. Rose, Harry O. Hastings, Samuel B. Collins, J. Campbell Gilmore, Pearson S. Conrad, F. William Weight- man, George H. North, and William W. Allen.
Mr. Henry S. Field and Maj. William H. Kern each deelin- ing to serve as treasurer. Colonel Wiedersheim, at the unani- mous demand of the Board of Directors, agreed to assume the onerous and responsible duties of that office, and to at the same time continue as the presiding officer.
Of the two important transactions the results of which passed from the general committee to the corporation, one was the trans- fer by a properly executed deed of conveyance of the lot at the southeast corner of Broad and Callowhill Streets, 140 by 220 feet, which the committee had purchased from Mr. John Wana- maker for the sum of $80,000; and the other was the acceptance and approval of the architect's ( Mr. John H. Windrim) plan for 18
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1882
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
an armory building, which had not only passed the scrutiny and observation of the general committee, but also the more critical military judgment of the regimental Board of Officers.
The following Building Committee was named by the Chair and approved by the Board of Directors: George H. North, P. C. Ellmaker, Washington II. Gilpin, William H. Kern, James Muldoon, William B. Smith, and William W. Allen.
The contract for the excavation, foundation, and cellar walls, stonework, etc., fell to Mr. Hugh Copeland as the lowest bidder, and for the interior, superstructure, and the far more preten- tious portions of the building to Mr. George Watson.
The State Legislature had never been disposed to make ap- propriations for the building of regimental or company armories, though strenuous persuasive efforts and strong executive recom- mendations had been repeatedly urged in that direction. The First Regiment's armory was built by individual effort and paid for wholly through private sources. Whatever other regimental armory buildings there were that had been erected in Philadel- phia, they were upon no such pretentious design, and but one other had been constructed so solely on a military basis. There were other buildings elsewhere, their plans, some of them, be- fore the committee to guide their judgment, in selecting one of their own-some that surpassed, a few that equalled it, con- structed with the public funds; but it is doubtful whether, built wholly by the individual, there was at that time any building in the country that met it in all its true military proportions. It was ornate, useful, centrally located, and at the same time sufficiently capacious to meet all the needs of its time.
The Building Committee was ever watchful to see that what was done was done properly, careful to note that what was con- traeted for was within the means at hand to pay for it, alert to see. too, that the lowest bidder was the best man and keen to keep him up to his bargain. When bids disclosed that designs had been conjectured beyond resources, a necessary pruning brought them back within their proper limits. After the work began disap- pointments were few : there was no complaint, any failure of the contractor, but little indifference on the part of subordinates, occa- sionally a real disturbance with the material men, but no serious breach was at any time threatened.
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COMMENDATORY RESOLUTION
Colonel Ellmaker and Captain Muldoon, employed as solicit- ors, assisted materially at times by Colonel Wiedersheim and others, had given such satisfaction that on the termination of their first six months of employment it was "Resolved, That the steadiness and persisteney with which the soliciting of subscrip- tions and the faithful attention to the various and often unpleas- ant duties connected with the erection of the armory have been performed by Col. P. C. Ellmaker and Captain James Muldoon merit the recognition and approval of the Board of Directors, and it is hereby ordered that their services be continued for the space of six months under the direction of the President of the Board." And as the work approached completion the Building Committee, " in view of the valuable services rendered by Cap- tain James Muldoon in the past, as a member of the Building Committee, assigned him to the position of superintendent of the work, and requested the Board of Directors to confirm their ap- pointment and continue his services as such superintendent until the completion of the contract with Mr. Watson."
That Colonel Wiedersheim in his highly responsible posi- tions of colonel commanding, president, and treasurer of the Board of Directors, necessarily an ever-moving spirit in the en- terprise, earned for himself a reputation for financial ability and business capacity is best attested from the fact that from then on in all public affairs of moment, ceremonial, functional, com- memorative remotely or directly in touch with the military, he was always summoned as their executive head to the control and custody of the finances collected for their support.
It would be difficult to discover an enterprise that did so much and spent so little, that paid for everything it had agreed to promptly when it was due, with the single outstanding obligation of a $40,000 mortgage ouly, as to in the end have its figures of $200,000 on cael side so nearly meet as to leave but the small balance of but 8279.02, and that balance to the credit and not to the debit of the general fund, as did this enterprise, the con- struetion of an armory building for the First Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania. Its receipts from all sources amounted to 8200,920.19, and its disbursement for all purposes to $200,041.17, leaving the balance in favor of receipts of $279.02.
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT. N. G. P. 1852
RECAPITULATION AS IT APPEARS IN THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE TREASURER MADE TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, JANUARY 1, 1885:
Receipts from all sources from July, 1879, to December 31, 1884. . $200,320.19 Payments 200,041.17
Balance $279.02
Total amount of subscriptions, including rebates and
discounts
$80,409.53
Interest on balance-
1,782.44
Fairs, benefits, and circus
39,637.82
Mortgage
39,900.00
First Regiment Trust Fund
14,559.13
Twentieth Regiment Trust Fund
11,902.15
Sundries as follows: Sale bonds, photographs, rent of
loi, sale of lumber, tlag pole, key-, etc. 3,129.12
$200.320.19
Paid Geo. Watson
$55,807.94
Interest on mortgage to F. Ayer
2,810.16
Salaries
9,650.00
Heating
3,575.00
H. Copeland, Contraet
29,263.89
J. H. Windrim. Architect
4,680.39
Piling
800.70
Lot, Broad and Callow hill
80,000.00
Pointing
260.00
Sereens, lightning rod-, and range
460.00
Chandeliers
500.00
Extra plastering
220.00
Gun racks
865.22
Reflectors and gas lamps
712.50
Ladies' toilet in basement
276.66
Paving
2,267.05
Sundries
7,891.66
200,041.17
Balance
$279.02
There was official comment on the building first from the Adjutant-General's report. 1882, as follows: "The seheme for the erection of armories is still meeting with encouragement. The Third Regiment is fully completed and paid for. The corner- stone of the First was laid on the 19th of April. The walls are up to the first story and it is confidently expected that it will be beenpied within another year from the coming spring. In a con- spienons and central locality in the city of Philadelphia, for what
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CORNERSTONE OF ARMORY LAID
it is intended, it will be a building that has never been equalled in the State and but rarely elsewhere."
And then Gen. Presley N. Guthrie, who had succeeded General Latta as Adjutant-General. in his report of 1583, dated February 14, 1554, said : " The First Regiment will occupy their new armory February 22. The armory is most perfeet in its details and the . regiment is to be complimented for their energy in overcoming the many details aceompanying a work of this kind."
And in his report for the same year, 1883, General Snowden said: " The beautiful and commodious new armory of the First Infantry is nearly completed, into which that regiment proposes soon to move."
The work of construction went on as expeditiously as its busi- ness had been managed judieiously. The corner-stone laid April 19, 1882, the building was finished, dedicated and opened for veeupaney February 22, 1884.
The ceremonies incident to the laying of the corner-stone made memorable the regiment's twenty-first anniversary. The com- memorative demonstration of the 19th of April, 1882, was notable among the year's occurrences. It was an event prominent in military affairs and conspicuous as a civie remembrance. Henry M. Hoyt, Governor of the State, as presiding officer directed the ceremonies. The Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Ac- eepted Masons of the State of Pennsylvania, with Samuel B. Diek as the Right Worshipful Grand Master, laid the corner-stone. The Twenty-second Regiment National Guard of the State of New York, Col. Josiah Porter commanding, of national repute. its Veteran Corps, Col. G. W. Laird commanding, both in special attendance to honor their host and the occasion. were present a- the guests of the First Regiment. The Mayor of the city, Hon. Samuel G. King, was an active participant. The First Brigade. Brig. Gen. Geo. R. Snowden commanding, with the following or- ganizations, their eommandants having promptly accepted the in- vitation to parade in honor of the occasion : Second Regiment, Col. Robert Porter Deehert; Third Regiment, Col. Sylvester Bennaffon, Jr. ; Battalion State Fencibles, Major John W. Ryan; Gray Invineibles, Captain John T. Kennard: First Troop Phila- delphia City Cavalry, Captain E. Burd Grubb.
The weather was not propitious. There was but a single
IS82
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
harassing feature, and this the weather supplied. The parade was made over the short route as published through a heavy rain- storm, and the column was reviewed in front of the Union League House by Governor Henry M. Hoyt, commander-in-chief, Maj .- Gen. John F. Hartranft, commanding the division, of the Na- tional Guard of Pennsylvania, Maj .- Gen. John R. Brooke, U. S. A., and Hon. Samuel G. King, mayor of Philadelphia. Gen- eral Snowden commanded the column, made up of the troops of his brigade, the Twenty-second New York, the First Regiment, parading with its guest, and the Veteran Corps of each. The First Regiment's field return on this occasion showed an aggre- gate of 654 in line in full-dress uniform, the largest turnout it had made since the reorganization in 1866 under the Act of 1864. The aggregate of each company was as follows: 4, 57; B, 71; C, 55; D, 53; E, 58; F, 61; G, 60; H, 60; I, 55; K, 60; field and staff, 14; bands, 50. The Veteran Corps num- bered 82. Upon arriving at Broad and Callowhill Streets, the Twenty-second New York and the First Regiment were massed on the lot and the rest of the column moved on and was dismissed.
There was then the scholarly opening address of Governor Henry Martyn Hoyt, the impressive Masonic ceremonies of the laying of the corner-stone, and the masterly oration of Col. William McMichael. A gem as a literary production, an elo- quent historic compendium to be remembered and preserved, it was given a place in the pamphlet which published the proceed- ings, and must have one here.1
The services concluded with the benediction pronounced by the chaplain, the Rev. Robert_1. Edwards, when both commands were marched to their quarters and dismissed. The officers of the First entertained the officers of the Twenty-second, and, let- ter for letter, the companies of the home regiment paid proper care and attention to those of the visiting command. A compli- mentary dinner was given at St. George's Hall by the First's Veteran Corps to the Veteran Corps of the Twenty-second. 1 military and citizens' reception under the auspices of the First Regiment followed at the Academy of Music in the evening-a representative gathering, a social event of brilliancy, the sea- son's pronounced success. honored by the attendance of officers
1 See Appendix.
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EXTRACTS FROM REGIMENTAL PUBLICATION
18 2
of distinction in both the army and navy, and graeed by the best of people from our own and other cities. Gilmore's Band, with the chvieest of that great artist's selections, furnished the music.
A writer in a periodical published yearly by the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment, says in that for 1910: "The hours passed in eamp are, I think, the most pleasant in the soldier's memory, and the scenes of which perhaps, except the battles, are the oftenest referred to."
The annual encampments were effectively instilling the sol- dierly instinets and the incidents of the one, repeated through the year, passed on to the next, and still on to the following, all inter- mingled and eanvassed for contrast and comparison, improvement and example.
The eook-house, in times of campaign and battle universal disseminator of worthless forecasts, in their absence, had lost much of its former prestige. Yet "cook-house talk " found opportunity in other and coneurrent lines of the soldiers' trade that in a way still preserved some of its traditions.
The cook of the olden time was an all-around sort of a genius. At one headquarters, when inquiry was made, he wineed on his v's. "Well, George, what are you going to have for dinner to- day ?" prone to the one dish, his reply usually was, " Weal and wegetables."
And on another occasion, at Mine Run in the late November of 1863, the lines were established during the night, under eover, as it was thought, with expectation and preparation for an assault in the morning. Over the swale and upon an opposite hilltop was the enemy, heavily entrenched. Our lines were but imperfectly covered, and with the dawn he opened heavily with his big guns. A eook from one of the New England regiments, a little protected by a rise in the ground, intently engaged in the preparation of a breakfast for his brigade headquarters, oblivious to the shell- ing. keen of perception, discovered a group of English officers, here for elose observation of one of our campaigns, rapidly seek- ing cover. With that long-drawn speech, a part of his very self, forgetful of proprieties, he let out quite effectively : "Is that the way you English fellows come to see a fight? As soon as you get a right good chance, you forget the fight and look after your- selves."
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
The encampment at Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Camp John Fulton Reynolds. August 5 to 12, 1882, had an air of the real about it in its construction, location, layout, and management, in the spirit, gait, carriage, and snap of the men that preserved a remembrance that they were in eloser touch with the soldier of the field than they had been on other like occasions.
These first impressions were fully sustained by the result of the inspections. The First Regiment, with a percentage present of 87.19 out of an aggregate of 603, a total present of 529, an absent list of but 74, attained a general average of 96.1. The Eighth Regiment made the best record in the State, with an aggre- gate of 585, a total present of 561, absent 24, its percentage pres- ent was 95.9, and its general average 98.3. But there was no regiment of the entire division with a general average below 90.
The regiment left the armory, Colonel Wiedersheim in com- mand, fully equipped, groomed, and appointed for the field, at eight o'clock on the evening of the fourth of Angust. 1882, for the performance of a seven days' tour of eamp duty at Camp Johu Fulton Reynolds, located on the Juniata, near Lewistown, pre- eeded two days before by its camping party under command of Captain James Muldoon, of Company E. The annual eneamp- ment preseribed by law was this year composed of the three brigades, the entire division, with Maj .- Gen. John F. Hartranft in command. In a most healthful region, located on gently slop- ing hillsides, the grounds were well drained, the water supply for all purposes was plentiful, and, the weather proving most favorable, the camp was long remembered as one that made for much improvement and greater usefulness.
In his report as division commander for the year, General Hartranft gives the number in the division present on the fifth of August as 7250 and absent 819, aggregate 8093; and on the 11th, the day before the closing, as 7167 and absent 1004, aggre- gate $171. The percentage present was 94.3. Of the number of absentees, 138 were sick and the remaining 866 were absent on account of illness or other substantial reasons. And of the camp itself and its results, the general said: " I was pleased to observe a very general improvement in the condition and discipline of the troops, and am sure the lessons of the encampment will show good results in the future."
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