USA > Pennsylvania > History of the First regiment infantry, National guard of Pennsylvania (Grey Reserves) 1861-1911, pt 1 > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
On Tuesday, July 26, 1887, Major Thomas E. Huffington was elected lieutenant-colonel, to fill the vacancy due to Colonel Bowman's advancement. Lieutenant-Colonel O. C. Bosbyshell, of the Second Regiment, conducted the election, and on August 11, 1887, at Camp Winfield Scott Hancock, Mount Gretna, Cap- tain J. Lewis Good. of Company B, was elected major, viee Huffington promoted. Major Ralph F. Cullinan, Quartermaster First Brigade, presided at the election.
The captains were as follows: Captain Howell C. Brolasky. Company A; Captain William Ewing, Company B, elected Au- gust 31, 1887, as Major Good's successor; Captain Milton C. Orme, Company C: Captain Harry O. Hastings, Company D: Captain James Muldoon, Company E; Captain George Eiler, Jr., Company F; Captain Albert L. Williams, Company G : Captain Clarenee T. Kensil. Company H; Captain J. Dallas Roberts,
21
322
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1887
elected September 12, 1887, vice Koons, commissioned expired; and Captain Robert R. Bringhurst, Company K.
Lieutenant Coulston inaugurated his appointment as inspector of rifle practice by the publication, with the endorsement of the colonel commanding, of a series of specific directions, consonant with others of a similar tenor that had been prescribed by his pre- decessor for practice on the rifle range, for the season which had opened in May and was to terminate in November. Practice was expected from every officer and enlisted man, exclusive of musi- cians, and no commutation for ammunition or rifle range would be allowed any company that did not practise upon the range at least twenty-five men. Classifications, with the minimum scores required in each, together with three competitive prizes and their conditions, were announced. The fourth elass as it was defined was a " consolation prize " in itself. It " shall," so it was stated, " consist of all who do not appear upon the range to practise." The qualified " marksman " of 1886 was permitted to shoot for a bar of 1887 without practice in the lower classes. To win the right to wear the badge of " marksmanship," those classifying in the first class were required, shooting at 200 and 500 yards, to make a combined score at the two distances equal to twenty-five points or over.
A subsequent order in August of the same year from the in- spector of rifle practice. in which he announces dates for the prize competition, contains this suggestive paragraph. His prophetic deliverance has had something of a realization :
We have officers and men who are capable and in every way qualified to become some of the best marksmen in the country; now that the regiment is armed with the new and improved 45 cal. rifles there is no reason why we should not have the largest number of marksmen as well as the strongest rifle team in the State.
The encampment for the year 1887 was a division eneamp- ment; its location, Mount Gretna, a site well adapted for the pur- pose, and frequently in use. On the railroad that connects Corn- wall Station on the Pennsylvania with Lebanon on the Lebanon Valley, its facilities for moving troops and transporting their im- pedimenta, not always at command in other localities, probably has had much to do with its frequent selection. The time fixed was from Saturday, August 6, to Saturday, August 13, and the
323
CAMP ROUTINE
name announced was Camp Winfield Scott Hancock, doubtless for the same reason that the same designation was given to the camp of the First Regiment the year previous -- that it was the first distinetively military event of State-wide import that occurred nearest to the time of the decease of that distinguished soldier.
The regiment was moved to the grounds by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. The preseribed routine, as laid down by Colonel Bowman in general orders, was withont material change from the vogue prevalent heretofore. With reveille at five min- utes of six and taps at ten, there was but little opportunity for aught else through the day but duty. The soldier was not per- mitted to leave the camp except upon a pass properly counter- signed, and then he must appear with his coat always buttoned, his waist-belt on, and without arms. Religious exercises were held on Sunday, August 7, at 11 o'clock. Days were specially named for rifle practice; 9.30 A. M. for battalion drill, 2 to 4 P. M. for company and skirmish drills, and 6.30 P. M. for dress parade, with guard mount in the morning, were the hours set apart for each day's performance in these particular exercises and move- ments. The battalion was formed on the regimental parade ground at 9 o'clock on the morning of August 11 " for battalion movements designated by the adjutant-general as the inspection of troops upon the field."
On Tuesday, August 9, at 8.15 in the morning, there was the annual muster and inspection by the adjutant-general. Adjutant- General Presley N. Guthrie had retired with Governor Pattison and Adjutant-General Daniel H. Hastings, promoted from the coloneley of the Fifth Regiment as Colonel Guthrie had been from the Eighteenth, had sueceeded him.
As a result of this inspection, with an aggregate of 533, 431 present, and 102 absent, the percentage present was 81.3. The ratings were noted as superior, very good, etc., in the companies, but no general average is reported for the regiment. The rifle practice for the year totalled 178; 47 as sharpshooters and 131 as " marksman."
The distinctive feature of this eneampment was the thorough and exhaustive official report of Col. Elwell Stephen Otis, of the Twentieth United States Infantry, the officer detailed by the War Department to inspect the troops of the National Guard of
324
1887
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
Pennsylvania at their annual encampment for the year 1587 at Mount Gretna. Ile not only drew conclusions and gave them, but he found facts and stated them. Colonel Otis was an officer of temperament, research, accuracy, and thoroughness that specially fitted him for this particular kind of duty. So much was the report appreciated that although published in full in the adjutant- general's report of 1887, it was made the subject of a general or- der, General Order No. 1, of the current series of 1888, reprinted and published in full again in 1888, " for the information and benefit of the Guard." Space forbids its introduction as a whole, but such extraets follow as will tend to give its general tone, and from which its purport may be fairly dedueed.
The division reviews, especially the one tendered to Lieutenant-General Sheridan on the last day of the encampment, were admirably conducted. The division was formed in line of masses, the limited extent of available ground not admitting of any other formation, with artillery and cavahy on the left. The troops were correctly and effectively presented, and re- mained in proper po-ition while the reviewing officer passed around the lines. They pas-ed in review, infantry in column of companies, artillery and cavalry in column of platoons. The topography of the field was such that the column, marching steadily and with distances properly maintained, could be seen a long distance to the left as it approached the post of the review- ing officer. As it passed, distances were carefully preserved, alignments aeenrately maintained, and ranks well closed. The brigade bands. followed by the consolidated brigade field muisie, played in perfect time, wheeled out of the column with ease, and took right positions, ceasing to play, and fol- lowing brigades as prescribed. Field music and color-bearers did not forget to pay directed honors, and officers of the line and staff were in their proper places. A close observer of the entire ceremony, I did not discover any marked errors, either of omission or commission, and throughout it was more accurately conducted than any review of a large body of troops that I have ever attended.
Besides, it [the Guard] is composed largely of homogeneous elements- of men who enter the ranks and give time and money to perfeet themselves as soldiers and protectors of organized society, from a sense of the obliga- tions which they owe as citizens to the State. It is this spirit of willing submission to its own created authority for the public good which animates and sustains it. The discipline which exists is, therefore, to a great extent, self-imposed, not forced. It is internal in the body itself, and the law fosters it by giving to that body the power to punish its refractory mem- bers. Its intelligence. its practical knowledge of military matters, its equip- ment, and its determination to perform the duties which may be required of it, are the tests by which its efficiency must be judged. Its intelligence is of a high order: its organization i- effective: its practical knowledge. considering its opportunities, very marked, and it, equipment is adequate and adapted to the service. except in the matter of arms, a defeet which is being remedied. A- for its soldierly spirit, it is manifested in its prac-
325
CONSTITUTION CENTENNIAL
tical subordination and the zeal with which it pursues instruction. An indieation of that zeal is seen in the large attendance at camp: ninety-four per centum of its entire equipped force was present, and from one brigade of more than 3,000 mnen. there were but three per centum of absentees. Of those present, ninety-nine per centum were effective for duty.
In the concluding paragraph of a circular issued subsequent to the encampment, Colonel Bowman makes this congratulatory allusion to the occasion : " The honors won by the regiment at the last encampment appeal to the pride of every member, and the praise received from General Sheridan and our own major-general commanding should make every soldier renew his fealty to the service and spur him on to greater efficiency."
The event of the year, national in its import, was the celebra- tion of the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the Consti- tution of the United States by the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, September 17, 1787. The celebration had been months in preparation. Colonel Theo. E. Wiedersheim, as secre- tary of the committee, had largely to do with its executive details. Lieut .- Gen. Philip HI. Sheridan, U. S. A., was in command of the military, with Gen. James W. Latta as his chief of staff.
The 17th of September, 1887, fell upon Saturday. Friday, the 16th (the ceremonies had covered the week) was set apart as Military Day. The pageant was a memorable one. The sol- diers, sailors, cadets, and war veterans in line numbered 24,793. They represented the army and navy, militia from sixteen States, cadets from neighboring colleges, the Grand Army of the Repub- lie, and Sons of Veterans. The column started from South Broad Street at eleven o'clock A. M., passed in review before the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, at Broad and Walnut, and again before Lieutenant-General Sheridan on North Broad Street, and its head reached the point of dismissal at 1.40 P. M. The time of the parade passing a given point was two hours and forty minutes, and the distances traversed averaged about nine and one-half miles, including the march from and to the place of rendezvous to the place of formation. The strength of the Penn- sylvania division was 6.454. The First Regiment. Col. Wen- dell P. Bowman. Lient .- Col. T. E. Huffington, Major J. Lewis Good, Adjutant P. S. Conrad, Quartermaster F. P. Koons. Surgeon J. Wilks O'Neill, AAssistant Surgeons A. Dupont Smith
326
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
ISST
and Edward Martin, Inspector of Riffe Practice George W. Conls- ton, ten companies, 26 officers, and 487 men, totalled 513. The Twenty-second New York, Col. John F. Camp commanding, was its guest, and in the afternoon after the dismissal of the parade its officers and men were entertained at the regimental armory, and in the evening its officers only at the Union League. The regiment also had charge of and acted as escort to the Win- chester Light Infantry, Company F, Second Virginia Infantry, Captain John F. Nulton commanding.
The following table gives a detailed statement of number of men in line in the military parade:
THE NUMBER IN LINE.
Name.
Men and Officers.
Artillery, Etc.
General Sheridan and Staff
40
United States Army
405
42
Naval Brigade
1,345
83
Georgia
31
. .
Connecticut
125
19
Massachusetts
1,195
65
Maryland
1,400
122
Delaware
497
78
Pennsylvania
6,374
80
Pennsylvania Cadets
403
69
New Jersey
2,770
60
South Carolina
67
10
Virginia
243
. .
New York
2,680
359
North Carolina
45
Rhode Island
149
28
Ohio
510
40
Maine
350
25
Iowa
46
13
West Virginia
79
District of Columbia
205
53
Grand Army
3,934
752
Total
22.893
1,900
Recapitulation.
Officers and men
22.893
Artillery, etc.
1.900
Grand total
24.793
As indicated by the following cautionary order, the colonel commanding had lent his energies to the occasion to bring his command to its best efficiency :
327
MILITARY DAY PARADE
1847
Military erities from all parts of the country have been specially se- lected to criticise the troops as they mareh in review, as to the salutes, alignments, ete .; therefore, the colonel commanding cautions the officers to be very careful in preserving at all times the proper distance and alignments, and every officer must salute when six yards from the President of the United States at the same time looking toward him, and face to the front and resume the carry, when six yards beyond him. Do not salute the entire reviewing stand, but simply the President. Many of the officers salute too quick, or at too great a distance remember it is only eighteen feet from the reviewing offieer. Many of the officers, also in marching in column, march too far in advance of their sub-divisions; the proper distance is two yards in front. This must also be carefully observed at all times, and special criticism will be made as to this point. The guides are responsible for the distance, and must at all times be vigilant, and neither gain or lose ground.
That his efforts were fruitful of results is quite apparent from his congratulatory order of September 29, which forcefully speaks for itself :
The colonel commanding congratulates the officers and men of this com- mand upon their soldierly appearance and large turnout on Military Day, 16th inst., in the celebration of the adoption of our Federal Constitution. The occasion, it is true, was one to inspire every soldier with patriotism and enthusiasm, having that distinguished soldier, Lieut .- Gen. P. H. Sheridan in command of all the troops, and being reviewed both by him and the President of the United States, but your strength upon that day was made stronger and more manifest by the united energy and determination of the rank and file to succeed. He hopes, henceforth, to see the same energy and generous rivalry prevail among all the companies and upon every occasion. Remember the record and honor of the regiment are in your hands; to pre- serve and maintain them you must be ever active, always vigilant, always ready. Let your watchword be unceasing activity, prompt attention to all duty, and never less than twenty-four solid company front.
On Tuesday, October 18, 1887, the regiment was paraded in the afternoon to participate in the ceremonies incident to dediea- tion of the equestrian statue in Fairmount Park erected to com- memorate the eminent military services of the commander last in appointment and longest in place of the Army of the Potomac and its Gettysburg hero, Maj .- Gen. George Gordon Meade. Of the five commanders of that army, during its four years of exist- enee-MeDowell, MeClellan, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade -- two, MeClellan and Meade, were Philadelphians. This was the comment of a morning newspaper:
The tribute of the loyal city of Philadelphia to the memory of Maj .- Gen. George Gordon Meade was paid yesterday with an enthusiasm that showed how lastingly on the popular mind was the reputation of the man who, among his many other heroic decds, was the acknowledged hero of Gettys-
328
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
burg. Though it came fifteen years after he had been laid in his simple tomb, the nature of the demonstration, 30,000 in the audience and 6000 in the procession, fully made up for the delay in perpetuating the great sol- dier's memory in bronze.
Maj .- Gen. John Gibbon delivered the oration. He was the division commander of the division of the Second Army Corps that held the stone wall at Gettysburg and had been brought from his far-off station on the Pacific Coast specially for the occasion.
A phrase of the orator's apt, peculiar, and adroitly illustrative of its purpose, seldom seen in print, rarely repeated, is still re- ' membered. General Gibbon was dwelling for the moment upon the absolute necessity of an army commander concealing his every campaign thought while his campaign was in progress, when lift- ing his military cap that lay beside him, he said: " If I had thought that my eap had aught of acquaintance with what was going on beneath it I would take it off and east it from me."
On November 5, 1887, Gen. Chas. M. Prevost, the fourth colonel of and the first major-general to be appointed from the First Regiment, after a lingering illness died at his home, 225 South Forty-second Street, Philadelphia. His funeral was largely attended, and among those who were present of his former asso- eiates in his old First Regiment were Colonels Ellmaker, Latta. Wiedersheim, Geo. II. North, William W. Allen, and General Charles P. Herring. The colors which General Prevost himself bore when he held his regiment, the 118th Pennsylvania, so stead- fastly under its severe punishment at the battle of Shepherdstown were placed upon the coffin.
He was remembered by resolutions, memorials, and tributes in the various organizations, civie and military, in which he held membership, but the one that most significantly treats of his mili- tary lifo is that of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loval Legion of the United States, of which he had been a member from its earliest times, and which was in part as follows :
At the breaking out of the Civil War General Prevost took an active part in the formation of the Gray Reserves. He was afterward appointed assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Brig. Gen. F. E. Patterson and served in all the battles of the peninsula. . . .
After the retreat to Harrison's Landing, General Prevost was prostrated with malarial fever. Upon his recovery, in August. 1862. he was selected
329
DEATII. RESIGNATIONS AND PROMOTIONS
to command the 118th Pennsylvania Infantry, which was being recruited by the Corn Exchange (now Commercial Exchange of Philadelphia). This was considered a distinguished mark of approbation and confidence. . . .
Some time after the close of the war he was elected colonel of the First Regiment National Guard of Pennsylvania, and was subsequently ap- pointed to the command of the First Division, with the rank of major-gen- eral. . . .
He was a courteous Christian gentleman and thorough soldier. His patriotism, so conspicnonsly exhibited during the war, continued warm and fervent until the close of his life.
Captain Howell C. Brolasky, captain of Company A, died December 17, 1887, still a young man of but twenty-nine. The commissioned officers of the regiment, who attended his funeral in full uniform in a body, were directed to wear the usual badge of mourning for sixty days, and a regimental general order made announcement as follows:
By his death this regiment has sustained the loss of one of its most elli- cient officers, and the National Guard of Pennsylvania a faithful and brave soldier. His military record. from the time he entered the ranks in his teen -. throughont all the grades of a non-commissioned officer to the command of his company, is one to which his surviving comrades can point with honor and pride, distinguished throughout for fidelity to duty, constant activity, and fearless courage.
First Lieutenant Kirk W. Magill, who had joined the com- pany January 1, 1876, passed through the two grades of a non- commissioned officer and both lieutenancies, was on Jannary 18. 1888, chosen as the sneeessor of Captain Brolasky.
On April 30, 1588, Captain Robert R. Bringhurst resigned his eaptainey of Company K, and First Lientenant Alexander .J. Diamond, who, enlisted as a private September 6, 1880, having advanced through the intervening grades, was on June 4, 1888, elected his successor. Captain J. Dallett Roberts, who had seen service in the regiment in different eapaeities from June 5, 1875, on December 15, 1888, resigned the captainey of Company I, and on June 12, 1889, First Lieutenant Thomas H. P. Todd, who had been with the regiment since November 3, 1883. was elected to succeed him.
On February 17, 1888. Rev. Isaac L. Nicholson. D.D., rector of the parish of St. Mark's, was appointed regimental chaplain. On the same day Hon. Boies Penrose, afterward United States Senator from Pennsylvania, was named as paymaster.
ISSS
330
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
In January, 18SS, new rules for the appointment of non-com- missioned officers were announced, and all others inconsistent therewith were revoked.
Commandants of companies when a vacancy existed were to recommend upon the proper blank a man competent for the place, who would thereupon be directed to report to the regimental mili- tary board, and only those so recommended would be permitted to be examined. A failure to report, if there was no excuse there- for previously submitted in writing, would dismiss the applica- tion without further consideration. None were to wear the chev- rons of their rank until the report of the examining hoard had been approved and the name of the appointee announced from regi- mental headquarters. Reductions to the ranks could only be made for sufficient cause and through the application of the company commander.
Instruction in the school of the battalion was rigorously pur- sued, the right wing assigned to Lieutenant-Colonel Huffington and the left to Major Good, with the regiment paraded at inter- vals in full-dress uniform, under the command of Colonel Bow- man, for dress parade, review, and other military ceremonies.
Col. Napoleon B. Kneass, the second colonel to command the regiment, died at his residence, 1812 North Eighteenth Street, in the city of Philadelphia, on Friday, March 16, 18SS. His last remembered presence at any display or function was in the May previous, when, with the others of the then surviving colonels, he was in attendance at a farewell banquet given by the officers of the regiment to Colonel Wiedersheim on the occasion of his resig- nation. Colonel Wiedersheim still recalls the trend of his very interesting and instructive address.
Colonel Kneass had been a cadet at the West Point Military Academy. Admitted July 1, 1833, at the age of sixteen years and two months, he resigned August 31, 1835, having, especially in his second year, attained quite a creditable standing. On the roll of " Cadets in the order of merit in their respective classes as determined by the general examination in June, 1835," Napoleon B. Kneass, then a third classman, stands 42 in a class of 73; and on the " Roll of the Cadets Arranged according to merit in con- duct " Napoleon B. Kneass stands with but 54 demerits in the entire year, 96 in a total of 240.
331
ANNIVERSARY AND INSPECTIONS
18SS
Of Colonel Kneass's classinates, many of them became famous, some giants in war. On the Union side, Maj .- Gen. Joseph Hooker commanded the Army of the Potomac; Maj .- Gen. John Sedgwick commanded the Sixth Army Corps, and Brig .- Gen. Edward D. Townsend was adjutant-general of the Army of the United States. On the Confederate side Gen. Jubal A. Early and Gen. Braxton Bragg both commanded armies. Gen. John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant, and Gen. Edward Johnson, with his entire division was captured in General Han- cock's irresistible assault on the Angle at Spottsylvania May 12, 1864.
In observance of the twenty-seventh anniversary the regiment was paraded in full-dress uniform accompanied by the Veteran Corps on April 19, 1SSS. The regimental line was formed at 3.30 o'clock and the column moved at 4 with band and field music, field and staff mounted. Entertainments and banquets incident to the occasion followed through the evening.
The spring inspections through early May were made at the regimental armory, first the right wing, on May 1, and then the left wing, on May 4, by Major A. Lawrence Wetherell, the brigade inspector. The companies appeared in State uniform in light marching order, and were exercised in the school of the company, battalion, skirmish drill, and guard mounting. And on Monday, May 7, at 8 o'clock P. M., the whole regiment was assembled at the regimental armory in heavy marching order for the concluding requirements of the inspection.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.