USA > Pennsylvania > History of the First regiment infantry, National guard of Pennsylvania (Grey Reserves) 1861-1911, pt 2 > Part 20
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1907
learned of the basic principles of the old system for the readier comprehension of the requirements of the new.
Assertive, aggressive, firm and determined, he never clashed with his superiors or inflamed his subordinates. Watchful of the rights and privileges of his own organization, he never invaded the rights of others. preserving thai appreciative poise that voiced his convictions that what he was doing for the betterment of his own command was for the good of all.
Submissive and hopeful, his juniors, favored by vacancy, local- ity, environment, selected before hin, his interest never weak- ened, his zeal never flagged until with opportunity came his long- delayed and well-deserved promotion. The third of the colonels of the First Regiment advanced to be a general officer, he entered earnestly upon the performance of a congenial duty, which his capacity, experience, and training had so well fitted him to dis- charge.
Testimonials, dinners, a portrait in oil for the gallery of ex- colonels. resolutions by the Board of Officers and the Veteran Corps in appreciative recognition of efficiency and service, in token of friendships to last and fellowship to continue in acknowledgment of a promotion, so fitting a sequence in a military career con- spicuous for its length and significant for its usefulness, followed General Bowman's advancement through many weeks succeeding its announcement.
At an election held at 8.30 o'clock p.M., September 4, 1907. at the regimental armory, Lieut .- Col. J. Lewis Good was elected colonel rice Bowman, promoted: Major Albert L. Williams lieu- tenant-colonel vice Good, promoted ; and Captain Charles P. Hunt, of Company E. major. vice Williams, promoted. Colonel Good, with the regiment continuously from December 6, 1871, was first elected lieutenant-colonel August 22, 1992, and re-elected Septem- ber 13, 1897, August 21, 1902, and August 22, 1907. Lieut .- Col. Albert L. Williams in the National Guard of Pennsylvania from September 14, 1869. and Artillery Corps, Washington Grays, and First Regiment from February 27, 1872, was first elected major August 22, 1892. and re-elected September 13, 1897. August 21. 1902, and August 27, 1907. Major Charles P. Hunt, in service continuously in Company E from October 4, 187S, was elected captain Company E June 13, 1899. and re-elected June 14, 1901.
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Kleine Good Cotone Fruit Regs Inf Tomatoes -
1907
571
DEATH OF MAJOR KENSIL
In his General Order of September 4, 1907, Colonel Good said : " In assuming command of this regiment by the vote of the line officers at the election hell this evening, the colonel commanding fully appreciates the high honor conferred upon him and conti- dence reposed in him." This he followed on same day by the announcement of the reappointment of Captain and Regimental- Adjutant Augustus D. Whitney, and subsequently a few days afterwards announced the reappointment of the entire regimental staff and non-commissioned staff, as it had been recently previously named by his predecessor.
On September 24, 1907, First Lieutenant Alfred II. Pierson advanced from his lieutenancy, was elected captain of Company E, vice Hunt, promoted. Captain Pierson was a private in Com- pany E April 3, 1883, corporal sergeant, first sergeant until elected second lieutenant January 24, 1905, and first lieutenant Febru- ary 5, 1907.
A demonstration on the sub-target gun machine was given at the Regimental Armory by Captain I. R. P. Harry J. Mchard to the several battalion commandants and commissioned officers of the respective battalions on designated dates through the month of October.
On Saturday, October 27, 1907, the regiment participated with the Brigade in a parade and review in commemoration of Military Day of the Peace Jubilee of 1898.
Maj. Eugene J. Kensil died after a brief illness on Saturday. November 2. 1907. and with the proper military escort in attend- ance at his funeral, was buried at West Laurel Hill on Tuesday, November 5. The flag was ordered to be displayed at half-staff on the Regimental Armory and to so remain from sunrise to sun- set until and including the day of interment, and the officers were directed to wear the usual badge of military mourning for thirty days. The Regimental General Order announcing Major Keusil's death contained among other well-deserved allusions to his lengthy and unblemished military career the following:
" For more than thirty-one years, continuously from the day he first entered the service, Major Kensil served this common- wealth and his country, as a soldier and officer. with rare fidelity. efficiency, and faithfulness. He possessed by nature a military spirit and aptitude for the service, having qualifications that fitted
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1907
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
him for successful leadership and responsible command. By faith- ful and efficient work and devotion to duty he not only merited but won his promotions. He commanded the respect and devotion of his men and confidence of his superiors. His death deprives the commonwealth of one who never failed in the performance of his duty and the regiment mourns his loss as one of the oldest, most faithful, and distinguished officers."
At an election ordered for December 9, 1907, Captain George A. Seattergood, of Company L, was elected major vice Kensil, deceased, and commissioned accordingly. Major Scattergood, who, as previously noted, had returned to the First Regiment after a three years' service in the Third U. S. Cavalry, elected captain of Company L, August 1, 1900, re-elected July 14, 1905, had now with all his advantages acquired through the best of training be- come a major.
In his annual report for 1907 Colonel Good made special allusion to the results of the season's rifle practice as follows :
In rifle practice the Regiment advanced to a higher figure than ever before, being also represented in the annual rifle, revolver and carbine com- petitions at Mount Gretna, Pa., and in the National Match at Camp Perry, Ottawa County, Ohio.
In the Regimental match shot at Mount Gretna during the morning of August 13, 1907, the First Regiment with a grand total of 361 stood second against the Sixteenth Regiment's win- ning grand total of 362. The individual scores of the First Regi- ment's team were Private A. L. Dunn, C, 93; W. E. Chapin, chief musician, 91 ; Private Robert Gamble, C, 89, and Captain Mehard, SS. The First Regiment had but one more winning to make to secure the present cup shot for in this match. It had won in 1904 and 1905; the third would be final. The three other regi- ments that had won, the Sixth, Third, and Sixteenth, had as yet scored but one winning each.
The First Regiment won the Infantry skirmish match with a total seore of 305, made up as follows: Private Robert Gamble, C, 75; Captain Mehard, 64; William E. Chapin, chief musician. 61; Private Albert Dunn, Jr., C. 55; Sergeant Allen R. Evans, C, 50.
At the meeting of the Board of Officers of September 9, 1907, Captain Harry J. Mehard, Inspector of Rifle Practice, " on be-
1907
NATIONAL MATCH
573
half of the Regimental team, presented to the regiment the Regi- mental Skirmish Cup for teams of five men, this being the first time it had been won by this regiment."
The Brigade match shot on the afternoon of August 15, 1907, was won by the Fir-t Brigade with a grand total of 1562 against the Third's 1525 and the Second's 1504. On the First Brigade team four were of the First Regiment : Captain Mehard, with lead- ing score, 138 (tied by Sergeant Gefrorer, of the Third Regiment), Chapin with 125, Dunn 134. Gamble 114.
" The team which represented the State of Pennsylvania," said the general inspector of rifle practice, Col. Frank K. Patter- son, in his annual report for 1907, " in the National Match in 1907 was the best team which has ever represented this State in any match. It was trained as carefully as conditions and circum- stances would allow, and the limited time permitted it for con- certed team work was spent to the best possible advantage in get- ting results where the men had heretofore shown weakness."
The match was shot at Camp Perry. Ohio. The Pennsylvania team made a score of 3346, ninety-five points higher than was made by the winning team in 1906. The United States Navy won the Camp Perry Match with an aggregate of 3421. Pennsylvania stood seventh ont of the forty-seven in the contest : of the six that led her three of these were from the permanent establishment and three were State teams-Massachusetts. Ohio, and Wash- ington. " The United States Infantry team, the Marine Corps. New York. New Jersey, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. all of which were accustomed to a standing above Pennsylvania, were passed."
A Pennsylvanian led in individual score: another Pennsylvanian was fourth. Of the 564 men shooting on the 47 teams, Captain Harry J. Mehard, inspector of rifle practice. First Infantry, made the highest individual score. and Lieutenant William M. Robertson. Assistant Surgeon Sixteenth Infantry, stood fourth.
Those selected for the Pennsylvania team from the First Regi- ment with their individual scores were as follows: Captain Harry J. Mchard, Inspector of Rifle Practice, 314: Private A. L. Dunn. Jr .. Company C. 284. and Private Robert Gamble, Company C. 277. The First Regiment had a larger mnuber on the team than any other regiment. There were twelve in all. The First Regi- mment had three. the Thirteenth two, the Sixteenth two, the Second
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1908
one, the Third one, the Twelfth one, the Fourteenth one, with Major Goddard from the First Brigade staff.
The spring inspections by companies for 1908, by the brigade inspector, announced in Regimental Orders in February to con- tinne through March, were interesting. instructive, and productive of good results. Col. Frank G. Sweeney, the inspector-general. to take the place of Major Worman, off duty for a few days by reason of a sudden illness, inspected ten companies of the First Regiment and one company of the Sixth, and in his report for the year said of them:
" These companies made most creditable showing. . " The attendance was exceedingly gratifying. The First Infantry is deserving of special mention, in that every company of this organization paraded at least the minimmin strength, which entitles the regiment to a rating of 100 per cent. for attendance."
The Field and Staff. Hospital Corps and regimental band of the First Regiment had each a general average and figure of effi- cieney of 100 and the several companies of the First Regiment sup- ported their " most creditable showing " and " special mention " with general averages and figures of efficiency as follows : Company A, Captain Frank Hall, general average, 94.25 ; figure of efficiency, 95.97 ; Company B. Captain William F. Eidell. 95.25, 96.67 ; Com- pany C, Captain G. B. McClellan Phillips. 97.75, 98.42 ; Company D, Captain Homer Smith, 94.62, 96.23 ; Company E, Captain A. H. Pierson, 97.62, 98.33 ; Company F. Captain William H. Hev. 94.62, 96.23; Company G. Captain W. B. Johnston, 93.75, 95.62; Company II, Captain William C. Levering. 96.37. 97.45 : Company I, Captain Thomas F. Meehan. 97.62. 98.33 : Company K, Captain Charles F. Hess, 99.25, 99.47 : Company L. Captain Edwin E. Hol- lenback, 97.25, 98.07: Company M, Captain Elmer E. Keiser. 96.87. 97.80. Three companies obtained the highest maximum rating of 100 in discipline, Companies C. K. and MI. All the com- panies seenred the maximum rating of 100. except one, Company F, in condition of arms and equipment, and but a single company, K, obtained the maximum rating for guard duty. The highest general average, 99.25. and figure of efficiency, 99.47, was secured by Company K.
The regimental General Order which directed the spring in- spections and prescribed their details, stated :
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SPRING INSPECTIONS
1908
" The percentage of attendance will be based only upon the officers and men actually present at inspection," and announced that, " the figure of efficiency will be determined as outlined in Paragraph I in G. O. No. 1. A. G. O., Series 1905," which, as previously quoted. reads as follows :
" In the future the efficiency of an organization will be deter- mined by the . Percentage of Attendance' at inspection and the · General Average ' in the ratio of three to seven; for example, if a command receives 95 in ' Percentage of Attendance,' and 90 for ' General Average.' by multiplying the ' Percentage of Attend- anee ' by three and the ' General Average ' by seven, the sum of the products. divided by ten, will give the figure of efficiency, namely, 91.50."
General Bowman is reported as an interested visitor at the sev- eral armories during these inspections. The presence of Major W. P. Duvall. United States Army, retired, in attendance as a co-worker and representative of the War Department, is specially mentioned.
The not infrequent opportunity to show its ceremonial mettle in sunshine as well as shadow again presented itself when the First Regiment with Col. J. Lewis Good in command, and the Veteran Corps under Col. Theo. E. Wiedersheim, completed the entire route, passing in review in front of the Union League before Gen. Wendell P. Bowman through a steady downpour on the occasion of the street parade in commemoration of its forty-seventh anni- versary on the afternoon of April 19, 1908. An "evening parade " which had been planned as a conclu-ion was omitted ; not so, however, with the banquets and other festivities later on. They took the usual course.
Maj. George B. Zane. Jr., first elected secretary of the Board of Officers May 2. 1596, continued to serve each year succeeding himself. until April 6. 1908. when declining further re-election, Lieutenant G. Rush Howell was elected in his stead.
Captain William B. Johnston, of Company G. his military record previously noted. for some time in failing health, resigned his captainey in mid-spring and died at Philadelphia. September S. 190S. ITis aptitude as a tactical offiecr. his notable capacity as . a drill master. his methods as a disciplinarian, his ever-attentive efficiency had brought him high repute and much appreciation.
576
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1903
Hle reached his end heroically, planned his own funeral, and was buried by his old company with the military honors prescribed for his rank. In civil life, long in the postal service, for thirty years a letter carrier in the financial centres, he had a wide acquaintance and was universally respected.
First Lieutenant Henry E. Bonnin was on May 19, 1908. elected to the captainey of Company G, vice Johnston, resigned. Captain Bonnin was private in Company A, First Regiment In- fantry, June 11. 1802; discharged, April 3, 1893; private, Com- pany G. First Regiment Infantry, October 17, 1893; corporal, April 28, 1SOS ; discharged, May 9, 1898; private same company, December 24, 1898 ; corporal, August 21, 1899 ; second lieutenant, November S, 1899 ; re-elected, November 22, 1904 ; first lieutenant. July 10, 1906. In the Spanish-American War he was corporal, Company G, First Regiment Infantry, Pennsylvania Volunteers, May 10, 1SOS : mustered ont with company October 26, 189S.
The regiment. in full-dress uniform, accompanied by the Vet- eran Corps and Brig .- Gen. Wendell P. Bowman with his staff, attended memorial services at Holy Trinity Church, conducted under the auspices of the Regimental Chaplain, Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins, D.D., on Sunday, May 24, 1908, at three o'clock in the afternoon.
Gettysburg's topography invites, Gettysburg's history per- suades. Its swale and hillside, its valley and plain, its field and meadow. forest and farm. long reach of vision, distant mountains, rolling landscape, draped in all the rich green of the early summer time, picture a scene of loveliness, lavish in its profusion, of nature's best adornment.
What of Gettysburg's persuasive history? There is a story of heroics behind every rock and boulder. in the Devil's Den, across the wheat field. in the Peach Orchard, where the artillery blazed at Trostles. where Chamberlain held Round Top, and Vincent. Weed. O'Rorke, and Hazlitt fell: a story of splendid courage. from where the enemy left his cover to where he struck the Union line-a mile of blood-rent plain-its pitiful sequence, the dead he left behind and the wounded's wail of woe: of deadly impact at the angle and thence along the line, that Hancock and Gibbon and Webb and all of them held so manfully: of pun- ishment to the limit of endurance when Minnesota, at a woeful cost, checked a well-timed onslaught: of tactful opportunity
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CAMP ALEXANDER HAYS
when Vermont took advantage of a precions moment of exposure to shatter a thank for an instant in the air; of a wealth of skill in battle taeties, displayed in movement and manœuvre, against overwhelming odds, through all that fateful first day's fight; of deadly determination when Ricketts with sabre and sponge staff brained his Lonisiana adversary at the very muzzle of his guns; of dogged tenacity when Green held Culp's against his oft-advancing foe; a story of pathos and patriotism, sacrifice and surrender, where from every mound and tablet. tomb and shaft, there comes from the many, many thousands the responsive answer, to solemnly repeat itself. until the final trump shall sound the great awakening. " dead upon the field of honor."
So Gettysburg was again selected as the site for the division encampment of the National Guard of the State of Pennsylvania for the summer of 1908.
The encampment was named Camp Alexander Hays in honor of that distinguished soldier, Brig .- Gen. Alexander Hays, pro- moted from the coloneley of the Sixty-third Pennsylvania to be a brigadier-general of volunteers and killed in action at the Battle of the Wilderness May 5, 1864.
Of the selection of the site Colonel Sweeney, the inspector- general. in his report of November 23, 190S, said :
With exceeding good judgment, the military authorities of the State have repeatedly selected Gettysburg for the encampment of the division. It has greatly stimulated enlistment. and. without doubt. has inspired with patriotic ardor thousands of guardsmen that have participated in these en- campment -.
And referring to the results of the encampment. he adds :
While there is much room for improvement. the inspector-general is pleased to report the division in creditable form. In fact. during his seven- teen years service a- an inspector, the Guard, in his judgment, has not been in more satisfactory condition than it is to-day.
And the surgeon-general, Col. Jos. K. Weaver, commenting upon the camp, and speaking for his own department, said :
We never reached such a high standard of sanitation as in this division encampment.
The encampment was commanded by the division commander, Maj .- Gen. John A. Wiley; the First Brigade by Brig .- Gen. 37
578
HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1908
Wendell P. Bowman, and the First Regiment by Col. J. Lewis Good.
The encampment covered the period from Saturday, July 1s. to Saturday, July 25, and following its advance detail which, under the command of Captain George B. MeC. Phillips, had left on the day previous, the regiment entrained at Broad and Callowhill streets on the Reading at nine o'clock on the evening of Friday the 19th, reaching the siding on the railway nearest the grounds assigned it, about two o'clock on Saturday morning. Thence it marched to its well-prepared camp, for the short rest permitted before the rapidly approaching hour for reveille. The First Regiment camp site was south of Gettysburg on the western side and facing the Emmettsburg Road about opposite where United States Avenue enters it from the east, north of the Wheat- field Road and a little south of Spangler's Lane.
The work of the encampment was confined largely to the " war game." A few " evening parades " and a review by the comman- der-in-chief covered about all the close order drills that were held. Minor problems were propounded and solved first by battalion, then by regiment, and finally by brigade. The inspecting officers commended officers and men for the interest manifested in the work and the energy and zeal displayed. They stated that a better showing would have been had for these manœuvres had they not been marred by the presence of some thirty per cent. of recruits. most of whom had " no knowledge whatever of the principles of extended order or of fire discipline." " It is most unwise," says the inspector-general. "to take recruits into manœuvres, and this is the opinion of officers of the army who have had considerable experience in the ' war game.'"
This view made a decided lodgment and, immediately upon the return of his troops. General Bowman issued an order sharply criticising such neglect as had permitted recruits not well grounded in elementary essentials participating in camps of instruction. The general's order further directed that the several commanding officers of his brigade should make every effort to recruit their respective units to the maximum as speedily as possible, so that the new men might be sufficiently advanced in the school of the soldier, and squad and guard duty, prior to the annual tour of instruction in the field in July next, which will be devoted princi-
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FATAL STORM
1009
pally to problems and manœuvres. Untrained recruits, he stated, have no place therein, and in the future such men will not be allowed to participate with the older troops without having at least six months' elementary instruction.
Gettysburg is no stranger to severe electrical disturbances. " The tremendous downpour during the afternoon and its con- tinued severity through the night" on July 4, 1863, a mild sequence to the great battle, is nevertheless still an historie re- membrance. It more than repeated itself and with more poign- antly remembered fatalities in the severe electrical storm on the evening of Tuesday, July 21, 1908. That storm, though one of so many akin to it in severity, was said to be the most severe that had ever visited the vicinity of the Gettysburg battle-field. Tents were torn down and rent by the wind. Three men of the Guard were killed by bolts of lightning and many were shocked. The loss fell heavily upon the First Regiment; of the three dead one was Second Lieutenant Paul J. Morley, Company B. He was killed in action. if not in actual battle, and by the enemy ; he was
killed on a battle-field and in the line of duty. " As junior officer of the Guard instructing sentinels on post at 7.10 o'clock P.M., July 21. 1908, at Camp Alexander Hays on this immortal battle- field of Gettysburg. Lieutenant Morley was stricken down by a bolt of lightning from the clouds during the raging of an electric storm which filled the air with death-dealing bolts of fire, causing the very earth to tremble and striking terror to the bravest hearts." This was the record made by the Board of Officers in their In Memoriam, as adopted at a special meeting called for the purpose on the evening of Lieutenant Morley's deceasc.
On the same date the colonel commanding published his Gen- eral Order formally announcing Lientenant Morley's demise :
GETTYSBURG, PA., July 21, 1908.
CAMP GENERAL ALEXANDER HAYS.
GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 22.
It is with the deepest regret I announce to the regiment the loss by death of second lieutenant of Company B. PAUL J. MORLEY. While on duty as Junior Officer of the Guard instructing a sentry, he met his death by electric bolt, at 7.10 r.M. this date.
Lieutenant Panl J. Morley enli-ted in Company B on the 11th day of April, 1300, promoted to corporal June 17, 1902; promoted to sergeant, January 23, 1905: elected second lieutenant, July IS, 1906.
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
1908
Our deceased comrade was untiring in his efforts for the success and welfare of his company and regiment, and could be depended upon at all times. His example is worthy of emulation.
Thus the regiment is called upon to mourn the loss of one of the youngest and best officers with a record of honorable and faithful service- to his State and country.
The Field, Staff and non commissioned Staff Officers of the line. out of respect for his memory, will wear the badge of military mourning for thirty days.
The flag on the regimental armory in Philadelphia. Pa., will be at half-staff on the day of burial.
By order of Colonel Good.
(Signed ) A. D. WHITNEY, Adjutant.
There was still another heavy rainstorm the night before the camp broke. Many of the First Brigade tents were flooded, and in front of the brigade headquarters a regular lake formed. The lightning was not severe, but it had opportunity to work upon nerves already highly overwrought.
The steel ribs introduced into the puttees to give them body. it was seriously contended in some quarters, had a tendency to attract the lightning and had probably contributed to the casualties that followed. That this contention had no support from the mili- tary authorities is evident from the report of the inspector-general. Colonel Sweeney, who in announcing the fatalities that attended the encampment spoke as follows :
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