USA > Pennsylvania > History of the First regiment infantry, National guard of Pennsylvania (Grey Reserves) 1861-1911, pt 2 > Part 25
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Sylvester Bouraffon, Ji. Colonel 2018 (Emergency) Regiment Infantry 1.4 0.
1911
623
RECORD OF COLONEL BONNAFFON, JR.
1862, a second lieutenant; June 18th, 1864, a first lieutenant; October 10th, 1864, a captain ; and honorably mastered out July 1st, 1865. Ile was brevetted Major " For gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Boydton Plank Road, Virginia, October 27, 1864"; Lieut .- Col. "For gallant and meritorious services during the War," and on September 29, 1893, awarded Con- gressional Medal of Honor " For distinguished gallantry at the Battle of Boydton Plank Road, Virginia, October 27th, 1964." " Checked the rout and rallied the troops of his command in the face of a terrible fire of musketry."
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In the service of the National Guard of Pennsylvania, he was a private October 15, 1868, in the First Regiment Infantry ; a first lieutenant March 2, 1870; captain June 14th, 1871; honorably discharged September 4, 1874; Colonel Twentieth Regiment Emergency Infantry July 27th to September 20th, 1877. Subsequent to his emergency service Colonel Bonnaffon was Major of the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays Battalion, March 22d to July 20th, 1879, and Colonel of the Third Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania, January 14th, 1880, to January 14th, 1890.
The Finance Committee of the Corps, Col. P. C. Ellmaker, Col. Chas. C. Knight. Major Wm. H. Kern, Col. Wm. W. Lloyd, and Lieut. Chas. J. Field, in charge of collections, contributions. and disbursements of the fund that clothed and equipped the Twentieth Regiment, among other things in their final report said: " The diligence and energy of your Committee were, how- ever, entirely shadowed by the promptitude and liberality of the business men of our city who were called upon to aid us in the emergency. It is a fact highly creditable to them, that your Com- mittee did not meet with a single refusal on the part of our citizens."
Merchants, manufacturers, banks, insurance companies. and moneved institutions generally were so prompt and liberal with their subscriptions that the greater portion of the fund. which aggregated the sum of $8,716.45, was secured within forty-eight hours : five hundred men recruited within less than that time, and $8.543.62 expended or appropriated for the purposes for which it was contributed, only, however, after the closest scrutiny of ac-
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
counts had revealed no " single instance of improvidence or ex- travagance."
It was this fund that through legislative aid, the consent of the donors, the exertions of Colonels Bonnaffon, Benson, Wieder- sheim, and others which was afterwards made the basis for the $8000.00 appropriation of the Act of Assembly approved May 1s. 1878, in aid of the purchase of the lot for the erection of an armory.
In recognition of the Veteran Corps' worthiest patron, most vigorous supporter and attentive member, the camp of the Twen- tieth in the vicinity of Wilkes-Barre had been named Camp Edwin N. Benson. The story of the campaign of the Twentiethi Regiment, its movement to Pittsburgh, its transfer to the Wyoming region, the more onerous and exacting duties that followed when it was assigned to do with few troops what before their with- drawal had been in the charge of many, the generous and ap- preciative treatment of the citizens of Wilkes-Barre and elsewhere are all explicitly told of in the official report of Colonel Bonnaffon. which with the muster-out roll of the commissioned officers will be found in the Appendix.
Whilst the Twentieth Regiment was quartered at Wilkes- Barre, it was made the recipient of a stand of colors presented by the citizens of Allegheny County. It was the then avowed purpose of Colonel Bonnaffon, convinced that the donors would acquiesce. upon the muster out of his regiment to make the Veteran Corps their custodian. This purpose was accomplished and all the colors borne by the Twentieth Regiment during its campaign of 1877 were passed over to the care, custody, and keeping of the Veteran Corps, with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a distinctively typical military assembly, including many dis- tinguished guests, His Excellency, Gov. John F. Hartranft, among them, at the armory of Company D, on Lardner Street, on the evening of February 22, 1878.
The parades made by the Veteran Corps, except in rare in- stances, have been so entirely with the regiment, always when it has made an independent display. notably on all anniversary commemorations, and occasionally when it has been a subdivision of a larger column. already disposed of in the order of their
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RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRATULATION
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recurrence, they need not be again considered, unless some special significance gives them prominence.
The commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the " Massacre of Wyoming," at Wilkes-Barre and vicinity on July 3d and 4th, 1578, of conspicuous historie importance, significant in the national calendar of centenaries, had bestirred the good people of the Wyoming Valley to give it all the prominence it deserved. Much time and thought had been given to the demon- stration, and the Veteran Corps of the First Regiment and the officers of the First Regiment, who in a body accompanied it, were made such appreciable features of the occasions, that aside from the opportunity that it had had to render a patriotic service, the Corps had been thus placed under special obligations to those who had tendered it the invitation to participate. Upon their return to Philadelphia the Corps and the officers were met by the First Regiment as an escort, the companies under the command of Sergeants. This incident already once referred to is again brought out as one of the notable ventures of the Corps in an inde- pendent parade.
Another parade of the Veteran Corps of some historic moment about this time was its participation in the reception of General Ulysses S. Grant. ex-President of the United States, December 16, 1879, upon his return to Philadelphia, from whence he had started his tour around the world.
At the October meeting of 1878 the promotion of Comrade Theodore E. Wiedersheim to the Colonelcy of the First Regi- ment was appropriately recognized by resolutions of con- gratulation for the distinguished honor conferred upon him and a promise of the hearty co-operation of the Corps "in all his efforts to maintain the splendid reputation so long enjoyed by the regiment under its former commanders."
At the same time the Corps also by resolution recognized " the soldierly ability and qualifications " of Comrade Captain James Muldoon in the service he had rendered the First Regiment dur- ing the year, not altogether free from embarrassing incidents, that he had been the Captain Commanding.
At the annual meeting; April 19, 1879. there was directed to be compiled from the records by Major Edwin N. Benson.
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
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Colonels R. Dale Benson and Theo. E. Wiedersheim, as a Com- mittee of the Veteran Corps, a History of the First Regiment Infantry. The work was completed, printed and published by the next annual meeting and bears imprint " Philadelphia, April 19, 1SSO."
At the annual meeting of the Corps, April 19, 1850, on the - expiration of his third term as commandant, General Latta wa- succeeded by Col. George H. North.
The Veteran Corps, First Regiment Infantry, accompanying the First Regiment in response to the personally presented invita- tion of Col. G. W. Laird, the commander of the Veteran Corps, Twenty-second Regiment, National Guard of New York, ten- dered by him on a visit to Philadelphia, made specially for the pur- pose, visited the City of New York as the guests of the Veteran Corps of the New York Twenty-second to participate in the ceremonies and incidents attendant upon the commemoration of Memorial Day of May 30, 1880. These courtesies were subse- quently acknowledged by a series of appropriate resolutions which concluded as follows : "That it is our earnest hope and expectation that a speedy occasion may arise when we may have the honor of reciprocating the kindness of this reception in order to give evi- dence to the sincerity of our feelings and the reality of our profession."
The occasion did arise, nor was it long delayed. The oppor- tunity came two years later with the ceremonies incident to the laying of the corner stone of the new armory building, April 19, 1882, when the Veteran Corps of the Twenty-second New York in attendance with its regiment on these ceremonies, the Veteran Corps of the First Regiment as the host, gave evidence to the Veteran Corps of the Twenty-second as the guest of a " sincerity of feeling " and " reality of profession " in lavish hospitality and abundant attention.
The Veteran Corps had its active, energetic, and profitable part in the Fair of much repute for the benefit of the Armory Fund of December, 1880. The amount received directly through the efforts and energies of the Corps over and above all ex- penditures and paid over to the Armory Fund. was $2,472.00.
At the expiration of the fourth year of his incumbency. April
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ARMORY FAIR OF 1884
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19, 1834, Col. George HI. North, at the annual meeting, declined a re-election. Lieut .- Col. William W. Allen, the present lieutenant- colonel, being in the line of and the only nominee for the suc- cession, on motion, Col. George H. North was designated to deposit a single ballot as the unanimous voice of the Corps for Colonel William W. Allen to be the colonel for the ensuing year, where- upon the ballot being deposited, Colonel Allen was declared duly elected. The Corps placed upon record resolutions declaratory of their high appreciation of the faithful and valuable services of their retiring commander.
At a special meeting of the Board of Officers on August. 23, 1884, called to take action on the death, on the morning of the 21st, of Col. Charles Somers Smith, it was ordered that the Veteran Corps should attend the funeral in a body and an ap- propriate minute was placed upon record to note the decease of the "first commandant of the Corps, who for two successive terms, then full of years and of honors, worthily and efficiently fulfilled its requirements "; expressive also of appreciation and recognition of a military career that covered continuously almost half a century, of his distinguished record for high soldierly qualifica- tions, fast, enduring, and convincing courage, of his culture, nota- ble lineage and great longevity, of his many years of onerous, deli- cate and responsible duties in a public trust, of his special ability and unquestioned integrity, of the pronounced and universal re- spect he had always commanded from a large circle of true and earnest friends. Like action was taken at the October quarterly meeting, when it was decided that the minute made by the Board should be incorporated in the proceedings, as the Minute of the Corps.
The Veteran Corps again lent its energies to the support and encouragement of the Fair of the year 1884, for the benefit of the Armory Fund. Apportioned with the general results and the greater grand total of the previous occasion over the lesser of this one. the Corps return for 1884 about maintained its average. There were fourteen hundred and twenty-eight season tickets sold by the Veteran Corps, the largest number sold by any organization of the regiment, and the gross proceeds paid over to the General Committee. Besides. the Armory Fund was increased, including a
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
subscription of $137.00, by the sum of one thousand dollars ($1000.00), the net result realized from the sales made at the Veteran Corps Booth. The Corps also made acknowledgment to the Veteran Corps of the Twenty-second New York for its $100.00 voluntary subscription to the First Regiment's Armory Fund.
The Survivors' Association of the One Hundred and Nine- teenth Pennsylvania Volunteers proposing to erect a monument on the Battlefield of Gettysburg, commemorative of their par- ticipation in that engagement, and engaged in collecting funds for the purpose, a subscription of $100.00 was made by the First Regiment's Veteran Corps. A resolution of the Survivors' Asso- ciation subsequently thanked the Corps " for its handsome dona- tion to the Tablet Fund."
This monument erected on Round Top was formally dedicated by the One Hundred and Nineteenth's Survivors' Association October 2d and 3d. 1885, and the Veteran Corps of the First Reg- iment's participation in the ceremonies, with Col. William W. Allen in command, was a distinctively memorable occasion. The committee that had the matter in charge in its final report said : "The trip, as those who had the good fortune to participate in it. we believe, will attest, was a thoroughly successful and enjoyable one and afforded much pleasure in friendly association with the comrades of the One Hundred and Nineteenth and the opportunity it gave of a very interesting review of the battlefield with its many points of interest."
An unlooked-for expenditure after the occupancy of the new armory building was forced upon the Board of Directors of the corporation. in the construction of a gallery at one end of the drill room for the better accommodation of visitors, and an ap- propriation was made from the treasury of the Veteran Corps in the sum of $100.00 in aid of what was known as the Gallery Fund.
The retirement of Col. Theo. E. Wiedersheim after his nearly ten years of service as Colonel Commanding the First Regiment Infantry, awakening that universal regret that had been so sin- cerely testified to everywhere by resolution and otherwise, wa- made emphatic and expressive in the special minute submitted to the Veteran Corps by his distinguished and earliest predecessor.
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SPECIAL MINUTE
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C'ol. P. C. Ellinaker, at its quarterly meeting of July 6, 1887, and unanimously adopted. The minute was as follows:
This minute is made expressive of the regrets of the Veteran Corps on the retirement of Col. Theo. E. Wiedersheim from the command of the regiment, and in appreciation of his long, faithful and distinguished service.
Col. Wiedersheim's active connection with the First Regiment Infantry, National Guard of Pennsylvania, dates almost from the time of its organiza- tion and covers, without interruption, fully a quarter of a century. As enlisted man or commissioned officer, he has participated in all active field operations in which the Regiment has taken part, and whether facing armed rebellion in the campaigns of Antietam and Gettysburg, or meeting riot and disorder at Pittsburgh, Scranton, Hazleton, and Susquehanna Depot, he has deservedly earned most honorable and heroic inention.
With high soldierly attainments, trained tactical abilities, painstaking, thoughtful, untiring, his skill has secured for himself personally a record of enviable distinction, and his judgment has maintained for his regiment the high place it has ever so worthily held.
AAlways impressed with the responsibilities of his office, his courteous manner, pleasing address and ready speech have most happily served him, and whenever and wherever, as the Regiment's representative, he has been called upon to appear or act for it, he has added to its fame by the wise and fitting way in which he has fulfilled that duty.
Of ready resources and persistent energy, with a most extended ac- quaintance, firm, faithful and earnest in their support. Col. Wiedersheim combined all that could be demanded of a commandant to wliose lot it should fall to control affairs, during the building of a structure, intended as the permanent home of his organization. And of all these he lent willingly and gave unstintingly that the undertaking planned and conceived during his administration might still within it be ultimately and successful consummated.
A change of commanders is not to be desired, an interruption of a term is never advantageous, and when, after nine years of successful control, unavoidable contingencies sever an association that naught could interrupt save the voluntary act of him who breaks it, it is but just that the virtues, the merits, the many personal sacrifices, the long prosperous management, the high soldierly qualities, that have ever characterized the retiring Colonel of the First Regiment Infantry, should receive fitting tribute of expression at the hands of those who have either directly or remotely been in any way connected with his administration.
And at the conclusion of this same meeting, again at the in- stance of Colonel Ellmaker, the following resolution was also submitted and unanimously adopted :
" Resolved. That should Colonel Bowman succeed to the con- mand of the regiment. we hereby pledge him our undivided sup- port, and will be ever ready in the future as we have been in the past to render every assistance in our power to enable the organiza- tion to maintain its reputation for discipline and efficiency."
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
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Major Edwin N. Benson's wise counsel, effective work, and zealous attention to the best interests of the Corps, he frequently supplemented with liberal contributions to ventures that needed financial help. The Permanent Fund created in April, 1>>6. which seemed to linger, fail of its intent, embarrass at times the quiek assets of the Corps, was at the adjourned annual meeting. April 27, 1859, on motion of Major Edwin N. Benson, abolished. and its accumulations transferred to a fund, its intendment at the same time encouraged by a handsome contribution of his own, to be thereafter known as the Uniform Fund. For this and other frequent and like favors, the Corps at the same meeting voted its thanks to Major Benson as well for his many previous rement- brances as for the special impetus promising prompt and speedy success that his present gift had given a movement of so much importance to the Corps.
At the quarterly meeting of the Corps, October 15, 1890, Com- mander William W. Allen " in a feeling and impressive man- ner " announced the death of Col. Peter C. Ellmaker on Sunday. October 12, 1890. An appropriate minute presented by Senior Vice-Commander John A. Wiedersheim and seconded by Colonel Ellmaker's old, fast, and firmest friend, Comrade Thomas Allman, was unanimously adopted.
The minute conceding Colonel Ellmaker " as entitled to the proud distinction of being the Father of the First Regiment," spoke of him as the founder of the Veteran Corps, of his military career of half a century, of his services in war and his usefulness in peace, of his special adaptability for and his untiring vigilance in his Secretaryship of the Armory Building Committee. of his merits as a citizen, his accomplishments as a soldier, closing with this just and appropriate estimate of his worth and virtues: " His incorruptible character : his sturdy manhood: his loyal devotion to the best interests of his country, and his high purposes in con- nection with every duty he assumed, revealed the true character of the man and raised him high in the estimation of his comrades."
The Veteran Corps on May 30th. the Memorial Day of 1891. participated by invitation in the ceremonies incident to the day. conducted by George G. Meade Post, No. 1, of the Grand Army of the Republic, at Laurel Hill Cemetery. A memorable feature of the occasion was the presence of the President of the United
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FIELD DAYS
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States, Benjamin Harrison, with several members of his cabinet. The President had earlier in the day visited Independence Hall, from whence, after one of his usual forceful addresses, the Veteran Corps acted as his escort to the Reading Terminal and thence to the cemetery.
The Field Day at Pennsgrove, New Jersey, September 1, 1591, is another incident to be remembered in the year's chronology. Fes- tivities, games, exercises, and target shooting enlivened the ocea- sion. George F. Root, who, in keeping with his fame as a marks- man, outelassed everybody else, won the first prize and Col. J. Campbell Gilmore the second.
At the adjourned annual meeting of the Corps, May 3, 1892, Col. William W. Allen, having served the Corps faithfully as its commander through the eight years of his incumbeney, was again placed in nomination. In a few appropriate remarks, declining to be a candidate, he asked that his name be not considered in the voting, whereupon Senior Vice-Commander John A. Wiedersheim was unanimously elected to succeed him. A resolution of thanks to Commander Allen followed : "For the very efficient manner he had performed his duties as commander of the Corps and for the great interest always manifested by him in its welfare."
In the absence of the active command in the field during the Ilomestead riots of July, 1892, the armory, in compliance with a request made by Colonel Bowman, was placed in charge of the Veteran Corps. A detail of an officer of the day and seven mem- bers of the Corps was on duty each day during the time the regi- ment was absent.
Another Field Day of the Corps, on September 5, 1892, fol- lowed the one of the previous year, again at Pennsgrove, New Jersey, with the steamer Thomas Clyde. Target shooting, fes- tivities, games and exercises were once more in evidence. The character of the shooting, however, seemed to call for the special comment of the committee. "We desire," as they said in their report, "to call especial attention to the shooting done, as many of the comrades have not fired a shot for years, and the Corps is to be congratulated upon the showing made." This time the first prize went to J. W. Warren, and the second, shot off on a tie between F. D. Heckman and John M. Root, was won by Root.
At the adjourned annual meeting of April 29, 1893, Com-
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HISTORY OF THE FIRST REGIMENT, N. G. P.
mander John A. Wiedersheim declining a re-election, Col. Theodore E. Wiedersheim was placed in nomination for com- mander, and the nominations having elosed, and the tellers an- nouncing that he had been unanimously chosen, Colonel Wieder- sheim was thereupon declared to be the commander for the ensuing year; each recurring year in the eighteen successive re-elections that have followed adding with an increasing trust its further testimony of recognition, appreciation, confidence, and commenda- tion.
With the advent of Colonel Wiedersheim, came Col. J. Camp- bell Gilmore as adjutant, and there he has been ever since, and doubtless will be, until he himself shall determine otherwise.
September 25 was selected as the time, and the First Regi- ment's Rifle Range as the place for the Corps Field Day for 1893. Sixty-one meinbers and fourteen guests contested for the eight prizes that had been placed in competition for the best scores made at the targets. Comrade Mehard won the first. Hess second, North third, Zane fourth, Burroughs fifth, Margerum sixth, Woehr seventh, and Moore Al., eighth. Lieutenant MeGlathiery led the guests and carried off the trophy.
The First Regiment's Veteran Corps, assigned by the Joint Committee of Select and Common Council the post of honor to march immediately in front of the Liberty Bell, paraded on November 6, 1893, on the occasion of the reception and escort of the Bell on its return, after its six months' absence, from the World's Columbian Fair at Chicago. The march was a patriotic ovation all along the route from Twelfth and York Streets, where the Bell was received, thence to Broad and Diamond, south to Christian Street, countermarching to Chestnut, and thence to Independence Hall, where the sacred relic was once more restored to its old familiar abiding place.
The Veteran Corps, on the invitation of the Union League, acted as an escort to General Benjamin Harrison, ex-President of the United States, on the occasion of a reception given him by that body on Thursday evening, December 21, 1893. The re- ception was a brilliant affair, and some of the members of the League were free to say that much of its success and brilliancy was due to the presence of and active part taken by the Corps. Hon. J. Russell Young, the President of the Union League, in a
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ANNUAL MEETINGS OF 1894 AND IS95
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letter dated December 22, 1893, addressed to Colonel Wiedersheim, acknowledged the courtesy of the acceptance of the invitation and the service rendered by the Corps as follows :
Permit me as the President of the Union League to express to you and the gentlemen under your command iny obligations for your services in enabling us to render due honor to General Harrison. There was no incident in the reception that gave him more pleasure and he charged me to express his warmest appreciation and thanks. It was a gracious office performed with precision, discipline and ease, and I thank you for it.
At the January meeting of 1894, Comrade Alexander P. Colesberry read an ably prepared paper on the duties performed by the Seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia, in the cam- paign of 1862. On its completion he was tendered the thanks of the Corps and requested to furnish a copy for preservation in the archives.
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