USA > Pennsylvania > Martial deeds of Pennsylvania, Vol. 1 > Part 11
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men were very efficient in drill, and previous to the dread tocsin of actual war, had made several excursions, and lodged more than once upon the tented field. . . . Previous to the outbreak of hostilities, I deemed it prudent to get my company into the best possible condition. Indeed, as early as January, 1861, it was intimated to me, through General William H. Keim, that the services of the Ringgolds would probably be required before long. The General, I recollect, asked me how much time would be needed to get ready. My reply was, that we were ready at any moment, and, as he spoke in behalf of the State, though privately, not to occasion unnecessary alarm, from that time the Ringgolds considered their services offered to the Government. Therefore frequent, almost daily drills were practised. When the news came that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, with the unanimous consent of the company, I held it in instant readiness for the service of the General Government. This was before President Lincoln made his call for 75,000 men.
" It was a memorable day for us when the dispatch, announcing the attack on Fort Sumter, reached us. We were at drill about a mile and a half from the city, at about half past eleven A. M. The effect was electrical. All were impatient to start at once. This was on the 15th. Next day, the 16th, marching orders reached us from Harrisburg, from Governor Curtin himself. I immediately got my men together, read the communication, and on the same afternoon at 2 o'clock, was ready to start; but by the advice of the General Superintendent of the Reading Rail- road Company, G. A. Nicholls, instead of taking the special train offered, we waited for the regular evening train which started at 6 o'clock. At 8 o'clock P. M., we arrived in Harrisburg, and reported 152 men to the Secretary of State, Colonel Slifer, the Governor being absent in Washington."
Mr. Slifer telegraphed for orders to the Secretary of War, and received an immediate response directing that the company be forwarded at once. An order to this effect was issued to Captain McKnight, but was soon after countermanded, that other troops then on the way might join him, and all proceed in a body. Had this order been executed the Ringgolds would have reached Washington at three o'clock on the morning of the 17th. But
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they were compelled instead to remain in Harrisburg. The four other companies named above arrived early on the morning of the 17th, and on the morning of the 18th company HI of the Fourth Artillery, under command of Lieutenant Pemberton, afterwards General Pemberton of the Rebel Army, came in from the West, having been ordered to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The six .companies, accordingly, moved by the same train over the Nor- thern Central Railroad. By direction of the Secretary of War Captain McKnight's company left its guns, caissons, and equip- ments, except sabres, at Harrisburg, to the sore displeasure of the men. The Regulars, to the number of some forty or fifty, had their muskets, as had also a part of the Logan Guards. With the exception of these, and the sabres of the Ringgolds, the party was entirely unarmed. They arrived in Baltimore at half past three in the afternoon.
Of their progress, Captain McKnight gives the following ac- count : " At Baltimore it was necessary for us to march a distance of about two miles to the Washington depot, and we proceeded in the following order; first was company H, Fourth United States Artillery, and then followed in succession the Logan Guards, Allen Rifles, Washington Artillery, National Light In- fantry, and the Ringgold Light Artillery. It will thus be seen that my company occupied the second post of honor, the Regulars having the first. The detail of our march through Baltimore I cannot give in more truthful or forcible language than that em- ployed by my friend, Captain E. L. Smith, in a letter addressed to his brother-in-law, the Hon. J. Depuy Davis, State Senator from this county (Berks), bearing date Washington, April 20th, 1861. Captain Smith, it is but proper to say, left his position as a leading lawyer and rising public man in the community, and joined my company as a private ; but before the expiration of our company's service he received his commission as Captain in the Regular Army. He says : 'We were under strict orders to say nothing to any one about our reception at, and march through Baltimore. It was feared, that if all the circumstances of our reception in that city were made public, the effect would be to aların and intimidate. The attack of the mob on the Massachusetts volunteers yesterday (19th) has removed the injunction of secrecy, and I proceed to
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give you an account of our passage. We were accompanied from Harrisburg by a body of regulars from the West, numbering some forty or fifty, and the volunteers from Schuylkill, Lehigh, and Mifflin counties, in all some 400 strong. A large force of police met us, upon our landing at the depot, to escort us on our march of about two miles to the Washington Railroad terminus. We were greeted by the mob, which I judged from their appearance to be of all classes, with loud cheers for Jeff. Davis and Secession, and the display of disunion badges accompanied with groans for Lin- coln and the Wide-Awakes, with whom it was our misfortune to be at once identified. The Secessionists are, as yet, evidently of the opinion, that no one but a Republican of the North will fight for the Government. This delusion, which, in their situation is, perhaps, natural enough, encourages them, as much as anything else, to hold out against us, in the hope of a reaction in the North in their favor, on the part of the Democrats. The mob hemmed us in on every side, outnumbering ourselves by at least a hun- dred to one. I must do the rowdies of Baltimore the justice to say, that they proved themselves the most accomplished of their class. To tell you that they indulged in the vilest billingsgate conveys not the slightest idea of the Baltimore vocabulary, which is sui generis, abounding in taunt so remarkable in its ingenuity, that it was next to impossible not to reply to it, accompanied by appropriate gesticulations, superior to anything I have ever seen in the whole range of the theatre. . . . Without the most positive orders from our Captain under no circumstances to utter a word, it would not have been in my nature to have remained silent or passive. The first insult I heard was from a person, who, from his dress, et cetera, might have passed for a gentleman : "You ugly -," said he, close to the Captain's face, "but you can't help it, poor devils, you didn't make yourselves." "The whole lager-beer posse." said another, "will hardly make manure enough for one little cotton-plant; their sour-krout carcasses aren't guano nohow." Sometimes they would pitch into some particular indi- vidual with the vilest personal allusions, which, if the matter had not been so serious, would have provoked deserved laughter. " Do you see that tall four-eyed monster ?" said one, pointing to a spec- tacled private, "Jeff. Davis will ventilate his window-panes in
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nine days." It would fill a volume to detail their smart and op- probrious sayings which were levelled at us all along the route, so near to our ears indeed, that it required the resolution of veterans to bear them. Fists were brandished close to our noses, and the most fearful menaces used. The regulars who accompanied us were our main reliance in case of an attack. The police did good service ; but it was plain, from the smiles of many of them at the jests of the crowd, that they were acting from a sense of duty only, and were not in sympathy with us. The regulars by their example did much to keep us from giving rein to the anger and indignation with which every breast was swelling. They marched like so many statues of bronze, seemingly deaf to the din and up- roar about them. You will be surprised to learn that not a man of our company was armed except with his sabre. Our swords indeed were formidable enough in their way, but would not have deterred the mob had they known we were without other weapons. They evidently supposed us to be well prepared for any emer- gency, and our soldierly bearing assisted the delusion. Compe- tent military men, who saw and have heard of our conduct, have expressed surprise that volunteers, and, indeed, many of us the rawest recruits, were so well equal to the critical condition of affairs. The slightest response, upon our side, to the insult of the mob, would have precipitated one of the bloodiest street fights imaginable. What made this ordeal the more trying to us was the fact, that we did not apprehend any molestation. We were fortified in this idea by our reception at every way-station on the road. The enthusiasm in the rural districts of Maryland for us, the display of the old Union banner, the approving smiles of the ladies, and the waving of handkerchiefs from every country mansion, showed that the Union feeling in Maryland was no less strong than that of our own State. Even in the very suburbs of Baltimore, these Union manifestations were observable, and in the city itself, many were the quiet spectators, who looked as if they longed to approach, but thought it wise to refrain. At some points shouts for the Union were given with a will, responded to by the execrations of the mob. One little fellow, an Irishman, at the Washington depot, told us not to fear, that our friends out- numbered the mob, and in case of need would stand by us. He
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was at once surrounded by the frantic crowd, and it was a spec- tacle worth beholding and never to be forgotten, to see him alone, maintaining himself and his sentiments against thousands. He would speedily have been overwhelmed, but the police rescued him. Having endured this terrible ordeal of threatening and abuse, we were thrown pell-mell into cattle cars for Washington. But no sooner were we placed aboard than an attempt was made by the mob to detach the engine from the train and run it away. This was only prevented by the engineer and his assistants draw- ing revolvers, and threatening to shoot any who dared make the attempt. At length we were dismissed for the Capital, amid the yells and execrations of the hellish ruffians; while incessant showers of stones, brickbats, and other missiles from their infu- riated hands saluted the cars. Yet by remarkable good fortune, not a man was hurt, and we arrived here at 73 o'clock of the same day, and were assigned quarters in the Hall of the House of Representatives. . . . '"
The arrival of these companies caused great rejoicing at the Capital, as the city was entirely destitute of defences or defenders, and there was hourly expectation of the approach of the enemy. It was a matter of congratulation that they had escaped a colli- sion with the turbulent element which raged and seethed around them in the streets of Baltimore. The company of regulars that headed the column had filed off to go to Fort McHenry, their destination, while on the march through the city, and had left the volunteers to pursue their way alone. This was the signal for renewed insults and intensified shoutings; but the Logan Guards, who were left at the head of the column, were uniformed and armed very nearly like the regulars, and by preserving a bold front and passions immovable, they escaped harm. They had had no food since leaving Harrisburg, and were worn out with fatigue and hunger; but their wants were speedily supplied, and the Capitol was warmed and lighted up, at once transforming its dismal and almost mournful aspect into one of comfort and cheer. As the brilliant lights shone forth, the rumor spread through the city that a large force of Northern troops, armed with Minie rifles, were quartered in the Capitol. Mr. Lossing gives the fol- lowing account of the origin of this rumor, which, by creating
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the impression that a much larger force had arrived than was actually there, may have saved it from capture : "This rumor was started by James D. Gay, a member of the Ringgold Light Artillery, who was in Washington City, on business, at the time of their arrival. He was already an enrolled member of a tem- porary home-guard in Washington, under Cassius M. Clay, which we shall consider presently, and was working with all his might for the salvation of the city. After exchanging greetings with his company at the Capitol, he hastened to Willard's Hotel to proclaim the news. In a letter to the writer, he says : 'The first man I met as I entered the doors was Lieutenant-Colonel Magru- der [who afterwards abandoned his flag, and was a General of the Confederate army]. I said, "Colonel, have you heard the good news ?" " What is it," he asked. . I told him to step to the door.
He did so. Pointing to the lights at the Capitol, I said, " Do you see that ?" "Yes," he answered, "but what of that ?" "Two thousand soldiers," I said, "have marched in there this evening, sir, armed with Minié rifles." "Possible ! so much !" he ex- claimed, in an excited manner. Of course, what I told him was not true, but I thought that, in the absence of sufficient troops, this false report might save the city.' Mr. Gay's 'pious fraud' had the desired effect."
These five companies, the van of the great army which followed, were immediately supplied with arms and accoutrements, and were put to barricading the Capitol with barrels of flour and cement, and large sheets of boiler iron. Their arrival was opportune, and the promptitude and courage which they displayed was made the subject of the following resolution, unanimously passed by the House of Representatives : "That the thanks of this House are due, and are hereby tendered to the 530 soldiers from Pennsyl- vania, who passed through the mob of Baltimore, and reached Washington on the 18th of April last, for the defence of the National Capital."
On the following day, with kindred zeal General William F. Small, of Philadelphia, who had early in the year recruited and organized a body of troops known as the Washington Brigade. acting under orders of the Secretary of War, also attempted to pass through Baltimore. General Small had started on the even-
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ing of the 18th, with instructions to have the train bearing him taken through Baltimore before daylight, so as to avoid the mob; but through treachery or culpable negligence, he was delayed, and did not reach that eity until noon. The Massachusetts Sixth, under command of Colonel Jones, had arrived in Philadelphia on the evening of the 18th, on its way from Boston to Washington, and had encamped for the night, intending to proceed on the fol- lowing day; but intelligence having been received at midnight that violence would probably be offered at Baltimore, Colonel Jones ordered the long roll beaten, and at one o'clock on the morning of the 19th, started by special train on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, hoping to pass through the hostile city before its population should be astir. Mr. Felton, President of this road, says : "I called the Colonel and principal officers into my office, and told them of the dangers they would probably encounter, and advised that each soldier should load his musket before leaving, and be ready for any emergency." This advice was acted on ; but the train did not reach that place until near noon, having joined General Small on the way, and come in ahead of him. The track extends through the city, but for nearly two miles the cars have to be drawn by horses. Before reaching the city, Colonel Jones had issued the following order to his men: "The regiment will march through Baltimore in columns of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be abused, insulted, and perhaps assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces square to the front, and give no heed to the mob, even if they throw bricks, stones, and other missiles ; but if you are fired upon, and any one of you is hit, your officers will order you to fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him."
As soon as the engine was detached, five cars, containing seven companies, were drawn by horses rapidly through the city, and reached the Washington depot without molestation. It was sometime before the car containing the next company moved ; but when it did, it was taken along singly, and was very soon thrown from the track, and the men were attacked by the mob with bricks and stones, and finally with pistols. The fire was
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returned by the company, and the fight continued with unabated fury until it rejoined the seven companies which had preceded it. The remaining three companies, with the band, had been detained on the road. When they finally reached the depot, they found the track demolished and the rails carried away. Their only alternative was then to march through the city. They had scarcely started when they were assailed by every imagina- ble taunt and insult, and soon by missiles of every description, a pile of paving stones having been purposely loosened, ostensi- bly to repair the street. Finally fire arms were brought into use ; but not until two of the soldiers had been killed and a num- ber wounded did this courageous band of only about two hundred heed the insults and deadly attacks of the thousands of mad men by whom they were surrounded. They then received orders to fire, and under their well-directed aim, numbers of the mob began to drop and give way before them. They finally reached their destination, and with their comrades, moved off for Washington. Five of the soldiers were killed and thirty-six were wounded. It is a circumstance worthy of mention, that this was the 19th of April, the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, where the first. blood was shed in the War of Independence, and the first victims at Baltimore in the new war were from the county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, in which are Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, and some of the attacked were the descendants of the men who contended on those historic fields.
In the meantime, General Small had arrived, and finding the track demolished, saw at once that all hope of being taken through in cars was gone. His men were ununiformed and unarmed, but with the true spirit of a soldier he determined to brave every peril, and march through the city. The inob, having done with the Massachusetts men, now returned mad- dened by the taste of blood, to wreak their vengeance upon the Pennsylvanians. For a time, General Small was able to breast the storm, but finding the tumult thickening and his men unarmed, after having one killed and a number wounded, he decided to withdraw and return to Philadelphia. Not satisfied with its victory, the mob followed up the defenceless soldiers and pelted them with stones and clubs, pursuing the train so long as a missile
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could be made to reach them. Before this determination had been taken by General Small, and while his men were still strug- gling in the street, the Mayor of the city and Police Commission- ers sent the following telegram to Mr. Felton at Philadelphia : " Withdraw the troops now in Baltimore, and send no more through Baltimore or Maryland." Bethinking himself of the Seaford and Annapolis route, which would avoid Baltimore, and feeling confident that the bridges by way of Baltimore would be burned in any event, Mr. Felton answered : "I will withdraw the troops now in Baltimore, and send no more through the city till I first consult with you," being careful to say nothing about sending over other parts of Maryland; in fact, having already taken measures to secure the ferry-boat at Perryville.
During the night following the 19th, a consultation was held at the house of General Patterson, Governor Curtin, Mr. Felton, Mr. Thompson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad company, Mr. Hazlehurst, and Mayor Henry being present, at which it was decided, after considerable discussion, to adopt the Perryville route, and means were adopted to procure boats to ply between Perryville and Annapolis. As was anticipated, the bridges on the Baltimore road were burned that night, as were also those on the Northern Central; the telegraph wires were cut, and all com- munication with the North was severed. Hon. Morrow B. Lowry, who for nine succeeding years was State Senator from the Eric district, had the day before visited Harrisburg to offer his services to the Government, and had been sent by Governor Curtin to Balti- more to watch the progress of events, and keep the State authorities informed of what was transpiring. He arrived on the 19th, the day of the passage of the Massachusetts troops, and was witness to the wild storm and tumult of the dangerous elements in that turbulent city. "No pen," he says, "can describe the horrors of that scene. Upon the pavement at my feet flowed the first blood that was shed in the slaveholder's rebellion. I telegraphed to the authorities at Harrisburg and Philadelphia to send no more troops, as ample preparations existed at Baltimore to send them to bloody graves. Towards evening the railroad bridges on the Northern Central, as well as the Philadelphia and Baltimore Rail- road were fired, and I was thankful to see the flames which would
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prevent the approach of more victims. Late in the evening I succeeded in getting a carriage, and went to make a personal examination of the destruction which had been done to these roads, and satisfy myself that no more troops could be taken over them. I then drove to the Washington depot, where I found a car would leave at midnight. I availed myself of the opportunity and reached the Capital at daylight, glad to part company with the roughs who had accompanied me, and who appeared to be there for no good purpose. I drove immediately to the residence of General Cameron, then Secretary of War. His servant informed me that he had not been at home that night. We then drove to the War Office. There was no sentinel on the outside. and I found no one upon the first floor except a colored man sleeping in his chair in the hall, whom I did not disturb, but proceeded to the Secretary's room on the next story. Upon open- ing the door of the Secretary's private room, I found him sleeping soundly upon a lounge, being exhausted with a hard night's work. I awoke him, when he sprang to his feet, and, calling me by name, demanded by what means I came there. In a few words I communicated to him the condition of the bridges and tele- graph lines, and in general the state of things in Baltimore. He at once said: 'Come with me and we will find General Scott.' His residence, a small brick house near the War Office, was soon reached. An old colored woman answered our call. We entered very unceremoniously, and proceeded to General Scott's room, a little bed place upon the floor above. General Cameron aroused him, and communicated the information I had brought. General Scott said: 'Do you know Mr. Lowry? Is he a reliable man ?' On being assured of my reliability, turning to Mr. Cameron, he said : 'Call a meeting of the Cabinet at the President's house in the shortest possible time.' Mr. Cameron started at once to find Secretary Seward, and I proceeded to the White House.
" It was now broad daylight. A servant admitted me, whom I prevailed upon, after some hesitation, to call President Lincoln. and say to him that Mr. Lowry of Pennsylvania had startling intelligence to communicate. The President made his appear- ance half-dressed, and I related to him the story of the Baltimore mob, and the cutting off of communication North. Mr. Lincoln 9
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realized the situation at once. Seeing my exhausted condition, he ordered refreshments for me, of which I stood greatly in need, having eaten nothing since noon of the previous day. It was evident that the salvation of Washington depended upon the Government being able to prevent the destruction of the bridges and road between Perryville and Philadelphia, so as to keep the Annapolis route open. It was also evident that it must repair the bridges of the Northern Central, and the Philadelphia and Wilmington roads and force a passage for Northern troops through Baltimore. To further this it was determined that I should return, as best I could, to Philadelphia and Harrisburg. A slip of paper was given me, signed by Abraham Lincoln, and Simon Cameron, which read : 'Morrow B. Lowry has the confi- dence of the Government, and all its officers to whom he wishes to communicate must give him every facility in their power.' Concealing this about my person, at about ten o'clock, Saturday morning, I started back to Baltimore. I found a rougher set of men than I had gone over with, though some of them were the identical ones. The train was delayed, and we did not reach Baltimore until half-past three in the afternoon.
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