A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you in July, 1877?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And what position did you hold?
A. Brigadier General.
Q. What regiments were under your command?
A. The Fourteenth and the Nineteenth.
Q. Did you receive any orders, and if so, what were they in relation to
the riots of July?
A. Yes; on the Friday morning I came to the city, about ten o'clock, I
presume, and passing by the city hall, I saw the troops.
Q. Friday morning, the 20th?
A. Yes. I went into the city hall, and found that the Eighteenth
regiment, of my brigade--one of the regiments of my brigade--had
received orders to go out to the depot, that there was trouble there. I
went up with them, as far as the depot, and they went out to the end
from there. General Pearson ordered me to get out my other two
regiments, and I did so as quickly as possible.
Q. What regiments were they?
A. The Fourteenth and the Nineteenth. About three o'clock I got about
one hundred men--I do not remember now which companies they were--which
regiments--but I started to go to the outer depot with a battery of two
guns, and after I started, about three squares, or two squares, I
suppose, I got orders to return, that the force was not strong enough.
Q. From whom?
A. From General Pearson. I returned and saw General Pearson. The idea
was to get more troops before they could do anything. We were ordered
to lay by until during the morning of the next day, and go out to the
outer depot--to this place where the rioters were supposed to be.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What time was this?
A. This was along in the evening about five o'clock.
Q. What hour did you get the orders to remain at rest until morning?
A. About that same time--about four o'clock. We considered which would
be the best way to get the upper hand of the rioters. I supposed they
were in full force. About four o'clock, I suppose, I went out with the
Fourth regiment, up through the city.
Q. About four o'clock in the evening?
A. Four o'clock in the morning--Saturday morning--and we occupied the
ground immediately back of the depot.
Q. Of the Union depot?
A. No, sir; at this outer Twenty-eighth street crossing. We there met
General Pearson, with Hutchinson's battery and the Nineteenth regiment,
and I deployed them--placed the battery fronting on Twenty-eighth
street and the regiment up on the side of the hill, in front of the
Fourteenth regiment.
Q. Define fully the position of the battery--was it on the railroad
track?
A. The battery was right at the railroad track, on a space probably as
wide as this room.
Q. At the side of the track?
A. Yes; and pointing down toward the depot--towards the other depot.
Q. How many pieces?
A. Two pieces. I placed two companies on the crossing at Twenty-eighth
street there, and kept them there for an hour at a time, I believe, to
keep the track clear--to keep everything in order.
Q. You had one company to relieve the other?
A. Two companies to relieve each other from each regiment--two
companies from each regiment.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. Alternately from each regiment?
A. Yes; alternately from each regiment.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Well?
A. We cleared the ground every time that there was any gathering,
apparently, upon the track. There might be a few persons--fifteen or
twenty persons, probably--on the track at that time. The companies
would move across--probably there might be more--they would move across
the track and clear it off entirely. At about the time the Philadelphia
troops came through, I had the place cleared off thoroughly, and had
Doctor Donnelly make a speech to the people there, and tried to tell
them about the trouble that they were getting into. He made a few
remarks there, and while he was making the speech I cleared the whole
place off thoroughly. Then I remained about there. I was in my
citizen's clothes all this time.
Q. You were in citizen's clothes?
A. Yes. I came up to the city--I live about a mile and a half below the
city--my uniform was at home. I was in citizen's clothes and, of
course, they did not know me so well--the men who were about me. I
suppose there was one hundred and fifty to two hundred men.
Q. You mean of the mob--the crowd?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say you cleared the track completely, before the Philadelphia
troops arrived at the crossing--by what means or disposition of your
troops did you do so?
A. The two companies of one of the regiments.
Q. Tell me how you did that?
A. By forming in line and moving them back down the street, back of the
crossing.
Q. Threw your companies across the street, and across the railroad
track, and drawing them down Twenty-eighth street?
A. Yes; across over the railroad track, and passed on back to where
these brick houses came up. Part of the column was there, the other was
across the other way. Therefore we had them all on this side, except
what was on the hill.
Q. In your efforts to keep the crossing clear, what course did you
pursue?
A. Just merely to march--whenever I would see a few men on the track, I
would move these troops across there.
Q. March across company front?
A. Yes; division front, and clear the track off.
Q. Then march back?
A. March the other side of the track again--up on the track all the
time. They were on the track next to the hill--they were in line from
this brick building across all the way, and whenever they would get in
the rear of the soldiers they would fall back.
Q. During this time, the balance of your regiment reserved, was up on
the hill--how far from the crossing?
A. Probably seventy-five yards.
Q. The whole brigade?
A. The two regiments.
Q. Not over seventy-five yards away from the crossing?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. They were not on the brow of the hill?
A. The Fourteenth regiment was up on the brow of the hill, probably
seventy-five or eighty yards from the railroad track, and the
Nineteenth regiment was down on the road, within twenty yards of the
track. At about half past one to two o'clock, I went into the Union
depot to see General Pearson, what he was going to do. The Philadelphia
troops were in there lunching at the time. I thought that they were so
long in there, I would go in to see what was going on, and make
calculations what I should do. I saw General Pearson, and he told me we
would do nothing at all, except to go out on two trains, that they were
there ready for us to go out on.
Q. He said you were not to do anything at all, except to go out with
those trains?
A. Yes, sir.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What time was this?
A. It was, I suppose, one or two o'clock. I cannot tell the time. While
I was in there, he told me this was all he had to do--to get on these
two trains to go out there.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did you make any further effort to keep the track clear?
A. Yes; the track was kept clear, until the Philadelphia troops came
out, and there was such a rush of people, and gathering when they
arrived at the depot, that it was utterly impossible to keep them from
surrounding.
Q. Did you understand, from what Pearson said to you then, that he had
countermanded the order to keep the track clear?
A. Oh, no; the track was being kept clear.
Q. To do nothing but that--to take out these trains?
A. To take out these trains.
Q. Were you in the immediate vicinity, when the firing took place?
A. Yes; I suppose twenty or thirty yards--well I was at the guns at the
time--five or ten yards away from them.
Q. Was General Pearson there?
A. I did not see him.
Q. Who was in command of the troops that came up--the Philadelphia
troops--at that time?
A. General Pearson, I thought, was in command of the troops--he was in
command.
Q. Was he present?
A. That I could not say.
Q. Was Brinton present?
A. Yes; all I know is--I was watching everything as close as I
could--the general outline of thousands of people at the time, and I
was trying to watch it as much as I could, to see how the thing was
going to get on, and the first things I saw was the firing, when the
stones were thrown.
Q. The first thing you saw was the firing after the stones were thrown?
A. Yes; after the stones were thrown.
Q. Did you see the sheriff in front of the military?
A. I saw him there.
Q. With a posse?
A. Yes; with twelve or fifteen men.
Q. Were they assaulted by the mob?
A. Not that I saw.
Q. Any stones or missiles thrown at them?
A. Oh, no; they were thrown at them--the stones were thrown at the
military.
Q. Were any of the military injured before the firing took place?
A. There might have been. I do not know. They say there was. I do not
know.
Q. Did you hear any command given to fire?
A. No, sir; the first I heard was the firing.
Q. Were you in a position where you could have heard the command to
fire if there had been one given?
A. I guess the noise was so great, the hooting and yelling was so
great, I could not have heard.
Q. What was the effect of the firing?
A. The people all ran.
Q. Scattered?
A. Scattered in every direction--there was not a man about at all,
except one man I saw standing there, and he did not seem to pay any
attention at all to us.
Q. Did you make any effort after this firing to keep the track clear?
A. No, sir.
Q. Was there any effort made by any of the military to keep the track
clear?
A. They rested a short time on the track, and whilst they were resting
Colonel Glenn showed me an order, signed by General Pearson, for his
regiment to move down to some place at the depot--one of the sheds.
Q. You saw an order from General Pearson to Colonel Glenn?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was it directed to colonel or to you?
A. It was directed to Colonel Glenn and Colonel Howard, the same.
Q. That was the 19th?
A. Yes; I received one, may be six o'clock.
Q. You did receive an order from General Pearson?
A. Yes; at six o'clock.
Q. There was no effort made then to prevent the crowd or mob from
re-assembling?
A. They did assemble two or three times, and the soldiers would raise
their guns.
Q. They were persuaded away by military persuasion?
A. Yes; by military persuasion.
Q. Was any effort made by your brigade to rescue the Philadelphia
troops while they were in the round-house?
A. They were very nearly three to our one, I suppose. Two to one
anyhow.
Q. You mean there were three times as many of the Philadelphia troops?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Would not your force have added to the strength of their force if
you had re-inforced them?
A. We did not receive any such orders to relieve them.
Q. Who was in chief command during all this time of your troops?
A. General Pearson was chief in command of the round-house until I
found out after dark some time that he had left.
Q. You found he had left? Had you any superior officer present then?
A. Nobody except General Brinton.
Q. Did you receive any orders from him?
A. No, sir.