Will report with their respective commands at the Court-House at
two o'clock.
The posse will hold themselves in readiness to respond to two taps
of the court-house bell at any time prior to that hour. Other
companies will be designated and assigned to duty as the public
exigency may necessitate.
W. W. JENNINGS,
_Sheriff_.
Adjourned to meet at the call of the chairman.
HARRISBURG, _April 16, 1878_.
The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at eight o'clock, P.M., in
Senate committee room No. 6.
* * * * *
James H. Stewart, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. State your residence?
A. I reside in Pittsburgh.
Q. Did you reside there in July last?
A. Yes; I was a resident of Pittsburgh in July, 1877.
Q. Were you there during the riots of the 21st and 22d of July?
A. I was.
Q. State whether you accompanied Colonel Norris on Sunday morning, the
22d, to General Brinton's command?
A. I did.
Q. State where you overtook General Brinton?
A. Do you want me to state where?
Q. Yes?
A. We overtook General Brinton north of the Allegheny river--north-east
of the Allegheny river--about a mile, I think, above Sharpsburg, on the
bank of a ravine running up a hill. I don't know the name of the
street. I was trying to remember it this afternoon, but I have
forgotten the name of the road.
Q. From what point did you start?
A. From the Union Depot hotel.
Q. At what time?
A. I can't exactly state the time precisely--it was in the morning. We
paid very little attention to time, having been very busily engaged all
night and through the morning. We started, I suppose, between nine and
ten o'clock, if my recollection serves me right--some place about that
time.
Q. Had you been with General Latta and Colonel Quay during the night?
A. Yes, sir; with the exception of the time that I had been detailed
for service outside of the city limits. Of course, where I went to from
the Union depot was under orders of the Adjutant General.
Q. At whose instance did you and Colonel Norris go in pursuit of
General Brinton?
A. I was directed by the Adjutant General to accompany Colonel Norris
to the office of General Brinton.
Q. Did you hear the Adjutant General give Colonel Norris any orders to
tell to General Brinton?
A. I did not.
Q. Verbal?
A. I did not hear any.
Q. Did he give him any written orders to your knowledge?
A. I think not.
Q. When you overtook General Brinton, state what conversation took
place between Colonel Norris and General Brinton?
A. After passing through the city--through Penn avenue--we overtook
General Brinton at the rear of his command, then marching very rapidly
to the north. We drove partially through the left of his command, got
out of our carriage, and walked the balance of the way to the front.
Then General Brinton ordered a halt of his troops, and Colonel Norris
then told him that the Adjutant General requested that he would turn
back, and form a junction with Colonel Guthrie at Torrens station. Do
you want me to go on and repeat the whole conversation?
Q. Yes?
A. They talked some time. I stayed with them. There were some officers
of General Brinton's command with him, whom I was not personally
acquainted with. General Brinton replied that his troops had been
without food for twenty-four hours. That he had been fired upon from
every corner and street car in the city. That he intended to go back
into the country until he could get a position in which he could
intrench himself and protect his men. And he furthermore added, that he
would be God damned if he would go back into the city of Pittsburgh.
Q. Where were you when that conversation occurred?
A. Alongside of him. We were all sitting down. There had been a halt of
the command made, and we sat down on the banks of a stream that ran
along the public road.
Q. Did Colonel Norris deliver it as an order coming from the Adjutant
General, or did he state that Captain Aull had had such an order?
A. Not that I know of. I can go back in my testimony and mention the
fact that we met Captain Aull.
Q. Where did you meet Captain Aull?
A. We met Captain Aull at the eastern side of the arsenal, on Penn
avenue. He stopped our carriage on, I think, the eastern side--the
furthest extremity of the arsenal, on Penn avenue--stopped our
carriage, and asked us where we were going. I told him we were after
Brinton's troops. He said nothing at all about an order that he had.
Q. Do you know that he had an order?
A. I did not; no, sir.
Q. Did Colonel Norris tell General Brinton that Captain Aull had an
order?
A. Not that I know of. 1 have no recollection of him telling him so.
Q. Did Colonel Norris repeat to General Brinton the substance of the
order?