FRIDAY, _March 22, 1878_--8, P.M.
Pursuant to adjournment, the committee re-assembled at eight o'clock,
P.M., and continued the taking of testimony.
* * * * *
Robert M. Brinton, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. I reside at 1301 South Broad street, Philadelphia.
Q. You are a member of the National Guard of Pennsylvania?
A. Commanding the First Division National Guard of Pennsylvania.
Q. What is your rank?
A. Major General.
Q. State where you were when the news of the troubles at Pittsburgh, on
the Pennsylvania railroad, reached you, and what your movements were
afterwards?
A. I was at my office in Washington avenue about six o'clock in the
afternoon, when I received a note from Mr. Thompson, of the
Pennsylvania railroad, saying that General Latta had telegraphed me
some instructions in regard to the riot at Pittsburgh. I proceeded to
my home, where I found a message asking--from Colonel Scott, of the
Pennsylvania railroad, saying that he had a message asking me to come
to the Pennsylvania railroad office to confer with him. I did so and
found him there. He handed me a message from General Latta, saying that
troops were needed, and wanted to know how soon I could have a regiment
ready to proceed to Pittsburgh. I suggested to him that if any troops
were needed the whole division should be sent. I afterwards received a
communication from General Latta to put the division under arms and be
ready to move at a moment's notice, to report to General Pearson, at
Pittsburgh. I telegraphed to General Pearson my instructions from
General Latta, and immediately ordered the division to assemble,
sending out officers to notify the different commands. It was summer
time, and a great many of the men were absent. It was nine o'clock
before I received the last message from General Latta, ordering me to
report, and about two o'clock we had some six hundred men at the
Pennsylvania depot.
Q. On what day?
A. In the morning of Saturday. I received the message on Friday night.
I kept up communication with General Pearson, informing him of the
number of men I had, and where I was on the road. We had no ammunition
with the exception of a few rounds that the First regiment had. At
Harrisburg we received some ammunition and two Gatling guns, which we
attached to our train. We went through to Pittsburgh in eleven hours,
arriving there about one o'clock on Saturday afternoon. There I met
General Pearson, who ordered me to disembark the troops. I reported to
him and General Latta in the Union Depot Hotel. The troops were rested
and given coffee and sandwiches, and I ordered an additional ten rounds
of ammunition, making twenty in all.
Q. Distributed?
A. Yes, among the men. General Pearson ordered me to have the troops
ready to move to Twenty-eighth street. At that time. I told them in
coming up, I had seen the hills covered with people, and I asked them
in the event of their ordering me out, to go out with me, and look over
the ground. I was an entire stranger there, and I thought they must be
misinformed in regard to having cleared the hill, as they said General
Brown's brigade had. I also met Mr. Cassatt at the depot, and I said in
the event of our going down and clearing the tracks, can you move your
trains. He said we can; we have crews already engaged to take out
double-headers. General Pearson then ordered me down to Twenty-eighth
street. I ordered one brigade to go down Liberty street. General
Pearson then told me to go down the railroad, which I did, dragging the
Gatling guns. We arrived at the crossing near Twenty-eighth street,
going through rows of men, who were hooting and howling at us. Previous
to this, while I was yet in the Union depot, I had been approached by
several parties, who wanted to know if I would fire on poor workingmen.
I didn't give any decided answer, not desiring any conversation with
them. I called the brigade companies and several of the regimental
companies together, and told them no matter what was done to us--even
if they spit in our faces--I didn't want a shot fired, but if they
attempted any personal violence, we had the right to defend ourselves,
and we should do it. That was the order from which the firing
commenced. We got down near to the Twenty-eighth street crossing. There
was a large concourse of people there, far back as you could see, back
on the railroad, and we were stopped. Sheriff Fife and his posse were
ahead of us, and I believe he attempted to read the riot act, at least
I heard him saying something; but he disappeared, and I didn't see any
more of him or his deputies. General Pearson was with us. We could not
force our way through without using some force, and I asked General
Pearson whether he had any instructions to give. He hesitated a moment,
and then said that the tracks must be cleared. The crowd then had
pressed in between the column of fours, and I ordered the fours put
into lines backward, and face the rear rank, about to push the crowd
back from either side, and form a hollow-square.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. How did you march?
A. The right in front--the First regiment was in front. The crowd gave
back. We had a little difficulty in getting them back to the line of
the cars. Quite a number of cars were there--the Twenty-eighth street
crossing was blocked. The men standing there had evidently made up
their minds to stay, saying that the railroad company had nothing to do
with it, that they were not occupying anything but public ground. I
then ordered two small companies, but finding them insufficient, I
ordered up another command with arms aport, and attempted to push the
crowd back; but finding it impossible, I gave orders to charge
bayonets, which they did, and I saw one or two men bayoneted. The crowd
at that time commenced firing on us, not only stones but pistol balls,
and the men, acting on the orders already given to defend themselves,
commenced firing--firing a few shots at first, which gradually went
along the whole line. At that time, I had not over three hundred men.
The second brigade had been left back, to guard the yard where the
engines were to start from.
Q. Give us the position of your men at that time?
A. At that time, the rear rank was faced about. The Washington Grays
and the Weccacoe Legion were in double rank, and were occupying the
space between the two ranks of the First regiment facing east, trying
to force their way back along the railroad from the Twenty-eighth
street crossing, and the First regiment was keeping the crowd back from
the railroad from the hill, and also from the car-shops.
Q. Had you the front and rear ranks of any companies on each side of
the railroad?
A. Yes.
Q. In open order, one facing to the rear and the other to the front?
A. Yes.
Q. And then a command in front of them in the direction of the
railroad?
A. A command on their flank--the right flank--facing eastward.
By Mr. Means:
Q. On the railroad?
A. Yes. The firing lasted about a minute--not over that, and the crowd,
the moment the firing commenced, or shortly afterwards, dispersed and
went in every direction. I gave the order to cease firing, and my staff
officers had the firing stopped, and the ranks, which were somewhat
broken, were re-formed, and I sent a staff officer to report to General
Pearson. I thought he was on the ground, because it was not
certainly--my opinion is, that in three minutes after he gave me the
order to clear the tracks, the firing commenced. In the meantime, the
Pittsburgh troops on the hill--I had not discovered them before--quite
a number of them threw down their arms and left. I went up the hill a
very short distance, and I saw what was going on there, and I hunted
for General Pearson; finally, I received a note from him, saying he was
at Mr. Pitcairn's office at the outer depot, and, that if I wished to
communicate with him, to send a staff officer, which I did--Colonel
Wilson--and he came back and said that General Pearson desired to see
me. I turned the command over to General Matthews, and reported to
General Pearson at the office of the Pennsylvania railroad at the outer
depot--Mr. Pitcairn's office. I said to General Pearson at the time,
that I thought we ought to continue to drive the crowd. I understood
that they had gone to the arsenal. Several men came up to me and said
that the crowd had gone to the United States arsenal to arm themselves,
and I thought, when I found that they had gone away, that they would
probably get arms and ammunition, and I proposed to General Pearson
that we should follow the crowd. He hesitated some time about it, and
finally I grew more imperative in my question, and I said, you must do
something, I cannot allow my men to stand on the track with the crowd
pushing around me, and not be allowed to fire. We will either have to
move from there or attack the crowd. Finally, he said that the Second
brigade had been moved into the round-house and machine shops, because
he was afraid that they would be burned, and then he told me to move my
whole force in, amounting to six hundred men, which I did just at dusk
in the evening. We moved in there. They told me to occupy one
round-house and the machine and upholstery shops and the lumber-yard,
and that General Brown would move into the other round-house at
Twenty-eighth street, and I was not aware he was not there until I saw
the flames. As soon as I went there, the crowd commenced trying to get
into the yard, and I had a guard detailed and put out, and two of them
were shot, one through the arm and one other through the leg, while on
their beats. I then got down the Gatling guns and prepared to fire
them, but thought it would be courtesy to communicate with General
Pearson, and tell him what I was going to do; which I did, and he
prohibited me from doing so. The crowd were firing pistol balls in at
us, and a few rifle balls and a considerable number of stones. I went
to General Pearson, and said, "I cannot stand it, we must defend
ourselves." He said he would go to the mayor and see him, which would
do more good than our bullets would, as he had a great deal of
influence over the elements predominant then, and said that he did not
want to take life unnecessarily, &c., at the same time we were short of
ammunition and rations, only having twenty rounds, and if we were going
to be in a state of siege, I thought we ought to have a sufficient
amount. General Pearson said he would go and see that we got provisions
and also ammunition, and left, saying he would be back in an hour. He
went through the lumber-yard, and left us. At the same time he told me
to open any dispatches that came for him, and I asked if he had any new
instructions. He said, "I want you to hold the place," and after he
left I proposed to hold it in the way I thought proper, by firing into
the mob at the gates, which drove them away from there, so that
presently there were only pistol bullets and a few straggling musket
balls. We continued to hold it in that way without receiving any
communications from the other world. I expected General Pearson back
every moment. I didn't want to take it on myself to move out there, or
do anything. About two o'clock in the morning Colonel Snowden, of the
Third regiment, called into the round-house, and directed my attention
to what he considered a piece of artillery. It was quite dark at the
time. We watched it for probably fifteen minutes, when a cloud cleared
away, and we decided it was a piece of artillery, around which were
quite a number of men who were training the piece. I immediately
ordered Colonel Snowden to get fifty men out, and told him to lower
their pieces and fire low, and I gave the order. They had got the piece
finally into a position to suit themselves, and a man had hold of the
lanyard. I gave the order to fire, and when the smoke cleared away
eleven of them were lying there.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. The mob had it?
A. Yes; it was a brass field-piece that they had captured from
Hutchinson's battery, I believe. During the whole night we had a
skirmish with those people. They ran cars down loaded with oil, and
attempted to set fire to the building, but fortunately some jumped the
track and blocked the others. The next morning they ran down cars from
the Allegheny side, which came down with their own gravity, but we
finally threw a pile of car wheels on the track, and upset the cars.
They were burning. They were loaded with whisky, or the most of them
with high wines. We put out those fires by fire extinguishers, and also
by a hose that we had there. We finally discovered that the building
part of the Sixth division was on fire, and it communicated with the
building we were in by the oil sheds. They got on fire, and the
building we were in got on fire. During the night I had communication
with General Latta, finding General Pearson did not return, and told
him my situation, and received orders from him--or suggestions they
were afterwards styled--in the first place to hold on vigorously, but
in case I was obliged to leave there, to go out Penn avenue east
towards Torrens station, and that there would be reinforcements sent to
us not later than six o'clock in the morning; that part of the
command--three hundred--who had failed to join, were at Walls station,
and would join Colonel Guthrie at Torrens, and that they would join us.
We waited until ten minutes of eight o'clock, when the smoke got so
great that the men could scarcely breathe, and we went through the
machine shops. We couldn't go out of the gate, the regular gate, on
account of the cars that had been upset there and were burning, and I
went out, I think, Twenty-third street--I am not very familiar with the
streets--with the intention not to leave Pittsburgh, but to go to the
United States arsenal, where I certainly could get ammunition and
possibly something to eat, as we had nothing but a sandwich and a cup
of coffee since leaving Philadelphia, and through the excitement and
the loss of two nights' sleep, the men were very much fatigued and
thoroughly worn out. We went out towards the arsenal, and probably had
gone a quarter of a mile out Penn avenue, when we were attacked. I was
at the head of the column, and didn't see the force that was attacking
us, but I sent a staff officer immediately to the rear. The firing was
all at the rear, and I think four men were killed and some ten or
twelve wounded.
Q. On your retreat from the round-house?
A. Yes; these men were shot from street cars, and from out of houses,
and from behind chimneys. There was not any regular organized body, or
a body sufficiently large to attack, until we got nearly to the
arsenal, when--the Gatling guns I had placed between the two brigades,
so that we could use them either in rear or at the front--when we
opened with one of them, and dispersed the mob. We got to the arsenal,
and I went ahead to see the commandant there, and went inside the gate,
and went to his house and saw him, and told him who I was, and that my
men were thoroughly worn out, and asked permission to form in the yard.
The men were very thirsty, and the grounds were shady, and I thought we
would wait there until I had orders from General Pearson. But we
received positive orders from the commandant that we could not come in.
I did not want any altercation with him, so I proceeded on eastward. I
had received a communication from General Latta during the night,
saying that he had made every attempt to feed us, and that it had been
impossible, and I therefore thought that the best thing to do was to
get something to eat. We had arrived within a short distance of
Sharpsburg, when they told us if we came over there we could be fed. I
concluded to do so, and went over there, and just as we got into the
town, we were informed that two of the Fourteenth regiment, who had
been on the hill, had been wounded seriously there by our shots, and
that the people had no friendly feeling for us, and then I concluded we
had better go on and wait for provisions, which I proceeded to do, when
we were met by two gentlemen, who joined us, one belonging to the
Pennsylvania railroad, I believe, who said we could be fed a little
lower down, at Claremont, where they gave us coffee and rations; but
the rations they brought were berries--not very suitable things for
soldiers to eat. We proceeded to Claremont, and there, awaited orders.
Q. Claremont hospital or the work-house?
A. They are both together--that is the work-house or home they call
it--it is the poor-house. We were fed, I presume, from both
houses--they both sent us out provisions. It has been said that we were
ordered to Torrens, and disobeyed orders in not going there; but the
orders I received, in regard to Torrens, came just one week after the
orders were sent. I got them one week afterwards from Colonel Guthrie,
who handed them to me. Colonel Norris is reported to have given us some
orders, which I positively deny. I never received them in any way,
shape, or form. On the contrary Major Baugh, whom I left at the Union
depot, with General Latta, reported to me out there. I asked him "have
you any orders," and he said "no; I have not." I said then you will
have to go right back to Pittsburgh, and get me some orders.
Q. Who was it?
A. Major Baugh.
Q. What time did he leave General Latta?
A. I cannot say; but he joined me about two o'clock--two and a half
o'clock.
Q. On Sunday?
A. Yes.
Q. In the afternoon?
A. Yes. It has also been said that we marched in a very rapid way out
that street. It is about four miles, and I left at ten minutes after
eight, and arrived at Sharpsburg a little after ten, which amounts to
two miles an hour, and in the army three miles was considered fair
marching. The orders we received afterwards from General Latta were to
proceed to Altoona, which, as soon as I could procure transportation, I
attempted to do, and arrived at Blairsville, where I received a
dispatch from Mr. Garner saying, I had better not come there, because
he had made some arrangements with the rioters. I telegraphed that my
orders were imperative, and that I was coming, provided I could get
transportation. I got to Blairsville junction. I could not get
transportation any further. I immediately telegraphed General Latta,
Colonel Scott, and the Governor. I disembarked my troops, and remained
there until I got orders to go back to Pittsburgh.
Q. It was on Saturday night you were ordered by General Pearson to
enter the round-house? What time did General Pearson leave you?
A. About half past eight o'clock.
Q. What did he leave for?
A. For the purpose of seeing the mayor, for the purpose of getting us
rations and ammunition.
Q. Did he leave you in general command after he left?
A. Yes. His instructions to me were to open any dispatches which might
come for him, and hold on until I return, his words were.
Q. Hold on until I return?
A. I think those were his words.
Q. It was a verbal order?
A. Yes. He was standing in front of the company shops--inside the yard.
Q. Did you hear from him again that night?
A. I didn't hear from him until about one week.
Q. In his absence, would you have full command yourself?
A. I didn't consider I had full command, because he said he would be
back in an hour, and I was waiting for him to return. When I found he
didn't return, I opened communication with the Adjutant General of the
State for him.
Q. What orders did you receive from him?
A. I received orders to hold on vigorously, that I would be reinforced
by Colonel Guthrie's command, and that Colonel Rodgers' men would
certainly join me before six o'clock in the morning.
Q. Did it occur to you to march out with your command at any time--out
of the round-house--and disperse the mob gathered there?
A. That was discussed. I talked that over with my staff officers, at
any rate, but we were ordered to remain there, and I didn't know--I
expected General Pearson's return, and that he would bring us
information about what was occurring outside. We had no information of
any kind whatever. We couldn't tell whether there were ten thousand
armed men in the town, or five hundred thousand. We knew that the force
we had there was fully armed and had artillery, and we were outnumbered
five to one.
Q. Who was it you sent to the Adjutant General?
A. A man named Sergeant Wilson, of the Jefferson cavalry, who was
disguised.
Q. Did he bring you any report as to the number of the mob?
A. He didn't bring me any reports as to how many there were, and even
if he had, I couldn't trust to a man simply passing through a crowd,
because they were on every side. He said that the mob had vowed that
they would burn us out or up--if they couldn't capture the place that
they could burn us, and they were making arrangements to do that.
Q. What time did they begin to fire the cars?
A. The first I saw of the fire--I didn't know whether they were cars or
buildings--but whatever they were, the first light I saw was about
eleven o'clock. I may be mistaken in that, but I think it was.
Q. Could you see anything of the number engaged in the burning--the
actual burning?
A. No; I couldn't see anything of the burning, because the buildings
were on the other side--the Twenty-eighth street round-house was below
us, and the buildings were above.
Q. Above Twenty-eighth street?
A. I mean west--nearer the Union depot.
Q. Didn't they burn east of you, also?
A. They might have burned east, but the first light I saw was there,
and it seemed too far down for the cars.
Q. They kept burning down towards the Union depot?
A. I don't know. I couldn't see from where I was anything, except the
illumination in the sky.
Q. Nor how many men were engaged in the burning?
A. No; on Liberty street and the street--I don't know the number of
it--which would have run through the depot had it been prolonged--we
could see men marching up and down that street, and could hear them
giving commands along Penn street, which ran parallel with Liberty
street, and we could see wagon loads of men coming in all the time.
Q. Did you send out any scouts?
A. I sent out two men of the Hutchinson battery, but they never
returned. They said they would carry a dispatch to General Latta, and I
wrote a note, but never heard of them afterwards. This scout returned,
whose idea was that there were a great many, but he couldn't tell
anything more than that, as he walked through the crowd. He could not
tell whether there were five thousand or twenty thousand in the
city--he could only see the street they were in. I thought if he could
get back General Pearson might.
Q. You didn't deem it safe to undertake to attack the crowd during the
night?
A. I thought I would be superseding my orders if I attempted it. I was
ordered to remain there. At no time was I in command in Pittsburgh.
Q. In the absence of General Pearson, you were the highest in rank, or
the senior general, were you not?
A. Yes; but I was ordered by him to remain where I was. It was not left
discretionary with me.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Is General Pearson your senior?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. In his failure to return, would you not be justifiable in acting on
your own judgment?
A. I communicated then with General Latta, and received a reply from
him, saying they had made every attempt to provision us and get us
ammunition, and that it was impossible, and knowing there were three
regiments in Pittsburgh, and not knowing their demoralization--I didn't
know they were so much demoralized as they were--if they couldn't
communicate with us, I thought there must be a very strong force
opposed to us, and my orders were to remain where I was.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. From General Latta?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What time did you get those orders from General Latta?
A. I received two communications from him by the same man. One of them,
I think, about eleven o'clock, and the other about one o'clock. I asked
the man to out again, and he said he would not attempt it, that he had
been stopped before, and that it was at the risk of his life. He would
not attempt to go out again.
By Mr. Means:
Q. As a military man, you received a command from your senior, to hold
your position, and you wouldn't have felt like doing anything else but
to hold your position--you would have been liable to a court-martial,
if you had disobeyed that order?
A. I would.
Q. The responsibility rested with your senior?
A. I told General Latta, in my note, which may have had some influence
in his orders to me, that my men were terribly worn out, and had not
had anything to eat for over twenty-four hours, and had not had any
sleep for two nights, and I didn't think it would have been a wise
thing with the amount of ammunition we had to attack that mob that
night.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. General Latta had no power as a commanding officer, had he? His
duties as Adjutant General were simply to marshal, and bring together
the forces of the State--the militia forces, and when General Pearson
was relieved or was absent, you would be the next general in
command--would you not?
A. That is one way of viewing it. I would be, probably. A staff officer
does not command troops; but General Latta was acting under the
Governor or in his place, and you notice in the Governor's message, he
blames me for disobedience of orders which I never received, saying I
had refused to return to Pittsburgh by orders of General Latta.
Q. Did you understand that General Latta was commander-in-chief.
A. I did. I would have obeyed any command that General Latta had sent
to me; and not only that, I solicited his commands--I asked him what I
should do.
Q. What induced you to leave the round-house on Saturday morning?
A. The round-house was on fire, and the men were choking with smoke
when we left there, and it was not more than twenty minutes after we
left, when the whole thing was a cinder.
Q. How large a crowd did you encounter when you left the round-house?
A. When we left, we came out in perfect order. The moment we came out
the crowd fled, and we had no difficulty until we had gone some three
or four squares. The crowd had disappeared.
Q. Couldn't you have formed then, after driving the crowd?
A. There was no crowd to drive at that time. We didn't see any crowd
except the crowd which ran. My idea was to go to some place where the
men could get something to eat. The Third regiment had three rounds of
ammunition, and I thought certainly, at the United States arsenal we
could get ammunition, and the men could be fed, or we should certainly
get ammunition, and get water.
Q. Did it occur to you that it would be good policy to go to the Union
depot?
A. Yes; and two of my staff, Colonel Wilson and Colonel Pettit, both
advised me to go; but I told them my orders are to go east out Penn
avenue, and I am going to obey my orders.
Q. Those were the orders you received from General Latta?
A. Yes.
Q. But your own judgment directed you to take the other course, and go
to Union depot?
A. It did.
Q. If you had been acting on your own judgment, should you have gone
there?
A. If I had it to do over again, I should go there.
Q. That was your judgment at that time?
A. Yes; but I thought the next best thing was to go to the arsenal. I
would then be carrying out my orders, and would remain where General
Latta could further instruct me.
Q. You had gone some distance before the firing commenced on your
troops--that firing from the house?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever ascertain who fired--have you ever been able to learn
the names of the parties?
A. We ascertained a few. We killed a few, and I think that a policeman
fired on us. Mr. Lennig, who was a member of the Washington Grays at
the time, and who is a member of the bar here, when he went back to
Pittsburgh, identified this man, and talked to him, and the man
acknowledged it--that he did fire.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Where did this policeman fire? When you went by the station-house?
A. We went by the station-house, but I didn't see them fire, but Mr.
Lennig saw them fire near the cathedral.
Q. Did you see any policeman fire yourself?
A. No.
Q. Did Mr. Lennig?
A. He saw a policeman fire, and identified him when he went back to
Pittsburgh the second time.
Q. When you arrived at the arsenal, did you enter at the gate?
A. I entered at the gate. The sentry there allowed me to enter, and
showed me where Mayor Buffington was to be found, and I went to his
quarters and saw him.
Q. Was he up at the time?
A. He was up. He came out of the house.
Q. How was he dressed when he came out?
A. In citizen's dress. I asked whether he was the commandant there, and
he said he was. He was in citizen's clothes.
Q. Was he fully dressed?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you tell him your name?
A. My name and where we had been, and told him I wanted to bring the
men in there. He said we couldn't come there, and I asked him where we
could encamp.
Q. You are positive about giving him your name?
A. Yes.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. And rank?
A. Yes; I had an officer with me who will corroborate it.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Whereabouts did you meet him?
A. Right at his house.
Q. At the door?
A. He came on to the steps of a little porch and stepped down to the
ground.
Q. Whereabouts is his house situated from the gate as you enter?
A. Probably two hundred feet from the gate.
Q. On the right side of the road leading down through the grounds or
the left?
A. It is about two hundred yards from the street where we marched
out--where the sentry gate is. A path led down, and Major Burlington
turned on his heel, and didn't take the trouble to say he was sorry,
but immediately turned on his heel and left.
Q. Where did he go?
A. Back to his house.
Q. Did he afterwards come up to the gate?
A. I never saw him afterwards.
Q. Did you have any wounded at the gate?
A. Yes; we had some three or four men carried in there, and Lieutenant
Ash had his leg amputated and died there.
Q. Did he tell you that he would take care of the wounded?
A. No; he never made any remark to me of that kind.
Q. Did Lieutenant Lyon make any such remark?
A. I never knew such an officer was there.
Q. How long did you remain inside of the grounds?
A. I don't think I was there over two minutes--maybe I was longer. The
firing was quite heavy after I got in there, and I went down to join my
command.
Q. How were you dressed when you met Major Buffington?
A. In a blouse and a cap, with two stars on it, and blue pants. One of
my shoulder straps during the night had been torn down, and it hung,
and I took it off.
Q. Was the other on?
A. No; I had taken both off when I found one of them was torn.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What request did you make of Major Buffington when you went there?
A. I told him we had been in the company's shops all night, and that we
were burned out, and that the men were out of ammunition, and that I
wanted something to eat, and wanted to form my men there until I could
get some further orders.
Q. You wanted to form your men in the arsenal grounds?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he refuse?
A. Most peremptorily, and said that we could not come there. I asked
where I could encamp or could bivouac, and he said that I couldn't come
in there, but could go somewhere else. I said I was a total stranger in
the city, and wanted somebody to direct me--nothing more than a civil
question, and he said he didn't know, that I would have to go away, and
turned on his heel and left.
Q. What excuse did he make, if any, for refusing you admission?
A. I think that he had very few men there. The purport was that he was
afraid we might draw the fire of the mob. That was the impression left
on my mind.
Q. Did he say anything about a large amount of valuable ammunition and
stores?
A. Not to my recollection. He might have said so; but I don't
recollect. I know he said he had no ammunition for us.
Q. Did he say he had artillery ammunition, but no ammunition for
infantry?
A. I do not recollect that he did.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did you rap at the door or call at the door, and meet him outside,
or did he come out before you arrived at the house?
A. Two men were at the gate, and one ran ahead, and I think, told him.
I think he rapped at the gate.
Q. Did you have any conversation with Lieutenant Lyon?
A. I do not remember seeing him.
Q. I understood you to say that you called at Colonel Scott's office,
and was there shown the communication from General Latta?
A. Yes; I got my dispatch over the Pennsylvania railroad lines.
Q. Was it directed to Colonel Scott or to you?
A. To me.
Q. It went over their line?
A. Yes; all the time I was away we used their wires.
Q. Did you receive any orders from any one else before you left
Philadelphia, than from General Latta?
A. No.
Q. Did you receive any communication from General Latta at Pittsburgh,
while you were in the round-house, after General Pearson left you,
before you sent a communication to him?
A. There was a communication, which came over the wires, directed to
General Pearson. A dispatch which I did not understand, saying
something about when the troops arrive, make disposition for them--a
dispatch could not understand, directed to General Pearson, from
General Latta.
Q. That was from General Latta?
A. Yes; but immediately after that the wires were cut, and we had no
other communication.
Q. Did you send a communication to General Latta by a messenger, before
you received the orders from him to hold the round-house?
A. I did. It was by the messenger whom I sent to General Latta that I
received those orders.
Q. That was in reply to your communication?
A. Yes.
Q. There was no other communication from General Latta?
A. I sent him two. The first communication was--the purport of it
was--that General Brinton had left there, and that we were suffering
for ammunition and for rations, and also had but two friction primers.
I have a copy of this, and one of the Sunday papers, I believe, copied
it.
Q. That was the first?
A. Yes.
Q. Can you give us the original of that?
A. I think I can give the original--I can give you the original of one.
_The Sunday Republic_ published it.
Q. What was the second communication--the one you received and replied
to from General Latta?
A. I received a reply to both from General Latta.
Q. Give us the nature of the second communication?
A. I cannot remember the exact phraseology of it.
Q. Give it in substance, as near as you can?
A. It was a mere reiteration, asking for ammunition, and asking for
rations--saying that we must be provisioned--that the troops were in a
terrible state, nearly starved, and suggesting in one of the
dispatches, how they could get in there with their engines, that they
might run down and we would try to have the gates ready for them to
come in, and the engine, I believe, was subsequently loaded, and the
engineer refused to take it.
Q. Did you try to convey the idea to General Latta, that your troops
were unfit for duty?
A. No; I conveyed the idea, or attempted to, that they were worn out,
not being properly cared for or rationed, and that I had no sufficient
amount of ammunition. I tried to convey that idea.
Q. That they were demoralized?
A. No--I did not.
Q. Could there have been such a construction placed on your message?
A. No; I don't think so. A few of my men were not in the best
condition, morally, but very few. I only placed them in another part of
the building. I designated those.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did you designate those in your message to General Latta?
A. I probably did.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Were they officers or men?
A. A few of the men--none of the officers. But so far as the men were
fatigued or worn out, I tried to convey that in the strongest terms.
Q. For the purpose of getting supplies?
A. For the purpose of getting something to eat and ammunition.
Q. Did General Latta say anything in his communications to you that you
were left in command of the round-house, and that you were expected to
act on your own discretion?
A. No; on the contrary, he gave me specific orders what to do, and when
I left where to go.
Q. Did you expect to receive further orders from General Pearson when
you received your communications from General Latta?
A. I cannot say that I expected to, although I would not have been
surprised to have received them.
Q. Did you consider it your duty to take command of the force and to
act at your own discretion after General Pearson had left you and you
were not able to communicate with him?
A. No further than I did, because communications should have come the
other way. I was ordered to do a certain thing, and it was possibly
superseding my duty to send out an officer after orders. It would
probably have been more soldierly for me to stay there and receive
communications from my superior than to send after them.
Q. Didn't you consider it proper, as a military man, to exercise your
own discretion in an emergency of that kind, and take the
responsibility of it?
A. No; I do not think I did, nor do I yet. The responsibility rested on
me to obey orders, and as I had no means of ascertaining what was going
on outside, I resolved to hold that place as far as I could, and didn't
move out until the men were nearly choked with the smoke. We held it
for two hours longer than we were ordered to hold it.
Q. Was the round-house on fire when you left it?
A. It was.
Q. And the shops adjoining the round-house?
A. Yes; the machine shops adjoining the round-house were entirely on
fire. The roof was on fire and the floors were saturated with oil and
General Matthews sent to me two or three times saying that the smoke
was so intense that they could scarcely stay there. Then I moved them
out into the yard.
Q. The floors were saturated with oil?
A. Yes; it was not twenty minutes after leaving the place until it was
a cinder.
Q. How did that place become saturated with oil--by the mob?
A. No; the employés of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company put it there
while greasing the engines.
Q. Did any whisky or high wines run down into the round-house while you
were there?
A. Some whisky ran into the cellar of the office while we were there.
It was lower than the pavement, and when they threw the cars off the
track there, some barrels got down on the pavement.
Q. Did it run down into the cellar?
A. Yes; into the cellar or basement where the telegraph batteries were
stationed.
Q. Was the office connected with the round-house or the building you
were in?
A. They were some of the buildings we were in, but not connected
although not over three or four feet off them.
Q. Did you see Colonel Norris on your march from the round-house to
Claremont?
A. I saw Wilson Norris after we had passed Sharpsburg, between there
and Claremont.
Q. Did you receive any orders from him?
A. I have no recollection of receiving any orders from him, and I have
questioned my staff who were around me at the time, and they have none.
Q. Neither verbal or written?
A. Neither verbal or written.
Q. Did you receive any orders from any one else before you reached
Sharpsburg or Claremont?
A. No.
Q. No orders from any one to go to Torrens station during Sunday?
A. Whilst in the round-house, to proceed east out Penn Avenue, towards
Torrens, from General Latta. I did not go there for this reason:
Colonel Guthrie was to be at the outer depot at six o'clock in the
morning, and we waited there until ten minutes after eight, waiting for
him two hours and ten minutes. The suggestions which General Latta gave
me were based on Colonel Guthrie's being at Torrens station, but
considered I would only be exchanging places with Colonel Guthrie, and
for that reason I concluded to go to the arsenal. In the second place,
General Latta or the authorities had said it was impossible to ration
us.
Q. Did you receive any communication from General Latta, or any other
superior officer, before you got to Blairsville?
A. Yes; from General Latta, to proceed to Altoona, which we immediately
proceeded to do.
Q. Through whom?
A. Through Major Baugh, whom I sent back to General Latta for
instructions--sent him back to Pittsburgh.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. On Saturday afternoon, when the firing commenced--where did it
commence?
A. The firing commenced from the Weccacoe Legion.
Q. Facing east?
A. Yes.
Q. It was the first firing from the troops?
A. The first firing came from there.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. From what direction did the stones and other missiles come?
A. They came from every direction.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Was there any pistol firing from the side of the hill?
A. After the firing commenced it was very hard to detect in which
direction it came. It seemed to come in all directions, and the stones
were striking against the muskets of the men as they held them up. It
was very hard to detect where the firing came from.
Q. Was there any positive order given to fire?
A. I didn't hear it, and I didn't give it, and I don't think there was,
further than the general order I gave, if we were attacked that we
should defend ourselves.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Was General Pearson present when the firing took place?
A. I think he was--not that I saw him, but he gave me the order to
clear the tracks, and the time was so short after he gave the order
before the firing commenced, that I do not see how he could arrive at
Mr. Pitcairn's office before the firing took place, although I didn't
see him myself. He gave me those orders, and I ordered the Weccacoe
Legion, which had about seventy-five yards to go, and the whole time
didn't occupy over two minutes.
Q. How was he dressed?
A. I think in full uniform--my impression is that he was. I think he
was.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. What do you mean by full uniform?
A. Blouse and cap--regular fatigue uniform.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. Suppose he had turned around immediately after giving you the order
and gone to Mr. Pitcairn's office, could he have got there before the
firing took place?
A. I do not think so, but I may be mistaken.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did he wear a hat or a cap?
A. I cannot tell you, sir. It really didn't make sufficient impression
on me, but I think he had a cap on. That is my impression, because I
knew him in the army a long time, and he always used to wear a cap
there.
Q. Had he a sword and belt on?
A. Yes; a sword and belt on.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Were you in the late war?
A. Yes.
Q. What rank did you occupy?
A. I went out as a private in the Second Pennsylvania cavalry, and
afterwards was promoted to different grades to major of a regiment, and
brevet lieutenant colonel at Five Forks. I served two years as personal
aid to General Griffin, of the Fifth Army Corps.
Q. When did you go out?
A. In September, 1861, and left the army in June, 1866.
Q. What rank did you hold when you left?
A. I was major and brevet lieutenant colonel.
Adjourned, to meet at two o'clock to-morrow.
* * * * *
PHILADELPHIA, _Saturday_, _March 23, 1878_.
Pursuant to adjournment, the committee re-assembled in the St. Cloud
hotel, at two o'clock, P.M., this day, and continued the taking of
testimony.
* * * * *
J. Ewing Mears, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. At No. 1429 Walnut street, in this city.
Q. What is your profession?
A. That of a physician.
Q. State whether you were a member of the National Guard, and if so,
what position you held at the time of the riots?
A. I was the division surgeon of the First division, National Guard,
under command of General Brinton.
Q. State whether you accompanied the command of General Brinton to
Pittsburgh, and on what day?
A. I left the city of Philadelphia on the morning of Saturday, the 21st
of July, in company with General Brinton, and arrived at Pittsburgh
shortly after the middle of the day of Saturday.
Q. Go on and relate just what occurred after your arrival at
Pittsburgh?
A. I don't know whether I can state it as you wish, without questions
from yourself. After our arrival at Pittsburgh, the troops were
disembarked, and orders were given with regard to their march up
towards the round-house, and I was ordered by General Brinton to
establish the division hospital in the mail-room connected with the
railroad station. It was nearly opposite to the outer telegraph
station, as the depot existed prior to its destruction. Before the
command left the depot, I had assigned to the different brigades and
regiments medical officers, taking from some regiments officers who
were in access of the needs of the regiments; in other words, I
distributed medical officers to the different commands, in accordance
with the orders of General Brinton.
Q. Did you accompany the command at Twenty-eighth street?
A. I didn't.
Q. Where were you yourself?
A. I was at the depot. My orders from General Brinton were, to
establish the division hospital at the depot, to which the wounded, if
any happened to be wounded, could be sent.
Q. Did you send out surgeons with the command--as you distributed them,
they went out?
A. Yes; there were two surgeons with the First regiment, one surgeon
connected with the Second brigade, and one surgeon who was not acting
as such among the other companies.
Q. Did you remain at the Union depot during Saturday night?
A. No; I remained there until ten o'clock, then I left the depot, the
object being to join the command in the round-house, if possible. I
had, in the meantime, met the surgeon of the Pennsylvania railroad,
Doctor Murdock, who was also surgeon of the West Penn hospital, and he
informed me that some of the wounded of the division were in the
hospital, and offered his services to me to assist, and also on behalf
of the staff, the use of the hospital. In view of this fact, and as I
had also completed my duty at the depot by sending all of the wounded
to Philadelphia prior to ten o'clock, I left the depot to start to join
General Brinton in the round-house, but being unable to do so by reason
of the mob, I went to the hospital, where I found some of the command.
Q. How many wounded were brought to the Union depot?
A. Fifteen.
Q. Of the militia?
A. Yes.
Q. They were sent to Philadelphia?
A. Yes; I obtained from Mr. Cassatt a special car for that purpose.
Q. How were the different men wounded?
A. The majority were wounded by small Smith & Wesson balls--balls that
belong to the ordinary pocket revolver, and the gun shot wounds were
all in the lower extremities.
Q. Were any wounded with stones or clubs?
A. They were wounded both with bullets, and also with clubs and stones,
the majority being wounded with bullets, and as they stated, the wounds
being given to them by persons under the cars, the result of that being
that the wounds were in the lower extremities. Some had scalp wounds,
received from clubs and stones, and some of the wounds in the lower
extremities were also from clubs or stones. I should say that 1 moved
the hospital from the mail-room, which I had taken, into the hotel, and
took for that purpose the two large reading-rooms of the hotel. There I
dressed the wounds of those sent to me, and sent them home when I
finished the work.
Q. On Sunday, where were you?
A. On Sunday morning, at seven and a half o'clock, I left the West Penn
hospital, and came into the depot. I was aware then that the command
had left the round-house, that is, I was so informed, and I came into
the hotel for the purpose of getting the medical stores, and also for
the purpose of getting means of conveyance to the command. I had
received a requisition the afternoon before, from one of the surgeons
for lint and medical stores, and I had purchased some the night before
in a drug store, at Pittsburgh.
Q. The details we don't care for--just simply the number of wounded,
and if you heard the firing, and was with the command at the time?
A. I didn't hear the firing, and there were more wounded than I saw,
because some didn't come to the depot.
Q. Do you know the number of the wounded altogether?
A. I have endeavored to ascertain that, but have failed thus far. I
understood there were about twenty-eight.
Q. How many were killed?
A. As far as I can ascertain, three were killed, two instantly, and one
died from the result of a gun-shot wound.
Q. Did you go with the command when it retreated out Penn avenue, and
across the river?
A. I followed the command as closely as I could, and joined them after
they had crossed the river.
Q. At what time?
A. Ten and a half o'clock.
Q. Were you dressed in uniform?
A. No.
Q. In citizen's clothes?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you have any trouble in reaching the command?
A. No; I was not interfered with, although I drove through the mob. I
had with me a guide, a member of one of the cavalry companies of
Pittsburgh, but he knew nothing of the country after passing the
arsenal. I acted on my own responsibility. I had received an order from
General Brinton the evening before, about joining the command, and was
directed to join him in citizen's clothes.
Q. Did you stop at the arsenal?
A. I did.
Q. Did you see Major Buffington?
A. No.
Q. Or Lieutenant Lyon?
A. No.
Q. Did you see Lieutenant Ash?
A. I didn't see him.
Q. Did you know that Lieutenant Ash was there?
A. I didn't at that time.
Q. You reached your command in safety?
A. Yes; with the stores I had taken with me. I had a wagon and a horse,
and I placed them in the wagon, and took them to the command.
Q. Are there any other facts that you wish to state? State whether you
heard any orders given by General Latta to General Brinton?
A. I heard orders dictated to his secretary or to an officer in his
room--I did.
Q. At what place?
A. At the Union Depot hotel.
Q. At what time?
A. About eight o'clock on Sunday morning.
Q. What were they?
A. As near as I can remember them--I was not the officer supposed to
hear them, but they were given in an ordinary tone of voice--the order
was congratulatory to General Brinton on his retreat from the
round-house, as to his generalship in getting out of the round-house,
and upon his march out Penn square to the arsenal. That is a portion of
the order I distinctly remember. Further, when I asked General Latta
where I should join the command, he told me to go to the arsenal.
Q. Did you have any conversation with General Latta at that time?
A. I asked him where the command was, and how to get there.
Q. Did you hear any other command given by General Latta to General
Brinton?
A. I did not. I met Major Norris returning from the command. He had
joined them, and I asked him where they were, and he said on the hill,
and that they were going to the poor-house. He said to me nothing at
all in regard to any other destination. This hill, I suppose, was a
quarter of a mile after the bridge had been crossed--after crossing the
river.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did you have any conversation with citizens of Pittsburgh, or come
in contact with them?
A. I did, on Saturday night. I had taken, fortunately, a letter of
introduction to a druggist in Pittsburgh, and I went to his drug store
to make a purchase.
Q. Just state whether the citizens of Pittsburgh showed sympathy with
the strikers?
A. Yes; most decidedly.
Q. Their sympathies were with the strikers?
A. Yes.
Q. And they were hostile to the troops?
A. Most decidedly. I had conversations with a number of medical men,
and I was surprised to hear them, as medical men, express their
sympathy with the action of the rioters.
Q. In plain words, they said that the strikers were doing right?
A. Yes; they approved their action.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. In what way did they manifest or express sympathy with the rioters?
A. In this way: they thought they were taking the proper action to
redress the wrongs they had suffered.
Q. Did they say that the strikers were taking proper action?
A. They said that they thought they were doing right.
Q. What citizens said that?
A. I do not remember the names. I met one gentleman on the street. He
was kind enough to conduct me back to the hotel, it being night, and I
not knowing the way. He didn't know who I was or my business, and
expressed himself very freely about the matter.
Q. Was he a business man?
A. I do not know that. He appeared to be a gentleman--he was dressed as
such.
Q. Living in the city of Pittsburgh?
A. I suppose he did, sir.
Q. At the drug store, did you meet any citizens more than the druggist
himself?
A. I didn't, because he advised me not to stay there long--that it
would not be desirable for them to know who I was.
By Mr. Means:
Q. The druggist advised you not to stay there long--that he did not
want the strikers to know you were in his place of business?
A. Or the citizens even to know it. It was rather out of regard for my
safety, than possibly for himself. I went through the streets of
Pittsburgh, when they were breaking into the stores and seizing arms,
and the citizens looked on that indifferently, and no efforts were made
to stop that.
Q. You went through the city of Pittsburgh, in disguise for your own
safety, for fear of bodily harm you might receive.
A. I went into the streets of Pittsburgh in citizen's dress, in the
first place, because I had been warned by General Latta, in regard to
wearing my uniform. He advised me to remove it. He said it was not safe
even for himself, or anybody connected with the military, to appear in
uniform. That it would probably attract the mob to the hotel. I did it
at his suggestion, and also, when I reflected on it, for my own safety.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where was that drug store?
A. I cannot tell you where, it was night.
Q. Do you remember the street?
A. I do not. I can go to it in daytime.
Q. Do you know whether it was the proprietor of the drug store with
whom you had the conversation?
A. It was the clerk.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. Did you get an introduction to the proprietor?
A. I did not.
Q. Who was the letter addressed to?
A. To Mr. Ottinger. I took it, thinking I should possibly want to
purchase something.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. You cannot give the street?
A. I didn't see it in the daytime at all.
Q. Can you give us the language--what he said?
A. I cannot, because I didn't stop very long at his store. I had sent
him an order, and asked that it should be filled, and I went for the
order. It was not completed, and it kept us a few minutes. Further, to
show the hostility to the troops, when I was taking the wounded to the
cars, the mob had got into the station, and were jeering us and making
use of insulting remarks, such as to show that they were gratified that
they were going home in that condition.
* * * * *
Thomas A. Scott, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. State what your official connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company is?
A. I am president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Q. You have held that position for a number of years?
A. I have been connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in
various capacities, over twenty-six years.
Q. State, if prior to the strike that occurred in July last, you had
any information that such a strike was to take place, or had any reason
to apprehend a strike?
A. We had no information on the subject. I was on that evening up the
river Delaware eighteen miles, visiting some friends--my daughters'
family--and had gone to bed about ten o'clock, and heard nothing of the
strike, or anything connected with it, until about eleven o'clock, when
one of our officers from West Philadelphia, came up and advised me that
there was trouble on the road, and wanted me to come to West
Philadelphia. I did so, and arrived there a quarter before twelve, on
Thursday night. At that time I had no intimation of any possible
trouble with any of our people.
Q. Had you any knowledge of the existence of an organization called the
Trainmen's Union?
A. Yes; I had heard that there was such an organization. There was some
discontent about salaries and other matters connected with railroad
management, and I had an interview with some engineers and firemen a
few weeks before, and went over the whole subject--went over the whole
ground with them. I suppose it was a committee of twenty or thirty
altogether; and after hearing all that was to be said on both sides, we
finally agreed that it was one of the inevitable things that could not
be avoided, but would be remedied as soon as the condition of the
country got into a more prosperous condition. After the committee
retired from the interview, they came back again with a letter directed
to me, expressing just what I said, in substance, to you; therefore I
had no idea that there was discontent among our people likely to lead
to anything like the results attained afterwards--like the difficulty
that resulted in Pittsburgh.
Q. What complaints did this committee make when they waited on you?
A. They wanted to have the ten per cent. restored.
Q. What time was that?
A. It may have been three or four weeks before the difficulty occurred.
Q. It was after the 1st of June--after the ten per cent. reduction?
A. After the notice was given.
Q. Did they have any other complaint to make than about the ten per
cent. reduction?
A. They discussed the question of privilege to ride over the road, and
about being allowed for time when off duty, and several things of that
character, all of which were discussed in the most friendly way with
the committee, and I supposed that the committee went away perfectly
satisfied. They so expressed themselves in writing to me--perfectly
satisfied with the action of the company.
Q. Did they make any objections to the classification--what is called
the classification?
A. They discussed that question with me, and they wanted to get some
changes made in that. That had been agreed upon with the engineers and
firemen some years before.
Q. They were satisfied on that point?
A. Entirely.
Q. Had you heard of any dissatisfaction on that point from any other
source than from this committee?
A. I had heard nothing about the question at all.
Q. Had there been any complaints made prior to the one made by this
committee on that subject?
A. A year or two before the question had been discussed. I have always
been in the habit when our people come to state their grievances or
supposed grievances to hear them, and discuss the matter, and do what
we think right about it. I believe I never have declined to receive our
men, and talk over matters connected with the company.
Q. After the order was issued to run double-headers, did you hear of
any dissatisfaction?
A. Not until this Thursday night. That that was one cause of
dissatisfaction.
Q. How long before that was the order issued to run double-headers?
A. I cannot give the time, but it was, I think, a few weeks--but how
long, I don't know. It is a matter of detail management of the
respective divisions that scarcely ever comes to me at all.
Q. Do you know what date it went into effect?
A. No; I do not.
Q. From whom did you get the first information that a strike existed
there at Pittsburgh?
A. From Mr. Charles E. Pugh, one of our superintendents at West
Philadelphia, who came up for me to Andalusia, or near there.
Q. What time did he get there?
A. At a quarter before eleven o'clock.
Q. On the 19th?
A. Yes; on Thursday night.
Q. When did you get the next information?
A. When I got to the depot at West Philadelphia.
Q. What was the character of that?
A. That there was an outbreak among the men on all the roads extending
rapidly over all the lines in the country, and that there was not a
sufficient police force in the city of Pittsburgh, to manage the
matter, and that the sheriff had been called out or called upon by
somebody to organize a _posse comitatus_, and I believe he did make
some effort about it.
Q. That he was called upon by some officer of your road?
A. No; but by some authorities of the city of Pittsburgh; but that, I
cannot say. I was not there. That they called upon him, but just when
they called upon him, I do not know.
Q. That information was communicated to you?
A. Yes; by telegraph.
Q. Were you informed that the city authorities and the sheriff were not
able to suppress the strike or the riot there?
A. Yes; I was informed of that fact--that the sheriff had called upon
the Governor of the State for aid.
Q. What time did you get that information?
A. Three or four o'clock in the morning.
Q. From whom did you get the information?
A. From our officers at Pittsburgh. I think probably from Mr. Pitcairn.
Q. Had you any communication with the Governor?
A. Yes; I telegraphed to the Governor after he had been called upon and
given the general results of the trouble--I telegraphed. I thought it
was very important for him to be back in the city at the earliest
moment he could come. That I thought the peace of the whole State was
threatened.
Q. What time did you send that telegram?
A. I think that was sent the next day some time.
Q. On Friday?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see General Latta before he left for Pittsburgh?
A. Yes. He was there when I got to West Philadelphia. He was very much
disturbed. He told me that the Governor, before leaving, had left power
and authority with him to exercise his authority in case of
disturbance. I asked what he proposed to do about the matter, and he
said he proposed to go to Pittsburgh, and be governed by circumstances.
If the Governor was called upon, that he would do what was necessary
and proper to be done, under the circumstances, to preserve the order
of the State. I think it was about a quarter before twelve o'clock on
Thursday night when I saw him. I expressed to him the importance of
preserving the highways of the country intact, as I understood it and
believed it.
Q. When did you first learn that they had ordered the troops out--when
the Adjutant General had ordered them out?
A. I understood about four o'clock Friday morning that the sheriff of
Allegheny county had called for troops.
Q. And you understood then that General Latta would call them in
pursuance of the call of the sheriff?
A. General Latta told me if called on, that he had abundance of troops
in the city of Pittsburgh to take care of anything that might
arise--under General Pearson.
Q. Did you have any communication with General Pearson?
A. No; if General Pearson asked me any question about transportation of
troops, I told him what was proper under the circumstances; but I do
not recollect of having any from him.
Q. Had you ever had any strikes on that road prior to this time?
A. We had a strike in 1860, when I was general superintendent of the
road--a small affair that didn't last but a few days--principally among
some of the engineers and some of the shop men. But I believe we had no
strike or trouble with our people from that time up to the occurrences
last summer.
Q. What steps were taken at that time to control it by the company?
A. Simply notice to the men engaged in it, that if the wages or
arrangements of the company did not suit them, to peaceably go away.
Q. Was there any attempt, at that time, to molest or disturb the
property of the company?
A. Nothing at all, except stoppage of the trains.
Q. There never has been any strike before where there was an attempt to
destroy property?
A. No.
Q. Can you give us the amount, or an estimated amount, of the
destruction of property at Pittsburgh?
A. Well, I think it is in the neighborhood--you mean what property?
Q. Belonging to the company?
A. About $2,000,000--various things we were interested in.
Q. Does that cover the merchandise?
A. Not at all.
Q. Simply the actual property of the company?
A. Yes; and it does not cover the consequent loss from the interruption
of our business.
Q. But you include the destruction of cars, and engines, and shops, and
tracks?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know how many cars were destroyed?
A. I have not got the number at the end of my fingers, but it is in the
annual report of the company. It is all stated there, sir. I think it
is summed up in that report, that the probable loss, by reason of this
trouble, was about $5,000,000 to our company and to the community at
large in Pittsburgh and the community elsewhere owning property in
transit.
Q. In consequence of the riot that existed there?
A. Yes.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. That includes the merchandise?
A. Yes; it is an estimated amount of what we thought about the right
thing--as near as we could get at it.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did General Brinton telegraph you at Blairsville Junction that he,
General Brinton, could clear the tracks with the force under his
command?
A. I think General Brinton did telegraph me; but I do not recollect the
details of it at all.