A. Went to the gate as rapidly as possible.
Q. Did Major Buffington come up to the gate before you left?
A. No.
Q. Did you see anything more of him?
A. I didn't. He turned on his heel and went into the house.
Q. Did you see anything of Lieutenant Lyon?
A. I don't know the lieutenant at all. I will state this much, I think
there was some one in citizen's clothing, when the wounded were brought
to the gate, who said allow them to come in, and I suppose from what I
heard afterwards that it may have been Lieutenant Lyon.
Q. Describe the appearance of the man you met at the house, supposed to
be Major Buffington?
A. I cannot do that.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Was he in uniform?
A. No; in citizen's clothes. I don't know that I would know him if I
saw him. It was all in a moment, and the excitement, as a matter of
course, was great, and I paid no particular attention to the man's
appearance.
Q. Do you remember whether he wore a mustache or not?
A. I think he had hair on his face; but whether a mustache or not I
won't be certain. I think he had hair on his face.
Q. Some gentleman was there?
A. There was somebody who said he was Major Buffington.
Q. There was some person who permitted you to bring the wounded inside?
A. Yes; that was afterwards. After we were ordered out.
Q. State whether you were present when Colonel Norris overtook General
Brinton?
A. I was.
Q. What orders did he give, if any?
A. None; he gave no orders.
Q. Did you hear anything or all of what took place between them?
A. I did. I heard the entire conversation.
Q. Do you know whether General Brinton received any orders after
leaving the round-house or not during that day?
A. Not until late in the afternoon.
Q. What were they, and who communicated them?
A. Those orders came out by the hand of Major Baugh, who reported to
General Brinton at Claremont, and was immediately sent back by orders
from General Latta--I think it was him--but they were received late
that afternoon, directing the general to bring the entire division to
Altoona by rail.
Q. That was a written order?
A. Yes.
Q. Did a man by the name of Colonel Smith reach you during the day,
Sunday?
A. Norman Smith?
Q. Yes.
A. He reached us on Sunday. I saw him--the first time I saw him to know
him--he may have reached us an hour or so before--it was after the
division had encamped on the hills overlooking Claremont. He was there,
and stayed for some hours.
Q. Do you know what his mission was?
A. I don't know that it had anything to do with any military matters,
and I think he said he had an appointment with somebody to go across
the country. I didn't ask him who.
Q. Do you know whether General Brinton telegraphed to Colonel Scott of
the Pennsylvania Railroad?
A. He sent a number of dispatches to Colonel Scott during the time we
were out, in relation to various matters, for the purpose of urging the
necessity of endeavoring to procure us ammunition, and provision, and
blankets, and clothing, &c. And I know he also sent a note. I am under
the impression it was in response to an inquiry as to the condition of
the men, and he stated that, if he was allowed his own way, he could
open the entire road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh with the First
division.
Q. When did he send that dispatch?
A. While we were at Blairsville Intersection.
Q. Do you know on what day?
A. I cannot state the day. We got there, I think, on the afternoon of
the 23d, and it may have been the following morning. It was just in
response to an inquiry as to the morale of the division.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Was there one or more sentinels at the gate when you reached the
arsenal?
A. There was but one. There may have been one or two in the box; but
one was patrolling the beat.
Q. Didn't the sergeant there point out to you and General Brinton the
gate to Major Buffington's quarters?
A. No. There may have been somebody who pointed out the house, but
nobody went for him.
Q. No one went on with you to the house?
A. No. He may have pointed it out to General Brinton, in response to a
question. I don't recollect that he did or didn't.
Q. Did the major come out of the house there, and stand on the steps?
A. He came out of the house--out of the entry way--on to the steps.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did Major Buffington give any reason for refusing admission into the
arsenal grounds?
A. I don't think he said anything, except that there was a large amount
of property there, or something.
Q. Did he say it would be endangered by bringing on a conflict with the
mob?
A. I think not. I have no recollection of it.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did he tell General Brinton there was no small ammunition there?
A. I have no recollection of his saying anything of the kind. He may
have told him that he could not get any; but I have no recollection of
his saying there was none.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. How were your troops supplied with ammunition? Did you have
sufficient?
A. No; not at that time. The next morning--Monday morning or
afternoon--the ordinance return showed that the Third regiment had
about three rounds to a man, and the First regiment, I think, an
average of ten.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. How many did you have on Saturday afternoon when you went out to
Twenty-eighth street?
A. We were supposed to have twenty rounds to a man. Ten were issued at
Harrisburg, and ten at Pittsburgh.
Q. State whether General Brinton received orders from General Latta to
go to Torrens station; and, if so, when he received them?
A. He received orders from General Latta to go to Torrens station on
the night of the 3d of July.
Q. What kind of an order was it?
A. A written order, and sent, as I was afterwards informed, by the
hands of Captain Aull, and delivered by him to Colonel Guthrie, and by
Colonel Guthrie to the general, at the reception of the Duquesne club,
the night before we left Pittsburgh.
Q. When was the order dated.
A. On the morning we left the round-house. It was a very congratulatory
order, directing him to go to the stock-yards, and entrench himself
there, and congratulating him on the movement of the morning, and
stating he was glad to hear he was safe.
Q. What per centage of the men of the First division were soldiers of
the late war? Do you know?
A. No; that is pretty hard matter to tell.
Q. From your acquaintance with them could you form an estimate?
A. I should judge probably fifty per cent. of them--taking the strength
of the division right straight through--probably more than that.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You stated you heard no command given to the troops to fire.
A. No.
Q. Didn't you consider the men justifiable in firing?
A. Yes; I consider it would not have been half a minute before the
command would have been given. It would have been necessary.
Q. Was there a consultation among the officers as to the position you
should take after the firing took place?
A. The only consultation was between--or a conversation--it was hardly
in the nature of a consultation--was between General Brinton and
General Pearson. General Pearson sent to know of General
Brinton--stating he had heard the firing--whether there were any killed
or wounded, and requested him, if he desired to communicate, to send a
staff officer. General Brinton sent me, and I immediately returned and
reported that General Pearson desired to see him and went back with
him.
Q. Where did you find General Pearson?
A. In the second story of the outer office.
Q. Mr. Pitcairn's?
A. I don't know. He was in the telegraph room. There was no
consultation about it. It was an absolute order from General Pearson to
move the troops in there.
* * * * *
E. DeC. Loud, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Please state your residence?
A. No. 3741 Spruce street.
Q. State whether you are a member of the National Guard now?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were in July last?
A. Yes.
Q. What was your rank?
A. Brigadier General, commanding the Second brigade.
Q. You accompanied General Brinton to Pittsburgh?
A. Yes.
Q. State whether you went out with his command to Twenty-eighth street?
A. I did not.
Q. On Saturday?
A. I did not. When we started from Pittsburgh, or rather from Union
depot, a portion of my command was then ordered to guard the passenger
trains that were going to be run out, and when we got about the
center--from the western half to the center of the round-house--I was
ordered to take that position, and to keep the tracks clear, and see
that nobody came into my line excepting those that had authority--to
keep out all citizens--that the trains were ready to be run, and that I
should keep things clear, in that shape, until they could open the road
at Twenty-eighth street. I held that position until the firing began at
Twenty-eighth street; but, I think, perhaps a little before that I sent
an aid to General Brinton and asked him, if possible, to return to me
the troops that had been detached, as the ground I had to cover was too
large to be covered by the troops I had. He sent them back. Shortly
after that, I saw the firing at Twenty-eighth street. It was about a
square and a half, and I could see the firing. I had stationed a line
across east to keep the crowd back from that side, and when the rioters
broke around from the rear of the First brigade, and came back, I
ordered the line doubled, and turned the crowd through the yard out on
to Liberty street, instead of letting them come on the tracks. So far,
as I saw, the trains were all ready, with nobody interfering with them,
and if they had had men to run them--engineers and firemen--I think
they could have run those trains out after Twenty-eighth street was
cleared.
Q. Were the engines fired up?
A. I think so.
Q. Were there engineers with them?
A. There seemed to be men about the engines that seemed to have
authority. They seemed to be train hands--engineers.
Q. And brakemen?
A. They seemed to be. The most trouble I had was with young men that
claimed to be clerks in the railroad office, who broke through the
lines. While I was there, two or three passenger trains were run in
from the west, coming in off the Pan Handle and Fort Wayne road, going
east. They were some little while getting along; but they went on east.
There was some trouble with the passengers on them, because they wanted
to see what was going on. I held that position until some time after
the firing at Twenty-eighth street, when I got orders from General
Brinton, through Major Pettit, to move into the railroad shops
connecting with the round-house. I knew the ground, as I had been there
several times before, and I supposed we were going through this yard
out to Liberty street, and going back to Pittsburgh; but when I got
inside, General Brinton ordered me to take possession of the shops
there on the left or on the west, and put one regiment in there and
some other troops in the office, and put a guard over the gate. There
was a double wagon gate there. I had no time to detail a regular guard,
so I instructed Captain Ryan, of the Fencibles, to take charge of the
gate. In the meantime, Breck's Battery came in, and the First brigade
went into the round-house and took possession of that. In about ten
minutes, a train was going to run back on the Allegheny Valley road,
which runs besides this railroad office or repair shop. When the cars
came back--it was some local train--they were just filled with rioters,
who were brought back right into Pittsburgh, and they were yelling and
hooting and hallooing, and then this crowd gathered around the gate. We
had no orders to fire on them at all, and we paid no attention to what
was said by the mob. Along about dark, I was talking to General
Brinton, when a man pushed himself in, and we ordered him out, and
eventually pushed him out. Then a row began, and a couple of pistol
shots were fired, and two men were shot, and Captain Ryan came to me
and said that my men cannot stand this to be fired at, and without
returning the fire. I told him I could not give an order to fire; but
that I would ask General Brinton; but he said he could not give an
order, that he was under the orders of General Pearson, and that we
must first ask General Pearson if we couldn't open fire on the rioters.
We run the Gatling guns, in the meantime, so as to command the gate.
General Pearson said no, you must not fire a shot, and of course, when
he said no, we had nothing else to do. He left about nine o'clock, and
when he left General Brinton gave orders if anybody came near the gate
to order them away, and if they didn't go, to fire on them. We remained
there until they began to run the cars down on us. At first we supposed
they ran the cars down to shoot this field-piece off--we supposed that
was their idea--but we soon found it was on fire. The general then
ordered me to take a detail of men up into the third story of this
office, which had windows facing east, and we went up there, and put
guards in the second and third stories, and in that way covered the
field-piece. We stayed around there until daylight. During the night I
think I saw pretty near every dispatch that General Brinton got, and I
don't think I was away from him ten minutes at any one time during the
night. I saw every dispatch, and was cognizant of their contents. I
passed the scout in and out through my lines--this man that carried the
dispatches to General Latta--and I know the instructions from General
Latta were to hold the position as long as we could, and I know of the
dispatch to move east out Penn avenue. When the eastern buildings had
got afire, they came and told me that it was necessary to vacate, that
the fire had got so hot that they couldn't stand it, and when the First
regiment formed, we could hardly see the lines for the smoke and
cinders. There had been some cars filled with corn whiskey that had run
down and got afire. We got the fire out; but they had blocked the gate
so that we couldn't get the field-pieces out. The general then
instructed me to have the brass guns spiked, to have them dismounted,
and to destroy the powder. The powder was taken into the round-house
and soaked in water, so that it couldn't be used, and the ammunition
was thrown away, and the pieces were spiked. The Gatlings being much
lighter, we found an entrance on the west of this repair-shop, and we
moved the Gatlings through the repair-shop out to Twenty-sixth street.
When we marched out I was at the head of my brigade. We must have got a
half a mile or so, and there was some firing into the lines, and one or
two men were wounded. I then went back, and you couldn't see any great
number of rioters anywheres near us. I suppose within one or two
Philadelphia blocks you could not see anybody; but you could see the
crowd back that far. Every now and then there would be a shot coming
from a doorway or a window as we passed along the street. Nobody would
fire directly at us from a window as we passed along--either from the
corners of the streets or the windows; but the firing was all after we
passed, after we got by half a block or a block--then they would let
into us. About this time a street car was coming up the street, and I
don't know why, but I was looking at it, wondering whether it was going
to try to get through the lines, when the first thing I heard was two
rifle shots from the car, and two men of the Sixth regiment fell dead,
one on top of the other. The shots were fired by two men apparently
lying on their stomachs--lying on the cushions, and firing out the
windows.
Q. Did the street car stop after they fired?
A. That I cannot say. I recollect, at that time, that the Gatling gun
was opened, and I ordered my men to separate, so that they could fire
into it, and they did fire. Just before that the driver of the street
car had uncoupled the horses, and left the car standing. I have heard
since that those two men were killed; but, of course, I cannot testify
to that.
Q. Those two men in the car?
A. Yes; along about that time this man they called the bad angel--he
would fire and then run into a house, and run back through the yard,
and come out again and fire. He would fire coolly. I saw him twice drop
on his knee and fire, just the same as if he were firing at a target. I
heard Captain Ryan hallooing "shoot that man," and they fired at him,
but, as he was firing out of door-ways or from behind trees, it was
almost impossible to hit him. We were moving all the time. I cannot say
positively whether Lieutenant Ash was shot previously to that time or
not, but I recollect seeing him stagger. I suppose I noticed it more
particularly because he was a personal friend of mine. I saw him
stagger and fall into the gutter on the north side of the street, and
throw up his hand and say, you are not going to leave me, and I ran
back with three or four men, and carried him ahead apiece, until some
men of the regiment ran their pieces under him, and brought him on, and
he was carried on the limber of the Gatling up to the arsenal. By that
time I concluded my brigade had enough of that, and I sent word to
General Brinton, asking him if I could not change places with the First
brigade, and he sent word back, yes, and I changed places at the turn
of the street. The reason why I asked to be relieved was, that every
man in the brigade had been on duty all night--every man. We had the
lumber-yard to cover, and the railroad offices, and the repair shop,
and the men had been up all night. I took the right of the line then,
and I don't think that there was a shot fired after we changed position
in the line.
Q. Where was Lieutenant Ash wounded?
A. In the leg. He bled very freely. I didn't suppose that he was
mortally wounded, and I think if there had been anybody there to take
care of him, he might have got through.
Q. He was left at the arsenal?
A. Yes; that is about the story, until we got to Sharpsburg. We had
nothing to eat all the way along. When we got to Sharpsburg, along
about ten and a half o'clock, Major Wilson then, Colonel Wilson now,
went into a store and bought a couple of boxes of crackers. I recollect
it, because he gave one to my brigade, and one to the First brigade.
That was all we got until about twelve o'clock.
Q. While you were down at the round-house, guarding the trains that
were to move out, was there any attack made upon your line by the
rioters?
A. No.
Q. Was there any firing by your men?
A. No; there is not a shot fired--they were rather troublesome. There
was a considerable crowd there, but Captain Ryan kept them back. I
might say that my orders were to keep all citizens off. I met a
gentleman coming through, and told him to get out, and had some
considerable difficulty. He said he was the sheriff of Allegheny
county. That was away back at Twenty-sixth street. He was all alone--no
posse with him or anything.
By Mr. Means:
Q. You say no posse was with him?
A. No; and he didn't seem to want a posse.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. That was after the firing at Twenty-eighth street?
A. I think it was right after the firing.
Q. The sheriff was going towards the depot then?
A. Yes; and making pretty good time.
Q. State whether there was any insubordination on the part of the
troops during the night in the round-house?
A. I heard that some of the troops were dissatisfied--that they wanted
something to eat, and didn't think they were treated right, and all
that. I didn't see anything of it, and I was among them all night long.
Q. Was there any refusal to obey orders?
A. No; no man refused. There was, perhaps, a little hesitation when I
asked some men to do a little piece of business, but they went and did
it.
Q. What was that?
A. I wanted some car wheels put across the track. It was a rather open
space, and they didn't seem to like it much, but they went and did it.
Q. Have you anything else to say?
A. I might say that I saw the scout going out all night long, carrying
messages back and forward.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did you consider the firing by the troops justifiable?
A. I can only say that if I had had command I would have fired sooner
than they did.
Q. You would have given the order?
A. Yes; I gave the order to fire going out Pennsylvania avenue. I
always considered when attacked you have the right to return the fire.
Q. You have had some experience in the army?
A. Some little.
Q. How much?
A. Four years.
Q. And you think that most any troops would have fired under such
circumstances without orders?
A. I have my own opinion, and I think if I had been in the lines, I
would have fired.
Q. If struck with a brick, you would have fired?
A. I think so. I will say simply this: I think if the troops had been
sent to Pittsburgh three days sooner, it would have been a great deal
better. They had been playing with the Pittsburgh troops before we got
there.
Q. Did you see Colonel Norris when he joined General Brinton's command?
A. I did.
Q. Did Colonel Norris give General Brinton any orders?
A. No.
Q. Did you hear the conversation between them?
A. I did.
Q. If he had communicated any orders to General Brinton, you would have
heard them?
A. I certainly should. I might say that I was standing with General
Brinton, when Colonel Norris drove up. He jumped out of the carriage,
and he seemed very glad, indeed, to see General Brinton and all hands,
and we went over and sat along side of the road, and I heard all the
conversation. I would have been very apt, if any orders had been given,
to pay some attention, because I was anxious about the situation
myself, and particularly as I was personally acquainted with Colonel
Norris.
Q. You are certain he gave no orders to go to any point from where he
was then?
A. Not that I know of; and I think if such orders were given, I would
have heard them.
Q. Were you present during the entire conversation?
A. Yes.
Q. All the time?
A. I think so.
Q. Do you know of any orders having been received by General Brinton
from any one or by the hands of any one to make any movement in any
direction?
A. Yes; we had one about going out of Pittsburgh, to go east.
Q. After you left the round-house?
A. No; I saw the orders that night. I heard or read all the orders that
came. The orders were, as I understood, to take a train down at the
work-house, and join the command at Blairsville Intersection. I know we
got an order after we were in the round-house, or rather an instruction
that Colonel Lyle--we supposed that colonel, and the detachment under
Colonel Rodgers, were with Colonel Guthrie, and would join us about
daybreak.
Q. Did General Brinton receive any orders to move his command to
Torrens station?
A. Not that I am aware of.
Q. Or to join Colonel Guthrie?
A. Not that I am aware of.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. The brass guns at the round-house--whose command did they belong to?
A. To General Pearson's.
Q. Couldn't you have saved those guns, and taken them with you?
A. If we had any way of getting them out, and if we had horses to haul
them.
Q. It was not possible to take them out where they were, and take them
along by hand?
A. It might have been done, but under the circumstances, no. If there
had not been any firing there, we might have cleared the track, and got
the gate open.
Q. Couldn't you have taken those guns out of the same gate you took the
Gatling guns out?
A. No; it would have taken a long while, because the shop was full of
timber and all kinds of material, which would have had to be cleared
out of the way, and it is not much of a joke to run a twelve pounder by
hand. We might have taken a crowd and have dragged them a short
distance, but not a long distance. It was as much as the men could do
to drag the Gatlings.
Q. No horses were provided for those guns?
A. Not that I saw.
Q. Did Captain Breck have charge of those pieces?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he turn them over to General Brinton?
A. Of course, he was under General Brinton's command.
Q. Do you know whether Captain Breck's command retired to the
round-house with your command?
A. I don't know, but I suppose they did. I cannot say positively.
Q. Did many of your men--the rank and file--have experience in the army
as soldiers?
A. Yes.
Q. About what proportion of them?
A. I suppose thirty-three per cent. of them, anyhow. I should judge so.
Q. What character of men were the balance of the troops composed of
generally?
A. I would just as lief depend on them, I think, as regular soldiers.
Q. You would depend on them just as soon?
A. Or a little sooner, I think.
Q. In what business were those men before they went out with you, as a
general thing?
A. Most of them were mechanics.
Q. And some clerks?
A. Some.
Q. Professional men?
A. Very few.
Q. Men accustomed to manual labor?
A. Yes; and accustomed to three square meals a day, too.
Q. Could you expect men, taken from their homes as those men were, to
be as efficient, so far as endurance is concerned, as men accustomed
not only to military discipline, but to service in the field?
A. Why certainly not. If you have ever been in the service, you know
how long it takes to break men in, before you get them into shape.
* * * * *
Louis D. Baugh, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. In Philadelphia, No. 2009 Chestnut street.
Q. State what your rank was in the National Guard in July last?
A. I was commissary of the First division, with the rank of major. I
was then and am yet.
Q. Did you accompany the troops under General Brinton to Pittsburgh?
A. I did. I went with the first detachment.
Q. Were you at Twenty-eighth street during the firing?
A. No.
Q. What was your particular duty?
A. It is the duty of the commissary to feed the men--to supply them
with rations.
Q. Where were you during Saturday?
A. When the column was ready to move to Twenty-eighth street, General
Brinton ordered me to remain to procure subsistence for the men.
Q. When did you re-join the command?
A. On Sunday afternoon, about three o'clock.
Q. At what point?
A. At the work-house.
Q. Of Allegheny?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you have any orders for General Brinton?
A. I had none, sir.
Q. Did you have any conversation about orders with him?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he say?
A. The moment I arrived, he asked me for orders, once or twice, and I
told him I had no orders, or had received none, and he sent me back for
orders.
Q. To whom?
A. General Latta.
Q. Did you go back?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you find General Latta?
A. At the Monongahela house.
Q. What orders did you get?
A. Do you want the order?
Q. Yes.
A. I took him the following order:
"_Major General R. M. Brinton, commanding First division National
Guard of Pennsylvania, bivouacked near Claremont station, West
Pennsylvania division, Pennsylvania railroad_:
"You will move your command by rail to Altoona, where the rest of
your division now is, and there remain for further orders. I leave,
_via_ Erie, for Harrisburg to-night. Will be at Erie to-morrow
night, on the rail Tuesday, and Harrisburg Wednesday. Have ordered
Mr. Creighton, superintendent of the West Pennsylvania division to
furnish transportation. Make requisition for more ammunition on
Harrisburg by telegraph, and communicate further as to
transportation with Mr. Gardner.
"JAMES W. LATTA,
_Adjutant General_."
Q. What time did you take that to General Brinton and deliver it to
him?
A. The written order?
Q. Yes?
A. I read that order to another officer, who reached him early in the
morning, one or two o'clock. I reached him about eight o'clock.
Q. What morning?
A. Monday.
Q. With that order?
A. Yes.
Q. And delivered it to him?
A. Yes; I handed him the written order. When the order was given to me,
I asked for it in writing. There were two of us together, and I gave
the other staff officer the contents of the order, and told him if he
reached him first to give it to him.
Q. Who was that staff officer?
A. Major Lazarus.
Q. Where did you find him on Monday morning?
A. On the railroad.
Q. Where?
A. I don't know the place, but I guess it is a little off Claremont.
Q. A major of whose staff was Major Lazarus?
A. General Brinton's. He was in the room when I got this order. I read
it to him, and, as the mob was very great, I said if you reach him
first, give him this order, and if I reach him first, I will carry it
with me.
* * * * *
E. DeC. Loud re-called:
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. On your retirement from the round-house, did you cover the retreat a
part of the way?
A. I had the left of the line as long as there was any firing going on.
Q. Did you, on your march, see any policemen on the street?
A. I did.
Q. Tell us what you saw them do?
A. I saw, I suppose, at least fifteen or twenty-five of them standing
on a kind of low porch that looked to me something like a
station-house, or as if it might be, as we went out, and they seemed to
make no effort to keep the peace whatever. They were standing there,
and after we passed, I heard the crack of a pistol. I cannot say
positively that they fired it; but they certainly made no effort
whatever to preserve the peace there. They were in full uniform, too.
Q. Did the sound seem to come from that direction?
A. Yes; right behind me. At that time I was on the right flank.
Q. How far were you from the police when you heard the shot fired?
A. Half a block I suppose--perhaps not that far. They were standing on
a porch elevated, perhaps, two or three feet.
Q. You judge from the sound that the shot came from the police?
A. If it didn't come from them, it came from very near them.
Q. Did you see any arms in their hands?
A. No.
Q. Did you see any pistols in their hands?
A. No; I was in the street and they were just the width of the pavement
from me.
Q. Is that the only place where you saw police?
A. That is the only place where I saw police.
Q. And you say that they made no effort to arrest any of the parties
following you?
A. Not that I saw, and I would have been very apt to see it. I think
there were enough of them there to have stopped it.
Q. Did you hear them make any remarks as you passed?
A. No; but they didn't seem to be very particularly pleased over the
troops being there.
Q. But they said nothing?
A. No; but I could judge from the expression of their faces that their
remarks were not at all complimentary. That was the inference I drew.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did you have any communication with the citizens of Pittsburgh--did
you go out into the crowd among the rioters at any time?
A. No.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Do you know of any citizens' committee that waited on General
Brinton or that waited on your command to have a conversation in
relation to this riot?
A. No; I heard that a committee came out to see General Brinton while
we were at the hospital, when we got back a second time, and I
understood that they just came out to pay their compliments to him.
Q. It was after you got back to Pittsburgh?
A. Yes; the first time nobody came near us--not a soul. In Sharpsburg
some men came out, and said they were very sorry that so many were
killed, and they seemed to be very kind.
Q. Is there anything you know that you have not yet testified to of
interest to us or that might be important in the making up of a full
history of this affair?
A. No; I don't know of anything more that I can say about the matter. I
only had my own brigade to look after, and I can only tell what
happened there. I can only say this, that I was very much surprised
when we were put into the round-house and those shops.
Q. Surprised at your being stopped in the round-house?
A. Yes; a question has been asked that perhaps I can throw some light
on. It was about what kind of a cap or head-covering General Pearson
had on. He had a blue blouse on with a fatigue cap.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Did he have soldier straps on?
A. I think so, but cannot say positively--I know he had.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did he have a sword or belt?
A. I didn't see any.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Did he have a white vest on?
A. I cannot say that.
Q. Could you have seen a white vest if he had had one on?
A. If he had turned right around to me I could have seen it. We all had
white vests on, as we didn't have time to get anything else. He might
have had no vest at all on. It was hot weather, and it was dark.
Q. How close were you to him?
A. About as near may be as to this gentleman here, [indicating a party
in the room sitting near by.]
Q. Almost touching him?
A. I could have touched him if I had wanted to. He walked out with me
to the wash-stand, I recollect. I don't know what he had on when he
went out. All of his staff with him had fatigue suits on.
* * * * *
Louis D. Baugh re-called:
By Mr. Means:
Q. Were you dressed in uniform when you went to Pittsburgh?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you wear that uniform all the time?
A. No; I took it off, by orders of my superior officer.
Q. Did you mingle with the crowd after you dressed yourself in
citizen's clothing?
A. Yes. I attempted to get to the round-house to General Brinton, and I
started up from Union Depot hotel.
Q. Did you have any conversation with citizens of Pittsburgh, or with
the rioters or the strikers?
A. I had no conversation with them, because I kept myself very quiet,
listening to what they said.
Q. What did they say?
A. They wanted every damned Philadelphia soldier to go home in a box.
That they would tear them to pieces. Then I went on apiece. I didn't
want to get into that crowd.
Q. Who were they?
A. People of Pittsburgh.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What people?
A. Part of the crowd along the street.
Q. In the vicinity where the riot was going on, or down in the city?
A. In the street running from Union depot to the round-house.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Parallel with the railroad?
A. Yes. I was trying to get to General Brinton, to make arrangements
about feeding the soldiers. When I found what affection they had for us
I would move on again. They wanted every damned one sent home in a box.
By Mr. Means:
Q. You looked upon that as the disposition manifested towards the
Philadelphia soldiers?
A. Yes; indeed, it was--all Saturday night and Sunday morning when I
left town.
Q. Did they go for you once in the depot?
A. In the West Pennsylvania depot they did, or I thought they did, and
I got out. I knew what they were from the night previous.
Q. For your own safety, you thought it better to get away?
A. Yes.
* * * * *
George Francis Leland, _sworn with the uplifted hand_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Where do you reside?
A. 1622 Chestnut street.
Q. You were a member of the National Guard in July last?
A. I was adjutant of the Third regiment of infantry.
Q. Colonel Snowden's regiment?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you with him at Twenty-eighth street when the firing occurred?
A. I was. Just below Twenty-eighth street.
Q. Did you hear any orders given to fire?
A. I didn't. I heard Colonel Snowden distinctly say that no one was to
fire until they received orders, and they received no orders from him
to fire.
Q. Were you in the round-house during that night?
A. I was.
Q. State what the conduct of the troops was during the night, as to
discipline?
A. It was very good, I think as far as I am a judge.
Q. Was there any insubordination?
A. No; none whatever.
Q. What was the condition of the round-house when you left in the
morning?
A. It was on fire, I should judge from the amount of sparks and smoke
and flame about us. Some of the troops attempted to put the flames out,
but did not succeed.
Q. Was it safe to remain in the round-house any longer?
A. It was not.
Q. How did the troops march out--in good order?
A. In excellent order.
Q. Where were you in the line of march?
A. With the right of our detachment part of the time, and part of the
time in the rear. We only had about forty-three men in our regiment.
Q. Was there any firing along the line in the street?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did it come from?
A. I should judge from citizens of Pittsburgh.
Q. Did you see any firing?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see any person when they fired?
A. Yes; one or two I could pick out if I should see them again.
Q. What class of citizens were they?
A. The ordinary class of citizens--mechanics and workingmen; and I saw
some policemen fire, too.
Q. Where were they?
A. At a station-house, evidently, from the number of men grouped around
it.
Q. A police station-house?
A. Yes.
Q. How many of them?
A. Twenty-five or thirty of them.
Q. Did they fire as you passed them?
Q. They fired after we passed. I should judge the firing they did was
intended for General Loud's command. They were in our rear.
Q. They fired on the rear of the line?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see them when they fired?
A. Yes; I think I did. I looked back--I was attracted by the noise--and
I turned my head, and I distinctly heard not only the noise, but saw
the smoke and the raising of their arms among this crowd of men that I
took to be policemen.
Q. Were they in uniform?
A. Yes; or in dark looking hats and blue sack-coats, I think. I am not
familiar with the uniform of the police of that city.
Q. Did you see any pistols in their hands?
A. Yes; as I passed I saw one with a pistol by his side. One of them
stood by the curbstone, as if he was reviewing us.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did they have their maces?
A. I think not, but I am not positive about that. I didn't notice any
belts.
Q. Did you see a uniform on any one policeman--a full uniform?
A. I don't know what it is; but the uniform that most of them had on
was the same uniform I noticed on the police officers after we returned
to the city.
Q. When did you return to the city?
A. I think on the 28th of July.
Q. And the uniform was the same that you saw those men wearing?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see any of the policemen on your return to the city, who
were in that crowd?
A. I couldn't distinguish any of them. We were marching rather rapidly,
and I was, in fact, too far off--probably fifty or one hundred feet. I
couldn't recognize them again.
Q. How many shots were fired from that crowd?
A. I cannot tell that--quite a number, I should judge--half a dozen, or
a dozen, or more.
Q. Did they wait until your men had passed, before they fired?
A. Yes.
Q. And they fired into your rear?
A. Yes.
Q. What effect did the firing have?
A. I cannot say that it had any. I know none were killed about there,
or I don't think there were any. There may have been some
wounded--scratches.
Q. Was the firing returned by your men?
A. No; it was not.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Did you see that man with the linen duster following the command,
with a musket?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see him shoot?
A. Yes; I remember that fellow distinctly. He followed us quite a
distance. I remember another fellow particularly--a man with a crutch.
As we went along he stood on the sidewalk, and I saw what I took to be
a navy revolver in his hand as we passed, and after we passed he
deliberately fired and run down a side street, and I could go right to
the locality and pick that fellow out; I took a good look at him; I was
on the right, near the gutter, and close to him as we passed him. They
said afterwards that this fellow in the duster was the man that had
been pegging away at us all night with a rifle that had a bullet that
exploded when it struck. He kept it up all night while we were in the
round-house. They said afterwards that he had lost a brother, and he
wanted to be revenged. I am not positive, but I think he was
killed--shot.
Q. Did you see any firing from houses?
A. Yes; from second-story windows.
Q. How long after you had left the round-house?
A. Some distance down--somewhere in the neighborhood of this police
station. The firing I saw from the windows was on the left-hand side
going up this street.
Q. Going eastward?
A. I don't know the location of Pittsburgh.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Towards the arsenal?
A. Yes; on the left hand side I noticed firing from the windows, and
the police station was on the right hand.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. You say this man was killed?
A. I heard he was.
* * * * *
Thompson Lennig, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. State your residence?
A. 1300 Walnut street.
Q. Were you with General Brinton at Pittsburgh, in July last?
A. I was in the division--yes.
Q. What was your rank?
A. I was a private at that time.
Q. In which regiment?
A. In the artillery corps, Washington Grays.
Q. State what your position was in the line in moving out Penn street
in the morning?
A. I was helping to drag the first one of the Gatling guns.
Q. State whether there was any firing from houses or from persons along
the street?
A. There was no firing, as far as I remember, until we had gone five or
six squares, and I thought when there was no firing, that we were going
to get out of the town without any trouble at all. It was not until
shortly after we had passed the police station on our right, that the
firing began. From that time there was firing until we reached the
arsenal.
Q. There was not much until you reached the police station?
A. No. There was considerable firing, which might amount to skirmish
firing in real service.
Q. Were there any policemen in the station when you passed?
A. Yes. I don't know how many. I saw eight or ten men turn up in line
on the curb, and I think there may have been from ten to twenty-five
scattered around. As I say, I saw eight or ten turn up in line on the
curb as we passed.
Q. Was there any firing by the police or the troops as you passed?
A. That I don't know. I didn't say it; but I should like to say this:
that there was firing, and as we passed by the station, I noticed one
policeman particularly whose face was impressed upon me. And I saw him
the following Sunday--the week following--the 29th of July, when I was
wandering through the ruins, with a corporal of the Washington Grays. I
saw this same man, and I accosted him and said, that I had seen him in
front of the police station last Sunday, and he said he had been there.
I then said that I heard it stated among our men that you fired upon
us, and he said, I didn't fire, but others did, and he even went so far
as to say that the lieutenant had ordered them to fire. Corporal Rider,
who was with me at the time, heard the whole conversation, and can
corroborate everything I have stated.
Q. What is his name?
A. Penn Rider, one of the assistant clerks in common pleas, No. 2.
Q. He stated that he had been ordered to fire?
A. He said that they were ordered by the lieutenant to fire. I saw this
man's face.
Q. Just give the language of the policeman as near as you can?
A. I was walking over the ruins and I caught his face. It struck me
again, and I said to myself, that is the man I saw last Sunday, and I
accosted him, and said, "You were standing in front of the police
station last Sunday." He said, "I was." I said, "I have heard from our
men that you fired on us as we passed," and he said, "I didn't fire,
but others did, and the lieutenant ordered us to do it." That was the
whole conversation. I passed along, and didn't see anything more of
him.
Q. Did you ask him who the lieutenant of the police was?
A. No.
Q. Have you ever found it out since?
A. I have made no inquiry. After I came back, I made affidavit to these
facts, at the request of Colonel Pettit, and I thought it was no longer
any matter of mine. It was in their hands.
Q. Did you see that policeman any time after that--have you seen him
since?
A. No; I have not been in Pittsburgh since. I happened to be off duty
at the time.
Q. Do you think you would recognize that policeman?
A. I should know him if I saw him five years hence.
Q. Was he in uniform when you met him or saw him?
A. Both times.
* * * * *
John W. Ryan, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. State your residence and what position you held in the National
Guard in July last?
A. I live at No. 102 North Fortieth street, and had command of the
independent company State Fencibles, attached to the Second brigade,
First division.
Q. You accompanied General Brinton to Pittsburgh?
A. Yes.
Q. You were at Twenty-eighth street?
A. Yes.
Q. Where were you stationed after you went to Pittsburgh?
A. I was on the extreme left of the division, the portion of troops
closest to Union depot. My company was formed--the major portion of it
facing Union depot, with their backs towards Twenty-eighth street, and
the smaller portion of it was on front, facing towards Penn street.
Q. What was your duty there?
A. To keep the people out.
Q. And guard the track?
A. To keep the people out, was the instruction I received.
Q. Well?
A. We did so.
Q. Did you have any trouble in doing that?
A. None special. After the firing began, some people came down the
hill--came down, and once or twice my men were on the point of firing
at them, because they would not go back; but I held the men in as long
as possible. It seemed to be more a want of understanding what we
wanted them to do. After they found out what we wanted them to do, they
did it.
Q. Was there any firing by your company?
A. We didn't fire a shot.
Q. How many men had you in your company?
A. I brought home seventy-four. I had about fifty at that time.
Q. Were you in the round-house during the night?
A. Once in a while I would go over there. My position was not directly
in the round-house. I was in the paint shop, I think it is called, or
the machine shop, or something of the kind.
Q. Adjoining the round-house?
A. Yes; and out in the board-yard. They sent us out there until we got
ready to move out of the position.
Q. Was any attack made upon you in the shops during the night?
A. No; not directly.
Q. State what the discipline of the troops was--taking the whole
command of General Brinton during the night?
A. There was no complaint--it was as good as might be expected.
Q. Was there any insubordination or refusal to obey orders that came
under your observation?
A. Yes; some.
Q. Relate it?
A. When the companies of the Sixth regiment were formed into line, the
company next to mine--I sent one of my sergeants to find out the
matter, and he came back and told me that they proposed to lay down
their arms and go home, and I said I would like to see them try it, and
I intend to shoot them if they attempt to do it.
Q. Did you see them afterwards or talk to them about it afterwards?
A. I intended to hunt the officers up; but while making up my mind to
proceed in the matter, orders came to get ready to move, and that broke
the little arrangement up.
Q. Did they move when the order came--did they obey the command?
A. Yes; so far as I could see, they did. They behaved as well as the
rest did.
Q. They didn't throw down their arms?
A. No.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did you say to them after you heard it, that you would shoot them?
A. I told them I wouldn't let them out. I told the commander that. My
company was put on guard as soon as we got into that portion of the
grounds.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What attracted your attention was something unusual in that
particular command?
A. Yes; they were forming, and I had not received any orders to do so,
and was anxious to know what they were forming for.
Q. How many were reported as going to throw down their arms?
A. One company.
Q. How many men were in that company?
A. Probably thirty.
By Mr. Larrabee:
Q. What was the reason they gave for doing this, if they gave any?
A. They didn't seem to give any. It was sort of dissatisfaction.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did you see the officer of the company--the captain?
A. I saw an officer in front of them, and afterwards learned he was a
lieutenant.
Q. You had no talk with him?
A. No.
Q. What was the conduct of the balance of the men in the division, so
far as you could judge?
A. In the round-house?
Q. Yes.
A. First rate.
Q. It was that of soldiers?
A. Yes; and very patient ones, under the circumstances, I thought.
Q. Were you in the army during the late war?
A. Yes.
Q. How long were you out?
A. Over four years.
Q. What proportion of your company has seen service?
A. I don't know exactly now--we did represent one hundred and fifty-one
years at one time in the company.
Q. Of actual service?
A. Yes; all the officers and non-commissioned officers, with one
exception, were veterans.
Q. How many men were there in the company, when they represented one
hundred and fifty-one years?
A. Sixty-seven men. Late on Saturday afternoon, I sent to the brigade
commander, and asked permission to come and see him, and I waited, and
asked if I could not have permission to drive the people away from the
gate, that they were blackguarding us in the most scandalous manner.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. What gate?
A. Leading out on the street. Men, women, and half-grown boys. It was
the most outrageous language I ever heard in my life. When we would go
up, and attempt to drive them away, they would just stand and spit at
us, and call us all sorts of names. But my men stood it, and walked up
and down, and paid no attention to them. But they finally got
brandishing revolvers, and the excitement had become intense, when one
of my corporals says to me: "I don't think we can stand it any longer,
unless you give us permission to kill some of those people out there."
and I said if I get permission, I will give it to you very quick. So I
asked General Loud, if he would give permission, and he said: "I have
no authority," and I asked if I might go and see General Brinton. I did
so, and asked the question, and was told that permission could not be
given. I said who was in command, and was told General Pearson. I said
I know the gentleman, and will you give me permission to go and see
him. I stated the position to him, and stated it was impossible to hold
out any longer at the gate, and he said: "you must not agitate them. I
don't want you to excite them poor people." They were too close to his
heart. I turned away perfectly disgusted.
Q. You held the position you were commanded to hold?
A. Yes; after that General Loud thought it would be a little more
secure to put some iron in front of the gate, which we did. I would
have been glad to have given a little lead instead. They blackguarded
us so that I was anxious to square matters with them.
Q. You could have cleared the tracks at that time?
A. Yes.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did you hear any women using obscene language to the troops?
A. They were a little worse than the men. The language was terrible.
One young fellow about twenty years of age climbed on to the stone post
of the gate, and blackguarded us for the longest time. I have got a
very large corporal, and he made a deliberate set at that man. The
corporal said, can't I put him off, and I said, yes, he said he makes
use of language more than I ever took of any one. I said knock him off,
if he don't get off, or give him a jab with a bayonet; but he slipped
off.
Q. What company of the Sixth regiment was it that wanted to lay down
their arms?
A. I cannot say, but I can furnish the testimony of that fact from the
members of my company, who reported the matter to me. I considered it
of such little importance at the time that I really didn't pay much
attention to it.
Q. They didn't lay down their arms, and obeyed orders afterwards?
A. No; they didn't lay down their arms, and I think that,
notwithstanding their disposition to do an unmilitary act, if they had
been called into line and directed to do their duty as soldiers at that
time, they would have done so cheerfully.
Q. Did they remain with your command during the rest of your military
movements?
A. Yes.
Q. And went to Scranton with you?
A. Yes.
Q. Did they observe their duty as soldiers after that?
A. As far as I saw, entirely so.
Q. You say you didn't ascertain their reasons for wanting to lay down
their arms?
A. Not especially so. It was a sort of a growl they got into.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Were they not a little disgusted, like yourself?
A. I think they would have stood it a little better if they had had
orders to defend themselves.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. How many companies are there in this Sixth regiment?
A. I don't know, but I think they are eight--I don't know exactly.
Q. How many men about in the regiment?
A. I should judge they had about one hundred and fifty men.
Q. How many men in a company?
A. About thirty men--twenty-five or thirty.
Q. Was it a larger company than the rest of them?
A. I don't believe there were over twenty or twenty-five men that
appeared in line when my attention was called to them. My company lay
across the entrance of the paint-shop at this time, and this company
was on the right. I said to one of the sergeants what is that company
forming for, and he said I don't know, and I said go and see, and he
came back and said they proposed to quit, and lay down their arms and
go home.
Q. You didn't hear them say it yourself?
A. No; I saw the company in line. I told the sergeant to see what they
were in line for, and he came back and reported that they proposed to
lay down their arms and go home. I said I would like to see them try
it.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What time in the night was that?
A. It was in the morning--sometime before we started away.
Q. After daylight?
A. Yes.
Q. As late as seven o'clock?
A. I cannot tell you that, because I don't remember the time we left
the round-house. It was a short time before we left. I know that the
orders we got to get ready to move broke the little arrangement up for
them.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did they lay down their arms any of them?
A. No; they had their arms in their hands. I didn't think it amounted
to anything at all.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. What is the name of the sergeant that brought you the information?
A. George Simpson.
Q. Do you know where he is now?
A. I think I can find him in a short time. I think he is about the
armory of the State Fencibles.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You were with the balance of the troops as they retired out Penn
street?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see any firing from citizens or policemen on your troops?
A. I saw some firing--considerable.
Q. By whom?
A. It was very hard to tell. I saw parties firing out of a street car.
I saw a man fire the shot that I thought killed those two men in the
Sixth regiment. It was about the time that the street car came along. I
heard General Loud's testimony in reference to the car matter, and I
thought at the time, and do yet, that he is mistaken about it. I think
yet it was a single man that killed those two men and a single bullet.
Q. One shot?
A. Yes; I saw him raise the rifle.
Q. From the car window?
A. No; but behind a large iron pipe lying along the road where a stone
wall runs along on the right hand side as we came down. I saw him raise
the rifle, and saw his head down on the sight, and I saw the flash, and
the bullet came along and cut some little limbs off a tree behind us. I
could almost trace its flight until it struck these men, and the two of
them fell almost at the same instant; and I thought before, and do yet,
that that was the man who killed those two men.
Q. Was it near the car?
A. The car was down in the hollow, and this was when we were going up
the hill, before we got to the arsenal. I called up two or three of my
men and said, shoot that fellow, and we tried to, but we didn't
succeed, and I am sorry we didn't. Just then things got mixed up a
little, and we were ordered to the rear, and we stayed there as long as
there was any firing going on, when they took us up and puts us on the
right until we found a camping ground.
Q. Did you see any policemen on your march?
A. Yes; quite a squad in front of a fire engine house or a police
station house. It had the appearance of either of those two places.
They were strung along the curb-stone as we went along. Some of boys
were hallooing "pass in review," "guide right," as soldiers will
sometimes, even under the most trying circumstances. I noticed half a
dozen or probably ten people there that I supposed to be policemen,
with a good many citizens mixed in behind. It looked like a sort of
rendezvous for the mob.
Q. Did the policemen make any remarks as you passed?
A. I didn't hear any. There was some firing out of the crowd after we
got by a little piece. Some few shots were fired, and I told the boys
to turn around and give it to them; but as we turned around, they went
into the house.
Q. Could you tell who fired?
A. I could not tell. There were some citizens mixed up with them. I saw
smoke, and knew the shots came from the crowd, but whether it was
policemen or citizens I cannot say.
Q. How far away were you?
A. Sixty or seventy-five yards.
Q. Were any threats made by those policemen to arrest any of those
citizens or the crowd who were following you?
A. No.
Q. Could they have prevented them from following you--the policemen
that you saw?
A. If they had had the disposition.
Q. If they had made the effort?
A. Yes; the impression may have been a false one, but our impression
was that they were about as bitter enemies as we had there.
By Mr. Means:
Q. You mean the policemen?
A. Yes.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. How did you get that idea?
A. From the manner in which they acted. We regarded them as bad as
anybody we had met there, and so far as my boys were concerned we had
made up our minds to give it to them when we got a chance. We thought
it was their duty to protect the peace, and not assist in breaking it
up, and we preferred them to citizens. That is what I mean. We meant to
give it to them, if we got a chance.
By Mr. Means:
Q. Did you have an opportunity to mingle in with the crowd?
A. Not a great many. I served with the Pittsburghers for three years,
and I met a few of them out there.
Q. You knew some of the Pittsburghers?
A. Yes; I have served with them.
Q. In what regiment were you?
A. The Sixty-first Pennsylvania, commanded by Oliver H. Ripley, of
Pittsburgh.
Q. You met some of them there while on this trip?
A. Yes.
Q. State whether you were led to believe that the people of Pittsburgh
sympathized with the rioters?
A. There is no doubt about it.
Q. That they sympathized with the rioters?
A. Entirely so.
Q. And were hostile towards the Philadelphia soldiers?
A. It was very difficult to tell whether they despised the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company or the Philadelphia troops most; but they certainly
hated both of them. They were very angry at our coming out there.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You spoke of citizens of Pittsburgh. Was it not the crowd that
surrounded you there, or in the mob that you heard these conversations
that led you to think that the people were in sympathy with the
rioters?
A. No. Not to that extent. Some of my old regiment, the Sixty-first
Pennsylvania, came to see me the following Sunday, after we went back,
and took occasion to say that it was a great mistake, that they were
sorry to see me where I was, and that they didn't want to see any of
the Sixty-first coming out there. And they were very bitter.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Of what class of men were they--what positions did they hold in
life?
A. They were working men, I should judge--men employed in the mills,
probably, that work hard for a living, but yet, might be good citizens.
Q. You heard them talk so?
A. They said they were sorry to see me there.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Did you have charge of the prisoners captured at Johnstown?
A. General Brinton captured three men on the railroad track, and they
were taken back, and I think, handed over to the charge of the
Washington Grays.
Q. Did you take any of those prisoners to Pittsburgh, and hand them
over to the civil authorities?
A. Yes. And we were most grossly insulted by a policeman in the
station-house at the time. He was an officer.
Q. What was the nature of that insult?
A. He could have easily passed my company. We were in line, and he
insisted on pushing me out of his road into the ranks. And I asked him
if he couldn't go by without breaking the company up, and he turned
around and made use of a very impertinent answer. He was a great big
fellow.
Q. Did you learn his name?
A. No.
Q. Or rank?
A. He was an officer, I know. He broke the left of my company up. He
was a man that weighed two hundred and sixty, and was six feet two or
three inches high. He was a very fine large man, but a very great
blackguard, none the less. There seemed to be some spite against the
soldiers out there on the part of everybody.
* * * * *
Silas W. Pettit, _sworn_:
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. State your rank in the militia, in July last?
A. I was judge advocate of the First division, with the rank of major,
in July last, when the division went out, on General Brinton's staff.
Q. Go on and state the circumstances, omitting the details?
A. I was called out about eight or nine o'clock in the evening, and
together with the other staff officers went around to notify the
different commands, and about two and a half o'clock or two o'clock we
left the Pennsylvania railroad depot, about six hundred strong, and got
to Pittsburgh about two and a half o'clock on Saturday afternoon. When
we got there, General Brinton reported to General Latta. We went
upstairs into a room in the hotel. General Latta was there, and General
Pearson, and Mr. Quay, and some others. We then marched out. In the
meantime, the men were getting fed. We marched out toward Twenty-eighth
street, along the track. They had horses for the Gatling guns, but no
proper harness or arrangements for them, and the guns had to be hauled
by hand. When we got near Twenty-eighth street, General Pearson ordered
General Brinton to detach a part of his command to keep the track clear
in the rear, and as a result of that, the Second brigade was left,
General Pearson superintending that part of the command, to keep those
tracks in the rear clear, and the rest of the command--the First
brigade--consisting of the First regiment, and the Third regiment, and
the Weccacoe Legion, and the Washington Grays, and battery went on
towards Twenty-eighth street. When we got there, or close to it, the
crowd was very thick on the track and on the hills, and in the empty
and loaded cars on our left. The command was formed then into two
ranks, the rear rank clearing one side and the front rank the other;
but the crowd commenced to press in between the ranks, and the Weccacoe
Legion and Washington Grays were thrown across the front. Then we
attempted to push the crowd back, and just as we got to Twenty-eighth
street the fuss commenced. The sheriff and a posse were in front of us,
and they attempted to arrest somebody, as far as I could make out, and
clear the tracks themselves, but they failed. The firing took place
immediately upon the order to charge bayonets, given to the Washington
Grays and Weccacoe Legion. Some men were hurt with the bayonets.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Firing from the troops or the mob?
A. From the crowd. The firing from the troops immediately followed. The
air seemed to be full of stones, and a great many pistol shots were
fired from underneath the cars, and from over fences near the
round-house. We got in on both sides of us--on both flanks and in
front--then the troops fired. I may be mistaken, but I thought I heard
an order when the firing took place.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Whence did the order come?
A. I cannot tell that very well. I was between the two ranks--a few
feet from the head of the column. It was a short column, not many men
in it--not over two hundred and fifty all told, while the crowd must
have been ten or fifteen thousand, and it looked pretty short in
consequence. I heard the firing, and the men towards the fences and
cars returned the fire, and it cleared them, and then they fired up the
hill. The men facing the hill fired that way, and the men in front
fired, and the crowd commenced to run. The order was given then to
cease firing, and I endeavored to see it enforced, and to stop the
firing as soon as the order was given. It was all over in a few
moments.
Q. Who gave the order first to cease firing?
A. I heard General Brinton give that order when the crowd was running.
Of course, it was my duty to see that it was done.
Q. When they commenced firing how far were you from General Brinton?
A. I cannot tell exactly. General Brinton had gone front. I thought he
was with General Pearson, and I was standing where he left me. He
didn't ask me to follow him, and I stopped there. He went up towards
the sheriff's posse. They were apparently in among the crowd right
where that little watch-tower was or is.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. You say you heard an order?
A. To cease firing. I thought I heard an order to fire before that.
Q. Before there was any firing by the troops?
A. I thought I heard an order to fire--commence firing.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Did you see who it was that fired first?
A. It was over on the right of the First regiment--these two companies
that were crossed from the front--it was right there it commenced. It
could not have been delayed, however.
Q. You stood between the ranks?
A. The ranks were open, and all the officers were between them. The men
had been faced outwards to drive the crowd away. It was the only
formation that could have been made at the time.
Q. Were you in the round-house during the night?
A. After this firing the tracks were cleared, and the First brigade was
turned across Twenty-eighth street. The crowd were all off the tracks,
and nobody was allowed to cross them except those carrying dead and
wounded. In one or two instances women came up or men who wanted to go
up the hill to their residences; but the main tracks were as clear as
Arch street is now. General Brinton reported the tracks were clear, and
that he was ready to protect the trains; but we didn't get any, and we
waited there for a considerable time. General Brinton went to the
round-house with Colonel Wilson, and I remained out where I was, he not
asking me to accompany him, and after awhile we received an order to go
into the round-house. We took in the command and the guns that were
commanded by Captain Breck, and then brought in the Second brigade,
which had been back there all this time, and the men were posted in the
round-house and the machine-shop, or paint-shop, and lumber-yard. I
accompanied General Brinton up stairs into the office, where General
Pearson was. The crowd commenced to come around the buildings with
jeers and whoops, and were firing shots. General Brinton desired
permission to drive them away, which was refused. Shortly after that,
two of our sentries were wounded. General Brinton reported that fact,
and desired permission to protect himself and drive the mob away, which
was again refused him. Several of General Pearson's staff, whose names
I don't know, and several railroad men, and Mr. Pitcairn, I think, and
Mr. Cassatt, and I think that Mr. Watt was there, but I am not certain
about him. Before they left it was fully dark, somewhere between eight
and ten o'clock. General Pearson left, and told General Brinton that he
was going to the depot to report to General Latta, and get orders and
get provisions for the command, and that he would be back.
Q. What orders did he give General Brinton about matters while he was
absent?
Q. He told him, if necessary, that he must use his own discretion until
his return, but gave him to understand that he would be back in some
little time--a few hours. Then we stayed there during the night. There
was a good deal of firing. It sounded like an extra Fourth of July. The
men who were on duty as sentinels and guarding parts of the building
were alert; and the rest of the men were resting themselves.
Q. Just state what the conduct of the troops was during the night?
A. They were in good condition--in good spirits, and subordinate--they
were in first-rate condition, except that they were hungry. I didn't
see this trouble with the Sixth regiment, although I heard of it. But
the Sixth regiment marched out in as good shape as any other. They are
a regiment scattered all over the city, pretty much. They have no
regimental armory, and have labored under a great many difficulties,
and have not got that regimental organization and _esprit de corps_
which they would have if they had proper facilities. They are poor
men--workingmen, and scattered almost over the city, and it is a wonder
to me that they ever kept together at all. When we were going to march
out, it was necessary to clear that part of the street, and they
cleared it. They opened fire out of some of the windows.
Q. Which regiment?
A. The left of the Sixth regiment. Captain Ryan's men were guarding at
the board-yard.
Q. Was there any firing going out Penn street?
A. Yes; the command passed out--I don't know what direction it is--the
west end of the machine shop in good order. I had cause to know that,
because I went back while they were marching out, to see whether
Captain Breck had spiked his guns. They were too heavy for us to take
with us, and we had no ropes to haul them by. I saw the whole column.
We were marching in column of fours. We had received orders during the
night to go, and at the time we left the round-house was on fire, and
it was a physical impossibility for men to stay there.
Q. Did you see any policemen at the station, as you passed out Penn
street?
A. I saw a number of policemen at the place which I took to be a
station-house. It may not have been. In talking about it afterwards, we
always spoke of it as a station-house. As I remember, it had a lamp or
bracket in front of it. It may have been an engine-house, or some sort
of a public hall. A crowd was there of fifteen or twenty men, dressed
in police uniform. Of course, I don't know that they were policemen. I
did not see them fire.
Q. Whereabouts were you in the column?
A. I was at the rear part of the time--most of the time--but went
forward to report to General Brinton what was the state of affairs
there. Then I would come back and see what was going on along the
column. The First regiment was front, and the Third regiment in the
rear of them, and the battery, and the Weccacoe Legion, and the
Washington Grays, and I think Captain Ryan at that time was in the
center, and then the Sixth regiment in the rear.
Q. Did you hear any firing from near the station-house as you passed?
A. It was pretty near all the time, and I didn't notice it specially.
It was a subject of conversation afterward among ourselves, that that
firing had taken place among the policemen.
Q. Were you present when General Brinton met Major Buffington at the
arsenal?
A. I was at the rear at that time.
Q. And you didn't hear what took place?
A. I did not. I went to the arsenal--I went up to the front of the
column, and was told that General Brinton was in the arsenal, and I
jumped over the fence--I was refused admission at the gate--and I went
in there, but I met a lot of wounded men and I told them where to go,
and I thought, perhaps, I had better go back. So I went back to the
rear.
Q. Where did you tell them to go?
A. I told them to go up towards the buildings, and get attended to.
They allowed the wounded to go in. They took in Lieutenant Ash and all
the wounded.
Q. Were you in the regular army during the late war?
A. I was in the Fifteenth Infantry.
Q. For how long?
A. I was in there about a year. I was only a boy, and my health gave
out.
Q. What is your profession now?
A. I am an attorney-at-law.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. Was Captain Breck in the round-house during the night you were
there?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he remain there until you left?
A. Yes; he remained there, and seemed to desire to do his duty, as did
his command. He only had a squad, however.
Q. Where did he go with his command after you left the round-house?
A. Nowhere; his men scattered in the city. We could not take his guns,
and I suppose he didn't think he was obliged to go with us.
Q. Do you know how many men he had?
A. About a dozen or fifteen at the outside. Then there was a Captain
Murphy who offered to show us the way to the arsenal. I only saw one
man with him in uniform. He did his duty as well as he could, and
piloted us out there. We were strangers in the city, and didn't know
where to go, except that we had orders to go out Penn avenue, and did
not know where it was. At Sharpsburg we met Major Norris, and went on
towards the poor-house.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. Were you present when Major Norris met General Brinton?
A. I was present when he got out of his carriage.
Q. Did you hear him give any orders?
A. No; I was with the guns we were pulling up. He spoke to me, and then
went towards General Brinton, and I didn't see him afterwards. He
didn't tell me anything particular, and I never heard of any orders
given by him, until about three weeks afterwards.
Walter G. Wilson, re-called:
By the witness: I simply want to make a little correction in my
testimony, in regard to the arsenal. I stated I was not aware of any
sentinel or sergeant accompanying us. My impression was it was Captain
Murphy, of the Jefferson Cavalry, but I have since been informed it was
a sergeant of the guard. I simply want to have that matter corrected.
E. DeC. Loud, re-called:
By the witness: A statement has been made here, in regard to the Sixth
regiment, which I wish to correct. It was one of my brigade. They had
about one hundred and ninety to two hundred men that night. That
company that Captain Ryan testified in regard to had somewhere in the
neighborhood of twenty men.
By Mr. Lindsey:
Q. The company that wanted to lay down their arms?
A. Yes; I went in to see about the matter, and I could find nothing of
it. The thing had been all quieted over, and when the troops were
ordered out, they obeyed as promptly as any other troops.
Q. Who was the captain of that command?
A. There was no captain, but a lieutenant.
Q. What was his name?
A. I don't remember now. I thought it was nothing but a company growl.
This company was peculiarly situated. It had a position where they
could see nothing of what was going on. I heard from my adjutant
general that something was going on--some disturbance--and I went to
see about it; but the whole thing was quieted over. The men said they
understood that all were going out, and they thought they might as well
go out as anybody else, as they had not any chance to get anything to
eat. They couldn't defend themselves, and they got tired, and they had
nothing to eat. I didn't attach any importance to it, because when I
took them out on the street they stood up to their work as well as the
rest of them.
At this point, the committee adjourned to three o'clock, P.M.