On the 12th of April, 1832, soon after our arrival at Rock Island on a
visit to relatives, (the family of Col. Geo. Davenport) a steamboat came
down from Galena with officers to Fort Armstrong, for the purpose of
laying in supplies and medical stores for a brigade then being formed
at that place. One regiment, composed principally of miners, who had
abandoned their mines and came in to offer their services as soldiers
in the field, were unanimous in the election of Henry Dodge as Colonel.
They had long known him as a worthy, brave and accomplished gentleman,
the soul of honor, and hence would be an intrepid soldier.
Among the officers on this trip was Dr. A. K. Philleo, well known
to Col. Dodge as a social gentleman, a skilled physician and an
accomplished surgeon, who had accepted the position of surgeon at his
urgent request, with a _proviso:_ Being editor of the _Galenian,_
(the only paper printed in the town) he considered the position a very
important one, as it was the only paper within hundreds of miles of
the seat of war, and the only one on the Mississippi above Alton,
Ill.; hence he must procure a substitute or decline the appointment of
surgeon. Having made his acquaintance after he had learned that we
had been engaged in newspaper life, he insisted that we should take a
position on the _Galenian_ for a few weeks, or until the close of the
war, so that he could accept the offer of Col. Dodge, and seeing that he
was a great favorite among the officers, and anxious to go to the field,
we accepted the position and accompanied him to Galena the same evening.
Here we found an infantry regiment, commanded by Col. J.M. Strode,
composed principally of miners and citizens of Galena, which had been
hurriedly organized for home protection, whilst that of Col. Dodge,
being well mounted, were making preparations to take the field. After
taking charge of the _Galenian_ we made the acquaintance of Col. Strode,
and found him to be a whole-souled Kentuckian, who advised us to enroll
our name on the company list of Capt. M. M. Maughs, and as our time
would mostly be devoted to the paper, he would detail us _Printer to the
Regiment,_ by virtue of which appointment we would become an honorary
member of his staff. We retained our position on the paper and that on
the staff of the Colonel throughout the war, and was made the recipient
of dispatches of the regular movement of the army, its skirmishes
and battles from officers of the regular army as well as that of the
volunteers, from which we made our weekly report, and from these data we
have made up most of our history of the war.