Class __EI(ioJlL_ Book__rD (04- GopyiijihtN^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1906, BY ROBERT BOLLARD, IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON, D. C. ROBEKT BOLLARD. RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR AND GOING WEST TO GROW DP WITH THE COUNTRY BY ROBERT OOLLARD PUBL,ISHED BY THE AUTHOR, Scotland, South Dakota, 1906 [library of CONGRESS Two Copies Received NOV 30 1906 CopyrliiM Entry ; 1 CLASS A )ac.,NO. COPY B. . ijo my o/d Commander in the Campait^ns of JS64 and IS65, before SVichmond and ^eiersburfff T/irffinia, the late Senerai Seor£fe *U/. Coie, a brave and generous soldier, this book is dedicated. PREPACK. I have frequently been asked b}' friends to pub- lish my recollections of the Civil War, in which I ■served on the Union side in various capacities from that of a private soldier to Commander of a regiment, in the infantry and cavalry branches of the army, during" a period that begfan with the outbreak of the war and continued to its close, with the exception of a few weeks in the latter part of the Summer of 1861, and extended to campaigns in Virginia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina and Texas, and I have conclud- ed to do so in the following pag'es. I shall also add some observations on forty years' experience since the war, in going* West to g"row up with the country. Scotland, South Dakota, July, 1906. Robert Dollard. KRKATA. 1. In index, "Affairs on the Chickahominy" should read 'Ailairon the Chickahominy." 2. On page 63, line 25, the word "left" should be '-right." 3. On page 89, line 27, the word "bargain" should be "bargains." 4. On page 92, line 2, the word • -departments" should be "department." 5. On page 104, line 5, the word "right" should be "left." 6. On page 207, line 30, the word "witness" should be "juror." 7. On page 231. line 22, the word "state" should be "general." 8. On page 287, after the word "disagreed" in line 20, insert the words "with us." CONTENTS. I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX XXXI Introduction '^ Service of the Minute Mkn . - - 15 Return to Army, Burnside Expedition - 40 Advance on New Berne - - - " ^^ Campaigning in North Carolina - - 74 South Carolina Campaign - - - - 85 Second Campaign in North Carolina - 92 Organization of Colored Cavalry - - 98 Second Battle of Suffolk - - - - 101 Raid Into North Carolina . - - - 109 Threatened Mutiny . - - - . Ill Preparing for Campaign Before Rich- mond AND Petersburg - - - - 113 Affairs on the Chickahominy - - - 115 Before Petersburg ----- 119 Doing Businp:ss with General Butler - 130 Battle of New Market Heights - - 132 Gen. Butler. Return to Active Service 139 Reception to Admiral Farragut - - 143 The Monroe Doctrine - - - ■ - - l'^^ Off for Texas ------ 147 Service in Texas 152 Going West to Grow up with the Country 156 In the L/AND of the Dacotahs - - - 168 Organization of Douglas County - - 188 Stories of Early Law Practice - - 205 Some Curiosities 209 Governor Ordway on the War Path - 216 Forming a State Constitution - - - 218 Miscellaneous Observations - - - 284 Political N< iTes 288 Journeying to the Pacific - - - 292 RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR, AND GOING WEST TO GROW UP WITH THE COUNTRY, INTRODUCTION. Fortj-one years have passed since the setting- sun of the southern Confederacy went down never to rise ag-ain and the doctrine that the states had the rig-ht to themselves decide all questions of difference be- tween them and the Union, as to the supremacy of either, with its ill-fated child secession was forever buried under the slaughter and wreck of the civil war. But occasionally a sad note reaches us from the South on some great public occasion as though in mourning for the fate of the lost cause still embalm- ed in heroic memory that is only a just tribute of love, admiration and respect for the patriotic spirit and unselfish devotion of the sons and daughters of that section in a cause which they believed to be as sacredly right under the constitution and laws of our common country as that for which we fought under the starry banner of the Union. From the southern point of view the man we called a rebel could point with pride and confidence to something in the history of his country as a full measure of justification. He could call attention to that remarkable state paper, the farewell address of the father of his ccuntrj-, as proof that the continuance of the Union was then con- O INTTRODUCTION. sidered a matter of sound and patriotic policy rather than a question of constitutional power; he could point to the authority of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798, the former penned by Madison, the father of the constitution, and the latter by Jef- ferson, the author of the declaration of independence, and to the action of the New Eng-landers at the Hart- ford convention in 1814, along- the same line, as show- ing- that the views then held on the question of the sovereig-nty of the states pointed the way to their peaceable secession whenever they deemed the hour had arrived for the wise and just pursuit of such a course, and he could also point to the fact that the people of the states of the South who enrolled them- selves in the ranks of secession never surrendered the doctrine for which these eminent authorities stood in the early days of the republic, and therefore they took their stand upon it when their domestic institution of human slavery became intolerable to the conscience of the northern people. But whatever the declarations or attitudes of individual statesmen and patriots when the nation was in the beg^inning- of its career and the limitation of its powers less perfectly understood than in later years, the founders of it builded better than some of them knew, for by the constitution of the Union they inspired a g-rowing love and loyalt}' that met in the fullest measure the appeal of Wash- ing-ton, in the northern free and border slave states, so well expressed in the g-reat speech of Daniel Web- ster in the United States senate in 1830, in reply to Senator Hayne of South Carolina in these words: "Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and for- ever!" A sentiment which called a halt on the advance of slavery into the territories, demanded that every inch of their soil should be held sacred to liberty and INTRODUCTION. 7 ill the end incorporated itself into the g-overnment fur all time. Slavery was the cause and secession the means that invited the civil war and all the horrors and blessing's that followed in its wake. Slavery existed, it is true, in all the states form- ed from the colonies, out of which the Union was formed, but it g-radually disappeared, except in Dela- ware, north of Mason and Dixon's line, whether be- cause it was profitless, or repug-nant to the public conscience, is not altog-ether free from doubt; perhaps both considerations furthered the g-ood work. I once heard that prince of orators. Colonel In- g-ersoll, say in a public address, "We of the North owned slaves but we found it didn't pay, hence we concluded it wasn't rig-ht. Anybody can see that a thing- isn't rig-ht when it doesn't pay." And Henry W. Grady, in his address on the New South before the New Eng-land society of New York, put it this way: "Had Mr. Tombs said, which he did not say, that he would call the roll of his slaves at the. foot cf Bunker Hill, he would have been foolish, for he mig-ht have known that whenever slavery became entang-led in war it must perish; that the chattel in human flesh ended forever in New Eng-land when your fathers, not to be blamed for parting with what did not pay, sold their slaves to our fathers, not to be praised for know- ing- a paying- thing- when they saw it." And in this connection I recall that in the case of Dred Scott ag-ainst Sanford, the decision of which held that Scott was the slave of Sanford, notwithstanding- he had been voluntarily taken into territory where slavery was prohibited by the terms of the Missouri compro- mise act, and which did so much to bring- on the war, the defendant Sanford was a New Yorker. While the public views of the South on the rig-ht b INTRODUCTION. of secession and slavery, considering the gfeneral complicity of the original states in the latter and the doctrines held by some of the early statesmen point- ing to the correctness of the former, might well rec- ommend them to charitable consideration of ante-bel- lum northern statesmanship, I imagine we, the boys, who made up the Union army, knew little and cared less for such matters in facing the great struggle that the opening of the year 1861, promised to inaugurate. As for myself I well remember that the first political slogans I ev^er heard were those of "Fremont and Freedom!" "Buchanan and Gradual Emancipation !" in the fall of 1S56, when I was fairly entering my "teens" and not only quite innocent of any knowledge of the great problems of state craft then pending but, like many of my older fellow citizens, politically as green as the grass that grew along the banks of the sparkling streams of my New England home. Fre- mont and Freedom I could understand for I had read Uncle Tom's Cabin with deep and abiding interest and shed bitter tears at his grave. Buchanan and Gradual Emancipation was a puzzle, like many anoth- er political slogan that has charmed the ear of man before and since. "Buchanan and Gradual Emancipa- tion" won, particularly the former, but it was its last victory for the victorious party was disintegrating and other political lines were forming to give success- ful battle to slavery in the territories and, as an inci- dent of the coming war, wipe the stain of its exist- ence and lift the burden of its crushing weight from the unfortunate states where it then stood unchal- lenged. The supreme court of the United States, a major- ity of the judges of which were from slaveholding states, Judges McLean and Curtis, from Ohio and INTRODUCTION 9 Massachusetts respectively, dissenting-, decided in the case of Dred Scott ag-ainst Sanford, that the Missouri compromise act, passed by congress in 1820, for the admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state and prohibiting- slavery in the territories north of a lixed line was unconstitutional, and thus opened the question of the extension of slavery into the territo- ries where it had been prohibited by that act. The free soilers met the situation in national convention by declaring- against the soundness of the doctrine of that decision and elected Abraham Lincoln as presi- dent on their platform. On the political success at the polls of the issue thus raised ten of the southern states determined to secede from the Union and the newspaper reports of their proceeding's overshadowed all other topics of the time. I remember one stormy nig'ht in the local postofifice of a little villag-e in Mas- sachusetts where I lived, after the mail was distrib- uted, hearing a loud voiced fellow declare that "se- cession is going- to raise h — 11" which General Sher- man afterv/ards declared was the true condition of war, and most people who have had a taste of it find no difficulty in agi-eeing with him. People in our section at that time did not take the southern move- ments seriously; sometimes the remark was heard, re- ferring to the militia: "A half dozen British soldiers would whip a whole company of you fellows," while others would say "Oh, there will be no war. You'll go down to Washington on a steamboat and anchor off the city a few days and then come back," or "you'll sail down to Charleston, South Carolina, land on the dock, march through town at the tune of Yankee Doodle, drink a cup of coffee and sail awa}^ for home." My earliest recollection goes back to the days when I v/as but three or four years of age and lived 10 INTKODUCTION", in that ^yart of the city of Fall River, Massachusetts', wliere I was born, overlooking; the beautiful Mount Hope Bay, v/ith a larg"e variety of crafts gliding- over it in every direction, its opposite shore lined v-ith lit- tle farms, dotted with farm houses, fields, orchards and g-ardens and above them all, Mount Hope where the Indian Chief, King- Philip, fell, risinj^ as thoug^li a monument to his memory, and I have often won- dered if young- life amid its surrounding-s did not i)i larg-e measure take its inclination from them. "As the tv/ig- is bent the tree's inclined.'' However tliat may be I do not remember a tiine in early life when I did not aspire to g-o somewhere oi^t into the un- known world Vv^hich inspired the activities I saw g-o- ing- on around me but did not altog-ether understand, and to do something- that would at least be out of the ordinary. From my earliest recollections and until I was eig-ht or ten years of ag-e the sig-lit of a uniformed Hre company, or military compan}^ or a brass band with its wonderful drum m.ajor had a ma^ic influence over me and I seldom failed to fall into their small boy pursuing- columns. As soon as I was old enoug-li I joined a military organization, Company B of the Fourth Massachusetts Militia, at North Kaston, Mas- sachusetts — the town in which lived Oakes and Oliver Ames, famed for their connection with the building- of the Union Pacific railroad. In this North Easton company Oliver Ames, a son of Oakes Ames, several times g-overnor of the State of Massachusetts, was one of the early members, and one of its lieutenants when the war broke out was D. C. Lillie, still living-, a wor- thy, venerable and respected g-entleman, whose g-rand- father was a captain of artillery and on the staff of General Knox in the Revolutionary war, who vv^as the iXTKODVCTlDN. 11 first commander at the West Point Military Academy, and whose son, the father of D. C. Lillie, was the -eig-hth cadet in number to enter that institution, at a more tender age than that fixed for admission in its later years. Kagfer for distinction of some kind on the Sth day of January, 1860, the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, in the little hamlet of Easton Furnace, where cannon were manufactured to fig-ht the battles of the Revolution, I had occasion to pass the melting- works of a furnace which was built with a larg-e brick chimney about ninety feet higli. The melter was en- g-agfed in the flue attempting- to close a leak which in- terfered with the draft and over eig-hty feet above him, hang-ing- from the top of the flue lining-, were several bricks that threatened to fall with disastrous consequences. As he stepped back from his work he said, "I'll give twenty- five dollars to any man who'll g-et those bricks down." Here was a chance to rise in the world. I looked into the flue and asked him if he would g-ive it to a boy. He answered with a smile that he would, and taking- him at his word, I pulled my boots off and started into the fltie to climb to the chimnc}' top, amid the jeers of the workmen as to its impossibility. The space in the flue was about two feet square and the smoke of the furnace below had been g-oing- throug-h it for many years, so that the walls were covered with a thick coat of soot. I work- ed my wa}' up by expanding- my body so that I could hold with my back, knees and elbows to the smooth walls of the flue and strug-g-le upward. I happened to have a silk handkerchief around my neck and I soon found it useful to protect my nose and mouth and thus avoid suffocation. I went up in stag-es of eig-ht or ten feet and stopped at the end of each to 12 INTRODUCTION. breathe and rest. Breathing; was out of the question while I was in motion as the space was black as mid- nig"ht with the soot g'oing- throug"h it with whirlwind force. My friends below, who had sneered at m}- un- dertaking-, now beg-g-ed me to try to come back, but needing- all my strength to reach the top and believ- ing- the descent would prove easv, I continued ray journey until I reached the overhang-ing- bricks and removed them. I then occupied the chimne}^ top for a few minutes' rest and commenced the return trip, which proved more difficult than I had anticipated. I slid down little by little, but I found it well nig-h impossible to avoid a relaxation that would send me to the bottom with fatal result. However, I finally' got down in safetj', after the strug-g-le of my life, and crawled out covered with soot, the hair on my bare head standing- up like porcupine quills, my elbows, knees and back bruised and bleeding-, and mj^ body trembling- with exhaustion. I felt so gfood over my success and the plaudits of the villagers, who g-ather- ed to g-reet me as I completed the undertaking-, that I forg-ave the twenty-five dollars bonus. After that the local critics who had compared our militia with the British soldiers to our disadvantag-e, whistled out of the other corner of their mouths, and admitted that I might go to war if it should come, but I would nev- er have so dangerous an experience as that of climb- ing the chimney. I have found many chimneys to climb in life's experiences since then, and have seldom passed the opportunity by without attempting to learn what was at the top, but not always with success. I suppose the motive has been "So to conduct one's life as to realize one's self," according to Ibsen's philos- ophy. My first military experience of interest was at the INrfKODUCTION. 1> V"agime'ntal muster field at Quincy, Massacliusetts, in the fall of 1S50, where we were encamped for several davs and put throug-h regnmental drill quite frequent- ly, and wound up with dress parade every evening-. In the g-Iitter of g-old lace, brass buttons, the stirring- music of fife and drums and band, I think I came as near to the heaven of human happiness on that de- lightful occasion as is possible for mere man in his present condition. I remember an incident that oc- curred while we were marching- from the railway- sta- tion to the field and it recalls others. I was the file leader of an earnest young- Irishman named Duffy, who to save his soul could not keep step, and he final- ly landed on the back of one of my coag-ress g-aiters and carried the upper down under my heel, and thus I marched until a halt was ordered, as the dig-nity of a soldier would not permit any other course, Duffy -went to war v/ith us in the following^ spring- as one of the "Minute Men" of Massachusetts who responded to the first call for troops on April 15, 1861, on the fall of Fort Sumter, and being- on picket duty one morn- ing- on a plantation near Fortress Monroe, Virg-inia, was approached by the owner with an inquiry as to what state he was from to which he replied, "I am from Massachusetts Sor!" "Then G — d damn 3'^ou get out of here," shouted the farmer with g-reat in- dig-nation, *'I don't allow any damned Massachusetts man on my farm." This was all very nice from the standpoint of those who then held that Massachusetts and South Carolina were responsible for the war, but it was not war and Duffy held his g-round with sol- dierly and respectful firmness. Poor fellow, he fell two years later in the terrible slaughter that distin- guished the assault at Port Hudson as one of the most desperate and bloody battles of the war, and thus seal- ed his devotion to the land of his adoption. 14 INTRODUCTION. But let me return to Massachusetts and mj mili- tary experience. A few weeks after our reg-imental muster referred to, the Prince of Wales, present kin;^- of Eng-land, visited Boston and the military org-ani- zations of the state turned out to do him honor. We were lined up on Boston Common to receive him and his suite and the g-overnor. Banks, and his staif . How we did feast our eyes on them as they dashed forward to the reviewing- stand in front of our line on their splendidly equipped horses. And how curious we were to get a g-ood look at the prince, the duke of New Castle and the g-overnor as they passed down our front and rear followed by a splendid cavalcade. I never was worse tempted to do a thing- I refrained from doing- than I was to look over my shoulder and g-et another g-ood look at the splendid curiosities as they passed along the rear of our line and some of the comrades surrendered to the temptation in spite of military discipline. What surprised me most and disappointed me too, and I suppose the same was true of the rest of our boys, was that these distinguished personages looked about like other people under simi- lar circumstances. The prince appeared to be quite tall, slender and graceful, with a pretty pink and white face and a prominent nose. The duke of New Castle, stout, dark, iron grey and grim; the governor, well, like any other fellow would who got his start as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory and worked him- self up from there to the speakership of the house of representatives in congress, the head of his native state and later to the command of an army. The prince did not look much like the picture we have nowadays of Edward the seventh, king of Eng- land, but forty-six years have made changes in the avoirdupois of some of the rest of us who have not otherwise surrendered to the tooth of time. CHAPTKR II. SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. Ill February, 1861, Governor Andrew, the war g'overnor of Massachusetts, called on the militia or- g'anizations of the state for the names of members who would volunteer for service in case of war, and about fifty per cent of our company, myself among the number, responded favorably. It was now begin- ning- to look as thoug-h there mig"ht possibly be troub- le ahead. Fort Sumter fell on April 13th, 1861, and the President issued a call for seventy-five thousand men to serve three months, following- which the g-ov- ernor of Massachusetts issued the following order: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Adjutant General's Office. Boston, Aprii, ISth, 1861. Sir: I am instructed by his excellency the Commander in Chief to order you to muster your command on Boston Common forthwith, in compliance with a requisition made by the President of the United States. The troops are to go to Washington. By order of his Excellency, John A. Andrew, Commander in Chief. William Schouler, Adjutant General. The troops thus called out were afterward known in Massachusetts as the "Minute Men," and it has been written of these soldiers: 16 SERVICE OF THK MIXUTK MEN'. "Among the various veteran militar}- organiza tions, the Minute Men of 1861, seem to have become the most popular among" our people. As the name implies, its members are those who responded at a minute's notice to the first call of President Lincoln and Governor Andrew, April 15, 1861; many of them merchants, mechanics, business men and students,, went direct from their places of business to Faneuil Hall, thence to Washington, not in gav uniforms, but mostl}^ in citizens' attire, some armed with double- barreled shot guns, sporting rifles and various weap- ons of defence, to protect our flag and the national capital. Many of these men did not have time to see their wives or children before hastening av/ay; some were school boys, and left school books and dinner pails in their haste to get to the front. It is to these men credit vshould be g-iven for preserving our country and national honor. One of our popular historians has written: 'A delay of a half hour in the arrival of the Minute Men in Washington would have found our capital and the archives of our government in the hands of the rebels, who would at once have been rec- ognized by England and France,' enemies of our coun- try. With this state of affairs it would have been nearly impossible for our government to have again established itself among the nations of the world. "The Minute Men put themselves to the front and g-ave our government time to catch its breath. The Massachusetts Minute Men of '61 consisted of seven separate organizations, viz: "First Massachusetts light battery, 118 men; commanded by Capt. Asa M. Cook. "Third battallion of riflemen, 318 men; command- ed by Maj. Charles Devens, Jr. (late Judge Devens.) "Third regiment of infantrj-, 447 men; command- ed by Col. David W. Wardrop. SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 17 "Fourth reg-iinent infantry, 635 men; commanded by Col. Abner B. Packard. "Fifth reg-iment Massachusetts infantr}-, 829 men; commanded by Col. Samuel C. Lawrence. "Sixth regiment Massachusetts infantry, 747 men; commanded by Col. Kdward F. Jones. "Eig"hth reg"iment infantry, 711 men; command- ed by Timothy Munroe, afterwards by Col. Edward W. Hincks. "This made a total of thirty-eig-ht hundred and live men. Some of our friends have had an idea that these Minute Men were only three months in the ser- vice of our country, but at their first camp-fire in Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1887, it was shown that of the 853 Minute Men present all but sixteen again volun- teered in defence of our flag and country; 486, or over half, having" had experience at the front, were made of&cers in new reg"iments and batteries. With this ratio it would appear that over two thousand of these Minute Men were made officers and did much for the discipline and instruction of new regiments." On April 16th, 1861, at about 9 o'clock in the morning we, myself and several other members of the company in our neig^hborhood, were ordered to appear armed and equipped for military duty at the armory in North Easton, about four miles distant. It was the work of a few minutes to put our affairs in order, have our white stripes, about an inch wide, sewed down the outer seams of our black doeskin Sunday trousers and slip them on with our blue uniform dress coats, ornamented with white epaulets, adjust our white belts which passed over each shoulder and crossed in front and rear, running- down to the round- about to hold the bayonet scabbard on one side and the cartridg-e box on the other, and to place the large IS SERVICE OF THK MIKUTB IfEN. brass breastplate in position to ward off cannon balls, bullets, baj^onet thrusts, etc., I suspect, and adjust our hats, as tall as the ordinary stovepipe article, and, except the visor, much like the form of a bean baking- pot turned bottum side up. It may have been formed on the Boston bean pot as a model. A short staff grew up near the front and top of this hat about a couple of inches which had a white ball,, a pompon, on it. At 12 o'clock, noon, we were at the armory with our guns, flint lock muskets altered into percussion cap arms, and about 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon we left by railwa3^ train for Boston, tv/enty miles away. On our arrival we were marched to Faneuil Hall, the rendezvous of our regiment, and of the Eighth Massachusetts, that a little later under Gen- eral Butler, made, with the Seventh New York, the march from Annapolis, Md., to Annapolis Junction, reconstructing engines, cars and tracks, which the se- cessionists had destroyed or disabled. In this noted hall, called The Cradle of Liberty, the body of the first man killed in the revolution — a mulatto man — was laid in state; assemblies on great patriotic and public spirited occasions, gathered here to set the ball rolling; here Daniel Webster defended the fugitive slave law and called down upon his ven- erable head the eloquent and scathing condemnation of his abolition friends, some of whom preferred a dissolution of the Union to further compromise with slavery; and here, in the rear of the rostrum, stands a grand picture in oil showing the assembled senate with Webster, life size, in the foreground, as he clos- ed his great speech in reply to Hayne, with "Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and forever," and here you can hardly look at him and recall the SERVICE OK THE MINUTE MEN. 19 occasion and speech, without feelin.if that he has his country in his arms and is holding" it to his heart. When we arrived in Boston v/e had neither mili- tary overcoats, knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, blankets, nor clothing- not on our backs, but we were soon amply provided for. The two reg'inients refer- red to bivouacked in Faneuil Hall that nig-ht and slept on benches, floor and platform. The next fore- noon a call came for ten picked men from our compa- ny and I was anxious to be, and was picked. I was like most all soldiers who have not been under fire; I was spoiling for a fig'ht and the quicker it came the better it would suit me. I suspected the war v/as to beg-in right there in Boston, as it did in 1775, but I was doomed to disappointment for we were marched to the state house and put on g-uard in the rotunda, where after dinner, hearing the sound of fife and drum, we saw a company of about one hundred men approaching- with the music in the lead. All were dressed in citizen's clothes, except possibly the com- missioned officers, and Joseph's coat "was not in if when it came to variety in color and character. This company was from Cambridg-e and was the first vol- unteer military organization for the war. The com- pany marched past us and disappeared. I was curi- ous to see what the chang-e would be when they re- appeared and I was not kept long- in waiting-. Each man, except officers, as they marched out, wore a g-ray woolen shirt outside of his trousers, as a frock coat, similar to General Burnside's reg-iment in the early part of the war, and his equipments were put on over this shirt. They had caps not unlike those worn now; a little broader top with flimsy cloth be- tween that and the band so the top could be set to suit the disposition of the wearer, according- to his 20 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. inclination as an ordinary mortal, a dude, dandj', a slug"g-er, etc. Other ununiformed men, recruits to reg-ular org^anizations, who followed, were similarly rig-g-ed out. In the volunteer company referred to was a prom- inent lawyer, a kinsman of our lieutenant Lillie, who, after the company arrived at Fortress Monroe with the Third Massachusetts, Vv-as sent to Washington on a mission where he met President Lincoln, who in- troduced him to General Scott as Corporal Pierce, and as the story goes, the general said: "I am happy to meet you Corporal Pierce. I was once a corporal myself and while holding- that position during the war of 1812, at Hampton, Va., several captured Brit- ish oSicers were placed in my charg'e whom I treated with dutiful consideration. Years after, since I be- came commander of the army, I was traveling- in Eu- rope and met several British g-entlemen, one of whom related the fact that he and some brother officers were held as prisoners of war in charge of one Corpo- ral Scott at Hampton, and he treated them so well they thought after their release they would like to meet him ag-ain but of course, General, he could have been no kin of yours." Said I, "Gentlemen, I am Corporal Scott!" and it is said the g-eneralrose to the stalwart height of his youth as he made this declaration. But let us return to the Massachusetts state house. Our detail was relieved in the afternoon and returned to the company at Faneuil Hall where we were sup- plied with haversacks loaded with fresh boiled beef and soft bread, and canteens filled with tea or coffee, and were eloquently addressed as the old colony regi- ment by Governor Andrew. The regiment was then marched to the state house where we exchanged our old and despised militia guns for Harper's Ferry rifled SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEX. 2i 'niiiskets, received g-un sling-.s, knapsacks, rubber and woolen blankets, overcoats and each one pair of wool- en shirts and two pairs of drawers. With these g"en- erous donations bundled up in our arms in blissful ig-- norance of how to pack our blankets or knapsacks, we hurried away to a street near bj to g"ive other com- mands an opportunity for supplies. As we were look- ing* upon our recent acquisitions and vainly seeking" for a way to put them in order, a fellow in the crowd — and the streets of Boston were filled on that da}^ with a multitude of people — said, "Young" fellow let me help you fix them thing-s. I was in the Mexican war." I promptl}^ submitted to his direction and was grateful for the opportunity; he soon adjusted my g-un sling, the use for which I did not know, pack- ed m_v knapsack and blankets, fastened them on my back in true military style, and thus set the example for the rest of the boys who quickly benefited by it. When we were all in order the regiment marched to the old Colony depot and boarded the train. Before it pulled out a young" man named Bellows from the neig"hborhood where I lived, who was anxious to g"o with us but fearful he could not learn to be a soldier, came along- side the car we were in and some of the boys seized him by the collar and pulled him head foremost throug"h the window into the car; he was soon provided with gun and equipments and was as g"ood a soldier as any of us, notwithstanding" he was the only man in the company not in uniform. He was the first man killed in the war; how, I will relate when I reach the scene of his death. We arrived at Fall River about 10 o'clock in the evening- and shortly after embarked on a line steamer, the State of Maine, for New York. We arrived in New York harbor the next evening" about 4 or 5 22 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. o'clock, after a storm y experience on Lonj^ Island sound, v/here we anchored for the nig-ht. About the time of our arrival Major Anderson of Fort Sumter fame sailed into the harbor on his way back from that fortification which he had surrendered with the honors of war. The nig-ht following- was raw and stormy. Colonel KHsworth was parading* the streets of New York city with his regiment, the Fire Zouaves, before g'oing" south a few days later to meet his death in Alexandria, Va., at the hands of Jack- son for pulling dovv^n a secession flag that waved above his hotel. New York was wild with excite- ment, but I suppose this was then true of every city, village or hamlet in the land. That night, April 18th, I was detciiled for guard duty but having a cold I eng-aged Bellows, the sol- dier in citizen's clothes, to take my place, which he did cheerfully, for he was anxious to learn his mili- tary duties. During- the night a bottle of poisoned liquor was passed on board to the guards from a small boat along side, and "it went the rounds" among- them; when it reached Bellows there was lit- tle left. He drank the last — but a few swallows — with the dreg-s of the bottle and not long- after he be- gan to suffer great pain and was relieved from duty and came below to his berth in the cabin, which was directly over mine. Long- before daylight I heard his moans and other signs of suffering and upon ex- amination the clothing- around his chest was found to be saturated with blood from a wound in the region of his heart, which later proved to be slig-ht and v/as supposed to have been caused by the point of his Bowie knife, the sheath of which was broken, acci- dentally cutting him while he was tossing about in ag"ony. It was decided that he had been poisoned by SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 23 the liquor which he drank and he was taken to the upper deck for better care and treatment. He died at 6 o'clock on the morningf of the 19th, the anni- versary of the battle of Lexing-ton, and was the lirst man killed in the war; a few hours later on the same day, Needham, Ladd and Whitney of the Sixth Mas- sachusetts were killed in the streets of Baltimore by a mob. Several other men who drank from the same bottle suffered from poisoning- but death came to Bel- lows only. What was the motive for giving- this liquor to the soldiers could not be ascertained. We were the first regiment to come into the harbor on the way .south and it was believed some of the "wharf rats" of New York who reg-arded us as "Lincoln hireling-s" did it to make an example of the victims. They doubtless belong-ed to the same class of ruffians as those who shot the soldiers of the Sixth Massachusetts down in the streets of Baltimore; later perpetrated the un- speakable outrag-es in the New York riot ag-ainst the drafting of soldiers to carry on the war; sent boxes of clothing- infected with small pox and yellow fever g-erms to places in the South g-arrisoned by our troops and finally crowned its record of fiendish crimes by the assassination of President Lincoln, of all men best calculated to finish the g-reat work he was en- g-ag-ed in by the reconstruction of the seceding- states and the prompt return of their responsible and repre- sentative men to the cong-ress of the United States in a manner alike creditable and satisfactory to both sections, and in harmony with the spirit that charac- terized the silent commander when he dictated the terms of surrender of the Southern army at Appo- mattox. Before leaving- Boston for New York some of our 24 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE M'KK. bojs were told by Oakes Ames, the bi^ man of our town, who was a member of the g"overnor's council, and later a niember of congress, that we were destin- ed for Fortress Monroe, Va,, and if there was to be any tig-hting: in the South it would be there, as the fort bad probably fallen into the hands of the secession- ists. On the morning- of April 19th, shortly after the death of Bellows, we weig^hed anchor and stood out to sea on our voyagfe of conquest. Our vessel was one of the old fashioned side-wheel steamers that had been used as a passeng-er boat on the Fall River line to New York. To me she seemed like an old friend and companion for I had known her well from the earliest days of my recollection, so I felt quite at home on board of her; but she was about as well fitted for the service she was then eng-ag-ed in as the holiday sol- diers with which she was freig'hted. Fortress Mon- roe, as I remember it, covered from forty to eig^hty acres; was built at Old Point Comfort, which jutted out into Hampton Roads, an arm of the sea in which all the navies of the world at that time could ride at anchor. The outer wall of the fort rose sixty feet above the moat, a body of sea water about five feet deep at low tide and one hundred feet wide surround- ing- it, crossed by drawbridg-es; this wall was several feet thick and built of granite. Above it rose the parapet over which the big- guns frowned savag-ely on the outside world; beneath the parapet and the rest of the ramparts of the fort were larg-e rooms built of stone masonry and used as quarters for officers and soldiers, mag-azines for ammunition, warehouses for storing food supplies, etc., and casements from which heavy guns peered throug-h embrasures, and outside of all, commanding- the main channel of the Roads, was a forty g-un water battery, built of granite on the SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 2o front and ends, with a brick arch over each g"un and brick floor beneath. The top of the work was made of arches and covered several feet deep with earth and sodded over. On the Hank of this battery, several rods away above hig'h water mark on the beach, was a fifteen inch bore grin, the larg-est ever made in this country up to that time, in position to rake the chan- nel passing- the fort. It was called the Floyd gxm, after President Buchanan's secretary of war, who was charged with treachery in reducing" our army to the minimum number and placing the troops so far away from where they mig-ht be needed ag^ainst the seces- sionists, and in such scattered bands as not to be available when the critical time arrived. To take this formidable fortification six hundred Yankee militiamen sailed out of New York harbor, as I have stated. One shot from the smallest gun in the fort fired into our boat on its water line, and its g-uns numbered a hundred or more, would have sunk us so deep in Hampton Roads that it is doubtful if there would have been enough of our topmasts left above water to fly the flags with which we went down, for it was possibl}^ intended that we should set an example for the heroic conduct of the Cumberland and Congress which were sunk in those waters by the Merrimac during" the following year. All day following our departure from New York we sailed southward along" the coast over a g"lassy sea, which seemed to swell with pride because of the burden it was bearing- on its bosom. When night came our colors were hauled down and lights put out in the parts of the boat occupied by the soldiers. We expected to be in hostile waters before daylight and desired to conceal ourselves until we were ready for the deadly work before us. About 4 o'clock in the 26 SERVICE OP THE MIXUTE MEX. morning-, Saturday, the 20th of April, we were off the mouth of Chesapeake bay, and a little steamer ran out, sig-hted us, threw up a rocket and disappeared in the darkness. We took it for a picket boat of the se- cessionists on the lookout for vessels coming' to the relief of the fort or to attack it and such it later prov- ed to be. Its action added to the evidence we already had that we would g^et a warm reception as we dash- ed from our steamer over the beach, across the moat, scaled the outer wall of the fort and drove the g^un- ners from the cannons on the parapet. We had no doubt about that rocket saying" to the secessionists on shore: "The Yankees are coming-." We continued our journey until dayligfht found us near "Willoug-hby Spit," a shoal about five miles away from Fortress Monroe, where a light boat was kept at anchor to warn vessels of the dangers of the shoal. Our colors were not flying- because we did not desire to advertise our business, as it was the kind of business that succeeds best without advertising-. The occupants of the fort were suspicious of us and train- ed, and kept trained, one of the big- columbiad para- pet, or barbette, g-uns on us until they discovered our true character, a soldier standing- with the lanyard in his hand ready to respond at the command "fire!" Had our colors been hoisted, perhaps, they would not have been so suspicious of us, but up went "Old Glo- ry" in the fort and its folds opened g-racefully with the g-entle breeze to receive the welcoming- kisses of the morning- sun. There was little doubt now on our boat about the secessionists having- the fort, because if our folks held it they would have kept the flag- fly- ing- all the time so their friends coming- from the sea would know they were there. This flag- raising- was a trick to deceive us. When we became better sol- SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 27 (liers and sailors we learned that a vessel always shows her colors and that a military post raises and lowers its flag" with the rising" and setting of the sun. At the time we were passing judgment on the mean- ing" of the raising" of the flag" over the fort, Hampton, about two miles awaj' from there, was flying" a seces- sion flag". Notwithstanding our suspicions we steamed bold- ly up to the wharf below the fort's guns and the of- licer of the day, an artillery captain splendidly uni- formed, followed by his orderly, a neatly dressed mu- sician, whose dazzling stripes and scales led us to think the fort was garrisoned with officers altogether, came down to meet us. Mutual g"reetings of relief and satisfaction passed between our colonel and the officer of the day and I think all of us felt better than we Vv'ould have after attempting to attack the strong"- hold before us. I imagined when we left New Kngland that Fort Monroe was a g"loomy stone structure on a barren sandy beach about as forbidding a spot as heaven's curse could make it; and here spread out before our admiring gaze, our eyes fairly feasting" on it, was the splendid sight of the fort itself in the grandeur of its g"race and magnitude, and outside the moat were nu- merous neat little cottag"es surrounded with shrubs and flowers the perfumes from which fllled the air to such an extent as to take us back to the days of para- dise. This was the beg"inning" of war, for this was the first hour of the Yankee soldiers' arrival on the sacred soil of Virginia, yet to be the dark and bloody ground of the g"reatest civil war known to history. What a contrast was the future to be with that love- able picture of peace and contentment! Civilians there were g-enerally regarded as secessionists and some of 28 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. them were openly and violently- so in speech; but the time was rapidly coming" when all had to gfet on one side or the other, and the sides to keep out of rang-e of each other except in battle. If Virg-inia had se- ceded it was not then known at Fort Monroe. I think it had not yet passed the ordinance of seces- sion, but did so soon after. On the day we landed Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the United States Army to cast his fortunes with his native state, which I suspect, regarded us as invaders, and perhaps he agreed with her. It used to be said by those opposed to war, or many of them, "secession is unconstitutional but you cannot coerce a state." Shortly after our boat tied up to the wharf, we rigged ourselves in presentable shape and marched into the fort, where we were assigned to quarters in the barracks and then scattered to see the sights. The regulars in the garrison numbered two hundred and eighty, seven companies reduced to the minimum, as previously stated, by Secretary of War Floyd, who ran away from his comrades at Fort Donelson the next spring through fear of falling into General Grant's hands and being sent to the doom he deserv- ed, if the stories about him were true. These regu- lar soldiers were glad to see us but prophesied that if there should be any fighting- they would be thrown into the thickest of it as they were professionals, and as we were volunteers we would be regarded as pa- triots and heroes; that was nice, but at dinner that day I was very hung-ry; we had a plate of bean soup to each man and a slice of white bread to go along- with it. After I had eaten my soup I called the cook to tell him I would take another plate of soup and he promptly informed me that I could not have it, as I had my rations. I don't think I ever had to go to SERV1CT3 OF THE MINUTE MEN. 29 the dictionary to look up any phase of the word ra- tions after that. I had it impressed upon my mind forever after with a reinforcement such as hungvr alone could g'ive. Of course we could go to the sut- tler's and buy some stuff to fill up on; but the disap- pointment, what could I do with that at the suttler's or elsewhere? I sat down at the table that day ex- pecting- to eat dinner, instead of that I was cut off with "you've had your ration." I was not alone; we were all served alike. In that mess was the late Elijah Morse, the millionaire ^'Rising- Sun Stove Pol- ish" manufacturer, and for man}- years a member of congfress from Massachusetts, fie, too, had his ration. During- the middle of the forenoon of that day the Third Massachusetts came by steamer to the fort and on the following- evening", with a solitary drum beat, marched to the wharf and boarded the United States armed steamer Pawnee for Portsmouth navy yard, about fifteen or twenty miles away. It was ru- mored that Portsmouth and Norfolk, particularly the latter, were swarming- with secessionists, there were no rebels 3'et, and some of the old regulars said as they saw the regiment march down to the steamer, ''Many a poor fellow among- them will bite the dust." This reg-iment reached the navy yard and with the sailors on the Cumberland, which was at anchor there, and those of the Pawnee, sank the Merrimac, a sister ship of the Colorado, Minnesota and Wabash; burned the Pennsylvania, then our larg-est war vessel; de- stroyed as much of the navy yard and its naval stores and contents as possible, to make it useless to the se- cessionists, and returned the following- morning- with- out the loss of a man, or even the firing- of a shot, bring^ing- with them the Cumberland and its crew, commanded by Commodore Penderg-ras, in tow of a tug- boat. 30 SERVICE OF THE ^^ITNUTE MSN. During- the year following' the Merrimac Vv'as raised by the confederates; her body cut down to a gun deck over Vv^hich was erected a roof of railroad iron to protect her crew, battery and eng-ines; and in the spring- of 1862,. she came out into Hampton Roads, sank the Cumberland and Cong-ress at the mouth of the James river and treated her sister, the Minnesota,, with such consideration as to somewhat mar their family relations. But the Monitor coming- in on its trial trip from the north proved itself on this surpris- ing- monster of the sea so well that the latter return- ed to her watery grave a few days later and thus put an end to threatened immeasurable injury to the Un- ion cause. The crew of the Cumberland sank the Merrimac but the Merrimac rose from the g-rave to which they consig-ned her to sink both the Cumber- land and her crew. Not long- after our arrival at Fortress Monroe we observed that our secession friends had established a picket about a mile from the fort at the end of the causewa}' leading- from it to the main land, and that but a few steps from it was a picket post for our folks, made up of regulars from the fort. This did not look unfriendly enough to indicate hostility of a warlike nature, but nevertheless that is what it foreshadow- ed. We had not been at the fort but a few days be- fore the commander of the post. Colonel Dimock, moved out with a detachment of regulars armed as infantry and a section of a battery. He invited the secession guard to fall back, which was promptly done, and a picket line of volunteers established by us on the main land near the entrance to the cause- way. In the early days it was not an infrequent prac- tice for our boys who did not relish the army rations to go beyond our pickets and throug-h the secession SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 3>\ iines to purchase more palatable food, and on such occasions the only opposition thev met with was a frown from a secession officer or advice from his men that they better not pass to the rear of their line. A little later the First Vermont joined us. This was a splendidly uniformed and equipped regiment com- manded by Colonel Phelps, formerly a captain in the reg-ular army, who did service among- the Mormons before the civil war in the far West with the jet to be famous g^enerals, Albert Sidney Johnston and Fitz Hug-h Lee. It was said there was not a man in this reg-iment less than five feet ten inches tall, and among' them was one who later became an officer in the reg-- ular army, rose to the rank of colonel and was killed at the head of his reg-iment in the Boxer outbreak. Iviscomb was his name, I believe. After a short stay in the fort and vicinit}- this reg-iment broke camp and moved out beyond our pick- et line to re-establish itself on g-round that was to be the g-eneral camp for the many reg'iments of volun- teers expected. This move was a sig-nal for the neg-ro slaves to run away from their masters in the adjacent territory and penetrate our lines for protection. Gen- eral Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts, was one cf the brig-adier g-enerals of the militia of that state and so strong^ a pro-slavery democrat that when he was about to gfo to the national democratic convention at Charleston, S. C, in 1860, he is said to have g-iven this' answer to a g-entleman who asked him if he was g-oing- to'that convention: "Yes, by G — d I am g^oing- to the Charleston convention and before I leave I will have it fixed so that I can buy and sell a nig-g-er on the streets of Lowell," — his home town; and in addi- tion to this it was charg-ed that he voted fifty-six times in that convention for Jefferson Davis as a pres- ^3 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN". idential candidate. But supporting- slavery as it stood under the Dred Scott decision and extravag-ant assertions about establishing- it in Lowell, which the g^eneral himself did not believe, presented a different proposition than that of the destruction of the Union in the interest of slavery. General Butler, like many other pro-slavery democrats of prominence in the North, promptly became a war democrat, responded with his brig-ade to the first call for troops and ex- hibited so much skill and energ-y as a leader that his was one of the earliest promotions to the rank of ma- jor g-eneral of volunteers. The g-eneral was assig-ned to the command of the Fortress Monroe district and troops about the time the Vermont regiment referred to arrived there, and was soon to have an opportunity to fix the status of the runaway slaves within our lines. One day I saw a field of&cer of the Vermont regi- ment and several nicely dressed and g-enteel looking- civilians dash into the fort on horseback and dis- mount at General Butler's headquarters. The civil- ians came to ask him for the return of their slaves and he met them on their own g-round and cut the gordian knot. He admitted that slaves were mere chattels but as such they mig-ht be used to further the cause of the Confederacy and therefore when com- ing- from an enemy's territory they were contra- band of war, and this was the basis of all song- and story of the contraband in civil war times. Under this rule, which the Confederates themselves could not deny the soundness of, the runaway slaves held their liberty until the emancipation proclamation went into effect, more than a year and a half later. During- the months of May and June several very fine New York regiments joined us, among- them the SEKVTCK OF THE Mll^-UTK MKN^. 33 Fifth New York, "Durjea's Zouaves." Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic have occasionally seen a surviving- member in full uniform at national g-atherings of the G. A. R. They wore red baggy legg-ed trousers, canvas leggings, a blue scarf around the waist, a small blue loose fitting jacket ornament- ed vrith figures in braid, and for caps a red fez with blue tassel. In this regiment was G. K. Warren as lieutenant colonel, who afterwards as a major gener- al commanded the Fifth army corps of the Army of the Potomac and was offered the command of that army, but Vv-hose distinguished military career was brought to a sudden close at Five Forks, just before the surrender of General Lee and his army at Appo- mattox, b}' an order from the blunt and fiery Sher- idan relieving him from command in the face of the enemy for lack of energetic action, and v.'hich, upon an unsuccessful appeal to a court of inquiry broke his manly heart and sent him to an untimely grave. Judson Killpatrick, afterwards the famous cavalry g-eneral, was a captain in this reg-iment, and the reg- iment was itself so good in active service that it be- came a part of Syke's division of regulars, most re- markable for their effectiveness and fighting quali- ties. Another one of these regiments was the Ninth New York, "Hawkins' Zouaves," in which our one armed soldier friend, Kellog, formerly of Woonsock- et, was a member; another was the Tenth New York, Arthur Linn of Canton, ex-commander of the soldiers' home at Hot Springs, was a member of that regiment. All the regiments that came to us from New York were good, but those I have mentioned were partic- ularh' fine. Before the middle of June we had a large army where Mr. Buchanan's war secretary had left us but 34 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. two hundred and eig-htj men to g-arrison a fort re- quiring- thousands. We who were quartered in the fort soon found out that we had something- else to do beside strutting- around in our militia uniforms with a halo of self-admiration surrounding- us, or borrow- ing- the captain's or a lieutenant's coat with g-old epauletts to lead a squad of comrades past the guard on the main drawbridg-e of the fort to comparative liberty and other pleasures on the outside. We were frequently detailed to haul big- g-uns from the ord- nance yard outside the fort to the parapets on the in- side, so that men skilled in the work could mount them, and when not at this work we were employed in unloading- army supplies, such as bread and meat for men and g-rain and hay for animals, from the ves- sels laid along- side the wharf. The supplies for the soldiers we rolled in barrels from the wharf, what seems to me now a half mile or a mile into the fort to the monster store houses of the casemates, in which it seemed nearly another half mile from their entranc- es to the top of the stored barrels where we often fin- ished each journey. The food for animals was stored outside the fort where the air was much better than in the casemates, otherwise we mig-ht have found it somewhat disag-reeable, for in this work we were of- ten associated with "intelligfent contrabands." I re- member one occasion when I had for a partner in roll- ing- baled hay a runaway slave as black as nig-ht; he at one end of the bale and I at the other as we push- ed it up in the store house to the top of the pile. He was dressed in linsey woolsey and I had all of my nice militia uniform on which I could wear under the circumstances. He was g-enerally silent but when he spoke to me it was with so much respect I could not help associating- him with Uncle Tom, of Uncle Tom's SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 35 Cabin. The runaway slaves by this time were very numerous inside our lines and one of our sources of amusement was to g"et squads of them together after night fall to dance on bare spots of ground to the time supplied by one of their number humming and patting on his knees as he bent forward for that pur- pose. How the darkies would perspire and kick up the dust when encouraged b}' the white folks. The salt sea air came very handy on such occasions. Along about this time we noticed the first firing of hostile guns in our neig-liborhood — a duel between the United States gunboat Monticello and the Con- federate works at Sewell's Point. The affair did not amount to much, merely an exchange of a few shots. It was a bloodless engagement. Standing as a sen- tinel at the north end of the water battery one morn- ing I was hailed from the parapet of the fort by its commander and directed to tell the captain of the Baltimore boat at the w^harf to proceed no further on his trip to Norfolk. I delivered the message and this was the beginning of the blockade which lasted until the iron-clad Merrimac came out the next spring and sank the Cumberland and Congress. Marching the sentinel's beat on the parapet in the solemn stillness of the night in those days, was interesting; every half hour the bells would strike on the war vessels and the watch would call out one, two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight bells, according to the num- ber struck, and "a-l-l-s w-e-1-1." After we had been in the fort about six weeks all the companies of the regiment except ours, had their ranks swelled by a number of recruits and a little later the reg'iment was ordered to Newport News for the purpose of establishing a post and fortifying it. Our company was to be left in the fort because of the 36 SERVICE OF THE ]MINUTR MKN. smallness of our numbers. That we were disappoint- ed is putting- it mildly; there was "wailing- and gnashing- of teeth." It seemed mig-hty hard that we old vets who were first in the field should be ordered to g-ive way for the tender feet. The service of all was similar, however; they dug- trenches and piled up earthworks, while we unloaded, vessels and rolled their contents into store houses for the coming- cam- paig-n. About this time a larg-e steamer came down from New York loaded with the hardest looking- lot of male humanity I ever cast my eyes upon. It was called a "naval brig-ade." As a matter of fact it was a mere mob g-athered together from the streets of New York city by its colonel, who was believed to be demented, under the promise that each man would receive a bounty of twenty dollars before sailing and as much more v/hen they reached Fortress Monroe. The men were dressed in their every day clothes; had received no part of the bounty promised; had been poorly fed and cared for on the steamer and were bordering on mutiny when they landed. Some of them had lost an eye, an arm or other member, and all of them ex- cept officers, looked exceedingly wretched. The gov- ernment would not recognize them as an organiza- tion but finally, when their colonel left for Washing- ton, never to return, they were corralled and cared for; the disabled sent home and those fit for service allowed to join other organizations. Some of them enlisted in the regular army, but most of them were organized into a new volunteer regiment, of which it was reported in 1863, that its most distinguished ser- vice was catching free negroes inside of our lines and running them through the enemy's lines, where they were sold as slaves. I do not vouch for the truth of SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 37 this report but many of the men who came with the "naval brigade" looked toug-h enoug-h for that or any other kind of bad work. The appearance of the "brig-ade" recalls a story of "Billy" Wilson's zouaves. The chaplain was ad- dressing- them a short time before they left New York for the seat of war but they did not seem to heed what he was saying", so Colonel Billy called out, "Bo3's, pay attention to v/hat the preacher is telling- you for within ten daj^s you may all be in hell!" "Three cheers for hell" shouted one of them, and three heart}^ cheers were g-iven. They thoug-ht hell was some place down south where they would meet the enemy. Not long- after this the Confederates gave them such a dose at Santa Rosa island, Florida, that they must have been convinced they had reached the place they so roundly cheered. Life at Fortress Monroe settled down to the commonplace after we had been there a few weeks but we were rapidly drifting- to the point of unmis- takable war. Early in June an affair occurred at Philippi, Virg-inia, in which several were killed and wounded. Then followed a skirmish at Seneca Mills, Maryland, on the 16th of that month, and the follow- ing- day an eng-ag-ement at Boonville, Missouri, be- tween the Union troops under General Lyon and the Confederates under General Price, which measured by the loss on both sides rose to the digfnity of a bat- tle. It was now our turn. Detachments of Union troops moved out from Hampton and Newport News on the nig-ht of the 19th or morning- of the 20th of June, with Big- Bethel, a few miles av/ay, as their ob- jective point. There they met the Confederates un- der General Mag-ruder in a fortified position and suf- fered defeat. Among- the killed were Major Winthrop 2S SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. of General Butler's staff, a member of a noted New Engfland family of that name, and Lieutenant John Greble of the regular artillery g-arrison of Fortress Monroe, who commanded a section of a battery in the fight, the only artillery on our side. This of&cer was held in high esteem by his associates and his funeral at the chapel in the fort and the procession which fol- lowed the remains was a splendid tribute to his worth. The casket containing the body was strapped to the carriage of the gun he was working when he fell and his blood and brains bespattered it. All the ofl&cers and soldiers of the garrison and many of the sailors from the fleet were in the procession, privates and noncommissioned officers in the lead, company of- ficers following their companies, regimental officers their regiments and General Butler and Commander Pendergras bring-ing up the rear, and in returning all faced about on their individual ground so that the gen- eral and commodore led the procession. Only a part of our regiment — four companies taken from Newport News — were engaged in the battle of Big Bethel and we who were left in the fort constituted the burial party for the only man killed in the regiment. General Magruder who commanded the Confed- erates was an old regular army officer, a captain of artillery, of whom the story was told that while on the march with his battery out on the plains before the war, he noticed one of his men lifting a canteen to his lips and the following occurred: "What have you in that canteen, sir?" "Whiskey, sir." "Pass it to me, sir." After taking a drink he passed the canteen back to the soldier and said: "What's your name, sir?" "Private O'Riley, sir." "Hereafter you are Corporal O'Riley." A little later he called to the soldier: "What's your name, sir?" "Corporal O'Riley, SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 39 sir." "What have 3'ou in that canteen, sir?" "Whis- key, sir." "Pass it to me, sir." And after drinking again he passed it back with "What's your name, sir?" "Corporal O'Riley, sir." "Hereafter you are Sergeant O'Riley." And it was said if the whiskey had held out the captain would have exhausted his power of promotion. The 2uth of July soon came around, our three months' service was ended and we shipped aboard the steamer S. R. Spaulding for Boston. We arrived on an island in the harbor about the time the news of the disaster' to our arms at Bull Run shocked the peo- ple of the North and it seemed queer that we should be returning to civil life at a time when our services were most needed. The Confederates adopted a more effective way of creating their army. They enlisted their men for longer terms and kept their organiza- tions full so the new men soon became veterans. Per- haps they adopted that plan from necessity, as the supply of material was limited. But whatever senti- ment might suggest as to our being retained in ser- vice we were mustered in for but three months and our Uncle Sam, as usual, kept his word and mustered us out on time. CHAPTER III. RETURN TO ARMY, BIIRNSIDE EXPEDITION. Many of us could not stay out. We soon beg"an looking- up an opportunit}' to get back a^ain. I fi- nally broug-ht up at 112 Washing-ton street, Boston, where a company called the Havelock Guards, after the pious Kng-lish General Havelock of India fame, was being- org-anized. Its org-anization was alleg-ed to be under the auspices of the Rev. Phineas Stowe. A long- haired serious looking- individual of middle ag-e, was in charg-e, and he announced that no one could get into the company unless he was twenty one years of age. This was a poser, but I made up my mind to be one of the elect and I immediately became twenty one and was twenty one by the record for about three years thereafter. If my memory serves me correctly the serious looking- man g-ave his O. K. to my rapid increase in ag-e. We went into camp at Lynnfield, Mass., as the second company for the Twenty-second Massachusetts, to be commanded by Senator, afterwards Vice President Henry Wilson, and soon the ten companies that were to make up the regiment were assig^ned their places and we were worked at company and battalion drill up to our full capacity. One day a young lieutenant came into camp from a clerkship in a store in Boston. He was to have a distinguished career in the civil war, where BU"RNSID:E EXPEDITlOl^. 41 fee rose to the rank of a brevet major general and commanded a division of Hancock's famous Second •corps at the '"'Bloody Ang-le" on Spottsylvania's bat- tle lield, where more lead and iron were hurled at each other by the contending- forces than ever before or since in the same amount of space and same length, of time by opposing armies. Not long ago he was retired from his place as commander-in-chief of the army. Another distinguished soldier who started in the Lynn field camp as a private in the Nineteenth Mas^ sachusetts is General Greely of Arctic exploration fame. Colonel Wilson came to see us frequently, but as he was merely the political commander, he left the matter of drill and discipline to his subordinates. One day, however, he undertook to command thereg* iment on review and marching in column b}- compa- nies was about to go through the suttler's tent for want of a proper command when he invented the order "Music left wheel" to get out of the dilemma. His commission as colonel ended when he reached Washington with the regiment and turned it over to a real commander. Before the regiment was ready to start for the South the Havelock Guards, not having the full num- ber of men required by army regulations, had to give up its place to another company and the members, disgusted with the delay, abandoned the organization and enrolled themselves in companies of the Twenty- third Massachusetts now nearly ready for the field. I joined the Plymouth company and knowing some- thing of military tactics was made a sergeant. We left the camp at Lynnfield in November, 1861, for Annapolis, Maryland, to become a part of the Burn- side expedition in the waters of North Carolina. On 42 RETURN TO ARMY, our way we were feasted at the Park barracks in New York City with bean soup and wheat bread, and we were given a nice breakfast at the "Coopsr shop'' in Philadelphia about 3 o'clock in the morning-; then pushed on to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where we were to take steamers to Annapolis. The steamers did not arrive as early as expected and we bivouack- ed in the big- railway station where one of our earli- est enemies, taking advantag-e of the rain and mud, assaulted us with influenza so successfully that many had cause to remember it a long time after ; but the steamers came after a day's delay, and transferred us to Annapolis, where we occupied comfortable quar- ters in the naval school building-s until we were pre- pared to go into camp, a mile or so north of the town. Three brigades were organized as rapidly as pos- sible which were to make up the Burnside expedition and the time between our arrival and that of the sail- ing of the expedition was occupied by company, regi- ment and brigade drill, and discipline; useful in fu- ture service. Our brigade was the first and it was comprised of the Tenth Connecticut, the Twenty- third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty- seventh Massachusetts. It was commanded by Gen- eral John G. Poster, who was a captain of engineers at Fort Sumter when it fell and a very able and ef- fective officer, who had the confidence, love and re- spect of his subordinates and of the men of the bri- gade quite uniformly. ' The second and third brigades were commanded by General Reno, (killed in battle the following summer), and General Parke, who later commanded the Ninth army corps. The regiments of these brigades were from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, perhaps one from New Hampshire, and what BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 43 I have said of the drill and discipline of regiments of our brigade was equally true of those of the other bri- g-ades. In our brig-adewith the Twenty-fourth Mas- sachusetts was Gilmore's band of Boston, led by the far-famed Pat Gilmore of the Boston jubilee, and most, if not all, of the reg-iments had their brass bands in those days. As a reminder of the Havre de Grace bivouac I carried a severe cold with me until I was landed in the hospital ship of our brig-ade about a week before V7e broke camp to g-o aboard the fleet provided for the expedition, but that week's experience convinc- ed me that I was convalescent and able to return to my reg-iment, which the doctor in charg-e permitted me to do. Althoug-h I could with difficulty walk to the reg-imental camp, a mile away, with my g"un and other traps, I felt sure of more and better care at the hands of the men of my own company than among- strang-ers in a hospital ship, the air and care of v/hich would make a well man sick. Wading- throug-h snow, slush and mud I finally arrived in camp to hear that the doctor had decided I was a consumptive. The camp was to be broken up the next morning- and I had to repeat the exhaustive march I had just con- cluded, but youth is strong- in hope. I took no stock in the consumptive report and determined to bear up until we g-ot on ship board, so I should not be con- demned to that disg-usting- hospital ship ag-ain. All day long- we were on the march or standing- around the wharf in the slush of melted snow and di- luted mud, and at evening- we marched on board of an old river boat, built up as a double decked trans- port, to take us in midwinter to Cape Hatteras, the stormiest place on the Atlantic seacoast. This craft was named the Huzzar, and beside the soldiers stowed 44 RETURN" TO ARMY, away in lier she carried two big- Parrot g-uns betweera decks, and a Wiard gun at her bow. The heat for our quarters was the animal heat furnished by the soldiers, and we were packed in like sardines, except the spaces between us were not filled with oil. If a soldier wanted a little extra heat he could crawl throug-h a door that opened near the top of the boiler to a place along- side of it that would hold three or four men at a time. There was nothing- very roman- tic or heroic about this kind of life and the g-rowlers. had the rig-ht of way. But we were in for it and al- most anj'thing- that would take our attention from ourselves was a welcome occurrence. After the troops and supplies were loaded at Annapolis the fleet made its way south to Hampton Roads and some of the vessels anchored there to let others catch up, but we were soon on the move ag-ain and the second day following- that on which we lost sig-ht of Fortress Monroe found us off Cape Hatteras in a frightful gale, and for a time it looked as though the fate which overtook the Monitor there, after she g-ave the Merrimac her death blow, was held in store for us. It seemed as though the angry sea was lash- ing itself with fury to swallow us. Vessels drawing nine feet of water only, could get into Hatteras inlet, and it was a close shave for many of them; the big store ship, City of New York, ran high and dry on the bar and was soon broken up into drift wood among the breakers. What that ship drawing fifteen feet of water was sent down there for no one seemed to know, but speculation on the government's misfor- tune which was the fashion then, probably had some- thing to do with it. It was in line with the supply of fresh water furnished the fleet in kerosene oil bar- rels. The soldiers could use that or go without water BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 45 altog-ether. But the soldier had one remedy he could fall back upon. He could curse the army contractor to his heart's content. The vessels which constituted the fleet finally, after a few da3's' delay, g-ot into Hatteras inlet and cast their anchors in the shifting- sands of that treach- erous harbor, not, however, without the loss of sever- al in the same way as the City of New York. The force of the Burnside expedition consisted of thirty- one steam g-un boats, some of them carr3'ingf heavy gfuns; eleven thousand five hundred troops, conveyed in forty seven transports, some of them armed, and a fleet of small vessels carr3nng' sixty days' supplies. Having- followed the expedition to its anchor- age at the base of operations let us turn to a brief consideration of its purpose. Before the rising- suns of distinction and g"lory of Grant, Sherman, Sher- idan, Thomas, Farrag-ut and Porter had shown themselves above the horizon, somebody had conceiv- ed the policy of shutting- up the Southern Confeder- acy as indispensable to the success of the Union cause. To the distinguished heroes named fell the lot of cutting it to pieces in later times. At the outbreak of the war General Scott, who had won fame in the war of 1812 and in the Mexican war, was at the head of the United States army and continued there for many months. Simon Cameron, the Pennsylvania political leader, was secretary of war and Gideon Wells secretary of the navy during- the same time. It seems natural to conclude that President Lincoln, the two members of his cabinet and more particular- 1}^ the first soldier in America in experience and wis- dom, determined upon the closing- up policy to meet the hostile feeling- abroad that swept our commerce from the seas and penetrated Southern ports with 46 RETUKl'T TO ARMY, British built war vessels, soug-ht to form a combina- tion for armed intervention between the North and South and established the empire of Maximillian in Mexico. Whoever orig-inated the policy, its purpose was to cut off all commerce between that part of the Union in a state of war, and the outside world, ex- cept such as was permitted subject to supervision of the war power, and as a move along" that line, fol- lowing- the capture of Hatteras inlet the preceding- August, by an expedition under General Butler, the Burnside expedition was set afloat. That it was well directed there is no doubt. General Wise, who was g-overnor of Virginia when John Brown was hung-, tells us: "Roanoke Island," the objective point of the expedition, "lying- behind Bodie's island, the sand bar that shuts off Upper North Carolina from the Atlan- tic ocean, offers some of the most interesting- souve- nirs of early American history. It is the key to all the rear defenses of Norfolk. It unlocks two sounds, eight rivers, four canals, two railroads. It guards more than four-fifths of the supplies of Norfolk. The siezure of it endangers the subsistence of the Confed- erate army there, threatens the navy yard, interrupts the communication between Norfolk and Richmond, and intervenes between both and the South." During our stay at Hatteras inlet the sky was usually overhung with leaden clouds, sometimes when the wind was particularly fierce they assumed a yel- lowish brightness as thoug-h the spirit of evil was grinning at our wretched condition. It was a com- mon occurrence for several of our vessels to fly their colors union down at early morn as evidence that the previous night's storm had left them in distress. But all things human must have an end and after knock- ing about in the inlet for two weeks or more the BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 47 work of g"etting- our vessels over the "swash," an in- side bar, beg-an. Many of them, ours among- the number, had to have the help of a lig-ht draft steam- er on each side and a chain under the bottom as a lift to get over this bar, a tribute to the rog-ues who sold these unfit vessels to the g"overnment for such a ser- vice. But most, if not all, of them g-ot over and then the stonu}- period seemed to come to an end. On February 6, 1862, after our delay at Hatteras had g-iven our friends, the enemy, their army under command of General Wise, and navy under Commo- dore Lynch, ample time to prepare a v/arm and ap- preciative reception for us, we weig-hed anchor and steamed tov/ard Roanoke island. The day was per- fect and heaven seemed to smile on our undertaking-. We came to anchor below the island about the middle of the afternoon and preparations beg;an for the work before us. The naval vessels took an advanced posi- tion while the transports moved up so the troops could debark at the lower part of the island. Beyond our naval vessels was a line of piles, sunken vessels and other obstructions to bar their progress up the nar- row sound — Croatan — and beyond the obstruction was the Confederate navy, while on the island flank were heavy batteries commanding- the sound for a long- dis- tance. The soldiers g-enerall_y went ashore below the inland batteries on the afternoon of the 6th; enough of them were left on the armed transports to work the g"uns, and that service fell to our company on the Huzzar. That evening, General Foster, our brigade commander, dignified and smiling, came along side of us and gave the captain of our vessel some good ad- vice about keeping cool when the splinters began to fly, which was not out of place as the captain was an excitable fellow. 48 RETURN TO ARMY, The morning- of the 7th opened bright and fair and under Commodore Goldsboro we sailors went in for victory or death. The way some of the little gunboats commanded by young dare-dev- ils, went at the Confederate batteries was interesting-. Although built of wood alone they v/ould run up witliin a few hundred yards of a battery mounted with the heaviest guns and pour their shot and shell into it and perhaps get one or more eight or ten inch shot through their boats from side to side or end to end with the unavoidable loss of life and maiming that go with such experience. I remember that a late congressman from the state of Maine was one among these dare-devils; like most of his manly com- panions he has joined the great majorit}'. I now re- call his name. It was Boutelle, He will be remem- bered as receiving recognition by way of an appoint- ment as captain in the navy shortly before his death. Among the liberal gifts of recent administrations by way of appointment in the military and naval service of the country, some of which recall Captain Magru- der and Corporal O'Riley, none were more deserving as a recognition of the noble spirit of a true and wor- thy sailor or soldier than the appointment of Cap- tain Boutelle. But we were all in line of battle doing the duty assigned to us. As I stated before we had two big Parrot guns between decks and a three inch Wiard in our bow, on the upper deck; those we work- ed the best we knew how as we moved into the posi- tion assigned us in the line of battle by the com- mander of the fleet, and that we were not altogether unworthy of recognition was proven by the attention the enemy paid us. As night came on the naval en- gagement closed; on our craft no losses occurred. The next day the troops on shore advanced until BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 49 they encountered a three g-un battery which they soon captured but y^'ith some loss. Here fell Colonel Rus- sell of the Tenth Connecticut, one of the very best regiments in the service, larg-elj indebted to him for its early training". On the other side O. Jenning>i Wise, a son of General Wise who commanded the Confederates, fell. I mention these as more marked; there were many others equally as brave and faithful and whose deaths w^ere as deeply mourned. The principal fig-hting was at this battery. As we outnumbered the Confederates two or three to one and took their other batteries in the rear with our land forces, after disabling them with our naval attack, there was nothing left for them to do but sur- render, which was gracefully done. General Wise escaped to the main land before the surrender. We suspected the general thought he might be called to account for hanging John Brown; but suppose the free soil governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts had been in the place of Governor Wise how other- wise could he have acted in John Brown's case? One of the blessings we enjoyed after the capture of Roanoke Island was the opportunity to take launches loaded with clean empty barrels into the juniper wa- ters of the low lands and fill them for use on ship- board; the change from the kerosene tinctured water furnished us by the "patriotic" New York contractors was good enough to make us feel that we had landed among our friends instead of our enemies. We remained in the waters of Roanoke Island until about the 11th of March, occasionally scouting through the bays and inlets for contraband vessels and one day after we had captured a small schooner and were bringing her in with the National colors, found in her cabin, flying at her masthead, one of our 50 RETUKN TO ARMY, gun boats came down on us ^vith the men beat to quarters as though it was ready to sweep us off the face of the earth, but we saved ourselves by a prompt and satisfactory explanation. The individual experience may be of little value from the ego standpoint, but as an example of how the boys operated the stDrv of one may be tolerated. I have said I carried with me from Havre de Grace a cold that landed me in the hospital ship for a week and clung- to me on return to my company, and I de- sire to add that I found a cure, perhaps, not laid dov/n in the rules governing the practice of the med- ical profession. Our rations had been made up of salt meat, beans, hard bread, rice and molasses and we hungered for vegetables; perhaps that is not a good expression, but it is true, and one day we, a squad of us, went ashore where w^e learned that about a mile away across a level stretch of land over which the water stood about ankle deep we could get our fill of sweet potatoes, so away we went regardless of wet feet, for we wore common government shoes; but when we reached our destination the potatoes were gone. We returned just before night fall and waited in the cold, with wet feet and legs, for a boat to come for us from the Huzzar, our "home on the ocean wave," and it came in due time and took us back. After I g-ot aboard I crawled in beside the boiler of the vessel and got thoroughly v/arm and dry before I came out and then went to bed in my army blanket. When I woke up the next morning the cold and cough were gone never to return. I hope this information will not interfere with any medical gentleman's busi- ness. I suspect my experience was a freak. About the 11th of March, our fleet sailed back from Roanoke Island to Hatteras Inlet, where Com- BUKNSTDE EXPEDITION. 51 raodorc Goldsboro learned of the disaster to his flag"- ship, the Minnesota, and the Congress and Cumber- land, other ships of his fleet, in the waters of Hamp- ton Roads, as a result of the attack of the new Mer- rimac. He left us at Hatteras under command of Captain Rowan who on the following" morning- led the way in an advance on New Berne at the junction of the Neuse and Trent rivers. On the evening" of the 12th we arrived in the Neuse river at the mouth of Slocum's creek about twenty miles below New Berne, where we anchored for the night preparatory to debarkation on the following" morning. I stated in connection with an explanation of the purpose of the Burnside expedition that to Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Farragut and Porter fell the lot of cutting the Southern Confederacy to pieces, and it was also true that no more effective or heroic service was ever done on land or sea for our country, or any other, than that of Admiral Farragfut in his engagement with Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the Confederate navy below New Orleans on the Mississippi, leading his gallant fleet in the old wood- en flagship, the Hartford, with the spirit that char- acterized John Paul Jones in the fight of the Bon Homme Richard with the British ship Serapis, when both vessels were on fire, his own sinking, his decks slippery with blood and well nigh covered with the wounded and dead, and hailed by the British com- mander to surrender he replied: "We have only just begun to fight!" and followed this up with a superb dash with cutlass in hand at the head of his men over the enemy's side, and compelled him to haul down his flag. Farragut and his fleet, in connection with Gener- al Butler and his arm}', closed the Mississippi in pur- 52 RETURN TO AR^IY, suance of the policy that sent the Burnside expedition into North Carolina waters, and thus g^ave a master stroke in that plan which was followed later at Vicksburg by Grant in one of the most brilliant cam- paig-ns of the war. At Mobile Bay Farragut, lashed in the rigging of the Hartford above the smoke of battle, leading his fleet and to the signal: "Look out for torpedoes!" giving the command "D n the torpedoes! Go ahead!" we witness another victory along the line of the port closing policy. And what splendid men these sailors were! Where in the history of human daring or chivalry can be found an act of more prince- ly courtesy, or sublime courage than that of Captain Craven of the iron clad in Farragut's fleet at Mobile, who being in the pilot house when a torpedo explod- ed under his ship and she was sinking, started for the door to save himself but meeting the pilot and there being but room for one to pass out, graciously waived his superior right with "After you pilot," and went down to death with his ship, while the life of the pilot was saved. CHAPTER IV. ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. But I am far away from the scene of action where I left our fleet, and I will return to it, about twenty miles below New Berne, North Carolina, on the Neuse river, where we anchored on the nig-ht of March 12th, 1862. The next morning- all was bustle and activity; the war ships, pure and simple — no armed transports — were preparing to move up the river and eng-ag-e the enemy's fleet and batteries, while we, the troops, were hurrying- down the sides of our vessels into launches and pulling- away for the shore, where we jumped overboard in two or three feet of water, waded to dry land and formed our company and regi- mental organizations preparatory to the advance of the army. We had left a small garrison at Roanoke Island and a regiment or two had been added to our force so we must have had about twelve or fifteen regiments, each six or seven hundred strong, to move on New Berne. We had no batteries; only two ma- rine guns to be hauled by sailors and soldiers over roads that even after forty-four years can give me about as good a rhetorical start in the way of profan- ity as any inspiration at my command. The gun boats were to precede us shelling the woods along the river through which we were to march to reach the 54 ADVANCE' ON NE^V EHKNE enemy's position a few miles below New Berne, where their left rested on the river with a formidable work containing- nine heavy guns which commanded the river opposite the obstructions in it to bar navig-a- tion and could enfilade our infantry line of battle with a most demoralizing- and destructive lire. Away to the rig-ht of this for a long- distance stretched in- trenchments as a cover for infantry; then came sever- al batteries of light artillery admirably posted for business from the Confederate standpoint; thence the intrenchment continued away to the right across the railroad between New Berne and Morehead City until it reached a low swampy thicket such as military en- gineers select to connect the flank of fig-hting forces- with in the absence of a sufficiency of effective caval- ry. We know the position of the enemy now; we have known it ever since the morning of the 14th of March, 1862; we should have known it before but we did not. About 10 o'clock on the forenoon of the 13tli we began the advance and had not been on the march long- before it began to rain; North Carolina soil in the low level lands of the state that border its sounds and the rivers which empty into them, in connection with a g-ood vig-orous rain, is a combination hard to beat in opposition to the march of large bodies of troops; at its best it seemed as though when one got his foot well stuck in the mud and attempted to get it out it was a question whether the mud or the ankle would give way. Under this condition we dragged ourselves wearily along until about noon when we halted for a little while and a Rhode Island regiment marched by with a woman dressed in bloomers carry- ing one of the flags of the regiment. Her name was Katie Brownell. She was the wife of the first ser- ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE 55 •j^eant of the color company of the regiment, and planted the first of our colors on the captured works <5f the enemy in the battle of the day follovring', in which her husband was wounded, and she is now the only woman, as a soldier, on the pension rolls. After the Rhode Island reg"iment passed us we ag"ain "fell in" and continued the march until nig-ht overtook us without seeing" a sign of our enemy, ex- cept an abandoned earthwork. The gunboats had cleared the woods out as with a fine tooth comb, so far as humanity was in question. We camped tor the night, or to be correct, we bivouacked for the night, in a flat low lying country sparsely covered with pine timber, where the rain, as it fell in torrents, soaked the earth until it was much like a wet sponge; all it needed was the pressure of our bodies to bring the water to the surface. After eating our *'hard tack'"* and drinking our coffee— and I remember now that I had a bargain with a comrade that he should carry the hard tack and I the butter for we two, and that my haversack was filled with the can of butter at a dollar a pound, while my partner had overlooked the hard tack so we both had to depend upon the generosity of the other boys — but this partner was a good politi- cian. He was afterward secretary of the common- wealth of Massachusetts for seventeen years. I re- peat, after eating our hard tack and drinking our coffee we each gathered a few pine boughs and made beds or shelter for ourselves near the doubtful and flickering fires we had built, and dozed away the night as best we could. As soon as daylight came we were up and stir- ring, and steaming too from the soaking of the night before, and the animal heat we were giving out. We gTjlped down our apology for a breakfast, without 56 ADVANCE OX NEW BERNE washing" face or hands — that was not in order; we were already washed beyond the requirements of army reg'ulations, and fell into company line to look our- selves over and see what condition our gfuns and am- munition were in for lig-hting- purposes. We found them bad enoug-h for condemnation in any situation except in the immediate presence of a battle. On the day preceding, the marine guns were in the column on the march near us and I frequently saw the sailors, g-unners and soldiers detailed to assist them, tug"g"ing away at the ropes with which they v/ere dragging these infant g'uns througfh the mud to light one of the best constructed and armed earthworks prepared up to that time for any battle field of the South. Sometimes the soldiers and sailors would g-et a lift b}- capturing- an ox, steer or cow and hitching- it up among- themselves to share the pull. Whatever their luck they never lost their place in the line of march and came into bivouac promptly on time. One of these guns v^as commanded by a young naval officer named McCook, of one of the fighting McCook fami- lies of Ohio, both of which had very distinguished sons in the civil war. The other was commanded by a man whose name I did not know but whose charac- teristics convinced me he must have been the famous Lieutenant Gushing of the navy, who always distin- guished himself when the opportunity occurred, and finally fairly outdid himself in the destruction of the ram Albemarle, at Pijisouth, North Carolina. He was over six feet tall, straight as an arrow, a blonde, about twenty years old and a bundle of nerves that it seemed to take the strain of furious battle to calm. Before we left the bivouac we heard firing ahead by volley and supposed it was the same as our fire, merely emptying our guns to reload, so far as we ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 57 could. But pretty soon a staff officer dashed along the road his horse at full gallop and gave out the word, "stop firing;" we stopped, filed out into regi- mental organization and began the advance again. We were tired and straggled along with our guns over either shoulder or slung on our backs as suited us; covering at least twice as much ground as we should have covered to be ready for the shock of bat- tle which we were soon to experience. After we had marched about a mile I noticed General Burnside and staff standing- in a group on the left of the road, and I think the g-eneral said as we passed, "close up, men." I knovv^ one of his staff officers did, and our colonel repeated it but we didn't "close up." If General Burnside or our colonel knew what we were going into the head of the regiment should have been halted, the ranks closed, and it would have done no harm to have sent the word along the column among the boys that business would soon begin, and we would have gone in on the double quick to a man. I used to have a lurking suspicion in my early service that we would do better work if the men were some- times taken into the confidence of the officers a little more as to the locality, time and nature of expected engagements, not long before the battle opened. I knew it later. About this time an accident occurred to one of the men in our company that looked funny to the rest of us, but not to him. He fell sprawling at full length in the mud as he was marching along, and there I will leave him for the present. In the past when the question was of interest it was sometimes disputed as to who the youngest man in the service was, but I never heard the question raised as to who the oldest man in the service was; that is, enlisted 58 ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE man. I think it was this man lying- there on the verg-e of a terrific battle, which he later compared with his fig-hting- under Napoleon, his full length in North Carolina mud. His name was John Fide. Ke was a Frenchman over seventy years of agfe, who blackened his hair and whiskers to g"et into our com- pany at Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he lived, under the ag-e limit of fortj^-five years. He served as a soldier in the armies of France when all Europe trembled at their tread; he foug-ht under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was wounded on the historic field of Waterloo. After a little strug-g-le the old man drew himself tog-ether and g-ot up, covered vfith mud, but still about as clean as the rest of us, and took his place on the march among- his young-er comrades to do his full duty as well as the best of them in the hottest part of the impending- battle. When the old French veteran of Waterloo had withdrawn himself from his full leng-th impress in the mud and joined the ranks of his comrades, who were trudg-ing- along- "in rout step," as sol- diers say, which means "g-o as you please," only keep in the company and reg-imental organization, and we had not gone more than two hundred yards from the Frenchman's accident, along- an old road over a slig-htly elevated "scrub-oak" tract of ground, when one of the enemy's cannon opened on us and was instantly followed by all the g-uns along- their line, hurling- solid shot, shell and canister into us as thick as hail, as it seemed, with perfect rang-e, for they were only about six hundred yards away in our front, and a belt of pine timber concealed them from us. To say we were surprised is putting- it too mild for such an occasion. I speak now of the men of my ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 59 own company within view — a few seconds after the batteries opened the smoke descended and one could not see more than tiftj yards away or half a compa- ny leng-th. We stopped as thoug-h electrified and dropped down to g-et under the terrible fire, for it seemed to be about breast hig'h; we knew not what was going- on to the front or rear, the rig-ht or left — the halt started ahead of our company; the lieutenant colonel was killed at the first fire and at the same time the captain of the company immediately in front of us had a leg- shot off, and perhaps this accounts for the halt; no command came from those in authority, neither colonel nor captain, but after a few seconds one of our lieutenants, a big- voiced brave man, roared out so we could hear him above the din of battle, "forward!" and my chum and I, both ser- g-eants, repeated the order and away we all went on the double quick to the front in the strip of pine tim- ber, between Avhich and their line of intrenchments the enemy had fallen trees "criss cross," called "slashing-," to impede our advance while they were thinning- out our ranks with their well directed and destructive fire. Each man seemed to be for himself and appropriated the most convenient pine tree as a cover from the enemy's front fire, at least that was true of the part of my company which followed the order "forward," the rest of the regiment ahead of us was a little ways off on our right and front ap- parently in line but looked small for six companies, the rear half of our company, which doubtless did not hear the word "forward," and the other three compa- nies came up later and v.'e all got together in regi- mental line, as we should have been in the first place and would have been if the regiment had been in close marching order so that commands, if given, could 60 ADVATSrCE ON N'EW BERNE. have been heard and passed from front to rear of the reg-iment. But let us return to the pine tree cover. I had been something- of an enthusiast in learning- military tactics and supposed thej were for use in battle as well as to show off with on drill and dress parade, and among- other things I had learned to fire lying- down on the skirmish line and here was the place to put that drill into practice, for the enemy's fire was very low, they had prepared to receive us; they had perfect range with their lig-ht batteries in our front; batteries from the best artillery of the Confederacy; so from behind my tree I stretched myself out at full length on the ground, resting on my elbows as I fir- ed, then rolled over on my back, put the butt of my musket betv.'een my feet to bring the muzzle in con- venient position and reloaded, thus continuing until that part of the regiment in line having fired its for- ty rounds from the edge of the timber at the place where the enemy was supposed to be in the dense smoke, fell back for another regiment to take its place, which made a worse show than we had done, for we stood by our guns until our ammunition was gone and charged bayonets on our successors to keep them up to their work. While I was pursuing the art of war according to my individual view of punishing the enemy and self preservation, some other interesting individual expe- riences were occurring around me; my chum, a boy named Terry, who with me joined the company as a sergeant when the Havelock Guards broke up, was a short distance away on my right; he was swarthy and muscular and had a smile of satisfaction on his face as he occasionally looked over at me from his tree, behind which he was as industriously blazing ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 61 away as the most active, but finally I saw him move as thoug-h he would fall and as he turned his face to me it was the picture of ag-ony which his voice re- inforced as he cried out: "Dollard come and carry me off;" he was hit in the ankle with a canister shot, an iron ball at least an inch in diameter. Before I could reach him, or he could fall, a couple of our boys were by his side and bore him from the field. He was shot from the rig-ht of our line; the river battery of the enemy poured an enfilading- fire into us. He was standing- behind his tree while I was lying- down be- hind mine; if the ball that struck him had the same rang-e on me it would not have been necessary for anybody to carry me off the field, at least, beyond the burial trench; such is military strategy — sometimes. I was hit in the thig-h with a canister shot but for- tunately its force was broken by hitting something else, before it reached me. Terry lost his leg but saved a good stump, after two or three amputations, and later was made an ofiicer in a regiment operating at Morris Island, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, where he was ag-ain shot in the same leg, but fortunately in the wooden part of it. Immediately to my left in the fight I noticed an- other boy who was firing from behind a tree and on the right of it. I think he was kneeling or stooping, when a cannon shot from the front tore by the tree grazing it to the left of his face a few inches and threw him on his back, his hands and feet in the air; his face the picture of fright when he cried out: "Cap- tain, Doctor, Jersey, carry me off!" He was not hurt much; the ball's force threw him backward without hitting him, a few splinters struck him in the face and started the blood; he saw the captain near by and a boy we called Jersey Blue; he thought of the G2 ADVANCE ON NEW BKKNE doctor, and in his terror-stricken condition called for their help. Poor fellow, a deadlier enemy was lying- in Y^ait for him; he died of typhoid fever a few weeks, later. To add to the pandemonium of legitimate battle our g"un boats in the river behind us a half mile or more away, but cut off from view by the timber, their commanders thinking- to help us, opened fire in our rear with their big- guns, the shots from which came tearing- throtig-h our ranks with a roar such as an ordinarj^ railway passeng^er train mig-ht have made if running a hundred miles an hour, and their shots were quite as well aimed to reach us and as destruct- ive as those of the enemy, but soon ceased, however. While this firing- was g-oing on, to my left almost within reach, one of the smaller of their shots car- ried away the arm of one of our boys, and within ten feet of me smashed the intestines of another to jell}^ almost severing his body in two. As I have already stated that part of our regi- ment in line on the edg-e of the timber fell back to give place to another regiment, after it had fired its forty rounds, and we all got together in line. The regiment that was to take our place marched bravely to its position, but as soon as it began firing the en- emy's batteries poured a demoralizing artillery fire into it which drove it back upon us, who were under the same fire and without ammunition, but we had been baptized, and while we were not spoiling for a fight then we were in temper to hold that reg-iment to its duty, so we fixed bayonets and brought our pieces to the charge, the butts of our guns resting on the ground, for we were kneeling to keep below the fire we could not resent, and presented a line of steel to our retiring fellow soldiers. It is a fact, however, ADVANCE ON NKW BERNE t)3 that this regiment in the following- summer, at An- tietam, covered itself with g-lory by its g-allant service at Stone Bridge, and in 1864 at the sieg-e of Peters- burg- its brave young commander met a heroic death, and the most historic battery along- our line was nam- ed in honor of his memory. I say the most hi-storic; it was this work that the enemy charg-ed and captur- ed in the spring- of 1865, when our boys tboug-ht its capture impossible, but they soon regained it and the ball thus set rolling continued until a few days later, away off on our left, when Grant and Lee met at Ap- pomattox and the g-reat civil war was broug-ht to an end. Beside this the quartermaster serg-eant of that reg-iment, an enlisted man, followed up his volunteer service by joining- the regulars and is now a major g-eneral in the regular army, and late commander of our troops in the Philippines. The experience of this regiment on its first battle field recalls the fact that Frederick the Great was charged with showing the white feather in his first battle, whereas he later be- came the master military spirit of Kurope and fought successfully the great nations of France, Austria and Russia at the same time. While we were operating as I have stated, im- mediately to our left were the two marine guns which I have spoken of and they were not silent in the gen- eral roar of artillery which continued from the be- o-inning to the end of that four hours' battle; they were fought by their officers and men until they could fight no longer; "all killed or wounded," would have been a correct report for the surviving officer of one of the guns to make. Such was the fate of the men who fought under the direction of the tall blonde of- ficer I have supposed to be Gushing, and when his last man fell he coolly mounted his gun carriage and 64 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE watched the movements of the enem}^ with his iield g"lass. In the meantime the brig-ade of General Parke worked its way around the right flank of the enemy and captured his intrenchments there, where Katie Brownell planted the flag- of the Rhode Island reg-i- ment, the flrst of our colors to wave over the works of the enera}', while her husband lay wounded in the field hospital as a reward for the part he had taken in the battle. With the success of General Parke's move the en- emy beg^an to waver, observing which the young na- val officer referred to started for the intrenchments on foot and alone, got in, captured and mounted a horse as the illustrated papers of the times showed, dashed away and captured Lieutenant Colonel Avery of a North Carolina regiment, with its colors, in the face of the regiment which the latter was trying to rally. We pushed across the "slashing-" and into the works as soon as possible after Parke's brigade had turned the flank, and found all the light batteries, with which we had been given such an interesting entertainment, abandoned there, but not a horse left. They had all been killed in battle or nearly all. The gun boats broke through the obstructions in the river at the same time we carried the works and the fate of New Berne was sealed; it was to fall into the hands of the dreaded "Yankees." At the beginning of the battle the old French- man got separated from our company and fell in with a batallion of another regiment which made a des- perate attempt to break into the enemy's intrench- ments near our front, and of this experience the old man said it was worse than anything he saw at Wa- terloo. I myself had a variety of experiences in bat- tle in the low landJ; alonsf the rivers and amonof the ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. hS pineries of North Carolina and in the hills and val- leys of Virg-inia, and have fallen wounded nig-h unto death on a field where sixty per cent of the men, or nearly double that of the loss of the lig-ht brig-ade at Balaklava, were killed and wounded, but I never was eng-ag-ed in anything- quite so peppery as the battle of New Berne, when the Confederate batteries were in full play upon Ui<; and our own g-un boats in the rear plowing- furrows throug-h our ranks under the impression of their commander that they were doing us a welcome service. The commander of the army in the Philippines is not the only soldier of the New Berne battle field who has risen from the ranks of the enlisted men to merited prominence and distinction. One who was a corporal in my reg-iment at that battle and who later joined me in a new reg-iment in which he was a cap* tain when his service came to an end, but shortly af- terward went into the reg-ulars, has been, after forty two years' service, appointed Paymaster General of the United States army. Shortly after we captured the enemy's works on the New Berne battle field we beg-an our march on that city and arriving- opposite to it on the Trent riv- er we found the railroad bridg-e across that stream burned and had to take to our shipping- ag-ain to reach it, and arrived in the beautiful elm shaded town about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We marched at once to the fair ground outside the city, where our friends, the enemy, had very kindly left their camp and g-arrison equippag-e, cooking- conveniences, bedding-, personal bag-g-ag-e, etc., for us, which an army of ne- gro women and children, not appreciating- their cour- tesy, was rapidly taking- possession of, particularly the lig-hter articles. As we approached the camp we 66 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE met a column of negroes coming" out of it loaded down with quilts, sheets, counterpanes, tobacco and other thing's, and as one of them, a tall bare footed mu- latto woman whose dress was cut off about half way between her knees and feet, passed near the rear of our regiment with a fine quilt thrown over her shoul- der a soldier slipped out of the ranks under that part of it hanging- down her back. As they were march- ing in opposite directions and each endeavoring- to continue the march the incident attracted the atten- tion of the reg-iment and was the cause of much mer- riment, notwithstanding- the sad experience of a few hours before, but a look from the eag-le eye of our dig-nified and handsome colonel g-ave the woman the victory. The camp was a welcome find for we left our woolen blankets on the vessels when we went ashore at Slocum's creek and had only our overcoats and rub- ber blankets to use as bedding- and not much use of those for that purpose during the drenching rain of the previous night. It is forbidden by army regula- tions for soldiers to strag-g-le away from their com- mand for plunder in the face of the enemy and the penalty is death; but a hung-ry soldier will take his chances and the way the ducks and g-eese were broug-ht into camp the night following- our arrival there was evidence that a plentiful supply of material had been provided for a season of serious courts martial. How- ever, such conduct could hardly be said to be preju- dicial to g-ood order and military discipline. It was a case of that necessity which knows no law. The Sunday following- our arrival in New Berne was a sad one; funeral services were held by all the regiments, each separately, in memory of their dead who had fallen in battle and been laid away in name- ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 67 less graves. Soldiers are not savag-es, no matter how much their occupation may be condemned bj human- itarians; the sorrow and g-loom that spread throug^h- out companies and reg-iments at the loss of comrades in battle was as g-enuine, deep and lasting- as that which characterizes the severance by death of the dearest ties of friendship in any other field of life. Bayard Taylor wrote in his song of the camp, most truly: "The bravest are the tenderest, The loving- are the daring-." And even for the sufferings of the enemy the true soldier's heart is filled with sympathy, notv/ith- standing- "The stern joy the soldiers feel In foemen worthy of their steel." New Berne was situated between the Neuse and Trent rivers at their junction. These streams were of fresh water and considerable in size; they drained a flat low lying country for many miles, and were sluggish and probably had been since their origin, and they, with the water we secured for domestic purposes, not far away, had prepared a reception of an even less friendly character for us than we met on the New Berne battle field. We were but comfort- ably settled in our camp when typhoid fever broke out and reduced our ranks by hundreds. I think my own regiment melted away from about six hundred to less than two hundred in a few weeks; the hospi- tals were filled to overflowing-; many of their inmates died and many more were so disabled as to be unfit for future service. After lying in camp a week or ten days with a consuming- fever, often delirious, I remember that or- ders came for the regiment to break camp and go out 68 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE- to the front on picket duty nine or ten milCvS awaj^ and we who could not g-o were taken to the hospitals. I never felt strong-er in my life than I did as I ran up the steps to the second story of the hospital building and I determined to get out of there the next morn- ing and rejoin my regdment; but when the next morn- ing came and I had gone out for an airing I could hardly crawl back into the hospital where I was at once put to bed, and in a day or two a cup of tea felt as heavy in my hand as a good sized cannon ball would when in ordinary health. However, I was for- tuna.te for I became convalescent in a few days and shortl}' after joined my regiment in time to be on hand when an attack of the enemy killed one of the members of my company and at the same time they carried away as a prisoner of war the only avowed abolitionist in it, notwithstanding it was from Ply- mouth Rock, which was the starting point of a civil- ization of the opposite school to that of Jamestown Island. A few days later we returned to New Berne for provost duty in that delightful little city. But all is not hardship, distress and danger, even in war, at least to the younger element of the army, and that means the great majority of the rank and file of our side in the civil war. We had the best of martial music and plenty of it. When not on the march in the earlier years of the war we had plenty of plain food, good comfortable clothing, blankets and quarters, enough of duty to give us a reasonable amount of exercise only, and as much freedom as was consistent with our welfare and necessary discipline, and you could depend upon the boys to make things interesting when off duty. What they could not think of as legitimate sources of amusement when time hung heavy on their hands it was needless for others to seek. ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 69 Catching- some "big- headed" fellow and throwing- him up in a blanket to bring- him to his senses was sometimes resorted to. I remember a striking- in- stance before that organization of supposed pious young- men, the Havelock Guards, was broken up. We had a joung- man in the company named Napole- on Wood. There was not much Napoleon about him but a g-ood deal of wood, and he carried his head hig-h in honor of his first name, so hig-h that it was deemed necessary to discipline him in the blanket. One nig-ht about dark he was seized by two or three liusk}^ fellows who threw him into the blanket which half a dozen others were holding- to receive him and no sooner was he in than up he went eig-ht or ten feet and was kept g-oing- up and coming- down until his efforts to g-et away landed him head first ag-ainst the cook house and there he lay as thoug-h dead. The matter now became serious. The boys thoug-ht he was sure enoug-h dead, or soon mig-ht be, and they hurriedly carried him to his tent and attempted to re- store him to life; one of them poured a dipper full of Medford rum into him and not long- after he came to as drunk as a lord. Some of the boys who were unacquainted with the mysteries of Medford rum thoug-ht he was crazy and had only been saved from death to meet a worse fate, but Napoleon came around all rig-ht and being- a teetotaller was none the worse for his innocent acquaintance with the stimulater that restored him to life and happiness, to the inex- pressible joy of his tormentors, who seldom ran the risk of the blanket g-ame after that experience. We spent the summer and much of the fall of 1862 in the performance of provost, or police, duty in New Berne, where we were quartered in some of the best residences vacated for our accommodation at the 70 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE close of the battle we had fought below the cit}-. We saw much of the "intellig-ent contraband" while there as well as in other localities in the South, and a more gentle, kindly, good natured, well behaved people I never saw. Uncle Tom and Aunt Chloe were in evi- dence on every hand, but we looked in vain for a Si- mon Legree. One would naturally conclude that these negToes must have been a good people at heart and well brought up by their Southern masters and I guess that is about the size of the situation. Aside from his love of liberty there seemed little cause of discord between the white master and the negro slave, but on the contrary the respect and affection of the slave was largely reciprocated by the affection of the master and his family; facts perhaps overlooked in the period of reconstruction, when the clinging vine was substituted for the stalwart oak under which it had been sheltered and to whose branches it clung for care and protection. Where in the record of human affairs is there a finer example than that of the faith- ful care of the masters' families by the slaves while the former were fighting the battles of the Confeder- acy? Not a single example of wrong perpetrated by the slave against the master or the family left to his care; unless running away to secure his liberty be ac- counted as such. And what a record these lowly sons and daughters of Africa made in caring for and helping along- the escaping Union prisoners, thous- ands of whom appeared at the negro cabins within the Confederate lines during the war to ask for food and shelter and help on their way back to the Union lines, and not one was denied or betrayed! Yet these splendid qualities could hardly be said to fit these un- fortunate people to exchange places with their mas- ters in the field of statecraft, or to any considerable ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 7l extent participate with them in the duties of such a field; althoug-h thej most strong-lj commended their elevation from chattels to the high plain of the civil rig-hts of American citizenship, such as our own race enjoys in a state of gfuardianship. But I am g-etting" too serious for the occasion and some of its incidents I have in mind. Shortly after we reached New Berne I was posted with a squad of men on one of the main roads leading- out of the town and when morning- came a stream of "runaway nig- g-ers" beg-an pouring- in upon us. I remember one lot; it was a black mother with a half dozen little pick- aninnies that mig-ht all have been born at the same time, judg-ing by their size. They were in a one-horse tip cart which looked like a crow's nest. I addressed the mother with: "Who do you belong- to. Auntie?" "I 'long to you all now I reck'n." "Who does this horse and cart belong to?" " 'Long to you all now I reck'n." I sent one of the boys into town with them to look up a vacant house to locate them in with or- ders to bring back the team and he shortly after re- turned with it. As near as I could learn he found a little house on the outskirts of the city, drove into the lot and instead of helping the mother out politely and lifting the babies out for her, he removed the tail board of the cart, unhitched the box in front and gently raised it so as to slide the whole family out behind, returned it to its place, mounted the box and drove away, leaving the little family in full possession of their new found liberty. On another occasion I was returning to camp from the city and met a very old negro woman who was evidently a new comer and somewhat curious as to what a Yankee looked like — all Northern soldiers were Yankees. When I reached the old woman she stopped and looking at me said: 72 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE "Is jou Marse Yankee?" "Yes, Auntie." "Den God bres jou' soul Marse Yankee." Apparently from the bottom of her heart. While we were out on picket a few miles from the city a negro man came along- on his way to New Berne and one of the boys asked him how far it was and he answered "About tree good looks sah!" That is, you could take a look at the point where they stood; then go to the further- most point seen and look again; then repeat your last performance and you could see New Berne. We indulged in daily drills on the outskirts or in the streets of the town while stationed there and one day I was practicing my company in skirmish line firing on the advance; the men were instructed to each aim at an object a few hundred yards av.'ay, but their guns were supposed to be unloaded; one man, however, had overlooked unloading his piece when he came off guard and innocently blazed away at the head of a negro four hundred yards from him, and shot his hat off. The old darkey suddenly raised his hand to his head, and we thought the accident seri- ous but the wool was only scorched a little. I had occasion during the summer to drop into a small rough board shack in town where a middle aged "contraband" kept a few things for sale, and after buying something of him he handed me a "shin plaster" and asked "What kine er money you call dis hyr sah?" I examined it and asked him where he got it. "Got it fum a soger sah." "What did you give him for it?" "Some backer and de res in change." The shin plaster looked like a North Carolina state bank bill but it was merely a sticker taken from a dollar bottle of the Perry Davis Painkiller, which had a big fig-ure one in each corner and promised to pay the bearer one cent on return of the empty bot- ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE. 73 tie. The soldier bad passed it for a one dollar bill and, as before stated, received the tobacco boug-ht and the balance of the dollar in chang-e. When I explained the nature of the bill to the black mer- chant do you suppose he was indig-nant? No, not he. Most white men would have been. He simply stood with his arms akimbo and laug-hed as thoug-h "his sides would split" with the thunder roar of mirth that rolled from his lips. I have spoken of Corporal Pierce and his mission from Fortress Monroe to Washing-ton, where he met President Lincoln and General Scott, and the latter told his experience as a corporal and later as the com- mander-in-chief of the army. I have since learned Corporal Pierce was a deleg^ate to the national con- vention that nominated Lincoln; private secretary to Salmon P. Chase, when g-overnor of Ohio and a mem- ber of cong-ress, and a lawyer in Boston when the war broke out that in his eag-erness to join the ranks of his country's defenders closed his office, went down to the wharf and hired a boatman to row him out to a steamer at anchor in the harbor loaded with troops bound for the seat of war and joined them. CHAPTER V CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. In the summer and fall of 1862, our experience was chiefly confined to drill and discipline, with an occasional expedition into the enemy's country. On g-uard mount and dress parade, spotless clothing-, white gfloves, polished shoes, belts and brasses and g-listening- muskets and bayonets were the order of the day, and the spirit of emulation ran higfh among* the soldiers and the different companies of the regi- ment, but an occasional infraction of discipline would occur as a reminder that we were still ordinary mor- tals, sometimes not unmixed with humor. One of the methods of punishment for such lapses was barrel drill. When a soldier had departed from his duty and obligations to such an extent as to be condemned to this punishment a lig-ht barrel with a hole cut in the bottom big- enough to let his head through com- fortably, was turned bottom side up and slipped down over his shoulders and he was g-iven a beat to march for a stated time. The punishment was not severe, but was intended to be humiliating-. I doubt, how- ever, whether it was ever visited on any person not beyond the reach of humiliation by any means. In those days there were frequently parties of finely dressed naval officers ashore and on one occa- sion such a party passed by the quarters of one of CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 75 our companies when a soldier was on barrel drill. One of the staves was off the side of his barrel and when the officers passed his beat he promptly came to attention and standing- as straig-ht as an arrow thrust his arm out throug-h the g-ap in the side of the barrel and saluted them "in one time and four mo- tions." It is safe to say that all parties to the cere- mony enjoyed it as much as the situation would per- mit, and the soldier became the hero of the hour. The naval officers, as well as some other officers, and often the boldest and the bravest, sometimes fell short of the strictest requirements of discipline in personal conduct when off duty. The following- was told me by a friend then in command of our fleet in the Appomattox operating- ag-ainst Petersburg-, Vir- g-inia, in the sieg-e that closed with the surrender of General Lee's army, who at the time we were in New Berne commanded a gfun boat in the fleet there. His executive officer was a handsome, bright, brave young- fellow and, according- to practice, frequently went ashore on leave of absence but sometimes came back late at night stimulated to a degree not calculated to advance the discipline of the service. At last the captain warned him that another such an exhibition would result in his report to the commander of the fleet and the young man promised most solemnly that no occasion for such a report would occur. In those days naval officers on shore were usually dressed with exquisite taste; the}^ wore spotless white trousers, vest, shirt front and collar, with nobby blue sack coats and panama hats when the weather permitted. The young man referred to often went ashore after he was admonished and returned all right, but one day, dressed in his best, he went the rounds with his congenial companions and came along side his vessel 76 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. very late at nig-ht. The captain was on the quarter deck and heard a strug-gle at the gfang y^^3.j near the water line, then a splash as though a man was over- board and shortly after the executive officer ran up the gang- way dripping* like a drowned rat, to the deck where he confronted his captain with a salute and "Captain, I'm not drunk sir!" and he wasn't. He was not reported and he never afterwards g"ave occa- sion for criticism. General Burnside with his second and third bri- g-ades enlarg-ed and formed into divisions left us in the summer of 1862, to join General McClellan in his operations ag^ainst Richmond, leaving" our military department and troops under the command of Gener- al John G. Foster, a very efficient officer who had the affection of the soldiers and their respect and confi- dence without limit. He had ten or twelve thousand men under his command which later became the eig"hteenth army corps, Burnside's command becoming the ninth army corps, and in the fall we went into camp to prepare for the field again. The peninsular campaign of McClellan had failed; the president had issued his proclamation freeing the slaves unless the Confederates should lay down their arms before Jan- uary 1st, 1863; General Pope had issued his order "Headquarters in the saddle," led his army to the most disastrous defeat it suffered throughout the war, at the second Bull Run battle, and invited the com- ment from Lee that "Nothing more could be expect- ed from a man who had his head quarters where his hind quarters oug-ht to be," and Antietam's bloody but indecisive battle had shown the temper still left in the never to be forgotten army of the Potomac. What would come next? was the question uppermost in the minds of the soldier element. Burnside was CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 77 appointed to command that army. He was a hand- some charming- man; the soldiers in our North Caro- lina conting-ent all loved him; v/e would turn out at a moment's warning- to wildly cheer and toss our caps in the air for him, but we had more confidence in the leadership of his subordinate generals than in him and looked for nothing better than the disaster of Fredericksburg, which quickly followed, about the middle of December, 1862. To eng-age the attention of the Confederate troops in North Carolina and hold them from com- bining- with Lee's army in Virginia against Burnside, we broke camp on December 12th, and took up the line of march about ten thousand strong, into the interior. The first nig^ht we bivouacked about twelve miles outside our New Berne lines. The nig-ht v^^as cold and frosty and each regiment had a plentiful supply of burning- rails along its lines before the men rolled themselves up in their blankets and stretched out on the freezing- g-round to doze away the hours until the dawn of the coming day. Strong guards were thrown out so that we should not be surprised by the enemy and a line of glistening artillery occupied our front ready for instant action. The next morning we were up early, coffee was soon distributed and swallowed with the bread and meat ration from our haversacks and we were on the march. Our first experience was crossing- a stream over which there was no bridg-e. My company was on the left flank, the last company in the column; the companies preceding us had dodg-ed the water by stringing- out in single file along- some fallen trees used by the side of the road as a foot bridg-e, but we dashed into the water about three feet deep, forming a pool fifty or a hundred feet long, plentifully mixed 78 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. with ice that had frozen on it the nig-ht before, and when in the middle of it some of us went down to our necks in a hole that we fell into in the broken cordu- roy road at the bottom of the pool. But there was no time to stop and dry ourselves, if we^ were so in- clined. Out of the water and on the double quick we went to catch up, and as the head of the reg^iment kept rig-ht on going- after it crossed the pool we had plenty of time to double quick and get up steam for heating purposes before the ranks were again closed, and the rattling- discharge of fire arms not far off in our front indicating that we were striking the enemy's pickets, did not tend to decrease our speed when we g"ot together ag-ain. The cold and frozen ground of the morning' was followed by muddy roads during- the day and a bivouac in the soft soil of an old field the nig-ht following", where our rubber blank- ets froze to the earth beneath us. The next day our experience was similar to the one preceding until about noon, having flanked the enemy's works in front of Kinston, we came down on his rear at Southwest creek. Our batteries were rushed forward into action and opened a furious fire on the enemy, while our regiment went down into a swamp and across a mill race on the run to join the regiment at the head of the column in the fight only to get in as the enemy abandoned their artillery and fled. By our energy we won an opportunity to cap- ture three or four good hogs which we killed and ate in two hours, while the rest of the army marched by and left us to bring up the rear after dark the night following over a road half knee deep in slush and mud previous to a freezing night's experience without fires in an old cotton field to prepare for the battle of Kinston on the morrow, on which hundreds of our CAMPAIGNING IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 7'i bniA^e fellows were to g-o down in death or v/ith ug-lj wounds. The dawn of December 14, 1862, folloAving- a comfortless bivouac without fires to dry our feet and leg-s after the march throug-h mud and water of the nig-ht before and chilled with the freezing tempera- ture, found us up and read}- for the coming- battle which was to open in our immediate front. Shortly after there was a hurrying' to and fro of staff officers and orderlies, a distribution of extra ammunition, followed by the orders to fall in and regiment after regfinient broke into columns of fours and marched up the main hig-hway leading- to the enemy's position, which was soon developed by the skirmishers in front as the familiar rattling fire of musketry- told us. This was promptly followed by the deployment of our troops in line of battle on the rig-ht and left of the road, and their rapid advance in this formation, while battery after battery dashed forward at the g-allop, the driv- ers rowelling- their horses' sides with savag-e spurs and the animals foaming- with sweat as they plung-ed madly forward as though eag-er for the fray. We were not long- in coming tog-ether. The battle rag-ed for hours and victory finally perched upon our ban- ners, but as usual, we paid dearly for it, for we were fig-hting- foemen worthy of our steel. We had flanked the enemy's entrenchments, took them in the rear and foug-ht them in an open field, thanks to the skill of out- commanding- g-eneral. Not only this, but they fought with the Neuse river behind them, and we pushed them so rapidly when they began to give way that hundreds, unable to escape across the bridge, fell into our hands as prisoners of war. The Confed- erates were commanded by General Evans, who com- manded their side at Balls Bluff, in Virginia, a little 80 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTPI CAKOLIXA. more than a year before, where the lamented Baker, colonel of the First California reg-iment, a United States senator of Oreg"on, and one of the most elo- quent orators and disting-uished statesmen and patri- ots of the time, met his death; and we had the tables turned on the Confederate leader. We had him and his army in the same position that he had Baker and his associates at Balls Bluff, on a battle held with a river in their immediate rear. We followed the retreating- enemy across the riv- er, through and beyond the town of Kinston and in addition to the prisoners captured, relieved him of much, if not all, of his artillery, but were told by some of the men captured that we would find plenty of the boys up the country where we were g-oing-, which we learned later by the warm reception tliej- g-ave us. We spent the following- nig-ht agreeably in the town of Kinston, and the next day, after burying- our dead, we beg"an the march to Goldsboro to destroy an extensive bridg-e and tressel work on a trunk line of railroad connecting- the theater of war in Virg-inia with the states to the south, and their indispensable supply of men and means to hold that field of opera- tions. We jog-g-ed along- the first day out without any occurrence of unusual interest and the following- nig-ht enjoj'ed a most comfortable bivouac, for we had plenty of pitch pine fence rails to burn and relays of men kept up the fire all nig-ht long while their com- rades slumbered sweetly, notwithstanding- the freez- ing- temperature. I had captured a big- black boy about six feet tall and two hundred pounds in weig-ht at Kinston and took him along- with me to "tote" my blankets. When nig-ht came his black face and the whites of his eyes made him a shining- mark for CAMPAIGXIXG IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 81 the boys bent on mischief, and as they hardlj consid- ered a ''nig-g-er" a man and brother on such occasions he was frequently- the victim of a clod hurled out of the darkness at him in a way not calculated to in- crease his comfort. To protect him I gave him a place beside me in the line where we lay and upon waking- up in the nig-ht from an oppressive feeling- I found him lying- on his back soundly sleeping- with one of his ponderous leg-s thrown across my body, which I was not slow in reminding- him of the neces- sity of removing-. I kept him with me until we re- turned to New Berne where I gave him up to a friend in the quartermaster's department, who in later years became secretary of the commonwealth of Mas- sachusetts, with the recommendation that he was faithful. In those days if a plantation neg-ro had one failing- more prominent than another it was in his stock of "g-ray backs," and from the frec^uent remind- er which my friend g-ave me of the recommendation as to the faithfulness of this particular plantation darkey I suspect he learned that fact by experience. The forenoon following- our last bivouac we push- ed on towards our destination as rapidh^ as possible, but about noon, near Whitehall, we struck something- and our reg-iment was ordered to the head of the col- umn, where we found ourselves in position to form line of battle and advance throug-h a belt of timber to the Neuse river and relieve a skirmish line eng-ag-- ed with the enemy posted on the opposite bank, about fifty or a hundred yards away. We promptly formed a line and advanced in the perfection of dress parade order to the business before us on the river bank and there paid our respects to our Confederate friends for an hour or so, while the main body of our army was passing in our rear on its march towards Goldsboro. In the meantime the enemy was not idle; they killed 82 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. and wounded a larg-e per cent of our men; in my own company we lost nine men out of thirty-six and all except one were killed or so badly wounded as to be unfitted for further service. It often happens in war that in the g-reatest battles some of the heaviest losses of regiments, brig-ades and divisions are no hig-her in per centag-e than we suffered here in this insig-nificant affair; at Gettysburg", while the First Minnesota lost eighty per cent of its men, I knew a reg-iment that lost none, yet each was equally entitled to inscribe the name of that historic battle on its banners. While this little fig-ht was gfoing" on the g-reat battle of Fredricksburg- was being- foug^ht in Virg-inia, oneof the bloodiest of the war, and althoug-h the principal corps eng-ag-ed, that of Hancock, lost three thousand five hundred men, it is doubtful if that loss amounted to more than twenty-five per cent of the men of the corps on the field; the Irish brigade was, perhaps, an exception for the line of its dead was so close in order that the command was mistaken for a line of living- men lying down in battle array. But to return to the Whitehall field. After an hour's fig-liting- we were ordered back; we could get no nearer to the Confederates for there was no way to cross the river. Soldiers dread to be shot in the back so we edg-ed our way out of the timber to the clearing- in as perfect a line as it was possible to keep and shortly after joined the marching- column that had passed in our rear. We left four of the men of my company on the field as dead and dropped them from the rolls; after- wards two of them came to life and were cared for by the enemy, but one of them died in a few weeks and I first saw the other ag-ain in Massachusetts twenty- nine years later, apparently as young- and as sound as ever. We did not hear of the survival of these men CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 83 until they had been dropped from our rolls about a 3'ear. In one of the companies was a soldier who had g-one through all of the hardest and hottest of the Crimean war in Russia as a soldier of the English army, to meet his death on this field. In another a young- man received a painful flesh wound where he might have avoided it had he been in a sitting- pos- ture, and with a cry of pain declared: "I do wish they would compromise this thing-." In my own company was a father and son; the former about for- ty years old, the latter fourteen years of ag-e. They came to us as recruits and with big- bounties, after we had been out a year, and they had a hard road to travel among- the vets; but this battle set them all rig-ht. While it was always noticeable that some sol- diers found it convenient to fall out of the ranks Vviien a battle was near at hand, this father and son had difficulty to keep up v^^ith the column at other times but were always in the ranks when the fig-hting- be- gan. After we had fallen back about fifty or a hund- red feet from the river and halted the father said to me: "Orderly," — I was then orderly serg-eant — "can't Edwin (his boy) or I g-o back and try to get another shot?" To g-o back was certain death at the hands of the sharp shooters and he was denied the privileg-e. In the spring- of 1864, at the opening- of the campaig-n before Richmond, Virg-inia, the father and son were with the reg-iment as part of Heckman's brigade in a fight where out of three thousand five hundred men all were lost but five hundred, and the father and son were among the lost; the last seen of them in the smoke of battle they were lying down behind a little intrenchment they had made with their tin plates and cups and the father, with his Yankee twang, was saying: "Neow Edwin you do the loading and I'll do the firing and we'll get along all right." They were 84 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. taken prisoners and the father was reported to be shot in nine places and the boy in three; thej' had twelve wounds in the famil}-. This was the last I heard of them until about twenty-eig^ht j^ears ag-o down in Illinois a very respectable brig^ht appearing- young- man approached me with a military salute and called me by name but I did not recognize him until he called attention to my old company and reg-iment, to the battle of Whitehall and Cole, father and son. He was the son, but not the little stoop shouldered slim fourteen-year-old boy I had known in the civil war. Let us ag-ain return to Whitehall and the march to Goldsboro, which we completed with the destruc- tion of the railroad bridge and tressel work mention- ed and turned back to New Berne. In our return march w^e passed throug-h man}^ miles of burning- for- est where the dang-er to our ammunition train and threatened loss of life throug-h its explosion was con- stant and pressing. The fire was the result of the carelessness of our own soldiers in not extingaiishing- the little fires they built along- the road to make cof- fee or sing-e their recently acquired fresh meat. We had no fig-hting on our return but the march and bivouac were similar to that already experienc- ed; the last nig-ht was bitter cold; the ice freezing about an inch on the water pools throug-h which our march led, one can imag-ine how comfortable were our quarters on the frozen g-round, wrapped in a sin- gle woolen blanket w4th a rubber blanket spread be- neath. After our return to New Berne one of the boys of the Ninth New Jersey was telling with con- siderable enthusiasm of his experience at Whitehall, where that regiment also suffered considerable loss, when a chaplain approached him with: "My young friend were you supported b}^ divine providence?" "No! We were supported by Belger's battery!" CHAPTER VI. SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN It was not long" after our return to New Berne from the Goldsboro expedition that we were ordered to strike our tents and break camp for a move to the vicinity of Morehead City, about forty miles away. Morehead City was a seaport town across the bay from Fort Macon, held by us, and the order indicated a movement with a fleet. We proceeded to our des- tination by rail and were ordered into camp a few miles back from Morehead, at Carolina City. We have some small cities out here in the west where the ambition to incorporate usually overleaps the villag-e incorporation and lands in that of the city, but we have nothing- to rival Carolina City. There was but one house in it, the home of a family named Lamb, where there was an interesting- daughter named Ma- ry, the most popular young- lady in town. Here we became brig-aded with a New Jersey regiment and a couple of reg-iments from Massachusetts, all pretty well acquainted with the fig-hting- qualities of each other, under the g-allant General Charles A. Heck- man of New Jersey, whose leadership was worth at least five hundred men on any hotly contested battle field, and this org-anization continued until at Drury's Bluff before Richmond, in May, 1864, when, "as the advance of the army of the James, on the Confederate capital," as the New York papers of the time said, 86 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN "attacked by overwhelming- numbers on front, flank and rear, it was then and not till then that the iron men of Heckman's brig-ade g-ave way." Its g-eneral, batterj', and three thousand men, out of three thous- and five hundred, were lost, and, as General Grant in his report of the war put it, General Butler, who commanded the army of the James, of which it was a part, "was as completely cut off from all further mil- itary operations as thoug-h placed in a bottle tig-htly corked," althoug-h he then had about twenty thous- and men out of action bui ready for it, not far in the rear of this disastrous field, which mig-ht have saved the day for the men who were the victims of such merciless destruction. The bottle was the angle be- tween the James and the Appomattox rivers, where Butler's army lay and the cork w^as the line of in- trenchments and Beauregard's army from river to riv- er across his front after this battle, which was never drawn until the campaign along the line of the army of the Potomac to the left of that position began in the early days of April, 1865, which resulted in the surrender of Lee and his generals with the fragment of that splendid fighting force, the army of Northern Virginia, which he had led with the genius of a great soldier from Fair Oaks to Appomattox. Our brigade was not alone at Carolina City. Many others were assembled there and the time w^as put in diligently with drill and discipline. About the first of January, 1863, we got a hint of what we were there for and shortly after we embarked on transports for Port Royal, South Carolina. Our reg- iment was assigned to the ship Morton, a large sail- ing vessel which was put in tow of a small steamer at Beaufort harbor and we began our voyage. The ship was from Bath, Maine, and her captain was a SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 8/ character. \Yheti on duty among- his men his favor- ite oath was: "G-d d— n my heart," which he hurl- ed rig-ht and left with g-reat vehemence and frequen- cy at\is subordinate officers and men, but he never failed to ask a blessing- from his place at the head of the table in the cabin at meal times. There was not much sense in his profanity or devotion in his prayer. He had a poor old steward, lean and skinny, and when he got into a genuine meid fit he stood him up and pounded him like a sand bag. Why the old devil was not thrown overboard for this practice was a mystery. Perhaps the steward had been accustomed to it so long that it was indispensable to his well be- ing. Not unfrequently he came out of it with a pair of black eyes which accorded well with his otherwise wretched appearance. His treatment recalls the sto- ry of an Irishman whose nag-ging wife had made life a burden to him. After his death she called him up throu<>-h a spiritual medium and the following con- versation occurred: -Is that you Jim?" "It is." "Are ye getting along as well as whin ye was with me?|| "T?n thousand times better." "And where are ye?" "I'm in hell." In the course of our voyage we arrived off the entrance to the harbor of Wilmington, North Caroli- na, about nine or ten o'clock at night— the previous voyage of the ship had been from Pensacola to Beau- fort harbor where we boarded her. All harbors con- trolled by the enemy were closely blockaded in those days by fleet and well armed vessels of our navy, and pretty soon one of them came steaming down on us with the challenge: "What ship is that?" The cap- tain shouted: "The ship Morton!" "Where are you from?" "Penseco!" And the rattle of drums on the war vessel told us they were clearing the deck for ac- 88 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. tioii, but, after a G — d d — n mj heart from the cap- tain to soothe his feeling-s for the blunder of inviting a broadside by declaring- he was from "Penseco!" in- tending* Pensecola, towards which we v/ere sailing-, he answered "Beaufort!" but the sailors were sus- picious and would not take his word for it now for they g-ave us a looking- over before we were permitted to g-o on our way. We arrived at Port Royal in due time and were landed on the island of St. Helena, not where the g-reat Napoleon spent his last days, but nevertheless we soon learned we were exiled there for the short coming-s of some of our troops that had a fig-ht with a neg-ro settlement and cleaned it out and burned its villag-e. On these sea islands there were many ne- g-roes who were evidently importations from Africa. They could speak little or no Eng-lish and were not so g-entle and slow to ang-er as their brethren to the manner born, which was no doubt the cause for the collision coupled with the contemptuous treatment sometimes practiced towards the neg-roes by our sol- diers. Preaching- abolition in the North and even shedding- tears over Uncle Tom's Cabin did not soften the Northern soldier's heart enoug-h to lead him to tolerate what Miss Ophelia called shiftlessness, or modify to any extent his prejudice ag-ainst the negro race as he found it in the South, of which he was less tolerant in many respects than the slave masters and their families. General Hunter, in command of the Port Royal district, himself a Virginian, took up the neg-roes' cause and our men were not allowed, sing-ly or otherwise, to leave the island without a pass from headquarters; usually commissioned officers are al- lowed to g-o at pleasure within the picket lines, but that privileg-e was denied there. SOUTH CAROr.INA CAMPAIGN 89 After the campaig-n closed in North Carolina I, with several other hrst serg-eants, had been promoted to be a lieutenant and it was with much difficulty we could g-et to Port Royal to be mustered in. We final- ly succeeded, however. Our muster in was an ac- ceptance of us as officers by the United States and we were thereupon entitled to draw our pay back to the date of ovir commissions from the g-overnor of the state, which we were not slov/ to take advantage of, as we had been commissioned for two or three months. We found the paymaster short of funds but he had enough of one dollar bills and twenty-five and fifty cent "shin plasters" to fit us out and as we were hard up we were willing to take almost anything-. He load- ed us down; we took the "shin plasters'" in sheets, like postag-e stamps; our pockets were filled with the stuff and fingers burning- to g-et rid of it. When loaded down with it we started for "Robber's Row," a string of building-s at Port Royal made up of shops which went by that name. The first shop we went into we spied some fine dress uniform hats rig-ged out with g-old ornaments, ostrich feathers and mixed gold bands and one of the crowd called out "How much for these hats?" "Fifteen dollars." "I'll take two,'' one for his chum, the other for himself; we were all crowned with them; no beating down of prices in that crowd. With such bargain we fitted ourselves out and proceeded to do the town within the rules of military discipline before departing for our island home on the following day. General Hunter was senior in point of commis- sion to our commander. Major General John G. Fos- ter, whom we adored, and therefore the latter was the subordinate, a situation he could not occupy un- der Hunter, so not long after our arrival he returned 90 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN to his department of North Carolina and we were left with heavy hearts. Soldiers have a fondness for g-ood leaders that ordinary civilians do not under- stand. Statesmen do, and therefore the demand for standing- armies in monarchies and the opposition to them in republics. How easy it would have been in our civil war for a supremely popular leader to tram- ple the civil power of the republic in the dust, when the feeling- ran hig-h that there was too much politics in the manag-ement of the army! But enoug-h of this; we loved General Foster and we disliked General Hunter, but we had "to g-rin and bear" the chang-e. We kept up our drill and discipline and were con- stantly becoming- more effective for active service un- til about the latter part of March orders came for us to go aboard transports to move on Charleston Har- bor, South Carolina. We were g-lad of the chang-e and not slow in g-etting- aboard ship. Military eti- quette placed the officers at the dining- table in the cabin on the rig'ht and left of the captain of the ship according- to rank, and the distribution of berths in the state rooms was also made by rank. I was the junior officer and the berths were exhausted with the last man in rank before me; not to break the or- der of military propriety I slept on the floor under his berth. We had a roug-h sea voyag-e and stopped at South Ediston Inlet about twenty miles south of the entrance to Charleston harbor, where we anchored a day or two, when we went back to Port Royal and had the g-ood luck to be sent from there to our old command- er in North Carolina a short time after; althoug-h we learned the order for our return was a mistake and a boat was dispatched to stop us, our steamer did her best and kept out of the way of the messeng-er. SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 91 We preferred to die with Foster, whom we were go- ing to tig-ht for the relief of at little Washing-ton, North Carolina, rather than live with Hunter. About this time an interesting- incident occurred near South Kdiston Inlet. Colonel McDonald of the Forty-eighth New York was campaig'ning- down there with his reg- iment and met his brother who commanded a South Carolina reg-iment. They came tog-ether with true Scotch energy, determination and courag-e and in the battle that followed our McDonald came out ahead. The two brothers looked so much alike that the dar- kies, who feared the Southern one, would exclaim when our man suddenly came among- them: "Fo God dar comes Marse McDonald!" believing- him to be the Southern soldier of whose energ-y and push they had a holy horror. In the roug-h and tumble work of the civil war the oblig-ations of religion were not always most con- spicuous by the absence of their observance. One of the New York reg-iments in General Hunter's army in South Carolina had a very energ"etic, thoroug-h going and efl&cient colonel, formerly a regular officer, who was always ambitious to make his regiment a model for others. One day a chaplain of a Massachusetts regiment called at his headquarters and reported a very successful revival in his regiment in which twen- ty-five men had been baptized. At this news Colonel Dandy promptly called his adjutant and gave the fol- lowing order: "Adjutant, detail twenty-five men of the regiment to be baptized! I'll be d — d if I'll be outdone by any Massachusetts regiment in this bri- gade!" CHAPTER VII. SECOND CAMPAIGN IN NOKTH CAROLINA. On our return from Port Royal, South Carolina, to our old departments in North Carolina we were immediately dispatched to the relief of General Fos- ter, w^ho was besieg"ed by a Confederate force at Wash- ing-ton, in that state, about fifty or sixty miles from New Berne, and the tirst nig-htout we bivouacked on a plantation in the pineries which covered about lif- teen hundred acres, the owner of which, a middle- ag^ed man, was at home in his log house, and when asked how far it was to New Berne, from which we had marched that day, replied: "About fifteen miles I reckon — never was thar." To the inquiry as to how long he had lived there he answered: "All my life." The next day we pushed on by a forced march and late in the afternoon came to a strong position where we expected to find the enemy, as General Spi- nola had found him a few days before, but he was g-one. General Spinola of New York, who served in congress many years after the war, and died in the harness a few years ago, marched his brigade up to this position where he was brought to a halt by the well directed and destructive fire of the enem^-'s ar- tillery which commanded the entire front, and the po- sition of which, as well as that of the rest of the Con- federate force there, was well protected on the flanks IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 93 by a swamp and thick undergrowth. The general retired with some haste, his brigade following, and as the stor}' ran, he became somewhat demoralized and ordered the heavy timber on each side of the road in his rear to be felled across the road to cover his retreat, with the exclamation: "This road must be barricaded be J — s!" It was said that the general wore a very high white collar and beneath bis w^hite shirt he wore a red one; that when the retreat ended his white collar was melted down and a red one occu- pied its former site, and the story went the rounds that he advanced on the enemy with a flag of truce and retreated with a hospital flag*. This was believ- ed to be his first experience in the face of an enemy with a large command. We found the intrenchments occupied by the enemy that repulsed him now vacant, and bivouacked for the night in their rear. My com- pany picketed the road leading- to the front; we post- ed three men in advance on the highway under cover of the timber and groups of threes to the right and left on diverging lines running back in the form of a flat-iron to a stream through swampy timbered ground with the rest of the compan}- in the rear as a reserve between the bivouac and the stream, the usual forma- tion under such circumstances. The general com- manding had gone out with a troop of cavalry of which we had no notice. About 11 o'clock at night I was visiting the picket posts to see that all was well and had partly crossed the stream on the highway under the shadow of the trees along fallen timber used as a foot-bridge, when I heard the clatter of horses' hoofs as they pounded their way at the gal- lop towards our front. I supposed it was a part}^ of guerrillas coming down on us to give the pickets a stirring- up, but only a solitary horseman appeared in 94 SECOND CAMPAIGN the clearing about a hundred 3-ards in our front, his horse doing- its best. The night was still and the moonlight bright and beautiful, no sound on the si- lent air save the beating- of the hoofs of the stranger's horse as he dashed madl}^ forward with his burden; when sharply the picket's challenge of "Halt! who comes there?" rang out and was almost instantly fol- lowed by the shot of the cavalryman at the pickets and theirs at him in reply, as with a wild yell he came on throvigh and down the hill at the foot of which he came to the stream that crossed his path and to the realization of the fact that he was within friendly lines, but not before the long roll was beaten and the thousands of soldiers sleeping- soundly on the broad table land in the rear were aroused from their slumbers and formed in regimental lines preparatory to an advance on the phantom foe. The horseman was a cavalry soldier, and the bearer of dispatches from the bivouac of the division commander several miles in our front. No one was shot in the firing but the cavalryman's aim was so good that it grazed a tree within a foot of the head of one of the pickets, while their shots, quite naturally, w^ent wide of the mark out of respect for the courage of the rough rider. The evacuation by the enemy of the place we oc- cupied that night was an indication that they had got wind of the movement to relieve General Foster and concluded they had a more important field of useful- ness elsewhere than on battlefields along the line of our advance, and such we found to be the fact on the day following when we arrived on the ground of the abandoned siege. We had done our best to be in at the death by the forced marches we had made from the landing on the Neuse river, but we could not catch up to our friends of the opposition. IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 95 We returned to New Berne where, and at Car- olina City, we put in the time with masterly inactiv- ity until about the first of July when the sieg-e of Vicksburg- was drawing- to a close and the battle of Gettysburg" was about to open, when a cav^alry raid to be supported by infantry and artillery was ordered in our department. Only part of our regiment was permitted to join this move and my company was not in it but by the kindness of the colonel I was allowed to g-o as a member of his staff, provided I was willing to walk eighty or a hundred miles toenjo}' that favor. We started out along- the Trent river early on the morning of the 1st or 2d of July, 1863, and the sun was onl}^ fairly up before its scorching* rays reminded us that we had no holiday feat before us; we wore regailation caps and a change to most any kind of hats would have been welcome. As we marched along- a few miles out of New Berne, our sappers and miners in the lead— men who repaired and built bridges — a negro coming from the opposite direction with an old felt hat on his head and a new straw hat on top of it passed near the sappers and miners when one of them, a big husky Irishman, reached out and lifting the hats from the negro's head, separated them, return- ed the felt hat to its place and put the straw hat on his own head as a substitute for his cap, which created a laugh and some criticism, met by the captor of the prize, who had not "cracked a smile" with the re- mark: "Wasn't that fair? Didn't I take wan and give him wan?" We continued our march to Trenton, about thir- ty or forty miles out, and to a junction of the "big roads" ten or twelve miles beyond, where we expect- ed to meet the enemy and intercept him in a move to cut off our returning cavalry. We were not disap- 96 SECOND CAMPAIGN pointed, and here I came in for an opportunity to per- form my staff service, for I was permitted to operate in company with others in locating" the force we ex- pected to eng-ag-e and we were not long- in doing- it and in inviting- a sharp attack from its artillery which, among- other damag-es inflicted upon us, wounded both my g-allant chief and the horse that often carried him to the battle's front. We accomplished the object of our expedition and retired leisurely to our old field of inactivity to put in the rest of the summer and part of the following- fall, when we were ordered to Morehead City ag-ain to take a transport for Fort- ress Monroe, where we shortly after arrived and set out for our destination. We left port on Saturday- evening- and the next morning- the soldiers, who occu- pied the same deck with the horses of the field and staff officers, discovered a black neg-ro who had been g-iven a loung-e in the officers' quarters, the cabin, to sleep on, and the question circulated among- them, "What's that d — n nig-g-er doing- up there?" The colonel knew him to be one of the leading- men of his race in character and ability in the state of Massa- chusetts, and a minister of the g-ospel, so invited him to preach to the boys, which he did so effectively as to win their respect and sympathy. He was the chap- lain of a colored reg-iment commanded by Colonel Charles Beecher, a brother of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. On our way when passing- Cape Hatteras, over an unusually quiet sea for that part of the Atlantic coast, during- the nig-ht we suddenly discovered a lig-ht not far ahead and coming- directly for us with g-reat speed; it was on a larg-e steamer which seemed bent on our de- struction, but our pilot, reg-ardless of the rules of navigation, which were disregarded by the pilot of IN NORTH CAROLINA. 97 the other vessel, sheered our steamer off so that her after part only collided with that of the other craft and we got off with little more than a reminder that we had narrowly escaped the fate of the Monitor that sunk the Merrimac, and which went down in a storm not far from the scene of our collision. We arrived at Fortress Monroe and were ordered with the rest of our brig-ade, Heckman's, to Newport News and there went ashore, pitched our tents and begfan preparations to join in the successful advance of the armies of the Potomac and the James which was to reach the cita- del of the enemy's power and bring- the four years' war to a close with the overthrow of the Southern Confederacy. Newport News at the time we went there was a mere elevated barren head land on the east side of the mouth of the James river over which a few shan- ties were scattered, but now it is the seat of a great ship building- plant with a capital of fifteen million dollars which employs more than six thousand men; an example of the industries that have sprung- up in favorable localities in the South since the irresistible tide of the civil war swept slavery away and g-ave to free labor a hig-her plane of respectability upon which to develop the neg-lected resources of that section. CHAPTER VIII. ORGANIZATION OF COLOKED CAVALRY. Late in the fall of 1863 it was rumored at New- port News that Major Georg'e W. Cole and Major Jeptha Garrard of the Third New York cavalry would organize two regiments of colored cavalry to be re- cruited from the slaves within our lines in southern Virginia, and that these regiments would eventually become a part of the regular arm}-. Shortly after this my chum and I, both lieutenants in the Twenty- third Massachusetts infantry, with strong indorse- ments from the commander of our regiment, present- ed ourselves to Major Garrard and requested appoint- ments as line oiiicers in his regiment. He treated us and our endorsements with scant courtesy, although the latter were from one of the ablest, bravest and most heroic regimental commanders. Lieutenant Col- onel John G. Chambers, who fell mortally wounded at Drury's Bluff a few months later, while leading his regiment in a battle where it was reported of his brigade: "When attacked by overwhelming numbers on front, flank and rear, it was then and not till then that the iron men of Heckman's brigade gave way." Not long after this Major George W. Cole, an impul- sive, warm hearted and dashing officer, rode over to our camp and offered each of us a captain's commis- sion in his regiment which we accepted and shortly afterward I received the following order: COL. GKO. w. coi.K, BKKv. bkk;. gkn'l ORGANIZATION OF COLORED CAVALRY 99 Heao Quarters Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina Fort Monroe, Va., Dec. 14th, 1863. Special Orders, No. 147. Extract. The following named officers are hereby detailed on re- cruiting- service for the 2nd Regiment U. S. Colored Cavalry and will report to Major George W. Cole, 3rd New York Cav- alry, Chief Recruiting Officer. Lt. Robert Dollard, 23rd Mass. Vols. By Command of Major General Butler. R. C. Davis, Assistant Adjutant General. Prompt response was made to the order and I was soon eng^aged at Norfolk, Virginia, in recruiting* "intelligent contrabands" to form the Second United States Colored Cavalry in which I was shortly after commissioned as captain. In those days there was so much prejudice against the ex-slave being- allowed to lay down his life in the cause of the Union, that was sure to g"ive him his liberty, that white men who ac- cepted commissions as officers in reg^iments made up of such material were in a measure ostracised by their fellow officers of white regiments, and it was understood that the policy of the Southern Confeder- acy would be to treat all officers connected with such colored regiments the same as John Brown was treat- ed, on the charge of aiding- and abetting a slave in- surrection. This threat was never carried into exe- cution, but the policy of the Confederates not to recog- nize the negro as a soldier entitled to exchange as a prisoner of war forced the United States to oppose that view in justice to the negro and out of this dif- ference came the suspension of exchange and the glutting of Southern prisons like Andersonville with our men. The camp of our new regiment was located be- tween Hampton, Virginia, and Fortress Monroe, and 100 ORGANIZ ATION ON COLOKED CAVALRY it was not long- after we officers began recruiting that our services were needed there for organization, for the negroes took to the idea of becoming soldiers so quickly that we soon had our eighty five men for each of the ten companies. To organize them into companies and a regiment was the work of a few days only, but to teach them the drill and discipline necessary for field service was somewhat more diffi- cult. They were submissive and obedient and ac- commodated themselves to the exactions of the ser- vice freely so that at the end of about sixty days we had them in fair shape to take the field. During the process of organization at one time there was a hitch in the commissary department and the men were short of rations long- enough to get quite hungry be- fore the necessary supplies were secured and when the bread and coffee without milk or sugar was dis- tributed they made an interesting study as they stood in g"roups in the company street eating their dry bread and drinking their coffee while they were shiv- ering with cold in the falling snow. From one group I heard, "Dis looks lak home an it feels lak home too." Poor darkies the home they knew must have been desolate indeed. The First United States Colored Cavalry organiz- ed under Major Garrard, of which he became colonel, had commenced its organization a little earlier than our regiment and should have been better prepared for the field when the inquiry came from General Butler about the 1st of March, 1864, as to how soon it would be ready for the field. The answer as reported was unsatisfactory and the same inquiry came to Colonel Cole, commanding our regiment, who replied: "Twen- ty-five minutes to march and half that time to light." — G. W. Cole, Colonel. CHAPTER IX. SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK. In response to the report of Colonel Cole, men- tioned at the close of the last chapter, General But- ler ordered us into the field and we at once broke camp and started for the front near Suffolk, Virg-inia, where we relieved the Twentieth New York Cavalry from its duty to keep a lookout for the enemy in our immediate front. We had not been there long- before General Judson Kilpatrick, who had just completed his raid with a larg"e cavalry force around the east side of Richmond, to Yorktown, came up and took observations of the enemy's location, shook his head and returned. We supposed he contemplated return- ing- north on the west side of Richmond with his com- mand and concluded he would run into a hornet's nest, as we did later. Not long" after this the enemy retired from our front and we scoured the country for miles without finding" any trace of them, so we con- cluded they had left. A few days later an old darkey came to our headquarters and reported that there were thirty conscripts taken from Suffolk, about three miles from our lines, and being- held at the Bethel Church three miles beyond Suffolk, with a small guard. The darkey had been loaded up with the sto- ry to g-et us into a trap as later developments proved. Not long- after his report was made we started out 102 SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK with seven companies and arriving- at Suffolk, Lieu- tenant Dodge, now paymaster general of the United States army after more than forty years' service, was sent out with his company on the Blackv/ater road near the location of the church, to cut off the escape of the conscripts as the other six companies which were to march out on another road, came up from an opposite direction to capture them. My company was one of the six, with which was the howitzer section, a battery of two small guns. We had barely reached the timber which cut off the view from Suffolk, about three miles out, v.-hen we reached the enemy's pickets and started two of our companies after them on the gallop while the other companies and the battery kept up their former pace at the walk for a few minutes when a courier from Dodge came galloping up with a message that he was being driven back by a superior force. We instantly reversed the order of our march which brought my company to the head of the column and a message was sent to the two companies pursuing the enemy's pickets to return. As we came out of the timber on our way back to Suffolk we could see army wagons moving toward the town on the road which Dodge had taken and perhaps three miles away from us. This did not look to one experienced in war like a conscript movement and prett}^ soon we were made to feel that it was not for the}' opened fire on us with a field battery at long range, the lire of which, though not accurate, was somewhat demoral- izing to both the men and horses not yet acquainted with that kind of service. It became a race between our four companies and the enemy as to which side would first get into Suffolk, and the earthworks which two years before had protected our soldiers SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 103 ag"ainst the siege of the Confederate General, Long-- street. The enemy were too fast for us and we were left to confront them from the outside. Company B to which the battery was attached, swung* into line in front of a formidable battery of several grins in an old intrenchment and the howitzer's section came quickly into line on the rig-ht of the company and somewhat in advance under the direction of Colonel Cole, and at the same time Captain Kent of Company K was directed by him to take the junction of the hig-hway and railroad leading- out of tov.-n to cut off the advance of the enemy's cavalry and I was ordered to charg"e them with D. my company. The enemy's artillery was by this time playing- on us with canis- ter and solid shot at four to five hundred yards dis- tance, their infantry held in reserve and their cavalry riding- down upon us with "the rebel yell." In g-al- loping- forward at the head of my company to charg-e as commanded by the Colonel I thought we could ride against the enem}' with such rapidity as to turn them back and they did fall back until Company C. of our detachment losing its organization broke into my command and demoralized it to such an extent as to encourage them to turn on us again, when we came together so that the fight was reduced to duel- ling at close quarters in which they were too much for us. In this part of the fight Lieutenant Van Lew fell mortally wounded. He and I were but a few feet apart at the time and the only white men in our group of a dozen or two blacks. Most of the men with whom I started the charge fell back, unless un- horsed or otherwise placed hors de combat, to the demoralized mass created by the loss of the organiza- tion of the company referred to. The rest of us got back later as best we could to the main body of our 104 SECOND BATTI.E OF SUFFOLK force. I could not g"o ahead for the enemy barred the way at ten or twenty paces distance ready to capture me. I could not turn squarely around and retreat without inviting- a shower of bullets that would fin- ish my career. So I slipped down the rig-ht side of my horse Indian fashion, hanging- to the breast strap on the other side and started off towards another part of the field occupied by the enemy's infantry, soon being covered by a tall board fence which stood be- tween me and the advance of the cavalry we had been engaged with, but I made little progress for my horse frightened by a cannon ball which tore through a small dwelling house near by, "bucked," as they say on the plains, shot me headlong- to the g-round where I lay a few seconds thinking of further operations. My horse ran off toward the enemy's infantry. My men were now nearly all back to the starting part of the charge, the head of the enemy's cavalry not more than twenty yards away, with the fence between us and I was understood not to need any more attention. I was reported in the newspapers as killed but I was never more alive. I soon sprang up and darted through a dwelling house near which I had fallen, and pursued a line of retreat through the infant- ry and artillery fire of the enemy that kept the house between me and their cavalry. In the mean time Kent had dismounted his company and occupied the house I have referred to with his men to resist the enemy's advance down the railroad which passed near it, but his horses had broken away and galloped to the rear and his men, except two or three who were later surrounded by the enemy and shot as they came out firing, had retreated. Colonel Cole had directed the action of our battery but its ammunition was so poor that its shots fell within fifty or one hundred SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK. 105 yards of the muzzles of the g"uns, while the enemy's battery which he soug-ht to attack was then four hundred yards away pounding- into us on every part of the held. By this time the fig-ht and the flig-ht was g-eneral, and the Colonel, like an Irishman at Donny brook Fair, on his big- sorrel horse "Jeff," one of the fleetest in the army, with drawn saber was striking- for a head wherever it presented itself on an enemy's shoulders. In one instance, seeing- a Confed- erate ride down on one of our dismounted soldiers whose horse had been shot under him and attempt to cut him down, he dashed forward and a few leaps of his horse broug-ht him to the assailant whom he ran through the body with his saber. As near as we could learn we were fig-hting- Deering's irregoilar di- vision of infantry, artillery and cavalry, which out- numbered us at least ten to one and, of course, it made short work of us. The light lasted about twen- ty" minutes, until the two companies sent out to charg-e the enemy's pickets had time to rejoin us — to save them we were making- the lig-ht — when we were driven from the field in considerable disorder, having- one of our howitzers blown up and dismounted by the artillerv fire after we had retreated a mile or so. We lost one officer and several men killed and wound- ed; several horses, stands of arms and equipments were also lost, and I think some of us white folks lost our patience with colored soldiers for the time being-, 3^et, considering- their bring-ing- up as slaves, and the short training- they had as soldiers, they did well to do no worse under the conditions of attack by an overwhelming-ly superior force. My boy, Ben Hinton, a tall broad shouldered brig-ht negro about my ag-e, whom I had as a servant in my old reg-iment and who went with me as such 106 SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK into the cavalr}- service, was at the battle of Suffolk. He had often said he would take mj body from the field if I should be killed in battle and send it home to my kindred. At this affair Ben rode my spare horse, caug'ht the one I was thrown from, left the field on the run and only stopped running- when he g^ot to Portsmouth, twenty miles away. When he came back I said to him, "Ben I suppose you thought I was killed when I fell from my horse." "Yaas sir." "Don't you remember about telling- me that if I should be killed you would g-et my body and send it back to my friends?" "Yaas Cap'n but when I seed all de res of de nig"g"ers running I rec'ned it was time for me to run too." On the evening of the fig-ht one of the men was overheard to explain his opera- tions, he said: "I lost ma horse en was g-wine to de rear as fas as ah could when I seed de limber (g^un carriage from which the howitzer had been torn by a cannon shot from the enemy) kum'n, an when dat limber kum along- whar I was ah got onto dat limber en it didn't make any difference wheder dey said lim- ber to the front or limber to de rear, I stuck to dat ar limber." A wiser man could have done no bet- ter. My first lieutenant at this time was James C. Toy, a Marylander, whose father was a slave owner before the war. He understood the negro character well and became very efficient in their management. He was a very cool, deliberate man and noticing one of our company trudging away from the battle field with his carbine and equipments, together with his saddle and other horse equipments, asked him: "Saw- yer what are you doing with those horse equip- ments?" to which the soldier replied "De Capen tole us boys we would be charged on de pay roll wid any quipments we lost and when ma horse was shot ah SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 107 took off de quipments an am g-^vine to save em!" The occasion warranted it and the ofiicer directed the boy, who was hardl}^ more than sixteen years of age, to drop them. In his dismounted condition he would do well to save himself from the pursuing- enemy. Another incident of this battle was that of a Confed- erate soldier attempting- to shoot one of my men with a big Colts revolver. He was but a few feet away when he attempted to tire at the man and when the revolver failed to go off as he pulled the trigger he threw it at the man he was attempting to shoot and lodging between himself and the pummel of his sad- dle he brought it from the field. It had the initials R. D. cut in large letters on the handle. Still anoth- er incident was that of a man whose horse having been shot under him was being sabered on the head by a mounted Confederate, but his head was so hard that the saber would not penetrate the skull. I think this was the case where the Colonel sabered the assailant. A few years ago I received a letter from this man, who was at the Soldiers' Home at Hamp- ton, Virginia. He lost the sight of one eye in the attack upon him and was then losing the sight of the other. After the battle of Suffolk we fell back about ten miles to the head of the Dismal Swamp and scouting on its border with nine horsemen on a trail by which it seemed the enemy might flank us, I suddenly dis- covered that we were in the midst of the swamp and our efforts to get out seemed to get us in deeper. At last one of our horses sank in a bog and we could not get him out so we left him there, which I much re- gretted a little later as it occurred to me we should have shot him to prevent his starving to death. Af- ter we left him I directed his rider to get down on 108 SKCOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK his hands and knees and pursue one of the numerous trails that ran beneath the matted underg-rowth and were often the tracks made by runaway slaves who had hidden in the swamp. We had no means of knowing- whether we were headed in or out of the swamp, which was a vast, apparently impenetrable mass of briars, vines and other undergrowth, as hig-h as our heads when we stood in our saddles; not a sound could be heard to indicate human activity out- side of our party, but, luckily, in about a half hour we emerg-ed from the sw^amp, our horses' breasts and front leg's torn and bleeding from the efforts to follow our gTaide in the path he was trailing-. In a short time after we g'ot out we reached our compan}^ marching" along- the hig-hway and in its rear was the horse we had left in the swamp, without either saddle or bridle. He had released himself from the bog- and evidently took the back track which we did not have the g-ood sense to understand was the safe and sure way out. CHAPTER X. RAID INTO XOKTH CAROLINA. Not long- after the battle of Suffolk our regiment was ordered to make a rapid march into northern North Carolina to perform an important service, the secret of which was confined to the Colonel. We started out early in the day and by nig-ht fall we were well down in the Currytuck Country, in North Caro- lina. We marched rapidly all day, and the nig-ht following-, after stopping- for a short time in the even- ing" to feed our horses and g-ive them a little rest. That country was threaded all over with little streams and the culverts throug-h which they crossed the hig-hways were numerous and usually covered with rails thrown across them without being- nailed or oth- erwise fastened down. The leading- companies of the reg-iment usually crossed these culverts carefully and as they kept up the reg-ular marching- time after they were over those following- had to break into the g-allop after crossing- to catch up with the consequence that the men soon dropped into the habit of spurring- their horses when their hind feet were about to leave a cul- vert and the starting^ of the animal to increase his speed sent a rail flying- from his heels. This method of procedure soon left the following- troopers to leap their horses across the culverts with varying- success in the darkness. Another feature of the march was 110 RAID INTO NORTH CAROLINA the way the men's caps were brushed off by the over- hang-ing- branches of the trees which lined the road- sides, before they learned the necessity of loosing" the strap over the visor and placing it below the chin to keep the cap in place when collisions occurred. The next morning- the marching column was a sight. The horses and the men were covered with a heavy coating of dust, and those who had lost their caps on the nig-ht march, and they were numerous, wore nose bags on their heads. A nose bag was a white canvas bag- about the size of a tire brigade bucket with a russet leather bottom. If the command had been summoned to take part in a calathumpian exhibition they were well made up for that service. Late on the afternoon of the second day out we re- turned to our lines after marching, it was said, more than one hundred miles. We heard rumors of a body of the enemy we were to strike on the line of our march and that they g-ot out of our way and let us g"o around them without a struggle. However that may be it was an unusually exhausting- raid to both men and horses and I have always believed that its pur- pose, although never developed, was highly import- ant in character. Perhaps it was intended to give us a chance to get even on our Suffolk fight. CHAPTER XI. THREATENED MUTINY. A few weeks after the Suffolk affair I w^as sta- tioned with my company on the hig-hwaj leading- from Portsmouth to that town and assig-ned to patrol duty, to keep a lookout for the enemy. One Sunday morn- ing- two of the men quarreled about something- near the quarters and were using loud and hot words towards each other. I stepped out to learn the cause of the trouble and one of the parties, a larg-e man named Worrel, charged the other man with turning his horse out so that he rolled in the garden and was covered with mud, the men generally took good care of their horses, were affectionate toward them and proud of them. I asked Worrel how he knew the man accused turned his horse out and he answered by ask- ing- me a question. I replied, "don't ask me a ques- tion but answer the one I have asked you." "But I will ask you a question Cap'n," he said, and I ordered him arrested by a sergeant and two men and he arm- ed himself for a fight and said no d — d nig-ger could arrest him. I drew my revolver on him and directed him to disarm and surrender to the serg-eant and file of soldiers who stood ready to take him into custody, which he started to do bj' laying aside his carbine, but in an instant when I was looking away from him he sprang upon me g-rasping- me around the arms and body. I stooped over to point the revolver to the floor and hold it tightly between my knees that he might not discharg-e it into me. No sooner had he pounced upon me than a corporal coming hurriedly down the stairway seized a loaded carbine, put the muzzle of it to his side and pulled the trig-ger, but its failure to discharge saved his life, and the ser- geant, following- the example of the corporal, pulled 112 THREATENED MUTINY out his revolver and twice tried to shoot him. By this time I had v/ormed myself loose from him and prepared to g'ive him a punishment he would not soon forg-et. The reason why the carbine missed lire was a mystery but the revolvers were recently issued and the oil in the tubes on which the caps were plac- ed prevented the explosion of the cap from igniting- and exploding- the cartridge in the barrel of the fire- arm. The incident tended to show the intense loj'd.\- ty of the colored soldier to his wliite commander. The punishment for Worrel's assault was death but that was altogether too severe, besides it would be a punishment of his famil}' who needed his support. I therefore g-ave him a physical punishment that did him no injury, but did him lasting- good. I wanted to let him g-o but I could not without losing- the nec- essary control of the men to make g-ood soldiers of them. They were unlike white men. A master spir- it had ruled them from infancy like children. A mu- tiny was started among- the men by this time. There were seventy live or eig-hty of thera to two of us white men and they were all slaves less than a year before, and were armed to the teeth, besides there were no other troops within ten miles of us. I ordered all of the men, except Worrel, into line unarmed and the or- der was promptly obeyed. I then picked out half of them and directed them to arm and equip themselves and report for duty at once; this they did and were posted as needed. I then caused the arrest of two leaders of the mutiny and put them to the same pun- ishment that Worrel was underg-oing- and order was restored. Worrel after this was one of the most trust- worthy and obedient men, but the other two who were punished were never lit for anything- but to be drum- med out of the service to the tune of the rog-ue's march and they deserted at the first opportunity. CHAPTER XII. PREPARING FOR CAMPAIGN BEFORE RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG. About the latter part of April the companies of the regiment were ordered into regimental camp from the stations they occupied for patrol and other pur- poses, near our old camp in the vicinity of Hampton, preparatory to a move on Richmond by the Army of the James, constituted of the Tenth Army Corps commanded by Major General Gilmore and the Eight- eenth Corps commanded by Major General W. F. (Baldy) Smith. As General Butler was the senior Major General and in command of the department he was quite naturally in the military order of things the superior officer of the other two generals named and all orders to them from the war department should go through him, but Secretary of War Stanton ignored this rule and communicated direct with the corps commanders. General Butler's headquarters were then at Fortress Monroe, which is located on Old Point Comfort. He at once wrote to the secretary calling his attention to his correspondence with Gen- erals Gilmore and Smith and asking to be informed "whether he was the commander in chief of the de- partment of Virginia and North Carolina or simply mayor of Old Point Comfort." We were not in camp at Hampton long before we received orders to go up the peninsula as far as Wil- 114 PREPARING FOR CAMPAIGN liamsburg-. The Armj of the Potomac, under the eye of General Grant, was then about to enter the g-reat battle of the Wilderness in which and the series of battles immediately following- before he crossed the James river south of Richmond on his way to Peters- burg- to "fight it out on this line if it takes all sum- mer," he lost one hundred and nineteen thousand men in killed, wounded, missing and otherwise placed hors de combat, and as we were ordered to march in the di- rection of his field of operations it beg-an to look as though we would soon have plenty of hot work. We arrived at Williamsburg after a day's march and some of us, who had not enjoyed collegiate advantages, had a chance to go through William and Mary's college — on horse back — the roofs of the buildings had disap- peared in the ravages of war. Here too we found the oldest insane hospital in the United States, that General McClellan put physicians in charge of in his campaig-n two years before, and which was there- after cared for by the army authorities. When we arrived at Williamsburg- we were bri- gaded with the First United States Colored Cavalry commanded by Colonel Garrard and the brig-ade was commanded by Colonel Robert M. West of the First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, who succeeded the late General Charles T. Campbell of this town in com- mand of that regiment. We quartered in the log- houses built by McClellan's troops for a few days and then started north on a raid the purpose of which was a secret to all but the brisfade commander. CHAPTER XIII. AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. We struck the enemy on the Chickahominy river at Jones Bridge twenty-five miles below Richmond, the second day out, where there was a bridge location but the bridge had been destroyed, and on the oppo- site side of the river were three redoubts occupied by Confederate troops, said to be Major Roger's Rich- mond Battalion. Colonel Garrard was ordered for- ward to attack with his regiment and howitzer bat- tery but his men, except about thirty of them, being armed with revolvers and sabers only, one of our com- panies was ordered forward to cover his advance as skirmishers which it did in splendid style. The men dismounted and deployed in a line five paces apart across Garrard's front, advanced firing until they came within one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards of the enemy and made it so hot for them as to largely stop their return fire. While this was going on Lieutenant Colonel Pond ordered my company to dismount and advance as skir- mishers to the river on Garrard's right and he went with us. Arriving on the bank of the river, which was at this point as well as the ground we had passed over to get there, covered with sufficient tim- ber to screen us from the enemy, we found no means to cross until a little later I discovered a 116 AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. large tree which had been felled across the river and used as a foot bridge by the eneni}^ and report- ed to Colonel Pond with a sug-gestion that we cross over and flank the enemy out of their redoubts which Garrard was fighting about a half miic on our left. He rejected the suggestion and with a dozen men from the right of the line I crossed over. We could see the enemy's camp and a number of horses through the timber about three hundred 3fards away and I instructed the men that I would give them the command: "Second battallion charge!" in a loud voice as though we were a regiment of a brigade and we would go for the camp on the double quick, they to keep up a rapid fire in that direction. This move worked all right. "We captured the camp and its equippage, and arms and horses enoug'h to arm and mount the men I had with me, and the enemy aban- doned the redoubts and fell back to the timber a half mile in the rear. I have no doubt they heard the command for I gave it as loudly as I could and this followed by the rapid firing led them to believe that they were flanked by a largely superior force. I learned later that our brigade commander had con- cluded that the enemy's position was impregnable at the time we went in and that the noise of the charge was made by the enemy in capturing us. We shortly after recrossed the river and rejoined our regiment. In doing so we galloped with our cap- tured horses past the First regiment with Garrard at its head and received three hearty cheers from his men "for the boys that routed the enemy." I was then even with Colonel Garrard for the snubbing- he gave rae when I applied for a commission as a sub- altern in his regiment about six months before. How- ever, I was then in good company. A few years be- AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 117 fore the war, as the story runs, Abraham Lincoln as- sociated with Edwin M. Stanton, later his great war secretary, was eng-ag-ed in Cincinnati in the trial of a patent case before Judge McLean of the supreme court of the United States, the step father of Colonel Garrard, and the judg-e invited all the lawyers en- g-aged in the case, except Lincoln, to dine -with him. The affair at Jones' Bridg-e g-ot into the New York newspapers as something: worthy of special mention. As reported it was said that "Captain Bollard's com- pany under the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Pond" etc. etc., swelling- the story away beyond the facts; and in General Grant's report of the war it is men- tioned as follows: "The Colored Cavalry Brigade un- der Colonel Robert M. West forced the enemy's posi- tion at Jones' Bridge on the Chickahominy river." This reminds me that a distinguished writer. Swift, I think, says "Glory in war consists in one's getting killed in battle and having one's name spelled wrong in the list of casualties." From Jones' Bridge we fell back to Williamsburg but an order came at once to retrace our steps and join General Butler's army at Bermuda Hundred, on the James river, below Richmond. I was troubled with fever and ague in those days and was unfit to go into the saddle, but a little quinine and whiskey was considered an antidote for ague there then, as the latter is considered an antidote for rattlesnake bites out here in these days, so I resorted to a moder- ate use of this ague remedy which seemed to straight- en me out all right and about 3 o'clock in the morn- ing we started up the peninsula again. I rode a splendid horse which danced along the way for the first twelve miles in such spirit that I suffered the tor- tures of the d— d from the jolting. I was sick indeed, 118 AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. and had I consulted my welfare rather than my ambi- tion I should have gone on the sick list and remained in camp instead of going- on this expedition, but when endurance and patience were about exhausted I spur- red my horse savagely and that led the Colonel, who was strongly opposed to the use of alcohol in any form as a beverage, to suspect that I was influenced by the antidote, and led to an unpleasant misunder- standing between us later in the campaign when re- ports reached his ears that we young officers were get- ting indiscreet on social occasions. I shall have occa- sion to refer to this later. On the first day's march we reached a point near Harrison's landing on the James river where McClellan's campaign of the spring and summer of 1862 was brought to a close, and re- mained there until the following evening. CHAPTER XIV. BEFORE PETERSBURG. From Harrison's Landing- 1 was ordered to report with my troop to the headquarters of General E. W. Hincks at City Point for duty. We arrived there about 9 o'clock the next morning and Captain Thom- as L. Livermore of his staff, ever since the war one of the most prominent and respected men of New Eng-land, informed me that the front of the position of General Hincks— he commanded the colored divis- ion then— was occasionally annoyed by the enemy's cavalry in small bodies and if I would move out and capture them it would be a feather in my cap. I was looking- for feathers in those days and we at once started out to bag the game. We penetrated the en- emy's country for some distance to the rear of where they usually appeared and working back to it found we had only "a water haul;" about a couple of hours later we repeated the move and came down upon them with all the speed of our horses, but they escaped us by a road of which we knew nothing, that let them out to the Appomattox river. General Hincks then advanced toward Petersburg with the purpose of attacking it— this was on the 9th day of May, 1864, eleven months to a day before Petersburg fell and General Lee surrendered to Gen- eral Grant at Appomattox— ray troop led the advance 120 BEFORE PETERSBURG. and following" the road on which the enemy's cavalry squad had fled we soon came on a small body of troops in our uniform who challeng-ed us with "Who comes there?" and Lieutenant Peterson, who was in advance with two other men, answered "One of your d — d Yankee nig-g-er officers!" They g"ave us a volley and w^e g"alloped ag-ainst them to find the Appomattox riv- er below the bluff on which we met them, also the g-un boat to which they belong-ed as artillerymen. The mistake was mutual and neither was the worse for it, except the lieutenant had his cap damaged by a ball which cut its way throug-h it. We then moved up the road toward the enemy's pickets, and exchang^- ed shots with them and returned to take a more di- rect route toward the center of their intrenched posi- tion. My troop now acted as rear g-uard and in passing- the place where we had the affair with our own men I received a dispatch from their captain to General Hincks — the enemy had rushed a lig-ht battery down to a point on the opposite side of the river and sunk his gun boat about as soon as he was aware of their presence. When the head of General Hincks' column reach- ed the road between City Point and Petersburg- he turned toward the latter and a little later I found him near Cedar Level, where General Grant had his base of operations a little later in the cam- paig-n. I handed him the dispatch from the Captain of the g-unboat and asked him if I should g"0 with his column. He answered that I should and to the in- quiry as to where I should take my place he replied "In front, sir!" There was a scattering" fire g"oing" on at the front then as thoug-h our troops were feel- ing" of the enemy. I started my command toward the head of the column and as we trotted past the general BEFORE PETERSBURG 121 and staff, Captain Livermore joined us. We then formed twos and fours at the gallop and made our way at that g-ait over the corduroy road through the Cedar Level swamp beyond which we were to meet the enemy. I have since learned that the commander of the regiment which was exchanging- shots with them reported he had met them in force. But however that may be as we emerged from the swamp we re- ceived a volley from the left and several troopers in our front galloped off into the w.oods toward their fort, on which later was mounted the big gun called the Petersburg Express, by which our people fired a shot into that city every five minutes of the subse- quent siege. Lieutenant Peterson with a small squad of men was ordered to look after the fellows who gave us the volley from the left and a corporal and three men sent on the trail after those who retreated in our front, while Captain Livermore and myself pushed on with the rest of the troop to the Petersburg stage road, perhaps a mile or so, to brush away any small parties of the enemy that might be on the Petersburg front, and make plain sailing for our infantry to form line of battle free from their annoyance. On our re- turn shortly after we found our command had been ordered to fall back and later I learned that an order was received as we were ready to go in with good prospects of success, by General Hincks from General Butler, not to attack Petersburg. The corporal and three men I have mentioned pursued the retreating enemy until the fort I have referred to opened with its battery and killed one of the horses that pinned its rider to the earth as it fell, and as the other two soldiers started to run away the corporal drew his re- volver on them and brought them back to release their comrade from his dead horse. When he had 122 BEFORE PETERSBURG accomplished this he mounted the man behind him and rode back leisurelj^ with his companions. This man was named Pierce. He was as black as ink and as good and brave as he was black. He was an honor to his race and very similar to the type Mrs. Stowe had in mind when she wrote the story of Uncle Tom. The shackles of slavery had fallen from his limbs at the bidding- of the emancipation proclamation but little more than a year before this event, and in it the first g-un was fired from the Petersburg- works, while the last g-un, that marked a final period for the war, was fired on the 9th day of April, 1865, and settled the question of neg-ro slavery in this country for all time. A little later we made another advance on Peters- burg-. The cavalry division of General Kautz led the way and the command of General Hincks follow- ed. I came up with the g-eneral in the opening- near Cedar Level where we rushed the enemy in the other affair and asked him for orders. "Go to Judd's Hill!" was the response, and supposing- I would find the en- emy there I followed the trail of the cavalry division until it turned from the direct road to Petersburg- near rising- g-round in front. Here, I suspected, was Judd's Hill and we kept on our march until we reach- ed its crest where I thoug-ht it advisable to wait for the g-eneral and staff to come up, which they did in a few minutes and we then advanced, as I anticipated, to meet the enemy posted in the road around a curve a short distance ahead, where they had taken their position, no doubt, as the cavalry division ceased driving them backward turned from the Petersburg- stage road to the left to attack the works near Ceme- tery Hill which it carried later. Three times we at- tempted to charge the men confronting us in the highway without success. It seemed as though the BEFORE PETERSBURG 123 men's horses could not stand the fire with which vv^e were met for each time we galloped forward they would wheel round and dash back madly to the cover of the bend in the road in response to a volley from the enemy. Thinking they were encouraged in this by their riders, I called for volunteers and one of the men responded "Cap'n dismount us and we'll all go wid you." He was the ugliest looking man in the company but he was a better strategist than I. How- ever, we were mounted and our duty there was to fight on horseback. Soon a line of our infantry ad- vanced and the opposition melted away. Not a horse or man in my company was injured in this affair al- though shots enough were fired to annihilate us. In the excitement the enemy fired too high— for them. We advanced to the outworks on this occasion but the movement amounted only to an armed recon- noisance. Shortly after this word came to Redoubt Converse at Spring Hill, on the Appomattox river, where I was stationed, that Petersburg was evacuated and I was ordered to move out the next morning to test the truth of the report. We started at 2 o'clock. Lieutenant Peterson and I and the troop, and made our way toward the enemy's lines by an old nearly blind road with which we had become acquainted while scouting between the lines. It was very dark and we were in danger of ambush. Daylight found us a quarter to a half a mile within the enemy's picket line without be- ing discovered, but we had to make quick work of it. We broke into the gallop and made our way to the place where we expected to cut the picket line and capture it and the reserves behind it. We came onto the reserves while they were still asleep but we gave them a free entertainment which cost one poor fellow 124 BEFORE PETERSBURG among' them his life and another his liberty, but the picket line and the rest of the reserve escaped throug-h the timber lining* the river near b}^ The prisoner in- formed us that the post had two companies of infant- ry and a part of a company of cavalry. We fell back to our camp to report and g"et breakfast. We did not capture Petersburg-. It took General Grant with the combined armies of the James and Potomac about ten months in a later campaig-n to accomplish that very desirable object. While we were making- our way to the front on this occasion in the dense darkness, just before day- lig-ht, I kept ahead of my troop a little distance to look out for an ambush, and old Corporal Pierce, whom I have mentioned elsewhere, rode up to me and urg-ed that I g-o back to the company and let some of the men g-o ahead, saying-: "Cap'n you better let some of us boys g-o ahead; if we g-et killed it wont make any difference but if you g-et killed we all will be lost." We had not finished our breakfast after our re- turn before a cannon opened on our front about a half mile from our quarters and we were soon in the saddle. The prisoner we had captured told us there was a command of about six hundred Confederate cavalry a few hundred yards back of where we struck their pickets and it was this cavalry that had follow- ed us up with its battery. Captain White of General Hincks' staff had just come to inspect my troop when the enemy opened fire and we parted as he started for the trenches where our artillery was in operation and I crossed the line of fire with my command between the batteries on both sides. We marched at the walk to show the other fellows we could stand such work without excitement and took our place on the extreme BEFORE PETERSBURG 125 left where there mig-ht be use for cavalry. The skir- mish lasted about an hour and the attacking- force retreated with the loss of several men. We had but one man wounded. At the close of the affair we re- turned to our stables where we were lined up as Cap- tain White came along-, before the smoke had cleared from the field, and I reported to him, "Captain my company is ready for inspection sir." "That is all rig-ht Captain I shall g^ive you a g-ood report sirl" And I think he did for the best friends I had in the army, aside from Colonel Cole, were at the headquar- ters of General Hincks. The attack made on us on this occasion must have whetted the appetite of the enemy for in a few days they came back with a larg-ely increased force of cavalry and infantry and several pieces of artil- lery. They posted some of the latter about a mile away directly in front of our batteries and others about a half a mile away on our left front under cov- er of a belt of timber. With the latter they had some cavalry and with the former both infantry and cavalry and they advanced a body of infantry toward our rig-ht front throug-h the timber skirting- the Ap- pomattox river on which our rig-ht and our line of earthworks rested. We advanced a reg-iment of in- fantry to meet this latter force and shelled the rest of it with our batteries, but we could not discover their exact location or the effect of our fire on them, so when the situation was ripe for such a move I trotted out to the front with my troop to feel of them and when on a line with those covered by the timber we g-alloped forward as forag-ers in open order far enoug-h to discover their exact location, and we found it, for they opened on us from front and flank and our bat- teries firing- over us answered them. We did not 126 BEFORE PETERSBURG stand upon the order of our going- but went to the rear at once as fast as our horses would carry us, and our artillery pounded theni fiercely. An hour or two later I rode out beyond our skirmish line to see if they had withdrawn and stopping* under a tree to view the situation the bullets beg^an whistling- above my head among- the leaves and my horse, taking- the hint, ran back with the speed of a deer while the enemy paid their compliments to us with their small arms. The nig-ht following they retired. We subsequently learned that they were our old friends who gave us such a drubbing- at Suffolk. In this campaign before Petersburg while my old regiment, the Twenty-third Massachusetts, was bat- tling against a South Carolina regiment of the same number, and both commands were doing their best, the South Carolinians gave way so that our people advanced to the ground occupied by their dead and wounded; here an old comrade of mine, an officer in the Twenty-third Massachusetts, Frank M. Doble, noticing a badly wounded South Carolina officer ly- ing near him and attempting to attract his attention, went to where he lay, bent over him and heard in a whispered voice the word "water;" Doble kneeled down beside the wounded man lifted up his head, and put his own canteen to his lips, after he had satisfied his thirst he whispered "God bless you; take my revolver" and fell back dead. This turns the mem- ory back to the days when the United States govern- ment under the fugitive slave law, took Anthony Burns, a fugitive South Carolina slave, through the streets of Boston to return him to his master, the great riot in opposition and the talk later that Mas- sachusetts and South Carolina should fight out the issues of the war. BEFORE PETERSBURG. 127 On the morning- of June 15th we were joined by the Eighteenth Corps under General W, F. (Baldy) Smith from General Grant's armj- at Cold Harbor. It had left us to g-o to him there and eng-ag-e in the battle of that name. Our division commanded by General Charles J. Paine joined this corps and "we all" marched on Petersburg-. While passing one of the colored infantry reg-iments of General Paine's division that my company had served with, one of the men called out "Hello dere comes our cal'ry! When vou see dat Cap'n pull his hat down dere's suf- ■fin gwirie to be done but ef he don't touch his hat you needn't be skeered he aint gwine to hurt you."''' I sup- pose the observation was made because I, like others in the mounted service, was in the habit of pulling at the rim of my hat to secure it on my head when we broke into a brisker gait. We commenced the battle of Petersburg at the swamp at Cedar Level through which we galloped on the evening of the 9th of Ma}' to brush the out- posts of the Confederates away and they must have learned a lesson by that experience, for they were better prepared to receive us now. They had a strong battery posted in the clearing on their side of the swamp and compelled a vigorous light in line of bat- tle to force them back, after which we pushed on and confronted their intrenchments. The battle lasted all day, substantially, and when night closed in we captured their entire position with the artillery that had defended it, including that in the battery into which my old corporal ran on a former occasion. Much criticism has been indulged in since because General Smith did not advance and capture the city that night and something has been said of the intense darkness. I remember distinctly that it was very 128 BEFORE PETERSBURG. dark when nig-ht closed in, but shortly after we g^ot into the enemy's works the moon rose bright and beautiful. That night I camped with my troop in- side of the intrenchments where the Petersburg* stage road entered the enemy's works, and it was said the next morning- that after v/e had captured this part of the line a load of ammunition came out from Peters- burg- and when challeng-ed by our pickets the driver replied "A load of ammunition for Battery Number Nine." During- the nig-ht the Second corps, General Hancock's famous copimand, came up and took posi- tion on the left of our army that had foug-ht the bat- tle of the day before and a little after daylight a battery of the enemy opened a rapid and well direct- ed fire on our part of the line and commenced the death g-rapple that continued thereafter between the army of the Potomac and the army of the James on the one side and the army of Northern Virginia un- der General Lee and General Beaureg-ard's army on the other, until the end came at Appomattox on the 9th of April thereafter. It was a strug-g-le in the last ditch for the life of the Confederacy. With the coming- of the army of the Potomac all available troops were put into the trenches and un- necessarily mounted troops were dismounted for this purpose. Under this policy we had to g-ive up the horses of our enlisted men and stand ready to take our place in the trenches. My company was sent back to our reg-iment and one nig-ht I was ordered to take one hundred and fifty men to the front along- the Appo- mattox to construct an earthwork. The detail was made up from our regiment and the First United States Colored Cavalry, the detachment from the latter being- under the command of Lieutenant Cass. When we reached the place where the work was to be done the BEFORE PETERSBURG 129 men armed with their firearms and supplied with picks and shovels were strung- along- the line of the work. It was about midnig-ht, the enemy were on the opposite side of the river within easy sharp shoot- ing- distance. Our men would have no cover when daylight came except such as they should furnish with their picks and shovels before then, and Cass, as disg-usted as myself with our dismounted condi- tion, called out to them, "Now dig-, d — n you, dig- or die," and that was their position in a nut shell. It g-oes without saying that they did not die for the want of industry. ' The summer dragged along wearily in the most humdrum way. CHAPTER XV. DOING BUSINESS WITH GENERAI, BUTLER. About the middle of August I received an invi- tation to call on General Butler at his headquarters to answer charg-es which the Colonel had preferred ag-ainst me. I reported promptly but he took no no- tice of me at first, later he turned on me like a mad man and this is what occurred. "You are Captain Dollard are you sir?" "I am sir!" "I have some charg-es ag-ainst you sir!" "I am aware of that fact sir!" "You mig-ht as well plead g^uilty sir!" All this time his jaws were snapping- like those of a tig-er and at a motion from him out jumped an orderly with a box of cigars, one of which he munched voraciously while the interview continued. I had heard of his tricks of intimidation and had come prepared for the reception. He had the power to kick me out of the service unceremoniously but not to intimidate me. I was accustomed to meeting- more dang-erous men. After he had read the charges and I did not take his advice and plead guilty he seemed to be in a towering rage which I answered by saying "General if I am g-uilty of those charges I deserve the extreme punish- ment of the law." "Yes," he replied, "and if you are gfuilty of these charges you shall receive the ex- treme punishment of the law and such punishment as I see fit to add for prevarication to the commanding DOING BUSINESS WITH GENERAL BUTLER 131 g-eneral. On the other hand if you are not g-uilty your witnesses shall be punished." I have since re- gretted that I did not say "I beg- your pardon Gener- al but you mean my accuser." The g-eneral had up- set himself instead of me. In military procedures of this kind they sometimes worked like a boomerang-. If they did not succeed the accuser g-ot a scoring-. I went to Fortress Monroe, stood my trial and was ex- onerated. Colonel Cole was present and when ask- ed by the judg-e advocate, Major Stackpole, as to whether I desired to have him asked any questions as to my character as a soldier, I told him to use his own judg-ment and to the question the Colonel re- plied, "Captain DoUard is one of the ablest officers in the camp and one of the bravest officers in the field I ever had the pleasure of associating- with." This I thoug-ht was overdoing it and g-iving- me a measure of credit I did not altogether deserve, but it served to show the high character of the witness. He was in- terested in the success of my prosecution for he was in line of promotion to Brevet Brigadier General, and was as much entitled to it as some who received Gen- eral Butler's endorsement after our next battle, but if the prosecution failed he might expect nothing but censure at the hands of General Butler; although as a matter of fact the latter simply passed on my ex- oneration by saying: "The proceedings in the case of Captain Robert Bollard are hereby approved. Captain Bollard will resume his sword." I had al- ready resumed my sword and fallen in battle before I received the order. CHAPTER XVI . BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS. On September 29th I was assigned to the com- mand of the advance of our reg-iment at New Market Heights. In this engagement, which on the entire line involved all of the Army of the James north of the James river, we held a position on the extreme right where we had been doing picket duty so close to the enemy that we were on speaking terms. We advanced at 3 o'clock in the morning and the battle opened. After about three hours' work we drove the enemy out of their rifle pits and back a mile or so to their main line, where their line of battle and battery in the trenches had full play upon us at four hundred yards distance in an open field; nothing but our open order prevented us from great slaughter. Regiments in close order immediately on our left lost sixty per cent of their men. Orders came from the rear about this time to lie down and the men dropped, but Lieu- tenant Jones, who was associated with me in the com- mand, and myself remained standing, he, I suppose, because he wanted to be the last man to drop and I because I thought it my duty as the commander of the men to set them an example of indifference to danger, but neither of us remained standing very BATTLE OF NEW MAKKET HEIGHTS 133 lon'r. Jones dropped and I followed, but I was shot throug-h the head before I reached the g-round. I lost my speech and eye sight and was helpless. I was conscious and knew when my line fell back and left me. The position was not an ag-reeable one as I lay between the contending lines of battle the bullets of both sides whistling- above me, the solid shot shrieking- as they rent the air and the shells bursting- around me. I think it is the historian Gibbon, or Macaulay, who says this is the most painful position one can occupy in battle. However, within a few minutes my eyesight and speech returned, I was dis- covered by Lieutenant Jones who with four of the men came back and carried me off the field. I thought I had been struck in the head with the fragment of a shell and that my right arm was shattered. After we arrived at the hospital the doctor said I was struck by a minnie ball and my right arm was par- alyzed by the shot which struck me on the left side of "the top of my head. I was able to get up and to walk with a little assistance after a few hours,^ and in going to the rear I met Colonel Speer of the Elev- enth Pennsylvania Cavalry, an old time associate of our General Charles T. Campbell, whom I have men- tioned, at the head of a cavalry brigade and he very kindly ordered one of his surgeons to have me taken to the rear in an ambulance. That afternoon about seven hundred of us who were wounded were put on a steamer and sent down the river to the Hampton Hospital. Poor Jones went through the war without a scratch but was killed and scalped on the trail be- tween Sidney and the Black Hills when the gold ex- citement was highest in the Hills country. The following is an extract from the order of General Butler after the battle I have mentioned: 134 BATTLK OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS Head Quarters Department of Virginia and North Carolina, Army of the James. Before Richmond, Oct. llth, 1864, Soi^DiERS OF THE Army of the James: The time has come when it is due to you that some word should be said of your deeds. In accordance with the plan committed to j'ou by the lieutenant general commanding' the armies, for the first time in the war, fully taking advantage of our facilities of steam marine transportation, you performed a march without par- allel in the history of war. At sunset of the 4tli of May you were threatening the en- emy's capital from West Point and the White House, within thirty miles on its eastern side. Within twenty-four hours, at sunset on the 5th of May, by a march of one hundred and thirty miles, you transported thirty five thousand men — their luggage, supplies, horses, wagons and artillery — within fifteen miles 'of the south side of Richmond with such celerity and secrecy that the enemy was wholly unprepared for your coming, and allowed you without opposition to seize the strongest natural position on the continent. A victory all the more valuable because bloodless! Seizing the enemy's communications between their cap- ital and the south you held them till the 26th of May. Meanwhile your cavalry, under General Augustus V. Kautz cut the Weldon road below Petersburg twice over and destroyed a portion of the Danville railroad; while the col- ored cavalry under Colonel Robert M. West, joined you by a march from Williamsburg across the Chickahominy to Har- rison's L«anding. From the 12th to the 16th of May you moved on the ene- my's works around Fort Darling, holding him in check while your cavalry cut the Danville road, capturing his first line of works, repulsing with great slaughter his attack which was intended for your destruction. Retiring at leisure to your position, j'ou fortified it, re- pulsing three several attacks of the enemy until j'ou have made it strong enough to hold itself. Fortifying City Point, Fort Powhattan, Wilson's Wharf, BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS 135 (Fort Pocahontas,) 3'ou secured 3"our communications, and have practicalh' moved Fortress Monroe as a base within fifteen miles of the rebel capital, there to remain till that trav- els. Re-embarking' after you had secured your position, with nearly your wliole effective strength under Major General William F. Smith, you ag-ain appeared at White House with- in forty-eight hours after you received the order to march, participating at the memorable battle of Cold Harbor with the army of the Potomac, where the number and character of your gallant dead attest your braver^' and conduct. Again returning in advance of that army on the 15th of June, under General Smith the Eighteenth Corps captured the rig'ht of the line of defenses around Petersburg and nine pieces of artillery, which lines you have since held for three months. On the 16th of June a portion of the Tenth Corps, under Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry again threw itself upon the enemy's communications between Richmond and Petersburg and destroyed miles of the road holding it cut for da3's. The Tenth Corps, on the 14th day of August, passing the James at Deep Bottom under Major General David B. Birne}-, by a series of brilliant charges carried the enemy's works near New Market and two days later another line of works at Fussell's Mills, defended by the best troops of L«ee's army, bringing back four guns and three battle flags as trophies of their valor. Again crossing the James on the 29th of September with both corps, with celeritj', precision, secrecA' and promptness of movement seldom equaled, with both corps in perfect co- operation, you assaulted and carried at the same moment, — the Tenth Corps and the third division of the Eighteenth Corps under General Birney — the enemy's strong works with double lines of abattis at Spring Hill, near New Market, while the remaining divisions of the Eighteenth Corps under Major General Edward O. C. Ord, carried by assault Battery Harrison, capturing twenty-two pieces of heavy ordnance — the strongest of the enemy's works around Richmond. The army thus possessed itself of the outer line of the enemy's works and advanced to the very gates of Richmond. So vital was your success at Battery Harrison that on the 1st of October, under the eye of General L3 lion subject to the leg-al rig-lit of honest creditors, if any. He replied to my letter saving- he Vv'Guld pre- sent any petition to cong-ress the people of Douglas county desired, and advised nne to write up a historv ■of the facts relating- to the fraudulent org-aiiization and send it to the Chicago Times, which I did, and its publication brought matters to a crisis. In the meantime the settlers, outside of the Brown gang numbering- seven or eig-ht men and their families, some of Vvdiom had two or more ofiices, searched the county thoroughly and found no court house, jail, roads, bridg-es or other improve- ments and nothing but the lield notes and books of record for which treasury warrants or orders could honestly issue, and this information was decisive of the litigation on the bog-us warrants at a later date. In July, 1881, Thomas H. Parsons of Worthing- ton, Minnesota, came out here v/ith a block of Doug-- las county warrants calling- for several thousand dol- lars which it was reix)rted had been sold him by a prominent politician of Bon Homme county as having been issued for public improvements, and they were taken care of by him. Late in the following fall a g-entleman came here from Albert Lea, Minnesota, representing- H. G. Easton of Lanesboro, Minnesota, a prominent capitalist, with another lot of seven or eight thousand dollars in Vv^arrants of this county and a copy of the article I had written for the Chicago Times, looking- for the county seat of Douglas county and a redeemer for his warrants. Not long after their redemption was reported as made by two prominent leaders in the political life of the territory. Taking advantage of the disclosure Governor Ordway, who had remained inactive, so far as I could learn, since his promise to me that he would see the 194 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY man who endorsed Walter H. Brown at the time the org"anization steps were taken before him and advise him of the true situation and urg-e him to have Brown surrender the commissions, suddenly awoke to the situation and dispatches were sent out from Yankton to leading newspapers of the West telling- of the great wrong" he had discovered in which an attempt to de- fraud the people of Douglas county of two hundred thousand dollars was in operation; that he was doing all in his power to prevent its success and if the ring leader had not escaped he would be arrested. Major Burke, an ag'ent of the g-eneral government, had caused a warrant to issue for the arrest of Brown, but before the deputy marshal had left Yankton to serve the warrant the newspapers containing the startling information of the governor's discover}^ had reached here and Brov^n had ample time to escape which he did. This prosecution, I learned from the governor, was the best way to dispose of Brown, while I insist- ed that he should be prosecuted for his work in the fraudulent organization, no matter what steps the government took. This he strongly objected to. Early in the following spring' I arrang-ed with Judge Edgerton, then presiding judge of the Yankton district, and E. G. Smith, our present circuit judge, then district attorney, to have the Yankton grand jury h eld until I could get the witnesses there from Douglas county. The g'overnor returned from Washing'ton about that time and called a meeting of the witnesses I needed, at Mitchell seventy miles distant from Yankton, at the time I had arranged to have the grand jury there look into the Douglas county matter — a co-incidence perhaps — but the holding of that body in session longer than usual obviated an^- difficulty, for on the return of the witnesses to their homes we ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 195 had them subpoenaed, and that the g-overnor mig-ht not be suddenly called away on business that could be deferred we had him subpoenaed too, and the grand jury investigated the matter with the result that Brown was indicted and the g^overnor criticised for not exercising more caution in issuing the commis- sions to him, or something of that kind. I did not see what good the latter did but I suppose it was a response to local feeling as the governor at this time was not oppressed with popularity in Yankton, but there was no love lost, as appeared by the part he took during the following winter in the removal of the capital from that town. After Brown went into hiding on the newspaper reports referred to and found that the steps to pro- cure his arrest were merely based on tilings made in the local land office at Yankton, he returned and sur- rendered himself, it was said, on the advice of his backers who seemed to have hopes of the success of his organization. On his appearance at Yankton to g-ive bail he was somewhat chang^ed. One could not well discover in him the full black bearded man I had met at the hearing in Yankton the summer before. He was clean shaven and the disguise was most com- plete. I could not for the life of me swear that he was the same Brown so far as his appearance went to indicate it. I sent the petition of the people of Doug-- las county to which I have referred, to Congressman Springer. It was presented to the body of which he was a member, referred to the committee on territo- ries and by that committee referred to the sub-com- mittee before which the governor told me he appeared and suggested that the matter stand until he could see if he could not do something to meet the situation. Not long- after, in the early part of the summer of 1% ORGANIZATION" OF DOUGLAS COUISTTY. 18S'2, the people of Doug-las countj^, who had increas- ed in number that j-ear several hundred, v\^ere suffer- ing- from another infliction; horse thieves had beg'un to operate among- them and they org-anized themselves into a vigilance committee, but failing- to catch the thieves, they turned their attention to Brownsdale and the Brown org-anization. They advanced ag-ainst the enemy under the friendly cover of the darkness of nig-ht but, like the horse thieves, the leaders of the Brovm g-ang- had fled, and so far as the public has known, have never been seen since. The committee, however, captured the record books, field notes, blanks and stationery, and as one of the members expressed it, the "stomp," meaning- the seal used bj' the reg-is- ter of deeds and ex-ofiicio county clerk. Brown's son — who was also county superintendent of schools that did not exist — to give their bogus warrants the ap- pearance of respectability. Some time after this the field notes were turned over to the surveyor general's office and later bought by the county, but the custo- dian of the books, blanks and stationery becoming alarmed, it was said, dug them up from the hole in which he had buried them on the prairie and made a bonfire of them. This was the end of the Brov/ns- dale organization. Later in the summer, at the suggestion of the governor, a petition was prepared in accordance with the law, and he was ''asked to issue commissions to Charles E. Huston, Charles A. Houlton and Ferdi- nand Diesterhaupt as county commissioners which he did and they completed the org-anization by the ap- pointment of the other county officers and located the county seat temporarily at Huston, a postoffice on Choteau Creek, located not far from the center of the county, and adjoining this location they entered a ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 197 quarter section of the g-overnraent land on the advice of the g-overnor, I think, on which to build the coun- ty building^s and give the people the benefit of the growth of the future metropolis, but politics and railroad building- upset this plan later. The govern- or and myself were at outs after the Yankton gTand jury experience and he suggested to the new county commissioners, as indications pointed out, not to rec- ognize me in future legal proceeding's, and quite nat- urally I was indignant. I had traveled with my team more than a thousand miles across country and had done hundreds of dollars worth of legal service to defeat the fraudulent organization and its work, for which I received no compensation and expected none. I did not take kindly to his sug-gestion and when the campaign began for the fall election and a new deal in the of&ces, as well as the removal of the county seat to Grand View, a hamlet with two or three buildings at the geog^raphical center of the county, I took an active part. That year I was living in Doug-las county, where I had taken up a preemption, and practicing law in Scotland, thirty five miles away, g-oing- dov/n there on Thursdays of each week and returning on Satur- days. My wife held the fort during my absence, with old Jerry, a little black and tan dog, and a Smith and Wesson revolver to aid her in case of emerg-ency, and the same v/as true during the absence of Friday and myself in 1880, when we were homesteading- in the same neighborhood, after she came out in the spring- of that year. As the neighbors were but nine in number and lived from a half mile to seven miles away, her position was not an enviable one on such occasions. During- the six months' necessary resi- dence on the preemption I traveled about two thous- 198 OKGANIZATION O'F DOUGLAS COUNTY and miles, sometimes in the hottest weather traveling- part of the night, and when overtaken by storms, picketing my horse and taking shelter with the fleas in a sheep skin fur coat kindly furnished me as a bed in an adobe house by some hospitable German Rus- sian farmer. While the number of voters was not large the po- litical campaign of that year was as hot as though they were as numerous as the mosquitos that then swarmed on the virg-in prairies, and in the round up we beat the governor's friends by a good majority on all the issues, and the county seat went to Grand View to be removed a few years later, when the rail- road penetrated the county, to the thriving town of Armour, In the contest I was asked to particularly look after a dozen German Russians in the south east part of the county, and their pledge to support the Grand View ticket was obtained, but before the elec- tion the opposition secured the support of the Yank- ton Frie Presse, a German newspaper, which gave me a scoring- because of some necessary quick but legitimate work at our caucus which was endorsed at the convention. I went into the German Russian set- tlement the evening" before election and found all my friends unsettled as to how the}^ would vote on the following day, except one, who had secured a retain- er for services from the opposition and some copies of the German newspaper referred to. We got them all back in line except this man and I left my companion, a German friend, to sleep with them and take them to the polls bright and early the next morning, which he did, and by the time the opposition came to the settlement to g"o v^^ith them to vote we had their bal- lots in the box twelve miles awaj^ for our ticket. Later when the returns of the election arrived at the ORGANIZATION OF BOUGLAS COUNTY 1 ,) » county seat, an Irishman named Dugan asked Mr, Huston, one of the county commissioners, how it was and Huston replied ''We're beat bj eleven majority." * 'Eleven majority!" said Dug-an, "That aint much,'" To which Huston replied "Bui we're beat! we're beat!" At the time of the first meeting-, in January 1883, of the new board of county commissioners chosen at that election I went to Grand View^ the place where the electors had located the county seat, and present- ed the facts constituting- the fraud on the count}- so that the entire history of the situation should become a part of the record of the county commissioners, as it did by their action. Upon this record I secured a petition of the commissioners to the leg-islature which was to assemble in a short time, asking- for the pas- sag-e of a law forbidding the payment or other recog- nition of any warrants issued by the Brownsdale or- ganization, except upon the mandate of a court of record of competent jurisdiction. This meant the district or supreme court, and my purpose was to qui- et the fears of would-be investors or people who had money to loan, as there was much fear that a report- ed two hundred thousand dollars of warrants issued by the organization referred to might be saddled on the count}' by recognition of its officers, even though not so intended; and it was almost impossible for the people in that county to borrow^ nionej- on the credit of their property either real or personal. The bill thus framed was presented to members of the legisla- tive district of whicli Douglas county was a part and among outsiders M. H. Day and Charles T. McCoy, who had been criticized for alleged connection with the Brownsdale organization, expressed themselves as favorable to a bill which would help the people of 200 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY the county out of the situation which embarrassed them. The bill passed the leg-islature but was ob- jected to by (rovernor Ordway solely because it did not leg-alise his second organization, and another bill was presented to meet his objections, which was en- acted by the legislature and approved by him. Later — a year or two — Charles T. McCoy had been appointed by President Arthur as register or receiver of the Aberdeen United States land oflice during the vacation of congress, and when the ques- tion of his confirmation came up Congressman Hitt of Illinois appeared in opposition, but Ordway soon took the field in person and raised as an objection against the confirmation of McCoy that the bill which I have mentioned as first being passed by the legisla- ture was in the interests of validating the fraudulent warrants of Douglas county. My recollection was still fresh of the hardship and suffering I endured in riding ninety miles across the prairie in a buggy, when it was neither sleighing nor wheeling and the thermometer was nineteen degrees below zero, to get the work done by the commissioners in the way of making up the record I have referred to and a peti- tion to the legislature, so quite naturally, I did what I could to meet this move of the governor; not that I had any interest in McCoy, but a slumbering interest in His Excellency on account of the old score, and to satisf}^ my indignation ag-ainst him for holding up the bill referred to for the purpose he had in view. I prepared an affidavit of my own together with one for members of the legislature from our district which followed the governor's course from beginning to end in the Douglas county matter and tended to show that his trail was as sinuous as that of a snake in the sand, without charging him, or intending to ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 201 charg-e biin, vv'ith dishonesty. These affidavits were filed and they struck the gfovernor in a tender spot. It was reported he said to McCoy "Why! these affi- davits not only exonerate you but they charg-e me with corruption. If you will take them from the files I will withdraw my opposition and be your friend." This was the end of the governor's opposition and McCo}" was confirmed. The affidavits did not charg-e the g-overnor with corruption. They charged him with crookedness. It was the crookedness of a poli- tician, which was doubtless indulged in to meet the hostile criticism of his connection with the Brown or- g-anization by those who were as indifferent to the welfare of the people of Douglas county as they were anxious to hold the governor up to condemnation. About 1888, suits were brought on the Browns- dale org-anization warrants which amounted with in- terest to something like sixty five thousand dollars. The county was represented by ex-Chief Justice Bart- lett Tripp, Mr. Tipton, the states attorney, and my- self, and we were met by the proposition that each warrant shown to bear the sig-nature of the acting chairman of the county board, Walter H. Brown,' that of the county clerk, his son Alfred Brown, and the county seal, made a presumptively valid claim against the county for the amount expressed therein and interest at the rate of seven per cent from the date at which it was presented to the covmty treasur- er and not paid for want of funds as shown on its back, and to defeat this claim we must show that each particular warrant thus proved was given with- out consideration, but we overcame this by showing what the county had received of value, accounting for the warrants issued for it, and proving that nothing else of value had been received by the county or done 202 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY for it. Hence all other warrants were fraudulent and without consideration, except those issued to the offi- cers of the org-anization and as to those we proved they were mere conspirators in what they did and therefore entitled to no pay for their work. The warrants were not neg"Otiable paper in the sense of our law, hence they were open to the same defense in subsequent purchaser's hands as thoug'h sued on b}' the parties to whom tbey were issued. These suits were tried before Judge Haney at Mitchell, and on one of the juries was Major Green, who as an officer in the United States Marine Corps captured John Brown at Harper's Ferry before the civil war. In this litig-ation we defeated after a ten yeai's' strugfg-le, including- interest, claims amounting- to about sixty thousand dollars. If there were any more of the al- leged two hundred thousand dollars afloat they have long since been barred by the statute of limitations. Too much credit cannot be given in these cases to Judge Tripp for his able, exhaustive and convincing presentation of the lav/, so vital to success, whose views the court adopted. The settlers of the county to whom credit is due for gathering- the facts without which we could not have succeeded, were Michael Donley, Charles K. Huston, Richard Johnson, L. J. Manbeck, William Palmer, Robert Sawyer and Edgar Berry. What I have said about Governor Ordway is not intended to reflect on his honesty. I believe he acted honestly in issuing the commissions as county com- missioners on the facts presented to him, although the Brownsdale g"ang and its sympathizers have held otherwise. He disag-reed with me in the method of procedure which he had a rig-ht to do. He tried to have his way in the contest and I tried to have mine. ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 203 We are even. The g-overnor was a great lighter as his numerous enemies in the then territory, who have not jet joined the g-reat majority in the realm of shadows, can testify, but he did not alwa3's fight ac- cording to the Marquis of Queenbury rules; if he could hit the other fellow below the belt it was safe to figure on his not neglecting the opportunity. Although I had abandoned the project of making a fortune in raising- sheep in Texas, I had never fully recovered from the fever for eng-aging in that busi- ness, so in the summer of 1881 I boug-ht a flock of sheep for three dollars a head and turned them over to an American farmer to be kept on shares. I thoug-ht I was doing him a favor. He put a mort- gagee on his farm to build a stable to shelter them and in the following spring- twenty per cent of them died of old ag'e, he was glad to g-o out of the busi- ness, but I could not get out. I then turned them over to a German farmer with similar success. One da}' I passed his place and seeing a barrel of salt standing near the sheep stable, I said to him "Salt is good for sheep," to which he replied "Oh ya! Saltz! Saltz! immer Saltz. Saltz ish g-oot. Saltz und vasser mak fat," which reduced to English is "Salt, salt always salt. Salt is good. Salt and water makes fat." In the meantime the dealer I boug-lit the sheep of called on me and convinced me that I was on the high road to wealth. All I needed was thorough bred males, so I gave him twenty five dollars for one as an experiment and the next year I sold the lot in- cluding the thoroughbred for a dollar and a half a head. Later I tried cattle and swine on a more exten- sive scale with a tenant to whom I had rented a large farm with better success but between the black leg, cholera, threats of Texas fever and accidents, I finally 204 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. came to the conclusion that the old adage of "Shoemak- er stick to jour last" was good enough for me^ to go by, in the future, even though the law practice did not threaten to submerge me with a golden shower b}^ way of compensation. Before I leave the field of my farming experience in Douglas county altogether, which I remember with fond recollection, there is one other phase of it wor- thy of mention because it was even more striking than that of the sheep industry as a financial under- taking. I had been told that I could grow onions with great success on newly broken prairie ground so I invested ten dollars in seed, prepared the soil with conscientious care, sowed the seed and harrowed it in, but as a return for my investment and labor I didn't get an onion. I don't believe Horace Greely in his wonderful farming ever beat that experienc e. CHAPTKR XXV. STORIES OP EARLY I,AW PRACTICE. From pioneers in South Dakota I have heard some interesting- tales of the practice of law in the early days of the first settlers and among- them the following-: After the jury had retired to consider their ver- dict in the first case tried in the Bon Homme county district court the defendant sent his hired man with a jug- of whiskey to take into the jury room to se- cure the verdict, and he succeeded. On another occasion when the United States court was held at Fort Randall, the marshal delayed the proceeding-s of the court by not returning- from an official mission as promptly as he should, but when he came back he took some greenbacks out of his pocket explaining- to the court that the cause of his delay was the time spent in a poker g-ame where he won this money down at the mouth of Choteau Creek, offered the presiding- judg-e half of it which was accepted with the remark "For this I'll let you off." In the Yankton district the presiding- judg-e in the early days was a g-ood carpenter but no lawyer. He is said to have adopted the practice of making- notes of the leg-al questions that were to come before him and fastening- them in the inside of his hat so that when he placed it bottom side up on 20& STORIES OF HARLV I,AW PKACTrCK the bertch before him the notes would be in plain view. He was called "Old Necessit}-" because he knew no law. On one occasion a presiding- judg-e of that district— it may have been the one above men- tioned — was on the bench when a case in which one of his associates of the supreme court was a party and a question coming- up which he did not know how to decide, he turned to that party and asked: "Judge Brooking-s, if you were on the bench how would you decide that question?" But the hig-her courts did not enjoy a monopoly of such interestini^ peculiarities. It is told of a jus- tice of the peace in Bon Homme county, who believed people should settle their difficulties and not resort to litig-ation, that a case coming- to him on a cold win- ter's day when a bliszard was rag'ing- he immediately donned his buffalo coat tied a rope around it to keep it close to his body and established his court in an old building- used as a corn crib, throug-h which the storm pelted him and his audience. It goes without saj^ing- that he froze that case out. In the vicinity of Olivet in Hutchinson county, away back in the early seventies, there was an Irish settlement and as times were very dull and they had nothing" doing to entertain the community, its mem- bers sometimes engaged in suits before a justice of the peace; Eden Maxwell and his uncle Henry, both interesting characters whom the old settlers will re- member, usuall}^ acted as the law3'ers. Eden's client was beaten in a case and the sheriff took his only cow on execution to pay the costs. Eden was well ac- quainted with Judg-e Brookings of the Yankton dis- trict, in which Hutchinson county was located, so he prepared a paper for that judge to sign ordering the sheriff to give up the cow and went down to get him STOKLES OF EARLY LAW PRACTICE 207 to sig-n it, but when he reached Yankton Judg-e Brooking-s was out as Judg-e Shannon had succeeded him. Brooking-s expressed his regret that he no long-er had the power to sig-n it but advised Eden to call on Judg-e Shannon, a g-entleman of considerable dig-nity and integTit}', and let him know how he came out. Eden acting- on his advice called on the nev/ judg-e and read the paper to him, explaining- that his client was poor and could not afford to hire a lawyer to make out papers to claim his exemptions, that he called the paper a mandamus and if the judge would just put his name down there, indicating the place on the paper where he desired it, he would make a copy of it, give it to the sheriff and he would give up the poor man's cow. Judge Shannon turned on him his eyes gleaming and his face ablaze with indignation and saluted him with "Sir! what do you take me for!" and Eden left as though he had been shot out of a cannon, even forgetting to call on his friend Brookings to tell him how he came out. In the early days the district court was held in a sod church at Olivet. At one of Judge Shannon's terms considerable difficulty was met with in the ex- amination of the members of the jury to learn wheth- er they were competent. The judge intervened in the examination of a couple of the jurors, one of whom he asked whether he was a citizen of the United States but he could get no satisfactory answer; final- ly he asked him if he was born in the United States, to which the witness answered "Naw sir." "Where were you born?" "In Michigan." An Irishman was the next on which the judge tried his skill. He an- swered no to the question as to whether he was born in the United States and as to where he was born "In ould Ireland be J— s." 208 STORIES OF EARLY LAW PRACTICE At this term of court among- the lav/jers present were Hon. Bartlett Tripp, Plon. S. L. Spink, Hon. John Gamble, Hon. L. B. French, Hon. E. G. Smith and others prominent in the profession, as able a body of lawyers as you would be likelj^ to lind, for the number, attending- any trial court in the North-west, and as the jud^e had been compelled to discharg-e several Germans from the panel because they were total strangfers to the Kng-lish language he turned to the bar after his last examination v/ith "Gentlemen what shall we do with this Irishman?" In the trial of Harvey Knowlton, or "Rebel George," before Judge Shannon at Yankton in the early eig-hties on a charg-e of murder he was defended by the Hon. Bartlett Tripp and prosecuted by Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, United States attorney of the ter- ritory. The trial, a noted one, was hotly contested on both sides and the judg-e seemed to lean to the prosecution so much that the defendant took a strong dislike to him. Knowlton was convicted of nian- slaug'hter, the supreme court reversed the conviction and he was ag-ain tried and acquitted. Judge Shan- non had been seeking a third term about this time but had failed and Judg-e Kdgerton was appointed as his successor. When he announced to Knowlton af- ter his acquital "You are discharged sir," Knowlton instantly replied "So are you G — d d — m you." Years afterward Knowlton was convicted in the state of Washington for a gold brick job and sentenced to a term of several years in the penitentiary and Judge Gordon, formerly of Aberdeen, wrote the opinion of the supreme court affirming the conviction. I have since heard that Knowlton has entered the vineyard of the Lord as an evangelist. CHAPTER XXVL SOMK CURIOSITIES. After I g"ave up actual farming- 1 returned to the practice of law and my business extended into Bon Homme, Hutchinson and adjoining- counties. It was not extensive but oftentimes interesting- and amusing. From the fall of 1881 for about four years Judge Edgerton was chief justice of the territory and there- after until the states of North and South Dakota were carved out of it- and admitted into the Union Judg-e Tripp held that position, and they presided during- their respective terms in our district. In the summer of 1884 the former held a term of court at Olivet at which the present Judge Smith ap- peared on one side of a civil case and I on the other. It was an appeal from a justice of the peace and my client was the appellant. Objection was made that the justice had not filed the appeal papers within fif- teen days from the time the appeal was taken with the clerk of court, therefore it should be dismissed. The judge was inclined to dismiss the appeal but in- stead of doing that he gave me all the time I desired to look into the matter. It was never called up after that so it is still pending and not long ago our su- preme court rendered a decision that seems favorable to my side of the case, but my client is dead, Judge Edgerton is dead and opposing counsel is our presid- 210 SOME CURIOSITIES ing- judg-e. It has been a question in my mind wheth- er I oug-ht to ask -Judge Smith to call in another judg"e to try this case or wait until he and his client and I meet Judge Edgerton and my client on the oth- er shore. At the term of court referred to I defended one unfortunate fellow against the charg-e of horse steal- ing and another charged with burglary. The former was a young* clean looking- son of a minister of the g"Ospel with his hair parted in the middle and the latter the ug-liest appearing- specimen of humanity I ever looked upon. I was quite sure I could acquit the fellow charg-ed with horse stealing and the judge was inclined to that view also, but the jury convicted him. Horse stealing is not popular in a new country. The alleg-ed burglar on whose feet the prosecution claimed it found boots stolen in the burglary, and dress goods stolen at the same time in a hay stack a few hundred yards from his house, I managed to convince ten of the jurors had not been proven guilty and a disagreement ended the case against him. After the trial was over the judge said "If I was going to bet on the acquittal of either of those men I would have taken the one charged with horse stealing," but he and the district attorney were too much for me in that «ase as the latter drew a clean cut instruction, which the judge gave, telling- the jury that it was incumbent on the defendant to show that when he took the horse which we claimed was merely a trespass, he did not take him with intent to steal. He abandoned the horse after he had ridden him to Marion Junction and whether he did so because he had used him as much as he desired or because he was afraid the sheriff, who was on his trail, might overhaul him, was the question on which his guilt or innocence hung. I SOME CURIOSITIES 211 had a serious conviction that the g-ood looks of the horse thief and the ug-liness of the other fellow were the most important elements in the trials. The for- mer had the appearance of a dude which he mig-ht have avoided; the latter, like Cain of old, had been marked by the hand of God and his ugfliness may have appealed to the jurors ag^ainst a further inflic- tion of punishment. While Judg-e Edg-erton was holding a term of court in Bon Homme, not long before the county seat was moved to Tyndall, an elderly German Eussian who had been indicted for rape was brought into court. He was my client and I felt sorr}^ for him when I saw the judge look at him. It seemed to me that there was twenty five years in the penitentiary in that look. I made up my mind, however, to do the best I could for him. I suspected the case was merely one of blackmail. We took a change of venue to Yankton county and when his trial came on I had him surrounded by his friends, some of the most prominent citizens of that county. On the cross ex- amination I succeeded in breaking- down the prose- cuting witness but I went on with the defense in the matter of showing what a nice man my client was. After a v/hile the judg-e called me up to the bench and told me if I would stop he would g-ive my client a new trial if the jury convicted him to which I ob- jected unless he would tell the jury to acquit and if it did not obey orders he would agree to g-ive us a new trial. "No," said he, "I can not do that but I will advise an acquittal and if the jury does not act on my advice I will give you a new trial." The jury acquitted the defendant in the time it took to retire and draw up a verdict. In the winter of 1884 and 1885, about the last of 212 some; curiosities December, Judg-e Edg-erton came up to Olivet to hold the first term of court in the new court house there. It was nearly dark when he started out in a sleigh from Scotland to make the trip and I joined him. The party consisted of himself, the court stenogra- pher, Hon. Robert J. Gamble, myself and John Petrie, sheriff of Bon Homme county, who furnished the team. The snow was deep and drifting so that when Y.^e arrived on the bluff bordering^ the Jim River Val- ley it had covered the trail and I went ahead to locate the road and pilot our party; when we came within a mile of the county seat, the horses g-ave out and the judge hired a German Russian farmer to come to our relief. The next morning- about S o'clock the weather was intensely cold and a furious blizzard was coming- on, but a little thing- like that was merely an inspira- tion for a prompt administration of justice to Judge Edgerton. At the hour named he presented himself at the outer door of the court house and by energ'etic kicking broug-ht Frank Eisenmann, the reg-ister of deeds, from his sleeping- apartments in the jury room to the door in his underclothing- and the judg-e ordered a fire built in the court room and mounted the judg-ment seat. The solitary prisoner held in the jail was promptly indicted for rape convicted and sentenced and the court adjourned with the close of the blizzard by noon of the following- day; he was sent to the penitentiary for twenty five years and six months. The by standers could understand the twen- ty five years but not the six months; they finally con- cluded that humane considerations moved the judg-e in this matter and that he v/anted to turn the prison- er out on g-rass at the end of his term. I think this was Judge Edg-erton's last term in Hutchinson coun- SOME CURIOSITIES 213 ty. He was succeeded bj Judg-e Tripp during; the following" year. Before this time a lawyer of considerable energy and ability by the name of True located at Olivet aftd the law business beg"an to look up. He was an un- compromising- collector and made man}^ enemies by his industry and success. People had not been ac- customed to his style of rushing- business and disbar- ment proceeding-s were instituted ag-ainst him. Judg-e Tripp gave him the choice to be tried by a referee or a jury and he elected to be tried by the latter. The prejudice and the evidence against him were strong and he was convicted. Later a large number of bal- lots were found in the jury room — the jury were mostly Germans — and all of them were "Gainst der True." The friends of True claimed that the jur}^ took the oath "a true verdict to give according to the law and the evidence," to mean that they must give a verdict against True. At one of the terms in Hutchinson county I was defending a German on a promissory note g-iven for a threshing machine. Our defense was failure of con- sideration in this that the machine was warranted to do good work and it failed to do so. We had our evi- dence about all in and I told my client I thought we would be beaten and we might as well let the plain- tiff take judgment. He replied "all right. Yoost as you say, arber I hafe von more vitness." "Who is he?" "Father Schneider." "What does he know?" "He knows more as anybody." Father was sworn and took the stand. His mental org-anization at its best was not strong and he seemed to be dazed. I went at him with an interpreter and he began. After the in- terpreter was loaded with his tale he cried out "halt!" Then to start the witness again, he said to him; 314 SOME CURIOSITIES "veider" 'Vhat else" and he beg-an with ^'Spa- ther," later, and continued his story so that it ran '*veider/' "spather," "-halt" until he had deliv^er- ed himself, keeping- time with one of his feet while the larg-e German audience was convulsed with laug-h- ter. The court intimated that he mig-lit be compelled to hold the witness in' contempt if he did not dispense with his time keeping- part of the exhibition. The burden of his story was that while the}' were thresh- ing- so many stacks of grain they had so man}- men who ate so many sheep, ducks, g-eese and other poul- try and this was the way he took to show the length of time they worked and that the machine did not work well. In the course of my travels in the Indian country I met a lady friend whom I had long- known and who was then superintendent of an Indian school, and some of the stories she told me of her experience with the children of the noble red men were instructing- and amusing-, one of which was of a son of Sitting- Bull, who came to her school after that chief had re- tired to Canada to put himself beyond the jurisdic- tion of the United States throug-h fear of being- call- ed to account for the Custer massacre. The boy was about fourteen years old but so pinched in appearance from the hardship he had endured that he looked much older. He was a blanket Indian. That is, when in full dress, except in cold weather, he wore only a clout. He presented himself to her for a suit of clothes and she first g-ave him a vest which he promptly put on without a stitch of other clothing- and when given the remainder of his wardrobe he asked her for a servant to carry them home. Could a specimen of civilized aristocracy have done more to show his thoroug-hbred quality? To teach the young- SOME CURIOSITIES 215 Indians not to use bad languag^e she was in the habit of washing- out their mouths when found indulg-ing- in it, and the practice proved most effective. The joung- Indians seriouslj^ believed that this method of policing- their mouths had a cleansing- effect on their moral characters. An interesting- explosion which occurred one day in the circuit court of Knox county on a trial of an important replevin suit, the development of which I was watching-, but which I overlooked recording- when I was writing- my recollections of that section, was the following-: There was a witness on the stand who was under the severe fire of a cross examination by a lawyer who was untiring- in that line. The wit- ness was an unusually larg-e man and the lawyer was a little fellow named Humphrey. The former was one of the substantial farmers of the county, and a man of considerable intellig'ence. When pushed to a point where he was cornered and could not answer without g-iving- away something- the lawyer was after and much in need of on his side of the case, he de- clared: "I refuse to remember." He was an honest witness; he told the truth. The usual way to g-et out of such a position is, "I don't remember." One of the g-reatest examples of this in the record of jury trials in America was in the case of a noted lecturer ag-ainst an eloquent and disting-uished divine in New York man3^ years ag-o. Whenever the mutu- al friend of the parties and one of them would testify to a certain state of facts which should be within the knowledg-e of all of them, and were damag-ing- to the other party, his answer was so uniformly "I do not recollect" that it became one of the most striking- features of that remarkable case. CHAPTER XXVII. GOVERNOR ORDWAY ON THE WAR PATH. Governor Ordwaj was not long* in the territory before he went on the war path and his earliest cam- paign was ag-ainst the braves of the territorial legis- lature who were banded together to retain the capi- tal at Yankton and for other meritorious purposes. The members from the north half of the territory were in this combination although two years later they were in the camp of the g^overnor. The war began with the veto of the g"overnor and continued throug"liout the session during which bills to repeal the banking laws of 1879; to create the county of Grig-g-s; to create the county of Walsh; to add two thousand five hundred dollars to the yearly salary of the judg-e of the first judicial district; to authorize the county commissioners of Minnehaha county to is- sue bonds to complete the county jail and for other purposes; to authorize the creation and construction of a court house and jail for Pembina county; to authorize the same for Richland county; to divide the county of Grand Forks into five commissioner dis- tricts; to fix the boundaries of the county seat of Rich- land county and to g-rant the rig-ht to establish and maintain a wag-on bridge across the Red River of the North at the city of Grand Forks were vetoed, and all of them passed over the vetoes. Hon. John Gam- GOVERNOR ORDWAY ON THE WAR PATH 217 ble, Hon. L. B, French and Hon. Samuel Boyles of Yankton were members of the leg-islature. Also Hon, M. H. Day of Bon Homme county, Hon, Georg-e Walsh of Grand Forks, and if Hon. Jud LaMoure of Pembina was not, his power was equal to his pres- ence. Those who knew these g-entlemen did not ex- pect to see them quietly led in the trail of the new o-overnor and they were not disappointed. After the g-overnor's repulse at Yankton he next appeared in the field in the winter of 1881 and 1882, in the city of Washington, to fight for the reappoint- ment of Hugh J. Campbell as United States attorney, the defeat of Charles T. McCoy for United States marshal and incidentally to advise the sub committee of the house committee on territories to defer consid- eration of the petition of the people of Douglas county until he could return and do something for them. At the scalp dance on the governor^'s return he congrat- ulated himself that he had defeated McCoy and se- cured the re-appointment of "that great man Judge Hugh J. Campbell," and he intimated that the bill before congress for the creation and admission of the state of South Dakota might be materially improved. The indications were that he was then in harmony with the people who desired that a state be created out of the south half of the territory, but if this was true he had a change of heart before the close of the next session of the territorial legislature. C*HAPTER XXVIII. FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION. The Territory of Dakota was broug-ht into ex- istence in 1861, with a population of about four thous- and whites, and included the territory now in North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In 1863, Idaho was taken from it; in 1864, Montana, and in 1867, Wyoming-. With the building- of the North- ern Pacific railroad as far west as Bismarck a senti- ment quite strong- and active in the northern part of the territory called for the creation of the Territory of Pembina out of the north half of the territory of Dakota, with the forty-sixth parallel of latitude as its southern boundary, and in the early seventies, under the instructions of the territorial leg-islature, Hon. Moses Armstrong-, the territorial deleg-ate in cong-ress, introduced a bill in that body to create such a territory. The matter was agitated from time to time thereafter and was not without effect in creating a sentiment in the south half of the territory favor- able to its organization as the state of South Dakota and its early admission into the Union. In the summer of 1882 a bill for that purpose was pending in congress and on the 21st of June a mass convention to further the project was held at Canton, the membership of which, on its organization, con- sisted of eleven from Turner county, fourteen from Clay, two from Beadle, two from Hanson, eleven from FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 219 Yankton, one hundred and forty nine from Lincoln, four from Moody and one who represented Dickey, Brown, Spink, LaMoure and Day counties. Among^ the leading- spirits of the convention Rev. Wilraot Whitfield, Rev. Joseph Ward and Hon. Hugh J. Campbell were most prominent. The committee on permanent organization, of which Rev. Joseph Ward was chairman, reported, among- other thing's, in favor of forming- a permanent organization to be known as "The Dakota Citizens' Leag-ue" and recommended that an executive commit- tee to have full power to make arrangements for all subsequent meeting-s be appointed and the report was adopted. The committee on school and public lands made the following- report which was adopted: That this convention memorialize congress that we justly fear that waste and neglect, if not fraud, may affect the manag-ement of the public school lands reserved for the proposed state by the United States to be held and disposed of in trust for the public schools. They find this fear fully justified by the history of the manag-ement of these lands in other public land states, from Ohio to California, in the earliest days of statehood amid the pressure of varied duties and interests, in the location and org-anization of other institutions in which special localities are affected when combinations are easily made oppor- tunity afforded for neglect, waste and fraud against which nothing- is wholly effective but fundamental law, either in the enabling- act or in the constitution. Left to local control in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and oth- er states in early days a g-reat part of the value of these lands was lost; and vast tracts and values were sacrificed in California, Wisconsin and other 220 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION' states througfh different combinations, and fraud- ulent schemes. The history of these losses by neg- lect, imperfect laws and fraudulent combinations is not often fully set forth in the public records of the states, but it is well known some of the young-er states like Minnesota and Nebraska have profited by the experience of their older sisters, but losses have occurred there which would have been saved by defi- nite limitations upon the trust. We further show that at present in Dakota Ter- ritory larg-e numbers of the sections so reserved are occupied in part by settlers and other trespassers. Several of these entire sections are cultivated year by year b}^ capitalists as parts of g^reat wheat farms^ each year deteriorating- seriously the value of the lands and threatening- the integrity of the state by the political influence and combinations of the tres- passers with others who desire to speculate in these lands. The permanent welfare of the commonwealth is thus endang-ered in its most vital interests. In an era of land speculation accompanying- the building- of railroads and towns and when all forms of specula- tion are active, the school lands are receiving- the at- tention of the rich and poor alike throug-h various hopes and plans. Ag-ainst the evil consequences of these g-rowing" schemes and plain facts we urg-e that the cong-ress of the United States be memorialized to eventually pro- tect the new state by definite provisions in the ena- bling- act which shall prevent the sale of more than one section in each township until after the period of ten years from the admission of the state. That con- g-ress in adopting- an enabling- act make provision that no school lands shall, within fifteen 3^ears, in any event be sold for less than ten dollars per acre. That FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 221 previous to said lands being offered for sale they shall be appraised by a board of appraisers to consist of such a number as congress may direct, at such value as such board may think the same actually worth; that three months public notice of the time and place of sale shall be given by publication in two newspa- pers, one of which shall be at the capital of the state, and the other such newspaper as is published nearest the land offered for sale. At the time and place so set for said sale said lands shall be sold at auction to the highest bidder but the price for which said lands shall be sold shall in no event be less than the ap- praised value thereof. The terms of said sale shall be as follows: All sales shall be upon thirty years time upon bonds payable to the state, bearing a low rate of interest to be fixed by the constitutional convention payable each year in advance. Fifteen per cent of the purchase price and one year's inter- est in advance to be paid by the purchaser at the time of the issuance of the certificate of sale as here- inafter provided. If at any time after five years from the date of the purchase the purchaser should desire to pay for said land he shall have the privilege of so doing provided he pays in addition to the price of said land such additional interest as may be stipulat- ed by the constitutional convention, to protect the fund from loss during the process of reloaning. Cer- tificates of sale shall be issued forfeitable to the state. Upon failure of the purchaser to comply with the provisions thereof, which said certificate shall be trans- ferable, and which shall provide that upon the pay- ment of the purchase money and the interest as here- inbefore provided a patent for such lands shall issue to the holder of said certificate. These provisions will give the state an immedi- 222 FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION ate fund, which will increase steadily for manj years as the population advances. After the policy of the state is thus settled no dang-er can come to these in- terests upon the expiration of these limitations. Rep- resenting- the expressed wish of a large majority of the people of the proposed state, seeing the dangers about us on every hand, and learning- from the his^ tory of other states, and holding- education as the great institution of the state — the promoter and secu- rity of liberty, law and good government — we res- pectfully and most earnestly urg-e that cong-ress will place these safeg-uards, or strong-er ones, around the new state until its now separate and new communi- ties shall have become one commonwealth in these g-reat inheritances and of one purpose in the right execution of these trusts. We further submit that experience in this now rapidly developing commonwealth, as well as the re- port of the surveyor general of Dakota, shows that much of the public land is being squatted upon in ad- vance of public surveys b}^ settlers and the school lands thus greatly endang-ered. We therefore urge that congress make additional appropriations for the surveys of the public lands in this territory that said lands may be surveyed in advance of settlement. Rev. Wilmot Whitfield was the chairman of this committee, but the nature and characteristics of the report point to General Beadle, who was then territo- rial superintendent of education, as its author. He was deeply interested in and thoroughly informed on the subject. The committee on name, boundaries and memorial to congress, regarding the number of delegates to the constitutional convention, submitted the following re- port, which was adopted: FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 223 Resolved, that it is the sense of this convention and we believe it to be the g-eneral wish of the peo- ple of this territory, south of the forty-sixth parallel of north latitude, that the north boundary of the state of Dakota be the forty-sixth parallel, the other boundaries remaining- as they now are. That we strong-ly deprecate the addition of any part of our territory to the state of Nebraska and that tke name of our new state shall be Dakota without prefix or any addition whatever. * * * * Other committees made important and valuable reports but those g-iven here seem to me to be more closely connected with the work of making- a state constitution which followed. The following named gentlemen were appointed as an executive committee: Revs. Wilmot "Whitfield and Joseph Ward, Yankton county; N. C. Nash, Lin- coln; S. Freye Andrews, Turner; W. C. Bower, Min- nehaha; F. B. Foster, Hanson, and Rev. J. B. Hines, Union county. In its address the convention urged the people to organize leagues to unite themselves for self protec- tion; to secure in the constitution appropriate arti- cles to limit taxation to a very moderate rate; to re- strain counties, townships, towns and state leg-isla- tures from incurring- extravag-ant debts, and from in- ■ curring- any debts without providing- the means for paying the debt in the enactment creating- it; to se- cure in the constitution the most rigid and guarded provisions for the safety of the school lands and school funds; to secure the punishment by the sever- est penalties possible of any tampering with or fraud upon this sacred fund; to take the sense of the people on a prohibitory liquor clause; to secure the election as delegates to the constitutional convention the best 224 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION men of the several communities, pledg-ed to sup- port these and kindred measures. ***** In war it has been observed that indifferent iigfht- ers become great soldiers bj long" continued service not unmixed with disaster, and the same is sometimes true of political leaders. Governor Ordway's experi- ence seems to have proven this to be a fact, for bene- fiting- by his defeat in the legislature of 1881, he suc- cessfully led its combination of 1883, which created a number of new and unnecessary territorial institu- tions, made unusually larg-e appropriations, put the capital on wheels to be hawked over the territory and knocked off to the hig-hest bidder, and aroused public sentiment ag^ainst carpetbag- g-overnors and in favor of the State of South Dakota as it never was aroused before. One of the first moves after the leg-islature had adjourned was to hold an indig-nation meeting" at Sioux Falls to denounce the g"overnor and I was on a com- mittee there, with Major A. G. Kellam, later one of the supreme court judg"es of South Dakota, and others, to frame a denunciation that would do justice to the occasion, relieve us from the pressure of our rig"hteous wrath and help the rest of the gfathering- out in a similar way, but a better move to meet the situation was the call by the executive committee of "The Da- kota Citizens' Leag"ue" on March 12th, 1883, for a preliminary constitutional convention at Huron as follows: "The undersig"ned who were appointed a com- mittee by a convention of the people of Dakota, held at Canton June 21st, 1882, for the purpose and with authority to call a convention of the people at the city of Huron at such time as they should designate, to consult upon such steps as may be rigfht, and needful TERMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 225 to the public welfare to take in reference to an organ- ization as a state, believing that the time has come for the people to move in this matter, do hereby set forth to the people of Dakota their reasons for this action and for the follov/ing- call for said convention. We ask the serious attention of the people to the following' facts: 1st. That congress, though earnestly thereto by our people requested, and although it is admitted that the people of Dakota, south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude do possess the requisite population and re- sources for statehood, has failed to provide for a con- stitutional convention for Dakota or for the division of the same on said parallel, as the wishes and inter- ests of the people unanimously have demanded. 2nd. That the last territorial legislature by a majority of both houses yielding to the reasonable demand of the people, did pass an act as they had full authority to do, calling- a constitutional conven- tion to be held in December, 1883, and providing the money and machinery therefor, but that said act has failed to become a law by the witholding of the as- sent of the governor. 3d. The enormous appropriations made by the last legislature, agg-regating as much as $400,000, demonstrate the fact that in self defense of their property and interests, the people must seek a more responsible form of government, and that right speedily. 4th. That the people of Dakota have an un- doubted right and authority to act for themselves in the premises, independently of congress or the legis- lature. Ten states of the Union have thus acted, and formed their constitutions without a prior act of congress, and have been admitted into the Union un- 226 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION der said constitutions so formed. These states are Vermont, 1791; Kentucky, 1792; Tennessee, 1796; Maine, 1820; Arkansas, 1835; Michigan, 1837; Flor- ida, 1855; Iowa, 1846; Kansas, 18bl; California, 1849. It rests with the people of Dakota themselves to say, when and with what boundaries and constitu- tion they shall become a state. Cong'ress never has and never will refuse to admit a sovereign state into the Union when it has the population and resources requisite therefor, and presents a state constitution, republican in form, for its approval. The people of Dakota are not dependent either on cong-ress or the state legislature, or the governor to decide where and how they shall present their petition for admission. The means, the money and the requisite machinery for action are all at your disposal. The only ques- tion is, "Do the people of Dakota so will?" We are in receipt of communications from all parts of the territory urging us to issue this call and saying if we do not the people will move in this mat- ter through other organizations. Therefore to give expression to the will of the people, and if such be their pleasure to provide for taking steps toward the organization of a state government, and for present- ing the state of Dakota fully organized with a state government at the next congress; we do hereby by virtue of authority vested in us, call upon the people of Dakota south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude in their several counties to elect delegates to. meet in state convention at the city of Huron, on Tuesday, the 19th day of June next, there to consider the ques- tion, do the people of Dakota desire that immediate steps be taken toward forming a state constitution and to take such action thereon as to them may seem fit? FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 227 We recommend that such elections be held by all the qualified electors of each county without dintinc- tion of party. We further recommend that all other issues be ig-nored by this convention and that no question be considered except the one above stated. And to this end we recommend that all the special issues acted upon by the Canton convention as to temperance and other matters be reserved for future and separate ac- tion, by the friends of such measures, and that the action of the convention be strictly confined to the single issue, should Dakota take immediate steps to become a state? The committee recommend that the convention consist of four hundred and twelve delegates, who shall be appointed among- the several counties as fol- lows, to- wit: Aurora 8 Beadle 10 Bon Homme 16 Brookings 16 Brown 6 Brule 8 Clark 4 Charles Mix 4 Clay 12 Codington 12 Custer 4 Davison 12 Day 4 Hyde .... Douglas 4 Sully . . . . , Deuel 10 Faulk Edgerton 4 Potter Grant 16 Walworth , Hand 8 Edmunds . Lawrence 30 Lincoln 16 Miner 16 Minnehaha 28 Moody 12 McCook 12 McCauley 4 Pennington 13 Spink 14 Turner 16 Union 16 Yankton 16 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 McPherson 1 4 Buffalo 1 8 Campbell 1 8 Jerauld 1 4 Mandan 1 2 Roberts 1 228 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTrON Hamlin Hanson Hutchinson Hug-hes Inman King-sbury 12 Lake 8 The committee have, as will be seen, increased the representation as given in the act of the legisla- ture four fold, and added twelve delegates for twelve unorg'anized counties not named in this act thus mak- ing four hundred twelve delegates in all. We recommend that in each of the several coun- ties, elections for delegates shall be held for all the qualified electors without distinction of party, on Sat- urday, the 9th day of June next. We recommend also that voluntary committees be formed in each county as speedily as possible to take charg-e of all the details of such elections, and that when formed they send their names to the chair- man of the committee. We repeat for the sake of distinctness our former recommendation that no questions be considered in order before this convention save these: 1st, Do the people of Dakota wish that immediate steps be taken toward forming a state constitution and a state government for that part of Dakota south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude? 2nd, Shall the convention proceed to summon a constitutional convention to meet during the coming- summer and frame a state constitution and submit the same to the people to be voted on at an election in the ensuing fall? Believing with our friends all over the territory that the people of the territory can not too soon take FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 229 the direction of their affairs into their own hands, and that if we fail to do so during the coming sum- mer the best interests of the territory are exposed to immediate and serious danger, we urge upon all good citizens in every county south of the forty-sixth par- allel to take immediate steps to secure a general rep- resentation of all classes and parties from their res- pective counties in this convention. We also request the chairmen and secretaries ot county meetings as soon as they have chosen dele- o-ates, to send in a list of their names to this commit- tee. We also request the press of the territory to publish the call and to aid with their influence and power this movement. Yankton, March 12th, 1883. WiLMOT Whitfield, Chairman Executive Committee." After the call for the Huron convention, the pro- ceedings of which are hereinafter set forth in sub- stance, Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, United States attor- ney for the territory, at the request of Hon. J. K. Gamble, Hon. C. J. B. Harris, Hon. S. A. Boyles, J. R. Sanborn, Major F. J. Dewit, ex-Governor A J. Faulk, ex-Governor Newton Edmonds, E. C. Dudley, Dr. Frank Etter, Hon. George W. Kingsbury, Rev Joseph Ward, W. S. Bowen and J. C. McNeary o Yankton, prepared his views of the state; how it may be formed from the territory, and published it in pamphlet form. It was a very able and exhaust- ive presentation of the matter in about fourteen thousand words and was widely circulated in that part of the territory out of which it was proposed to form the state. The Press and Dakotan, a daily newspaper pub- 230 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION lished at Yankton, in the issue of May 29th, 1883, re- ferring to the views of Judge Campbell said "During the last week the Press and Dakotan has been giving space to a series of articles relating to the rights of territories and their eligibility to statehood, the last of which appears today. These articles contain all the known authorities upon the subject, compiled and commented upon at leng'th by one of Dakota's ablest lawyers — United States Attorney Campbell. He has given to it the close investigation of a hard working lawyer, has argued it purely from a legal and consti- tutional standpoint and has furnished the people of Dakota with more information upon this subject than could have come to them through a life of actual ex- perience. * * * * Many important conclusions are evolved from the mass of evidence furnished, chief among them is the undoubted right of the people of southern Dakota to proceed immediately to the for- mation of a state government. *'It may be said that congress will not recognize the government — will not admit the state. The au- thorities quoted running down from the United States supreme court through the various legislative and executive departments of the nation — prove con- clusively that congress has formally and repeatedly recognized the right. The power to organize for self government is inherent with the people. There is but one restriction recognized namely, that the section out of which it is proposed to construct a state shall possess the requisite population. The in- teresting decisions relating to the states of Michigan and Tennessee sustain most completely this view of the case, and there are numerous other authorities tending in the same direction. The experience of the two states named is particularly valuable at this FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 231 juncture because they were formed by the people themselves from only portions of the territory to which they belong-ed. In creating- the state of Da- kota it is proposed to use but one half of the territo- ry of Dakota. * * * "General Campbell's researches demonstrate con- clusively that southern Dakota throug-h its people can elect and maintain a state government, * * # and very many wise people have put forward the ob- jection that we have not the right to include such a division in our efforts to enter the Union. But Gen- eral Campbell's researches demonstrate conclusively that southern Dakota through its people can erect and maintain a state gfovernment. "Under the precedents and court decisions we are possessed of greater right than was supposed. We have the undoubted authority to meet in convention and adopt a constitution. The same being ratified by the people we have the right to elect state officers, to provide our own courts, to collect taxes and toman- age our own affairs. Should the provisional organ- ization provided by the *state government refuse to recognize the government provided by the people, such refusal would not in any degree effect the legality of that government. Should congress delay the admis- sion of our representatives that would not take from us the principle of governing ourselves at home. We are possessed of one requisite — a sufficient number of people to entitle us to admission into the Union — and the general government has no power under the constitution to deny us the right of self government which is guaranteed to us under the constitution and the laws. We are therefore in favor of immediate state organization. We are in favor of it because the time has arrived when we should manage our own af- * general 232 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION fairs and not be long-er subjected to the g-overning- powers of men appointed from the states. We are in favor of it because it is our constitutional rig-ht, priv- ileg-e and duty." If Judg-e Campbell had written that editorial himself he could not have stated his position more clearly and forcibly as set forth in the pamphlet re- ferred to, the circulation of which between the dates of the call for the Huron convention and its assem- bling- produced a profound impression in all parts of the proposed state, and g-ave the state movement an impetus that made the convention referred to and the constitutional convention which followed at Sioux Falls, the most remarkable assemblag-es in the histo- ry of the territory or state. It was not unusual after the people came to understand Judg-e Campbell's view to hear the expression, "If we cannot be a state in the Union we can be a state out of the Union," and we much preferred either to any more of Governor Ordway's territorial administration. The views of Judge Campbell thus advanced are larg-ely apparent in the call for the Huron convention, in the proceed- ings of that convention, in those of the constitutional convention which followed and in the address of the committee that presented the record of these proceed- ings to the president and congress in a plea for the ad- mission of the proposed state, but the constitutional convention declined by a unanimous vote to follow the Judge on his theory that we had a right to create a state and set its machinery in motion without the consent of congress. In response to the call for the Huron convention the delegates to the convention assembled there on Tuesday, June 19, 1883, were called to order and Mr. Whitfield nominated Hon. B. G. Caulfield of Dead- wood, for temporary chairman. FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 233 Mr. Caulfieki took the chair and spoke as follows: * 'Gentlemen of the Convention;— I return you my sincere thanks for the honor jou have conferred upon the people who have dele- g-ated rae to represent them in this convention, by se- lecting- the humble individual who stands before a'OU as your chairman. I heartily congratulate the peo- ple of southern Dakota upon the interest and enthu- siasm manifested by the larg-e numbers constituting this body, which must result in the attainment of statehood and independence, (applause) I can con- g-ratulate them that they are ignoring the innova- tions made upon the ancient customs of this republic, by setting earnestly to work in the manner of the ear- liest days to bring into the Union a new and prosperous state. I congratulate them upon returning to the old moorings of the constitution where our fathers left it and from which present customs have floated it away, (applause) The former usage was for con- g-ress to admit within the fold of the Union such states as by the number, ability and characteristics of their people manifested to the country and the world their capacity for self government, without the intervention of enabling acts. The idea of an ena- bling act granted by congress, to the people who are the government themselves, to do that which they have a right to do, is an innovation upon our form of government, (loud and continued applause) The people of the new states require no act of congress to enable them to exercise their rights preparatory to their admission into the Union. The constitution of the United States is made for the states of the Union and not for the government of colonies and terri- tories. The preamble reads 'We the people of the United States do ordain and establish this constitu- tion for the United States of America' and neither the 234 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION spirit nor the letter of that instrument contemplates the g-overnment of anything- but states. "We therefore have assembled here today as one people, at our own call, to manifest to the people and to cong-ress our desire to enter into the sisterhood of states, in the exercise of that right, which belongs to us by the constitution of our country. We the citi- zens of Dakota are citizens of the United States, and as such are entitled to the same rig-hts, privileg^es and immunities of all other citizens of the United States, but of which we are deprived, and that power which undertakes to deprive us of them commits a wrong and injustice upon us. We have assembled here to prepare for the formation of a constitution and to say to cong-ress that which we have the rig-ht to say that we the people of southern Dakota are a state, and that we simply need the forms of congress to ad- mit us into the Union as such, but not to bestow up- on us the condition of statehood which belongs to us. The constitu tion provides that 'Congress may admit new states' into the Union which presumes the con- dition of statehood. When a new state presents itself to congress for admission with a constitution republican in form, and not inconsistent with the fed- eral constitution, congress is bound to admit it in the plain discharge of its duties. When this territory as a part of Louisiana was purchased from France it was provided in the treaty of purchase that the inhabitants should be admitted as soon as possible into the Un- ion and the ordinance of 1787, afterwards extended over the territory, provides 'that at any time sixty thousand people residing in any portion thereof should have the rig-ht to form themselves into a state and be admitted into the Union.' I understand that this is the condition and position by which we stand FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 235 today. With this understanding- let us proceed with the deliberations and purposes of the convention and to that end that the proceedings of this convention may meet with the approval of men and of God. I request that the Rev. Dr. Hoyt, the oldest pioneer clergyman of Dakota, shall invoke the divine bless- ing upon the work and labor of this convention." DR. I-IOYT's prayer. O God, Thou who of old did counsel with thy children, we pray Thee to be present with the mem- bers of this convention, now gathered together to consult for the best interests of the people of Dakota. Guide and direct them in all their doings with thy most gracious favor and favor them with the coun- tenance of Thy gracious help, that in all their work beg-un, continued and ended in Thee, they may glorify Thy holy name and perpetuate the best interests of the citizens of this territory. We ask it for the Re- deemer's sake, amen. Philip Lawrence of Kingsbury county, was chos- en temporary secretary, and W. B. McChesney of Brown, assistant secretary. The convention then adjourned until 3 p. m. Three o'clock p. m. convention again called to order by the chairman. A committee on credentials was appointed and reported the following deleagtes as entitled to seats in the convention: Aurora county— S. L. Baker, L. S. Cull, E. W. Robey, J. C. Ryan, E. H. Mcintosh. Jerauld— B. F. Chapman, A. B. Smart, T. F. Tofflemire. Brown— M. T. Hauser, M. J. Gordon, S. H. Jumper, J. H. Drake, W. B. McChesney, E. A. Bow- ers, A. O. Titus, W. Winter. The committee also 236 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION recommended the additional deleg"ates, J. H. Hauser, C. S. Mainger, L. A. Burke and A. A. Rowley. Beadle — Karl Gerner, S. A. Armstrong-, J. W. Shannon, John Blair, Fred Grant, John Cain, A. B. Melville, L. S. Hazen, S. C. Nash and E. A. Morse. Bon Homme — John L. Turner, Joseph Zitka, Robert Bollard, F. A. Morgan, T. O. Bogert, Peter Byrne, C. T. Campbell, C. T. McCoy, F. M. Ziebach, John Todd, J. H. Stephens, C. S. Rowe, Robert Kirk, O. Richmond, Frank Trumbo, John C. Memmer, J. C. Klemme, alternate, M. H. Da}". Brooking-s — H. H. Natwick, C. A. Kelsey, G. A. Mathews, C. H. Sterns, L. T. McClarren, Pag"e Down- ing:, S. G. Mayland, H. B. Finncgfan, D. J. Darrow, S. W. Lockwood, Charles Davis, E. E. Gaylord, C. W. Williams, Frank Adams, J. O. B. Scobey and Ole Knudtson. Brule— A. G. Kellam, F. M. Goodykootz, D. Warner, L. W. Lewis, J. H. King-, Charles Cotton, S. W. Duncan and F. J. Wells. Clark— S. H. Elrod, E. F. Conklin, S, J. Conklin and Don R. Frazier. Clay — E. B. Dawson, C. D. Shaw, J. Kimball, A. L. Newton, J. E. White, H. Newton, John R. Whiteside, C. E. Prentiss, Ben Collar, Jared Runyan, A. H. Lathrop and O. S. Ag-ersborg-. Coding-ton— H. R. Pease, D. U. Thomas, E. M. Dennis, E. D. Wheelock, T. A. King-sbury, A. D. Chase, Oscar Kemp, E. A. Dewey, William M. Pierce, Georg-e A. Eads, C. C. Wiley, L. D. F. Poore. Al- ternates — L. D. Lyon, W. O. Frazer, W^. H. Donald- son. Davison— H. C. Green, S. D. Cooke, S. F. Goody- koontz, J. D. Feg-an, S. W. Rathburn, H. F. Alter- ton, John Pease, E. S. Johnson, George S. Bidwell, FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 237 John Foster, Doug-las Leffing-vvell and W. H. Black- man. Day — M. Moulton, E. H. Rug-g-les, O. A. James and B. F. String-ham. Douglas — W. E. Tipton, Georg-e H. Woolman, J. J. Devj and F. E. Lawrence. Grant— J. W. Bell, A. J. Blesser, A. Lewis, P. E. Skaken, A. Wardall, Wm. M. Evans, S. S. Lock- hart, A. B. Sniedley, O. J. Scheie, J. B. Whitcome, John Buzzell, H. Nash, J. R. Eastman, J. C. Drake, A. C. Dodge and J. C. Knapp. Hand— B. F. Payne, R. P. Smith, E. S. Voor- hies, C. E. Cort, W. H. Kephart, G. O. Hutson, G. W. Living-ston and C. A. Wheelock. Hanson— W. S. Arnold, L. P. Chapman, F. B. Foster and A. J. Parshall. Hutchinson — A. Sheridan Jones, F. L. Eisen- mann, Henry Heil, David Bellon, Karl Winter, S. M. Daboll and John Schamber. Hughes— C. D. Mead, W. S. Wells, H. R. Hor- ner, V. E. Prentice, C. W. Richardson, William Stough, H. E. Devs^ey and H. J. Campbell. Kingsbury — J. C. Southwick, P. Lawrence, Thomas Reed, J. E. Risdorph, I. A. Keith, M. A. Brown, A. Whiting-, J. A. Owen, D. C. Kline, L. F. Dow, J.C. Gipson and J. J. Sweet. Lawrence— G. C. Moody, B. G. Caulfield, S. P. Romans, Porter Warner, W. L. Hamilton, S. B. Smith, A. J. Knig-ht, G. G. Bennett, W. H. Parker, W. R. Steel, D. Corson, A. J. Harding-, John R. Wil- son, C. F. Tracey, VV. H. Riley, H. M. Greg-g-, T. E. Harvey, H. O. Anderson, D. K. Dickinson, W. J. Laramer, Dolph Edwards, J. O. Gunsully, George F. Robinson, J. W, Garland, John H. Davey, Thomas Hartlan, Joseph C. Ryan and Joseph Ramsdal. 238' FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION Lincoln — L. Henslej, A. B. Boynton, J. W, Tay- lor, E. B. Peterson, B. E- C Jacobs, A. B. Wheelock, W. K. State, Lars Hilme, Robert Pierce, Elling- Op- sal, Thomas Wrig-ht, O. D. Hinkley, William Brad- shaw, A, P. Dickson, George Conkling; and William M. Cuppett: Miner — H. Bronson, Mark Harris, G, A. Martin, J. P. Ryan, M. A. Moore, H. Weddy, F. Britain and W. G. James. Sanborn — N. B. Reed, H, E. Mayhew, \^ illiam McFarland, W. F. Kenlield, George Lawrence, F. \V, Thaxter, C. H. VanTassel and C. H, Jones. Minnehaha — R. P\ Pettigrew, C. W. Hubbard, J. Schatzel, Melvin Grig'sby, J. R. Jackson, John Langness, VV. VV. Brookings, E. W. Caldwell, C. H. Windsor, T. H. B. Brown, D. R. Bailey, B. F. Camp- bell, G. A. Uline, S. Wilkinsen, D. S. Glidden, C. E. McKinney, A. C. Phillips, T. S. Free and VV. A. Wilkes. Moody— H. M. Williamson, A. G. Bernard, Wil- liam Ramsdell, T. E. Carter, R. Brennan, L. W. Sherman, F. F. Whalen, N. Vance, C. D. Pratt, John Hobart, A. P. Allen and Phil Clark. McCook— J. T. McKee, J. M. Bayard, E. Thom- as, E. H. Wilson, John F. Norton, J. E. Rutan, D. S. Pond and H. G. Miller. Sully— P. B. Hoover, J. A. Meloon, J. M. Moore. Spink— F. C. Warriner, C. H. Seeley, C. N. Keith, M. Moriarity, F. \\. Rogers, J. H. Allen, J. J. Gush- ing, C. H. Reedan, R. B. Hassel, E. W. Foster, C. D. Friberg, J. M. Miles, C. T. Howard and E. B. Korns. Turner— Rev. L. E. Newell, Rev. J. B. Currans, J. A. Hand, Rev. J. P. Coffman, A. T. Cathcart, G. W, Perry, Rev. Harmalling, Rev. Warnsus, Jackson Davis, G. L. Douglas, Joel Fry, Rev. N. Tychsen, J. FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 23'9 B. Beebe, Rev. T, H. Judson, S. P, Andrews and Mr. Parr. Yankton — Joseph Ward, Bartlett Tripp, Georg-e Brown, C. J, B. Harris, G. VV. King-sburj, ,). R. Gamble, Wilmot Whitfield, Newton Edmunds, J. R. Hansen, Fred Schnauber, Maris Taylor, E. Miner, Georg-e H. Hand, I. E. West, S. A. Boyles and S. H. Gruber. Union — C. H, Walworth, George B, Freeman, J. D. Cittal, Georg-e Ellis, Jesse Akin, N. A, Kirk, Hen- ry Kipling-er, Joseph Yerter, M. VV. Sheaf e, Adam Scott, Harry M osier, J. G. iVIerril, Thomas Roman, C. F. Mallahan, Halvore Knudson and Rev, Joseph V, Himes. Potter—O. L. Mann. Faulk— J. A. Pickler, L. VanHorn and J. H. DeVoe. Campbell — S. S. Bassett. Buffalo— E. A. Herman. Hyde— M. G. Simon, E. O. Parker and L. E, Witcher. Committee on permanent org-anization appointed and report as follows: President— Hon. B, G, Caulfield, Lawrence county. Secretaries — Philip Lawrence, Kingsbury; W. B. McChesney, Brown; C. C. Mallahan, Union; John Cain, Beadle; and V. E. Prentice, Hughes. Vice Presidents — Rev. Joseph Ward, Yankton; Hon. F. M, Goodykoontz, Brule; C. D. Pratt, Moody; R. F. Alterton, Davison; D. R, S. Smith, Hand; A. H. Lewis, Grant; D. C. Thomas, Codington; Wm. M. Cuppett, Lincoln; J. J. Devy, Douglas; John Todd, Bon Homme; Col. Kimball, Clay; F. B. Foster, Hanson; E. W. Foster, Spink; C. A. Kelsey, Brook- ings. The report was adopted. 240 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION Committees were appointed on rules and order of business, resolutions, apportionment, address to the people and on publication of proceeding's of conven- ■4-«^--» ^ JjJ 9fr ■3p 7^ 5^ ■JK' ■3|t 'fi ■Jft 'ith: The people having been thus deprived of the or- dinary means of declaring- and executing- their right- ful will have full and unquestioned rig-ht and author- ity to fall back upon and exercise the reserved rights and extraordinary powers vested in them and have therefore for that purpose called and created the con- vention which promulg-ated this ordinance * * * therefore; Be it resolved and ordained by the people of Dakota, throug-h their deleg-ates in convention as- sembled; Here follows a call for a convention to meet at Sioux Falls on Tuesday, September 4th, A, D. 1883, at 12 o'clock meridian for the purpose of framing- a state constitution and doing- all other thing-s essen- tial to the preparation of the part of the territory in question for making- application to the general gov- 2^46 FORMnSTG A STATE CONSTrTUTrON ernment for its admission into the Union of states- Provision was made that the convention should con- sist of one hundred and iifty members and the appor- tionment be as follows: Aurora county three delegates; Beadle, four; Bon Homme, four; Brookings, five; Brown, seven; Brule, three; Butte, one; i>uffalo, one; Campbell, McPherson and that portion of Dickey, Mcintosh and Inman south of the forty-sixth parallel^ one; Clark, two; Charles Mix, two; Clay^ four; Coding- ton, five; Custer and Fall River, one; Davison, four; Day and that part of Sarg-ent south of the forty-sixth parallel^ three; Doug-las, two; Deuel, three; Kd- munds, one; Faulk, one; Grant, four; Hand, four; Hamlin, two; Hanson, three; Hutchinson, four; Hughes, four; Hyde, one; Jerauld, one; Kingsbury, four; Lake, three; Lawrence, nine; Lincoln, seven; Miner, three; Minnehaha, eig-ht; Mood3% four; Mc- Cook, three; Pennington, two; Roberts, one; Potter and Sulley, two; Spink, live; Sanborn, two; Turner, four; Union, five; Walworth one, and Yankton »even. It was provided that an election for delegates to the convention shovild be held on August 1st, 18S3, and provision was made for the manner of the elec- tion, the organization and work of the convention, for the submission of the constitution to the voters at the general election of 1883, and directed the con- stitutional convention to provide the manner of pre- senting- the constitution made by it to the congress of the United States. A State executive committee con- stituted of one member from each organized coimty and one from the proposed state at large was ap- pointed and vested with power to perform all things necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the TORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 247 ordinance bj appointing- a county board in each coun- ty to take charg-e of the election, returns of elec- tion etc. therein, and to do such other thingfs as were necessary' to carry forward the movement towards i>tatehood to the point when the constitutional con- vention should assemble, and a committee, of which Hon. Bartlett Tripp was named as chairman, on ad- dress to the president and cong-ress was appointed. The committee on address to the people of Dakota, Hon. E. W. Caldwell chairman, made the following- report, which was adopted: To THE People of Dakota: — When the sentiment becomes unaTiimous in the minds of a quarter of a million of patriotic, liberty loving-, law abiding-, Grod-f earing- people that there are certain rig-hts to which they are entitled, but of which they are deprived, common fairness and com- mon decencv demand that respectful attention and consideration should be g-iven to their claims for the exercise of those rig-hts and privileg-es. For the purpose of emphasizing- and formally promulg-ating- the claims of which the people of the southern portion of Dakota make in the matter of statehood, and its rig-hts and privileges, a convention of three hundred and fiftj' deleg-ates chosen from her several counties, met at Huron, June 19th, 1881, there being a full representation from every org-anized county but three, and from a number of counties not yet org-anized. These representatives were chosen by the several counties upon the definite issue of tak- ing- steps for securing statehood for that portion of the territory designated. In convention assembled they, as the duly elected representatives of two hund- red and fifty thousand people, unsurpassed for intel- lig-ence and patriotism, most solemnly and with one 248 FOKMIxXG A STATE CONSTITUTION voice declared it to be the unalterable and absolute demand of the people that thej be vouchsafed the exercise of those rigfhts promised them as citizens of these United States whenever thej should number sixty thousand souls, g-uaranteed to them by solemn treaty at the time the reg-ion, a portion of which they occupy, became a part of the domain of the United States, asserted for such as they by the foui^- teen commonwealths, and guaranteed to them by ev- ery precedent that Can possibl}- be considered as bear- ing- upon the issue. It is but just and right, and in due deference to the sisterhood of which southern Dakota desires to become a part, that the said convention should state some of the grounds upon which her claim is based, not only that those who might oppose it may have knowledge of their error but that- the people them- selves may more fully comprehend and realize what are their rights in the premises, and what is the ne- cessity for their prompt and unswerving and persist- ent assertion of those claims and the enforcement thereof by all and every means which individual and organized efforts can devise or execute. And it is for the purpose of supplying this information that the convention has directed the preparation of this ad- dress. In the first place let it be understood and known of all men that not a single feature of anything that is contemplated is any departure from due and ordi- nary process as recognized by the highest law of the land by the repeated interpretations thereof by the most eminent judicial authority, and by the practices and customs which have prevailed from the earliest periods of our Federal history. The entire movement which the southern half of Dakota is making today, FOiaimo A STATK CONSTITUTlOxV 24') in attempting- to secure statehood, is pure and simple patriotism. The people of the southern jwrtion of Dakota ask at the hands of the United States the division of the territory, upon the fortv-sixth parallel, and the admission of their half into the Union-thej ask it as an unquestionable rig-ht. Thev ask division because the domain thus al- lotted to them would even then be larger than thirtv other states in the Union and its boundaries would be sutticient to contain the whole of the six New En- §-land states, or half of the four Middle states, and with resources capable of maintaining- a population of ten millions, and today contains more than four times the number of inhabitants required by the fed- eral ordinance of 1787. Thej ask it because the interests commercial and otherwise, of the different sections of the new North- west extend in an east and west direction, and that therefore there is nothing- to join the interests of southern Dakota with those of the section from which she wants to be dissolved. They ask it because the g-enius and characteris- tics of the two peoples are as different as could well be imag-med-that of southern Dakota being- a people of homeholders and steady g-oing- citinens compam- tively content with the days of small thing-s and themselves directly interested in the conduct of pub- lic affairs; while affairs in northern Dakota are more directly in the hands of larg-e capitalists and exten- sive operators and speculators who are able to dic- tate the policy of the reg-ion by their influence upon the larg-e bodies of farming- people in their employ or under their control. No commonwealth could be sat- isfactorily manag-ed wherein two elements so diverse mig-ht be joined. 250 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION Tbey ask it because they have the rig-ht to so or- ganize their g-overnment that the expenses thereof shall be less burdensome and experience demon- strates that the rate of taxation for state purposes is much less in small commonwealths than in the larg-er ones — statistics proving- that while the a.ssessments for such purposes in Delaware and Rhode Island is only ten mills on the dollar, it is in New York twenty one mills and Illinois twenty four. They ask it because the records of leg-islative en- actments show that it is, impracticable to establish laws which shall be of uniform operation throug-hout two sections of a commonwealth of such diverse in- terests and pursuits as north and south Dakota. They ask it because the proposed area of the state is as larg-e as permits economy of g-overnraent and the free and fair exercise of the political privi- leg"es of a g-ood people; for that to organize into one state so larg'e an area as the present Territory of Da- kota practically precludes the poor man from partic- ipating- in its conventions and manag-ements, thus tending- to make it only a rich man's g-overnment, which is contrary to the liberty and spirit of our in- stitutions. And furthermore on behalf of the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and in behalf of law and precedent as established by con- g-ress and recog-nized by our courts we do declare that the rig-ht indisputably rests with the people to define their own boundaries and adopt their own state con- stitution because the compact contained in the ordi- nance of 1787 which has been extended over the peo- ple of Dakota by five successive actsof cong-ress guar- antees absolutely and inviolably to them the rig-ht to form a permanent constitution and a state g-overn" FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 251 ment whenever said territory shall contain sixty thousand free inhabitants. Because the treaty by which the Louisiana Pur- chase was acquired which is "the supreme law of the land" g-uarantees to the people of Dakota Territory as absolutely and inviolably as the ordinance of 1787, that they shall be incorporated in the union of states, and admitted as soon as possible according- to the principles of the federal constitution. Because the hig-hest judicial authority in the land has solemnly declared that congress has no just power to hold and g-overn this people permanently in the character of a territory. Because these rig-hts and privileg-es have hereto- fore been recog-nized and g-iven to a larg-e number of the existing- states, among- them being- Tennessee, Arkansas, Michig-an, Florida and Iowa. Because we are now deprived of the privileg-es of American citizenship, on account of the wide expanse of our domain and the limited and inadequate judicial system consequent upon the territorial condition; for that the writ of habeas corpus is practically suspend- ed in larg-e portions of the commonwealth, and other extraordinary legal remedies are not readily attaina- ble, and on account of the great expense made neces- sary by the long- distance which parties and their wit- nesses are in -many cases compelled to travel to reach the courts to attend trials. Because if admission be long-er delayed the sup- ply of public lands will be so nearly exhausted that the state cannot receive from the general g-overnment the g-rants for public purposes which by the custom and precedents in other cases have been so justly g-iv- en to new states; for that on account of the rapid de- velopment of Dakota, settlement is going- in advance 253 FOKMTNG A STATE CONSTlT^JTIOlSr of the public survej's, thus absorbing' lands desig'necl for school and other purposes, which it will be impos- sible to replace. Because the people of Dakota on whom the rig-ht of self g-overnment inherently rests, have repeatedly throug-h acts and memorials of the legislatures, throug^h their representatives in three several con- ventions for that purpose spontaneousl_y assembled, and throug'h their entire press, declared their will and determination that Dakota south of the forty- sixth parallel should become a state. Nov.^ therefore, in view of the great interests at stake and that our ri^^hts may be maintained and di- vision and statehood secured, this convention appeals to every citizen of Dakota south of the forty-sixth parallel to g"ive his vote and influence for deleg"ates to the constitutional convention to meet September 4th, 1883, and spare no effort that honest, able and loyal men shall be chosen to represent them and that the support thej^ maj receive at the polls shall dem- onstrate our numbers and patriotism so that the con- stitution framed shall reflect our intellig'ence and g-uarantee our rights, privileges and immunities as American citizens. In pursuance of the ordinance adopted by the Huron convention an election for delegates to the constitutional convention was held throug-hout that part of Dakota territory south of the forty-sixth par- allel of latitude in which deep interest was taken and the deleg^ates thus elected assembled at Sioux Falls on September 4th, 1883. They organized by the election of Hon. Bartlett Tripp as president, C. H. Wins^r as secretary and H. \1. Avery reading- sec- HON. BARTI.KTT TRIPP. FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTIOISr 253 retarj. Rules and order of business were adopted and the following- committees were appointed: Judiciary — Moody of Lawrence, Kidder of Clay, Bollard of Bon Homme, Gifford of Lincoln, Grig-sb}^ of Minnehaha, Sterling- of Spink, Westover of Sully and Potter, Harris of Yankton, Wood of Pennington, Mellette of Codingfton, Lichtenwaller of Hug-hes, Murray of Lake, Cheever of Hamlin, Farmer of Mi- ner, Dawson of Clay. Kxecutive — Kellam of Brule, Reed of Beadle, Turner of Bon Homme, Kelsey of Brooking-s, Duncan of Brule, Whiteside of Clay, Murphy of Grant, Mc- Donald of King-sbury, Harve^' of Lawrence. Leg-islative — Kidder of Clay, Gamble of Yankton, Taylor of Lincoln, Elrod of Clark, Pettigrew of Min- nehaha, Gatchell of Deuel, McCoy of Bon Homme, Keith of Spink, Day of Edmunds. Bill of Rig-hts— Melville of Beadle, Brooks of Yankton, Cleveng-er of Brooking-s, Johnson of Brown, Sherwood of Clark, Pease of Davison, Howell of Hand, Harvey of Lav^rence, Hayes of Hamlin. Elections and Rig-ht of Suffrag-e — Jones of Hutch- inson, Kennelly of Aurora, Wheelock of Coding-ton, Gunderson of Union, Bannister of Minnehaha, Loth- ian of Grant, Johnson of Brown, Hunt of Spink, Knig-ht of Lawrence. Name, Boundary and Seat of Government of State — Allen of Turner. Brooks of Yankton, White- side of Clay, Houg-hton of Brown, McCoy of Bon Homme, Knig-ht of Lawrence, Winter of Hutchinson, Bannister of Minnehaha, Spicer of Codington. Federal Relations — Brookings of Minnehaha, Baum of Aurora, Daboll of Hutchinson, Bippus of Minnehaha, Bronson of Miner, Knox of Faulk, Aken of Union, Warner of Lawrence, Burman of Grant. 254 FORMIICG A STATE COXSTrTUTTON' Education and School Lands — Moulton of Day^ Ward of Yankton, Daboll of Hutchinson, Eakin of Sully and Potter, Thorne of Minnehaha, Conklin of Lincoln, Whiting of Sanborn, Hunt of Spink, Mc- Donald of King-sbury. Municipal Corporations— Murray of Lake, Baker of Aurora, McVey of Brooking-s, Adams of Brown, Monag-han of Deuel, Still of Turner, VanVelser of Hughes, Allen of Moody, Wheelock of Lincoln. Corporations other than Banking or Municipal — Mellette of Coding^ton, Hand of Yankton, Wood of Pennington, Caulfield of Lawrence, Bovnton of Lin- coln, Kellam of Brule, Melville of Beadle, Brookings of Minnehaha, Waterbouse of Davison. County and Township Organization — Keith of Spink, Campbell of Minnehaha, Epple of Turner, Cort of Hand, Kennelly of Aurora, Scliwindtof Brule, Chapman of Hanson, White of Miner, Lane of Beadle. State, Count}' and Municipal Indebtedness — Pet- tigrew of Minnehaha, Rudolph of Lincoln, Rugg'les of Day, Edwards of Lawrence, Winter of Hutchin- son, Murphy of Grant, Compton of Union, Lucas of Charles Mix, Eakin of Sully and Potter. Revenue and Finance — Pierce of Codington, Bip- pus of Minnehaha, Foster of Spink, Tatman of Da- vison, Conklin of Lincoln, Turner of Bon Homme, Wentworth of Lake, Miller of Hand, Brooks of Yank- ton. Public Accounts and Expenditures — Bo^-nton of Lincoln, Thorne of Minnehaha, Simpson of Douglas, Daly of Lake, Pease of Davison, Wheelock of Coding- ton, Kelsey of Brookings, Whalen of Moody, McDon- ald of Jerauld. State Institutions and Public Buildings including Penitentiaries and other Reformatory Institutions — FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 255 Ziebach of Bon Homme, Spicer of Codington, Sher- man of Lincoln, Chapman of Hanson, Miller of Hand, Aken of Union, Converse of Sanborn, Simpson of Douglas, Thorne of Minnehaha. Manufactures and Agriculture — Mitchell of Brooking-s, Wheelock of Ivincoln, Lovering- of Minne- haha, Peek of Hanson, Rerteson of Turner, Schlimgen of Hutchinson, Kimball of Clay, Smith of Kingsbury, Brooks of McCook. Congressional and Legislative Apportionment — Gifford of Lincoln, Pettigrew of Minneha.ha, Gamble of Yankton, McCoy of Bon Homme, Pierce of Cod- ington, Lake of Pennington, Sterling of Spink, Ward of Hughes, Foster of Hanson. Mines, Mining and Water Rights — Caulfield of Lawrence, Wood of Pennington, Knight of Lawrence, Burridge of Deuel, Johnson of Brown, Ryan of Law- rence, Sherman of Lincoln, Campbell of Yankton. Roads, Bridges and Other Internal Improvements — Elliott of Grant, Boynton of Lincoln, Sherwood of Clark, Wellman of Mood}', Callahan of Douglas, Adams of Day, Daly of Lake, Whiteside of Clay, Scheffler of Beadle. Exemptions, Real and Personal — Williamson of Moody, Rudolph of Lincoln, Baum of Aurora, Peek of Hanson, Grant of Brown, Gatchell of Deuel, Cort of Hand, Allen of Turner, Herman of Buffalo. Rights of Married Women — Monaghan of Deuel, Parker of Lawrence, Rutan of McCook, Knox of Faulk, DaboU of Hutchinson, VanVelsor of Hughes, Lewis of Kingsbury, Conklin of Lincoln, Herman of Buffalo. Military Affairs — Brayton of Hand, Campbell of Minnehaha, Kimball of Clay, Dollard of Bon Homme, Moody of Lawrence, Campbell of Yankton, Foster of Spink, Duncan of Brule, Terrell of McCook. 2.^6 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION Seal of State, Coat of Arms, and Desig-n of Same — Foster of Hanson, Ward of Yankton, Jones of Hutch- inson, Moulton of Day, Cort of Hand, Lawrence of King-sburj, Caullield of Lawrence, Williamson of Moody, Dollard of Bon Homme. Banking- and Currency — Lake of Penning"ton, Turner of Bon Homme, Taylor of Lincoln, Warner of Lawrence, Grig'sby of Minnehaha, Turner of Miner, yualey of Brooking"s, Elrod of Clark, Lewis of Kin g-s- bury. Amendments and Revision of the Constitution — Lawrence of King-sbury, Rugfgfles of Da}-, Spicer of Codington, Dawson of Clay, Mallahan of Union, Lu- cas of Charles Mix, Waterhouse of Davison, Cleven- ger of Brooking-s, Baker of Aurora. Printing- — Mallahan of Union, Warner of Law- rence, McDonald of Jerauld, Wells of Hughes, Kieth of Spink, Rutan of ^[cCook, Ziebach of Bon Homme, Lane of Beadle, Howell of Hand. Schedule — Campbell of Yankton, Hag-er of Da- vison, Wood of Pennington, Kellam of Brule, Howell of Hand, Dollard of P>on Homme, Lawrence of Kings- bury, Melville of Beadle, Mitchell of Brookings, Kd- wards of Lawrence, Pierce of Codington, Williamson of Moody, Baker of Aurora, Dawson of Clay, Day of Edmunds, Foster of Hanson, Ward of Hughes, Wheelock of Lincoln, Mallahan of Union, Foster of Spink, Moulton of Day, Allen of Turner. Miscellaneous Subjects — Houghton of Brown, Harvey of Lawrence, Smith of Kingsbury, Johnson of Hyde, Winter of Hutchinson, Braj^ton of Hand, Callahan of Douglas, Still of Turner, Elrod of Clark. Compensation of Public Officers - Ward of Hug-hes, Grigsbyof Minnehaha, Mitchell of Brookings, Harris of Yankton i Kellam of Brule, Hager of Davison, Lo- YORMIICG A STXTK CONSTITUTTOX 2r>-i tiiiiafi of Gra.nt, Whalen of Moodj, White of .Mim-r-. Arrang-emetit and Phrastndogy of the Constitu- tion — Hag-er of Davison, Hand of Yanktonv, Moody of L/awroncc, Gamble of Yankton, Taylor of lancoln. Mellette of Codiugton, Ziebach of Bon Homme, Bron' son of Miner, Westover of Sully and Potter. The convention, and all proceedings leading" up to it, v/c-re strongly won partisan, public spirited and patriotic ^ind many liojjod this would result in a pro*- vision for the election of state officers and members of both branches of con g-ress, and that Hon. Gideon C\ Moody and Hun, Bartlett Tripp, leaders of the territorial bar and eminently qualilied in ability and character, would be our first United State*> senators. The convention made an excellent constitution as the result of its sixteen days dilig^cnt and conscien- tious deliberations, but concluded it was the part of svisdom to make no provision for the establishment of a state g-overnmcut at that time. It was my in- tention when I started out with the publication in this book of matter relating- to a constitution to set forth the constitution in full, but I find it will require too much space, hence I have concluded to omit it and compensate for its omission later by comparison of its features with those of the constitution made by the convention of 1885, under which, with sligiit changes, our state was admitted into the Union. One of the striking- features of the constitutional convention of 1883 was the leadership of every shade of political and reformatory opinion that it contained, and the toleration and harmony which characterized its members; but a singfle appeal was taken from the ruling-s of the chair throug'hout the proceedings of the convention and in that instance the ruling- was sustained by a prompt and decisive vote. 258 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION Amongf the members of that convention and of the Huron convention which preceded it were many who had occupied disting-uished positions in public life or did so later. Hon. B. G. Caulfield, a prominent member of the Ivawrence county bar, had represented a democratic district of Chicago as a leading- member of congress for many years. Hon. Bartlett Tripp was made chief justice of the territory in 1885, and serA^ed as such until the state he was prominent in laying the foundation of was admitted into the Union. Later he was envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the Austrian Empire, by appoint- ment of President Cleveland, and served nearly five years, and still later, by appointment of President McKinley, he was made a member of the Hig-h Joint Commission, to settle the Samoan question, pregnant with war between the United States, Great Britain and Germany. Baron Speck von Sternberg-, the pres- ent ambassador of Germany to the United States was the representative of his country on the commis- sion and Sir Charles Elliott the representative of Great Britain. Judge Tripp was elected chairman by his associates and Edwin V. Morg-an, his private secretary, now minister to Cuba, was elected secre- tary. The question this commission was appointed to settle grew out of a tripartite agreement between the United States, Great Britain and Germany to jointly administer the affairs of the Samoan Islands under a native king- and involved the title of the king-, the United States and British authorities on the islands recog'nizing one of the natives as the king- and the Ger- man authorities another, which brought on hostili- ties that resulted in the death of many persons, among them several American and English officers FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 259 and soldiers who were beheaded in accordance with the Samoan custom and their heads brought into camp as trophies of war. This procedure was claim- ed by the British and Americans on the islands to nave been countenanced and encourag-ed by the Ger- mans and bid fair when the commission was ap- poin ed to bring- the nations interested into a warlike attitude But the commission having full authority and ample exhibition of the war power of these na tions to convince the natives of their ability to make a fair settlement of the matter succeeded in settling- it peacefully to the entire satisfaction of all concerned Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell was a disting-uished Un- ion soldier in the civil war; a judge of a court of gen- eral jurisdiction in Louisiana after the war and a major general of the militia of that state and later United States attorney for the Territory of Dakota for eight years Hon. G. C. Moody had been asso- ciate justice of the territorial supreme court and later was one of South Dakota's first United States sena- tors and Hon. R. F. Pettigrew was the other. Judo-e Kidder was on the supreme bench and had been in con- gress. Hon. O. S. Gifford was the territorial delegate in congress for several terms after 1884. Hon Mel vin Grigsby became attorney general of the state of South Dakota colonel of a Rough Rider regiment in the war with Spain and later United States attorney for Alaska. Hon. Thomas Sterling became a leading sta e senator and is now dean of the law department of the University of South Dakota. Hon. Arthur C. Mellette became governor of South Dakota and served two terms. Hon. A. J. Kellam became a judge of the South Dakota supreme court and was twice elected to hat position, the first term for four and the second term six jears. Hon. J. R. Gamble was elected to 260 FOK-MIISTG A STATE COJ^TSTITtTTTON' fongTes^^. from Sauth Dakota^ but died before the opening- of its first session. Hon, Samuel El rod is at present g-overnor of tbe s^tate of South Dakota. Hon„ George H, Hand had been seci'etarj^ of the Territory of Dakota and acting* governor. Rev, Dr. Ward was president of Yankton Colleger ®i'^<^ of the ablest and best men in the state. To knov/ him was to love and admire him. Hon, M. J. Gordon became a judge of the supreme court of the state of Washington- Hon. G. G. Bennett had been vl member of congress from ]>akO'ta Territory and one of its supreme court judg- es. Hon. W- H, Parker is now a candidate for^ and will be elected to, congress. Hon. W. R, vSteele had been a delegate to congress from Wyoming*. Hon. E. W. Caldwell had been the leading newspaper man of the territory since the time when the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, and during that time no republican gathering" vv'as complete without "Cal," Hon. Newton "Edmunds had been governor of the territory. Hon. Maris Taylor was later sur- veyor g-eneral of South Dakota. Hon. John A. Pick- ler served as a cong-ressman for South Dakota several terms. Hon, M. W. Sheaf e was made a brigadier general in the war vvith Spain, and the history of South Dakota, published by Doane Robinson, says of the Huron convention that "It was one of the strongest bodies of men ever assembled in Dakota,'' and of the constitutional convention at Sioux Falls "It embraced in its membership most of the names of South Dakotans who are best known for wisdom and public spirit."' KOK^[ING A STATE CONSTITUTION 261 AN ADDRESS To the President and Cong-ress of the United States, presented by Hon. Barti.ktt Tkipp, Chairman of the Committee appointed for that purpose b\' the Huron Convention: In accordance with a resolution of a convention held at Huron, D. T., on the 19th day of June, A. D. 1883, to take into consideration the question of call- ing- a constitutional convention and asking- admission as a state of that portion of Dakota Territory lying- south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude, the un- dersig-ned committee appointed by said convention to present to the president and congfress the special rea- sons upon which the people base their action, and their claims to admission as a state, beg- leave to pre- sent to your consideration: That all portions of Dakota Territory, with few, if any, exceptions, desire a division of the territory upon the fort3''-sixth parallel, and all of that portion south of said parallel, are, without exception, in fa- vor of admission as a state. The people of south Dakota ask this not as slaves and suppliants, but as free American citizens demand- ing- their rig-hts of an American cong-ress. They come not as colonies demanding- separation from an unjust and tyrannical g-overnment, but they come as minor children attaining- their majority, demanding- the same rights and privileges accorded to their older brothers and sisters — and which rights ought to be on the part of the nation as much a privileg-e and pleasure to grant as on the part of the infant state to receive. We recog-nize the fact, therefore, that our duty consists in presenting- to the general government that 262 FOKMTN'G A .STATE COlsrSTlTUTIOlsr we have the desire and the ability to g-overn ourselves. Do the people desire division and admission? The question of division is almost as old as the territory itself. The settlement of Dakota commenc- ed almost simultaneovisly in the two extreme portions, of the territory, to-wit: In what is now Union county in the extreme south east, and what is now Pembina county in the extreme north east corner of the terri- tory. These settlements gradually extended, encour- ag-ed by the early building- of the Northern Pacific and the Dakota southern railroads and their tributa- ries, many hundred miles apart and traversing- dis- tricts of country as unlike and distinct in their g-ener- al characteristics, as the people who settled and occu- pied the same. The north has become from climate and circumstances controlling; its early settlement, one great wheat field rented and cultivated in larg-e tracts, while the south is a pastoral and ag-ricultural reg-ion divided into small farms, occupied and culti- vated by the owners of the soil. The march of settlement has been directly west. The great trade centers of St. Paul and Minneapolis have reached out directly for the great New North- west and the products of her soil have made necessa- ry and built up the great Houring mills of Minneap- olis and the great commercial metropolis of St. Paul, while the trade and commerce of southern Dakota connects her directly east with Chicago and more southerly with St. Louis. All the new lines of railroad projected and built into Dakota follow the same east and west course, parallel with each other, with no roads running north and south except here and there a connecting link be- tween friendly lines. There is not today and for some time to come there will not probably be any ■FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 263 connection by rail between northern and southern Dakota, except throug'h Minneapolis and St, Paul, Minn. Thexe people have settled Dakota, emigrating- ^g-eneralh' from the same parallel of latitude. They came with different tastes and habits of life; they settled countries unlike in climate and character; they early imbibed the prejudices of the two sections ag-ainst each other, and have conceived and propagat- ed the idea and belief that the two sections would be- come separate and independent states, .The legislation of Dakota has been marked from the beg"inning' with this popular idea. The public institutions of the territory have been located in southern Dakota until more recently by action of the last legislature, similar institutions were provided for in the north, but all looking- to a future separation. Nearly every legislature of the territory fresh from the people has memorialized congress for a di- vision of the territory on the forty-sixth parallel. In 1870 we find the legislature making- use of the fol- lowing language in its memorial to congress: "Your memorialists would further represent in evidence of this, our petition, that while the said new territory is remote from the main line of travel in southern Dakota, and is separated therefrom b}' a broad extent of unoccupied and wild country, yet the Northern Pacific and St, Paul and Pacific railroads will traverse the entire length of the proposed new territory, giving- it direct and easy communication with Minnesota and other states, b^- means of which several thousand people have already settled in the valley of the Red River of the North and other por- tions of the proposed new territory, in which are es- tablished towns at a distance of fifteen hundred miles 264 FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION bj the nearest traveled route from the capitol and courts of Dakota. * * * That no direct line of communication is now, or will for many years, be opened across the plains, connecting- the two remote sections of Dakota, so long- as the Pacific railroad g-ives to the proposed new territory such adyantag-es of trade and travel with Minnesota, the lakes, and the east, as is now possessed by that section of the northwest. "Your memorialists would further represent that said portion of Dakota comprises an area of territory equal to about fifty millions of square acres, or about one-half the present territory of Dakota. * * * That all the g-uards of law and courts afforded by a separate territorial g-overnment should be extended to the already populous settlements of the proposed new territory. As in duty bound your memorialists will ever pray." And that substantially the same memorial was ag-ain presented to congfress by the leg-islatures of 1872-3, 1874-5, and others subsequent, and this with- out any remonstrance from any quarter; leg-islature after leg-islature has memorialized cong-ress to divide the territory on the forty-sixth parallel; the press without dissent has advocated it; bill after bill has been introduced in cong-ress by our deleg-ates, backed by petitions of our people and memorials of our leg-is- latures, for this purpose. So that it may be put down as a conceded fact that not only do the people desire a division of the territory, but that nothing- short of a division on the forty-sixth parallel will satisfy them, and it may be stated with safety that the people, whom we have no doubt the cong-ress desires to con- sult in a matter so much of interest to them, will not be satisfied nor content with any division of their ter- PORMiNG A STATE CON:STITUTION 2()r> ritory that places a section of north and south Dako- ta under the same state g-oveniment. The question of admission is one of more modern date, but has been ag-itated for several years past. It was f reel}' discussed in the political campaig"ns of 1876, 1878. and 1880 throughout the territory. County and territorial resolutions were adopted dur- ing- these years, looking- to the admission of southern Dakota as a state, and bills were introduced in con* g-ress by the delegates for the same purpose, but the first direct and general actioil taken on the part of the people was a convention held at Sioux Falls on the 25th day of January, 1882. This was a convene tion of about seven hundred of the representative men of. that portion of Dakota south of the fort3'-sixth parallel. Enthusiastic speeches were made, resolu- tions were passed, and delegates were selected from every county of southern Dakota, to urge upon con- gress the immediate necessity' of division, and adniis^ sion of southern Dakota as a state. A similar convention was held about the same time in northern Dakota, and similar resolutions adopted, and delegates were also selected to visit Washington for the same purpose. These delegates from both north and south Dakota did visit Washing-- ton and press the claims of all Dakota for immediate division on the fort3'-sixth parallel, and the admission of the southern half as a state. The introduction of such bills into congress and their subsequent failure of passage are now matters of history. Dakota was neither admitted nor divided, but the same unity of feeling that was then exhibited be- tween the north and the south, for division on the forty-sixth parallel, and the admission of the south- ern part as a state, so far as an}' public acts or public 266 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION expression of opinion is known, still continues. The next direct step taken by the people toward statehood was a convention held at Canton in Lincoln county, D. T., on the 25th day of June, 1882. This convention was called by the people in view of the bill then pending* in cong-ress for the admission of the southern portion of Dakota as a state, to take into consideration certain questions to be submitted as a part of the constitution of the new state. It was a convention of leading" citizens, representative men of the various sections of Dakota south of the forty- sixth parallel. It passed a larg-e number of resolu- tions and adjourned to meet at Huron in the count}' of Beadle, subject to the call of an executive commit- tee appointed by that convention. This executive committee subsequently in March 1883, issued a call for a convention to assemble on the 19th day of June, 1883, composed of deleg-ates from each county south of the forty-sixth parallel, apportioned according- to population, to consider the question of calling- a constitutional convention for that portion of Dakota south of the forty-sixth paral- lel — to draft a state constitution to be submitted to the people and presented to congress upon which to ask admission as a state. This convention assembled at Huron on the 19th day of June, 1883, in accordance with such call; over four hundred deleg-ates being- present; every county south of the forty-sixth parallel, with perhaps the exception of three small counties, being- represented. Even unorganized counties not embraced in the call availed themselves of the opportunity and sent dele- g-ates who were admitted to seats. The convention was composed of the best and ablest men in southern Dakota. No distinction in trORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 267 politics, relig"ion or class was observed in the call or composition of the convention, but the convention was composed of ministers, lawyers, doctors, mechan- ics, merchants, farmers and a full representation of all classes, religions and politics. Prominent politi- cians as well as the rank and file of both political parties, composed the convention, and each vied with the other in promoting- the objects for which it was called. Entire harmony and unanimity prevailed, the ordinance passed and the proceedings of this con- vention are hereto appended, marked Ex. "A" and made a part hereof. It will be seen from the published proceedings that the object of the convention was to discuss the propriety of calling a constitutional convention, to draft and submit to the people a constitution, which if ratified should be submitted to congress, and an admission into the Union asked under such constitu- tion. The foreign newspaper articles prompted by en- emies of Dakota, to the effect that the convention was a revolutionary body seeking to set up a govern- ment in defiance of the national government, is too absurd to need a passing reference. There was not in word or act by the convention, a hostile expres- sion toward the general government, but on the oth- er hand the speeches were of the most patriotic char- acter. The old flag was flaunted aloft and the wings of the great American bird were extended wide in the eloquent perorations of those embryo western states- men. They were so far from wanting to secede or form an independent government, that they were in haste to become a part of the old government, to be- come a new star upon the old flag, and to hasten the time of such an event, they favored the immediate 268 FORMII^G A STATE COIsrSTrTUTlON" formation of a state constitution to the end that con- gress could take immediate action thereon without the long- delay of the usual enabling" act. No more loyal people exist than the new settlers- of Dakota- A large proportion of them have carried the musket to the front in the darkest days of the re- bellion. The}?- have "beat their swords into plow- shares;" the}' have availed themselves of the govern- ment's bounty and have dotted the prairies of Dakota with soldier's homes; they are cultivating the arts of peace, but the fires of liberty and love of country burn as brightly in their breasts here in these hum- ble western homes as they did when, at the nation's call, they bid adieu to comfort, home and family and offered their lives in their country's defense. Whole armies of these men are now petitioning* you through us for that privilege of self-government they periled their lives to perpetuate. No, there was not a breath of disloyalty in the Huron convention. Not a hasty or impatient v.-ord was uttered by the most enthusiastic speaker, not an unkind word against congress or any member thereof for any seeming neglect or delay, but every utterance and ev- ery act of the convention was aimed at the end of presenting to congress such a case that the great rep- resentatives of the nation would be justified in ad- mitting the new state and as pleased in receiving her into the confederation of states, as she would be in becoming a part of the great nation she has so looked to for aid and support. It is unnecessary to refer to the fact that the plan proposed by the people in calling a constitution- al convention, while adopted to gain tim^e and secure an early admission, has no claims to originalit}' with the people of Dakota. It is as old as the govern- FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 269 ment itself, it is the plan first known and adopted by our forefathers in admitting- new states. We take pleasure in here submitting- an array of precedents and the opinions of learned judg-es care- fully collated by the Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell, U. S. attorney for Dakota, hereto appended and marked Ex. "B," from which it will be observed that state constitutions have been formed and state g-overnments set up outside of the g-eneral g-overnment, which have been obeyed and recognized; a precedent that Dakota in nowise attempts or intends to follow, but that Da- kota had the rig-ht and that under the circumstances it was her duty to take every step to hasten her ad- mission into the Union, no one unprejudiced and con- versant with the facts will for a moment deny. The convention at Huron was necessary to con- sider what was the sentiment of the people, to ascer- tain if there was any material opposition to admis- sion as a state, and to provide some machinery for calling- a constitutional convention. The representatives of the people in the last leg-- islature 1883, for the territory of Dakota, observing- the rapid increase in population and the immediate necessity of an early admission, wisely passed an act in many respects similar to the ordinance passed by the Huron convention providing- for a constitutional convention, a copy of which is hereto appended and marked Ex. "C," but which failed to become a law by reason of its not receiving- the approval of the g-overnor of the territory. There was then no course open to the people, but to act themselves throug-h their representatives in convention assembled, which they proceeded to do in passing- the ordinance provid- ing- for a constitutional convention to be held at Sioux Falls on the 4th day of September, 1883. 270 F"ORMING A STATE CONSTlTUTIOlsr It then appearing- that the people desire a divis- ion and admission as a state of that portion of Dako- ta south of the forty-sixth parallel, and that the steps taken are proper, legitimate and within established precedent, it remains only to consider the ability of the people to govern themselves and the consequent policy and propriety of such division and admission. We need hardly argue that southern Dakota (by the term "southern Dakota" v^e mean all that portion south of the forty-sixth parallel) has a sufficient pop- ulation to admit her as a state. It is conceded by the enemies of admission that southern Dakota has at least two hundred and fifty thousand, while the friends of admission claim at least three hundred thousand, but taking- the admission of our enemies as the standard, and she has a g-reater population than any territory had when admitted as a state. She has almost twice as many as Alabama, Iowa or Wiscon- sin had when admitted; more than twice as many as Kansas or Nebraska; about three times as many as Michig-an or California; about four times as many as Mississippi, Missouri, Florida or Colorado; five times as many as Ohio, Illinois, x-Vrkansas or Oregon; and six times as many as Indiana or Nevada, and more than any one of seven of the original thirteen states. It will hardly be urged with these precedents that she has not the inhabitants requisite to admit her as a state. Nor can it be urged by way of prece- dent that as the ratio of representation in congress has increased, congress has increased the ratio for admission of states. Nevada was admitted in 1864 with a population that in 1870 was a little over fort}'- two thousand, and Colorado was admitted in 1870 with a population of but sixty-five thousand. By any precedent established, or ba^;is of calculation, south- FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 271 erti Dakota, in matter of population, would seem to he entitled to admission. Will it be urg-ed that the territory should not be divided, but should be admitted as a whole? Without repeating- what has already been urg-ed upon jour attention as to the desire of this people for a division upon the forty-sixth parallel, and their in- nate feeling- of right, that in a republic the new state should be heard in shaping- its boundaries, as well as its form of g-overnment, we desire to call your atten- tion to the fact that the two prospective new states created by the division, would be of about equal size, each being- about two hundred and twenty-five miles in width by four hundred miles inleng-th, correspond- ing- in form and size with Kansas and Nebraska, and completing- the tier of states of which they form the base. The proposed new state of Dakota would con- tain about eig-hty thousand square miles, being larg- er than Nebraska which contains seventy-six thous- and, and nearly equal to Kansas wiiicli contains eighty-one thousand three hundred eighteen square miles, and Minnesota which contains eighty-three thousand five hundred thirty-one, leaving but five states in the Union containing a larger number of square miles, to-wit: Texas, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon, but capable of sustaining a pop- ulation many times larger, when we consider the broken and mountainous character of the four last named states. Nearl}- every foot of the proposed new state, except some portions of the Black Hills in the extreme southwest corner are susceptible of cultiva- tion and occupation, and is equal in fertility with the great states of Iowa and Illinois. An idea of the size of the proposed state will be obtained by com- paring it with the older and more populous states of 272 FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION the Union. New York, well named the "Empire State," contains fortj-seven thousand square miles: Pennsylvania, fortj'-six thousand; the great state of Illinois, fifty-live thousand four hundred ten; Iowa, fifty- live thousand and fortj'-tive; Wisconsin, tiftj'- nine thousand nine hundred twenty-four; Ohio, thir- ty-nine thousand nine hundred sixty-four; Indiana, thirty-three thousand, eig-Jit hundred nine. These are among- the great, the wealthy, and the popu- lous states of the Union. Yet the proposed new state of Dakota is more than twice as larg'e as the gTeat state of Indiana or Ohio, and more than a third larg-er than the gfreat state of Pennsylvania or New York, or any of the other g*reat states of the West, while it would be equal in size to all New Eng-land, Delaware and two states of the size of New Jersey, or nine states of the Union. It would be two thirds as larg-e as Great Britain and Ireland with her thirty-two million population, and considerably- more than two thirds as larg'e as Italy with her twenty-seven million, and with the same population to the square mile which Italy, Ger- many and the old countries of Europe now have, she would contain a population of more than twenty millions. No state should be so lafg-e in territory that her g-eneral laws shall be locally inapplicable, but the state should be of such size, and her people so homo- g-eneous in character, customs and occupations that one set of laws may apply to all. The state should not be so small in size as to make the duties to the state and taxation for its support burdensome to the citizen. Nor should it be so larg-e in size that all its localities are not fairly represented in the adminis- tration of public affairs. rO'KMlNf; A STATE CONSTITXITION 2v.> In the lig-ht of history, in the admission of new- states, in view of the natural richness and capacity of the proposed new state, in comparison with the ^Teat states already named, may we not urg-e that to admit Dakota as a whole would be a departure from the precedents set in the admission of all the new states of the West, and an experiment dangerous to tile rig'ht.s of local self g-overnment. Baktlett Tripp, Chairman. The foregoing" is the only paper that I have been able to lind in the nature of an appeal to congress on the proceedings to form a state constitution which beg'an with the call for the Huron convention and ended with the adjournment of the constitutional convention after it had framed the constitution, but my recollection is that an executive committee was appointed by the latter convention to present the con- stitution to congress and that Hon. Bartlett Tripp, Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, Hon. Gideon C. Moody, Hon. Arthur C. Mellette and other prominent members of that convention were appointed as a committee to present the constitution to cong-ress and press the question of the admission of the state upon that bodv, and I see h\ reference to Doane Robinson's History of South Dakota it is stated that was done. Howev- er, notwithstanding- these efforts towards the forma- tion of a state and the endorsement of the people at the November election of 1883 of the constitution hy a vote of the electors in that part of the territory pro- posed to be included in the new state to the number of twelve thousand three hundred and thirty-six for to six thousand eight hundred and fourteen ag'ainst congress set its face ag-ainst the entire proceeding-, and on January 19th, 1885, a well considered and able 274 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION memorial to the territorial leg-islature for an act pro- viding' for a constitutional convention to frame a con- stitution and state g^overnment for the people of Da- kota south of the fort^'-sixth parallel of latitude was presented by the following citizens of Yankton coun- ty: Rev. Joseph Ward, Hon. Bartlett Tripp, Hon. L. B. French, Henry Grebe, Hon. L. M. Purdy, Cox, Odiorne and Coe,' H. B. Wynn, O. H. Carney, J. M. Fog-erty, Hon. E. G. Smith, S. H. Gruber, D. E. Bruce, Hon. Geo. AV. Kingsbur^s Hon. E. G. Edg-er- ton, John T. Shaw, Gov. Newton Edmunds, Dr, D. F. Etter, Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell, J. W. C. Morrison, Hon. R. J. Gamble, J. P. Crennan, F. B. Brecht, Wm. Blatt, Harry Katz, J. C. McVay, H. G. Clark, Hon. Z. Richey, D. N. Grose, E. C. Dudley, W. S. Bowen and R. W. Burns, and an act to that effect was passed. An election for deleg-ates to the convention was held on June 30, 1885, and the convention, consisting- of eig-hty-eig-ht deleg-ates, assembled in Germania Hall at Sioux Falls, where the convention of 1883 was held, and org-anized by electing- Hon. Alonzo J. Edg-er- ton of Yankton as president and Hon. John Cain of Huron as secretary, and the following- committees were appointed: Judiciary — Moody of Lawrence, Kellam of Brule, Campbell of Yankton, Brooking-s of Minnehaha, Dol- lard of Bon Homme, Lichtenwaller of Hug-hes, Mc- Callum of Beadle, Taylor of Lincoln, Corson of Law- rence, Haines of Turner, Owen of King-sbury, Wrig-ht of Brooking-s, Fowler of Pennington. Executive and Administrative — Kellam of Brule, Frank of Lawrence, Ryan of Aurora, Walton of Brooking-s, Mason of Brown, Grant of Butte, Gault of McPherson, Smith of Hand, Wilcox of Bon Homme. Leg-islative — Kanouse of Sanborn, Hanson of HON. A. J. EDOKKTOX. FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 2/o Yankton, Jont-s of Miner, Lowthian of Grant, Snow of Bon Homme, Maynard of Brule, Grant of Butte. Education and School Lands — More of Beadle, Ward of Yankton, Updike of Coding-ton, Owen of Kingsbury, Phillips of Lawrence, Macleod of Brown, Miller of Hug-hes, Mj^ers of Spink, Haines of Turner. (.'ong-ressional and Legislative Apportionment — Dollard of Bon Homme, Fisher of Spink, Weeden of Lawrence, Baker of Beadle, Wrig-ht of Brooking's, Mason of Brown, Greg'ory of Brule, ]>ootIi of Custer, Lowe of Deuel, Lichtenwaller of Hughes, Tousley of Turner, Goddard of Minnehaha, Schviltz of Clay, Proudfoot of Clark, Smith of Hand. Seal of State, Coat of Arms and Desig-n of Same — Cleland of Clay, Ward of Yankton, McCallum of Beadle, Blair of Union, Miller of Hug-hes, Westfall of Codington, Gray of Hanson. Printing- — Neill of Grant, Gunderson of Jerauld, Tousley of Turner, Cranmer of E.dmunds, Jessup of Faulk.' Bill of Rig-hts — Owen of Kingsbur}^ More of Beadle, Craig of Spink, Gifford of Minnehaha, God- dard of McCook. Elections and Right of Suffrage — Westfall of Codington, Dow of Brown, McCallum of Beadle, Ward of Hughes, Parker of Lawrence, Campbell of Yankton, Lansing of Hand, Wilcox of Bon Homme, Alexander of Campbell. Name, Boundaries and Seat of Government — Frank of Lawrence, Patten of Miner, Fisher of Spink, Blair of Union, Reed of Sully, Lowthian of Grant, Murphy of Flanson. Federal Relations — Fowler of Pennington, Ash- ton of Roberts, Andrus of Hamlin. Baker of Beadle, Bellon of Hutchinson, Proudfoot of Clark. 276 FO'KMING A STATE CONSTITUTION' Municipal Corporations — Wrig-lit of Brookino^^, Buechler of Hutchinson, Murphy of Hanson, Tychsen of Turner, Beebe of Minnehaha. Updyke of Coding-- ton. Corporations, other than Banking" or Municipali — Ward of Hug-hes, Brookings of Minnehaha, Britton of Spink, Hanson of Yankton, Jessup of Faulk, Lan- sing- of Hand, Laybourn of Brown, Conniff of Mc- Cook, Elfes of Charles Mix, Ryan of Aurora^ (rchon of Lincoln^ Gray of Hanson, Gault of McPherson. County and Township Org-anization — Allen of Turner, Coffin of Beadle, Berdahl of Minnehaha, Brown of i-luffalo, Buechler of Hutchinson, Churchill of Spink, Crose of Hyde. State, County and Municipal Indebtedness — Cor- son of Lawrence, T3xhsen of Turner. Andrus of Ham- lin, Baker of Beadle, Beebe of Minnehaha, Bellon of Hutchinson, Chv^rchill of Spink, Cranmer of Ed- munds, Dow of Browm. Revenue and Finance — Reed of Sully, Allen of Turner, Churchill of Spink, Crose of Hyde, Goddard of Minnehaha, Potter of Walworth, White of Brook- ings. Public Accounts and Expenditures — Williams of Hand, Huntley of Jerauld, Kendall of Union, Lay- bourn of Brown, Maynard of Brule, Oaks of Minne- haha, Ryan of Aurora. State Institutions and Public Building's, Includ- ing- Penitentiaries and other Reformatorj- Institu- tions — Fisher of Spink, Macleod of Brown, Vv alton of Brookingfs, Ward of Yankton, Oaks of Minnehaha. Cleland of Clay, Fellows of Aurora, Wrig-ht of Lake, Kanouse of Sanborn. Mines, Mining- and Water Rights — Booth of Cus- ter, Hanson of Yankton, Gifford of Minnehaha, FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 2// Frank of Lawrence, Grant of Butte, Fowler of Pen- ning-ton, Phillips of Lawrence. Roads, Bridg-es and other Internal Improvements — Blair of Union, Craig- of Spink, Weeden of Law- rence, Pendleton of Sully, Patten of Miner, Weach- erwax of Beadle, Crose of Hyde. Exemptions, Real and Personal — Bellon of Hutch- inson, Allen of Turner, Craig- of Spink, Dahl of Un- ion, Klfes of Charles Mix, Gehon of Lincoln, Gray of Hanson, Gunderson of Jerauld, Wright of Lake. Rights of Married Women — Coffin of Beadle, Gault of McPherson, Fellows of Aurora, Westfall of Coding-ton, Haines of Turner, Goddard of McCook, Cranmer of Edmunds, Military Affairs — Taylor of Lincoln, Weather- wax of Beadle, Tousley of Turner, Huntley of Je- rauld, Jones of Miner, Sheets of King-sbury, Buechler of Hutchinson. Banking- and Currency — Beebe of Minnehaha, Jessup of Faulk, Andrus of Hamlin, Goddard of Mc- Cook, Stone of Potter, Cranmer of Edmunds, Alexan- der of Campbell. Amendments and Revisions of the Constitution — Dow of Brown, Corson of Lawrence, Ashton of Rob- erts, Britton of Spink, Reed of Sully, Stone of Potter, Giiford of Minnehaha. Schedule — Campbell of Yankton, Kellam of Brule, Dollard of Bon Homme, Ward of Hughes, Booth of Custer, Kanouse of Sanborn, Neill of Grant, Lansing- of Hand, Patten of Miner, Coffin of Beadle, Huntley of Jerauld, Conniff of McCook, McGrath of Lake. Miscellaneous Subjects — Alexander of Campbell, White of Brookings, Mason of Brown, Brown of Buf- falo, Elfes of Charles Mix, Schultz of Clay, Gunder- son of Jerauld. '27H FO"R]vriNCr A STATE' GOiNTSTrTUTrOlSF Compensation of Public Officers — Brooking-s of Minnehaha^ Snow of Bon irJomme, Lajbourn of Brown, Phillips of La%vrence, Taylor of Liflicoln, Cle- land of Clay, Lo-wthian of Grant. Arrangement and Phraseology of the Constitu- tion — Wa:rd of Yankton, Moody of Lawrence, More of Beadle, Lichtenwallerof Hug^hes, Myers of Spink,, Neill of Grant, Walton of Bi'ooking-s, Williams of Hand, Wrig-ht of Lake. Manufactures and Agriculture — Myers of Spink^ Gregory O'f Brule, Brown of Buffalo, Kendall of Un- ion, Conniff of McCook, P.erdahl of Minnehaha, Stone of Potter, Pendleton of Sully, Lowe of Deuel. Engrossment and Enrollment — Potter of Wal- worth, Pendleton of Sully, Sheets of Kingsbury, Dahl of Union, McGrath of Lake. Expenses of the Convention — Fellows of Aurora, Murphy of Hanson, Snow of Bon Homme, Weather- wax of Beadle, Gregory of Brule. Preamble— Updyke of Codington^ Parker of Law- rence, Berdahl of Minnehaha, Williams of Hand,. Britton of Spink. This convention contained several members who were prominent in the membership of the convention of 1883; was in session eighteen days and the consti- tution framed by it was largely similar to the one framed by that convention, except in arrangement and phraseology, and particularity in elaborating the general propositions of the earlier instrument. Aside from this the constitution of 1885 differed from the one of 1883 in providing- that the legislature might pass a law giving three fourths of a jury in a civil case in any court the rig^ht to determine its verdict, granting the legislature power to abolish grand ju- ries, prohibiting- private property from being taken FO'RMmc; A STATK coKSTiTimo-N '27'> •or daniag-ed without just compensation to be ascer' .taincd by a jury and paid before possession taken^ j^roviding- that the fee of land taken for railroad tracks or other hi jj;-!.! ways shall remain in the '0\N'^cr of the land subject to the iise for which it was taken-, g-iving- soldiers in time of v/ar the rig-ht to vote at ■their posts of ^.uty, raakifng- all g'eiaeral elections bi- ennial, increasing- the nuniber of members wf the leg-* islature so that the house should not have more than one hundred and thirty-five nor less than sefent^'-five as against not more -than one hundred nor less than fifty five in the constitution oii 1S83 and in the senate not more than forty-five nor less than twenty-five as against not more than thirty-three nor less than twenty-five in the constitution of 1883, The constitution of 1885 differed from the earlier one also in allowing- the governor to call on tke judg-- es of the supreme court for their opinion under speci- fied conditions; in limiting- the stater's estimated ordi- nary expenses to a two mill tax and any deficiency therein to a tax of the same amount, and in limiting to one hundred thousand dollars the power of the state to contract an indebtedness instead of five hund- red thousand dollars; provisions that have not justi- fied the hopes of the convention that they would be in the interest of rigid economy, judging- by the op- eration of the two mill levy provision for deficiencies and the anticipation treasury warrant system by which warrants are issued, or provided to be issued, after the current tax is levied and before it is collect- ed. The constitution of 1883 fixed the salaries of governor, treasurer, auditor, superintendent of public instruction, secretary of state, attorney general and lieutenant governor each at a modest sum, until oth- erwise provided by law, whereas these salaries are 280 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION lixed absolutely in the constittition of 1885, with the rig-ht of the leg"islature after the year one thousand eight hundred and ninet}' to increase the annual sal- ary of the g-oyernor and each of the judg-es of the su- preme court to three thousand dollars and the salary of the circuit judg"es to two thousand five hundred dollars, while the salary of the attorney general, who should be capable to till the executive or either of the judicial offices, remains fixed at the sum of one thous- and dollars until the constitution shall be amended, which the people refused to consent to at a general election not very long- ago. In another important respect the constitvition of 1885 through its schedule differed from that of 1883, it provided for the election at the same time the constitution should be voted on of state and judicial officers, representatives in congress, state senators and representatives in the leg-islature, the formation of the state g-overnment, the location of the tempora- ry seat of government and the election of United States senators. It also provided that the governor, representatives in cong-ress and United States sena- tors should, together with two other persons to be se- lected by the state executive committee, constitute a committee whose duty it should be, in case of the rat- ification of the constitution by the people, to present it to the president and congress of the United States and request admission of the state thereunder into the Union. The republican state convention was held at Huron, on October 21st, 1885, and placed in nomina- tion a state ticket as follows: For congress, Oscar S. Gilford and Theodore Kanouse; governor, Arthur C. Mellette; lieutenant governor, A. K. Frank; secreta- ry of state, Hug-h S. Murphy; auditor, Frank Alex- FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 281 a,nder; treasurer, D. W. Dig-g-s; attorney g-eneral. Robert Dollard; superintendent of schools, A. Sher- idan Jones; commissioner of school and public lands, W. H. H. Beadle; judg-es of the supreme court, A. G. Kellam, Dig-hton Corson and John E. Bennett. No democratic ticket was nominated. The election occurred on November 3d following, at which the re- publican candidates for state and legislative offices were elected and the temporary seat of government located at Huron. Thirty-one thousand six hundred and fifty-two votes were cast, the consti.ii. '>n receiv- ing twenty-five thousand one hundred and thirty-two votes, opposed six thousand five hundred and twent}'- two. The legislature convened at Huron December 15 following the election and organized with Thomas V. Eddy as speaker of the house. The legislature com- pleted its organization and elected Hon. Alonzo J. Edgerton and Hon. Gideon C. Moody United States senators. In the early part of the following year, Hon. Gid- eon C. Moody, Hon. Alonzo J. Edgerton, Hon. Theo- dore D. Kanouse and Hon. Arthur C. Mellette joined Hon. Oscar S. Gifford, then delegate in congress, at Washington and urged the admission of the state before congressional committees, and the senate, which was republican, passed a bill for its admission while the house, which was democratic, considered bills for the recognition of the constitution, for the admission of the territory as a whole, for the division of the territory without admission and for division on the Missouri river, and thus the movement for the immediate admission of the proposed state ended, so far as the power of that congress could control its destin}'^, but the movement was kept alive in Dakota 282 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION and the deleg-ates of the territory to the repub- lican national convention in 1888 were charg-ed to re- new the battle there and succeeded in securing- an endorsement in the platform for the admission of both South and North Dakota as states of the Union. The territorial deleg^ates to the national conven- tion were Hon. Gideon C. Moody, Hon. J. M. Bailey, Hon. T. O. Bog-ert, Hon. B. H. Sullivan, Georg-e W. Hopp and Colonel Plummer. The election of the nominee, General Benjamin Harrison, who had been the persistent friend of the southern Dakota move- ment in the United States senate, settled the matter by stimulating- congress to such an extent that it passed a bill for the admission of South and North Dakota, Montana and Washing-ton which was signed by President Cleveland on the 22nd of February 1889, and provided that conventions to frame constitutions for the four states should be convened on the 4th day of July next thereafter. The constitution made for the proposed state of Dakota in 1885, was adopted by a large majority, with an amendment chang-ing" the name to South Da- kota, fixing- the northern boundary on the seventh standard parallel; and chang-ing the legislative and judicial apportionment, so that the labors of the Can- ton convention of 1882, of the Huron convention of 1883, and of the constitutional conventions at Sioux Falls in 1883 and 1885, finally resulted not only in se- curing the admission of South Dakota into the Union, but in contributing an indispensable force to open the way for the admission of North Dakota, Montana and Washington as well into the sisterhood of states. Of the state and judicial officers elected in 1885, Hon. Arthur C. Mellette was re-elected governor, Robert Dollard attorney general, Hon. A. G. Kel- FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION 283 lam, Hon. Dig-hton Corson and Hon. John E. Bennett supreme court judges, and Hon. Gideon C. Moody was re-elected United States senator and Hon. Oscar S. Gifford as representative to cong^ress, Hon. Alonzo J. Edg-erton becoming- United States district judg-e for the new state. CHAPTER XXIX. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. During" my experience in Dakota, particularly in my Doug-las county experience, where thousands of miles were traveled across a wild and thinl}^ populated country, I often journeyed not only like Macbeth's witches "in thunder, lig-htning-, wind and rain" but also in violent sleet and snow storms and in the most in- tense heat of summer as well as in the severest winter blasts, and I had often been told by the old timers of the blizzard which Custer ran into in the spring- of 1874 at Yankton, when enroute to the North-West where he engaged in the campaig^n which resulted in the massacre of himself and his command. I had heard stories told about the practice of connecting dwelling- houses and stables by ropes for one to take hold of so as not to lose the way when g-oing- between them and wander off, perhaps to death, in the blinding: storm, but I could never g-et over the idea that these stories were drawn to a considerable extent from the imag-inations of the story tellers until on January 12, 1888, we were visited for the only time in twenty- seven years, since I came to Dakota, by a g-enuine blizzard which eliminated from the minds of those who doubted the wonderful stories of the old settlers, the notion that they were indebted to fancy for any part of them. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 285 When the storm came on I was sitting' in my of- fice, about noon; it was quite warm in the begfinning- and the damp snow flakes fell in the ordinary man- ner, but soon they beg-an to gfrow smaller until the}' filled the air so full that I could not see into the street on which my office was located. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon I started down the street and losing- my way in gfoing- a block or two I dropped into a hotel to wait for an improvement in conditions and remained there for an hour without seeing- any chang-e; then I started for home, about a half mile away, and found the air so full of snow that I could not "see my hand before me." The wind was now blowing- fiercely and it was g-rowing- colder rapidly. I found my way by following- the sidewalk, where it was blown clear of the snow, and by fences along- the walk until I came to a block where the snow had banked up to the fence where I floundered the leng-th of the block by feeling- my way in the snow along- the top of the fence. I was then within one hundred feet of my dwelling- but could not see through the thickly fall- ing- snow the distance of a yard, and as there was nothing- to guide me in safety and I was sure to lose my way and g-o off in the open country, perhaps to death, if I started before there was a rift in the thick air I determined to return to my ofiice rather than risk my life, by attempting- to cross the hundred feet that divided me from my home, but while I was med- itating- retreat the rift came, I could see my dwelling- plainly and in a few seconds I was safe within its walls, but for an hour after I panted with exhaustion. At the time the storm beg-an and throug-hout the earlier part of the day it was so warm that many peo- ple were abroad without preparation for it or for the intense cold that came in the evening- and the nig-ht 286 MISCELLANEOUS OBSEKVATIONS following-, and large numbers were frozen to death. In this — Bon Homme — county, a small county of hardly more than fourteen congressional townships, nineteen persons perished; as the population was not more than seven or eight thousand, this loss was larger in percentage than that reported of the recent great disaster of the San Francisco earthquake. In my service as attorney general of the state I was called on in 1S91 to assist the states attorney of a Black Hills county, and the United States attorney for this state, in prosecuting several white men for killing an Indian chief of the Pine Ridge Indians shortly after the battle of "Wounded Knee, in the west- ern part of our state in 1890, between the Indians and the United States troops. The trial was at Sturgis, the county seat of Meade county, in the lower partof which the killing- was done. Judge Thomas, an able and chivalrous Kentuckian and v/arm hearted gentle- man, who had vv-orn the gray in our civil war, was on the bench, and we were sure of a fearless admin- istration of justice on his part, notwithstanding the strong anti-Indian feeling- remaining in that country- si nee the days of the Custer massacre. Before this trial came on, an Indian of the same band as that to whicli the dead chief belonged had been tried in the United States court for killing- Lieutenant Casey on the Pine Ridge reservation, and had been acquitted on the ground that there was a state of war between the general government and the Indians at that time, and the accused Indian was within his rights in kill- ing Casey as a spy, and this did not increase our chances of convicting white men for killing an Indi- an. In fact we, the United States attorney and my- self were met on our arrival in Sturgis by a gentle- man who was a member of the grand jurj' which in- MISCELLANHOUS OBSEKVATIONS 287 dieted the men we wore about to prosecute, and told that we mig-ht as well g'O home, that wc could not convict them, that if the Indian who killed Casey had only been convicted then we could convict, and he sat with the defendants throughout the trial as evidence of his sympathy with them and hostility to the pros- ecution. The jury selected was a body of strong-, fair faced men, old timers who knew by experience what life on the frontier with hostile Indians ready to break in upon them with the tomahawk and scalping knife meant, and the outlook was not flattering. The members of the jury each pledged himself to try the case the same as thoug-h it was a trial of white men for killing a white man, to g-ive the same effect to the testimony of an Indian that he would g"ive to that of a white person under similar circumstances, and to try the case fairly and impartially according to the law and the evidence. We spent about two weeks in the trial of the case and thought our evidence war- ranted conviction but the jury disagreed; it stood eleven for acquittal on the first ballot, and it was re- ported that the eleven wanted to throw the twelfth man out of the window for disagreeing with them. The grand juror referred to was an interesting char- acter; he too was an old timer and a sympathetic friend of the unfortunate. A man in his neighbor- hood had been sent to the penitentiary for killing an- other and an effort was being made to secure his re- lease, and I was asked to do what I could officially in the matter, the ex-grand juror saying in his personal appeal: "He is a good Christian man and never did anything wrong." He was a good Christian man and never did anything wrong but kill a fellow man. CHAPTER XXX. POLITICAL NOTES. In the order of political development, election to the last territorial council — the upper house of the territorial legislature — came to me in the fall of 188S, and mj experience at the following- session was most agreeable; the certainty that the north and south halves of the territory were soon to part company seemed to have a harmonizing- effect, and the g-ood fellowship that prevailed among; the members was in strongs contrast with the hostility between the north and south in former sessions, beg-inning- with the movement to load the capital of the territory on the band wag-on of the capital commission. In this last territorial leg-islature were John Miller and Rog-- er AUin, both since g-overnors of North Dakota, S. L. Glaspell a circuit judg-e of that state, Frank Aikin later a territorial supreme court judg-e and circuit judg-e of South Dakota, Frank J. Washabaug-h and Albert Campbell who also became circuit judg-es of the latter state, and Coe I. Crawford who became at- torney g-eneral of the same state and who will be its next g-overnor. After the state of South Dakota was admitted into the Union I served two terms as its attorney gen- eral and had much ag-reeable and important experi- ence with leading- lawyers of the state in represent- POLITICAL NOTES 28*) ing its interests before the supreme court as well as with the members of the state g-overnment, which is all held in kind and pleasing remembrance, with the single exception of mj connection with the funding" warrant act passed in 1891. At that time the state had exhausted its power to create a debt, its current revenue would not pay running expenses, and was short to such an extent that its warrants were being hawked about on the streets of the capital at a dis- count. I remembered that in former leg^al explora- tions I learned that Chicago once finding- itself in the same predicament passed an ordinance providing for the issue of warrants on its treasurer, after a tax should be levied, and in anticipation thereof, which put it on a cash basis at once, so, as the law officer of the state I drew the bill for the act referred to. placed the action of the state treasurer under the supervision of the governor and state auditor to the end that he should be permitted to issue no more warrants than were necessary to take up such other warrants as had been legally issued, and supported the bill with, a leg-al opinion to the legislature citing author- ities in its favor. The bill was passed and went into effect at once with an emergency clause, the state treasurer was thereafter able to pay the state's current obligations in cash, and that has been true ever since the act became a law. In explaining the measure to the state treasurer I said to him, this will be a dangerous law in the hands of dishonest management, and he looked at me with a kind of a stare that came back to me when it developed that he was short in his accounts three hundred and fortv- four thousand and seventy dollars, and about tAvo hundred and thirty thousand dollars of it was taken from the general fund and the deficiency fund, both 290 POLITICAL NOTES of which the funding- law was intended to relieve when the taxes due them were unpaid. Whether the defalcation would have occurred had the constitution provided a less narrow limit on the power of taxation or g-iven a greater power to contract indebtedness is in the domain of speculation, but, as the treasurer embezzled at least one hundred and fourteen thous- and dollars that had no relation to the funding law, it is probable that it would. In the fall preceding the close of my second term as attorney g-eneral I became a candidate before the republican state convention for governor; there were seven contestants and I came out third in the race. The old soldier and the farmer sentiment com- bined to rule the convention, and aided two other some- what better farmers than I to run ahead of me; one of them had the misfortune to succeed in the election and to be at the head of the state when its treasurer plundered it as I have stated. Here my experience in farming in Douglas county came into play. I had proven clearly that I was not the kind of a farmer the convention was looking- for to make a governor out of, but the reason some of the boys advanced why I should not be nominated was that my county had gone democratic at the last preceding election, so I went home and asked its republicans to elect me to the state senate on that issue and they did so. Later I served in the house when the county was solid for the republican ticket, as it had been since I was elected to the senate, while the state joined the Bry- an presidential procession, and still later I became a candidate for congress with very fair prospects of success, and the assurance of a king bee of the par- ty, who had been a warm personal friend for many years and was an effective gleaner in the field of POLITICAL NOTES 291 politics, that he would do me the best service he was capable of—which a mutual friend afterwards sug- ji^ested was, from his standpoint, to manag-e so that I would not be burdened with the office— while he was laboring- quietly, but dilig-entlj, with the oppo- sition and became its successful band wag-on candi- date for temporary chairman of the convention. The contest was between the "machine" and "anti machine" so called, and the "machine" proved to be the best machine of the two. CHAPTER XXXI. JOURNEYING TO THB PACfFIC. Drawing- near to that time of life when the g-low- ing- stories of the delig-htful climate, beautiful flowers and song- birds of a southern California winter pre- sent an irresistible appeal to enjoy them for a season, my better half and I left Scotland for Los Angeles, California, early in January, 1905, going- by way of St. Paul and over the Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. When we left St. Paul the weather was intensely cold— twenty-four deg-rees belov/ zero — and there was not much improvement until we passed beyond the Rocky Mountains. We had seen some- thing- of the AUeghanies, and the Green and White mountains, but the peaks of the Rockies and Coast Rang-e mountains, robed in eternal snow, were to be a revelation to us such as our imag-ination had never been able to reach, notwithstanding the descriptions we had often read of them. We had traveled quite extensively from the British American boundary on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, between the upper Missouri, the Black Hills, the western boundary of Nebraska and Kansas and the Atlantic ocean, but the bad lands in western North Dakota, Crazy Mountain away to the north about fifty miles from the railroad near the junction of its line that runs into Yellowstone Park, which at first presents JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 293 the appearance of a vast cloud, Mount Ranier, near Tacoma, Mount Hood near Portland, and Mount Shas- ta near the northern line of California, were marvel- ous, compared with anything- we had witnessed in previous experience, and the climatic change was equally wonderful, beginning- with the warmth, run- ning streams and open lakes among the hills of Idaho, and ending with the blooming roses, geraniums, calla lillies and other flowers, and the songs of the mock- ing- birds and other birds in southern California. Our return trip over the Santa Fe through Arizona, New^ Mexico, Colorado and Kansas was interesting, and nature's upheavals in the former territory seem to have been similar to those of the bad lands of North and South Dakota. We repeated our trip the following winter going- out by way of the Santa Fe and returning by waj' of the Southern and Northern Pacific and on our out- ward journey stopped over at Williams and visited the Grand Canon of Colorado, and here is a descrip- tion of it from the pen of one who has done poetic justice to its grand and imposing features: "There is probably nothing- in the world to ex- ceed in beauty, wonder and sublimity the trip to the Grand Canon of the Colorado. This river rises in the Rocky Mountains, and flows through Colorado and Arizona touching- Utah, Nevada and California, cutting its way throug-h strata millions of years old, until it finds the sea level in the Gulf of California. "The first view of this mighty chasm is truly awful. Standing upon its brink, the eye wanders first over a vast pile of mountain peaks cut into cu- rious shapes and worn into the semblance of grotesque forms and figures. Then, as the eye becomes accus- tomed to the g-reat depth, he beholds the river itself, 294 JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC a seeming-ly tiny stream, yellow as gold, and wind- ing- its tortuous way a mile and a quarter beneath his feet. "To adequately describe the Grand Canon is an utter impossibilit}^ One can but attempt to describe its impressions upon him; but the mysterious g'lory, the strange sensations of insignificance which one feels can only be felt — not told. It is easy to say that the Canon is a mile and a quarter deep and from wall to wall across the top the distance is thirteen miles. That all means but little. Think rather that Mt. Washington and the whole Presidential Range might be tipped into it and leave room at the top for more; the grand cataract of Niagara could be seen only with a powerful glass if it were at the bottom, while the giant redv/oods of California would appear like toy trees if viewed from the brink. The river itself is larger than the Hudson, yet it looks like a tiny brook, while on either side rise the sculptured walls — sculptured by that most wonderful of all art- ists — Nature, and the tool with which she worked was the most wonderful chisel the world has ever known — water. "But now let us see why this Colorado River is so strange, why it so far exceeds all other rivers in the world of wonders. In the early ag-es of our con- tinent when our eastern hills were young mountains, and our western mountains were in their childhood, a great sea stretched from the Rockies to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the slopes were sandy beaches not unlike those of New Jersey and New England to- day. There we find today the mark of the ripples of that ancient sea far up the mountain sides. Now slowly all that lake was raised, together with the mountains about it. The water drained off to the JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 29n sea throug-h the present water courses, leaving- a plateau eight thousand feet above the sea level, ov^er which today the sand of that ancient sea is blown in- to drifts and in parts of which no human being- is ever seen. But as the plateau was raised the rivers must find an outlet and the}' cut through the solid rock keeping pace to the rising- land. Then great lava streams flowed out over the surface and the whole was folded and bent by the mig-hty forces of the internal heat of the earth. This is a large story to comprehend at a g-lance and as the eye wanders over the surface of the walls of the Canon, and the wonderful colors stand out before him, if he can read the story there outspread he may study the history- of all the ag-es upon the open pag-e, from the dark trap rock to the lig-hter sandstones, linjestones, marbles and g-ranites. Scarcely a color but is found there; every shade of g"rey, lavender, red, brown and yellow, even to pure white. These colors are often in straight parallel lines sometimes so twisted and bent that one cannot trace their beg-inning and end. This wonder of color does, in part, compensate for the lack of fo- liag-e and forest. This is a land of rock, not of soil. "But the river itself — that innocent-looking- stream — what shall we find it like when we have climbed down those precipitous sides? Seated on its marg-in we find it a rushing, roaring torrent, sweep- ing on, in many places, more rapidU' than the Rapids of Niagara and bringing with it the waste that it has torn from the mountains and which it will spread out on the shore of the Gulf. "At dawn when the rising sun dispels the mists about the temples and shrines of the Canon, or when the sunset lines touch the eastern peaks and turrets with pink and gold, the scene is one of such marvel- 2% JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC ous beauty that the soul reaches to look 'througfh Nature to Nature's God.' But it is when the white moonlig-ht streams down into those stormy depths that the Canon takes on an atmosphere of niysterj which can never be forg^otten. The temples and cas- tles of the sunlig"ht seem tenanted with wierd hosts of vmknowable being's silently keeping* watch and ward over this, the g^reatest work of our gTeat moth- er—Nature." On our last trip to Los Ang-eles I had the pleas- ant experience of meeting- and making- the acquaint- ance of Hon. C. C. Cole, a native of the state of New York, "a forty niner" in California, a representative in cong-ress during- the war from that state, and later a United States senator. He was a schoolmate of Judg-e Edg-erton, and the judge often spoke of him to me, and he is the brother of General Geo. W. Cole, to whom this book is dedicated. On returning- from southern California this time we stopped over at San Francisco several days and were fortunate in leaving- there a short time before the arrival of the earthquake. c D Unlnluro