Reminiscences of Chicago during the civil war

THE UNIVERSITY

OF ILLINOIS

LIBRARY

Reminiscences of Chicago
During the Civil War

OF THE
UHIVER3I1Y W

W$t &afcm&e Classic*

T\ J

0

o

Ui

a:
3

H

U)

I
i-

UJ

I
h

u."

o:
O

u
i-

'nces

w *

<c

H

UJ

I

t-

,j

£ <

z

III U.

I 0

MOORE

Z

a

D
U.

in

UJ

H

U)

UJ

H

Q
Z

"D

in

>-

i

u

GOODS S

u.
z

H

iring the

f-

0

X

UJ

t-

D

rr

h-

z

LJ

m

0

L!

H

U-'

~

Q

O

0

u.

I

I

D

If

J

>

h

0

(-

1"

in

c:

UJ "

5
m

t,

0

Q
z

UJ
Q

o:

H

iu
15

L.
1

UJ ~

z

a

•*

in

5

UJ

Q
U

C

1i

K

^

Q-

Q;

H

h

o:

££

H

0)

I

>

0

H

in

UJ

O

ut

Q
X

a

UJ

UJ

0.

"

UJ

Z

<

z

I

J

-J

I

z

0.

K
2

o

*~

tn

3

Ul

t-

0

^

UJ

ix

O

I

0

IT

O

z

III

2

UI
UJ

1-
0

-1

cr

-1
J

Ui

z

1

Z

>

UJ

I

H

U)

<

o

H

ui

X

X

_]

U)

<r

ui

E

H
Z

*

O
Z

a:

0

u

19

z

_l

Z

PE AND W,

IOGRAPH BY L

THE CHICAGI
F THE PICTU

5
0

X

<n

0)

in

_J
0

a

IT

z

0

ORRESPOND

S HOTEL (F

NING A MUS

XCED WASHI

T OF RICE ft

K

5

u

I
1-

z

<

0
1-

z

_j

U

I-

z

<r

h

U.

Z
Ul

z

Ul

u>

I
O

H

in

a.

0

H
U.
UJ

I

z

0

Z
U

I

Ul

in

u.

0;

>

0

u

^J

I

i5

w

O

UI

0

Q

UJ

III

^

5

B

U

or i

z

D

I

7

S

UI

^

o

ui "-

h

1-

UJ

0

If!

h

o

1 5

0

u

•J)

UI

<

I

F

j

m

0

-r

UJ

in

E

1

8 I

Q

_!
UJ

X

h
I

H

UJ

tr
0

MOWN

ROSBY

PERA I

ND THI

i-

H
E

Z

\L

5

V.

10

U

0

<

in

a » -i

SS&'

i -•• I r

Classics

Reminiscences

of Chicago During the

Civil War

WITH AN INTRODUCTION

BY

MABEL McILVAINE

R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHRISTMAS, MCMXIV

preface

" ATAHIS year's volume of The Lakeside
Classics continues the printing of mate-
rial bearing upon Chicago's history. It
has not been the purpose to publish in serial
form a complete history of Chicago, but rather
to give to the reader brief, intimate glimpses
of life in Chicago during its various stages
of development, leaving the consecutive and
complete relation to the serious historian.
JVThis year the subject matter has been drawn
from the days immediately preceding, and
during the early part of the Civil War. To-day
the minds of all of us are filled with the terrible
cataclysm of the European War; the years of
plotting and counterplotting of diplomats, so
-t$ that none of us can say with authority what
v\ are its real causes, except that they are sordid;
and the cruel preparedness that resulted in a
great battle within a week of the declaration
of war. The following pages will bring to our
minds, by contrast, how clearly the Civil War
was the spontaneous uprising of a people to a
great moral issue, and why, through the abso-
S lute lack of a military spirit or preparedness it
-? . took four years to weld clerks and workingmen
""*„ and farmers and school boys into a victorious
army. Nor do many of us of the present gen-

989*"

preface

eration realize how large a party of outspoken
opposition the President had to fight through-
out the North. The fact that in spite of it
the war was carried through to a conclusion,
which all now admit was to the advancement
of human rights, ought to be a lesson (if
anyone will ever learn wisdom from others' ex-
perience) that free speech even in times of
national peril never crushes, but often advances
and makes more readily accepted the truth.

The publishers are under great obligation to
Mr. Ogden T. McClurg for allowing them to
print that portion of the unpublished memoirs
of his father, General Alexander C. McClurg,
of the Civil War, which bears upon the recruit-
ing of his company in Chicago.

The balance of the articles have all appeared
in print before, either in books, pamphlets, or
newspapers, but have been collected and sifted
out by the intelligent and diligent efforts of
the editor, Miss Mabel Mcllvaine.

It hardly seems necessary to mention once
more that, as in past years, the book is the
product of the boys in the School for Appren-
tices of The Lakeside Press, which is now in
its seventh year. The little volume goes forth
as a messenger of Christmas good wishes to
the friends and patrons of

THE PUBLISHERS.
CHRISTMAS, 1914.

Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION xi

CHICAGO IN THE CIVIL WAR . . .* . i

A Bird's-eye View of Chicago in the Civil
War, by Frederick Francis Cook; re-
printed from "Bygone Days in Chicago,"
by courtesy of A. C. McClurg & Co.

ELLSWORTH'S ZOUAVES 15

Paper read at a meeting of the Survivors
of the United States Zouave Cadets, by
Henry H. Miller, at the residence of
Colonel Edwin L. Brand, 1918 Michigan '
Avenue.

THE CHICAGO CONVENTION .... 41

Report of the Republican Convention, of
1860 by Dr. Humphrey H. Hood, in
The Free Press of Hillsboro, Illinois.
From the Transactions of the Illinois
Historical Society.

51

The Cairo Expedition, and the obtaining of
arms for the Illinois troops. Paper read
before the Chicago Historical Society,
by Augustus Harris Burley, at its annual
meeting, 1890.

WAR EXCITEMENT IN CHICAGO . . .68
Extract from "The Story of My Life," by
Mary A. Livermore.

Content?

THE WAR SPIRIT IN CHICAGO ... 71

Extract from The Chicago Tribune, Tues-
day, April 23, 1 86 1.

A UNIVERSITY VOLUNTEER .... 79

An Untold Chapter in Evanston's History,
as related by General John A. Page, who
at .the outbreak of the Civil War was a
student in Northwestern University.

AMERICAN VOLUNTEER SOLDIER ... 97
Extract from the unpublished memoir of
General Alexander C. McClurg.

SUPPRESSION or THE TIMES . . . .151

Reprinted from"Bygone Days in Chicago,"
by Frederick Francis Cook, by courtesy
of A. C. McClurg & Co.

HISTORY OF CAMP DOUGLAS . . . .161

Paper read before the Chicago Historical
Society by William Bross, June 18, 1878.

viii

Introduction

3!ntroDuction

If we were compiling a book on the Civil
War in Chicago, we should have to begin with
the Underground Railroad, the passage of John
Brown through the city under safe conduct of
Allen Pinkerton, and the like, with a full roll-
call of all the splendid array of troops that
went forth from the city. But since we are
not thinking so much about war as about the
life in Chicago during the war, we have taken
the liberty of speaking of things warlike and
un warlike.

"This war," said The London Times, of
November 3, 1863, "has brought the levity
of the American character out in bold relief.
There is something saddening, indeed revolting,
in the high glee, real or affected, with which
the people here look upon what ought to be,
at any rate, a grievous national calamity."
With unfeeling "levity" The Chicago Tribune
on October 8th of the same year had remarked
that: "On every street and avenue one sees
new buildings going up, immense stone, brick,
and iron business blocks, marble palaces, and
new residences everywhere; the grading of
streets, the building of sewers, and laying of
water and gas pipes are all in progress at the
same time. The unmistakable signs of active,

5Fntrotmction

thriving trade are everywhere manifest, not at
any particular point, but everywhere throughout
the city, where the enterprise of man can gain
a foothold. ' ' The population of Chicago went
up from 109,000 to 178,000 during the four
years of the war, and other signs of "levity"
were the popularity of grand opera, of such
actors as Booth, Forrest, Hackett, and Laura
Keene, not to say Tom Thumb and Wood's
Museum. In private life tableaux vivants
were much in vogue, together with photograph
albums, flower shows, croquet, ice-skating, New
Year's calls, and other frivolities.

Before engaging in battle, we are told, it is
customary to take an observation from some
elevated point, and this is afforded in the
"Bird's Eye View of Chicago," extracted
from Mr. Frederick Francis Cook's Bygone
Days in Chicago. Mr. Cook enjoyed the
triple advantage, during war time, of living
in Chicago, of being a newspaper reporter, and
of working first on The Journal, then on The
Times, and then on The Tribune. He gained
an all-round grasp of feeling and facts, and
when, some years since, he came back to
Chicago, and, with the help of the Chicago
Historical Society, reviewed the period, he was
able to make a book which the native Chica-
goan, even of a later generation, recognizes as
true to the "hard facts," and something more.

Chicago, as we have seen, was not at all a
militant city at the time the war began, and yet

introduction

she has the credit of contributing the most
highly drilled corps of men in the country, as
tested by actual competition — the Ellsworth
Zouaves — to the resources of the army.
Elmer E. Ellsworth, although of good family
connections in New York, was rather an
obscure young man until a few years before
the war, when, without any knowledge of what
was coming, he set to work to bring to a higher
state of perfection the manual and accoutre-
ments of a small militia company in Chicago.
To Major Henry H. Miller, of Steamboat
Springs, Colo., late of the 7/th Illinois,
Company A, we are indebted for what seems to
be the most complete account of the Ellsworth
Zouaves and their great "tour" of the country
available. The Chicago Historical Society pos-
sesses the blue and gold banner which they were
awarded on their return, the "Manual of Arms' '
which Ellsworth devised, and many pictures
and letters connected with him. Shortly before
the war Ellsworth had gone to study law in
Lincoln's office, accompanied him to Wash-
ington, drilled the New York Fire Zouaves,
and, at the outbreak of the war, was the first
officer to be killed, — literally for the flag. It
would seem that his life was thrown away,
that he really had no part in the war. But in
Chicago he had established a standard of
rectitude coupled with athletics which the
succeeding generations have felt to be unique,
and his men, dispersed throughout the army,

introduction

had an influence as drill-masters which was
incalculable.

"Our government rests in public opinion.
Whoever can change public opinion can change
the government practically so much. Public
opinion on any subject always has a 'central
idea' from which all its minor thoughts radiate.
That 'central idea' in our political opinion at
the beginning was, and until recently has con-
tinued to be, 'the equality of man.' Let
bygones be bygones; let party differences as
nothing be; and with a steady eye on the real
issue, let us reinaugurate the good old 'central
idea' of the republic. We can do it. The
human heart is with us; God is with us." No
need to tell the reader whose voice it is that
speaks in these words. Five years before the
war, at the Republican banquet in Chicago
following the presidential campaign, December
10, 1856, Abraham Lincoln thus expressed the
political creed from which he never departed.
Had his fellow countrymen all been able to
reach the same opinion at that time there had
been no Civil War. By the debates with
Douglas, Lincoln further sought to educate
public opinion, and by the time of his election
had succeeded at least in converting his bitterest
opponent, the "Little Giant" of Chicago, and
in gaining the franchise of the majority. The
classic account of the Chicago Republican
Convention of i860, by which Abraham Lincoln
was nominated to the presidency, is that of his

friend and law associate, Isaac N. Arnold of
Chicago, but for our purposes we have chosen
that of Dr. Humphrey H. Hood, a down-state
abolitionist, as Lincoln was, and through whose
honest countryman's eyes we see with
wondering delight all the glories of the
"Wigwam." Dr. Hood was afterward surgeon
in the n/th Illinois Volunteers, and in the 3rd
U. S. Heavy Artillery. His convention story
was published in The Hillsboro Free Press, now
known as The News Monitor, of Litchfield,
where Dr. Hood lived until his death in 1903.
Lincoln, although residing at Springfield, was
a frequent visitor in Chicago, and only a
month before his nomination came up as one
of the counsel in the "Sandbar Case," involv-
ing the ownership of accretions of land on the
Lake Front. Again, before starting for Wash-
ington as President-elect, he met by appoint-
ment in Chicago, the Vice-President-elect
Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, with whom he had
never before spoken, and, with his help,
selected the Cabinet for the momentous
administration.

The first move on the chessboard of the
war in the West was the expedition to Cairo,
the first armed force going from Chicago, and
firing the first shot. The purpose of the ex-
pedition was to gain control of the junction of
the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, which con-
verge at Cairo, and prevent the cutting off
of communication with the Northwest, as well

^Pntrotmction

as to avert an invasion from the Confederate
States. Mr. Augustus Harris Burley of Chi-
cago, author of The Cairo Expedition, which,
with the permission* of the Chicago Historical
Society, we are reprinting, was the head of
the war committee appointed to raise and
administer funds for the expedition. He was
afterwards a member of the Union Defence
Committee. Treasurer and a trustee of the
Historical Society almost from its organization
in 1856, his paper, read before the Society in
1890, is of the utmost authority. Gen. John
A. Page of Evanston, one of the "boys"
who went from the campus of Northwestern
University to the mud-banks of "Darkest
Egypt," and who ended by becoming an officer
in the 3rd U. S. Army Corps, recently con-
tributed to The Evanston Daily News an
account of his experiences, and we are giving
them here, with regret that we cannot also
include those of Dr. Allen W. Gray of
Chicago, who also went from Northwestern,
so precipitately as to forget to say good-bye to
his sweetheart. Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, in
her Story of My Life, has given a graphic
picture of the pulling out of the first train of
troops, and we all know what she did after-
ward in the work of the Sanitary Commission
of the Northwest.

Time and space would fail us to tell of all
the other brave bands, such as the Highland
Guards, the Mulligan Guards, the Lincoln

^ntrotmctitm

Rifles, the Sturges Rifles, Taylor's Battery,
the Hecker Regiment, etc.; but a glimpse, as
in a moving picture, is afforded by an account
in The Chicago Tribune of April 23, 1 86 1, of
Chicago during mobilization.

In one of the niches of the Chicago Histori-
cal Society's ," Hall of Fame" repose a blue
broadcloth coat, a sword, and a book, together
with the portrait of a slender, erect man, with
a glance like a flash of steel. The coat, white-
vested, and rather elegant in outline, is accom-
panied with the statement that it was worn by
Alexander C. McClurg when colonel of a
regiment at the battle of Chickamauga. On
the sword is the inscription: "Presented to
Capt. A. C. McClurg of Co. H., 88. Regt. 111.
Vol., by Friends in Chicago, Aug. 27, 1862,"
followed by a formidable list of battles, begin-
ning with Perry ville, Missionary Ridge, Chatta-
nooga, etc., and ending with the March to the
Sea, Savannah, and Bentonville. The book
is a copy of Palgrave's Golden Treasury of
Song, bound with all the magnificence of which
Cobden-Sanderson is capable, and accompanied
with a statement of Gen. McClurg's own,
that " For three years this little book was con-
stantantly 'at the front.'" These objects tell
the tale of the poetry-loving lad, snatched
away from a Chicago bookstore as captain of
a regiment, and later rising through the ranks
of the army to that of brigadier-general, to
emerge, not a military man, but a book lover,

SPntrotmction

as before — with an added alertness — to be-
come head of one of the largest book stores
and publishing houses in the country. For
the benefit of his family he faithfully kept a
diary throughout the war, and subsequently
prepared a manuscript memoir, from which we
have published that portion which deals with
his enlistment and the organization of his
company. A member of the original company
when it stood guard over the remains of
Douglas, — Commander Horatio L. Wait — in
his Diary concerning his experiences in the
U. S. Navy, has a list showing that a large
proportion of this company became officers in
other corps, and several, General McClurg and
himself among them, President of the Chicago
Literary Club.

Finally, following the article on The Sup-
pression of the Times, already alluded to, we
have the History of Camp Douglas, first read
before the Chicago Historical Society on June
1 8, 1878, by our old friend, "Deacon Bross,"
ex-Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, patriot,
public-minded citizen, but unmitigated hater
of "Copperheads." If it were consistent
with truth, we should like to omit the history
of any prison from our annals. But since
Camp Douglas was an important recruiting
station, as well as probably the largest of the
Northern prison camps, and since it was an
integral part of Chicago life in the sixties, we
include it, with apologies to the gentler sensi-

^Fntrotwction

bilities of the present generation, which may
be shocked at the expressions of the good
deacon, such as "venomous copperheads,"
"malignant reptiles," etc. — all a part of the
free speech of his time, though not indulged
in by all Northerners. If by such means as
this we of this generation may gain a glimpse
of what we have escaped, we shall have learned
something from this little volume. But at this
Christmas season and in the present state of
the world's history making, it were well if we
might also learn the larger lesson that Lincoln
tried to teach of "Malice toward none, with
charity for all."

MABEL MC!LVAINE.

x»x

Reminiscences of Chicago
' During the Civil War

Chicago in ti&e Ctoil

[A Bird's-eye View of Chicago in the Civil War,
by Frederick Francis Cook; reprinted from his
"Bygone Days in Chicago," by courtesy of
A. C. McClurg & Co.]

IN 1862, the year of my arrival, Chicago
had an estimated population of 120,000,
distributed among its three divisions, both
as to character and numbers, in about the same
proportion as are to-day its approximately
2,500,000 inhabitants. The south division
remains what it was then, the business center;
but where now are several distinct foci in the
general maelstrom, each comparable to the
original nucleus, and sufficiently specialized to
admit of geographical demarcation, the Court
House in those days brooked no rivals. With
its aspiring cupola, it so dominated the town
that none could help looking up to it as some-
thing superior and apart — being, in fact, the
only really tall object in sight, except when
"Long John" happened to be taking an airing.
If you wanted a hack you went to the Court
House Square for it; and it was nearly the
same if you were looking for a policeman, for
several could generally be found hanging about
there to prevent rival hackmen from murdering
each other, or a combination of the pestiferous
i

$emini£cente£ of Chicago

crew from doing a stranger to death, both
\ being not infrequent happenings. Anywhere
else a policeman was seldom seen — outside of
saloons. But, frankly, what better could one
expect of men content to wear leather shields
as insignia of authority? In those days the
force was under a marshal, and that function-
ary was a mere satrap of the Mayor. Accord-
ingly, in 1857, when "Long John" came to
the head of affairs, being determined that the
"copper" should not get above his business,
he put the adage, "there is nothing like
leather," to a practical test. Most people
are aware that both "bobby" and "peeler,"
as slang for "policeman," date from Sir Robert
Peel's ministry. But it is not so generally
known that "copper," as another apithet of
derision, is claimed to date from the mayor-
alty of John C. Haines, once somewhat widely
known as "Copper-stock" Haines (because of
some transaction in that metal), and hence its
variants ' 'cop, ' ' ' 'fly-cop, ' 'and ' 'sparrow-cop. ' '
In a way, also, the Court House was every-
body's monitor and guide. It told you when
to rise, when to eat your dinner, when to
knock off work, when to jubilate, when to
mourn, and, above all, it helped you to locate
fires; for the clang of its great bell could be
heard in almost every part of the town. Aye,
how it rang paeans of victory for Donelson, for
Vicksburg, and Gettysburg, and finally for
Richmond, when that stronghold fell! And

Chicago in tljc €Ml War

how its slow, solemn monotone voiced the
anguish of all hearts, when the body of the
slain Lincoln was borne through the shrouded
streets of the mourning city, to rest for a day
and a night beneath the dome of the city's
capitol, that a stricken people might once more
look upon the transfigured face of their be-
loved dead! And, finally, how it clanged, and
clanged, and clanged again, on that fearful
night of fire, each stroke heightening the terror
that possessed the fleeing multitude, while the
"fiend" that lashed the elements to such
boundless fury, compelled it to sound its own
death knell.

In 1862, the Court House Square was sur-
rounded by an oddly assorted architectural
hodgepodge, strikingly typical of the various
stages of the city's development, from the primi-
tive "frame" of the thirties, to the new, six-
storied marble Sherman House, at this time the
finest building in the city, as well as one of the
best appointed hotels in the country. Because
of the panic of 1857, and the subsequent war,
the Chicago of this period represents a status
quo of nearly a full decade. Thereafter, from
1865, down to the time of the fire, the city
was in an exceptional state of flux, and so
much of the dilapidation of former days dis-
appeared, that it was in quite a large way a
comparatively new downtown Chicago that
was destroyed on October 9, 1871.

Where Washington Street bounds the Court
3

itcmmiscencciJ of Chicago

House Square (then enclosed by a high iron
fence), there remained down to 1864 nearly a
a block of original prairie, a dozen feet below
the plank sidewalk; and when, in 1863, the
plot was tenanted by a winter circus, its patrons
descended to their seats as into a cellar.
When, in the middle sixties, the building boom
set in, Smith & Nixon erected on the site
now occupied by the Chicago Opera House,
a fine Music Hall, which was opened, if I am
not mistaken, with a concert by Gottschalk.
Among other events I recall as taking place
therein was a state billiard tournament, wherein
Tom Foley, the veritable stand-by of to-day,
won the State championship, — a circumstance
which throws a calcium light on the status of
the game at that period; a concert by "Blind
Tom"; and a lecture by William Lloyd Garri-
son, on "Reconstruction."

In marked contrast to the vacant plot, and
neighboring it on the corner of La Salle Street,
stood one of the tallest steepled churches in
the city, the First Baptist. This, in 1864,
was taken down bit by bit and reconstructed
on its present site, Morgan and Monroe streets,
there becoming the Second Baptist. In its
place rose Chicago's first fine Chamber of
Commerce, to be followed after the fire by a
second trade-temple of similar dimensions, only
the outer walls of which now remain, as the
substructure to a skyscraper.

The southwest corner, across La Salle

Chicago in tfje Citoil

Street from the Baptist Church, calls for special
mention. It was at this time occupied by a
brick building of two stories and basement,
among the first dwellings of that material
erected in Chicago. It was originally the home
of P. F. W. Peck, and before it was demol-
ished, about 1867, after a somewhat checkered
existence, it had been some years the head-
quarters of the police department, with a
calaboose in the basement.

The old landmark was succeeded by one of
the finest buildings in the city, with the Union
National Bank for its chief tenant. After the
fire the bank was temporarily domiciled at the
northwest corner of Market and Madison
streets, which one-sided locality — with Field,
Leiter & Co.'s establishment, both wholesale
and retail, on the northeast corner, and the
Board of Trade opposite — became for a time
the business focus of the city. Within a year
or so, the old Peck residence site was rehabili-
tated with an even more substantial building
than the one destroyed; and so this intersection,
when the Chamber of Commerce had been
rebuilt, became once again the city's chief
business center. In addition to the Union
National Bank, then the leading financial insti-
tution in the West, the new building accommo-
dated the Western Union Telegraph Company,
the Associated Press, the Western Army Head-
quarters (in charge of General Philip Sheridan),
another bank, and many important interests

5

of

besides. Nevertheless, though of goodly size,
this structure was in 1893 ruthlessly razed to
give place to the present Stock Exchange
building. Thus, in its various stages, this
corner has been pre-eminently typical of the
city's vicissitudes and progress; while the fre-
quent changes in its physical aspect emphasize
the difficulties of the chronicler in undertaking
to reproduce with certitude any particular
epoch in the city's physical history.

Besides the Sherman House and the Baptist
Church, almost the only other salient feature
on the four fronts facing the Square was the
Larmon Block of four stories, on the northeast
corner of Washington and Clark streets, hav-
ing for its tenant on the upper floor Bryant
& Stratton's Business College, a fact that
was announced to the wayfarer by a sign so
conspicuous as almost to belittle the Court
House dome as an object of attention. The
ground floor was occupied by J. T. & E. M.
Edwards, jewelers; Julius Bauer, pianos;
J. M. Loomis, hatter; Root & Cady's music
store, and Buck & Raynor's drug store. Others
on Clark Street facing the Square, and run-
ning north in the order noted, were: Ambrose
& Jackson (colored), caterers; Bryan Hall
entrance; George Tolle, surgical instruments;
E. J. Hopson, millinery; "Anderson's" (a
restaurant presided over by John Wright, who
a few years later opened in Crosby's Opera
House the first really "swell" resort in the
6

Chicago in rlic Citoil

city); "Campbell's," hair jewelry; J. Gray,
wigs; E. A. Jessell, auctioneer (a "Peter
Funk," if ever there was one); while on the
corner of Randolph there lingered a senile
frame construction, in color a dirty yellow, on
the second floor of which Carter H. Harrison,
Sr., along with other luminaries, devoted him-
self to the acquisition and exudation of lore
more or less legal.

On Randolph Street, corner of La Salle,
stood a four-story brick, and all the rest of the
block between that and the Sherman House
presented a depressed line of two-story tumble-
down frames, dating from the thirties, the
street floors devoted to free-lunch resorts,
while the second stories were polluted by so-
called "justice" offices, and their "shyster"
hangers-on.

In general it may be said that only the Clark
Street frontage of the four sides of the Square
was in touch with business — all the rest being
as much out of it as the unsettled prairie.
The La Salle Street side was made up largely
of forsaken residences; and it was not until
several years later, when the Chamber of Com-
merce was established at Washington and
La Salle, that the region thereabout came into
demand for business purposes — though when
it did, it jumped at one bound into the front
rank.

The Metropolitan Block, on the northwest
corner of La Salle and Randolph streets, was
7

of Chicago

a somewhat notable landmark. Metropolitan
Hall on its third or upper floor, was prior to
the building of Bryan Hall (about 1860) for
many years the most capacious place of
assembly in the city, and many notabilities,
not only of national but international fame, had
attracted crowds within its walls. Often it
was decked and garlanded for fairs and balls;
and it was here (not so very long before the big
fire in which he lost his life) that John McDevitt,
he of the velvet touch, played the famous
game of billiards, 1,500 points up against
Joseph Dion, which he finished while his
opponent had hardly a button to his credit,
with a run of 1,457 — a f£at tnat forced the
"sharps" to put their heads together, led to
the barring of the push shot and other helps
to big records, and so put the game for cham-
pionship honors on an entirely new basis.
And in the basement of the block there was
then, and had been for many years, as there is
still, a "Quincy No. 9," a relic of the days
when the boys "ran wid de masheen, " and
which, during its more than half a century of
existence, had scored an unexampled record
of continuous performance.

Let us now ascend the dome of the Court
House. The climb is not so wearisome in
fancy as in the olden days it was in fact, when
it was a favorite youthful diversion. Near
the top we shall find a circular balcony, specially
designed for sight-seeing, and let that be our
8

Chicago in tlje €Ml Wat

place of observation. In an atmosphere as yet
undefiled by the soot of ten thousand factories,
a pleasing panorama unfolds itself. Naturally
you are amazed to note how clearly the
sand hills of Michigan, beyond the shimmer-
ing waters of the lake, thirty miles away, glint
in the sunlight. Truly it would take a miracle
to catch a glimpse of them now, even from
the top of the Auditorium Tower, except per-
chance for a moment after some phenomenally
clearing storm from the east.

As you gaze about, you may realize why
Chicago was once generally known as the
"Garden City." First note those broad
stretches of lovely green, due to tree-lined
Wabash and Michigan avenues, — and observe
how richly the neighborhood of Cottage Grove
Avenue is wooded, and the area of verdure
widens as you follow it southward to Hyde
Park. The building in the midst of a forest
of uncommonly large oaks, at about Thirty-
fifth Street (then outside of the city limits), is
the old Chicago university, founded by Stephen
A. Douglas, who at the time of his death (1861)
owned much of the land in its vicinage.

Although the foreground, westward, is fairly
inviting (for not only are most of the streets tree-
bordered, but here and there large, unoccupied
spaces refresh the eye with their rich green),
it is really not until you turn fully to the north,
and a bit to the east, that a climax of verdure
is revealed. What we now behold is a magnif-
9

&emini£tence£ of Chicago

icent natural forest in the midst of a city, —
or is it not better to say that the city here plays
hide and seek in the forest? Either way, it is
a dream. The noble, lake-bordered expanse
is divided into lordly domains, embellished with
lovely gardens. From this height the north
division, east of Clark Street, and to the farthest
limits, presents an unbroken stretch of wood-
land, as if the Lincoln Park of to-day (then in
part a cemetery, and for the rest primeval
forest) came down to North Water Street.
Not only is every street shaded, but entire
wooded squares contain each only a single
habitation, usually near its center, thus ena-
bling their fortunate owners to live in park-like
surroundings.

These spacious domains exhibit a native
growth remarkable for its variety. The Hon.
Isaac N. Arnold is at this period the proud
owner of one of these preserves, acquired in
the thirties when this region was first platted,
and when entire squares, at opportune times,
were bought for less than the present value of
a single lot, with fifty or more to the square.
Mr. Arnold's plot retained much of its original
aspect up to the fire, and he could point out
among other varieties of timber (as he loved
to do) fine specimens of oak, ash, maple, cherry,
elm, birch, hickory and cotton wood. And to
think that in a single night all this wealth of
nature disappeared as if it had never been.

Others who occupied entire squares in prox-

10

Chicago in rue €Ml Wat

imity to Mr. Arnold, with say Rush and
Ontario streets as an approximate center, were
such well-known old-timers as ex-Mayor Wil-
liam B. Ogden, Walter L. Newberry, Mark
Skinner, H. H. Magie, and a little farther north,
E. B. McCagg and Mahlon D. Ogden; while the
detached mansion of many another stood in
grounds of approximate dimensions.

Once again let us sweep the horizon and
make a note of salient features. South of
Twenty-second Street (then known as Ring-
gold Place) scattered buildings mark the course
of Cottage Grove Avenue. Between Thirty-
second and Thirty-fifth streets, and running
about an equal distance westward from the
avenue, is a high-boarded enclosure, filled with
temporary barracks. In the early days of the
war this served as a recruiting camp, but now
it holds in durance ten thousand or more
' 'Johnny Rebs, ' ' corralled at Forts Henry and
Donelson, and Island No. 10.

Half a mile or more west of the camp is a
clearing, for the most part owned by "Long
John." In a few years a part will become the
Chicago Driving Park, with an incidental base-
ball field. And later still a larger part will be
occupied by the Union Stock Yards, with the
Dexter Trotting Park just south of them.
When this happens, in the later sixties, much
of the territory between the Stock Yards and
Twenty-second Street is still unoccupied prairie,
but shortly the great "Long John tract" is
ii

of Chicago

opened to settlement, and Wentworth Avenue
is extended through to the west of it.

From its beginning for nearly a mile, the
Archer Road is thinly settled. Then come
clusters of large, low constructions. These
are either slaughter or packing houses, with a
glue factory and some rendering establishments
thrown in to heighten the malodorous effect.
You are now gazing on Bridgeport, a settle-
ment beyond the corporate limits. It is a place
with a reputation. Both morally and physi-
cally it is a cesspool, a stench in everybody's
nostrils, especially when there is a breeze from
the southwest.

Except for a fringe of structures along the
South Branch, the entire section that lies
between Archer and Blue Island avenues is
largely unsettled marshland, in part known to
old settlers as "Hardscrabble." The present
great lumber district, with its teeming fac-
tories, is little better than a bog. At this
time the lumber yards are strung along the
South Branch, north of Eighteenth Street, with
a bunch at the mouth of the river, while grain
elevators (though by no means the leviathans
of to-day) break the skyline at different points
along both the South and North Branches.
Our sweep has taken in the source of Chicago's
early greatness — the "Big Three"; for already
it is able to announce to an amazed world that
it is the foremost grain mart, lumber market,
and packing center of the world. And the

12

in the Citoil War

pride, that thereat swelled the collective Chicago
bosom, crops out occasionally in individual exhi-
bitions of "chestiness" even to-day.

West of Aberdeen, and south of Adams
Street, land is still in the market by the acre.
Peter Schuttler has just domiciled himself on
the outskirts in what is the most pretentious
residence in the city — and, following the ex-
ample of the North Side gentry, has placed
his mansion in the centre of extensive grounds.
The region between Adams and Lake streets,
to Union Park, is fairly built up; but beyond
that point (best known as Bull's Head) the
habitations are few and far between; yet the
horse cars are pushing to Western Avenue, in
the hope that population will follow, for at
this period their revenue is largely derived
from Sunday pleasure-seekers, bound for vari-
ous outlying groves. The northwestern part
of the town is still practically unsettled, and
from about Centre Avenue and Lake Street
one can cut across to Milwaukee Avenue
(better known as the Milwaukee or North-
western Plank Road) without other obstruction
than the old Galena Railroad track. On the
North Branch are some tanneries, and a tall
chimney marks the site of Ward's Rolling
Mill, later to become the nucleus of the huge
collection to be known as the North Chicago
Rolling Mills. O. W. Potter is at this time
Captain Ward's superintendent. In the north
division the building line halts at North Avenue.
13

llnmmsrnircs of Chicago

The site of Lincoln Park is to remain for some
time a most forbidding locality, for ghosts
walk there. Beyond lies thickly wooded Lake
View. And it is an off summer's day when
some German society does not hold a picnic
there.

Before closing with the general view, let us
note the fact that expansion from the main
nucleus proceeds in narrow lines (somewhat
like the spokes of a wheel), showing large
acres of unsettled prairie between. These
settled lines mark the whereabouts of plank
roads, known as Archer, Blue Island, South
Western (now Ogden Avenue), Northwestern
(now Milwaukee Avenue), Clybourne, etc.
Fortunately these exits from the early settle-
ment were retained in this subsequent platting,
and now constitute most convenient avenues
to facilitate rapid transit. The first settlers in
the outlying lowlands were wise in sticking
close to what then most resembled solid ground,
for away from planked roads danger lurked in
every rood of ground, and during rainy seasons
wading was a frequent alternative for walking.

[Paper read at a meeting of the Survivors of the
United States Zouave Cadets by Henry H. Miller,
at the residence of Colonel Edwin L. Brand,
1918 Michigan Avenue.]

Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth
was born April n, 1837, at Malta,
Saratoga County, New York. He was
the eldest son of Captain Ephraim D. Ellsworth,
who in 1860 was living at Mechanicsville,
Saratoga County, New York. To distinguish
himself from his father he wrote his name
Elmer E. Ellsworth. He received a good
common school education, and at 1 8, in 1855,
he came to Chicago. He was employed as a
clerk in the office of Devereaux of Salem,
Massachusetts, a solicitor of patents. Mr.
Devereaux gave up his business shortly after-
wards, and young Ellsworth commenced reading
law, in the meantime earning a scanty support
by what copying he could find to do in lawyers'
offices.

He was a young man of fine appearance, of
medium height, slim, but strong and compactly
built, with black, curling hair, which he always
wore rather long, and keen hazel eyes. He
always had quite a martial turn, and among
his early boyhood dreams was a West Point

15

ilcminitfrcnrcs of Chicago

education and an army career. As he could
not obtain a cadetship at West Point, his
thoughts naturally turned to the militia, as it
was then found in all cities of any size. He
did not connect himself with any company, but
turned his attention to physical culture in the
gymnasium.

At this time he was exceedingly poor, and
his struggle to maintain a respectable appear-
ance and not go too hungry was severe, but he
always considered that the privileges of a well-
appointed gymnasium were more desirable than
the luxury of a hotel or a fashionable boarding-
house table. The fact that he could not afford
the expense of a membership with any of the
militia companies, perhaps, caused him to be
critical of these organizations, as they then
existed, and some memoranda of his plans for
better and more effective militia organization
are still preserved by an old friend in Chicago.
They show that he had given the subject much
careful thought, and was dreaming of the time
when he might have enough influence to have
these plans carried out for the good of the
entire country.

The Crimean War in Europe was but just
over, and the tales of the efficiency and valor
of the French Zouaves caused him to make
comparisons with the heavy infantry of the
British, which was accoutred in the traditional
close-fitting clothes, high stocks, cumbersome
belts, and heavy equipments. He saw the pic-
16

tures in the illustrated papers of the Zouaves — •
loosely clad, with unconfined limbs, and in
every respect in "light marching order" — scal-
ing walls, swarming over parapets, nimble,
active, irresistible. How much better and
effective than the old style. The Zouaves were
small, but their rapid movements made them
more than a match for greater numbers of tall,
stately grenadiers of the old school.

At about this time he became acquainted
with a Frenchman — Dr. Chas. A. DeVillers —
from Algiers, who had seen service in the
Crimea with the "Chasseurs D'Afrique," and
with him no doubt discussed the advantages of
this light infantry. Dr. Villers was an expert
swordsman, and Ellsworth was one of his
best pupils.

With a musket and a copy of Scott's and
Hardee's "Tactics" in his room he studied out
improvements in the "Manual of Arms" as
given in these authorities. He was always
trying to shorten and quicken all movements,
sometimes using Scott and sometimes Hardee,
sometimes a combination of both, but always
striving to get something more rapid and better
than either. He practiced until he was pro-
ficient. The same course of revision and
change was made in bayonet and skirmish
drills as taught by old authorities. And now
all that was lacking was a company on which
to try these improvements.

For several years there had existed in the city
17

£emini£ccnce0 of Chicago

a military company of the old school — con-
tinental or at least semi-continental uniforms —
broad crossbelts, bearskin hats, ponderous, slow
and heavy — a company of drum majors with
muskets. They drilled according to Scott,
and shouldered arms with hand under the butt
plate. They had learned all there was in the
"Tactics," and having nothing new to learn
the interest of their members died out. Their
debts increased, and they went into bankruptcy
in April, 1859.

Ellsworth's great opportunity was at hand.
With the assistance of some of the old mem-
bers who had seen him fence with Villers and
"sling a musket" in his new "lightning drill,"
a new company was organized on the ruins of
the old "National Guard Cadets" and called the
United States Zouave Cadets, with Ellsworth
commandant. Their armory was changed to the
Garrett Block, where Central Music Hall now
stands. Interest and members increased from
the start, and July 4, 1859, tne Zouaves gave
their first exhibition drill in front of the Tremont
House. Their new and startling uniforms,
rapid movements, and brilliant and showy
manual of arms and bayonet drill, captured
the spectators, and their popularity as a com-
pany was assured.

At the National Agricultural Fair held in

Chicago September 14, 15 and 16, 1859, the

company drilled for a stand of colors and the

championship of militia. This drill was on

18

September 15, 1859. They carried off the
colors, but as only one company came in com-
petition with them there was some complaint
from militia companies in other cities at the
award of the championship under the circum-
stances. This complaint and the Zouaves'
method of meeting it furnished the cause of
all tneir future efforts, which led to the national
fame of Ellsworth and his Zouaves.

Following is the gauntlet that was thrown
down: —

"Chicago, Sept. 2O, 1859. The National
Agricultural Society at their seventh annual
fair awarded to the United States Zouave
Cadets of Chicago a stand of champion colors,
which any company of militia or of the regular
army of the United States or Canada are wel-
come to if they can win them in fair contest.
For terms of drill, etc., apply to

E. E. ELLSWORTH,
Col. Comdg. U. S. Zouave Cadets."

The company was much criticised by the
press of the entire country for its audacity and
presumption in issuing such a challenge to
older and presumably better drilled companies.
Regular <-rmy officers and officers of companies
in old Eastern cities — and especially of New
York — were particularly sneering in their wide-
ly published remarks, and as for Southern
cities, it was to them almost a declaration of
war, and was answered in their usual fire-
eating style.

19

fteminigccnceg of Chicago

The Zouaves met at their armory, and re-
solved not only to stand by their challenge, but to
make it still stronger, and a supplementary one
was issued, which was in substance as follows: —

They would bind themselves to pay the entire
expenses, including railroad fares to and from
the contest, of any company in the United
States or Canada that would come to Chicago
and win the colors at any time most convenient
between then and June 2O, 1860, 'at which
time they proposed to start on a tour to all the
principal cities of the country, where they
would meet and drill with any company that,
for any reason, could not come to Chicago in
acceptance of the former terms and challenge.

"Further, if the colors are retained by us we
shall claim for the City of Chicago and the
State of Illinois the honor of military champion-
ship of the United States and Canada."

It was now agreed by all the company that
no efforts in the way of hard and continuous
drill, and strictest and most exacting discipline,
should be spared to carry out their resolve to
defend their colors and save them from cap-
ture. The rules which each member was
required to subscribe to and keep on pain of
instant expulsion from the company show this
and are here given. They are as much a "new
departure" in rules for military companies as
were their uniforms and style of drill. They
were drawn up by Ellsworth, and adopted by
the company as follows: —
20

"Whereas, we are desirous of uniting
together as an organization, which will give us
an opportunity of gaining that exercise and
relaxation necessary to all, and at the same
time be a source of improvement, not only
physically, but morally free from all the objec-
tions usually urged against military companies;
and,

' ' Whereas, we are convinced that organiza-
tions of this kind, as at present constituted,
cannot be made to answer these ends,

"Resolved, that from the date of these
resolutions the following shall be, and are
declared, offenses against our organization,
punishable by expulsion, publication in the
Chicago papers of the offender's name and
forfeiture of his uniform and equipments to
the company: —

" I . Entering a drinking saloon at any hour,
day or night, except when compelled by im-
perative business which cannot be transacted
by proxy, in which case a statement of the
facts must be made to the company immedi-
ately after its occurrence.

"2. Entering a house of ill-fame under any
circumstances or pretext whatever.

"3. Entering a gambling saloon, or gam-
bling for any sum of money or article, under
any circumstances or pretext.

"4. Playing billiards in any public hall or
saloon. This is interdicted, not because of
any objection to the game as an elegant

21

of Chicago

amusement to those who can afford it, but
because for a young man it is a step towards
the other offenses named, and the excitement
and associations of the billiard saloon naturally
lead to drinking.

"Resolved, that as it is the first duty of
every cadet to avoid any temptation to break
the rules, so it is his second, when any infrac-
tion of them comes to his knowledge, to report
the same to the company in the manner de-
scribed in Sec. 12, company regulations, and
that they may take such action as will guard
against repetition of the offense. Therefore,
when it is proved that any cadet has been
cognizant of any infraction of these rules and
has not communicated the same to the com-
pany, he shall receive the same penalty as the
delinquent.

"Resolved, that as the want of occupation
and amusement is the chief cause of dissipation,
we will at once complete our reading and chess
rooms, and add by every means in our power
to the attractions of our armory.

"Resolved, that hereafter, in the event of
sickness of one of our members, we will, if
circumstances require it, take care of him and
afford him all the assistance in our power.

' ' Resolved, that each member provide him-
self, as soon as possible, with a badge, consisting
of a gold star shield, with a tiger's head in the
center and name of corps engraved on the
star, which will be worn conspicuously on the
22

breast or watch chain, so that the public may
know them as cadets and judge for themselves
of the manner in which the foregoing resolu-
tions are observed.

"Resolved, that in case of any of our mem-
bers losing his situation, each member of the
corps shall be bound to make all reasonable
effort to procure him employment, and if his
necessities require it he shall, as long as he
remains in good standing and out of employ-
ment, receive from the company an allowance
weekly, sufficient for his subsistence.

"In adopting these rules we are aware of
the responsibility we assume and that we run
the risk of diminishing to some extent the
strength of our company, but we are convinced
that any of our members who has not the
moral courage and self respect to live up to
these principles, has not stamina sufficient to
be a credit to our corps, and while we will use
all reasonable efforts to induce all the men
to remain with us and others to join in the
hope of extending the benefits of these princi-
ples, yet rather than depart in the slightest
degree from these rules we will part from
them, although it reduces our company to a
dozen men."

February 2, 1860, the final preparations to
get the company in perfect readiness for their
tour among the large cities of the country com-
menced. The following is on the records of
the company: —

23

ftemmigcenceg of Chicago

"Colonel Ellsworth addressed the company
at length on the subject of program for the
ensuing six months. He said in substance:
Having decided to make the tour they must
give up everything, except business and the
company. All visits to the theaters, calls
on friends, parties, etc., must be sacrificed.
Every evening, Sundays excepted, must be
devoted to drill from seven to eleven, from
now until the 20th of June, besides several
days must be spent in field practice and skir-
mish drill. A vote sustained Colonel Ells-
worth's views."

Requirements of the drill were exceedingly
strict, and short work was made of those who
failed to comply with all the rules. From the
time of organization until the start on the tour
over two hundred musters were on the rolls of
the company and only forty-seven of them
"carrying a knapsack" remained faithful to
the end and stood an ordeal of drill and
discipline that it is safe to say has never been
paralleled by any similar organization. Those
whose courage failed withdrew; others were
expelled. There is a record of the expulsion
at one time of twelve of some of the best drilled
men in the company for drinking.

Drill commenced at 7:15. At 8:45 coffee
and sandwiches were served. Drill continued
from 9 to 10:30. If any member urged any
excuse, such as indisposition or fatigue, the
Colonel would order him to take a seat on the
24

bench and "watch the other boys do it." The
men on the bench were called "the sore toes"
by their comrades and in a short time the
bench was little used.

The drill was never without knapsacks.
The weight of a properly packed knapsack
was ascertained and that weight had to be car-
ried. For uniformity all had hair cut alike.
A mustache and goatee was only allowed to
be worn, and some half a dozen who could not
comply with this requirement were placed as
"rear rank men" and subjected to many jokes
from the "bearded pards." Part of the drill
was with gymnasium appliances — horizontal
bars, ladders, etc. Preparatory to this arms
would be stacked and then at "double quick"
each man would jump on the bars and climb
over the ladders, using the hands only. It
seemed like a treadmill, but it developed
athletes. In a month of such work all the
weaker ones dropped out and only the "stayers"
remained. It was the "survival of the fittest."
On account of the death of Colonel Ellsworth's
brother — a member of the company — the
starting date was put off from June 2Oth until
July 2d. During the entire month of June the
men slept in the armory — "tattoo," 10:45;
"taps," 11; and "reveille," at 6 a.m., the
men to be in line for roll call before the last
note sounded. They were then dismissed in
time for their breakfast and their daily business
in their stores and offices. Colonel Ellsworth
25

Hcmimsrcnrcs of Chicago

had a most pleasant and persuasive way of
talking to his men and all his suggestions were
listened to and obeyed, but he appeared to be
a perfect tyrant "on duty."

The start was made July 2d, with knapsacks
weighing twenty-three pounds, which were
worn on drill during the entire trip.

The- Colonel in his concluding address to
the company, said: "By the Eternal, the first
man who violates his pledge shall be stripped
of his uniform and sent back to Chicago in
disgrace, so help me God."

From Detroit a man was sent back. A
cheap suit of citizen's clothing was bought for
him and a railroad ticket provided. He was
the only one, but there is an amusing incident
related of an exhibition drill in the fair grounds
at Syracuse. Ellsworth was drilling in the
skirmish drill, and owing to the distance at
which he stood two of the men failed to hear
his usually clear and distinct voice in one of
the orders given. As a result a blunder was
made in the, until then, absolutely perfect drill.
The Colonel was disappointed and angry, and
his reprimand, given the two delinquents in
the presence of the company and vast audience,
contained some words to the effect that the men
should be "stripped and sent home." After
the drill was over, and at the armory, where
the Colonel was in a crowd of enthusiastic
admirers receiving compliments as to his finely
drilled company, these two reprimanded men
26

appeared before him with no clothes save their
underwear. They "took the position of a
soldier" and gravely saluted.

The Colonel looked at them with surprise
and said: —

"What does this mean? "

' ' We report for clothes and transportation. ' '

"Clothes and transportation? "

"Yes, sir."

"O yes, now I remember. Well, boys, put
on your uniforms. You need not go back to
Chicago to-day."

One of these two men was Lieutenant George
H. Fergus of Chicago. He was with Ellsworth
in the Fire Zouaves and with him at his death
in Alexandria. Lieutenant Fergus laughs
heartily over the incident now, though it was
serious enough then.

The march east was one continued series of
triumphs. The country was electrified by their
wonderful drill. The press accounts of the
day were most enthusiastic, and the militia —
well, the militia companies of the cities
through which they passed would not drill with
them, but most cordially acknowledged their
superiority and were loud in their praises.
Such "alignments," "correct distances,"
"wheels," "perfect time," "musket slinging,"
"bayonet practice," "ground and lofty tumb-
ling," were "most wonderful."

And this from men and companies who had
a short time before laughed at the presumption
27

of Chicago

of a. lot of green boys " in wanting to drill in
competition with companies that had ' revolu-
tionary ancestry ' as organizations." It was,
indeed, complimentary. Their march was con-
tinued in triumph, and only one old company
ever faced them in uniform for drill, and that
company, a picked one of the Seventh New
York, under command of Captain, afterward
General, Alexander Shaler, was their escort
to West Point. This drill was, by "special
request," only an exhibition, and not in any
sense competitive, as they acknowledged the
superiority of the Zouaves and voluntarily
yielded them the palm.

New York City was reached by boat and
the landing was thronged with eager crowds
to see the now famous Zouaves. They were
received by a detachment of the Sixth New
York, Colonel Pinkey commanding, at Cortlandt
Street dock. The arrival of their boat, the
Isaac Newton, was hailed by a salute of nine
guns fired by a detachment of Company F,
Fourth New York. The march to the Astor
House, where they breakfasted, was greeted
by deafening cheers and the cordiality of their
reception was assured.

Breakfast over the line of march was up
Broadway to Union Square, down Fourth
Avenue to the bowery and Grand Street,
thence to the Sixth Regiment Armory, corner
of Center Street where they were received
with loud cheers of "Welcome Zouaves," by
28

<gfl$toortfi'£

the thousands collected about the Armory.
The New York Eighth, drawn up at the entrance
of the Armory, to receive the Chicago "Red
Breeches," gave them "nine and a tig-a-r"
as they marched into the Armory. When guns
were stacked Colonel Ellsworth ordered the
men to acknowledge the welcome of the Sixth
and Eighth regiments with their- own cheer:
' ' One-two-three-four-five-six-seven — tig-a-r —
Zouave" repeated three times with as much
precision as appeared in their movements when
the order "Load in nine times" was given.
The men were then dismissed, but requested
by the Colonel to "keep limbered up" for the
great competition drill in front of the City Hall
in the afternoon, when they supposed they
would meet a company of the finest picked
"experts" of all the old veteran militia reg-
iments of New York City.

They were disappointed . They drilled at the
appointed time to a large audience, but with-
out any competitors. This drill is described in
"Frank Leslie's" of June 28, 1860, as follows,
and their artist was "on the spot," as almost
the entire pictorial space of the paper testifies:—

It having been announced that the Chicago Zouaves
would drill in the Park at half-past two o'clock, over
ten thousand people assembled in front of the City
Hall long before that time. The drums were heard
in the distance and shortly the front of the Sixth Reg-
iment escort under Captain D. Schwartz was seen
wheeling into the Park at the west entrance. In the
meantime Major-General Sanford and Major Wood,
29

of Chicago

arm in arm, followed by several of the Board of
Common Councilmen and a number of casually
invited citizens, descended the steps and took posi-
tions on a covered platform in front. The escort of
the Sixth marched, headed by the Eighth Regiment,
in good step and dress and came into line on the
east side of the Park. The Zouaves followed, headed
by their young commander, Colonel E. E. Ellsworth,
and immediately clapping of hands and plaudits were
heard. To those of the spectators near the steps of
the City Hall they came into view before the head of
the Sixth had marched to the front of the hall.
After the eye rapidly passed over the familiar blue
coat and white pants of our own regiments the strik-
ing gay uniforms of the cadets with their flowing red
pants, their jaunty crimson caps, their peculiar drab
gaiters and leggings, and the loose, open bluejacket
with rows of small thickly set, sparkling buttons,
and the light blue shirt beneath exposing the neck,
all in the midst of the sober broadcloth of the crowd,
entirely riveted the gaze of the spectators. As they
came steadily into view they moved with the same
unity of step and regard for distance and dress,
but also with an ease of motion, a kind of dashing
confidence and elasticity which we do not see in any
of our own companies. They flanked to the right
and filed to the left; at the word " front " like a flash
each man was in his place and almost jumped there,
not abruptly, but most easily, and there was no after
motion, no closing in, or moving up to the center
or on to the flanks. They came to a "shoulder"
and then to an "order." The effect was electric,
and one felt at once after noting the confidence in
each man's eye, and the faultless positions through-
out the ranks, that a body of men stood there that
would do as much as had been promised for them.
Both the escort and the Zouaves passed in review
before the Major and General Sanford, as usual, the
first in "common time" and then in " quick time."
As the Zouaves marched around the cheers were
30

vociferous. The step and dress were faultless and
so was the wheeling, which was comparatively an
easy matter, as there were only eight fronts of men
in each platoon. One thing was especially notice-
able in the ranks; not a hand was swinging, the
Captain and Lieutenants, of course, moving with less
uniformity through the tactics.

The account goes on to quite a length, most
accurately and minutely describing all of the
drill, and from the language used and the very
particular descriptions of the most difficult
although not always the most showy parts of
both company drill, manual of arms, bayonet
exercise, skirmish and open order drills, it is
evident the reporter was a well trained militia
man, and was up in Scott and Hardee, and,
though a New Yorker and with every induce-
ment in his pride of his city and its splendid
militia to find all fault possible, he had only
praise and commendation to give the Zouaves
for their "unparalleled" and "unequaled"
exhibition.

At this time in the tour of the Zouaves their
treasury was absolutely empty. They did not
start from Chicago with much of a fund for
expenses, and since starting, an appeal to friends
there had brought them $500, but this was now
exhausted, as well as the funds that the mem-
bers had individually. They proudly kept their
own council, however, and though they could
count on about two invitations for meals daily,
the third meal was sadly missed, as the rigor
of their drills required it.
31

of Chicago

Now help came from an unexpected quarter.
A request signed by a number of ' ' prominent
citizens" came to Colonel Ellsworth to allow
his Company to drill in the Academy of Music,
admission to be charged, and the net receipts
to go to the Company. Ellsworth was not in
favor of this from notions of pride. Some ot
the men, however, forced him to yield to the
demands of their empty stomachs, and an
acceptance was sent. In the history of the
Company he had ruled it absolutely, and now
positions were for the first time reversed.

The Academy of Music drill was in every
way a grand success — a crowded house (and
crowds turned away) at one dollar per head,
a wildly enthusiastic audience, and over $2,000
as net receipts. In speaking of this drill, and
to show how entirely Ellsworth and his Zouaves
had captured New York, one of the great
daily papers said in an editorial: —

The military furore has reached its climax. The
gentle muses are dethroned. Mars is now cele-
brated ! I ! No company in the world could compete
with the Chicago Zouaves.

Their campaign at Boston was but a repeti-
tion of that at New York, and their reception
was most gratifying and enthusiastic. Beside
a number of public outdoor drills in the presence
of vast crowds, another "special request"
drill was given in one of the theaters which put
over $1,000 in the treasury. One of the boys
32

remarked: "It is a great pity they do not
build larger theaters here in Boston."

They returned to New York and by special
request and with an escort of a company of the
finest drilled and best appearing men that
could be found in the regiment, then considered
the most "crack" of any regiment in the
country, the New York Seventh, they went
to West Point. Lieutenant General Scott,
Commander-in-Chief of the army, and General
Hardee, "Old Tactics Himself," saw the drill,
which was at first the "Ellsworth Zouave
Manual."

Some friend of Colonel Ellsworth reported
to him that General Hardee was somewhat
critical in his remarks, saying, "It was only
showy and not at all practical."

Colonel Ellsworth now ordered, "According
to Hardee," and the drill was continued in a
way that completely astonished its author.
He became very much interested, indeed, and
of the loading and firing drill said it was
"perfect," but that he noticed that the men
turned their heads slightly and by the watch
that they kept on each other were enabled to
keep perfect time.

Colonel Ellsworth then ordered the men to
shut their eyes, and with closed eyes the drill
was equally well performed, and General
Hardee said : "Most wonderful . ' '

As a compliment to the venerable "Hero
of Lundy 's Lane ' ' the cadets then went through
33

llcmmisrcncrs of

the manual "according to Scott," and in the
most satisfactory manner. The company of
the Seventh New York now had an inning,
and all returned to New York.

Philadelphia and Baltimore were captured,
in drill room parlance, "in one time and two
motions." Washington was reached August
5th, and the cadets were invited to drill in
the White House grounds before President
Buchanan and a select company of Wash-
ington notables.

At Pittsburg, August 8th, a drill was given and
a beautiful and valuable sword was presented
to Colonel Ellsworth by the Duquesne Grays.
(At the death of Colonel Ellsworth this sword
was sent by the members of his old, Company
then with him in the Fire Zouaves, to a most
estimable young lady of Rockford, Illinois, to
whom he was engaged to be married.)

At Cincinnati generous hospitality was ex-
tended to the Zouaves,; and drills were given
to admiring audiences, and at St. Louis this
was repeated.

All this and much more in praises and com-
pliments had been heralded through the land in
the newspapers of the day, and the "March
of Triumph of the Ellsworth Zouaves" was
the leading news item.

When the Company arrived at Springfield,
their own state capital, they were received with
open arms. During the tour the members of
the Company had been presented with all sorts

34

of souvenirs, and Colonel Ellsworth for the
first time allowed discipline to be relaxed in
that the boys were allowed to decorate their
uniforms and knapsacks with these "trophies
of war," consisting of fatigue caps, epaulets,
swords, pistols, plumes, cartridge boxes,
badges, medals, ladies' gloves, lace handker-
chiefs, dried and faded flowers, etc., so their
app'earance on arriving at Chicago was unique
and mirth-provoking.

Their train was delayed somewhat by an
accident, but "all Chicago" patiently waited
for them at the Alton Depot. When the train
came in sight, salutes were fired, cannons
boomed, bands played, torches were waved by
both the "Wide- Awakes" and the "Ever-
Readys," as in this event the party spirit of the
great political campaign, then in progress, was
laid aside . Everybody welcomed ' ' Our Boys . ' '

The Company returned to Chicago on Tues-
day, August 14, i860. They were escorted by
all the city military companies, a large torch-
light procession of both political parties, and
a large body of citizens, to the "Wigwam
Building" on the southeast corner of Lake and
Market streets, where Mr. Lincoln had been
nominated for President of the United States.
The immense building was crowded to over-
flowing with enthusiastic admirers. After the
reception ceremonies were concluded they were
escorted to the Briggs House, where a magnifi-
cent banquet was spread.

35

ftrmimsrcnres of Chicago

Following are the members of Colonel
Ellsworth's Company who went on the tour: —

Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, commanding,
f First Lieutenant Joseph R. Scott.

Second Lieutenant D wight H. Laflin.
§Surgeon Charles A. DeVillers.

Paymaster James B. Taylor,
f First Sergeant James Rudolph Hayden.
*Second Sergeant Edward Bergen Knox. *

Quartermaster Sergt. Robert W. Wetherell.

Color Sergeant Benet B. Botsford.

Frederick J. Abbey.

George V. S. Aiken.

John Albert Baldwin.

Joseph C. Burclay.

Merritt P. Batchelor.

William Berherand.

Augustus A. Bice,
f Samuel S. Boone.

Edwin L. Brand,
f James A. Clybourn.
*Edwin M. Coates.
*Freeman Canned.

William H. Cutler.

William N. Banks.

James M. DeWitt.
*George H. Fergus.

George W. Friend.

Henry H. Hall.

Louis B. Hand.
JCharles H. Hosmer.

*Frank E. Yates.
36

William Innis.
Louis L. James.
Ransom Kennicott.
Lucius S. Larrabee.
John Conant Long.
Waters McChesney.
Samuel J. Nathan.
William M. Olcott.
Charles C. Phillips.
Robert D. Ross.
B. Frank Rogers.
Charles Scott, Jr.
•(•Charles H. Shipley.
Charles C. Smith.
Charles W. Smith.
Clement Sutterly.
Ira Goodie True.
Smith B. Van Buren.
Henry S. Wade.
Sidney P. Walker.

*Went into service in the army with Ellsworth in
the Fire Zouaves as a Lieutenant.

fWent into service in the army with Nineteenth
Illinois as a commissioned officer.

{Died in Andersonville prison.

§Shot while swimming James River in escaping
from Libby prison.

Of this company of fifty men it can be said:
Forty-seven entered the army and served with
distinction during the war. Many rose to high
rank, both in volunteers and the regular army.
Some are now on the active and others on the
retired list of the army. Several were appointed
to drill new regiments at the camps of ren-
dezvous for such troops in the north, and one,
Captain John Conant Long, who was appointed
by General Grant as instructor at Camp Douglas,
is said to have drilled as many as fifty regiments.
They served in the different arms of the service
as follows: —

In three battalions light artillery.

In three regiments cavalry.

In twenty-six regiments infantry.

In the signal service.

The influence of men drilled and disciplined
as these were under Colonel Ellsworth and scat-
tered through the entire army must certainly
have been very great.

Shortly after the triumphant home-coming of
the Zouaves, Colonel Ellsworth went to Spring-
field, Illinois, and entered the law office of
Lincoln and Herndon as a student. He was
quite effective as a campaign orator in Illinois

37

itcmimgrrnrrg of Chicago

during the autumn of 1860. In February,
1 86 1, he accompanied Mr. Lincoln to Washing-
ton for his inauguration as President on March
4th. The President obtained for him a com-
mission as Lieutenant in the regular army and
a detail for special duty in Washington. When
Sumter was fired upon and the war began he
was anxious to go at once into active service
in the field, and to do this he resigned his com-
mission as Lieutenant, went to New York City
and obtained permission of the Chief of the
Fire Department to recruit a regiment from
among the firemen. He sent to Chicago for
for some of the men of his old Zouave company,
and they joined him at once. The rapidity
with which this regiment — the Eleventh New
York, usually called the "New York Fire
Zouaves" — was recruited is shown by the
fact that he arrived in New York April i/th,
and on April 29th, over 1,100 strong, they
embarked on the steamer Baltic for Washington,
via Annapolis. They were mustered into
service by General Irwin McDowell in the
presence of President Lincoln in front of the
Capitol, May /th ; the first regiment mustered
in "for three years or during the war,"
others having enlisted for three months.

The morning of May 24th, about 3:30
o'clock, the regiment was transferred by three
steamers — Baltimore, Mt. Vernon, and James
Gray — to Alexandria, Virginia. On approach-
ing the long walk at daybreak the rebel sentries
38

discharged their pieces and ran up town. The
regiment landed, marched up the street, and
halted, the right resting on Pitt Street.

Colonel Ellsworth, leaving Lieutenant-
Colonel Noah F. Fernham in command, took
from the right of Company A a squad of men
and Sergeant Frank B. Marshall, and proceeded
to the next street south, cut the telegraph
wires, and passed on the opposite side of King
Street, on the southeast corner of Pitt Street,
to the Marshall House, to which his attention
was called by seeing a large rebel flag flying from
its top. After sending Sergeant Marshall
back to the regiment for Company A, First
Lieutenant E. B. Knox, commanding, he went
inside the hotel, posting one of his escorts at
the door, another on the first floor, another at
the foot of the stairs, and Corporal Frank E.
Brownell on the third floor. He ascended to
the house top where he went to obtain a view
of the surroundings. He secured the rebel
flag, and in descending the stairs, which
occupied three sides of a stairway hall, he
heard a noise, immediately followed by a shot.
Hastening down to ascertain the cause, he
came around a turn just in time to receive the
second charge of a double-barreled shot gun in
the hands of James W. Jackson, the landlord.
It was aimed at Brownell, who had knocked
the gun up. The first charge, also intended
for Brownell, entered the casing of the door at
the foot of the stairs. Brownell then shot
39

ftemmigcenccg of Chicago

Jackson, who was crazed with drink, having
been on a spree for several days.1

Of Colonel Ellsworth many hostile criticisms
have been published. He has been called
tyrannical, vain, proud, and — in connection
with accounts of his death — foolhardy. But
these have all had their source, either from
those who suffered from a necessary discipline
agreed to by themselves and afterwards violated,
or from friends of these men. Not one sur-
viving member of the Chicago Zouaves who
remained faithful to the end can be found who
will agree with such criticisms. On the con-
trary they accord to him unparalleled fixedness
of purpose, industry and clear-headedness in
all matters pertaining to military affairs. When
speculating on what "might have been" had
he been spared to the army, they will say that
the military history of the Fire Zouaves and
that of the Army of the Potomac — with this
leaven in its midst — might have been very
different. They believe that on the roll-call
of great captains, when this greatest of all
wars closed, his name might have stood second
to none.

xThis account of the exact circumstances of the
death of Colonel Ellsworth is from the late Lieuten-
ant George H. Fergus, a member of Colonel Ells-
worth's old Chicago Zouaves, and an officer in the
Fire Zouaves, who was present at the time with the
regiment outside the hotel. It is as he heard it
many times from Corporal Brownell (now dead) who
was the only witness.

40

CJje Chicago Contention

[Report of the Republican Convention of 1860, by
Dr. Humphrey H. Hood, in the Free Press of
Hillsboro, Illinois, now known as The News Mon-
itor, and published in Litchfield. From the Trans-
actions of the Illinois State Historical Society.

LITCHFIELD, ILL., May 24, 1860.

MR. EDITOR: On the eve of my
departure for Chicago, I made you a
promise to write you from that city,
regarding the proceedings of the National
Republican Convention. Upon my arrival,
however, I found it altogether useless to do
so, as it was quite impossible for my com-
munication to reach you in time for the Press
of last week. I propose now to give some
account of my visit and my impressions of the
convention, and the facts connected therewith
as understood by me. We left the Litchfield
station on the morning train on Tuesday, the
1 5th inst. Our company was not numerous
at this point, but it received constant accession
at each succeeding station, so that when we
arrived at Mattoon, we were comfortably
crowded. Here we changed cars, taking the
Illinois Central. Our old friend, John Kitchell,
found us at this point. After a short interval
of waiting for the northern train, we again
moved forward with a long train loaded with

ftcmmtgcenceg of Chicago

' ' black Republicans, ' ' and at each station the
cry was "still they come." At the crossing
of the Great Western, a fresh inundation poured
in upon us, but few of whom found better
accommodations than the aisles afforded; but
at Urbana, two additional cars were attached,
which furnished seats for all. At the crossing
we were joined by the future Governor of the
State, Hon. Richard Yates. We arrived at
Chicago at nine o'clock and at once hurried
to the Metropolitan Hotel, where we were for-
tunate in securing a room with a cot for each
of our company. After refreshing our inner
man at the table, we proceeded to the famed
Wigwam, and found a large audience assem-
bled, listening to the Hon. Anson Burlingame.
When I entered he was speaking of the cer-
tainty of a Republican triumph next fall, no
matter who the standard-bearer might be. Of
all possible candidates he spoke in terms of
appropriate eulogy, paying just tribute to the
talents and virtues of each. Of Lincoln he
spoke as "the gallant son of Illinois, who
fought that wonderful battle of 1858, the like
of which had not been known since the time
when Michael encountered and subdued the
arch fiend."

To view the Wigwam alone, when crowded
with its immense audience, was worth a visit
to the Garden City. We hear of the meanness
of Yankeetown, and the liberality of the south-
erner, but I think Chicago will lose nothing
42

Chicago Contention

in comparison with Charlestown. Let it be
remembered that the Wigwam was built solely
for the use of the Republican Convention,
whereas the Democratic convention paid $500
per day for a hall in which to meet. The
Wigwam is a substantial wooden building,
admirably adapted to the purpose for which it
was constructed; well ventilated, well lighted,
and for speaking and hearing as well arranged
as such a building could be. Its dimensions
are 180 feet by 100. One-third of this space
was assigned for the use of the convention,
and was divided into a platform and two
spacious committee rooms, one at either end.
The platform was seated with settees and the
space assigned to each delegation designated
by placards on each of which was the name of
the state represented. These were elevated
so as to be seen from all parts of the building.
The speaker's chair was at the rear of the
platform and toward it all seats looked. On
the wall immediately behind the chair were
painted United States flags and the chair was
canopied with flags. There were four other
larger paintings on the wall representing
"Justice," "Ceres," etc.

A portion of the floor in front of the plat-
form was railed off and seated for the use of
alternate delegates, members of the press, and
the telegraph operators. Outside of this rail-
ing were found excellent standing accommoda-
tions for gentlemen not fortunate in holding
43

ftcmimsccnrrs of Chicago

tickets and not accompanied by ladies. In this
unfortunate category was your correspondent.

Extending round three sides were spacious
galleries appropriated to the use of ladies and
their escorts; these were always filled to over-
flowing. On the front of the galleries were
painted the coats of arms of all the states.
The roof was arched and well supported by
posts and braces, as were also the galleries,
and around all these twined evergreens inter-
mingled with flowers. The whole space over
the platform was festooned with evergreens
and the tri-colors, the red, white and blue, and
there were states enough to represent a whole
firmament of stars.

It was announced in the morning papers of
the 1 6th, that the doors would be open at
eleven o'clock. Two hours before that time
the crowd was sufficient to fill the vast building,
assembled on Lake and Market streets, and
when the doors were opened, the rush and
pressure were terrific. I was in the center of
the crowd and thought myself fortunate in
escaping with whole bones. Nevertheless, I
tried the experiment again in the afternoon,
but that sufficed me. And, indeed, my subse-
quent experience proved that the better way
to obtain an eligible position was to wait till
the rush was over, and then quietly insinuate
one's self through the crowd. In this way I
never failed to obtain a position where the whole
proceedings of the convention were open to me.
44

Conticntion

The first day but little of interest to out-
siders occurred. Nothing was done beyond
organizing and appointing the necessary com-
mittees. The morning of the second day was
mostly taken up with the report of the com-
mittee on credentials, which was finally re-
committed, some doubts arising as to the rights
of the Texas delegates to cast a vote of that
state. The report of the committee on busi-
ness in regard to the rules that should govern
the convention also excited some discussion.
The committee recommended that on the vote
for the president and vice-president, a number
equal to the majority of 606 (of which number
the convention would consist were all the states
represented) should be required to nominate.
A minority of the committee recommended
that only a majority of all the delegates present
should be required. This question was not
disposed of when the convention adjourned.
In the afternoon the minority report was
adopted by a large majority. In regard to
Texas the committee reported again in favor
of the delegates from that state; the report
was adopted amid enthusiastic cheering.

The committee on platform and resolutions
also reported during this session. The plat-
form appeared satisfactory to almost everybody
in particular. Its reading elicited thunders of
applause; particularly the sections in which
freedom is affirmed to be the normal condition
of the territories and in which protection to
45

of Chicago

home industry is recommended. With these
and other sections the people could not be
satisfied with one reading; but after shouting
till one might suppose their lungs, if not their
enthusiasm, were exhausted, they would de-
mand the reading of them again, when they
would again applaud with all the vehemence of
the first demonstration.

On the motion to adopt the platform, Mr.
Carter, of Ohio, demanded the previous ques-
tion, which was not sustained. Mr. Giddings
moved an amendment, which consisted in
appending to the platform a quotation from
the Declaration of Independence. This was
deemed unnecessary, the truths of the Declara-
tion being affirmed in the second section, and
it was voted down. At this point, the Mis-
souri Republican says, that Giddings left the
convention, "shaking off the dust of his feet,"
etc. This is a pure fabrication on the part of
that truthful journal. I had my eyes on Mr.
Giddings during nearly the whole of the session,
and he could not have left without my seeing
him, and he did not leave. Mr. Wilmot pro-
posed to amend the I4th section, by striking
out the words, "or any state legislation," etc.,
regarding them as derogating from state sov-
ereignty; but upon being assured by Carl
Schurz that they were not intended to recom-
mend any course of national legislation, but
merely to express an opinion, he withdrew the
motion.

46

Contention

Mr. Curtis, of New York, offered an amend-
ment similar to that presented by Mr. Giddings.
It being objected that it had already been
voted down, and was therefore out of order,
the chair so ruled; whereupon Mr. Blair, of
Missouri, protested against the ruling and
avowed his willingness to go before the con-
vention on an appeal from the decision. He
then explained that this motion proposed to
amend the second section, whereas the amend-
ment offered by Mr. Giddings was to be
appended to the platform. The chair reversed
his decision and the amendment was adopted,
and then the platform was adopted unani-
mously. Pending a motion to go to a ballot
for president the convention adjourned.

On the third day of the convention, it was
called to order at ten o'clock. The New York
delegation, and the Young Men's Republican
Club of New York and many others in favor
of the nomination of William H. Seward pro-
ceeded in procession from the Richmond House
to the Wigwam. Many of them wore badges
indicating their choice for the candidate, and
they were all hopeful, and, indeed, confident
that their favorite would be the favorite of the
convention; but they were doomed to dis-
appointment. The first ballot revealed the
fact that Seward had more friends in the con-
vention than any other man, but it also re-
vealed the fact that he would not be nom-
inated. On the first ballot the most determined
47

of €i)tcago

opponents of his nomination scattered their
votes, and it was well known that Lincoln
was their second choice. On the second bal-
lot Seward gained II, and Lincoln 79 votes;
the former still having a majority. On the
final vote when all the states had been called,
Lincoln still lacked two votes of the required
number. Then Carter, of Ohio, rose and amid
breathless silence, announced that Ohio changed
four votes from Chase to Lincoln. This was
enough and for ten minutes nothing was heard
but the roar of human voices and then came
booming through the open doors and windows
the voice of the first gun of the campaign. In
five minutes from that time the dispatch from
New York, 1,000 miles distant, announcing,
' ' One hundred guns are now being fired in the
park in honor of the nomination," was read
in the convention.

Before the vote was counted State after
State rose and changed its vote to Lincoln.
Mr. Evarts, of New York, demanded: "Can
New York have the silence of the convention?"
Instantly every voice was hushed. He stated
that he desired to make a motion and would
inquire if the result of the ballot was announced.
It was not; he would await that announcement.
When the result was declared he took the floor,
or rather a table, and in a speech which won
the admiration of all that heard it, which was
characterized alike by dignity, earnestness and
deep devotion to the great statesman of New
48

Che Chicago Contention

York, he pronounced a most glowing eulogy
upon William H. Seward. It might be deemed
honor enough to be accounted worthy of such
devoted friendship. At the close he moved
that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln be
declared unanimous, at the same time elevating
high above him a life sized portrait of " Honest
Old Abe."

The motion was first seconded by Blair, of
Michigan. He said, "We give up William
Henry Seward with some beating of the heart,
with some quivering of the nerves, but the
choice of the convention is the choice of Michi-
gan." He was followed by Anderson, of
Massachusetts, and Carl Schurz, of Wisconsin.
This closed the morning session.

The convention reassembled at five o'clock
and at once proceeded to vote for vice-president.
Hannibal Hamlin was chosen on the second
ballot. It may seem somewhat remarkable
that Texas should vote steadily in the morning
for Seward and in the afternoon cast six votes
for Sam Houston. After appointing the com-
mittee the convention adjourned sine die.

In the evening a grand ratification meeting
was he'd in the Wigwam. Pomeroy, Giddings,
Yates and many others spoke. The banner of
the "Young Men's Republican Club," of New
York, attracted much attention, (they brought
it with them) inscribed:

"For President "

the blank to be filled, as they hoped, with the

49

of Chicago

name of William H. Seward, but, instead, it
bore the name of Abraham Lincoln, thus: —

FOR PRESIDENT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Thus ended the Chicago National Conven-
tion. May we not congratulate ourselves on
the happy results of its labors? Those results
have satisfied all Republicans.

Cairo

[The Cairo Expedition, and the obtaining of arms
for the Illinois troops. Paper read before the
Chicago Historical Society by Augustus Harris
Burley, at its annual meeting, 1890.]

AS the years go by, and one by one the
actors in and spectators of the scenes
of the War of the Rebellion pass away,
it seems necessary and proper that all of us
should make some record of what we saw or
knew of the anxious and trying times in the
spring of 1861.

The general history of the war has been
written by a number of able authors; I wish,
only, to add what came within my own knowl-
edge, as to the part taken by Chicago at the
beginning of the war.

From the time when the steamer Star of
the West was fired upon, January 9, 1861,
and driven to sea from the entrance to Charles-
ton harbor, the people throughout the North
were uneasy and excited, but no one could
believe that a serious attempt would be made
to disrupt the Union of the States or destroy
a government that had existed for nearly a
century, and which had been consecrated by
the deeds and lives of so many noble men.

April 12, 1861, when the citizens of Charles-
Si

of Chicago

ton, South Carolina, opened fire on Fort Sum-
ter, and the gallant Major Robert Anderson,
to save the lives of his soldiers, struck the Flag
of our Country, the news went through the
North like an electric shock. Quickly recover-
ing from the stunning blow, the people felt
that war had actually come, and though cheeks
paled, lips were firmly set and eyes flashed,
showing the determination by all patriots to
stand shoulder to shoulder and preserve the
Union and the government at any cost of life
and treasure.

Friday evening, April iQth, a mass-meeting
of citizens was held in Bryan Hall (now
the Grand Opera House) at which patriotic
speeches were made and resolutions were
adopted to sustain the government, suppress
the rebellion, and maintain the Union.

A subscription of thirty thousand dollars was
immediately made, and a committee appointed
to carry out the wishes of the people, as
expressed, and to use the money in assisting
the government.

The following named citizens were appointed
as such committee: —

Edward H. Hadduck. Julian Sidney Rumsey.
Laurin P. Hilliard. Orrington Lunt.
Benj. F. Carver. Phillip Conley.

Fred. K. Letz. P. L. Underwood.

George Armour. John James Richards.

Hiram E. Mather. F. Granger Adams.
John L. Hancock. Horatio Gates Loomis.
52

Cairo <£jqpetiition

Robert Law. George W. Gage.

Alexander White. Charles G. Wicker.

Redmond Prindiville. Gurdon S. Hubbard.

Edward I. Tinkham. Thomas J. Kinsella.
Roselle Marvin Hough. Eliphalet Wood.

Nelson Tuttle. Homer E. Sargent.

John Gage. U. H. Crosby.

(These names were obtained from The Chicago
Tribune?)

Mr. Hadduck declining to act as chairman,
I was requested to take his place. Samuel
Hoard was secretary.

The Hon. Julian S. Rumsey gave the use
of his building, 44 and 46 La Salle Street,
without charge, and the committee was in
session daily from early morning until late at
night.

Reports were constantly made to the commit-
tee of traitors and treason, of threats to burn
elevators, to blow up the powder-magazines,
and to do other mischief, and thus aid the
so-called confederacy. The committee had
guards placed to watch all important and threat-
ened buildings.

Not a keg of powder was permitted to be
taken from any of the magazines, without the
consent of the committee, who, before issuing
a permit, had to be satisfied that it went into
loyal hands for a legitimate purpose.

The arbitrary powers assumed by the com-
mittee could only be justified by such an

53

&tmmi$ttntt$ of Chicago

exigency, but all loyal citizens united in sub-
mitting to their restrictions and sustaining
their acts.

April 1 9th the following dispatch was sent
by Governor Richard Yates to General Rich-
ard Kellogg Swift, then commander of the
militia of this military district:

As quick as possible, have as strong a force as
you can raise, armed and equipped with ammunition
and accoutrements, and a company of artillery, ready
to march at a moment's warning. A messenger will
start to Chicago to-night.

RICHARD YATES, Commander-in-Chief.

The morning of April 2Oth, Mr. John W.
Bunn appeared, as the governor's messenger,
and announced to General Swift and the com-
mittee, that all diligence should be used in
raising and equipping the force, and that its
destination must be kept a profound secret.

General Swift issued his orders for the
militia to muster, but with the exception of a
few independent companies, small in numbers,
his force was composed of volunteers, all told
to the number of 400, as per General Swift's
telegram to Governer Yates, dated April 2 1st — •
the adjutant-general's report says 595, but he
included some companies that did not arrive
in time. The force included four cannon and
forty- four horses.

The war-committee borrowed from a Mil-
waukee company fifty muskets, but the force
was largely armed with squirrel-rifles, shot-
54

€f)e Cairo <£jqpefciti0n

guns, single-barreled pistols, antique revolvers,
and anything that looked as if it would shoot,
that could be obtained from the gunstores,
second-hand stores and pawnshops.

The State having neither money nor arms,
our commjttee borrowed or bought the arms
and commissary stores, and advanced from its
funds the money necessary for the purchase of
everything required that could be obtained on
such short notice.

At eleven o'clock at night, April 2 1st, the
expedition started from the Illinois Central
Railroad Station, amid the cheers of the people
and the screaming of the steam-whistles.

An expedition starting, as this did, for an
unknown destination, you may conceive was a
source of anxiety to all and especially to those
whose sons, brothers, and husbands had gone.
General Swift was without military training or
knowledge, but he had with him the late General
Joseph Dana Webster, then Captain, as aide,
and to whom the governor gave the authority
to supersede General Swift at any time should it
become necessary.

After providing the force, the next thing was
to get it to its destination before any advice could
be given of it to the people of the southern part
of the State. Some of our excited citizens
wished the committee to take possession of the
railroad and telegraph, but cooler counsel pre-
vailed, and the railroad and telegraph companies'
officers patriotically aided the authorities in
55

of

every way, thus preventing any knowledge
of the expedition being sent in advance.

To this end, no telegrams were permitted to
go over the lines, and the regular train on the
Illinois Central Railroad was started at the
usual hour, 7 p.m., but with orders to stop at
a certain place until the military train had
passed, giving to passengers, as an excuse for
such .delay, that some unavoidable accident, or
other cause, prevented their going on. With
this arrangement, the military train passed
unheralded the length of the State, and rolled
into Cairo to the astonishment of all, and rage
of many of its citizens.

It seems strange that such secrecy should
have been necessary in any northern state, but
we were surrounded by traitors in Chicago,
and a large proportion of the people of Southern
Illinois sympathized with the South, and to the
late Hon. Stephen A. Douglas and the noble
General John A. Logan, we owe the salvation
of our State from civil war within its borders.

Knowing the sentiment of the people, the
fear was that they would destroy the long,
wooden trestle-work across the Big Muddy River,
which they could have rendered impassable in
an hour, by burning it. There was also fear
that the rebels would seize Cairo, as being a
point of great strategic importance. It was
afterward learned that Cairo would have been
seized in forty-eight hours, had its occupation
been delayed.

56

Cairo <£jqpefcition

Preparing the expedition to Cairo brought
us face to face with the fact that the State of
Illinois had not, within its control, guns enough
for one regiment. Indiana, Wisconsin, and
Iowa sent agents here asking for arms.
Michigan, in reply to the committee's request
for a loan of arms, said they had none that
could be spared, not having enough for their
own men.

The committee, in view of the condition,
decided to send East for arms, and gladly
accepted the offer of Stephen Francis Gale to
go in search of. guns, and I have the pleasure
of giving you his own account of the mission: —

A. H. BURLEY, ESQ., President of the Citizens'
Committee of the City of Chicago :

On the 20th of April, 1861, you informed me that
I had been selected by your committee to proceed
East for the purpose of procuring arms and ammuni-
tion for the troops of the State of Illinois.

Arrangements were quickly made for my departure,
by obtaining , through R . N . Rice , Esq . , superintendent
of the Michigan Central Railroad, a free and unob-
structed track to Detroit, and in one hour was on my
way.

Wired the governor of Michigan to meet me at
the station at Jackson for the purpose of obtaining, if
possible, a temporary supply from the arsenal at
Dearborn. His answer was: "We can not let you
have a single musket, our State has called for more
men than we can arm."

Reached Detroit in six hours and thirty minutes;
wiring on my way to Mr. Rice to meet me on my
arrival at the station, and meantime to make arrange-
ments with the Great Western Railway for an engine

57

ftemimgcenceg of Chicago

to take me to Niagara Falls; also to put me in com-
munication with some one in high authority in Canada.

Mr. Rice at once prepared a letter to Hon.
H. C. R. Beecher, the queen's counsel at London,
who said he would lay my request before the
government without delay and make answer to my
request as soon as he could get a reply. On the 22d
instant, I received a despatch, care of Erastus Corn-
ing, Albany, as follows: —

"Application unsuccessful," and evidently to
explain delay adds: "Government does not take
the telegraph as a means of communication. Why
not try Lord Lyons?"

In my brief conversation with Mr. Beecher, I
inferred that, however well disposed the government
might feel, a want of precedent or want of authority
might prevent the granting of my request.

My time through Canada was five hours and forty
minutes. Mr. Rice, at my request, wired New York
Central Railroad to ' 'hold' ' east-bound express as long
as possible, for special on its way.

The regular express was held for one hour; arriv-
ing forty minutes after its departure, I took a hot
engine and overtook the express at Rochester.

On my arrival at Albany, called at once upon
Mr. Corning, who promised every assistance in his
power. He introduced me to Governor Morgan,
who said, "There is an abundance of arms in the
arsenals; every State can get them, and you can get
all you want. If Governor Yates will send a special
to Washington it might expedite matters. The
Springfield Arsenal sent us eight thousand yesterday."

Tried to communicate with Washington, but found
it impossible, as the wires were all cut, and the only
means left was by special messenger to accompany
troops, either from New York or Philadelphia.

Left a telegram for the secretary of war to be sent
as soon as the line was in order.

The saving of time seemed so important, I hastened
to Springfield, and after an interview with the super-
58

Cairo Cjqpe&ition

intendent of the arsenal, he said : "I see your neces-
sities and will gladly do anything in my power to
aid you in your efforts, but I have no authority to
deliver arms except by an order of the secretary-of-
war." To this I answered: "I understand your posi-
tion fully, and will give you a guarantee from the
best men in your city that such an order shall be
forthcoming within a reasonable time." At this
point friends came forward, and it was arranged
that I should have five thousand stand of arms for
the State of Illinois, a .temporary receipt to be
given, and proper vouchers to be furnished to the
superintendent in the near future. The arms were
boxed at once and delivered at the railway- station.

While in superintendent's office for the purpose
of obtaining special time table to run west to Albany,
I received despatch from A. H. Burley, Chicago,
saying: "Our State has twenty-one thousand arms
from' St. Louis this morning," also a second one
from the same, saying: "We are supplied, do
nothing more." Both of these despatches were
under date of April 26th, and on same date received
answer to my despatch to the secretary of war,
saying:—

"An order has been issued and sent to the gov-
ernor of Illinois for the required arms.

"SIMON CAMERON, Secretary-of-War."

My application to the commanding officer of the
Watertown arsenal was successful, and on the 26th
wired him as follows: "Send the ammunition, caps,
etc., as soon as possible, by Boston & Albany Rail-
road, arrangements are made with the company to
forward with dispatch. Mark O Chicago, 111."

S. F. GALE.

My application was for two hundred thousand
rounds for smooth-bore muskets of the Springfield
pattern. Advises from Chicago under date of May
2d, informed me that the ammunition was received.

59

of Chicago

While our committee's messenger was scour-
ing the east for guns, Governor Yates was
trying to get the United States arms from
Jefferson Barracks at St. Louis, but as the
barracks were surrounded by rebels, who were
determined to take the arms for their own use,
several gentlemen, some in high military posi-
tions, declined to undertake it; but General,
then Captain, James H-. Stokes offered to try
and was successful, and I here give you his
own account of his expedition, which he kindly
prepared, at my request: —

CHICAGO, ILL., May 7, 1889.

AUGUSTUS H. BURLEY, No. 618 Opera House Block,
Chicago.

My dear Sir, — In answer to your kind letter of the
4th inst., I take much pleasure in making the follow-
ing statement : —

Immediately following the fall of Fort Sumter, in
April, 1861, I was called to Springfield by letter
from Governor Yates of Illinois, as his military
adviser. A few days after my arrival there, Gov-
ernor Yates stated that he had received a warrant
from the war department at Washington, directing
the ordnance officer at the St. Louis arsenal, to
turn over to the governor of Illinois, eight thousand
muskets (8,000) and ammunition. Governor Yates
stating at the same time that he had in camp three
thousand volunteers without arms — that he had
offered the warrant to an officer of the regular army,
who declined serving it, stating that it was impossible
to execute it, as the arsenal grounds were surrounded
by rebel troops. So strong was the apprehension
that the rebels would frustrate this effort to relieve
the arsenal, that I was sent from Springfield by
60

€j)e Cairo

special railroad train, no one being permitted on the
train but the conductor and the necessary employes.

Before leaving Springfield, I made arrangements
with Mr. Mitchell, one of the owners of the Alton
& St. Louis Steamboat Company, to meet me on
the outskirts of St. Louis, on the evening of the
second day thereafter. On reaching St. Louis, I
walked down to the arsenal unobserved. Finding
the outer gate choked by a great crowd of people,
principally rebels, 1 met a picket guard and induced
the sergeant to force an opening through the crowd,
landing me inside of the arsenal gates.

Directed by the inside guard to the ordnance-offi-
cer's quarters, I gave him the warrant. After read-
ing it, we went to Captain (Nathaniel) Lyon's quarters,
commanding post, who, after reading the warrant
expressed a decided opinion that it was impossible
to move the arms in the face of the large rebel force
then surrounding the arsenal, which was said to be
about eight thousand strong, expecting daily to cap-
ture the arsenal and war-material. Captain Lyon was
strong in his opposition. Captain Olcutt, of the ord-
nance corps, U. S. army, urged and assisted me in
my efforts to convince the commanding officer that
the arsenal and its contents would be surely captured
by the rebel troops, therefore, it would be better to
make the effort to remove, if possible, the ordnance
stores. After along and urgentappeal, CaptainLyon
consented to comply with the demands of the warrant.
Thereupon I started back to St. Louis to meet Mr.
Mitchell by appointment, and settled upon the plan,
and tht time for sending his steamer to the arsenal,
which was to be at 2 a.m., the following night,
returning to the arsenal under cover of the night,
and thereby escaping all notice. Our time was
employed in trying to mislead the rebels. To this
end Captain Olcutt the next day sent several boxes
of old flint-lock muskets to the railroad depot, in
St. Louis, as if for shipment. The boxes were
greedily seized by the rebels with great exultation,
61

of Chicago

and much glorification was made on account of so
important a capture.

While preparing the guns for shipment, as ordered
by warrant from the war department, with the aid of
Captain Olcutt, we were much occupied in trying to
convince Captain Lyon that the call for only eight
thousand guns would not relieve the arsenal from
the intended attack of the rebels, and that it would
be better for the country to remove all the guns in
the arsenal to a safe place in Illinois, and leave the
rebels nothing to fight for. Before the end of the
day Captain Lyon accepted our view of the case,
and consented that I should remove the larger por-
tion of the arms, retaining only what was necessary
to arm and equip the volunteers under his command.

The same night the steamer, City of Alton, from
Alton, quietly floated down to the arsenal dock,
reaching it about 2 a.m.

With a force of about four or five hundred vol-
unteers, two thousand boxes of muskets, with the
necessary ammunition, a complete light-artillery bat-
tery, with its ammunition were quietly placed on
board the steamer. In all there were about twenty-
three thousand (23,000) stand of arms.

During the evening and night of the shipment,
seven or eight of the rebel spies were captured inside
of the lines. After a satisfactory loading of the arms
on the steamer was made, orders were given by the
captain to cast off, and an attempt was made to start
the steamer, but it was found to be hard upon a rock,
and all efforts failed to move her by steam. It was
then that Captain Lyon under the pressure of great
excitement, backed by his expressed unwillingness
to permit the arms to be taken away, accused me of
treachery, with the intention of delivering the arms
to the rebels. He knew that I was a Southerner by
birth and education, and supposed me to be liable to
any of his suspicions.

I bore his apprehensions as well as I could, and
employed my efforts in having boxes and guns moved
62

Cairo <£jqpe&ition

from the bow, where the pressure was the greatest.
In the course of an hour of hard work by the soldiers,
the steamer was relieved. It again floated, and we
started for Alton, without noise from escaping steam,
the captain directing the steam to be discharged in
the coal-hole.

About two miles up the river, after leaving
St. Louis, the channel of the river made a turn close
up to its west bank, where there was stationed a rebel
battery, with their camp-fires burning, apparently all
asleep, so that the steamer passed unnoticed, reaching
Alton about 6 a.m. finding Mr. Mitchell on the
dock awaiting our arrival.

So soon as he learned that we had on board twenty-
three thousand stand of arms, he started for the fire-
alarm bell and rang it heartily, raising all the town,
under the apprehension of a fire. The mayor of the
city with a large crowd of citizens collected around
him, and when he related to them the cause of his
ringing the bell, and calling for volunteers to help in
unloading the steamer, the citizens, headed by the
mayor, went to the steamer, each four taking a box
of guns, and soon transferred all to a freight train
already standing on the track near the wharf.

In the course of an hour, everything was moved
to the cars, and in safety we escaped to Springfield,
reaching there about 2 p.m. where we were met by
Governor Yates, and a large portion of the legislature.

The end of this little effort to obtain the twenty-
three thousand stand of arms to arm the volunteers
already in camp in the State of Illinois, as well as a
portion of the volunteers in Wisconsin and Indiana,
was received and acknowledged by a vote of thanks
to myself, passed by the legislature of the State of
Illinois, and approved by the Governor of this State.1

It may not be out of place to repeat a remark

lSee official account of the expedition of Captain
Stokes in the "Report of the Adjutant-General of
the State of Illinois," Vol. I, page 241.

63

of Chicago

made by a citizen of the State of Missouri, that by
the early removal of these arms from the arsenal at
St. Louis, it destroyed the supremacy of the rebel
forces, and smothered their intended invasion of the
State of Illinois, also keeping the rebels from taking
the State of Missouri out of the Union, by a vote of
secession then contemplated.

Very respectfully,
"JAS. H. STOKES."

The arms obtained by Mr. Gale, after being
placed on the cars at Springfield, Mass., were
stopped and returned to the United States
arsenal as soon as the success of Captain Stokes'
expedition was known. The ammunition from
Watertown for the arms from Springfield came
through in due time, and was forwarded to
Springfield, Illinois.

Much credit was due to the officers of the
Michigan Central and the Great Western rail-
roads for the assistance and dispatch given to
Mr. Gale, and for the service so rendered no
bill was ever presented to the committee.

In order to correct history and the statement
of the adjutant-general of the State, who says
in his report: "That the batteries were unpro-
vided with shot, shell or cannister, but slugs
hurriedly prepared," I wish to state, that our
esteemed citizen, the late Philetus Woodworth
Gates, started the fires in his foundry at eleven
o'clock Sunday morning for the purpose of
casting cannon-balls, and the artillery started
that evening with four hundred rounds of fixed
ammunition for its four guns.
64

€jje Cairo

The first shot of the war fired in the West, was
a shot cast in Mr. Gates' foundry on that Sunday
morning, and fired by a gun trained by Lieuten-
ant John Rudolph Botsford, of Captain James
Smith's company, of Chicago Light Artillery.

The shot was fired across the bow of a
steamboat passing down the river, bearing
ammunition from St. Louis for the rebels.
The whizzing of the shot was too pointed an
invitation to come to shore to be declined, and
the steamer's stock of munitions of war was
taken for use in our own army.

To show the great prudence of the general
commanding the expedition, and his consider-
ation for the safety of his soldiers, I will men-
tion what was stated by those near to him;
"that when approaching the Big Muddy River
he proposed that the platform cars, on which
the cannon were, should be placed in front and
the locomotive in the rear of the train, so that
in case of being attacked, they could use the
guns at long range and retreat if found neces-
sary," but as the other officers of the command
did not agree with him, the train proceeded in
the usual way.

When the Milwaukee muskets were being
cleaned and put into order for returning, Mr.
George T. Abbey found many of them with
more than one cartridge in the barrel and some
had five or six; showing how little the boys
knew of fire-arms or their use, having reloaded
without discharging the guns.
65

ttfmims'crncfs of Chicago

To General Joseph Stockton thanks were due
for his valuable assistance in obtaining horses
for the artillery — he furnished several from his
own stock; also to Colonel Roselle Marvin
Hough, who was very earnest at that time as
he was subsequently all through the war.

The Cairo expedition was hastily prepared
and, as before stated, furnished with such arms
as could be obtained — the men, mostly in
their every-day clothes, some with overcoats,
but more without, a few blankets, fewer tents,
and comparatively without camp-equipage of
any kind. The starting for an unknown des-
tination, ostensibly for Springfield; the tears
of mothers, wives and sisters; the fervent bless-
ings of friends; the screech of steam-whistles
at ii o'clock that dark Sunday night made an
impression ineffaceable from the memory of
all those who were present.

The money expended for the Cairo expedi-
tion and for fitting out two regiments, was
mostly refunded by the government, and then
used in assisting the families of those in the
army.

Cook County, by its board of supervisors,
appropriated $30,000 to assist the government,
and the speaker was chairman of the war-com-
mittee, but as of the first committee, all the
records were destroyed in the fire of 1871.

The first citizens' committee continued to
serve through 1861 and 1862, and was suc-
ceeded by a new and larger committee, but as
66

Cairo <£jqpe&ition

I resigned from it, I can only say that it devoted
its energies mostly to the assisting of General
John Charles Fremont in his Missouri campaign.
Of the doings of the last committee all records
were burned.

It must seem strange to the young people of
to-day, that a war came upon the United States
twenty-nine years ago, and that neither the
Federal nor State government had money to
pay men or to buy arms. The general govern-
ment had but few arms, and the states still less.

Secretary-of-War John B. Floyd, had grad-
ually depleted the northern arsenals, removing
the arms to southern points, from which they
were taken by the rebels.

It should be remembered and made a matter
of history that the first money raised in Illinois
for the war was subscribed by citizens of
Chicago.

The first armed force sent out in the West
was that sent to Cairo, and it was sent from
Chicago.

The first general in command in the State of
Illinois was Richard Kellogg Swift, a citizen of
Chicago.

The first shot fired in the West for the Union
was a Chicago shot, from a Chicago cannon,
trained by a Chicago boy, of the Chicago
Light Artillery.

Thanks are also due to our esteemed citizen,
E. W. Blatchford, for the assistance he ren-
dered to Mr. Gates on that memorable Sunday.

67

of Chicago

Let us hope that the horrors of war may
never be brought upon our country, and that
peace and harmony may henceforth be the
results of the treasure expended and the sacri-
fices made in the name of Liberty and Union.

WAR EXCITEMENT IN CHICAGO

[Extract from "The Story of My Life" by Mary
A. Livermore.]

In Chicago, there was even more stir and
excitement than I had seen elsewhere. Every-
body was engrossed with the war news and
the war preparations. The day was full of
din and bustle, and the night was hardly more
quiet. On the evening of the very day that
Fort Sumter capitulated to the secessionists,
an immense meeting of Chicago's citizens was
held in the great republican Wigwam, where
Abraham Lincoln had been nominated for
the presidency, and ten thousand men of all
religious creeds and party affiliations came
together to deliberate on the crisis of the hour.
There was no talking for effect. All the
speeches were short and to the point. The
time for harangue was over, the time for
action had come. Before the vast assemblage
separated, Judge Manierre, one of the most
eminent and popular men of the city, admin-
istered to this great body of people, the oath
of loyalty to the government. The multitude
68

€f)e Cairo €jqpe&ition

rose, and with uncovered heads and upraised
right hands, repeated the words of the follow-
ing oath : —

"I do solemnly swear in the presence of
Almighty God, that I will faithfully support
the constitution of the United States, and of
the State of Illinois. So help me God!"

Eight days after the fall of Sumter, troops
were dispatched from Chicago to Cairo, a
point of great strategic importance. It is
situated at the confluence of the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, and is the key to navigation
of both. It is also the southern terminus of
several railroads, of which the northern termini
are in the very heart of the great grain-bearing
region of the Northwest. Its importance as a
military post at that time could not be over-
estimated. If the South had seized it, it could
have controlled the railway combinations of
the Northwest, and closed the navigation of
the two great rivers. Southern leaders were
well aware of the value of Cairo as a railway
and river center, and were hurrying their
preparations to take possession of the town.
But their plans were checkmated by Chicago.
In less than forty-eight hours a body of
infantry and a company of artillery, composed
entirely of young men from the best families
in the state, were ready to start for Cairo.

A long train of twenty-six cars, with two
powerful engines attached, waited at the
station, panting, puffing and shrieking, as if
69

of

eager to be gone. As it moved slowly out
along the pier, tens of thousands of people,
who lined the lake shore, bade the soldiers
farewell with deafening cheers. Round after
round of hurrahs rang out from the Prairie
City, and were seconded by the long, shrill
shrieks of all the locomotives employed in the
neighborhood, and waiting at the different rail-
way stations. They were none too soon in
their occupation of Cairo, for many of the
inhabitants were credited with a heavy leaning
toward secession, and would have been glad
to welcome Southern instead of Northern
troops. The South was in earnest, and the
North now began to believe it.

War Spirit in Chicago

[Extract from The Chicago Tribune Tuesday,
April 23, 1861.]

"V7ESTERDAY was but a continuation
of the military bustle and preparation
of several days preceding. The streets
were alive all day with the movement of vol-
unteers. Everything gives way to the war and
to its demands. Workmen from their shops,
printers from their cases, lawyers from their
offices, clerks and bookkeepers from counter
and counting-room, are busily drilling, and the
enlistments are marvelously rapid. But one
sentiment prevails, and that is for war on
traitors. Incidents of loyalty and sacrifice
press upon us in such numbers that we do
not attempt their narration.

Our courts have all adjourned on account
of war times and incident excitement. In the
superior court, Judge John M. Wilson called
the attention of the bar to the state of the
nation. He said just now there were more
important things than lawsuits to attend to.
The perpetuity and safety of our nation were
imperiled, and it was the duty of every man to
devote himself to its service. He appealed
to the bar to know if they did not concur in
these sentiments, and sustain him in an adjourn-

fteminigcemeg of Chicago

ment of the court sine die in order that judges,
lawyers, clients, jurymen, and bailiffs might
devote themselves to the cause of their country.
The bar with one voice replied that the Judge
had exactly expressed their sentiments, and
accordingly the court was adjourned.

The loyalty and munificence of Solomon
Sturges, Esq., is abundantly shown by the
circumstance that he has offered to arm and
equip at his own expense a company of eighty
sharpshooters. These are to be made up of
some of the best shots in the city, many of
them members of the Audubon Club, to be
armed with the Maynard rifle, sword, bayonet,
and a pair of eight-inch revolvers; Mr. Stur-
ges to bear the entire expense of their outfit
and drill, and to land them, a crack company,
at whatever point they may be ordered. The
committee of the corps are James Stell, N. E.
Sheldon, M. P. Forster, and Norton Spencer.
Their rendezvous has been located in Dole's
Building.

A. D. Titsworth & Company, clothiers of
this city, are getting up 1400 uniforms for our
Chicago troops. They are to be the army
fatigue dress in "cadet gray" cloth, a full
suit, with long surtout and heavy cape. Each
soldier is to be supplied with two flannel shirts.
This house has arrangements to make up 1000
suits per week. In a short time our Illinois
troops will be well uniformed.

In our reference to George Smith as having
72

Spirit in Chicago

donated $1000 to the war fund, we uninten-
tionally conveyed the impression that he stood
alone in such munificence, whereas a like sum
has been donated by Henry Farnam, Esq.,
J. Y. Scammon, Esq., and The Chicago Gas
Light Company.

Captain George A. Fuller, who is enrolling
a new company of dragoons, has his head-
quarters at the Armory Building, has fifty or
sixty already enlisted, and the ranks will be
full by Wednesday evening.

The Engineer Sapper and Miner Corps,
recruiting at the city surveyor's office in the
courthouse, is fast filling up with first-class
mechanics. They are noble-looking men, and
will do splendid service. Twenty- five were
accepted yesterday afternoon, the first day.

The German residents, married men, of the
ages of 25 to 45 years, organized a reserve
corps yesterday, a battalion of four companies,
electing officers who have served in European
armies.

Yesterday a fine company of volunteers
from Waukegan, ninety strong, came here to
attach themselves as Company C of the Zouave
regiment. They left for Springfield last even-
ing.

A fine company of artillery, one hundred and
one strong, Captain Charles Houghteling com-
manding, came here yesterday and left last
evening for Camp Yates.

A company of volunteers from Aurora,

73

ftemmigcenccg of Chicago

Kane County, numbering over one hundred
men, came into this city yesterday, commanded
by Captain Graesel, who led a volunteer com-
pany from Detroit during the Mexican War.
Colonel C. G. Hammond, superintendent of
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad,
in reply to a telegraphic despatch inquiring
whether the company should be passed free to
Chicago, wrote, "Yes, pass them free, and
God bless them!"

At 7:30 p.m. the second detachment of
our military, comprising Captain Barker's
Dragoons, Company C Zouaves (from
Waukegan), Captain Kellogg's Rumsey
Guards, the Aurora Artillery, and a fine-look-
ing company from Lockport, Captain Hawley
commander, left in a special train for the
capital, comprising in all nearly six hundred
men.

The Highland Guard have formed Companies
A and B. Captain Raff en commands the
former. They are to leave this morning. The
Guards are the color company of the
Washington regiment, and the Stars and Stripes
are worthily borne by Ensign Duncan McLean
for six years in the employ of the G. &C.U.R.R.
The company, on this occasion of his leaving,
presented him with a fine military outfit.

Commissary-General Fowler has opened his
headquarters at No. 60 Wells Street, where a
force of clerks and assistants are kept exceed-
ingly busy.

74

Spirit in Chicago

The "Union Rifles," a corps of German
sharpshooters, armed with the Enfield rifle,
are to leave for Springfield this morning.

All over the city new military organizations
are springing up.

The Irish citizens are vying with all other
classes in pressing forward into the ranks.
At the North Market Hall meeting on Saturday
evening, in an hour and a half after the roll
list was opened, it received the large number of
three hundred and twenty-five names. An
executive committee was appointed, consisting
of Messrs. T. J. Kinsella, P. Conley, Alderman
Cominsky, D. Quirk and P. Carragher, to pro-
cure the necessary equipments for the regiment.

A committee was also appointed, consisting
of three from each division of the city, to
solicit donations for the benefit of the families
of those who enlist.

The recruiting offices were announced as
follows : Captain Gleason at the City Armory ;
Alderman Cominsky at the Rock Island Freight
House; Captains C. Walsh and O. Stuart at
the Matteson House; Captain P. Casey at
129 Canal Street; and the North Market Hall
will be for Captains McMurray, Phillips, Quirk,
and Moore. A muster roll will also be at
Mr. Mulligan's office, corner Randolph and
Dearborn streets. Other offices will hereafter
be announced. A subscription book will be
opened at the store of J. J. Kearney, No. 167
South Clark Street, where will also be received

75

of Chicago

for the regiment whatever articles, such as
guns, pistols, swords, etc., that the friends of
the cause may donate. Contribute freely to
defend the old flag, and let the cry be "Death
to traitors."

It is now permitted to transpire that the
first detachment of Chicago troops were
destined for Cairo, and reported as near there
last evening. They have a battery of eight
pieces, and are well supplied with ammunition
and camp equipage, and the detachment is
under the command of army officers of high
reputation. These troops, seven hundred strong,
are located at a most important position, and
are worthy of the trust.

A strong detachment was left to guard the
railroad bridge at Muddy Creek, which has
been threatened, and which, if destroyed, could
not soon be rebuilt.

THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY

[From The Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1 86 1.]

OFFICE OF THE CHICAGO COMMITTEE OF SAFETY
Numbers 44 and 46 La Salle Street, April 22, 1861

At a meeting of the Committee the following
gentlemen were added to its members : Messrs.
A. H. Burley, E. I. Tinkham, James Long.

E. H. Hadduck, Esq., owing to his many
duties, tendered his resignation, which was
accepted.

76

Spirit in Chicago

On motion, Mr. A. H. Burley was elected
president, and Messrs. E. I. Tinkham and
James Long, vice-presidents.

The following now constitute the committee :

A. H. Burley, President.

E. I. Tinkham, Vice-President.

James Long, Vice-President.

Samuel Hoard, Secretary and Treasurer.

E. H. Hadduck.

W. T. Mather.

Julian S. Rumsey.

Thos. B. Bryan.

L. P. Milliard.

Orrington Lunt.

Per order,
SAM'L HOARD, Sec'y.

77

at anfoergft Volunteer

[An Untold Chapter in Evanston's History as Re-
lated by General John A. Page, who at the Outbreak
of the Civil War was a Student in Northwestern
University. From The Evanston Daily News,
May 29, 1914.]

ENERAL JOHN A. PAGE is a name
f TT which was well known to early Evans-
tonians. Even many of the more
modern ones know him, for he comes back to
Evanston from time to time to renew old
friendships and visit old scenes. His career
in the army has been an enviable one and
Evanston can take especial pride in it; for he
was one of the students at Northwestern when
the civil war began. His picture of Evanston
at that time is one which has never been pub-
lished before and is an important contribution
to our local history. Equally so is the story
of the enlistment of the first men in Chicago
for the greatest struggle in the history of the
world.

This is the first publication of these recollec-
tions. I have written this introduction at the
request of the editor, but the story itself is
filled with such a vivid interest that it would
be a bold man who would think he could add
anything to it.

79

$emini£cence£ of Chicago

"Recollections of 1861 as Seen Through a
Boy's Eyes" is the title General Page wrote
for his sketch, which is as follows: — •

In 1 86 1 I was a boy in my teens. My
father being an army officer, I was born in the
service, and as we say in the army, "in the
knapsack."

My earliest recollections of boyhood days
were of New Castle, Delaware, the home of
my mother. The members of my family were
slave owners. Nigger Bill, a boy of my own
age, was given to me as a birthday present.
He was no common darky, was intelligent,
handsome, powerful of limb. We were in-
separable companions, and I dared knock the
chip off the shoulder of any boy in town, as
Bill did the fighting for me. He could pick
up and carry between his toes, without being
detected, more marbles than any darky on the
village green, but being high toned, never
bothered himself with anything but twenty-
five cent alleys. Of course, as Bill belonged
to me, the alleys went into my bag.

One day we wandered down to the wharf to
meet the steamboat that carried peaches from
the Rie Bold farms to Philadelphia. They
landed the quota of baskets belonging to the
town, and as they cast off, some one reached
down, grappled Bill by the collar of his coat
and landed him on the deck of the boat. That
was the last of Bill. It was my first sorrow,
and although the navigation company paid
80

Volunteer

eight hundred dollars for him, what was gold
to a boy in place of a negro companion?

With the loss of my possessions I lost caste,
and was reduced from a first-class power to a
fifth- rate one. I relate this incident of my
early life to show that I was conversant with
the institution that in future years made a
soldier of me.

Seven years of my school days were spent
abroad, where among foreigners I learned to
revere, to adore, the flag of my country;
and I would advise any one who does not
appreciate the thrill that pervades our hearts
at the sight of our flag to go to strange lands,
where in a short time his eyes will seek the
emblem of his home, its sight will warm his
soul, and he will return to his native land a
wiser and better American.

At the pension in Paris where I attended
school, there were from three to four hundred
students. On our national holidays we would
gather around the Stars and Stripes and sing
' 'The Home of the Brave and the Land of the
Free." The foreigners, especially the English,
admitted the "brave" part of our song, but
taunted us about the land of the free. It was
a hard knot for us to wrestle with, and it set us
to thinking.

On my return home the political campaign

of 1860 soon engrossed the attention of my

countrymen. I became a Wide-awake, donned

the oil-cloth cape, and carried my coal-oil torch.

81

&emini£cence£ of CInrngo

At this period I was a student at the
Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois.
They were generally Lincoln men, with the
exception of some Southern members. We
debated in our societies the issues of the day,
and thrashed over the old straw that had not
even dust remaining in it; while our political
giants were arousing our people to a fever heat
over the question of slavery, that was fast
driving our country to the terrible war that
finally untied the knotty question that bothered
us Americans when singing "The Home of the
Brave and the Land of the Free."

The November election was over; Abraham
Lincoln was to be the next president.

Then began the machinations of the dis-
affected to destroy the republic. The papers
of the day were filled with inflammatory ar-
ticles. Secession was advocated openly and
boldly. We students became restless. There
was a feeling that the tenor of our lives would
be changed, and that the event was not far off.
Inauguration day had passed and hopes were
expressed that the storm that was brewing
would pass away; but on the ninth day of
April that fatal gun at Charleston boomed
over the land. The die was cast; it was for
war.

The time had come to show your colors.

Fort Sumter had been bombarded and forced

to surrender. We cast about to procure a

flag to raise over the university building, but

82

tBohmrccr

none could be found. Bunting could not be
purchased; the loyal people had exhausted the
supply, so the girl students set their nimble
fingers to work and presented us one made
from calico; and in the presence of the whole
population of the surrounding country, we
hauled it to the peak of the flagstaff and then
and there raising our right hands swore to
protect the honor of that flag with our lives.

It was a solemn, sad, and impressive scene:
boys in their teens dedicating their young lives
to their country. And well they kept their
oaths; the village, the city, and the national
cemeteries bear witness to their devotion to
the Union. In every army of our land, east and
west, the Northwestern students, the brawny
lads of the West, shared with their countrymen
the dangers of the battle field, the privations
and hardships of the camp and the march.
The prisons of the South and the lonely
unknown grave claimed their quota of my
companions.

The excitement became so intense that
books were abandoned, many began to pack
their trunks, all were waiting for something to
turn up, when the news came that the Presi-
dent had called for 75,000 militia for three
months' service. It being late Saturday and
no Sunday trains in those days, many of us
walked to Chicago where we found everybody
on the streets, flags flying from every house.
It was said that they were waiting to hear

83

of Chicago

from the Governor of the State; that on Mon-
day enlisting would certainly begin. We
returned home on a freight train late that
night and early Sunday morning disseminated
the news. Monday we marched to the morn-
ing train; there was standing room only, the
cars being packed with country boys on
the same mission as ourselves. Arriving in
Chicago, we struck out for State Street, where,
before the armory of the Ellsworth Zouaves,
the crowd was so dense we could not get near
it. We tried several other places where we
heard they were enlisting men, but were too
late. ' ' No more men wanted, ' ' was placarded
on the buildings, and the guard stationed so
no one could enter.

The Military Battery of Chicago was an old
organization. A number of us had friends in
the command, and they had given us a tip and
list of students they desired in the company;
so we quit the crowd and went to their armory,
where the same placard stared us in the face,
"No more men wanted." But we found a
number of the battery who quietly led us in
the back way; they had kept places for us, but
we must get recommendation from some prom-
inent person, as the clamor was so great
outside to get into the battery they desired to
fortify their refusal with our recommendations.
These were easily procured. The complement
of men being secured, the books were closed
and the fact announced, from a second-story
84

Volunteer

window, to the crowd below, who received it
with a howl of disappointment.

We were informed, as they only had four
guns (they were six-pounders), the old mem-
bers would go to the front first, and as soon as
they could get two more guns we would be
notified. The citizens of Chicago presented
the battery with horses, and we followed the
fortunate ones to the depot to see them off for
Cairo, where they had been ordered. Thou-
sands of young men were clamoring to enlist,
but the quota of Illinois had been filled; they,
however, kept to work forming companies on
their own account, drilling and preparing them-
selves for the future.

We received letters from Cairo saying they
expected two more guns soon, but we were
impatient and wrote back that we could not
wait any Jpnger; so in a few days a sergeant
was sent for us, our detachment was assembled
and put en route to join our companies. We
found them encamped in the bottom in the
rear of the levee, and very glad to see us.

One gun detachment was up the Mississippi,
and one up the Ohio. They had cut embra-
sures through the gypsum weeds on the levees
to be able to get a view of the rivers.

Their duty was to hail every boat that came
down stream — make them blow their whistle
so that the fort at the junction of the rivers
could be ready for them in case they tried to
run by with contraband goods for the South.

85

ncmnuarcnrcs" of Chicago

Cairo was a busy beehive: camps were
everywhere; steamboats, gunboats, were com-
ing and going; from morning till night it was
drill, drill, drill. When it rained the mud was
deep and sticky, pools of water soon formed,
and mounted drills had to be suspended; when
it dried up, the ground caked, cracked, and
pulverized into an impalpable and suffocating
dust.

There was no poetry in our lives; rations
were good, cooking indifferent, work hard.
As a new regiment arrived, the men flocked to
our camp to see battery drill; few of them had
ever seen a gun, so we generally had an appre-
ciative and enthusiastic audience.

Having but four six-pounders, our detach-
ment was attached to these gun squads. In
time we found out that we were having the
largest share of work put upon us; so soon
will men become old soldiers and learn the
tricks of the trade.

We late comers were looked upon as fresh
fish, and were treated accordingly; we were so
green it took us some time to discover we
were being imposed upon.

Our ideas of discipline were very vague;
articles of war or regulations were a myth to
us. We were obedient, and performed our
allotted tasks because we had been brought up
to do so. We did not have any reverence for
rank, nor did we appreciate the difference
between a general, colonel, or captain.
86

Untocris'irp Volunteer

We looked upon them as men much older
than ourselves, therefore paid deference to
them.

One day a number of us youngsters were at
the St. Charles Hotel. We dropped into the
wineroom, but could not get near the buffet.
General Grant, Colonel Oglevie, and a number
of other officers who became renowned during
the war, with glasses in hand and facing each
other, were talking about steamboats, rations,
wagons, pontoons, a conversation that was not
at all interesting to us. We waited patiently,
but they took no notice of us. So we squeezed
in between them and by gentle pressure moved
them back from the coveted walnut boards;
and while our chiefs sipped their lemonade and
discussed grand tactics and strategy, we, the
youthful tools that made their combinations pos-
sible, sucked our sweetened water through
straws and talked of home, with its good things
to eat. There was no intention on our part
of being disrespectful, nor did we realize that
we were rude. We were boys and acted like
boys; the old gentlemen treated us as such
and did not bother themselves about us.
En pa* writ, I will say I never tried to elbow
General Grant again.

By the time the news of Bull Run reached
us, the boys had had time to get their wind in
the intrenchments of Washington; and some
few did not recognize their old camp grounds,
and passed on, and strengthened themselves

87

of Chicago

with fresh oysters at Fulton Market, New York
City. We did not feel downcast, nor do I
remember of any of us being paralyzed by the
defeat. Was not our Battery '/A" and
Battery "B" at Bird's Point still on deck?
Where was Payne's Ninth and Me Arthur's
Twelfth Illinois, Wallace's Indianians, Smith's
Eighth Missouri wharf-rats, and a host of other
regiments spoiling for a fight? We were
indignant at the report that a three-months'
regiment's time having expired, they refused
to enter the fight. Our time had expired,
too, but we were not going to leave any
loophole open to keep us out of battle, and
there being no mustering officer at Cairo, we
passed around the hat, chipped in and paid the
expenses of a sergeant to go to St. Louis and
bring one down. This is the way we got in
"for three years or the war."

Bird's Point, just across from Cairo, in
Missouri, was an intrenched camp. This is
where I first met Private J. Q. White of
Taylor's Battery, our late and lamented
recorder, who was then just as vivacious,
patriotic, and full of vim as when you knew
him as a member of our commandery.

Our camp duties became very monotonous;
sickness was telling on the command; and the
younger boys began to long for home.

They were furloughed by squads; but as
soon as they changed climate, malarial fever
broke out, so it was deemed unwise to grant

Volunteer

any more . We were longing for a chang e, when,
on the fifth of September, orders came for us
to be ready to strike tents and move at once.
New life was infused into us, limber chests
were put in order, everything was ready for
action. At sundown we marched to the landing.
There we found Payne's Ninth and McArthur's
Twelfth Illinois regiments embarking in steam-
boats. Our battery was soon stowed away,
and with the gunboats Tyler and Conestaga
leading, we started up the Ohio.

None of us knew where we were going, but
we felt we were on important business. At
daylight we were all awake; Paducah was our
destination. I expected to be one of the gun
squads, but received an order to report as
orderly to Colonel Wagner of the artillery in
the cabin above, where General Grant, Captain
Foote of the navy, and staff officers were
assembled. As soon as the boats landed, the
infantry skirmishers at a run disappeared in the
town, our battery soon rattling after them. I
heard General Grant complimenting the battery
and saying he would make a special application
for two more guns for us. We had anticipated
the enemy, who were reported not far away;
the few in town skipped out, so we did not
have a chance to distinguish or extinguish
ourselves.

Earthworks were thrown up, re-enforcements
began to arrive, and General Charles F. Smith
was placed in command.
89

&emini£cente£ of Chicago

I was a sentinel at Battery No. 2 one day,
when the General, followed by an orderly,
approached my post. To me he was the
handsomest man I had ever seen. His long
white mustache, erect figure, soldierly appear-
ance and dignity combined, left an ineffaceable
imprint on my memory. His orderly was a
bugler boy from the regular cavalry. While
the General was listening to my recital of my
order, the orderly, with his horse pawing the air,
was winking and making faces at me. As they
rode off I hardly knew whether to wish I was
the General or the orderly. At breakfast one
morning our sergeant-major handed me an
official letter, and from its numerous re-direc-
tions it had followed me for some time. It
was a commission, duly signed by the President,
appointing me a second lieutenant in the Third
United States Infantry, with orders to report
for duty with my regiment at Washington city.
I did not want it. My brother, seventeen
months younger, had enlisted with me; I did not
want to leave him or my companions, but was
told to obey orders. My squad groomed me
down nicely and I reported at General Smith's
headquarters for discharge.

The front office was occupied by a youngster
of my own age ; he was dressed in shiny-topped
boots, spurs, feet on table, smoking a huge
cigar and reading the morning paper. I
inquired if the General was in. "He is not,"
was the reply. I asked, ' 'When will he be in? "
90

IDohuifccr

The answer was, "I am not his keeper, and he
does not get up with the chickens. " Realizing
that I was a rather early caller, I returned later
and was ushered into his presence . The General
looked at my communication, told me to take
a seat, and congratulated me on being an officer
of the Third United States Infantry. He said
it was one of the oldest and best regiments in
the service and trusted I would be an honor to
it. Tapping a bell, my flip young officer, to
whom I had taken an intense dislike, appeared,
and orders were given for my discharge. The
General looked over a pamphlet on his desk,
informed me tha"t the officer who had just left
was a regular, a fifth of August appointee, the
same batch to which I belonged, but that I
ranked him.

General Smith was at this time colonel of
the Third Infantry, my regiment, but he did
not so inform me. On leaving the General,
my youngster, to whom I had taken an intense
dislike, met me with extended hand, smiling
face, and one of his huge cigars. He said if
I would wait a few minutes until the adjutant-
general relieved him, he would wet my com-
mission in true Kentucky style, which he did.

The dislikes of youth are not very deep-
rooted. On returning to camp, I found my
brother had received an order to report for
duty to General Fremont. We took the boat
for Cairo and went at once to General Grant's
office to get transportation to St. Louis.

ftemhtigcenceg of Chicago

I recognized the General, sitting behind a
wire screen, and handed him my papers. He
looked at my commission and seemed to be
buried in deep thought; then he looked at me
intently, and repeated several times, "John
Page." Just then an old gray-headed officer
tapped him on the shoulder and called, "Time."
The General awoke from his reverie and turned
my papers over to some one else. General
Grant on graduating from West Point was
assigned to the Fourth Infantry, then stationed
at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri.
My father, John Page, was a captain of the
regiment, and took a fancy to the young
lieutenant. The friendship was reciprocated.
My father was mortally wounded at Palo Alto
by having his jaw carried away by a cannon
ball; it was the first blood Grant saw shed on
a battle-field. No doubt his thoughts, when
looking at my commission, were wandering
back to early days. Going to the St. Charles
Hotel, I registered my name for the first time
with "U. S. Army" as a handle to it. My
brother and I were dressed in private uniforms,
gray in color and piped with red. The clerk
sized us up and gave us quarters according to
our ranks — an attic room as near heaven as
he could get us. We paid our board in advance
and left word to be wakened at six next morn-
ing. During the evening, when the lobby was
crowded with officers, a patrol appeared. We
were the only privates visible, so the officer in
92

TMuntccr

charge made for us and demanded our passes.
I showed him my commission, but he said it
was no good and for us to "fall in." Just
then an officer interfered, looked at my orders,
and told the guard we were all right. I asked
a bellboy who it was that had saved us from
the lock-up. "Colonel McPherson, one of
those regulars that musters the boys in," was
his reply. This officer was promoted to major-
general and was the James B. McPherson who
was killed July 22, 1864, near Atlanta.

It was almost eight o'clock when we woke
up; they had failed to call us; our train had left.
We were very angry but it did no good. The
clerk said if we wanted to remain for the next
train, we would have to plank down the where-
withal to secure our heavenly attic. Having
but fifty cents between us, we could not do it,
but we took our revenge out by eating a break-
fast that lasted us for twenty-four hours. That
night, curled up in our blankets among the cot-
ton bales on the levee, with the stars above
blinking at us, we slept as only soldier boys can
sleep. We took the train for Odin, and the
conductor honored our transportation request,
but failed to give us transfers for St. Louis; we
boarded the train, however, which was filled
with Mulligan's paroled men. They took a
fancy to us and insisted upon our taking a wee
drop from their canteens. The conductor
called for our tickets; I explained the circum-
stances. He said he guessed we would have

93

&emmi£cence£ of Chicago

to get off at the next station; Mulligan's men
said they guessed not. The Mulligan guess
was the best.

On reaching St. Louis we went to General
Fremont's headquarters; they occupied a fine
private residence. The house was on an eleva-
tion from the street, the lot being surrounded
by a retaining wall. The entrance to the
grounds was guarded by two cavalrymen, their
sabres crossed; the wall was lined with them,
their feet dangling over it. They were jeering
at everybody that passed. When we stated
we desired to see General Fremont it produced
a howl, and we were invited in not very choice
or polite language to go to the lower regions.

My uncle, Major J. H. Eaton, who had
resigned his commission as a captain of the
Third Infantry in 1858, had re-entered the
service as major and paymaster of volunteers,
and was military secretary to General Fremont.
We could see him at his desk in the conserv-
atory, and in time we attracted his attention.
He sent an orderly for us.

Entering the building, a strange sight greeted
us. It was a motley crew of officers dressed in
all kinds of uniforms, some with leather hip
riding boots with a thousand wrinkles in them;
others with leather breeches with a strip of
cloth reaching to the knee; their headgear were
Garibaldi and other piratical-looking hats; their
sabres were clanking on the floor and at every
step their spurs jingled; they were smoking and
94

IDohmtccr

all talking at once in every language except plain
American. The scene was so novel and outre
that I forgot to follow the orderly until he
aroused me from my reverie. I asked my
uncle what it meant. He evaded my question,
but said the noise was so great in there that he
had been compelled to move his desk into the
conservatory; that the cavalrymen were Zagonis
men; that there were 500 cavalry and 500
infantry constituting General Fremont's body-
guard ; that he had secured a second lieutenancy
for my brother in the infantry contingent. A
bodyguard to me was a new revelation. I had
never run across one in the regions where I had
been serving.

At my home in Evanston they had been
anticipating my arrival; my sash, sword and
revolver were awaiting me; the younger portion
of the family presented me with a poignard
about eight inches long, the letters "X. C. L."
etched on its bright blade; the scabbard was
of red leather. No doubt some of you remem-
ber that redoubtable weapon of our early day
warriors. My uniform was made on a rush
order. The shoulder strap was the typical
strap of the second lieutenant of those days;
it was ample in size, of double row of heavy
bullion, worked on light blue velvet.

[After an illness of two months, Lieut. Page left
to join the Third U.S. Infantry at Washington under
Gen. McClellan, and was thereafter with the Army
of the Potomac. — ED.]

95

£metfcan Volunteer

[Extract from the unpublished memoir of General
Alexander C. McClurg.]

TO the citizen soldier who took active part
in the marches, campaigns and battles
of the Civil War, no other part of his
life, no matter how active and enterprising it
may have been, or how successful, can rival
in interest the years passed as a volunteer in
his country's service. Then, if ever, he was
acting under unselfish and generous impulses —
following and seeking not his own interest and
advancement, but what he believed to be beyond
price or valuation, his country's safety, in-
tegrity and prosperity, the interests and happi-
ness of the men, women and children of
America, and, as it seemed to many of us, the
future welfare of the world and mankind.

There is no doubt that the great majority of
those who in the earlier days of the war
devoted themselves to their country's service
did so in opposition to their personal inclina-
tion, and with the conviction that they were
sacrificing, temporarily at least, their personal
best interests for a more sacred cause. Some
doubtless enlisted from a love of adventure,
and, later, others were tempted by liberal cash
97

of Chicago

bounties — but this was not the case in the
early years of the war. Those who enlisted
were of course nearly all young men, just
entering upon, or just about to enter upon, the
activities of life. Hope and ambition were
urging them forward in some chosen career
which should bring competence and ease in
later life. They longed to stay at home and
to enter upon their life work; but something
higher and nobler than their own self-interest
beckoned them to the field where the life and
integrity of their beloved country must be
fought for in bloody battles. They could not
be deaf to the calls which were sounding all
around them. The periodical press was full
of patriotic appeals . Every rostrum resounded
with the fervid eloquence of anxious lovers of
their country. Orators, like Wendell Phillips
and Henry Ward Beecher, and statesmen, like
Lincoln and Seward, poured forth the most
soul-stirring pleas t"o save the Union.

To the young and enthusiastic, all the familiar
patriotic words of the poets not only echoed
and re-echoed through heart and brain, but
took a new and practical meaning.

"Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said
This is my own, my native land!"

"Sail on, O ship of state!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

American Volunteer loftier

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our hopes triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with thee, are all with thee."

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

These and hundreds of similar passages conned
in boyhood were in all minds, and burned our
hearts with an intensity of meaning never felt
before. Music inspired every heart to patriotic
service and sacrifice; woman looked and spoke
the same high appeal. Never before had been
felt such a fervor of apprehension and high
patriotic resolve. American manhood was ex-
horted as never before. The American Re-
public must not perish. No theories of States
Rights must be allowed to destroy it. The
Union must and shall be preserved! It was
evident to all that unless the American youth
of the North rose to the occasion all the bright
hopes of ideal republicanism were lost, and
forever. It was almost impossible for any
generous and manly spirit among the young to
resist the appeal ; no matter what the repug-
nance to war and battle, to the rough manners
and severe hardships of a soldier's life, no
matter how strong the mere selfish temptation
to the tasks and ambitions of civil life. The
country's peril and her cry to her sons to save
her drowned all other voices. Every youth
and young man felt the struggle between in-
clination and duty in his own breast. Each
must settle the mighty question alone and for
99

of Chicago

himself. Some who had wives, mothers, or
sisters dependent upon them, or who were
fettered by other circumstances, must remain
at home, and this only increased the urgency
upon others who were not so fettered. For
myself, the struggle was severe and long; but
the conclusion was irresistible; I did not want
to go; but I must.

I had only recently come to Chicago from
my home at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and had
entered enthusiastically upon what I felt would
be a congenial business for life. I had become
a junior clerk in the wholesale and retail book-
store of S. C. Griggs & Go. Although always
fond of outdoor life and sports, my spare hours
had been largely devoted to books and reading;
and a life devoted to books, even commercially,
had the strongest attraction for me. I could
look only with abhorrence upon war and or-
ganized brute force, for I had been deeply
moved by the common sense and eloquence of
Charles Sumner's splendid peace orations. I
had never taken any interest in volunteer or
militia soldiering, and, indeed, had rather
looked with contempt upon the showy uniforms
and pompous paradings of those who seemed
to play at soldiering in times of peace. But
the decision was made; I must go into this
war, and do what little one individual could to
save the imperiled country.

I was only one of many, for I found most of
my companions and acquaintances in Chicago
100

American Volunteer

had been going through the same struggles as
myself; and a large number of them had reached
the same conclusion. How we should go was
now the question. Many of us had had college
educations, had been somewhat delicately
reared, and had been accustomed to the lives
and manners of refined family circles. We
naturally shrunk from the idea of entering the
rank and file and becoming private soldiers;
and we would generally have liked to secure
commissions as lieutenants or subaltern officers.
Without political influence, however, this was
not easy, and, despairing of such opportunities,
we finally determined to form a company among
ourselves, in which all the men might be of
somewhat the same condition in life, and more
or less congenial, that so we might tone down
some of the asperities of the private soldier's
life. It was at last quietly and quickly made
known that on a certain Saturday evening all
those who were notified, and who desired to
join such a company, would assemble together
at eight o'clock in a designated office on Dear-
born Street, where muster-rolls would be ready
for signature. At the appointed hour I re-
paired to the rendezvous, and found there
already assembled a large number of young
men, mainly personal friends and acquaint-
ances. It was a curious assemblage and
although the naturally high spirits and jollity
of youth would occasionally assert themselves,
a very decided feeling of seriousness and
101

of Chicago

solemnity pervaded all. The muster-roll was
soon numerously signed, and a company of
about one hundred picked men (for so we con-
sidered ourselves) was enlisted. An organiza-
tion was at once effected, and a member, who
had previously served as captain of a militia
company in New England, Mr. L. P. Bradley,
was elected Captain, and a prominent young
lawyer of Chicago, Mr. Norman Williams, who
had had some tactical training in an eastern
militia company, was made First Lieutenant.
It happened that on that very evening an
immense ' 'war meeting' ' was being held in the
old "Wigwam" — in which Abraham Lincoln
had been nominated for president. The rapid
mustering of this company had been heard of
at the meeting, and a request was sent down
that the company should present itself. We
were accordingly marshaled into column, and,
with drum and fife, marched through the quiet
and dark streets to the Wigwam, where after
a moment of waiting we were ushered upon
the platform on which Hon. Thomas Drum-
mond, the highly revered United States District
Judge, was presiding, and Hon. George C.
Bates, a noted lawyer of that day, was making
an impassioned and eloquent war speech. The
announcement was made to an already excited
and enthusiastic audience that this was a new
company of somewhat well-known Chicago
young men just enlisted for the war. The
audience was a mixed one of ladies and gentle-
102

American Volunteer

men, and as many of them recognized with
surprise many of those in ranks, the shouts
and cheering which, in unison with the strains
of the band, greeted the company can be
imagined, not described, for the audience was
immense, and was wrought up to the most in-
tense patriotic feeling. This company was
formed at the time when President Lincoln
had called for the first levy of seventy-five
thousand men, and this gallant company was
at once tendered by telegraph to the Governor
as a contribution to Illinois' quota. Most of
the young men in it spent the next day or two
in making emotional farewell visits to their
friends, especially their young lady friends, as
they expected to leave for the field immediately.
It became known, however, a day or two
later, that the state's quota was already full,
and that the services of this company must be
declined. The feelings with which this an-
nouncement was received by the men were
probably very varied. Many were loud in
their expressions of disappointment, but for
myself, I confess I was conscious of release
from an intense strain, and a feeling of joy
that my services were not needed in the field,
and that now I was at liberty, without self-
condemnation, to return to my chosen civil
pursuits. It is a proof, however, of their
earnestness of purpose that over eighty of the
privates in the company afterwards bore com-
missions in the volunteer army.
103

of Chicago

Though denied admission to the army at
that time, however, it was by no means certain
that many more troops would not speedily be
equired, and it was unanimously decided to
keep up the company organization, and to go
on drilling assiduously, mainly in the evening,
in order to be ready for service when a further
urgent call should come. I attended all drills,
and studied the school of the soldier and the
ordinary company tactics industriously in all
my spare moments, determined, if possible, to
fit myself for future probable emergencies.
Under Captain Bradley the company became
before long a very creditably drilled military
organization, and was known as Company D,
6oth Regiment Illinois Militia. This removed
all probability that it would be called into the
national service as an organization. We still,
however, felt ourselves more than half way
soldiers, and undoubtedly rejoiced in the con-
sciousness that we had shown our willingness
to serve our country in the field. The company
was in an efficient state of drill and discipline
when the Hon. Stephen A. Douglas died. The
body of Mr. Douglas lay in state in Chicago,
in Bryan Hall, opposite the court house, on
Clark Street, and Company D was detailed as
a guard of honor over the remains. The hall
was kept open day and night to allow the in-
numerable crowds of citizens who desired to
look upon his remains to do so. It happened,
that as a private soldier, I was a member of the
104

American Volunteer

relief which stood over the coffin after mid-
night, and I shall never forget the solemnity
of the scene in the dimly lighted hall at
that time. The next day the guard of honor
marched as an escort to the grave on the lake
shore where his monument now stands, and
my unaccustomed muscles received a very vivid
impression of what a private soldier endures in
a long march on a hot day, under the weight
of heavy musket and accoutrements.

It was not long, however, before the country
was felt to be again in sore straits, and more
men were called for. Very quickly the officers
and men of this home company began to enlist
in other regiments which were forming for
active service in the field. Captain Bradley
and Sergeant C. W. Davis were among the
first to leave for the front, having been com-
missioned, respectively, as Lieutenant-Colonel
and Adjutant of the 5 1st Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, the former becoming ultimately Brig-
adier-General of Volunteers and the latter
Lieutenant-Colonel commanding his regiment.
Thus one after another the men of this original
company drifted away into active service in
the field, having been generally found fitted to
be commissioned as officers in regiments which
were forming for the front. For myself, in
August, 1862, I joined with two other gentle-
men, who were already engaged in an attempt
to raise a company which was intended to be
one of the companies to compose two new
105

ftmunigccnceg of Chicago

regiments organizing under the auspices of the
Board of Trade of Chicago.

The patriotic citizens generally, and espe-
cially those composing the Board, although
usually too old to go themselves, were anxious
to do all in their power to contribute, pecu-
niarily, and in other ways, toward filling up the
ranks of the armies in the field. The various
companies forming for the regiments were
each of them raised under the patronage, as it
were, of some patriotic citizen, and for the time
being were called by the citizen's name. The
company which I joined was being liberally
aided by Mr. U. H. Crosby, a personal friend,
who, though but a young man, had recently
erected a noble building which was then Chi-
cago's pride, the beautiful and commodious
Crosby's Opera House. After him the com-
pany was at first known as "The Crosby
Guards . ' ' We had a tent erected on the meager
plat of grass then surrounding the Court House
Square. Above the tent floated the beloved
national flag, and within it a small wooden
table, with a fresh muster-roll spread upon it,
flanked with two or three chairs, composed the
furnishings.

Here the three persons who were trying to
raise the company spent the long hours of the
day, sitting or standing at the door, trying,
like spiders, to lure into their web any promis-
ing looking youth or man who came within
sight. Long and earnest were the unsophisti-
106

American Doluntccr

cated appeals to patriotism, but we suffered
greatly from our inability to show any military
competence or experience on the part of those
who were organizing the company, and who
hoped to be its officers. The Chicago Court
House Square then presented a busy and a
stirring scene, for it was occupied by perhaps
half a dozen other similar tents, where other
men were engaged in raising rival companies,
and keen was the competition when eligible
recruits appeared in view. Each group was
anxious to swell its own muster-roll. It was
curious as we afterwards looked back to this
time to remember how anxious we all were to
secure the large, stalwart, strong-looking men.
Physical prowess cut much figure in our con-
ception of the efficient soldier — and we were
possessed with the idea that the large and
vigorous looking men were the ones who would
best stand the hardships of service and exposure
in the field. These ideas were very decidedly
changed by after experience. It was soon
found in actual service that the large and
heavy men were apt to be the first to yield to
exhaustion and disease and to go to the hospi-
tals, while the small and slight men went
safely through the severest duties and expo-
sures, and reported constantly for active duty.
As a rule, too, men reared in the country and
accustomed to hard work and active life upon
the farm gave out more quickly than the
lighter and more wiry men from the city. I
107

of Chicago

remember distinctly when one day a tall, dark-
complexioned and fine-looking man from south-
ern Illinois came into the tent, and how
anxious and excited we were until he had
finally signed the muster-roll. There was
more joy over him than over many smaller and
less heroic-looking men, for was he not also
dashing and daring in his manner, and loud-
mouthed withal in his declarations of what he
would do if he only once got a chance at
"them Rebs"? As he is still living, I do not
give his name. He deserted in almost our
first battle, and proved to be a typical example
of a numerous class of large-bodied, loud-
mouthed, blustering braggarts, whose great
professions of valor and prowess came to an
ignominious end on the battle-field. He was
afterwards very indignant with me when I
refused to sign his application for a pension,
reminding me that he deserved a pension as
much as many of those who were already on
the pension rolls. I do not doubt he has
finally succeeded in getting a compliant con-
gress to place him there.

We spent many days at this monotonous
work, and long and weary were the hours,
especially when recruits were few; but we
were constantly encouraged by the visits of
prominent patriotic citizens who came in to
cheer and aid us in our work, for the whole
community was burning with zeal, and desired
to hurry troops into the field.
108

&mmcan Volunteer

Finally our efforts were rewarded by seeing
a little over eighty names upon our muster-
roll, enough to form an undersized company,
though considerably short of the maximum
number (101) permitted to a company. Men
were urgently needed in the field, and we were
therefore directed to appear before Captain
Christopher, the United States mustering offi-
cer, to be mustered into the national service
for three years, or during the war. We accord-
ingly marched around to the mustering office
on Dearborn Street, and each individual who
answered to his name was mustered into the
United States service for three years as a
private soldier. It was a solemn moment for
many of us; but we had already counted the
cost. All had appeared who had signed the
roll except the gentleman who had first begun
to raise the company, and who expected to be
made its captain. He was more advanced in
years than most of us, was not of American
birth, was comfortably settled in the banking
business, and it was not surprising that when
he found that the choice of officers must be
left to the men, all strangers to him, after
muster he did not care to risk the possibility
of having to carry a musket for three years as
private soldier. The patriotism of many a
man, though pure and ardent, might well quail
at this. He had perhaps even less knowledge
of tactics, or any of the duties of the soldier,
than either of his campanions, Mr. Charles T.
109

ftcmmisrcnrcs of Chicago

Boal or myself, who had hoped to be elected,
respectively, to the offices of first and second
lieutenant. Having been mustered, we were
directed to report at once to Camp Douglas,
about five miles south of the city, which was
then the rendezvous and training camp for
Chicago troops. Mr. Boal and I, with our
slight knowledge of company drill, managed to
get the men into properly ordered ranks, and
the company began its first military march.
Arrived at the camp, a piece of ground was
assigned by the post commander, Colonel
Tucker, upon which we were to encamp. "We
were no longer free men, and were ordered
to sleep in camp that night; but first we were
to be provided with tents, tent-poles, tent-
pins, tin cups, tin plates, kettles, knives and
forks, and the innumerable paraphernalia which
is necessary to complete the equipment of a
company in the field. In some haphazard
way, I do not remember how, we learned that
the post quartermaster, whose quarters were
perhaps a half a mile distant, would furnish
these requisites for the company if some seem-
ingly responsible person would receipt for
them. No one else volunteering for this duty,
I concluded to visit the quartermaster myself in
behalf of the band of innocents whom I had
aided to get into what at the time seemed to
be rather a forsaken and helpless situation.
In a very few minutes I was conferring with
the quartermaster and receipting for innumer-
110

American Volunteer

able articles which I knew as little about as an
infant. The counting and becoming responsi-
ble for camp kettles, tin plates, tin cups, pewter
spoons, knives and forks, etc., was all very
prosaic, and seemed almost humiliating to an
ambitious young soldier; but I had enlisted for
the war, and was nerved up for anything and
everything which that might imply; the practi-
cal, common-place side of camp life must
certainly be looked after.

I had been engaged in this way but a short
time when I was suddenly confronted by two
men of the company, who came as a committee
to tell me that "the boys "had determined that
they must have some officers; that they had
gone into an election; that I had been nom-
inated for captain, and "the boys" wanted to
hear from me. I could not have been more
surprised, for never till that moment had the
idea of becoming captain of the company
entered my head. It had been supposed all
along that the man of whom I have just spoken,
who had been most active in raising the com-
pany, would be the captain of it. He had
suddenly failed to be mustered, and the situa-
tion was changed; some other member of the
company must become captain. As I walked
back with the "committee " I learned that the
men had been prompted to go into an election
of officers by two officers (captains I think),
who had for some time been serving in the field
with one of the older Illinois regiments. They
in

ftcmmigccnceg of Chicago

were at home on leave of absence, and hap-
pened that afternoon to be visitors at Camp
Douglas. They assured the men that the
election of officers was an immediate requisite;
that they knew all about the formula necessary
for such an election. They told the men that
they would superintend the election, keep the
necessary records, and forward these records,
duly certified, to the governor of the state
through the Adjutant-General; and that upon
this evidence commissions would at once be
issued by the governor to the men elected as
officers. I saw nothing wrong with this plan,
for I knew nothing about it, and I supposed
that these superior beings, these (to me)
veteran officers, knew all about it.

I saw at once that a crisis of much import-
ance to me and to the company had arisen.
As I thought it over one thing was at once
clear to my mind: I was not fit to be captain;
but the second thought immediately followed
it, granted that I am not fit, who in the com-
pany is? Some of the men were considerably
older than I. There were men with families,
men who had been independent farmers, well-
to-do country storekeepers and skilled me-
chanics, but they knew little or nothing about
drill or tactics or military affairs, not even as
much as I did. There was, it is true, in the
company one large, fine-looking, stalwart man,
seemingly competent and very intelligent, who
had served two terms of enlistment as a private
112

American Oohuitccr

soldier in the regular army; but when spoken
to about being elected an officer he had posi-
tively declined — for what reason we could not
understand, though subsequent events made it
very apparent. Looking at the question as
candidly and as nearly without bias as I could,
I concluded that if the men were in earnest in
their desire to make me captain, I had perhaps
best be as willing to trust myself to fill the
position as any one else in the company. I
need not of course pretend that there were no
whisperings of ambition. I felt at once that
it would be a high and very gratifying honor if
the men should voluntarily select me to be
captain of the company, provided of course I
could afterward by my conduct justify my
election to what at the time seemed to me
a very high and exalted position.

Reaching the company ground I at once
sought out Mr. Boal, who I thought, if he
desired it, had a better right to be captain than
I, for he had joined the company earlier than
I, and had done more toward enlisting it. I
told him that if he wished to be captain I
would not be a candidate. He, however, pro-
tested that while he did hope to be made first
lieutenant, he would not consent to become
captain.

The situation now being clear, I entered the
circle about which the men were grouped and
asked what they wanted with me. They said
I had been nominated for captain, and they

Reminiscences of Chicago

wanted to hear from me. I recognized the
crisis. It was to be decided at once whether
for the next three years I should bear a com-
mission as captain or carry a musket as a pri-
vate soldier. I took off my cap, and collected
my thoughts as well as I could, being utterly
unaccustomed to speaking to a crowd of men.
I made no attempt at oratory, but I told them
in a very few and simple, but earnest words
that I had had practically no military training
or experience, and was therefore not fit to
become captain of a company in active field
service; but that we were perhaps all alike in
that respect, all uninformed and inexperienced.
We only knew that we had entered upon a
service which would prove no child's play, and
was likely to cost one of us very dearly; that
we were moved by a common desire to serve
our country against her foes, and that we must
all do our best and help one another toward
that end. That while, as I then was, I knew
I was not fit for captain of the company, yet
if they chose to make me captain I should do
the very best I could to qualify myself; I
should work hard and I should expect them to
work hard; I should insist upon constant and
arduous drills; and, knowing that discipline
was the most important thing, I should enforce
as rigid discipline as I could. I said we per-
haps could not gain much glory as soldiers,
but we could at least do our duty and serve
our country. I was frankly in earnest, and
114

American Volunteer £ofiuer

spoke with much feeling. The men were
pleased, and I was unanimously elected. Mr.
Boal was also unanimously elected first lieu-
tenant and Mr. D. B. Rice second lieutenant.
Mr. Rice was well known to many of the men,
and had already served a few weeks in the field
as a member of a cavalry company.

We now believed that the first and import-
ant steps toward the organization of the com-
pany were taken, and it devolved upon me to
take measures to finally reduce this motley
mass of men to a disciplined company of
soldiers. Other companies were encamped
around about us which were in the same
chaotic condition as our own, and their officers
had their duties still to learn, just as I had.
I believed that what they could do I could do,
and I set about with enthusiasm to do it. To
house the company we had five "Sibley" tents
(large bell-shaped tents, capable of holding
fifteen to twenty men each), and two small
wall tents. The five Sibley tents were pitched
in line facing the company street, the two wall
tents, or officer tents, upon the right of the
line. The first of these I occupied; the second
was occupied by the two lieutenants. Squad
drill was immediately instituted and practiced
assiduously, in spite of some discontent which
began to appear among the men at the con-
stant work. The "setting up" of the men,
"the position of the soldier," "the align-
ment, " " the facings, ' ' the ' ' manual of arms, ' '

"5

of Chicago

I found all full of interest when studied care-
fully. The drilling of the company as a whole
I soon became very much interested in. I
studied the tactics incessantly and carefully,
and the promptness and accuracy of movement
which I was soon able to secure greatly interest-
ed me. There was a mathematical precision
about the movements which was unexpectedly
interesting, and then, too, I soon began to see
that by conscientious effort on my own part I
was securing the confidence and prompt obedi-
ence of my men. They began to feel that they
really were becoming what they wanted to be,
soldiers. Meanwhile, kind friends in Chicago,
whom I had become acquainted with during my
short residence in the city, learning that I had
become captain of a company, presented me
with a complete set of captain's uniform, includ-
ing epaulets, sword, and (though contrary to
regulations for an infantry captain) a pair of
pistols. I should like to dwell upon this pres-
entation, which was very interesting and grati-
fying to me, and upon the eloquent speech made
by Mr. Henry M. Shepard, a young attorney,
well known since in Chicago as an ornament
to the legal bench; but this is not necessary to
my narrative.

The brilliant new uniform was quickly
donned, and I began to feel myself already
every inch a captain, as I could see it had a
marked effect upon my raw recruits. Very
soon they too had their military clothing dealt out
116

American IMuntccr

to them by Uncle Sam's quartermaster, and it
was evident that their own and their officers'
uniforms and bright buttons had much to do
with promoting a soldierly spirit, and making
them feel that they had ceased to be civilians,
and had entered in earnest upon serious duties
as soldiers enlisted for service in the field.

By this time the company has been assigned
to its final position as Company H of the 88th
Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry — pop-
ularly called the 2nd Chicago Board of Trade
Regiment. It was a regiment in the raising
of which the citizens of Chicago, and especially
the members of the Board of Trade, took a
great interest, and there was much desire to
get just the right man for colonel. The line
officers of the regiment were mainly personal
friends of Mr. Norman Williams, Jr., a prom-
inent young lawyer of the city, who, as has been
said before, had had some experience in a New
England militia regiment, and they almost
unanimously desired Mr. Williams for colonel.
However, Governor Yates, then governor of
Illinois, had already written to Major Francis
T. Sherman, then major of an Illinois cavalry
regiment in the field, that if he would resign
and come home, he, the governor, would
appoint him colonel of one of the two Board of
Trade Regiments then being formed. Major
Sherman had resigned, and the governor had
at once appointed him colonel of our regiment,
the Second Board of Trade. The line officers
117

ftmunigcenceg of €fjicago

remonstrated; and the Chicago Board of Trade
appointed a committee of their most prominent
and influential members to visit Springfield,
and endeavor to get the governor to recall the
appointment. The governor demurred, saying
that as Major Sherman had resigned at his
request he must have the promised appoint-
ment. Both the citizens and the officers of
the regiment were much dissappointed, and the
latter received their new colonel with very
little cordiality; indeed they were inclined to
be almost insubordinate, and for a time held
very little intercourse with the colonel except
officially. However, Colonel Sherman was
evidently a man of iron nerve and much firm-
ness of purpose; he cared little for the prefer-
ences of the line officers, and showed by his
air and manner that he proposed to show these
young men that he could command them.
The remainder of the field and staff were
appointed and the organization of the regiment
completed. Regimental guards were estab-
lished, and the men were confined to regi-
mental limits. None could leave the camp
without a furlough from his captain. This
led, before long, to at least one incident per-
sonal to me which was at the time decidedly
more interesting than agreeable. There was
in the company, as I have said before, one
man who was something of a mystery to us
all. He was named Dorman, and had served
as a private soldier for ten years in the regular
118

American Volunteer loftier

army on the plains and in the west. He was
a large, fine-looking man, strongly built, and
seemed not only a man of considerable char-
acter, but of more than ordinary intelligence.
He knew far more about the general duties of
the soldier in camp than any of us, and yet,
notwithstanding, he had steadily declined to
allow himself to be thought of in the election
of officers, and had even refused appointment
as a non-commissioned officer, either sergeant
or corporal. One morning he, Dorman, came
to me and asked me for a furlough to go to the
city to make a few necessary purchases. I
gave him the furlough, and urged him to be
sure to be back not later than the time speci-
fied in the furlough, eight o'clock in the even-
ing, as I more than half suspected that he
might be too found of whiskey. The day
passed away, and eight o'clock came but
brought no Dorman. Nine o'clock, ten o'clock
and eleven o'clock, and still no Dorman. I
retired to my tent and lay down upon my cot.
I fell sound asleep, and knew nothing more
until between one and two o'clock the next
morning, when I was awakened by someone
rapping on my tent door. I shouted, "Come
in," and Sergeant Andrews entered. He was
evidently in a state of some excitement, and I
could hear a confused noise of many of my
men and many voices outside the tent. Ser-
geant Andrews told me in a few rapid words
and with evident agitation that Dorman had
119

itcnumsrrnrctf of Chicago

returned savagely drunk; that he had gone to
the tent where he was quartered and raised a
disturbance among the men; that Sergeant
Rice, who had charge of that tent, had at-
tempted to control and quiet him, when he
had suddenly, and with the adroitness learned
in his previous service in the army, wrenched
a bayonet from a musket standing nearby and
with uncontrollable fury had stabbed Sergeant
Rice, the bayonet passing through his arm and
into his body; that he had then cleared the
tent of all the men in it, and was still in the
tent defying any one to come near him. Nat-
urally my mind worked rapidly during this
recital. I had known for days before that the
men were wondering what sort of a quiet
young fellow they had elected for their captain,
and how he would act in emergencies. I
knew my measure had yet to be taken, and I
saw at once that the hour had come. Ser-
geant Andrews' visit was evidently for the
purpose of seeing what the little captain
would do about it. The crisis was unpleasant,
but I could not shirk it. I sprang out of my
cot and drew on my pantaloons and boots. I
remember distinctly drawing my suspenders
over my shoulders and buttoning them over
my flannel shirt as I walked out with the
sergeant. I did not stop for my coat. The
company street was full of men, not only of
my own company but from all the neighboring
companies round about, and excitement ran
120

American IDoluntccr £oltucr

high. The wounded sergeant, Rice, was lying
under a neighboring tree with two surgeons
bending over him dressing his wounds. The
tent where Dorman was, was some distance up
the company street, and as I walked toward it
the crowd of men fell back on either side
making a lane for me. When I got within ten
feet of the tent, however, the ground was
clear, the men naturally giving the tent and its
opening a wide berth. The door of the tent
was opposite to me, and a single candle burning
within showed the stalwart fellow, Dorman,
standing with his left hand clutching the center
pole for support, while he drunkenly swayed
backward and forward, brandishing the still
bloody bayonet, cursing and swearing viciously,
and defying any of the "d — d militia" to come
near him. It occurred to me at once that it
was fortunate for me that I had to deal with an
old soldier of the army, rather than with one of
the green recruits, as the former had long been
under the influence of discipline, and would
have a respect for the position of an officer
which the other would not feel, and that I
should be safer with the disciplined soldier
than with a man who had known nothing of
discipline and nothing of an officer's authority.
I therefore continued to walk slowly across
the open space toward the door of the tent
until two of my men rushed after me and
caught hold of me, trying to stop me, exclaim-
ing, "For God's sake, Captain, don't go near
121

of Chicago

him. He is crazy drunk, and will kill any
man who tries to touch him." I put their
hands off of me, however, telling them I knew
what I was doing. They fell back, and I
slowly walked forward, keeping my eye steadily
upon the man. When I saw that his eye
caught mine, I kept mine fixed upon him, and
said quietly, "Dorman, do you know who I
am?" He replied with profanity, "Yes, you're
the d — d little militia captain. If you come
in here I'll make mincemeat of you." I replied,
"That's all I want. If you know who I am,
stop this nonsense and be quiet." I walked
confidently up to him. As I approached him
he drew back his hand with the bayonet as if
he would make a savage lunge at my breast.
I steadily approached him, however, keeping
my eye fixed upon his. He evidently did not
expect this, and quailed for a moment, draw-
ing back. Still keeping my eye fixed upon
his, I followed him up and took hold of his
left arm. As I did so, he again drew back
his weapon savagely, exclaiming with profan-
ity, " I'll kill you." Again he was unprepared
for my confident manner and voice, and his
resolution failed him; he did not strike. With
my other hand I drew down his right hand,
which held the bayonet. He allowed me to
take it out of his hand without further resist-
ance. I then took him by the arm and marched
him out of the tent and through the crowd,
which readily fell back, to what we called the
122

American Boiunteet

"regimental guard-house," which was nothing
else but a square piece of ground, staked out
to represent the guard -house which we had not.
I handed over the prisoner to the regimental
guard and turned to walk back to my tent. I
had not gone more than ten yards, however,
before I heard a commotion and struggle be-
hind me. Turning back, I found two guards
and Dorman rolling in a heap on the ground.
The sergeant of the guard informed me that
Dorman had a canteen of whiskey suspended
from his neck under his blouse and refused to
give it up. I went up to him, and under cover
of a few quiet words cut the cord with my pen-
knife and drew away the canteen. Handing
it to the sergeant, I went back to my quarters,
and there was no more trouble. I knew of
course that it was not my duty as an officer to
act as I had done, but I felt that, all things
considered, this was the best course. I felt
sure I could succeed in controlling him by
force of will, and that if I did so it would have
a good moral effect upon the men. Besides
this, our regimental guards were at that time
so imperfectly organized that it would be diffi-
cult to resort to any other course. The
incident evidently had a marked effect upon
the men, and rendered the enforcement of
discipline afterward more easy.

One afternoon, not many days after this
incident, I was in my tent when I heard a
123

of Chicago

knock, and saying, "Come in," one of the
sergeants entered. "Have you heard the news,
Captain?" said he. "No," I replied, "what
is it?" "The boys say that news has come
to regimental headquarters that the elections
in this company were not valid, and that the
Adjutant-General of the state will be here him-
self to-morrow to hold elections for captain
and lieutenants." This was most astounding
news, and certainly not agreeable to those who
thought themselves firmly established as officers
for three years to come. After wearing our
officers' uniforms, and being greeted by our
friends and acquaintances as officers, it would
be by no means pleasant to go back into the
ranks and carry muskets as private soldiers for
three years. For myself, I felt very doubtful
whether I should be re-elected. I was conscious
that I was not, and had not sought to be, what
would be called "popular" with my men. I
had regarded discipline as all important, and
had aimed to be something of a martinet. I
was enforcing a stricter discipline than was
observed in many of the companies around us.
For instance, it was quite the custom of the
men generally to address their captains famil-
iarly as "Cap," and to wear their own hats
when they came into their officers' tents. Both
these things I absolutely forbade, thinking
them prejudicial to discipline, and was there-
fore thought to be making invidious distinctions
between myself and my men. I had, however,
124

American TDoluntccr JtolDirr

more trouble with the men of other companies
than with my own. I had also felt it necessary
to arrest and punish some of my men for what
the men generally thought rather trivial offenses,
and many signs convinced me that while I was
perhaps respected by the men, I was not
popular.

Soon after the sergeant left the tent Lieu-
tenant Boal came in and confirmed the report,
saying that he had been to the Colonel's
quarters, and the rumor was true. He asked
me what I should do in the matter. Having
had a little time to think it over, I said that I
would do nothing, but would remain captain
of the company until the Adjutant-General
appeared; I should not say a word to the men
about it; they had had some experience with
me now, and could judge whether I was the
kind of man they wanted for captain or no; I
should not try to influence them, but should
leave the matter entirely to them.

I went on with my duties as usual, but I
confess I spent a very anxious night. In the
morning an order came for the company to be
presented before the Adjutant-General for an
election. I formed the company, marched it
to the parade ground, drew it up in line before
the Adjutant-General, and then stepped back
into the ranks myself. He made a speech
explaining the misunderstanding which had
occurred; telling the men very plainly (rather
insistently and unnecessarily so, it seemed to
125

&emini$tmtt$ of Chicago

me) that they were in no way bound by their
previous action, and that they were now about
to make a serious selection of men who were
to command them during three years of actual
service, probably in the face of the enemy;
that it was a serious business, and they must
so regard it, remembering that they had an
entire right to elect any of their comrades
whom they thought best fitted. I inferred
that he had made a hasty estimate of me, and
had concluded from my rather juvenile, deli-
cate, and not very impressive looks that the
men had originally made a mistake. He called
his clerk beside him to keep a record of the
election, and called for nominations for cap-
tain. My heart beat fast. To my surprise
several of the men called out my name. It
was entered by the clerk, and the men were
promptly and impressively reminded that they
could make as many nominations as they
desired. There was a pause, but in spite of
further promptings from the Adjutant-General,
no other nomination was made, and I heard
myself re-elected captain without a dissenting
voice. I think there is no doubt that the
Dorman incident, and that alone, secured my
re-election. The lieutenants, who had so far
incurred no responsibility and had given no
reason for offense, were then both of them re-
elected, and we all breathed freely again.
This re-election, after it was past, gave me
much gratification. I was glad to know that
126

American Volunteer

after some little chance to test me the men did
not repent of their choice, and that I now had
their endorsement. I felt proud of my posi-
tion, and much more confident of being able to
fill it creditably. I realized that the position
was an important one — much more important
than I had ever hoped to fill in military life —
and I felt that to fill it honorably and creditably
for three years, or during the war, was all, or
more than all, my ambition need aspire to. I
resolved rather to seek to be a competent and
efficient captain than to seek higher promotion.
The later weeks of August, 1862, were spent
in camp at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and the
busy days were all too short for our arduous
efforts to learn the routine duties and drills of
the soldier. To change our ideas and habits
from those of the civilian to those of the
soldier was no easy task. To change home
and comfortable rooms for life in a tent was
perhaps more novel than agreeable; but we
applied ourselves to our new life with zest, in
order to be prepared for efficient service later,
when we should be brought face to face with
the enemy in the field; for so far as I could
see, every man in the company was fully
possessed with the idea that there was no
child's play before us, but serious, hard, and
tragic work. The early reveille, the roll call,
the details for guard duty, the fatigue duties
about the camp, the guard mounts, the restric-
tions to the limits of the camp, the men's
127

fteminigcenceg of Chicago

monotonous meals at the military mess, all
were novelties which soon became more ardu-
ous than pleasing.

But the great occupation and the great
labor was drill — first squad drill, then com-
pany drill, and finally a little battalion drill.
I soon developed a strong liking for conduct-
ing drills, and drilling my company became to
me a real recreation. The mere practice in
"setting up" the men — that is, teaching them
the attitude and carriage of the soldier — was
deeply interesting, and I soon found it as
necessary to apply all this training to myself
as to the men. To drill my company efficiently
I must first drill myself, and this became a
pleasure. Indeed I found myself inclined to
become exacting in my demands upon myself
as well as upon my men. To my surprise I
discovered I was beginning not only to take an
interest in active study of military duties but
to like them. Soldiering was not at all lacking
in interest, as I had supposed. All the other
companies of the new regiment were engaged
in the same earnest efforts to become soldierly
and to fit themselves for the field, and soon a
strong esprit du corps and friendly rivalry
sprang up among the various companies of the
regiment, which were generally commanded by
young men of character and education from
Chicago. Each captain of a company very
soon began to betray characteristics of his own
in managing and drilling his company, and the
128

American Volunteer

companies naturally began to show the effects
of these varying methods. There seemed to
prevail generally among the new officers, not
only of our own regiment, but of all the regiments
encamped round about us, a sort of traditional
belief that rough and boisterous language and
much swearing were absolutely necessary in
the efficient disciplining and drilling of soldiers.
I did not believe this, and as I had never up
to this time permitted myself to swear, I
determined that my army life should not lead
me to do so. Leaving out of consideration
all thought of the moral or religious aspect of
the habit, it seemed to me altogether disgust-
ing, and the natural resource rather of the
incompetent bully than of the gentleman, or
even of the man of good common sense. The
announcement that I proposed to drill and
discipline my men without ever swearing at
them produced much levity and amusement
among certain of my fellow officers, and bets
were freely offered that if I really persisted in
this attempt I would soon find its futility, and
that "in less than a month McClurg would be
swearing worse than any man in the regiment."
If the^e bets were taken they were not won by
those who offered them. I kept my temper
under control, and very soon the men began to
respond handsomely to temperate language and
decent treatment, and I had ultimately the
satisfaction of knowing my company (Com-
pany H) was considered one of the two best
129

ftmunigcenceg of Chicago

drilled and best disciplined companies in a first-
rate regiment, its chief rival being the right
company (Company A), commanded by Captain
George W. Smith, and managed, I think, upon
very much the same principles. Very early in
boyhood I had been impressed with the strong
common sense of the Latin motto Suaviter in
modo, fortiter in re. "Gentle in manner, firm
in purpose," and it was my aim to carry this
out as far as possible in my military life, as
well as in my civilian life.

There was at this time much demand for
new regiments in the field, to close up deple-
tions caused in the ranks by battle and disease,
and we knew that our life at Camp Douglas
would be very brief, as we must soon be
ordered to the front. At last this order came,
and we who had entered Camp Douglas on
August 1 5th an unorganized mob of miscel-
laneous civilians, as unsoldierly as Falstaff's
band of tatterdemalions, were ordered to the
field as soldiers on September 4th. We had
had three whole weeks in which to learn to be
soldiers.

The morning of that day was bright and fine,
and, headed by its drum corps, the regiment
marched from camp at about nine o'clock, with
drums beating and flags flying, for, contrary
to regulations, through the patriotic ardor of
the citizens, and particularly of the ladies,
every company in the regiment had its flag and
its color-bearer. We marched down Michigan
130

American Volunteer

Avenue to the Illinois Central station. We
were sure we made a fine show, and were fully
conscious of the soldierly appearance we
presented to the admiring thousands gathered
to see "another Chicago regiment off for the
front." The sidewalks and windows were
crowded; the ladies waved their handkerchiefs
and clapped their hands, while the men and
children cheered. The day was very warm,
and at frequent points along Michigan Avenue,
when we halted for brief rests, women and
girls circulated among us with lemonade and
ice water. At one short rest at Twelfth Street
I remember a blooming and enthusiastic maiden,
who was really very pretty, poured ice water
upon her dainty handkerchief and made me
put it on my head inside of my cap to prevent
sunstroke. Often afterward in camp I looked
at that dainty handkerchief and wove many
fancies about it, and wondered when I should
meet that pretty and patriotic girl again. All
the romances I had read taught me that I
should meet her, but I never did. Her name
was on the handkerchief, but not her address.
Altogether ouf leaving for the front was an
enthusiastic and an emotional experience, and
many a one, like myself, found strange ques-
tionings rising within him; shall I ever again
see these scenes, these streets, these homes,
these evidences of peace and civilization?
And we could make no confident reply.

Arrived at the station the men were much

ilcmims'rcnrcs of Chicago

surprised and indignant to find not a train of
passenger coaches for our transportation, but
a train mainly made of flat cars, and of cars
which had recently been used for the trans-
portation of coal and cattle, and which had not
since been cleaned. Cars were scarce, and
soldiers must be hurried to the field.

Soldiers, and especially new soldiers, may
be brave and gallant, but they are, I think,
naturally disposed to grumble; and there was
quick and serious murmuring against the
authorities for such treatment of patriotic
soldiers leaving for the field. However, we
were now under military command, and in
spite of all dissatisfaction, men and officers
were finally all aboard the train, and making
themselves as comfortable as possible; the
locomotive whistled, and amid the cheers of
friends we were off for the front. Behind us
were friends, quiet and peaceful homes, and all
the refinements of peace and civilization ; before
us the mystery of the battle and the march, the
hazard of life and of death. A light-hearted
host of eight hundred young men were off to the
field to meet the enemies of their country — the
enemies, as we thought, of civilization and prog-
ress; how many, and which ones, of the eight
hundred would come back, none of us knew, nor
did we give much time to the question.

The marches day after day were very long
for green troops, and very wearisome. The
132

American Volunteer

sun was intensely hot, and beat down upon us
without obstruction, while the yellow clay roads,
for weeks without rain, were baked and parched
to such a degree that when the regiments in
front of us had passed over them the dust
which rose into the air was simply suffocating,
and there was no wind to carry it aside. The
men with their muskets and heavy knapsacks
and the necessary rations suffered much. They
were overcome by the intense heat, the suffo-
cating dust, and the lack of water, for all the
springs were dry. If, perchance, a mud puddle
were found in the road through which wagon
wheels and horses had recently passed, it was
no uncommon thing to see the men throw them-
selves upon their faces and eagerly drink the
hot and turbid water; and more than once I
found myself doing the same thing, for the thirst
was intolerable. Although the regiment was
marching by the flank in column of fours, it was
impossible to keep the men in compact ranks,
as they straggled to the sides of the road seek-
ing the easiest walking, and constantly, one after
another, overcome with weariness, would strag-
gle to the fence corners and lie down to rest.
To have the men under my eye and prevent
this, so far as possible, I frequently marched at
the rear of my company instead of at the head.
One afternoon, at perhaps three or four o'clock,
when I had had unusually hard work trying to
keep the men in their ranks, I was surprised to
see one of the best and most faithful men in
133

&emini£cence£ of Chicago

the company, Corporal Ford, deliberately leave
the company, walk off to the side of the road,
and throw himself at full length upon the sod,
face downward. Indignant at this example of
one of my best soldiers before the less reliable
men, I walked over rapidly to where he lay
and touched him with my foot, saying, ' ' Cor-
poral Ford, I did not expect this of you; get
up." He moved, and turned upward toward
me one of the most pitiful faces I ever saw,
covered with tears. "Captain," he said, "I
have got the last straw that breaks the camel's
back. You may kill me or do what you please
with me, but I cannot march a step further
now. Leave me here, and I shall get into
camp by nine o'clock to-night." He was a
faithful soldier and an entirely trustworthy
man, who would never willingly shirk his duty;
and there was nothing to do but to go on and
leave him to rest and regain a little strength.
We went into camp two or three hours later
and five or six miles further on, and true to his
word, Corporal Ford was in camp before nine
o'clock that night. Afterward a sergeant,
Ford is now in one of the numerous Soldiers'
Homes which the government has erected as
a refuge for the men who were broken down
by the hardships and exposures of those
trying days.

While the enlisted men were weighed down
by musket, knapsack, and other impediments,
the company officers generally, and myself
134

American Volunteer

among the number, found a sword and the
other light articles which we had to carry
ponderously heavy before the end of the day's
march; but in spite of this, the sufferings of
the men frequently so appealed to me, as they
did to other officers, that hour after hour I
relieved one or another of my exhausted men
by shouldering his musket for him. The suf-
ferings of the enlisted man on the march were
often appalling. His food was rough, and
little varied, day after day bringing only the
regular army ration of hard bread or "hard-
tack," salt pork, and coffee, always without
milk, and often without sugar. His clothes,
dealt out by the government, were of coarse
and harsh material, and often so ill-fitting
that they caused the most painful abrasion of
the skin, especially where the pantaloons chafed
the legs, and sores from this cause often made
marching a prolonged agony. The ill-fitting
government shoes supplemented this evil, and-
with the little opportunity the men sometimes
had for bathing, their feet were often covered
with raw sores. Their piteous appeals to the
surgeons for relief from these minor but serious
afflictions were almost futile, and their
ingenuity in self-treatment and bandaging be-
came very admirable. Rags smeared with
soap were looked upon with much favor as
bandages for the feet, and when they could
get a little whiskey, the men would even pour
it into their shoes rather than drink it.

135

of Chicago

One afternoon one of the numerous unac-
countable stoppages of the column halted our
regiment in front of a neat-looking farmhouse
which stood a short distance back on the left-
hand side of the road. The heat was, as usual,
oppressive, and the men, breaking ranks, began
looking for water. The well, near the farm-
house door, was quickly exhausted, as the
water in it was low. The white inhabitants
had deserted the house, and none but negroes
were left about it. Somehow, whether from
a hint from the negroes or not I do not know,
the men removed a pile of old lumber between
the house and the road and revealed beneath it
an old abandoned well, which proved to have
at the bottom of it five or six feet of clear and
sparkling water. Procuring the bucket and
rope from the other well, they had hauled up
a bucketful of the sparkling and cool fluid.
The looks of the well, however, when uncovered,
beneath this pile of old lumber, was suspicious
and uncanny. Inquiring of the negroes whether
the water was all right, or whether it might
not have been poisoned by the rebel family
before they ran away, the men were assured
by the negroes that it was poisoned. The
men's inquiries had been prompted by the fact
that, for a day or two previous to this, rumors
had been widely circulated and believed among
our troops that various wells in the vicinity
had been poisoned, and that several deaths
among our soldiers had resulted from drinking
136

American Volunteer

the poisoned water. This announcement from
the negroes was a terrible disappointment, as
hundreds of soldiers, suffering from the most
acute thirst, now sat about the well, with their
famished eyes riveted upon the clear and
sparkling water in the bucket . The disappoint-
ment was cruel. The idea that the water had
been treacherously poisoned by civilized people
seemed hardly probable. These Kentuckians
undoubtedly sympathized with our enemies,
but it did not seem reasonable to suspect them
of resorting to the methods of barbarians in
dealing even with enemies such as they thought
'us. After thinking the matter over I finally
said to another officer, " I do not believe that
water is poisoned; if you will take a cup of
that water and drink it, I will do the same."
He agreed. We sat down nearby accord-
ingly, each with his cup of water, and began
to drink it, while the men stood around us
watching us with the utmost curiosity and
interest,' evidently uncertain whether they
would not quickly see us turn pale and writhe
in agony. Instead, however, we found the
water most delicious, and each of us held out
his empty cup for another draught. The
thirsty crowds could hold back no longer, but
drank the water as greedily as if it had been
the long-sought-for fountain of eternal youth,
so that before the regiment moved on the well
was dry, and the regiment marched on happily
refreshed.

137

itennmscnircs of Chicago

During these wearisome and exhausting
marches the wonderfully reviving and exhilarat-
ing effect of music was singularly shown. Con-
trary to popular belief, an army on the march
moves ordinarily without music of any kind.
The "cadenced step" observed by troops mov-
ing on parade or marching through a city is
entirely abandoned, and "route step" only is
used — that is, every individual man takes his
own step and his own gait, carrying his musket
in any way least irksome to him. Late in the
afternoon, when a march of anywhere from
fifteen to twenty-five miles had been made,
under the severe conditions which I have de-
scribed, a regiment presented a very sorry and
unmilitary appearance. Probably one-half of
the men, and often many more than one-half,
had dropped out at various points along the
way, and were lying, exhausted and foot-sore,
in groves, under bushes, hedges, or fence rows,
or anywhere where they could find shade and
physical repose. The remainder, who still
struggled on with the skeleton of the regiment,
were scattered out from one side of the road
to the other, often in the fields on each side of
the road, for the fences had generally been
burned, and presented the appearance of merely
a rabble trying to keep up with the column.
Sometimes under these circumstances the
brigade band, a mile or two before the spot
for going into camp was reached, would be
ordered to strike up an inspiring and exhilarat-
138

American Volunteer

ing march. The effect was always marvelous,
and even without effort on the part of the
officers, the men individually at once assumed
a military carriage and bearing, and, striking
the "cadenced step," straightened up their
ranks and strode along with vigor and lightness
of step, the signs of weariness and intolerable
languor having all disappeared. The strains
of the music seemed to make the blood course
with vigor through the veins, the step became
light and springy, and it seemed again almost
a pleasure to stride on as trained soldiers.
The sense of weariness was, to a great extent,
gone. I remember too that on this march,
one evening as late perhaps as six o'clock,
when we were all utterly fagged out as usual,
a lively cannonading sprang up ahead, and an
order came back for our regiment to double-
quick two or three miles to the front, where
the rear guard of the enemy was making a
stand. It must be remembered that we were
new troops, and had never had a brush with
the enemy. The effect of the anticipated
going into action was quite as marvelous and
stimulating as the strains of the band, and the
men who before were so overcome with the
weariness of long marching, stifling dust, and
intense heat, that they could hardly drag one
foot after another, now swung along on the
light trot of the double-time step, to the sound
of heavy firing just in front of them, with a
lightness and vigor that seemed marvelous.
139

of Chicago

The unwonted excitement had had as invigorat-
ing an effect as music. At the end of our
rapid advance, however, no foe was found ; and
when we were obliged to go into camp without
the expected skirmish, the wearied and dispir-
ited feeling returned with double force. The
going into camp after these exhausting days
was a wearisome business, for as a rule we
were fortunate if we could get enough water
to make coffee for our evening meal. There
was seldom any that could be used even to
wash off the caked mud, formed from the dust
and perspiration, which covered our faces like
masks. Sometimes my colored servant man-
aged to procure for me somewhere a canteen
full of water which I could use for this pur-
pose, and I enjoyed the unwonted luxury of
having him pour it into my hands, while I
stood and hurriedly dashed it over my face.
Verily the trials of the march were often more
exhausting and more detrimental to health and
strength than were those of battle.

During these days of toilsome marches Gen-
eral Buell's army was pressing upon and haras-
sing the retreating army of Bragg, and finally
on the seventh of October, Buell's forces so
constantly pressed upon and threatened his
enemy that the latter found it necessary to turn
upon his foe and prepare for battle in the neigh-
borhood of Perryville or Chaplin Hills. At
the foot of these hills ran a small river or creek,
and knowing the galling scarcity of water in
140

American Volunteer

the region occupied by BuelPs army, Bragg so
disposed his forces as to prevent access to the
stream. There was considerable heavy skir-
mishing between the two armies on the after-
noon and evening of the seventh, and it was
evident that both were preparing for a severe
struggle on the next day. The troops with
which our regiment was marching were well
toward the rear of the column, and as we toiled
on near nightfall, it became evident that our
troops were concentrating and occupying posi-
tions favorable for forming line of battle in the
morning. The anticipated battle was looked
forward to with eagerness by the troops, who
did not doubt the result. Although they did
not like General Buell, their commander-in-
chief, they had confidence in his ability as a
soldier. The almost unknown corps com-
mander, General C. C. Gilbert, they neither
loved, respected, nor trusted; but already they
had discovered the high soldierly abilities of
their division commander, Philip H. Sheridan,
and with him at their head they believed all
would be right.

It was toward nine o'clock in the evening,
I should think, when our regiment received
instructions to take position on the summit of
a hill supposed to be directly in front and parallel
to Bragg's line of battle. We were instructed
in approaching and taking this position, in the
dark, to move with the utmost secrecy and
silence. All clashing of arms, and even the
141

ftrmimscrnrcjs? of Chicago

rattling of tin cups and canteens, was absolutely
forbidden, lest the enemy should discover our
movements. That day we had had the usual
experience of a long, hot, and dusty march,
and there was no prospect of any water for
the night. As our regiment toiled in the
silence and darkness, through the stifling atmos-
phere, up the dusty road which led to the top
of the hill we were to occupy, my own com-
pany being near the center of the regiment, I
heard a voice at the side of the road inquire,
as each successive company filed by, "Is this
Captain McClurg's company?" The question
was repeated by a solitary figure in the dark-
ness as my own company came up, and upon
my replying in the affirmative, a tall and stal-
wart young officer in the uniform of a colonel
of cavalry stepped quickly forward, grasped
my hand, and drew me into a fence corner.
At the same time he took from his neck and
threw over my head the cord of a canteen
filled with deliciously cold spring water, saying,
"I have been waiting here, Alec, for half an
hour, knowing your regiment would pass this
way. You and your men have no chance to
get water to-night. I have access to a fine
spring at General Gilbert's headquarters, and
I have brought this to you, knowing how much
you will need it. Don't let too many of the
officers or men know you have it, for a canteen
full will not last long." The speaker was my
favorite college companion and friend, then an
142

&mmcan Boiuntecr

Ohio lad named Minor Millikin, and now
"Colonel Minor Millikin, commanding the
First Ohio Cavalry." I did not then know
that he and his command were in that part of
the army, but somehow he had learned that
the Eighty-eighth Illinois Volunteers belonged
to that particular division and brigade, and
would pass along the road. He had become
a successful and gallant soldier, but his old,
tender, and affectionate friendship remained
unchanged. He had been my ideal hero dur-
ing my college days. He was highly educated
and intellectual, magnificent in physique, six
feet in height, but slender and active. He
was a trained expert in all athletic exercises,
particularly in boxing, running, and jumping,
and was the most expert horseman I had ever
known. He was an ardent Republican in
politics and a devoted lover of his country, so
he had enlisted at the very first call for troops,
and had thus early risen to the command of a
fine cavalry regiment. His dashing manner
and brilliant conversation made him everywhere
a marked man and a favorite. His fondness
for athletic exercises led him to devote himself
with ardor to the study and practice of fencing,
and he was soon considered one of the best,
if not the best, of the swordsmen in the Army
of the Cumberland. Such was the man who
waited that night by the roadside, in the heat
and dust, to give his college friend a can-
teen of water. He was one of the noblest of

ftcmimsrcnrcs of Chicago

those who soon after fell in the battle of Stone
River.

I was very grateful, and had much to say to
him; but my regiment was filing on past me
rapidly, and I was obliged to break away and
run to regain the head of my company. The
regiment was soon halted along the crest of
the ridge, the same mysterious silence being
preserved, and in the darkness we lay down
upon our arms in line of battle, not knowing
what the dawning daylight would reveal in
front of us. Tired and weary as we were, we
soon fell asleep, only to be rudely awakened
about midnight by a battery of artillery trotting
into position upon the very ground on which
we were sleeping. There had been some con-
fusion of orders, and the battery had been
ordered into position there, in ignorance that
the ground was already occupied by infantry.
We knew nothing of our danger until we were
awakened by the sound of horses' hoofs and
by the rumbling of the guns and caissons. We
were quickly withdrawn a short distance to the
rear, and again lying down upon our arms,
were soon sound asleep. This was our first
"Night before the Battle."

In the morning we were very early withdrawn
to another position in a little valley toward the
rear, while to the front our artillery very soon
began to roar, evidently hotly replied to, by the
enemy. Soon, too, we began to hear the
volley firing of infantry. These were novel
144

American Volunteer

sounds at such short distance to men who had
left their homes in Chicago only one month
and four days before; but, naturally enough,
as green soldiers, we were anxious to partici-
pate, and when the morning passed away and
the early hours of the afternoon found us still
in the reserve, and behind a line of low hills
which entirely shut out all view of the battle-
field, we bitterly bewailed the fate that kept us
in the rear; for did it not then seem possible,
and even probable, that we should never again
have the opportunity to participate in or even
to witness a great battle? While we were still
in this position I was again happily surprised
by a visit from my friend, Colonel Millikin.
He said, "I have just come from that hill,
where with 'a portion of my regiment I am
stationed with General Gilbert and his staff,
and I want you to go up there with me. It
commands a magnificent view of the battle-
field, and you may never have an opportunity
to see such a sight again." I was at once
fired with a strong desire to go with him, but
I could not, without a sad breach of discipline,
leave my command then, unless by permission
of the colonel of my regiment. It happened
that at that time there was a great deal of
friction and animosity between most of the line
officers of the regiment and our colonel, and,
like many others of the officers, I did not
speak with him, except officially. I therefore
told Millikin that I could not go with him, as I

MS

of Chicago

would not ask the colonel's permission, and I
did not believe he would grant the permission
if I did. Whereupon he at once exclaimed,
"I will go and ask the permission for you.
Your colonel will not refuse the request of
another colonel." In a few moments he was
at my side again with the desired permission,
and we quickly ascended the hill together.
Arrived at the top, amid the incessant roar of
artillery and musketry, I had my first view of
a battle-field from a safe distance. I must
confess to a feeling at first of great disappoint-
ment, for it was not at all like what I had expected.
Scattered over several miles of rolling fields
and low hills, one could see, here and there,
great puffs of smoke, which revealed the posi-
tions of belching batteries, and occasionally a
battery of guns would be seen in motion
wheeling into a new position and unlimbering
its guns. Here and there, too, would be seen
stretched out long, thin lines of blue-coated
infantry, with long, thin lines perhaps of infan-
try clad in gray uniforms opposite to them,
with a rapid interchange of musketry fire
between them. Here and there, too, there
were groups of mounted officers on both sides;
but there were not anywhere the great masses
of men that descriptions of battles had led me
to expect. Nowhere were there massed any
solid columns charging similar masses of* the
enemy; only here and there one of these thin,
attenuated lines moving forward to dislodge
146

1 American Volunteer Jbofoier

their enemy, perhaps from some post of van-
tage behind a fence row. It looked almost
tame. It became exciting enough, however,
when I realized that in reality poor fellows
were dying and being maimed all over that
vast field, while the fortunes of an unhappy
country hung in the balance. I soon became
very uneasy, and insisted on hastening back to
my regiment, as I could not tell at what
moment it might be ordered into action, and
in such case I could not afford to be absent
from my company even with permission. It
was well I hurried back, for I had scarcely
rejoined the command when the order to
advance was delivered to our colonel. It
seemed that one of our batteries was advan-
tageously posted on a hill a little in advance of
our general line, and was doing such execution
upon the enemy that a confederate brigade had
been put in motion to assault and capture it.
Our regiment, with the remainder of our
brigade, was ordered to the support of the
battery and to meet and repel the attack. We
were marched by the flank, along the crest of
the hill, a little to the rear of the guns of
Hescock's battery, were faced to the front,
and ordered forward. We advanced, passed
the guns, and started down the slope *which
the enemy's line, still concealed from us, was
ascending. Neither we nor they had thrown
out skirmishers, a thing which would scarcely
have occurred later in the war, and as they

itcmimsccnrcs of Chicago

came up the rounding swell of the hill and we
advanced down it, the two lines of battle con-
fronted each other suddenly, at, I should think,
not more than thirty yards' distance. With
rare presence of mind and good judgment our
colonel, knowing his troops to be untried,
immediately commanded, "Battalion, halt! lie
down!" — and followed this with the command,
"Fire at will." There commenced at once a
fearful exchange of volleys, but we had the
advantage. It was our duty only to hold our
ground. It was theirs to advance, and our
volleys caused much more execution in their
erect ranks than theirs could in our prostrate
line. It happened that when our regiment was
ordered forward more than half of my company
was absent on detached duty, escorting and
guarding a supply train, so that I had not more
than from thirty to forty men in the ranks when
we met the enemy. As this was the first time
the regiment had been under fire, when the
order to lie down was given by the colonel
most of the company officers, knowing they
were on trial before their men, remained upon
their feet. I did so among the others, but not
wishing to stand still, and so present an
attractive target, I kept moving up and down
behind my short company line, anxious that
they should do their duty, and determined to
check the first sign of panic or running away.
The men fired steadily, rolling over upon their
backs to load (for it must be remembered we
148

American Volunteer

were armed with the old muzzle-loading guns),
and, when they had loaded, each man again
turning upon his stomach and rising upon his
elbow to aim and fire. Just as one of the men,
whom I happened to be looking at, rose thus
to fire, a minie ball struck him in the breast,
and he sank forward, limp and lifeless. Next
to him lay a young stripling of a boy only
about eighteen years of age. Seeing the blood
gush from his companion's breast and his form
sink limp and lifeless, the boy in a panic
suddenly rose to his feet and started for the
rear. I called to a sergeant, who was lying a
few feet behind him, to stop him, but either
not wishing to expose himself by rising to his
feet or for some other reason, the sergeant
allowed the boy to pass and run up the hill to
the rear. Dreading the demoralization of the
men by such an example, I started after him,
and quickly overtaking him, caught him by the
collar of his coat, swung him round to the
front, and I am afraid my too willing foot
helped to emphasize my order to return to his
post. He had his musket in his hand, and
running promptly down the hill again, he fell
into his place beside his dead comrade and did
his duty steadily through the remainder of the
engagement. The exposed confederate force
could not advance against our steady and
effective fire, and soon retired down the hill,
foiled in their purpose. The whole affair did
not, I suppose, occupy over forty minutes, and
149

nemimsccnrcg of Chicago

the regiment felt highly elated over the success
of their first collision with the enemy. The
execution in our own ranks was not severe, the
regiment losing four killed and about thirty-
five wounded. My own company, being Com-
pany H, was posted upon the flank of "C,"
the color company, so that it directly joined
the colors of the regiment, and besides this the
mounted officers of the regiment, the Colonel
and the field officers, sat upon their horses
almost directly in our rear, and these circum-
stances I suppose caused a concentration of the
enemy's fire in our direction. Considering
the small number of men in the ranks of the
company at the time, we suffered somewhat
out of proportion with the rest of the regiment,
having two men killed outright and three
wounded. When this brush was over the sun
had set, and the enemy generally fell back
from the front of our army. We felt that we
had had the best of the struggle, and the troops
generally, although many of the regiments had
suffered very severely, were confident and
exhilarated. We supposed that with returning
daylight we should advance, and either com-
pletely rout or capture our enemy. In my
company we gave immediate attention to the
dead and wounded, burying two of our com-
rades upon the field where they fell, and seeing
that the wounded were cared for by the sur-
geons.

150

g>uppre$$fon of ti&e Cfmeg

[Reprinted from "Bygone Days in Chicago," by
Frederick Francis Cook, by courtesy of A. C.
McClurg & Co.]

ONE of the most exciting events in the
annals of Chicago was the suppression
of the Times, on June 2, 1863, by
military edict. General Ambrose E. Burnside,
chiefly distinguished for a magnificent pair of
side- whiskers, had command of the department
which included Chicago, with headquarters at
Cincinnati; and from thence, on June I, 1863,
there issued a mandate, excluding the New
York World from the mails within his military
jurisdiction; and an order to General Sweet,
commander at Camp Douglas, to take charge
of the Times office and prevent any further
issues of that notorious Copperhead sheet.

To call this order a blunder is the mildest
characterization that can be applied to it. The
unthinking mass of Republicans hailed it with
delight, and gave it stout support. But the
more sober-minded leaders of the party fully
appreciated its menace, not only to civil liberty,
but to law and order. Perhaps the one per-
sonally least concerned in this crisis was the
owner and editor of the Times, Wilbur F.
Storey. It required no prophet to predict
that the order would not stand; and in the

ftcniinisccnrctf of Chicago

meantime it gave the paper a country-wide
notoriety, while the act served only to give
color to the often reiterated charge1 (that for
which the paper was suppressed), namely, that
' ' the war, as waged by military satraps of the
administration, was a subversion of the Consti-
tution and the people's rights under the law."

To the Copperhead leaders the order came
as a godsend. Through an irresponsible mili-
tary zealot they had at one bound been fixed
in the saddle, booted and spurred, with the
hated "abolition" enemy divided, distracted,
and on the run. Let it be remembered that
Chicago was in fact a Democratic city; that
it had a Democratic mayor and council; and
that the Times was the municipality's official
organ.

The order was in effect a declaration of
martial law. Only by a military force could
it be carried out and maintained, for the entire
civil machinery, including the United States
court, was opposed to it. Another step, and
the city, the State, and wide areas beyond
might be in the throes of a civil war within a
civil war. As soon as the news of what was
to happen spread among the people, the strain
between the opposing sides became threaten-
ingly tense, and with "Copperheadism" most
resolutely to the fore; while on every side one
heard the threat, which grew with each hour,
"If the Times is not allowed to publish, there
will be no Tribune."

152

of tfjc €i

As soon as the news of the intended sup-
pression reached the Times office, every de-
partment received a rush order, and the press
(this was before the days of stereotyping, and
the duplication of "forms") was set in motion
at the earliest possible hour; while the issue as
fast as printed was bundled out of the building
into safe quarters for distribution. A horse-
man was sent to Camp Douglas, with orders to
speed to the office as soon as a detachment
of the garrison was seen to leave the camp.
He arrived shortly after two o'clock with
the report that the "Lincoln hirelings" had
started; and within an hour a file of soldiers
broke into the office and formally took posses-
sion. When everything had been brought to
a standstill, and the place put in charge of a
caretaker, the troops departed; but word was
left that at the first sign of activity they would
return. They did return shortly, on an un-
founded report that an attempt was being made
to issue a supplementary edition.

All through the day great crowds were
gathered about the Randolph Street entrance
of the publication office; and by evening the
thoroughfare from State Street to Dearborn
Street was a solid pack of humanity. Mean-
time the city had been flooded with handbills
calling upon the people to resent this military
interference with the freedom of the press, and
making announcement that a mass meeting in
protest of the order would be held on the
153

ncminijsrcnccs" of Chicago

north side of the Courthouse Square in the
evening. When the time for this meeting
came, and a thousand oft-repeated cries of
"Storey!" "Storey!" had met with no re-
sponse, the crowd spontaneously moved two
blocks west to the Square, where by eight
o'clock an estimated crowd of twenty thousand
people was gathered, which was to the full
the city's total voting population.

The situation certainly called for serious,
deliberate, and concerted action on the part of
all law and order loving citizens. While the
rank and file of the opposing currents stood
face to face in sullen, menacing opposition,
the conservative leaders of both sides were in
council to avert threatening trouble. At a
mob demonstration the Copperhead faction
would undoubtedly have had a numerical ad-
vantage, besides having the partisan police on
its side. But this was at least partly offset by
the fact that the militia had been placed under
arms, and could be depended on to side with
the war party; and, moreover, in any protracted
struggle, there was the Camp Douglas garrison
to fall back upon, though any considerable
withdrawal from that Rebel stronghold might
in the circumstances have been a hazardous
adventure.

The greatest concern was lest the meeting
fall into the hands of irresponsible Copperhead
demagogues who might inflame it to action.
A favorite speaker with the Democratic masses

154

of tfje

was E. W. McComas, an ex-Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of Virginia, and editor of the Times under
a former regime. He called the meeting to
order, and devoted his introductory remarks
to a counsel of prudence. Then he introduced
Samuel W. Fuller as chairman, who spoke at
considerable length in the same strain. After
Fuller came General Singleton, a fiery Demo-
cratic war horse from the central part of the
State, under whose lashings of the administra-
tion the meeting was brought close to the
danger line. He was followed by E. G. Asay,
another Democrat, in a more conciliatory vein.
Then came Wirt Dexter, a prominent Repub-
lican lawyer, with the message that steps were
being taken by leading men from both sides to
have the Burnside order rescinded. He voiced
in no uncertain tones the opposition of the
conservative element of his party to this mili-
tary interference with the freedom of the press,
and assured the crowd that the measures to be
taken would surely result in the President's
rescinding the order. This speech had an
excellent effect on the assemblage, and the
danger point was passed.

While the mass meeting was in progress
outside, another was taking place in one of the
courtrooms. Judge Van H. Higgins was at
this time a stockholder in the Tribune, and its
property was in danger. Largely through his
efforts prominent men from both sides had
been brought together, and Mayor Sherman
155

of Chicago

was called to the chair. The meeting was
addressed among others by Judge Van H.
Higgins, Senator Lyman Trumbull, Congress-
man I. N. Arnold, and Wirt Dexter for the
Republicans; and by William B. Ogden, S. S.
Hayes, A. W. Arrington, and M. F. Tuley for
the Democrats.

On motion of William B. Ogden, Chicago's
first mayor, the following preamble and reso-
lution were adopted: —

"Whereas, in the opinion of this meeting of
citizens of all parties, the peace of this city
and State, if not also the general welfare of
the country, are likely to be promoted by the
suspension or rescinding of the recent order of
General Burnside for the suppression of The
Chicago Times; therefore

"Resolved, that upon the ground of expedi-
ency alone, such of our citizens as concur in
this opinion, without regard to party, are
hereby recommended to unite in a petition to
the President, respectfully asking the suspen-
sion or rescinding of the order."

When one contrasts this negative and color-
less declaration with any word pro or con that
might have been sent to the President as
expressive of the sentiments of the passion-
blown crowd outside, one feels instinctively
that all the elements that entered into the
problem before the meeting of leaders were
weighed with the utmost care, and the equation
reduced to its dynamic minimum.
156

of tfje €i

On motion, Messrs. William B. Ogden, Van
H. Higgins, A. C. Coventry, Hugh T. Dickey,
and C. Beckwith were appointed a committee
to promote the circulation of the petition among
the people. The resolutions were at once for-
warded to the President, with an additional
telegram signed jointly by Senator Trumbull
and Congressman Arnold, praying him to give
the voice of the meeting immediate and serious
consideration.

And still further action was taken to restore
the balance between the civil and military
powers so rudely disturbed. The courts were
appealed to, and shortly after midnight Judge
Thomas Drummond of the United States court,
issued a writ directing the military authorities
to take no further steps to carry into effect the
Burnside order.

No man stood higher in the community than
Judge Drummond. In issuing the order his
honor spoke these pregnant words: —

"I may be pardoned for saying that, per-
sonally and officially, I desire to give every aid
and assistance in my power to the Government
and to the administration in restoring the Union.
But I have always wished to treat the Govern-
ment as a government of law and a govern-
ment of the Constitution, and not as a
government of mere physical force. I per-
sonally have contended, and shall always con-
tend, for the right of free discussion, and the
right of commenting under the law, and under
157

ftnmmsccuccs of Chicago

the Constitution, upon the acts of officers of
the Government."

How serious the menace to the Tribune was
regarded may be judged from the fact that the
correspondent of the New York Herald closed
his dispatch for the night, "At this hour the
Tribune still stands. ' ' None were more alive
to the danger threatening their property than
the owners of this resolute war paper. Accord-
ing to reports the old Clark Street rookery
opposite the Sherman House, and within sound
of the clamor of the great assemblage, had
been transformed into an arsenal, with Colonel
Jennison, of "jayhawking" notoriety, in com-
mand. This whilom lieutenant of "Osawat-
omie" Brown, during the trying "Bloody
Kansas" days, was endowed by the mass
of Republicans with an almost superhuman
prowess; and at the same time was a veritable
red rag to the Copperhead bull. He was
togged in quite the present cowboy fashion;
and whenever seen on the street was followed
by a crowd of gaping admirers. Armed men,
according to rumor, had been quietly smuggled
to the lofts of various buildings about the
Tribune; and, in case the journalistic strong-
hold was attacked, on a word from this leader
they would strew Clark Street with Copper-
head corpses. These reports, however small
their foundation, had no doubt a salutary effect
on the more timid.

That Colonel Jennison was en rapport with
158

of the €i

the denizens of a number of upper floors in
the neighborhood, there is no manner of doubt.
There were human wild beasts to subdue in
that vicinage; and, as a hunter who could
track the "tiger" to his lair, the Colonel had
few equals.

The Democrats having had their inning,
there was a gathering in force of Republicans
on the following evening, their obvious object
being to call to account those members of the
party who had memorialized the President to
undo the work of Burnside. When Senator
Trumbull undertook to address the meeting he
found the crowd in a very ugly mood. He
was frequently interrupted, again and again
charged with consorting with "traitors," with
aiding and abetting the enemy, while over and
over again there were cries, "We want
Jennison," "Jennison is the man for us."
On the same evening a meeting, at which prac-
tically all the newspapers of the city were
represented, was held in New York, with
Horace Greeley in the chair, and the Burnside
order was denounced in no uncertain terms.

On the following day, June 4th, General
Burnside announced that the President had
rescinded both the World and Times military
order. The result was that the circulation of
the Times was largely increased.

159

"f. IFor-

I

est

.Avenue

"fe

"IS

South Tark

Calumet

I

JL

<?'

_Avenuc

~*Vernon

"W

JIL___

.Avenue

i r~~

IL

&

CAMP DOUGLAS, 1864-5.

of Camp

[Paper read before The Chicago Historical Society,
by William Bross, June 18, 1878.]

^~AHICAGO, with the exception of San
I Francisco the youngest of the leading
^~^ cities of the republic, has abundant
reason to be satisfied with her patriotic record
made* during the Rebellion. From that quiet
sabbath morning, when the news flashed
through the streets that the rebels had fired
upon Fort Sumter at 4 o'clock on Friday
afternoon, April 12, 1861, and the people left
their churches, with the organ pealing out the
"Star Spangled Banner," till treason was
stamped out by the capture of Jeff. Davis, on
the lOth of May, 1865, a very large majority
of them seemed deeply imbued with the same
spirit that inspired their fathers when "they
pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor," to preserve the integrity, and to
establish the. liberty of their country. The
Board of Trade, though purely a commercial
organization, was accorded the leadership in
raising regiments and batteries, and they,
and our merchants and citizens generally,
poured out their money without stint for this
purpose, and to send hospital stores to the
front; the ladies got up sanitary fairs, and
161

iicmmiscntrc£ of Chicago

generally, from the beginning to the end of the
war, all the energies, the wealth, and the power
of the city were at the service of the govern-
ment. The treason and malignity of the few
slimy Copperheads, that crawled about the dens
of the city, seemed only to render the patriotism
of the people the more conspicuous and inspir-
ing. But though few in number, the traitors
were ever active, and if Chicago escaped the
bloody riots, the murders, and the incendiaries'
torch that were rife in New York and Baltimore,
it was simply because she had a small force of
"the bravest of the brave" at Camp Douglas,
commanded by an able general, whose energy
never faltered, and whose vigilance never slept.

The State has recorded, too briefly, it is true,
the deeds of our brave boys on the battle-fields
of the republic. The National Sanitary Com-
mission has preserved the benevolent acts of
our people; but the complete history of Camp
Douglas, and the means by which Chicago was
saved from destruction, remains to be written.

Professor Elias Colbert in his "History of
the Garden City," published in 1868, gives
much valuable information and very important
facts and figures, for many of which I am
greatly indebted, but I shall confine myself, in
this paper, mainly to what I know personally
about these matters, to statements of men now
living in our midst, and accurate sources of
information now in my possession.

162

t)i*toni of

Late in May, 1864, General Sweet was
ordered to take command of Camp Douglas.
As only thirteen years have passed since it was
abandoned, its property removed, and its build-
ings were sold, it may seem strange that the
most difficult part of my task has been to find
what were its exact boundaries. I could say,
with scores of our old citizens of whom
I asked the question, "Where was Camp
Douglas?" that it was located directly north
of the University, fronting east, on Cottage
Grove Avenue; but what were its exact limits
east and west, north and south, it seemed, for
a time, about impossible for me to determine.
After devoting leisure half-hours among my
friends for a couple of weeks, with no satis-
factory results, I fortunately made the acquaint-
ance of Captain E. R. P. Shurley, General
Sweet's assistant adjutant-general, Captain
Charles Goodman, for most of the time chief
quartermaster, from October 23, 1862, till
the camp was closed; and his chief assistant,
Captain E. V. Roddin. It is the highest pos-
sible compliment to Captain Goodman that
about $40,000,000 worth of Government prop-
erty passed through his hands, and not a single
mistake of any kind was found in his accounts.
These gentlemen, on Tuesday, June 4th, spent
half a day with me going all around and over
the grounds once occupied by Camp Douglas,
and it was one of the richest treats I ever enjoyed
to hear them locate the different parts of it, and
163

&tmini$ttntt$ of Chicago

talk over the incidents of these memorable
years. "Here were the ovens, there the hos-
pitals; here was the dead-line, and there the
officers' quarters; here were the rebel barracks,
and in this corner, those that escaped usually
dug out."

The sewer at the foot of Thirty-third Street,
costing $9,000, though the digging was done
by the rebels, half a dozen of whom came near
losing their lives by the caving of the banks,
still does excellent duty, and discharges a large
stream into the lake ; it was built of plank, and
hence it may be doubted whether it will last as
long as the Cloaca Maxima, which still per-
forms the same service for which it was built
by Tarquin, 2,500 years ago.

In 1 86 1, when the camp was located by
General A. C. Fuller, then adjutant-general
of the State, and until after it was abandoned
in 1865, the ground it occupied, and all around
it, was open prairie. For this reason the
Government took possession of it for that
purpose. Now there are several streets cut
through it, and single houses, and even blocks
are scattered over it in all directions. Hence,
it is no disparagement to the excellent military
gentlemen who so kindly accompanied me,
that they were not a little confused, as to
where the fence around Camp Douglas was,
and it was not till they compared their impres-
sions with the positive knowledge of the owner
of the grounds, Henry Graves, Esq., whom
164

of Camp

we fortunately met, that I was able to settle,
as I hope, definitely, where the enclosure of
the camp was located. None of the streets
are named on the latest lithograph of Captain
Goodman, as also that of Captain Shurley,
both of which I have the pleasure, in their
behalf, to present to the Society, though it is
not at all difficult to locate Cottage Grove
Avenue. A map kindly furnished me by
W. B. H. Gray, Esq., conceded to be the best
informed man in the city in regard to its
topography, was valuable to us; but I am sorry
to say it is incorrect in several particulars.

After all these preliminaries, I can now say
that the boundaries of Camp Douglas were as
follows: The south east corner was at the
intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue and
College Place, the northern boundary of the
University grounds; thence the line ran west
on College Place to its intersection with Rhodes
Avenue; thence diagonally in a northwesterly
direction to the corner of South Park Avenue
and Thirty-third Street; thence west on Thirty-
third Street to its intersection with Forest
Avenue; thence north on Forest Avenue to
Thirty-first Street; thence east along Thirty-
first Street to South Park Avenue; thence
south along South Park Avenue about one
hundred and sixty feet; thence east to Cottage
Grove Avenue; thence along that avenue to the
place of beginning, except the residence of
Henry Graves, Esq., around which the fence
165

ftemimgcenceg of Chicago

was built as shown upon the lithograph. l
It was, perhaps, two hundred feet south of
the main entrance, three hundred feet front on
Cottage Grove Avenue by two hundred feet
deep. Since the camp was abandoned, Thirty-
second Street has been cut through east and
west; and Graves and Dexter Place, Rhodes,
Vernon, South Park, and Calumet avenues,
with sundry alleys north and south, so that its
location might well confuse any one who had
not been constantly on the ground as Mr. Graves
has, to take note of the changes that have been
so constantly going on from year to year.
And besides, as above stated, many blocks of
residences, single dwellings, and several grocery
houses are now scattered all over it. The
south gate was at Rhodes Avenue; the main
entrance, the posts of which are still to be seen
just above the ground, was a little north and
nearly in front of B. F. Ransom's livery stable.
It, with the building next south of it, and the
building south of the United States Hotel, on
the southeast corner of Cottage Grove Avenue

^ince the text was written, Mr. Charles Cook,
who, as boss-carpenter, erected the buildings at
Camp Douglas, has brought me a survey of the
camp, on which the west line is Calumet Avenue.
But as Messrs. Shurley, Goodman, Roddin, and
Colonel Pierce all agree that Forest Avenue was the
west line, I prefer to let the description stand; and,
as the survey has no date attached, it may be in-
ferred that the camp was afterward extended to
Forest Avenue to afford more room for the barracks
of the rebel prisoners.

1 66

of Camp Douglas

and Thirty-first Street, are a part of the build-
ings once located within the camp. The fence
was a substantial wood structure, some twelve
feet high, with a walk around it on the inside,
some four feet below the top, for the sentinels
to go their rounds. This walk or parapet
commenced at the entrance on Cottage Grove
Avenue, and extended all around the camp.
The northeast part of the camp was occupied
by the barracks of the troops and officers'
quarters.

Camp Douglas was named for Senator
Douglas, who gave the grounds for the
University, and whose dust reposes on the lake
shore near it. In your behalf and that of the
people of the State, I had the honor to sign
the bill that appropriated the money from the
State Treasury to purchase that acre from his
widow, and on which an appropriate monument
is soon to perpetuate his memory. Camp
Douglas was built in the latter part of the
summer of 1 86 1, by Colonel Joseph H. Tucker,
who had been ordered by Governor Yates to
take command of the northern district of the
State. It was at first intended to use it for the
troops raised in this part of the State, as a
camp of instruction and rendezvous, but
Captain Christopher, United States recruiting
officer then stationed in the city, assumed the cost
of its construction, and it was turned over to
the general government. Immediately after
the capture of Fort Donelson, in February, 1 862
167

itniiinisr rncf s of Chicago

Colonel Tucker was ordered to prepare for the
reception of the rebels taken there and in some
other engagements, and in a few days between
eight and nine thousand prisoners arrived in
camp. Near the close of the month Colonel
Tucker was superseded by Colonel Mulligan,
who there organized his Irish brigade . In June,
Colonel Tucker was ordered to take command
of the Sixty-ninth Regiment, and again took
charge of the camp. During the summer and
fall a large number of our own paroled men,
captured at Harper's Ferry and other places,
among them Captain Goodman, arrived in
camp, and on the last day of September,
General Tyler was placed in command. His
rule was severe and unpopular and the cause
of much trouble and ill feeling. In the fall of
1862, General Tyler was superseded by General
Ammon; our troops that had been paroled at
Harper's Ferry were exchanged, and nearly all
of them left for the front, and their place was
supplied by a camp full of rebel prisoners.
Coming, many of them, from the far South,
they suffered severely from the inclem-
ency of our winter. Of course, in spite of all
that the officers of the camp, and a self-
appointed detachment of our benevolent ladies,
could do, large numbers died, and what was due
to the rigor of the climate was charged, by the
malignant Copperheads, to the neglect and the
cruelty of our people. But it is a fact, for the
truth of which I appeal to thousands of living
1 68

of Camp

men, North and South, that the prisoners, all
through the history of Camp Douglas, were
treated precisely as our own soldiers. They
had full rations of the best of food, and the
sick had all that the most skillful physicians
and the most careful nursing could do for them.
Captain Shurley relates that, while on duty at
Richmond, after the war, he was recognized by
some of his former prisoners, and so grateful
were they fortheir kind treatment while here,that
they gave him a splendid dinner, and treated
him with all possible attention and politeness.
I forbear to draw a parallel between the treat-
ment the rebels received and the systematic
cruelty and starvation, even to death, which
our brave boys were forced to suffer in the
prison pens of the South. Those who saw,
as I did, scores of mere ghostly skeletons
returning from Salisbury and Andersonville, in
1864, will recoil from the horrible memory.

The winter of 1862-63 was an eventful one,
and many were the men who passed to their
long homes in Camp Douglas. By March,
1863, the prisoners had nearly all been
exchanged, and only a few of our own troops
remained as a guard for them. Up to this
time at least 30,000 troops had been recruited,
drilled, organized, and equipped at Camp
Douglas. Professor Colbert enumerates them
as follows: Rock Island Regiment, Nineteenth,
Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, Forty-second,
Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Fifty-first, Fifty-
169

$emmi£cence£ of Chicago

third, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh,
Fifty-eighth, Sixtieth, Sixty-fifth, or Scotch
Regiment; Sixty-seventh, Sixty-ninth, Seventy-
first, Seventy-second, or First Board of Trade;
Eighty-eighth, or Second Board of Trade;
Eighty-ninth, or Railroad Regiment; Ninetieth,
or Irish Legion; Ninety-third, One Hundred
and Fifth, One Hundred and Thirteenth, Van
Arman's Regiment, and the Third Board of
Trade Regiment. Of infantry companies,
the German Guides and the Lyman Color
Guard. Cavalry: Ninth, Twelfth, and Thir-
teenth Illinois. Artillery: First Illinois, Bou-
ton's, Bolton's, Silversparre's, Phillips',
Ottawa, Merchantile, Elgin, and Board of
Trade batteries. Besides this immense work
as a camp of rendezvous and instruction, some
17,000 rebel prisoners and 8,OOO of our own
paroled troops had all been cared for in and
about Camp Douglas in the short space of
about eighteen months. This shows what the
sternly loyal city of Chicago and the great
Northwest were ready and willing to do to
rescue the republic from treason and rebellion.
I said these troops were cared for in and about
Camp Douglas, for it will be remembered at
times the section west of the camp and nearly
to State Street and south, far away toward
Hyde Park, were covered with camps and open
spaces for drilling the troops.

Activity again was the order of the day during
the last half of the year 1863, for some 5,000
170

of Camp

rebel soldiers arrived in camp; General Ammon
was ordered to Springfield, and Colonel De
Land, of the First Michigan Sharpshooters,
was made post commandant under General
Orme. During the winter of 1863-64, the usual
incidents of camp life occurred. Colonel De
Land ordered a substantial fence built, the one
heretofore described, several new buildings
were erected, and the camp was improved in
all respects. These important improvements
were made under Captain Charles Goodman, his
assistant, Captain E. V. Roddin, having the
immediate charge of the work. On the 2d
of May, 1864, General Orme resigned, and
General B. J. Sweet assumed the command,
his headquarters being on Washington Street,
in the city. Colonel James Strong had the
immediate command for a time, under General
Sweet, but about the middle of July, General
Sweet removed to camp and took personal
command, as the exigencies seemed to require
his constant presence. He ordered the pris-
oners' barracks to be raised several feet, so as
to render it impossible for them to dig tunnels
and thus escape; their quarters were enlarged;
additional hospitals and buildings for stores
and equipments were erected, and in all respects
the accommodations for troops and prisoners
were greatly enlarged and improved. Two
regiments, the Eighth and Fifteenth, of the
Veteran Reserves — only about 1,000 men,
were all the troops General Sweet had to guard
171

ilcmintsrcntcs of Chicago

his prisoners — every available man had been
sent to the front; but just before the assem-
bling of the Democratic Convention, on Mon-
day, July 29th, he was reinforced by the One
Hundredth Pennsylvania Regiment, ninety day
troops, and the Twenty-fourth Ohio Battery.
They were supplied with the best of Parrott
guns, and were kept as a reserve in case of
emergency.

At the commencement of 1864, there were
some 5,000 rebel prisoners in camp, and about
7,500 were received during the year, and there
were probably from ten to twelve thousand
there during the incidents I am about to de-
scribe. With this very inadequate force, had
it not been for the marked ability of General
Sweet and his sleepless vigilance, your humble
servant and hundreds of other citizens would
probably have lost their lives in the burning
and massacres that would have followed the
breaking out of the prisoners from Camp
Douglas.

In the spring and early summer of 1864 the
whole country was shrouded in gloom. For
more than three years the war had been raging,
and yet the rebellion seemed still strong and
vigorous and likely to require years of hard
fighting before it could be put down, if in fact
so desirable a result could ever be achieved.
Even brave hearts quailed when thinking upon
the tens of thousands of noble patriots who
had fallen before the serried hosts of the
172

of Camp 2Dou0te£

rebellion, or were wasting slowly away amid
tortures worse than death, in rebel prison dens.
On every street could be seen strong men,
known to all of us, with an empty sleeve, or
hobbling along on crutches; and orphans and
woe-stricken women in sable garments met us
at every turn. Foreign nations were losing
confidence in our cause. Lord Bulwer had
declared in the English Parliament that it was
for the interest of humanity that America
should be divided into at least four separate
States, for if the country remained united, "in
a century hence it would contain two hundred
millions of people hanging like a dark cloud
upon the civilization of the world." The
credit of the nation was about gone, for in
July, gold rose to 285, making the greenback,
and therefore the credit of the government,
worth only thirty-five cents on the dollar.
Some enthusiasm followed the renomination of
Mr. Lincoln, in June, at Baltimore, but our
armies were not generally successful, and a
darker pall of gloom settled down upon the
country. On the 3Oth of July, the mine at
Petersburg was exploded, and in it Chicago
lost Colonel John A. Bross, and most of his
officers, who were selected from the noblest
and best young men of the city. Washington
did not escape the general despondency. On
my way to the front to seek the body of my
lost brother, early in the morning before any
one else, I called on Mr. Lincoln. His table
173

ftcminiB fences of Chicago

was covered with reports and bundles of docu-
ments over which he was poring; but he
received me most cordially and asked anxiously
for news from the West. I told him the
people were patriotic and determined as ever;
but it could not be denied that they were
anxious and earnest for a more vigorous prose-
cution of the war. "Well," said Mr. Lincoln,
sadly, "they want success and they haven't
got it; but we are all doing the best we can.
For my part I shall stay right here and do my
duty. Traitors will find me at my table.
They can come and hang me to that tree if
they like," pointing with his long skinny finger
to the maple at his window.

Such was the condition of the country when
the Democratic convention assembled in this
city on Monday, August 29th, 1864. It had
been postponed from July 4th, in order that
the plottings of the Copperhead portion of it
might be the better matured. The gloom that
pervaded the whole country was especially thick
and murky in Chicago. The Knights of the
Golden Circle and the Copperheads of every
stripe and hue were decidedly active and
venomous. Whisperings of blood running
through the streets ankle deep, and lamp
posts bearing black Republican fruit, were in
the air. Canada was swarming with rebel
officers who in twenty-four hours could be
in the city, and it was believed that many
were here ready to take command of the
174

of Camp

rebel prisoners at Camp Douglas at any
moment.1

It is in times like these that strong men and
patriots step forward to save their countrymen

1In confirmation of this, Captain Shurley, in a
note to me, dated June 3d, says: —

"At one time we had 22,000 prisoners there, and
only a few hundred men for duty at the time the
conspiracy was brewing. It was impossible to get
reinforcements, notwithstanding General Sweet's
urgent appeals. I must say at this time, and after
these years have elapsed, that the city of Chicago
does not know what she owes to General Sweet.

"I released the remaining prisoners of war, and
after General Sweet, I was the last commanding
officer of that camp — thirteen years ago. After I
had paroled some of the most intelligent, I questioned
them in reference to the "conspiracy"; they told
me that they were divided into companies, regiments,
and brigades, and confidently expected officers from
the South to command them, and the intention was
to destroy Chicago after securing all the arms,
horses, and whatever would be useful in the prose-
cution of their war. There is no question that but for
the energy, forethought, and ability of General Sweet,
and the manner in which he was sustained by General
Hooker, serious consequences might have ensued.
The question is often asked me, Was there really a
conspiracy for that purpose — to burn Chicago and
other western towns? All the papers passed through
my hands. The reports of the spies out, what tran-
spired at the sessions held by the Knights of the
Golden Circle and other kindred organizations in
this city, all make me sure there was such a con-
spiracy. But history should do justice to one who
was arrested at that time; I refer to Judge Buckner
S. Morris. He was entirely innocent of any such
attempt, although arrested and held in camp.

175

ftcmmitfrcnrctf of Chicago

from pillage and massacre. General Sweet
proved himself the man for the hour. Perhaps
two weeks before the Convention assembled,
I was standing near the Journal office, then
in front of the Tremont House, when a friend
said to me, "Do you know there are ten thou-
sand stands of arms secreted in cellars and
basements within four blocks of us?" I said,
"I presume the rebels have that many hid in
different parts of the city." During the after-
noon several similar stories were told me by
others, and in the morning, thinking General
Sweet should know them, I called on him at
Camp Douglas. He listened to the facts and
suspicions I narrated, with great attention; said
he would investigate them and call at my office
the next day at eleven o'clock. I had previ-
ously, if any, a mere casual acquaintance with
General Sweet, but his close attention and
careful analysis of the facts I had given him
gave me great confidence in his ability and
fitness for the important post he occupied.
He called promptly as appointed and I found
his entire detective force had been busy all
night searching the city through; that he had
verified some of our suspicions, and got track
of many more. He had, subsequently, trusty
men in every Golden Circle of the Knights, and
by ten o'clock next day he knew what had
occurred, and the plans that were made all
over the city. Almost every leading rebel that
arrived from the South or from Canada was
176

pi.storp of Camp 2Dougiag

spotted and tracked to his den and could not
move, even for the most trivial purpose if a
leading man, but sharp loyal eyes were upon
him. For a week or more I saw General
Sweet frequently, and I found that his detec-
tives tracked like sleuth-hounds every scent and
rumor to its source, and his plans and the way
he carried them out filled my highest ideal of
the ability needed to cope with his adversaries,
and I therefore soon gave the matter little
further care and attention. On Saturday,
August 26th, the Democratic politicians, many
of them very respectable gentlemen, with their
blowers and strikers, began to arrive. As day
after day passed, the crowd increased till the
whole city seemed alive with a motley crew
of big-shouldered, blear-eyed, bottle-nosed,
whisky-blotched vagabonds — the very excres-
cence and sweepings of the slums and sinks of
all the cities in the nation. I sat often at my
window on Michigan Avenue, and saw the filthy
stream of degraded humanity swagger along to
the wigwam on the lake shore and wondered how
the city could be saved from burning and
plunder, and our wives and daughters from a
far more dreadful fate. Many besides myself
would have been in despair had we not trusted
in the good providence of God, General Sweet,
and the brave boys under him. We knew
that he had small squads of men with signs
and passwords in all the alleys in the central
portions of the city ready to concentrate at the
177

of Chicago

point of danger at any moment. But the city
had another and an efficient source of safety
of which many of our people even at this day
have not the slightest knowledge. It was a
matter of wonder then, and perhaps has been
ever since, how such a horde of cut-throats
and bloated, beastly vagabonds, spoiling for
free whisky and a free fight, could have been
kept in perfect order; for our streets under
presence of so many people were never more
orderly, and in its doings and surroundings the
Democratic convention of 1864 was as quiet and
respectable as any other political body that
ever assembled in the city. This fact can be
best understood by relating an incident.

On my way to my office early on Monday,
calling in a store on Clark Street, a friend said
to me, "Do you know the danger we have
escaped?" Feigning ignorance, I asked what.
He said, "A young gentleman from Kentucky,
a warm friend of mine, came in on Friday
morning, and in a whisper, inquired anxiously
if my family were in the city; for if they are,"
said he, "by all means as you love them, send
them to the country this afternoon. Look for
horrid times within the next three days — the
Devil will be to pay." He was greatly re-
lieved when I told him they were already in
the country, and would stay for several days.
As he left he said, "For my sake, keep mum
and take good care of yourself." This morn-
ing he came in, every feature beaming with
178

piston; of Camp Douglas

pleasure, and said: "We're all safe; the New
York politicians, Dean Richmond, Seymour,
Tilden, and the rest, arri red Saturday and yes-
terday morning; they caucused all day yester-
day, and last night they put down their foot
and declared if there wer » any riots or disturb-
ance it would ruin the Democratic party; they
might as well go home, fo • the cause would be
lost and they would be btaten out of sight at
the polls, and orders were accordingly given to
the clans and messes." And said he, "In
spite of the hordes of brutal wretches you see
everywhere, this will be the most orderly con-
vention you ever saw." So it was, and that
the orders were imperative and well understood
is well illustrated by another pertinent incident.
Henry M. Smith was at the time in the edito-
rial department of the Tribune. He was
standing at the entrance, 45 Clark Street, on
Monday afternoon, I think it was, when he
noticed two big bullies watching him and the
boys who every few minutes darted out with a
package of documents which they distributed
freely to all who would take them. Glancing
over the pamphlet, they saw it contained a
sharp, searching war record of their party, and
came across the street and asked Smith if he
belonged to the Tribune office. Answering that
he did, they ordered him, with words and
adjectives far more expressive and profane
than polite, to stop sending out such lying
stuff. Quick as lightning the plucky little
179

of Chicago

editor struck the brute with all his might
square on his nose, and the rebel blood spurted
in all directions. E'ther of the men might
have crushed the Lfe out of Smith in a
moment, but they did not. They knew they
must obey their orders, and that there must
be no rows, and quietly pocketing the insult
they walked toward the Sherman House. In
a few moments after, they were arrested and
lodged in jail, and tnen I expected an attempt
to rescue them every hour by the abominable
rabble in the city, but they obeyed orders, and
left their friends to their fate. In the evening
or early morning they were let out on their own
recognizance and that was the end of the
matter. In the light of what followed, it is
a fair inference that, in commanding and
keeping the peace, the wily New York politi-
cians had not only an eye upon the election
to be held in November, but a wholesome
regard for their own safety; for it is not
unlikely their friends and detectives had pretty
accurate knowledge of the arrangements Gen-
eral Sweet had made to give their crowd of
bloated wretches a very lively time of it; and
in this sternly loyal city, should an emute
occur, their own precious skins might be very
uncomfortably punctured. Their villainous
schemes took a wider range, and likely to do
the rebellion far better service, for from their
wigwam on the lake shore they planned and
got up a tremendous fire in the rear.
180

of Camp 2DougIa£

By resolving "that after four years of
failure to restore the Union by the experiment
of war, during which, under the pretense of a
military necessity, or war power, higher than
the Constitution, the Constitution itself has
been disregarded in every part, and public
liberty and private right alike trodden down,
and the material prosperity of the country
essentially impaired, justice, humanity, and the
public welfare demand that immediate efforts
be made for the cessation of hostilities"; and
this "fire in the rear" they knew they could
keep up among the people with perfect safety
to each party hack, with great advantage to
the rebels till after the November election.
Thus they insulted the patriotism of the nation,
polluted the breezes and defiled the pure waters
of Lake Michigan, by blurting out their blatant
treason in the face of high Heaven. The
loyal men of the nation accepted the gauge of
battle, and the election of Mr. Lincoln and the
indorsement of his policy to put down the
rebellion is one of the most important and
glorious events in the history of this republic.

During the months of September and Octo-
ber the nation trembled as by an earthquake
from the center to circumference. The war
of words in the rail cars, on the streets, from
the stump — in fact, everywhere in the loyal
states — was loud, bitter, relentless, and unceas-
ing. Sherman was fighting his way, inch by
inch, toward Atlanta; Grant was pounding
181

of Chicago

away in the wilderness, and it required all the
energy of Secretary Stanton, a war minister
whose place in history has scarcely ever been
equaled, to fill up the ranks, decimated before
the rebel intrenchments. In its desperation,
the Genius of the rebellion seemed more
active, malignant, and fiendish than ever.
Plans to burn all the leading cities of the
North and to scatter infectious and deadly
diseases throughout the loyal States were care-
fully and earnestly discussed among the chiefs
of the Confederacy.1

RICHMOND, February n, 1865.
His EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT DAVIS,

President C. S. A.

Sir: When Senator Johnson, of Missouri, and
myself waited on you a few days since in relation to
the prospect of annoying and harassing the enemy
by means of burning their shipping, towns, etc. , there
were several remarks made by you upon the subject
that I was not fully prepared to answer, but which,
upon subsequent conference with parties proposing
the enterprise, I find cannot apply as objections to
the scheme. The combustible materials consist of
several preparations, and not one alone,- and can be
used without exposing the party using them to the
least danger of detection whatever. The preparations
are not in the hands of McDaniel, but are in the
hands of Professor McCullough, and are known but
to him and one other party, as I understand.

'This discussion was kept up through the winter
of 1864-65, as the following letter will show. I am
indebted to Captain Shurley for the privilege of
publishing it. He saw the original before it was sent
to Washington, and vouches for its accuracy.
182

of Camp 2DougIa£

There is no necessity for sending persons in the
military service into the enemy's country, but the
work may be done by agents, and in most cases by
persons ignorant of the facts, and therefore innocent
agents.

I have seen enough of the effects that can be
produced to satisfy me that in most cases, without
any danger to the parties engaged, and in others but
very slight, we can (l) burn every vessel that
leaves a foreign port for the United States. (2) We
can burn every transport that leaves the harbor of
New York, or other Northern port, with supplies for
the armies of the enemy in the South. (3) Burn
every transport and gunboat on the Mississippi River,
as well as devastate the country of the enemy, and
fill his people with terror and consternation. I am
not alone of the opinion, but many other gentlemen
are as fully and thoroughly impressed with the con-
viction as I am. I believe we have the means at our
command, if promptly appropriated and energetically
applied, to demoralize the Northern people in a very
short time. For the purpose of satisfying your mind
upon the subject, I respectfully but earnestly request
that you will have an interview with General Harris,
formerly a member of Congress from Missouri, who,
I think, is able by conclusive proof to convince you
th at what I have suggested is perfectly feasible and
practicable.

The deep interest I feel for our cause in this
struggle, and the convictions of the importance of
availing ourselves of every element of defense, must
be my excuse for writing you and requesting to
invite General Harris to see you. If you should see
proper to do so, please signify to him when it will
be convenient for you to see him.

I am, very respectfully, your ob'dt serv't,

[Signed] W. S. OLDHAM.

It has the following indorsement:

Secretary of State, at his earliest convenience,
will please see General Harris, and learn what plan

183

llrmimsrcnrcs of Chicago

he has for overcoming the difficulty heretofore
experienced. [Signed] J. D.

February 20, 1865.

Rec'd Feb. 19, 1865.

In the loyal states, and in our own city
especially, venomous Copperheads kept up
their warfare to the very last week of the
canvass. They were bent on letting loose the
ten thousand prisoners in Camp Douglas, that
they might burn and destroy the city, and thus
prevent an election here.1 And besides, they

JAn attempt was actually made to break out. In
a note to me, Captain Shurley says: —

"In October. 1864, one of the prisoners requested
an interview with the commandant of the post,
General Sweet. The message was sent to head-
quarters. In the absence of General Sweet, I ordered
the prisoner sent to my office. He told me that for
some time there had been an organization amongst
the prisoners of war to break out of the prison
square — and that one hundred men had taken an
obligation to lead the way, to break the fence, attack
the guard in rear of camp, and in the confusion that
would ensue, the 11,000 prisoners then in charge
would escape. He said that at eight that evening
was the time appointed — this was about 6 p.m.
that the interview mentioned took place. It was a
cloudy evening, and dark — looking like rain. After
dismissing the prisoner, I started for the prison
square. The officer in charge told me there seemed
to be an unusual activity among the prisoners —
advised me not to go round without a guard. This,
I knew, would attract attention, if not suspicion.
At this time the barracks occupied by the prisoners
were in rows raised on posts, and each barrack con-
tained from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
men. I noticed there was an unusual stir among the
184

of £mnp

had lists of scores of our leading citizens whose
property and lives could alone atone for the
loyal part they had acted throughout the war.
General Sweet and his brave officers at Camp
Douglas were equally active and vigilant. The
appointments at the post were strengthened
by every means in his power, so that as small a
force as possible might safely guard the
prisoners, and that a large detail might be

prisoners in the barracks. After completing the
tour, I returned to headquarters satisfied that there
might be truth in the statement of my "spy." I at
once sent an order to the commanding officer of the
Eighth regiment to take post on the south and west
of the camp. I ordered the Pennsylvania regiment
on the rear of that, and around it. I had notified the
officer in command of the guard of what might be
expected, at the same time had strengthened the
guard by turning out the other two reliefs. The rain
began to fall, and it seemed to me that the camp was
unusually quiet. The disposition of the troops had
been made so quietly that the prisoners had not sus-
pected it. I greatly regretted the absence of General
Sweet; he had been summoned to Wisconsin, but I
carried out his plan to the best of my ability. Eight
o'clock had scarcely sounded, when crash! went some
of the planks from the rear fence, and the one
hundred men rushed for the opening. One volley
from fhe guard, who were prepared for them, and
the prisoners recoiled, gave up, and retreated to their
barracks. Eighteen of the most determined got out,
but in less time than I can relate it, quiet was
restored. I had the Pennsylvania' regiment gradually
close in from the outer circle of the race course to
the camp, and recaptured all of those that had
escaped. I think eight or ten were wounded, but
they gradually recovered."

185

of

spared to station in the city at the time of
election. Detectives were kept intensely busy
to watch every suspicious character that
arrived by the cars, and some were sent to
Canada to learn from officers there what
villainous schemes they were plotting for the
destruction of Chicago.1 Others went to the
virulent Copperhead districts in central and
southern Illinois and found that large detach-
ments were to be sent here, ready for carnage
and plunder, should the prisoners break out,
and in any event to vote early and often in the
infected sections of the city. Hence, on the
Saturday before the election — Tuesday, the
8th of November — General Sweet knew where

1In a note to me dated June 3d, Captain Shurley
.says: —

"One thing history will bear out: that during the
the administration of General Sweet the prisoners of
war were treated as well as it was possible to treat men
in their situation. Of course, the very fact of con-
finement is a hardship— but the Government furnished
good clothing and provisions, and allowed a sufficient
quantity. I have read extracts from Southern
papers citing the number that died at Camp Douglas.
I account for this by the fact that many of the
prisoners received at that camp were wounded and
sick — run down by hard service — and the change of
climate may have had some effect. We had a most
admirable hospital, and busy, competent surgeons.
Dr. Emmons, of this city, was one of them. I know
that General Sweet left that command poorer than
when he entered it, and of all the millions he
disbursed, not one cent entered his pocket — or those
around him."

1 86

of Camp 2Dougia£

all the dens of the Knights of the Golden
Circle were, and what was going on in them;
what rebel gangs were expected from our own
State, and what officers were expected from
Canada to lead them and the rebel hordes in
Camp Douglas in their bloody raid upon the
city. To know them was to know how to pro-
vide against and defeat them.

But to be more specific: At first it was
proposed to let loose the prisoners two weeks
earlier, but for various reasons the thing was
postponed till the night before the election.
During the previous week, delegations began
to arrive from Fayette and Christian counties,
in this State. Bushwhackers journeyed north
from Missouri and Kentucky. Some came
from Indiana, and rebel officers from Canada.
But so perfectly had General Sweet made him-
self master of their movements that, in the
early morning of Monday, he arrested Colonel
G. St. Leger Grenfell, Morgan's adjutant-
general, in company with J. T. Shanks, an
escaped prisoner of war, at the Richmond
House; Colonel Vincent Marmaduke, brother
of the rebel general of that name; Brigadier-
General Charles Walsh, of the Sons of Liberty;
Captain Cantrall, of Morgan's command, and
others. In Walsh's house, General Sweet's
officers captured two cartloads of large-sized
revolvers, loaded and capped, and two hundred
muskets and a large quantity of ammunition.
In his official report, General Sweet says most
187

ft cmmi£ rentes of Chicago

of these rebel officers were in the city in
August, on the same bloody errand that brought
them here when arrested. When the officers
were secured, General Sweet's boys turned
their attention to certain parties of a baser
sort. Twenty-seven were arrested at the "Fort
Donaldson House," — a base misnomer, of
course, — all well armed; another lot was cap-
tured on North Water Street, and by evening
Camp Douglas had an accession of at least a
hundred of these wretches. During the day
the "secesh" sympathizers telegraphed their
friends in the central and southern parts of the
State that the trap had been sprung; parties
on the way were notified of the fate that
awaited them here, and they got off at Wil-
mington and Joliet; but some fifty who had
missed the notice arrived on Monday evening,
and were at once duly honored with an escort
to Camp Douglas. Some of these visitors had
boasted in Vandalia, on their way here, to
intimate friends, that "they would hear of hell
in a few days, " and generally they were of the
most desperate class of bushwhacking vaga-
bonds.

The plan, as derived from confessions of
the rebel officers and other sources, was to
attack Camp Douglas, to release the prisoners
there, with them to seize the polls, allowing
none but the Copperhead ticket to be voted,
and to stuff the boxes sufficiently to secure the
city, county, and State for McClellan and
1 88

of Camp

Pendleton, then to utterly sack the city, burn-
ing and destroying every description of property
except what they could appropriate to their
own use and that of their Southern brethren —
to lay the city waste and carry off its money
and stores to Jeff Davis's dominions.

Thanks to a kind Providence, all this was
averted, and the day after the arrests were
made, November 8th, the leading loyal journal
of the city had the following deserved compli-
ment to General Sweet: —

The praises of this vigilant, untiring officer are
on every tongue. Those whose homes have been
saved from midnight pillage and conflagration, whose
families have been rescued from a perfect carnival
of horrors, by his promptness and energy, will hold
the name of General B. J. Sweet in everlasting
gratitude. When the story of this hideous con-
spiracy to let loose ten thousand cut-throats upon a
defenseless city comes to be written, people will not
only appreciate the magnitude of the danger which
has been averted from them by the cool head and
steady nerve of one man comparatively unknown to
them, but they will be astonished at the persever-
ance and skill with which the plot has been ferreted
out and the ringleaders tracked to their cover.

In a general order, dated November 25th,
Geneial Sweet gives the number of men under
his command during the previous eventful
weeks at seven hundred and ninety-six, all told,
and adds: —

On the 6th of November this garrison and the
immense interests committed to its care in this camp,
and in the city of Chicago, were threatened by
189

&tmrni$tmtt$ of Chicago

Southern and Northern traitors from within and
without. Added duty was demanded of men already
worn. Detachments from the garrison, and heavy
and repeated details were made, with scarcely an
interval of rest allowed, which, if not done from
absolute necessity, would have been cruel. Officers
and enlisted men of the command answered each
new call with a cheerful alacrity and earnest zeal
which commands the warmest admiration. Seldom
have so few men been charged with the protection
of interests so great — never have such interests been
more faithfully guarded.

Of course the modest, brave man who di-
rected all these movements gives no hint of his
own exhaustive labors in all these weeks of
danger. He not only attended sharply to all
his duties as commander of the post, but he
organized and sent out scores of detectives in
all directions; he scanned their reports with an
eagle's eye and, from a great mass of isolated
facts, traced out the plans of his wily enemies,
their location, and their expected part in the
breaking out of the rebels from the camp and
the sacking of the city — knowledge of all
these and much more was wrought out by his
sharp, incisive judgment and ceaseless energy.
As I had given him the lead of important facts
at the inception of the conspiracy in August,
he did me the honor to give me the substance
of what I have above written, except, of
course, as to himself, from his own lips; and
all that I have said of this villainous rebel plot
is more than confirmed by the records of the
subsequent trials, and by articles and docu-
190

of Camp 2D0ugfog

ments published during the progress of the
events which I have but too briefly described.
May it not, therefore, safely be said that
Chicago can never fully appreciate, certainly
can never repay to his family, the debt of
gratitude she owes to the services of General
Sweet? Other brave men fought and fell in
the forefront of the battle; General Sweet
was there, and ever after his right arm hung
useless at his side. Other generals rushed
into the thickest of the fight when towns and
cities were burning around them; General
Sweet stood firmly and quietly at his post and
saved Chicago from a fate equally terrible and
destructive. They knew that the lurid glare
would flash out their names on all the pages of
their country's history; he was content to do
his duty, to save his fellow citizens from death
and their city from plunder and burning.
Their adversaries were in the front, fighting
openly "man to man and brand to brand";
his were venomous reptiles, crawling about in
dark lanes and filthy dens, till with one fell
spring the loyal city should be laid in ashes,
and its people fleeing in terror before the
bulleti and the swords of the destroyer. They
fought the rebellion with all the, weapons of
legitimate warfare; he had to fight secret
treason with such strategy and the best means
that his own genius and restless energy could
invent. Before their serried ranks the rebel-
lion was consumed in a blaze of glory; General
191

of Chicago

Sweet's wisdom and untiring efforts saved
Chicago to rejoice with brave men and sterling
patriots everywhere over a country saved, a
free, united, enduring republic.

The subsequent history of Camp Douglas
can be told in a brief space. With the excep-
tion of Fortress Monroe, it was said to be the
largest and best appointed camp in the United
States. More than 30,000 prisoners had been
housed there, and large numbers were confined
there during the winter of 1864-65. The
spring after the collapse of the rebellion, they
were gradually discharged and furnished with
transportation to their homes, one even being
sent by Captain Shurley to San Francisco.
General Sweet resigned at the commencement
of the year, and Captain Shurley succeeded as
post adjutant. He remained in charge till
October, discharging the prisoners and attend-
ing to the other duties incident to his position.
During the fall of 1865 the camp was disman-
tled, and the property sold under the direction
of Colonel L. H. Pierce.

During the winter previous a court martial
convened at Cincinnati, and the officers cap-
tured in November were duly tried for their
crimes. Walsh, general of the Sons of Lib-
erty, was sentenced to state's prison with
hard labor for three years; Marmaduke and
Morris were acquitted; Grenfell was found
guilty of conspiracy to release the prisoners
from Camp Douglas and to lay waste and
192

of Cam)) Douglas

destroy Chicago, and was sentenced to death;
Semmes was sentenced to a year in the peni-
tentiary, and Anderson shot himself, thus sav-
ing the authorities all further trouble on his
account. Fortunately for the others, the rebel-
lion was crushed out, and their sentences were
in due time remitted.

A few words more in relation to General
Sweet: After he was mustered out of the
service he bought a small farm at Wheaton,
and opened a law office in this city. In 1869,
he was appointed United States pension agent
for the northern district of Illinois, office at
Chicago, and he held that position until April,
1870, when he received the appointment of
supervisor of internal revenue for the state
of Illinois. In January, 1872, he was called
to Washington and offered the position of
first deputy commissioner of internal revenue.
He accepted, and held that place until his
death. General Sweet died on the 1st day of
January, 1874, at Washington, D. C., aged
forty-one years, eight months, and eight days.
The cause of his death was acute pneumonia.
He was ill only a few days, and his death was
a cruelly sudden and unexpected blow to his
family and his many devoted friends. General
Sweet's family were all living at the time of
his death, except his eldest son, Lawrence,
who died August loth, 1872. The death of
this son was a terrible affliction to the General,
and his spirit never recovered from the weight
193

focmmigccnceg of Chicago

of this sorrow. On the last day of the Gen-
eral's life, when all hope of recovery was
over, he spoke many times of his family in
words of anxiety and affection. Throughout
his sickness he was calm, courageous, and
cheerful. He died as he had lived, like a man
whose soul no terrors, no suffering, no sorrow,
could shake. He lived through struggles,
sorrow, wounds, poverty, and discourage-
ment, bravely, resolutely, calmly, and undis-
mayed; and as he lived, so he died. Chicago
will not fail to hold his inestimable service in
grateful and honored remembrance. When
monuments are built to perpetuate the memory
of her preservers and heroes, let none rise
higher than that on which stands the statue of
General B. J. Sweet.

As an evidence that republics are not always
ungrateful, I beg to add that his accomplished
daughter, Miss Ada, was her father's chief
clerk while pension agent, and also served in the
same capacity under Mr. Blakeslee. In April,
1874, President Grant appointed her pension
agent in this city, and it is the highest possible
compliment to her that no office in the country
is conducted with more accuracy and success.
While the last vestige of Camp Douglas must
soon be swept away, and its place and history
will only be known to the historian and the
curious antiquary, the memory of her patriotic,
noble father will become brighter and more
highly honored as the ages roll onward.
194

™T» «•*•»*••,