CHAPTER III.

ORGANIZATION

  78

 Regiments organized in Camp Washington, Easton---Colonel Mann ---Colonel Sickel---Colonel March---Organization of the Sixth regiment, Camp Curtin---Organization of the Seventh regiment, Camp Wayne­---Regiments organized in Camp Wilkins---Colonel Hays---Regiments in Camp Wright---Colonel McCalmont---Colonel Gallagher---Twelfth regi­ment in Camp Curtin---Colonel Taggert---McDowell's advance---Battle of Bull Run---Call for the Reserve Corps---Marching of regiments---­Passage through Baltimore---Arrival at Washington---Camp formed at Tenallytown---First regiment at Annapolis---Artillery regiment---Organ­ization of the Fifteenth regiment, cavalry.

       THE call for two regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery to be sent into active service, convinced the State authorities of the importance of the speedy organization of the Reserve Corps. The departments at Harrisburg were worked to the fullest capacity to prepare materials to arm and equip the regiments, and General McCall urged forward the organizations and advanced the instructions, as rapidly as the circumstances would admit of. The captains of com­panies who had been ordered to report with their men at the camps of instruction, came forward with commendable promptness and submitted themselves and their companies to the orders of the commanding general.
        The thirty companies in Camp Washington, at Easton, though active in learning the company drills, did not form themselves into regiments, until the 21st of June, when, by order of General McCall, the following companies from the city of Philadelphia, were constituted the second regiment:

The "Penn Rifles," company A, commanded by Captain George A. Woodward; the "Governor's Rangers," com­pany B, Captain Patrick McDonough; the "Hibernian

79

Target Company," company C, Captain James N. Byrnes; the "Governor's Rangers," company D, Captain Richard Ellis; the  “Scotch Rifles," company E, Captain John Orr Finnie ; the "Governor's Rangers," company F, Captain Thomas Bringhurst ; the " Taggart Guards," company G, Captain Evan M. Woodward ; the " Independent Rangers," company H, Captain Timothy Mealey ; the "Constitution Rangers," company I, Captain William Knox, and the "Con­solidation Guards," company K, Captain Patrick J. Smith.
      In the election held by these companies, William B. Mann, Esq., of Philadelphia, was elected colonel; Albert L. A Magilton, lieutenant-colonel, and William McCandless, major. Augustus T. Cross, was appointed adjutant; Charles F. Hoyt, quartermaster; Thomas B. Reed, surgeon, and J. W. Lodge, assistant surgeon of the regiment.
        William B. Mann, through whose exertions the Second Reserve regiment was called into existence, was born in Bur­lington county, New Jersey, on the 27th day of November, 1816. His father, the Reverend William Mann, is a highly respected member of the Methodist ministry, and was, at the time of William's birth, a teacher of considerable emi­nence. When he was four years old, his parents removed to Philadelphia, of which city Mr. Mann has remained a resident. Ile was educated under the immediate care of his father, until he reached his eighteenth year, when he entered upon the study of the law, in the office of Hon. Charles Naylor, a gentlemen of excellent reputation as a lawyer, and a member of the National Congress. He was admitted to practice at the Philadelphia Bar, in 1838.
        Mr. Mann rose rapidly in distinction in the practice of law, and had long been widely and favorably known to the inhabitants of the city, in which he lived. Without neglect­ing the duties of his profession, early in life, he took an active part in the political questions, which engaged the public mind, and soon became a leader in the party with whom his opinions led him to associate. In 1858, when William B. Reed, became the District Attorney of the city

80

of Philadelphia, Mr. Mann was associated with that gentle­man in conducting the public prosecutions.
      In 1856 he was elected District Attorney for Philadelphia and was subsequently twice re-elected to that position; once in 1859, and again in 1862. His intimacy with the minutest details of the duties of his position, his energy and quick­ness in the prosecution of the cases submitted to him, and his thorough acquaintance with the criminal law, recom . mended him strongly to the citizens of Philadelphia, whose confidence he possesses regardless of party distinction.
        When, in 1861, the State of Pennsylvania summoned into the field a Reserve Corps, Mr. Mann directed his efforts to the organization of a regiment. No time or labor was  spared to place the men at the disposal of the State authorities at the earliest possible period. The companies were recruited in Philadelphia and ordered to Camp Washington at Easton; in organizing the regiment, they elected Mr. Mann to the colonelcy. It was not the intention of Colonel Mann, at the time he accepted the position, to remain permanently, in command. Like many citizens at that time of patriotic fervor, he felt that his country demanded his best exertions. In the very outset, therefore, of his military career, he had determined to recruit a regiment and remain in service only through one campaign, and, having placed his men in the field and instructed them in the performance of their duties, it was his intention to return to the exercise of his civil  pursuits and to give his support to the Government in a sphere yielding, perhaps, less distinction, but requiring equal devotion to the Union.
        An Act of Assembly was passed enabling him to appoint ­a deputy to perform his duties during his temporary absence. In November, 1861, therefore, when the army went into winter quarters, Colonel Mann tendered his resignation of the command of the Second regiment, and upon its acceptance, took leave of his companions in arms, and returned to his civil position.

The following companies were constituted the Third

81

regiment: the "Second Reading Artillery," company A, of Berks county, commanded by Captain Jacob Lenhart, Jr.; the "Salem Independents," company B, of Wayne county, Captain William D.. Curtis; the "Union Rifles," company C, of Bucks county, Captain David V. Feaster; the " Me­chanics' Infantry," company D, of Berks county, Captain William Briner; the "De Silver Greys," company E, of Philadelphia, Captain John Clark; the "Washington Guards," company F, of Berks county, Captain Washington Richards; the "Germantown Guards," company G, Philadelphia county, Captain Richard H. Woolworth; the “Applebachville Guards," company H, of Bucks county, Captain Joseph Thomas; the " Montgomery Guards," company I, of Bucks county, Captain William S. Thompson; and the " Ontario Infantry," company J of Philadelphia, Captain Horatio G. Sickel.
      These companies elected Horatio G. Sickel of Philadel­phia, colonel; William S. Thompson of Bucks county, lieutenant-colonel; and Richard H. Woolworth of Philadel­phia, major of the regiment. Albert H. Jameson of Reading, was appointed adjutant; Franklin S. Bickly of the same place; quartermaster; James Collins, of Philadelphia, sur­geon; George L. Pancost of the same place, assistant surgeon, and Reverend William H. Leake, chaplain.
        Horatio G. Sickel was born in Bucks county, Penn­sylvania, April 3rd, 1817, and for many years resided in the city of Philadelphia, where he was engaged in the manufacturing and mercantile business. He was also a practical soldier, having held a commission in the uniformed militia of the State of Pennsylvania, since August, 1841.
        At the breaking out of the rebellion and at the call of the President for seventy-five thousand troops, in April, 1861, Captain Sickel recruited a company in Philadelphia, called the "Ontario Infantry," and tendered his services to the Governor of the State, on the 20th of April. The general uprising of the North and the pressure upon the Governor at that time, precluded the acceptance of this com­-

82

pany, under the first call. Captain Sickel, however, kept his company intact and under daily instruction, until the passage of the Act authorizing the "Reserve Corps." The company was then accepted and mustered into service, at Philadelphia.
        His military prestige at once gave to Captain Sickel the confidence of the officials, and he was placed in command of six companies, accepted from the city, and was ordered to report with his command at Camp Washington at Easton, where he arrived with his companies on the 29th of May.
      Upon the organization of the Third regiment, he was elected colonel, and immediately entered upon the work of drilling his command.
        The Fourth regiment was organized on the same day, bythe following companies: The "Able Guards," company A, of Philadelphia, Captain John Schoenewald ; the " Quaker City Guards," company B, of Philadelphia, Captain Robert M. McClure; the " Montgomery Rifles," company C, of Montgomery county, Captain Isaiah W. Kimble; the " Dickson Guards," company D, of Philadelphia, Captain Nathan J. Taylor; the " Williamsport Legion," company E, of Lycoming county, Captain Francis H. Burger ; the "National Guards of Monroe," company F, of Monroe county, Captain George B. Keller; the "Harmer Guards," company G, of Philadelphia, Captain Thomas F. B. Tapper; the " Susquehanna Union Volunteers," company H, of Sus­quehanna county, Captain Elisha B. Gates; the "Reed Guards," company I, of Philadelphia, Captain Henry Ein­wechter, and the "Enton Guards," company K, of Chester county, Captain William Babe.
      Robert G. March, of Philadelphia, was elected colonel; John F Gaul, lieutenant-colonel, and Robert M. McClure, major of this regiment. John Nyce was appointed adju­tant; A. A. Lechler, quartermaster; Adolphus Patze, sur­geon; Wm. T. W. Dickerson, assistant surgeon, and Rev. Edwin Marks, chaplain.
        Robert G. March was born in the city of Philadelphia,

83

October 5th, 1819. At the age of ten years he was left an orphan and was indentured as an apprentice to the morocco manufacturing business. After reaching the age of majority, he went to Virginia, where he commenced his military training in a volunteer company organized in Alexandria, and received a commission dated May 2d, 1842, signed by President Tyler.
      After his return to Philadelphia, he several times held the position of captain in the military organizations in the city. At the commencement of the rebellion he volunteered his services to the Governor of Pennsylvania, and was com­missioned by Governor Curtin, on the 23d of April, 1831, to recruit a regiment, which he accomplished at his own expense, and was ordered to proceed with six companies to Camp Washington, at Easton. On the 21st of June, when the Fourth regiment was organized, he was elected to the colonclcy.
        Colonel March served with his regiment until October, 1861, when, on account of physical disability, engendered by over-exertion in camp, he tendered his resignation.
        As Colonel March was about leaving his command, at Tenallytown, he received a memorial, signed by all of the commissioned officers in the companies of his command, expressing their esteem for him as an officer, and their regret that the state of his health made it necessary for him to resign his commission as commander of the regi­ment.
        On the 22d of June, the day on which the brigade commanded by Colonel Biddle marched from Camp Curtin, there remained in the camp ten companies: The "Iron Guards," company A, of Columbia county, Captain Wel­lington H. Ent; the " Union Guards," company B, of Snyder county, Captain Chas. D. Roush; the " Honesdale Guards," company C, of Wayne county, Captain Jno. S. Wright; the "Washington Rifles," company D, of Franklin county, Captain Wm. D. Dixon ; the " Montour Rifles," company E, of Montour county, Captain M.H. Manly; the " Northern

84

Invincibles," company F, of Bradford county, Captain Daniel Bradbury; the " J. D. Cameron Infantry," company G, of Dauphin county, Captain Jacob Rehrer ; the " Tioga Invincibles," company H, of Tioga county, Captain Julius Sherwood; the “Towanda Rifles," company I, of Bradford county, Captain W. H. H. Gore, and the "Susquehanna Volunteers," company K, of Susquehanna county, Captain John Shull.
      These companies organized the Sixth regiment, and elected W. W. Ricketts, of Columbia county, colonel; William Penrose, lieutenant-colonel; and Henry J. Madil, major. Henry B. McKean was appointed adjutant; R. H. McCoy, quartermaster; Charles Borer, surgeon; L. Ring Jones, assistant surgeon, and Rev. Samuel Jessup, chaplain of the regiment.
        On the 26th of June, the following named companies in Camp Wayne, at West Chester, organized the Seventh regi­ment: The "Carlisle Fencibles," company A, of Cumberland county, Captain R. M. Henderson; the “Biddle Rifles," company B, of Perry county, Captain John Jameson; the "Iron Artillery," company C, of Lebanon county, Captain E. G. Lantz; the "Rifle Guards," company D, of Clinton county, Captain Chauncy A. Lyman; the "Ridgway Guards," company E, of Philadelphia, Captain Chas. S. Peall; the "Wyoming Bank: Infantry," company F, of Luzerne county, Captain Elisha B. Harvey; the "Second Philadelphia Guards," company G, of Philadelphia, Captain John G. Chapman; the "Cumiberland Guards," company H, of Cumberland county, Captain Joseph Totten; the “Myers town Rifles," company I, of Lebanon county, Captain Jerome Myers; and the " Douglas Guards," company K, of Phila­delphia, Captain Casper Martino.
        The companies elected Elisha B. Harvey, of Luzerne county, colonel; Joseph Totten, lieutenant-colonel; and Chauncy A. Lyman, major of the regiment. Alexander B. Sharps was appointed adjutant; Charles A. Lane, quarter-

85

master ; Alfred W. Green, surgeon; Thomas Jones, assist­ant-surgeon, and A. Judson Furman, chaplain.
      Elisha B. Harvey, at the time the rebellion broke out, was practicing law at Wilkesbarre. He immediately closed his business and recruited a company, which formed part of the regiment which Colonel Harvey was elected to command.
        The Eighth regiment was organized at Camp Wilkins, near Pittsburg, on the 28th of June, by the following com­panies: The "Armstrong Rifles," company A, of Armstrong county, Captain L. S. Cantwell; the "' Jefferson Riflemen," company B, of Dauphin county, Captain Robert E. Johnson ; the "Anderson Cadets," company C, of Alleghany county, Captain Geo. S. Hays; the "Brownsville Greys," company D, of Fayette county, Captain C. L. Conner; the "Duncan Guards," company E, of Philadelphia and Alleghany county, Captain John Duncan; the "Hopewell Rifles," company F, of Bedford county, Captain John Eichelberger; the "Fayette, Guards," company G, of Fayette county, Captain Jesse B. Gardner; the " Clarion Union Guards," company H, of Clarion county, Captain William Lemon; the "Greene County Rangers," company I, of Greene county, Captain S. M. Daily, and the "Hopkins Infantry," company K, of Washington county, Captain Alex. Wishart.
        Dr. George S. Hays, of  Herriotsville, was elected colonel; S. Duncan Oliphant, lieutenant-colonel, and J. B. Gardner, major of the regiment. John G. Swearingen was appointed adjutant; Gilbert L. Eberhart, quartermaster; II. A. Lich­tentbaler, surgeon; II. K. Neff, assistant surgeon, and Rev. William Aiken, chaplain.
        George S. Hays was born in Alleghany county, Pennsyl­vania, September 28, 1807. He received a medical educa­tion and practiced his profession nineteen years in his native county. In the spring of 1861, when the Southern rebels attacked Fort Sumter, Dr. Rays was living on his farm, engaged in stock raising. At the call to arms, he raised a company, composed of the sons of his neighbors, and, in

86

obedience to orders received from General McCall, marched with it, to Camp Wilkins, soon after the passage of the Act providing for a Reserve Corps. Dr. Hays had for three years commanded the " Duquesne Greys," of Pittsburg; the military experience acquired in that position, and the repu­tation he enjoyed in the community, secured for him the election to the colonelcy of the Eighth regiment. Colonel Hays commanded his regiment until the termination of the Peninsular compaign, when he resigned, on account of the injuries received at the battle of Charles City Cross Roads.
      On the 28th of June, the Ninth regiment was organized in Camp Wilkins, near Pittsburg, by the following com­panies: the " Pittsburg Rifles," company A, of Allegheny county, Captain Lewis W. Smith the " Garibaldi Guards," company B, of Allegheny county, Captain Frank Hartmayer ; the "Iron City Guards,” company C, of Allegheny county, Captain James T. Shannon; the "Government Guards," company D, of Allegheny county, Captain Robert Galway; the "Chartier Valley Guards," company E, of Allegheny county, Captain Charles Barnes; the "Meadville Volunteers," company F, of Crawford county, Captain Samuel B. Dick; the " City Guards," company G, of Allegheny county, Cap­tain John B. Brookbank ;the "New Brighton Rifles," com­pany 13, of Beaver county, Captain John Cuthbertson ; the "McKeesport Union Guards," company I, of Allegheny county, Captain William Lynch, and the "Allegheny Rangers," company K, of Allegheny county, Captain Hugh S. Fleming.
      These companies elected Conrad F. Jackson of Pittsburg, colonel; Robert Anderson, lieutenant-colonel ; and James MeK. Snodgrass, major of the regiment. T. Brent Swearingen was appointed adjutant; John F. Kirkpatrick, quarter­master; Joseph A. Phillips, surgeon; Henry F. Martin, assistant-surgeon, and Reverend J. B. Pyatt, chaplain.
        The Tenth regiment was organized in Camp Wright, on the 29th of June, by the following companies: "The "Somerset Infantry," company A, of Somerset county,

87

Captain Robert P. Cummins; the "Middlesex Rangers," company B, of Mercer county, Captain Thomas MeCon­nell ; the " Venango Greys," company C, of Venango county, Captain Christopher M. Over; the "Jefferson Light Guards," company D, of Washington county, Captain Charles W. McDaniel; the "Clarion River Guards," com­pany E., of Clarion county, Captain James B. Knox; the "Curtain Rifles," company F, of Beaver county, Captain Milo R. Adams ; the " Mercer Rifles," company G, of Mercer county, Captain Adoniram J. Warner; the Warren Guards, company H, of Warren county, Captain Henry V. Partridge ; the " Allegheny College Volunteers," company I, of Crawford county, Captain Ira Ayer, Jr.," and the " Wilson Rifles," company K, of Beaver county, Captain Samuel Miller.
      John S. McCalmont, Esq., of Venango county, was elected colonel of the regiment; James T. Kirk, lieutenant-colonel, and Harrison Allen, major. Siam B. Smith was appointed adjutant; Cyrus Elder, quartermaster; Benjamin Rohrer, surgeon; David McKinney, Jr., assistant surgeon, and Rev­erend J. L. Greene, chaplain.
        John S. McCalmont was born at Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania. He is one of three sons of the late Alexander McCalmont, born on the 28th of April, 1822. The oldest, William, now deceased, was a soldier in the regular army, and the youngest, Alfred B., is now colonel of the 142d Pennsylvania volunteers.
        Alexander McCalmont, the father of these soldiers, was an early settler in western Pennsylvania, and rose by his own industry and probity to a position of honor and influ­ence in the community. He was during ten years, president judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, having been appointed to that position by Governor David R. Porter.
      John S. McCalmont was, at the age of sixteen, appointed a cadet to the military academy in 1838 ; and graduated in the class of 1842. At the time of his graduation, he was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the Third infantry,

88

head-quarters at Tallahassee, Florida, and subsequently second lieutenant in the Eighth infantry, then commanded by Colonel Worth, headquarters, Pilatka, Florida.
      In July, 1843, at the close of the Florida war, he resigned his commission and commenced the study of law. He was admitted to practice and soon after was appointed deputy attorney-general for Clarion, Elk, and McKean counties, and took up his residence at Clarion. In 1848, he was elected to the legislature, and again in 1849, and was elected speaker of the House of Representatives for the session of 1850. In May, 1853, he was appointed president judge for the Eighteenth Judicial District. At the election in 1853, he was elected by the people president judge of the same district, for ten years from December, 1853.
        The arduous labors of his professional duties had seriously impaired his health; that, however, did not stand in the way of his patriotic devotion to his country; he resigned his seat on the bench, and accepted the colonelcy of the Tenth regiment of the Reserve Corps.
      This regiment was ordered, early in July, to Cumberland, to reinforce Colonel Biddle's brigade; but when it arrived at Hopewell, the orders were countermanded and the regi­ment ordered to report at Harrisburg, where it was mustered into the United States service, on the 21st day of July, 1861.
      The Eleventh regiment was organized in Camp Wright, on the 1st day of July, by the following companies
      The " Cambria Guards," company A, of Cambria county, Captain Robert Litzinger ; the "Indiana National Guards," company B, of Indiana county, Captain Daniel S. Porter; the "Dixon Guards," company C, of Butler county, Captain Samuel Louden; the " Conongessing Rangers," company D, of Butler county, Captain William Stewart; the "Washington Blues," company E, of Indiana county, Captain Nathaniel Nesbit; the "Union Volunteers," company F, of Fayette county, Captain Edward Bierer; the "Independent Blue, " company G, of Armstrong county, Captain James P. Speer; the "Westmoreland Blues," company H, of Westmoreland

89

county, Captain Daniel Kistler; the " Washington Blues," company, I, of Westmoreland county, Captain Thomas H. Spires, and the "Brady Guards," company K, of Jefferson county, Captain Evans R. Brady.
      T. F. Gallagher, was elected colonel; James R. Porter, lieutenant-colonel, and S. M. Jackson, major of the regiment. Peter A. Johns, was appointed adjutant; FI. A. Torrence, quarter-master; James S. De Bonneville, surgeon; D. W. Ballentine, assistant-surgeon, and Rev. William T. Dickson, chaplain.
        Thomas F. Gallagher, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of January, 1822 ; he received a liberal education, and, when the rebellion broke out in 1861, was a merchant in New Alexandria,, a village in his native county. For many years he had taken an active interest in military organizations in Westmoreland county, and had, by experience, acquired a knowledge of company and regi­mental drills and manoeuvres. When the Eleventh regi­ment was organized, he was elected to the colonelcy and invited to take command of the regiment. Colonel Gallagher accepted the position and served with distinction, until the 12th of December, 1862, when he was compelled to resign, on account of a severe wound received at the battle of South Mountain.
        The Twelfth regiment which was the last of the infantry regiments in the corps, was organized in Camp Curtin, on the 25th of July. The companies in the Twelfth, were col­lected from all parts of the State. They were the “ Wayne Guards," company A, of Philadelphia, commanded by Cap­tain John H. Taggart; the "Factoryville Infantry," company B, of Wyoming county, Captain David N. Matthewson ; the "Troy Guards," company C, of Bradford county, Captain Richard Gurtin ; the " Kepner Fencibles," company D, of Dauphin county, Captain Samuel B. Wilt; the "Easton Guards," company E, of Northampton county, Captain Peter Baldy; the "'Pest Newton Guards," company F, of West­moreland county, Captain Andrew G. Oliver; the "Bailey's Invincibles," company G, of York county, Captain Samuel

90

N. Bailey; the " Indiana County Infantry," company H, of Indiana county, Captain Andrew J. Bolar : the " Huntingdon Guards," company I, of Huntingdon county, Captain James C. Baker, and the "McClure Rifles," company K, of Frank­lin county, Captain John S. Eyster.
      These companies elected Captain John H. Taggart, of Philadelphia, colonel; Captain Samuel N. Baily, of York county, lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Peter Baldy of Northampton county, major of the regiment. Theodore Mcmurtrie, was appointed adjutant; James T. Woodall, quartermaster; W. H. Thorne, surgeon; Isaac J. Clark, assistant surgeon, and Rev. A. J. Bolar, chaplain.
      John H. Taggart, was born in Georgetown, Kent county, Maryland, on the 22d of January, 1821. After the death of his father, in 1830, he went to Philadelphia, where he resided up to the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861. He was a printer by profession, and one of the proprietors of the Philadelphia Sunday Mercury. He had a taste for military exercises, and, was for many years connected with the " Washington Blues," of Philadelphia. After the attack on Fort Sumter, he raised a company in Philadelphia, called the “Wayne Guards," for the three months service, and subsequently tendered the services of the company to Governor Curtin, to form part of the Reserve Corps. Cap­tain Taggart marched his company to Harrisburg, on the 7th June, and remained in Camp Curtin until the 25th of July, the day on which the Twelfth regiment was organized when he was elected colonel, and placed in command of the regiment.
        The Rifle regiment, which was the second regiment organ­ized for the corps, was numbered the "' Thirteenth regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps." In an official order issued by General McCall, at the request of the men com­posing it, the regiment was named the "Kane Rifles." "The Bucktails," however, was the popular name of this historic organization; an appellation taken from the badge, the tail of a deer, worn on their caps by both officers and privates;

91

and whenever in the skirmish line of the opening battle this badge was seen, fear seized the hearts of the trembling foe, for in it he recognized the advance guard of a corps of troops, celebrated in both armies for the irresistible power of their battle charges.
      On the 16th of July, General McDowell advanced from the banks of the Potomac towards Manassas, with an army of thirty thousand five hundred men. The troops, though principally volunteers, recently from their peaceful labors in the North, were eager for active service, and. commenced the advance with alacrity and joy. At noon on the 17th, the advance division of the Union army entered Fairfax unopposed, and found in the enemy's camps much valuable property, which, in the haste and fear of the flight, the rebels had abandoned. With the march of this army moved the heart of the nation, filled with hopeful joy. On the 18th, General Tyler reconnoitered the enemy's position and ascertained the location of his batteries. Two days-- ­fatal delay--were spent in examining the country and posting the troops. On Sunday, the 21st, the terrible battle was fought. Never was a field more fiercely contested. Every regiment fought heroically, and merited its country's gratitude. From early in the morning until two o'clock in the afternoon, the battle raged with unabated. fury. Up to that hour, the advantages were on the side of the Union troops, who had assailed, one after another, the strong posi­tions of the enemy on the bank of Bull Run, and carried them by storm. Three o'clock came, and victory seemed certain to the National army. But, as at the battle of Waterloo, Blucher came and Grouchy came not, so in this hour of National peril, General Johnston, with thirty thous­and fresh troops, came to the aid of Beauregard, but Patterson came not with his thirty thousand loyal troops to the rescue of McDowell's army. The day was lost. Beaten by overwhelming numbers, McDowell's army was hurled back into the entrenchments in front of Washing­ton. The safety of the Capital was threatened and the

92

nation, for a day, was paralyzed with bewildering amazement.
      The term of service of the troops composing Patterson's army would expire before the 1st of August; the army under McDowell was daily diminishing in numbers from the same cause, and the Capital of the nation was left with­out a force equal to that defeated at Bull Run, to guard it against the victorious enemy. The authorities at Washing­ton discovered, when it was too late to be remedied, the error of having under-estimated the force of the conspira­tors. The call for help-immediate, instantaneous relief went out from Washington throughout all the land. Penn­sylvania alone was prepared to respond with an available promptness. The stone which the builders had rejected, now became the head of the corner. Baffled by the admin­istration at Washington, rebuked by the Secretary of War, and censured by the anti-war party in his own State, Gov­ernor Curtin, with patriotic fervor, labored to complete the organization of the Reserve Corps. He was told it would prove to be his political grave. Circumstances have made it his most honorable monument, and the pride of the State.
        Just before the advance of McDowell's army, the services of this organized body of men were offered to the govern­ment; but the authorities at Washington refused to receive them. On the 18th of July, Governor Curtin again tele­graphed to the war office at Washington, stating that two regiments of , the Reserve Corps were in service in Western Virginia, another was marching to join them, and ten other regiments were in camps at Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Easton and West Chester. In the same dispatch, the Governor requested that mustering officers be sent to the several camps, to muster the regiments into the service of the United States. On the same day, orders were received from the Secretary of War, directing that four regiments should be sent to Hagerstown, and the remaining regiments of the Reserve Corps, not including those in Western Virginia, should be mustered and transported to Baltimore

93

on the Northern Central Railroad. On the 19th, another dispatch, from Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas to Gov­ernor Curtin, instructed him, in obedience to the wishes of the Secretary of War, to assemble all the regiments, excepting only the two commanded by Colonels Charles J. Diddle and Seneca G. Simmons, at Harrisburg, where they would be mustered into the service and forwarded to the seat of war, as previously ordered; stating also that their services were imperiously demanded, and " if they were not forwarded promptly, the regiments would be prevented from taking part in the impending battle." The Governor replied by telegraph: "All the regiments have been ordered to Harrisburg, in obedience to your dispatch just received, and, on arrival, will be immediately forwarded to the seat of war, as previously ordered. If there is not time to muster them in at this place, mustering officers can follow them to the field."
      All possible expedition was used to concentrate the Corps and forward it to the scene of active operations, in front  of Washington. Though the Governor, through his private messengers, had failed to induce the administration at Washington to accept the services of this organized body Of troops, at a time that would have rendered them avail­able to the commander of the National forces, there was wanting no zeal or hearty co-operation when the cry for help came with telegraphic emphasis from Washington to Harrisburg. With a most generous patriotism, peculiar to a sovereign people, all the resources of the State were brought into requisition to reinforce the National army in front of the capital.

The following dispatches show the temper of the hour:--

WASHINGTON, July 21, 1861.

GOVERNOR CURTIN :-Get your regiments at Harrisburg, Easton and other points ready for immediate shipment, lose no time preparing. Make things move to the utmost.

THOS. A. SCOTT,

 Assistant Secretary of War.