CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 75 forth that noted village satirist, and challenged him to write some verses commemorative of the occasion. Gardiner was only too happy to comply with the request, and wrote instanter : When late I mounted Brown's old gray, I thought it was a muster day, I heard so many voices bray — " What stirrups! " Sensations lofty filled my heart, I thought I was a Bonaparte ; But what composed my shining part? My stirrups! Delusive spell, cried I, alas! If all I boast be made of brass, I'm surely worse than Balaam's ass, With stirrups ! A company calling itself the Columbus Guards, of which Joseph Sullivant was orderly sergeant, flourished in 1827, and in 1830 we hear of the Franklin Rifle Company, Captain S. Deardurff. Among the frequent militia announcements which appear in the newspapers of the early thirties is found that of the election of George H. Griswold, of the Second Regiment, as Brigadier-General of the Third Brigade, Sixteenth Division. This event took place in July, 1831. On December 17, 1832, a convention of officers of the Ohio Militia met at Columbus and organized by electing Samuel Mason, of Clark, as president, and William J. Reese, of Fairfield, and Dwight Jarvis, of Stark, as secretaries. An address was delivered by Major William Allen and a committee was appointed to suggest amendments to the militia laws. The principal improvements proposed by this committee were the following : 1. More effectual training of officers, the officer muster to continue three days, and tents therefor to be provided by the State. 2. Increase of fines and simplification in their collection, all delinquent commissioned officers to be fined by a brigade court. 3. Encouragement of independent companies. 4. Improvement in martial music. 5. Repeal of the exemption of all ablebodied males over thirtyfive years of age, and enrollment of all between the ages of eighteen and fortyfive who were eligible for military service. On July 20, 1833, " a respectable number of officers " who served in the War of 1812 convened at Columbus and appointed David Gwynne chairman and William Doherty secretary. This meeting memorialized Congress for a grant of land to the officers who had taken part in the war," in consideration of their services and sacrifices." During 1834, 1835 and 1836 popular interest in militia organization gradually subsided until it became almost extinct, and musters ceased to be held. Such was the state of military feeling when the following brigade order, signed by G. H. Griswold, commanding the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, Ohio Militia, was issued August 12, 1837, at Worthington : Lyne Starling, Junior, Edmund Shaw, John M. Kerr and C. W. Kasson are hereby ordered and required to raise by voluntary enrollment a company of Cavalry 76 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. from the Brigade under my command. They will proceed without delay to the performance of that service and make report as soon as completed. Another order of even date authorized the same men to organize a company of light infantry and announced : " Persons wishing to join either of the above companies can call upon either of the gentlemen named in the orders. A meeting will be held at the Council Chamber on Friday evening next, at the ringing of the bell." On September 4,1837, appeared this additional notice, signed by Uriah Lathrop, " Acting Orderly Sergeant : " The Light Infantry Company of the Second Brigade will meet Tomorrow Evening . . . at the room over J. B. Crist's Store, Exchange Buildings. Such was the beginning of the Columbus Guards, one of the finest and most widely known military companies ever organized in Columbus.' The Cincinnati Grays and the Cleveland Grays, two companies of much the same quality, had their origin about the same time. The uniforms of the Guards were bought in Philadelphia by Lieutenant Kerr, who claims that they were " handsomer than any now worn." They cost one hundred dollars per man. The plumes cost three, the knapsacks eight and the caps eight dollars apiece. The first officers of the company were : Captain, Joseph Sullivant ; First Lieutenant, John M. Kerr; Second Lieutenant, Elijah Backus; Orderly Sergeant, M. C. Lilley. Charles Webb, a noted actor at the Old Columbus Theatre, was an honorary member. Mr. Kerr recites from memory the following roll of the company exclusive of the officers above mentioned : E. Shaw, H. Z. Mills, H. Broderick, William Broderick, Matthias Martin, William Martin, John Harvey, Burton Bodine, James Johns, William Johns, William Adams, J. Townley, H. W. Boalt, A. M. Cutshaw, W. David, E. David, E. Hill, Theodore L. Shields, Vance McElvain, Samuel McElvain, George Walcutt, Cyrus Sells, D. Brooks, J. Neereamer, L. Donaldson, William Sandford, S. Justice, R. E. Neil, H. Armstrong, J. Heavy, G. W. Cushman, A. Mitchell, H. Mitchell, Thomas Mitchell, 0. Backus, Lafayette Backus, E. Dc Lash mutt, P. Cool, F. McCormick, Uriah Lathrop, Charles Hodgkins, P. Ackerman, William Fairland, L Bullet, James Jones, E. Olmsted, A. Olmsted, Charles Olmsted, William Boswell, Charles Webb, James W. McCoy, James Markland, and E. Hall. First of the numerous ceremonious occasions in which the Guards participated was the celebration of the Fourth of July at Lancaster in 1838. The trip from Columbus was made on the canal boat Post Boy chartered for the occasion. The Lancaster Eagle gave the following testimony as to the handsome manner in which the visitors were received and deported themselves : This fine company [Columbus Guards] under Captain [Joseph] Sullivant, visited our town on the fourth instant, and joined in the festivities of the day. They were received at the Reservoir by the Lancaster Blues, Captain Creed, and the Guards, Captain Myers, and escorted to their quarters at the Phoenix Hotel. They were here addressed by Captain Creed in a neat and pertinent speech, to which Captain Sullivant replied in an appropriate manner. They made a very fine appearance, and their military bearing, excellent discipline and fine soldierly deportment attracted the attention and won the admiration of our citizens. They were accompanied by an excellent band of. music, which added much to their CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 77 appearance. In the evening the Guards with a number of citizens, were hospitably entertained at the residence of Major Reese. The Lancaster companies made a return visit to Columbus, as the guests of the Guards on the next ensuing Fourth of July, in 1839. In October, 1838, the Guards, under Captain Sullivant visited Springfield, and elicited high encomiums from the press of that budding city. The Pioneer said : " We cannot say that we ever witnessed a parade the order and beauty of which afforded us so much real enjoyment and satisfaction." In February, 1839, we find Captain W. F. Sanderson in command of the company in lieu of Captain Sullivant, who had retired. The Ohio Statesman, of December 22, 1840, spoke in high praise of the appearance, training and discipline of the Guards and added : "There is but one thing to which anyone could take exception : The company is too small." To encourage the company, which was in need of pecuniary help, the managers of the Columbus Theatre generously gave it a benefit, which took place on February 24, 1841. Messrs. Wallack and Duff, actors, volunteered for the occasion and drew a crowded house. The Dayton Herald of February 27, 1841 — Colonel King, Editor — contained the following : " The Guards and two splendid artillery companies compose the military of Columbus. The artillery corps are composed entirely of Germans, and present a magnificent and soldierlike appearance." The Guards, continued the Herald, "are but a short remove from the very perfection of military discipline." In the early days of July, 1841, a general encampment of the independent volunteer companies of the West was held on grounds bearing the name of Oakland, in the immediate vicinity of Louisville, Kentucky. Under Captain W. F. Sanderson, the Columbus Guards set out for this encampment on June 26." their arrival at Cincinnati, where, by invitation, they were the guests of Colonel John Noble, at the Dennison House, was thus announced by the Enquirer : " The Columbus Guards, Captain Sanderson, reached Cincinnati this morning [Monday, June 28, 1841], on their way to the encampment at Louisville, on the steamer Tremont. . . . Their appearance was magnificent." Journeying by water —steamer Ohio Valley — from Cincinnati to Louisville, the Guards were received by the Louisville Legion and by them entertained, until the encampment was ready, at the Louisville Hotel. The famous editor, George D. Prentice, observed their march past from his balcony and eulogized their appearance in nearly a column of his paper. The Guards bore away the first honors of the encampment, and upon their return to Cincinnati, joined, by invitation, in the escort of the remains of President Harrison, then recently deceased, to North Bend. One of their first acts, after returning to Columbus, was the adoption of resolutions expressing their acknowledgments of the generous hospitalities they had received. This excursion seems to have been the climax in the career of the Guards. In September, 1841, their commander, Captain Winslow F. Sanderson, was elected Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, of the Ohio militia, vice General James C. Reynolds, resigned. After this event, the company seems to have gone into a decline. On January 14, 1842, a few of its members met, in its behalf, at the Engine House and resolved to disband. At this meeting Captain 78 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Stockton presided and a committee was appointed to solicit names to the new roll. An anonymous newspaper card published in the following May stated that the Guards had won more renown than any other independent military company in the West, and deplored the fact that it had nevertheless been reduced to about twenty members. In July, 1842, it seems to have been rehabilitated, as we read that on the seventh of that month it held a very fine parade under its leader, Captain Stockton, and after the military exercises of that occasion sat down to a dinner at the City House, where toasts were drank and speeches made. On August 29, 1843, the following paper, drawn by Matthew J. Gilbert, a prominent attorney, was circulated for signatures: Whereas, the young gentlemen who formerly composed the brilliant military company styled the Columbus Guards (now numbering about forty), are desirous of reviving said company and restoring it to its former splendor and distinction ; we, the undersigned, willing to give countenance to this praiseworthy undertaking, and wishing to see this company established upon a permanent basis, do hereby promise to pay in aid of this enterprise to the said company, or their authorized agent, on or before the first day of October next, the several sums placed opposite our names. Doubtless as a result of this effort a meeting which took place November 14, 1843, was held, at which the following officers of the company were elected : Captain, W. F. Sanderson ;7 First Lieutenant, John M. Kerr; Second Lieutenant, A. L. Olmsted; Ensign, E. Hall ; Commissary, H. Z. Mills. On February 9, 1844, the Guards performed service under requisition of the Sheriff of Franklin County at the execution of William Clark for the murder of Cyrus Sells, one of their number, who was a guard at the Penitentiary. Esther Foster, a negro woman, was executed at the same time. A more particular account of these events will be given in the history of the Ohio Penitentiary. After this episode the Columbus Guards again dropped out of sight until reorganized early in 1846 as the Montgomery Guards, Captain J. T. Mickum.8 Early in January, 1839, a State Military Convention was held at the Courthouse in Columbus, and was fairly attended. General Samuel Stokely, of Jefferson County, was chosen to preside, with Generals Goddard, of Muskingum, and Reynolds, of Franklin, Colonel Medill, of Fairfield, Major Chase, of Lucas, and Captain Brady, of Tuscarawas, as Vice Presidents. Captains Edward H. Cumming, of Clark, and Joseph Sullivant, of Franklin, were chosen Secretaries. Generals James Reynolds, of Franklin, William Reese, of Fairfield, Worthington, of Ross, Watkins, of Muskingum, and Jacob Medary, of Franklin, were appointed to prepare a plan for reorganization of the militia. The report of this committee expressed satisfaction that the suggestions of the preceding convention had been enacted into law ; estimated the existing strength of the Ohio militia at about two hundred thousand men, and recommended: 1, That officer musters should continue four days in tents ; 2, that volunteer companies, not more than four in number and each comprising not over forty, rank and file, should be selected by each brigade commander to meet and drill with the officers ; 3, that officers should be daily selected, without regard to rank, by the brigadier-general for the instruction of the battalions so formed ; 4, that tents should be provided by the CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 79 State, one for each six men, and one marquee to each regiment, the whole to be under the superintendence of the brigade quartermaster ; 5, that an arsenal should be provided at the county seat of each county, in which arms and camp equipage might be stored ; 6, that all militia trainings should be dispensed with except company, battalion and regimental parades of uniformed troops ; 7, that the General Assembly should offer such further inducements to the maintenance of volunteer organizations as might seem proper. A burlesque company called the" Earthquakes," intended as a caricature of the militia, obtained mention during the summer of 1839. These mock soldiers wore also called the " Fantasticals." During the same year the Executive Horse Guards are mentioned ; also the Archers, which was the title adopted by a company of boys, " all dressed in flaunting tartans," and armed with lances. The Captain of the Archers was Master Latham. The great political meeting known as the Harrison State Convention, which was held in Columbus February 22, 1840, was attended by the following independent military companies, which took part in the parade : Zanesville Guards, Captain Dulty ; uniform, "blue coatee and pantaloons, sugarloaf cap, white plume tipped with blue." Putnam Grays, Captain Hatch ; gray uniform, trimmed with black. Warren Greens, a rifle company of Zanesville, Captain Hazlett ; uniform, " a green frock and pantaloons faced with black silk velvet and trimmed with yellow." Jefferson Guards, Captain Hare ; uniform, blue coats and pantaloons. The Greens, together with the Guards and Grays, formed one battalion under Colonel Curtis, and were accompanied by Brigadier-General Watkins and Staff. The visiting companies were escorted into town by the Columbus Guards, Captain H. Z. Mills ; the Buckeye Rangers, Captain J. T. Blairiq, and the German .Guards, Captain Frankenberg, all Columbus companies, and all under Major Sand' erson, who was accompanied by the field and staff officers of the Columbus Brigade. On the same occasion the German Artillery Company, Captain Frankenberg, was presented by lady friends with a beautiful flag. The presentation address was spoken by Miss Bethje. Governor Shannon's message of December 8, 1840, contained this passage : " It is admitted by all that our present militia system is greatly defective and has entirely failed to secure the great object in view—a well organized militia." So languid had the interest in military organization become that an attempt to hold a State convention of militia officers at Columbus in December, 1841, had to be abandoned. Efforts to bring the state militia together in a grand encampment at Columbus in July, 1842, were equally unsuccessful. In announcing the indefinite postponement of this encampment the committee of arrangements stated that all military ardor and enthusiasm had given place to the "general doubt and depression " pervading the public mind. Nevertheless, the German citizens of Columbus maintained two fine artillery companies, Captains Frankenberg and Jacobs, and the reorganization of the Guards was attempted. On January 8, 1844, a detachment of Dayton volunteer artillery under Captain King, visited Columbus, bringing a single brass field piece, and was received with " the highest military honors " by the three companies—Guards and German Artillery--then existing at the capi- 80 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. tal. The visitors were met at the foot of Broad Street and escorted to the residence of General Sanderson. At their departure they were accompanied by the local companies "to the west end of the bridge," and were honored with an artillery salute, " which was returned, gun for gun." It is significant of the spirit of the times that the visiting detachment was criticised because a portion of its " driving cannoneers " were colored men. In 1843 Heman A. Moore, of Columbus, was appointed Adjutant-General of the Ohio Militia by Governor Shannon, and in 1845 Thomas W. H. Mosley, another citizen of the capital, was appointed to that office by Governor Bartley. Military balls and festivals by the German Artillery are mentioned in 1845, and during the same year a Military Hall in the Exchange Buildings on West Broad Street is spoken of. The Montgomery Guards held a "fair and supper" at their armory " over P. Hayden's store," February 3, 1846. The officers of the Guards at that time were : Captain, Charles Stanbery ; First Lieutenant, George E. Walcutt; Second Lieutenant, W. H. Kent ; Ensign, J. Armitage ; Orderly Sergeant, J. T. Mickum ; Commissary, L. Backus. A parade of the Guards, accompanied by the German Artillery and " their beautiful brass fieldpiece," on April 6, 1846, is mentioned. On May 18, 1846, at which time war with Mexico had just been practically declared, the " First German Artillery " held a meeting and resolved : That no member of this company can lawfully leave it until he has served five years. That persons desirous of becoming members of this company can be furnished uniforms upon one year's credit by giving security for the payment thereof. That this company is in readiness to go and serve in defense of their country at any time they may be called upon for that purpose. Enlistments in the company were at the same time solicited, and several recruits were obtained. Early in June, 1846, a new rifle company called the Columbus Grays was organized, with nearly one hundred men on its roll. Its first officers were : Captain, J. W. Milligan ; First Lieutenant, I. G. Dryer; Second Lieutenant, A. P. Stone ; Ensign, James Milligan. The company was formed in expectation that its services would be accepted in the war with Mexico, and announced its readiness to serve in any contingency that might arise. The presentation of swords to expectant heroes of the pending conflict was at this time a frequent ceremony. Among the officers thus complimented were Captain George E. Walcutt, Lieutenant J. T. Mickum, Lieutenant D. H. Mooney, of Guards, and Lieutenant Markland of the Cadets. Captain George W. Morgan, of Mount Vernon, was presented with a beautiful sash by Columbus ladies represented by Miss Medary. Copies of the Scriptures were distributed by the Bible Society among the departing volunteers. A revival of military interest in 1849 resulted in the organization of the Columbus Light Guards, Captain Walcutt, and a company known as the Columbus Light Artillery, of which the officers were as follows : Captain, James A. Mark land ; First Lieutenant, Frank K. Hulburd ; Second Lieutenants, M. C. Lilley and E. B. Headley ; Ensign, A. L. Martin. CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 81 On July 4, 1850, about fifty surviving volunteers of the Mexican War held a reunion at Stewart's Grove, whither they marched in procession, accompanied by the fire department. At the grove the veterans and their friends listened to an oration by Captain George E. Pugh, and partook 9f a dinner at which numerous toasts were proposed and responded to. The German Grenadiers, Captain Snyder, are mentioned in 1851, and the City Guards, alias Morgan Volunteers, Captain Schneider, in 1852. In celebration of July 4, 1853, a parade was formed, comprising " Captain Schneider's infantry company, the artillery company" and two or three fire companies. On February 2, 1854, a " State Military Convention " of about sixty delegates assembled at Neil's New Hall on High Street, to deliberate upon ways and means for the organization of the state militia. Governor William Medill was chosen to preside, and resolutions were adopted declaring that the time had arrived when the General Assembly should "enact such a law as would encourage the organization of uniformed citizens and provide for their soldierlike equipment and maintenance ;" that the citizens should be enrolled for military purposes ; that active military duty should devolve upon uniformed companies ; that the Commander-inChief should choose subordinates of military experience ; and that a committee of ten should be appointed to report a bill to carry out these suggestions. The members of the committee selected in pursuance of these resolutions were: Major 1). Wood and General Ross, Cuyahoga; Captain R. F. Levering, Miami ; General G. S. Patterson, Erie; Colonel Demas Adams, Franklin ; Colonel P. J. Sullivan and Captain W. F. Lyons, Hamilton ; General L. V. Bierce ; Captain M. Schleich, Fairfield ; and Captain J. R. Bond, Lucas. After thanks to the Columbus Grenadiers and Artillery had been passed for the handsome manner in which these organizations had entertained the delegates, the assembly adjourned to reconvene on the first Tuesday in February, 1855. Among the delegates present on this occasion were Captains J. B. Steedman of Lucas, Hazlitt of Muskingum,. and M. C. Lilley, of Franklin. Pursuant to adjournment of the year before, the State Military Convention reassembled at the City Hall February 6, 1855, and organized by choosing General Charles H. Sargent, of Hamilton County, as chairman, and Alexander E. Glenn, of Franklin County, as secretary. At this meeting resolutions were adopted recommending the enactment of a law embracing the suggestions of the convention of 1854. In 1855 a new company which adopted the name of Columbus Guards was organized with the following officers: Captain, M. C. Lilley ; First Lieutenant, M. D. Lathrop ; Second Lieutenant, James Milligan ; Third Lieutenant, John Winters; Fourth Lieutenant, George Merion ; Orderly Sergeant, J. F. Neereamer ; Ensign, C. C. Neereamer. These officers put themselves under the instruction of Professor Mather, a graduate of the West Point Academy. The uniform adopted comprised darkblue frock coats, " armyblue pants, with buff stripe," and plumed caps similar to those of the Old Columbus Guards. The new Guards hoped to achieve the renown of the old company of that name, but on April 12, 1856, we read': 6 * 82 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Last fall two fine companies were about being organized in this city—the State Fencibles and the Columbus Guards. The Fencibles succeeded, uniformed themselves, paraded, and at once took rank with the best disciplined companies of the State. The Guards, after a vain struggle to maintain themselves, abandoned the effort, dwindled away, and finally gave up the ghost. Company B, First Regiment State Fencibles, here referred to, was originally organized on July 4, 1855. Its first members were mostly identified with the Franklin Fire and Neptune Hose companies. Its uniform and tactics were those of the United States Army. Being mustered into the Ohio militia, it was armed by the State with " the latest improved bright barrelled United States muskets." The first parade of the Fencibles, then numbering about fortyfive, took place January 25, 1856, and elicited the following comments :10 This fine military company made its first appearance on the streets yesterday and created quite a sensation. The beauty of the uniform, the bright muskets and the glittering bayonets, the perfection of the drill and measured tread of the platoons as they moved onward like pieces of living machinery, the handsome and generous countenances of the men, altogether combined, elicited admiration not only from the crowd that couldn't tear itself away from the march, but from the host of bright eyes gazing from the upper windows. From this time until 1861 the parades, encampments and social festivals of the company conspicuously animated the military life of the capital. Many of its members, including its first captain, Henry Z. Mills, had been connected with the Old Columbus Guards. Captain Mills's successors in command, in the order of mention, were Captains J. 0. Reamey, James H. Neil, Theodore Jones, Joseph Riley and A. 0. Mitchell. At the annual election held June 2, 1856, Captain Mills voluntarily retired, and the following officers were chosen : Captain, J. 0. Reamey ; First Lieutenant, J. H. Neil ; Second Lieutenant, Theodore Jones ; Ensign, John Ijams. On February 25, 1856, the Law Grays, of Baltimore, and the Continentals, of Cumberland, Maryland, halted in Columbus on their homeward journey from Cincinnati, where they had participated in a military celebration of Washington's birthday anniversary. The visiting companies were escorted about the city by the Fencibles, and in the evening the Grays were entertained at the American House by the hostess of that establish ment, Mrs. Kelsey, a Baltimore lady. While en route to the Cincinnati celebration the Grays and Light Artillery, of Cleveland, also received the courtesies of the Fencibles. An armory drill held by that company on the evening of April 29, 1856, was honored by the presence of Governor Chase and staff. On June 19, 1856, the Fencibles—spoken of at that time as." also the head and front of the Fire Department "—held at their armory a grand strawberry festival and ball at which the Cleveland Grays were their guests. The decorations of the armory, interior and exterior, for this occasion excited much admiring wonderment. A " Temple of Mars," dressed with flags, banners and festoons, was erected in the centre of the hall, the walls of which were embellished with " rosettes formed with muskets, swords, dirks, and daggers." The advent of the guests of the mos,• sion is thus referred to :11 CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 83 The Cleveland Grays [Captain Paddock], accompanied by their celebrated brass band, arrived on the twelve o'clock train today [June 19] and were received at the depot by the State Fencibles with all the military honors due to the occasion. The beautiful uniform of the Grays, their great bearskin Cossack caps, and above all their excellent discipline, excited the admiration of the crowd that had assembled to witness their reception and as they marched [amid clouds of dust] over the villanous plankroad between the depot and the armory, it was conceded by all that they were every way worthy of their reputation. . . . In the evening the Fencibles accompanied their gentlemanly visitors to the festival, which was already crowded with the fairest ladies of the land. Probably this was the most notable military soirée held in Columbus up to that time. The supper, at ten P. M., was served, it is said, to about twelve hundred ladies and gentlemen. Governor Chase and staff graced the occasion with their presence. Music for the promenade and dancing was furnished by Goodman's Band. On January 6, 1857, the Cleveland Grays participated in the ceremonies incident to the formal occupation of the new Capitol, and were again the guests of the Fencibles. On the twenty-third of the same month the Fencibles attended the anniversary ball of the Grays at Cleveland, and on February 22, same year, they were presented with a flag at their armory by the ladies of Columbus. The address of presentation was delivered by Hon. Allen G. Thurman, and was responded to by Captain Reamey. Dancing followed. The part taken by the company in the Kane obsequies in February of this year, has been elsewhere narrated. On July 25, 1857, the Fencibles joined the Guthrie Grays, of Cincinnati, in an encampment at Middletown, Butler County. The officers of the company at that time were : Captain, James H. Neil; First Lieutenant, Theodore Jones; Second Lieutenant, Robert Gohey ; Third Lieutenant, Edward Fitch. In December, 1857, the Fencibles meditated a resolution to disband, but postponed its adoption thirty days in order that the people of Columbus might be appealed to for pecuniary assistance. Either because the response to this appeal was satisfactory, , or for other reasons, the organization was continued, and in September, 1858, an encampment was held at the County Fairgrounds, in which the following companies took part: Fencibles, Captain Joseph H. Riley (elected in July, 1858); Columbus Vedettes, Captain Walcutt; Dublin Invincibles, Captain Olmsted. About this time the Concert Hall of Mr. Neil, on High Street, was fitted up and occupied by the Fencibles as an armory. It was thenceforward known as Armory Hall. On January 1, 1859, the Fencibles elected the following officers : First Lieutenant, A. 0. Mitchell ; Second Lieutenant, F. G. McCune; Third Lieutenant, G. W. Earhart. The Columbus Vedettes, Captain Tyler, were visited October 30, 1857, by the Madison Guards, of London, Ohio. The Vedettes were originally boys of the Highschool. Their " second festival levee " was held at the Columbian Hall February 16, 1858.; their " fourth annual festival "' at the Concert Hall October 28, 1858. In May, 1858, they elected the following officers : First Lieutenant, Henry Thrall; Second Lieutenant, A. Tuther ; Third Lieutenant, H. Geary ; Ensign, John Fisk. The Montgomery Guards, another new company with an old 84 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. name, gave a " benefit ball " on February 17, 1859, at Armory Hall. On the twenty-second of the same month a salute was fired at daybreak, and a joint parade was held by the Fencibles, Vedettes, and ljam's Artillery. The Steuben Guards, Captain Haldy, was mustered into the Fifth Regiment, Ohio Militia, April 6, 1859. It was composed chiefly of German born citizens. A resolution of the General Assembly directing the Adjutant-General of Ohio to collect the war colors and trophies of the Ohio troops resulted in the delivery ,of the flag presented by ladies of Columbus to the Montgomery Guards in the Mexican War, and borne in that war by the Second Ohio Infantry. The ceremony of depositing this flag in the custody of the State took place at the Capitol, March 23, 1859. At 4 P. M. on that date, under escort of the State Fencibles, the survivors of the Second Regiment carried the flag to the Capitol, where, with due ceremony, the original letters tendering and accepting the emblem were read by R. G. McLain, of Lockbourne, who was a survivor of the Guards, and had taken part in the reception of the colors at Camp Washington After the correspondence had been read, the "powder-grimed and ball-pierced relic," as it was described, was received by Adjutant-General Carrington. During the earlier fifties the socalled "arms of the State" comprised a few boxes of old flintlock muskets, some rusty pieces of artillery, an assortment of " Colt's dragoon revolvers," a lot of sabres and other military ironware, all kept, in a state of " admirable confusion," in an unfinished twostory brick building at the corner of Fifth Street and South Public Lane. In July, 1856, the serviceable portion of these arms was removed by direction of Quartermaster General Glenn to the armory of the State Fencibles. The General Assembly had prior to that time steadfastly refused to appropriate money for the erection of .a State arsenal. We read, however, in June, 1859, that a contract for building such an arsenal had been let to George Gibson, and that work upon it would begin as soon as a suitable location for it-could be selected." The military part of a parade held in celebration of the Fourth of July, 1859, consisted of Captain Ijam's Light Artillery and a battalion of infantry under Lieutenant Colonel H. Z. Mills. These organizations were then component parts of the First Brigade, Thirteenth Division, Ohio Militia. The commander of the brigade was Brigadier-General Lucian Buttles. The infantry battalion comprised the following companies : A (Vedettes), Captain Walcutt ; B (Fencibles), Captain Riley ; C, Captain Olmsted ; D (Montgomery Guards), Captain Riches; E (Steuben Guards), Captain Haldy. In July, 1859, a society of survivors of the Mexican War was organized, with thirty members. The first regular meeting of this organization was appointed for January, 1860. In September, 1859, the annual encampment of the First Brigade, Thirteenth Division, Ohio Militia, was held at the State Fairgrounds on the Sullivant farm, near Franklinton. The place of arms was named Camp Harrison. Most of the companies were meagerly represented except the Vedettes, of Columbus, and the Guards--Captain William Cloud--of Lancaster. The honors of this occasion were borne off by the Vedettes, who were awarded a silver medal as the best drilled CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 85 company present. The medal was won in set competition with the Lancaster Guards. During the evening of November 11, 1859, an impromptu parade of the Columbus companies was summoned by rocket signal fired from the cupola of the Statehouse and the beating of a snare drum on the street. The companies appeared in line promptly, most of them in from five to ten minutes. On November 5, 1859, the Montgomery Guards elected the following officers : Captain, Owen T. Turney ; Second Lieutenant, D. McAlister ; Third Lieutenant, P. Burns. The Governor's Guards, a new company, made its advent soon after the inauguration of Governor Dennison, in January, 1860. Its organization had been in progress some months anterior to that time. An armory for its use was fitted up in the Odeon Building, where a grand ball was given by the company February 22, 1860, on which date a parade was held in which the Governor's Guards were escorted by the Vedettes. The Fencibles, Montgomery Guards and Artillery also took part in the celebration of this anniversary. Before the opening of the ball in the evening a silk flag was presented to the Governor's Guards, in behalf of lady donors, by Governor Dennison. The Guards wore a uniform of gray, and goldtipped white plumes. They were of independent organization and self-equipped. Their officers were : Captain, Isaac H. Marrow ; First Lieutenant, H. M. Neil ; Second Lieutenant, William Lamb ; Third Lieutenant, Charles E. Bradley. An annual convention of the Ohio militia was held in December, 1859, at Cincinnati. It adopted a memorial to the General Assembly asking for appropriations to encourage militia organization. Speaking of the five Columbus companies existing at that time, the Capital City Fact said :" The companies are composed of men in early manhood, or in the prime of life, who generally are not in circumstances to justify them in the loss of time in attending the drills and parades of their respective companies. If to this loss of time is added the expense of providing suitable uniforms and other equipments, it will become a heavy burden which no class of our citizens ought to be required to bear in the public service, alone and unaided. The old militia system having become nearly or quite obsolete, reliance must henceforth be placed mainly upon volunteer companies for keeping alive the military spirit, and for maintaining an efficient guard, prepared at all times, and on a moment's warning, to put down domestic violence and rebellion, or to repel foreign invasion upon the soil of our commonwealth. On January 10, 1860, one hundred survivors of the War of 1812 met in state convention at the Adjutant-General's office. Resolutions were adopted claiming pensions of the same rate granted to the soldiers of the War of Independence. Delegates to a convention of the soldiers of 1812, to be held in Chicago the ensuing June, were appointed. The remains of Colonel William A. Latham, who died at Houston, Texas, during the autumn of 1849, were brought to Columbus in April, 1860, and on the sixth of that month were interred with military honors at Green Lawn. The services of Colonel Latham as commander of Columbus volunteers in the war with Mexico 86 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. have been elsewhere narrated. The ceremonies at the burial of his remains were participated in by the whole body of the citizen military of the capital, and also by the Circleville Guards, Captain C. B. Mason.14 The remains were borne on an artillery caisson. On January 7, 1860, the Governor's Guards were armed by the State, and on the twenty-sixth of the same month they took part, with the other local military organizations, in the reception given to the legislatures of Tennessee and Kentucky, then visiting Columbus. About this time Captain C. C. Walcutt resigned from the command of the Vedettes and was succeeded by Lieutenant R. Thrall, who was chosen to the captaincy. On the tenth of the ensuing September the Vedettes took a conspicuous part in the great parade incidental to the dedication of the Perry monument, at Cleveland. In November of the same year, the Steuben Guards, Captain F. Haldy, were honored with a handsome banner thus inscribed : Presented by the Ladies of Columbus, November 22, 1860. Reverse: In Unity is Strength. Organized March 22, 1858. The presentation took place at Kanne mach er's Hall, the ladies making it being Mary Hinderer, Elizabeth Herz and Barbara Miller. Miss Hinderer pronounced a handsome address to the Guards which was responded to by Captain Haldy. Dancing followed the ceremonies. On February 13, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, President elect, then en route to Washington, visited the capital of Ohio. In the ceremonies of that occasion the Columbus battalion bore a conspicuous and honorable part, the Vedettes serving as the Guard of Honor to the President elect. Washington's birthday anniversary in the same month, was celebrated by the Fencibles, who held on this occasion their last parade. The evening exercises included some striking tableaux, one of which represented the ceremony of raising the National flag on Fort Sumter. Before the company was afforded another opportunity for display or festivity it was summoned to the stern duties of the field. When the President's call for seventyfive thousand volunteers reached Columbus in the ensuing April, a member of the Fencibles, Corporal J. K. Jones, instantly put down his name, and led the muster roll of the Ohio volunteers. He was quickly followed by many of his company associates. Seventy-five of the Fencibles entered the volunteer service, and of these fifty-seven became commissioned officers. Ten served as noncommissioned officers, and eight as privates. One of these volunteers, Mr. John N. Champion, wrote in 1867 : There were then in the city [at the outbreak of the rebellion] two independent military companies ; .. . also a battalion of state troops commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel H. Z. Mills, and composed of the Steuben Guards, Montgomery Guards, Columbus Vedettes and State Fencibles. . . . There also existed here a battery of light artillery under charge of Captain John F. Ijams, afterwards commander of a battalion in the Fifth Independent Cavalry, which did good service in Kentucky and Tennessee. . . . Each of these companies was a basis for speedy recruiting, and all were soon filled up to the war maximum. The Coldstream Zouaves, under Captain Harding C. Geary, entered the Fortysixth 0. V. I. and the Steuben Guards, Captain William Snyder, entered the Thirteenth 0. V. I. The Montgomery Guards, under Captain Owen T. Turney, became Company G, Third 0. V. I., while companies A and B, of the same regiment, under Captains CITIZEN MILITARY BEFORE 1860 - 87 Wing and Lawson, were recruited largely from the Governor's Guards. The Vedettes under Captain Henry R. Thrall, and the State Fencibles, under Captain A. 0. Mitchell recruited their ranks in two days' notice, at the first call to arms, and entered the Second Ohio Infantry, which, with the First Ohio, was composed entirely of old companies. . . . After Company B [the original Fencibles] had left for the war, a second organization was foamed here, under the name of Company C, State Fencibles No. 2, using the armory and accoutrements of the old company. Its officers were Captain, George C. Crum, First Lieutenant, James N. Howle, and Second Lieutenant E. A. Fitch. This second company, with other state troops, was ordered by the Governor, June 21, 1861, to do guard duty on the Marietta Railroad. . . . It became Company A of the Eightyeighth 0. V. I., and in June, 1862, went to Kentucky. NOTES. 1. Sullivant Family Memorial. 2. In May, 1822, Colonel McElvain was appointed by Governor Trimble to be Adjutant-General of the Ohio Militia. T. C. Flournoy was, about the same time, appointed Quartermaster-General. 3. Ohio State Journal, January 22, 1867. 4. Henry Brown, Treasurer of State. 5. John M. Kerr, named in General Griswold's order, informs the writer that the very first organization of the Guards took place in 1835. His company badge bears the legend : 1836. Semper paratus. 1846. 6. At Cincinnati they were to be joined by the Grays and Washington Cadets of that city, the Dayton Grays and the Troy Blues. 7. In April, 1843, General Sanderson was appointed Quartermaster-General of Ohio. 8. At the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, the Montgomery Guards enlisted in the United States volunteer service, and were assigned to the Second Ohio Regiment. See Chapter III. 9. Ohio State Journal. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid. 12. A site was chosen on West Mound Street. The foundation for the building was laid in July, 1860. 13. September 30, 1859. 14. This company and the Lancaster Guards, Captain William Cloud, were attached to the Columbus battalion. CHAPTER VIII I. - IN WARTIME-1861. On Saturday morning, April 13, 1861, the people of the Capital and State of Ohio were startled as never before by the following announcements telegraphed the preceding e.vening from Charleston, South Carolina : The ball is open. War is inaugurated. The batteries of Sullivan's Island, Morris's Island and other points were opened on Fort Sumter at four o'clock this morning. . . . Moultrie began the bombardment with two guns, to which Anderson replied with three shots from his barbette pieces, after which the batteries at Mount Pleasant, Cumming's Point and the floating battery opened a brisk firing of shot and shell. . . . The firing has continued all day without intermission. Two of Fort Sumter's guns have been silenced and it is reported that a breach has been made in the southeast wall. The bombardment continued for thirty-six hours, at the end of which time the walls of the fort were shattered, its combustible part was on fire, and its stores of powder had to be cast into the sea. Further attempts at its defense being hopeless, its commandant, Major Robert Anderson, capitulated on the thirteenth, and at noon of Sunday, the fourteenth, saluted and hauled down the flag of the United States and quitted the stronghold he had so gallantly defended. On that same Sunday President Abraham Lincoln wrote with his own hand and gave to the telegraph a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand state militia " to maintain the honor, the integrity and the existence of our National Union." The response to this call was instantaneous and splendid. In Ohio it was a prodigious outburst of patriotic fervor. Before the firing on Sumter had ceased twenty full companies had been tendered to the Governor for immediate service. An executive proclamation of the fifteenth, appealing for enlistments, was anticipated by the volunteers. Their enrollment began in Columbus before the Governor's summons bad yet gone to the state at large. Some of the members of the Fencibles had enlisted, as we have seen, as soon as they knew of the President's call.' During the evening of the fifteenth the Governor's Guards marched to the Capitol and offered their services in a body. Recruiting began immediately at .their armory in the Deshler Hall. The other companies were equally prompt in doing likewise, the Vedettes at their headquarters at Walcutt's Hall, the Fencibles at the Armory Hall, and the Montgomery Guards at their rendezvous at the northwest corner of High and Gay streets. The Steuben Guards, keeping abreast with their comrades, very soon had sixty-five men enrolled for the field. [88] I. - IN WARTIME-1861- 89 Messages tendering individual or collective service were literally showered upon the Executive Department from all parts of the State. The following synopsis of a few of the current announcements will indicate the many and illustrate the spirit of the time : General W. H. Lytle, of Cincinnati, arrived on the fifteenth and personally tendered to the Governor the services of his division. Generals Fyffe, of Urbana, and Schleich, of Lancaster, tendered their brigades. W. E. Gilmore, of Chillicothe, telegraphed : " We can raise a hundred men. Shall we go on and enroll them ?" The Springfield Zouaves offered themselves, forty in number, armed and equipped. Captain Childs offered the services of Company A, Light Artillery, Dayton. General Garrison, of Hamilton : " I hold myself in readiness for orders." Lebanon offered two companies. J. B. Steedman, of Toledo, promised a full regiment within ten days. W. W. Laughlin, of Mansfield, tendered his company of one hundred men for immediate orders. Canton requested acceptance of two companies. Captain G. B. Bailey, of Portsmouth, telegraphed : " Will leave for Cincinnati with company on first boat ; thence by railroad." Senator J. D. Cox, of the General Assembly, offered his services. C. B. Mason, Circleville: " We will be on hand tomorrow [April 19] at noon, seventy-five strong." President Lorin Andrews, of Kenyon College, tendered a company. Anticipating the war, he had already offered his personal services three months previously and is said to have been the first citizen of Ohio so to do. M. G. Mitchell, of Piqua, offered a company ready to march. R. F. Day, Plymouth : " We are ready." Pease's Dayton Company loft for Columbus April 17. James Collier, of Steubenville, sixtytwo years old, had a company ready. J. C. Hazlitt, of Zanesville, awaited orders with seventyfive men. Captain Frank Sawyer, of Norwalk, had forty men ready on the sixteenth. Captain Weaver, of Kenton, announced a full company. J. E. Franklin awaited orders with his company at Tiffin. Captain McCook telegraphed from Steubenville that his company was ready to march. Durbin Ward's Company at Lebanon awaited orders. Captain Bossman, of Hamilton, had a company ready. Captain P. D. Smith promised to report with a company from Wellington April 17. Jacob Ammon awaited orders, with a company, at Ripley, Brown County. Captain Hawkins, at Marysville, and Captain Muse, at Zanesville, each had a company ready. Columbus immediately became a centre of extraordinary activity and excitement. Not only volunteers but contractors, office seekers and adventurers of every kind rushed from all directions to the capital. Every train brought its contingent until the hotels, boarding houses and streets swarmed with strangers, and the newspapers found it impossible to announce even a tithe of the arrivals. Meanwhile an intense eagerness for news from Washington and the South possessed every mind. Sunday, the fourteenth, was a day of feverish anxiety and unrest. Churchgoers as well as street loungers gathered about the bulletinboards, and the newspaper and telegraph offices were besieged for information. Sumter had fallen ; so much was known, but what would be done ? A tremendous crisis had come: would the National Government be equal to it? The President's proclamation published on Monday afforded positive relief. It gave a definite trend to the course of events. A decisive policy was announced at last; the national authority 90 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. was to be asserted. The time for palaver and concession had passed ; the time for action had come. The General Assembly, then in session, had been discussing the the Corwin constitutional amendment, pledging noninterference with slavery ; the subject was soon dropped forever.2 Governor Dennison's proclamation quickly followed that of the President and was accompanied by orders of instruction from the Adjutant General. The Governor also sent a message to the General Assembly asking for an appropriation of $450,000 for the purchase of arms and equipments for the volunteer militia. bill appropriating $100,000 for war purposes was already pending ; it immediately gave place to one appropriating a million. On the eighteenth the General Assembly, nobly ignoring its partisan differences, passed this million dollar bill unanimously. A palpable stimulus to this action was doubtless given by the rising tide of popular feeling. In the principal towns and cities all over the State the people, in almost complete disregard of party distinctions, were demanding, in great assemblies, the application of every resource for the preservation of the Union. Such a meeting was held at the Armory Hall, in Columbus, on Wednesday evening, April 17. Hon. Joseph R Swan was chosen to preside and Samuel Galloway, Judge Rankin, L. J. Critchfield and S. M. Mills were appointed to report resolutions. The meeting was addressed by prominent men of both the leading political parties, including J. A. Garfield, R B. Warden, Samuel Galloway, Joseph H. Geiger and Judge Rankin. The resolutions adopted emphatically demanded the suppression of the rebellion and pledged a loyal support to all efforts in that behalf. By the terms of the legislative war appropriation the Sinking Fund Commissioners were authorized to borrow the money at six per cent. interest on certificates exempt from state taxation. Mr. D. W. Deshler, of the National Exchange Bank of Columbus, offered the Governor what money he needed for present necessities until the loan could be placed, but no difficulty was encountered in negotiating the certificates. Cincinnati took one quarter of the whole amount and Mr. Deshler's bank $100,000. Many applications were received for small amounts and the entire loan was speedily negotiated. The General Assembly had no sooner passed the milliondollar bill than the organized bodies of volunteers began to pour into Columbus. The Lancaster Guards arrived first, quickly followed by the Dayton Light Guards, the Cincinnati Zouaves, and a score of others. The number of troops required of Ohio was thirteen regiments; in the course of a very few days the Governor had more than twice that number at his disposal. The embarrassments of the State authorities caused by the redundancy of volunteers for Mexico were repeated, but on immensely greater scale. Although this emergency had been foreseen for months as an inevitable event, it caught Ohio, as it did the Nation, wholly unprepared. If the absence of all ready resources and arrangements to meet it had been deliberately studied it could not have been more complete. Militia organization and training had become almost obsolete for want of legislative encouragement The very few civilian bodies which had the hardihood to keep up the forms of soldierly practice had done so, for the most part, unassisted and unthanked. Some mouldy harness, I. - IN WARTIME-1861 - 91 old fashioned muskets and rusty pieces of artillery constituted the resources of the State Arsenal. Military science had been studied by scarcely anyone not a professional soldier, and the knowledge of tactics was limited mainly to the fancy drill for occasions of parade. The forms of military organization in vogue were chiefly imperfect imitations of foreign methods. The Governor and his staff, like the President and his cabinet, were almost wholly unversed in the practical business of war. 3 "The Adjutant-General," says Reid's Ohio in the War,4 " a person of considerable and versatile ability, was an enthusiastic militiaman, but just then not much of a soldier. He was withal so excitable, so volatile, so destitute of method as to involve the affairs of his office in confusion and to bewilder himself and those about him with a fog of his own raising. He accepted companies without keeping account of them ; telegraphed hither and thither for companies to come immediately forward ; and soon had the town so full of troops that his associates could scarcely subsist or quarter, and he could scarcely organize them ; while, when he came to reckon up, he found he had far outrun his limits and had on hand troops for nearer thirty than thirteen regiments. Then, when he attempted to form his companies into regimental organizations, he met fresh troubles. Each one wanted to be Company A of a new regiment and was able to prove its right to the distinction. The records of the office were too imperfect to show in most cases definitely which had been first accepted. Then Senators and Representatives must needs be called in to defend the rights of their constituents and the Governor's room, in one end of which the Adjutant-General transacted his business, was for weeks a scene of aggravating confusion and dispute."' When the volunteers began to arrive no provision bad been made either to feed or shelter them. Many came in civilian dress, some even wearing high silk hats, and found no uniforms ready. Those who uniformed themselves had adopted such styles as suited their fancy, which manifested itself in many whimsical notions as to military propriety. A red shirt with blue trousers and a felt hat constituted the dress most common. Summoned from Cincinnati, the Commissary-General, Mr. George D. Runyan, found some hundreds of hungry men awaiting him, not knowing how they should be fed much less wherewithal they should be clothed. Taking counsel with General Lucian Buttles, Mr. Runyan concluded that to quarter these men at the hotels was the best and only practicable thing that could be done. The men of one company were arranged for at the Goodale House at $1.25 each per day ; others were distributed to different hotels and boarding houses at rates varying from seventy-five cents per day upwards. But this resource, expensive as it was, soon found its limit. Of tents there were none. Grounds for a camp must therefore be selected and barracks erected thereon as speedily as possible. Sheds were immediately contracted for and within forty-eight hours thereafter were under roof. Some of them were arranged with long dining tables; others were provided with bunks for sleeping. Meanwhile troops continued to pour into the city and had to be temporarily lodged. For this purpose the Capitol, the Public Benevolent Institutions, the Starling Medical College and even the Penitentiary were drawn upon. At night 92 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. the terraces, rotunda and crypts of the Capitol were crowded with weary sleepers, who thus first tasted, perhaps during the first night of absence from their homes, the preliminary--but comparatively how significant !-- hardships of the field. A member of the State Senate thus describes one of these memorable scenes : Going to my evening work as I crossed the rotunda I saw a company marching in by the south door and another disposing itself for the night upon the marble pavement near the east entrance. As I passed on to the north hall I saw another that bad come a little earlier, holding a prayer meeting, the stone arches echoing with the excited supplications of some one who was borne out of himself by the terrible pressure of events around him, while, mingling his pathetic and beseeching tones as he prayed for his country, came the shrill notes of the fife and the thundering din of the ubiquitous base drum from the company marching in on the other side. In the Senate Chamber a company was quartered and the Senators were supplying them with paper and pens with which the boys were writing their farewells to mothers and sweethearts, whom they hardly dared hope they should see again. A similar scene was going on in the Representatives' Hall, another in the Supreme Court room. In the Executive Office sat the Governor, the unwonted noises when the door was opened breaking in on the quiet, businesslike air of the room, he meanwhile dictating despatches, indicating answers to others, receiving committees of citizens, giving directions to officers of companies and regiments, accommodating himself to the wilful democracy of our institutions which insists upon seeing the man in chief command and will not take his answer from a subordinate until, in the small hours of the night, the noise was hushed and after a brief hour of effective, undisturbed work upon the matter of chief importance, he could leave the glare of his gas lighted office and seek a few hours' rest, only to renew his unceasing labors on the morrow 6. Thus matters went for some days until the barracks were ready and arrangement could be made for feeding the incoming thousands. In this emergency propositions were made by C. P. L. Butler, Luther Donaldson and Theodore Comstock, all Columbus men, to provision the soldiers at fifty cents each per day, and the State, unable to do better at the time, closed a contract on these terms. By this arrangement the embarrassments of the Commissary Department were shifted to the contractors, who soon found themselves unable to feed the troops as fast as they came in. Time was required to perfect a system for serving so many, but the hungry volunteers, fresh from the comfort of their homes and not yet accustomed to discipline, were impatient of irregularities and delays in the supply of their food and sometimes confused matters by inconsiderate interference with the arrangements for their benefit. While a few seized what they wanted many went hungry ; breakfasts were postponed until noon and dinners until night; loud complaints filled the air, and on one occasion over a thousand men broke for the hotels and restaurants of the city to supply the cravings of their stomachs. At this juncture additional contracts for commissary service were made; William G. Deshler and associates assumed part of the burden of provisioning the troops ; systematic supply and service were organized ; the cost of subsisting the men was reduced one half, 7 and the complaints, so far as food was concerned, were gradually quieted. But the supply of camp equipage, arms and clothing was also beset with difficulties. For the twenty-three regiments which had responded to the Governor's I. - IN WARTIME-1861 - 93 call the State had but 2,767 muskets and 197 sabres. In this emergency Judge Advocate-General Wolcott was dispatched to New York to negotiate for the purchase of arms and tents, and Senator Garfield was appointed to confer with the Governor of Illinois as to the transfer to Ohio of part of the war implements with which that State happened to be supplied. Garfield obtained five thousand muskets and had them shipped immediately to Columbus. Mr. Wolcott sent first a large supply of tentpoles which arrived by express. They were useful only as harbingers of tents to come and as stimulants to the biting humor of the unsheltered and unarmed volunteers. But the Judge Advocate's mission was not barren. Besides the poles he had obtained five thousand muskets, with accoutrements, and arranged for the purchase of $100,000 worth of Enfield rifles in England. He also obtained from the War Department pledges of arms for the Ohio troops. Another of Governor Dennison's agents obtained from General Wool a shipment of ten thousand muskets for immediate use.' In these and subsequent arrangements for the equipment and supply of the Ohio volunteers the Governor was materially assisted by Messrs. Noah H. Swayne, J. R. Swan and Aaron F. Perry, all Columbus men, although Mr. Perry, was then a resident of Cincinnati and Justice Swayne of Washington. Several hasty clothing contracts were made. "Messrs. J. & H. Miller, of Columbus, were to furnish four thousand overcoats at $6.65 apiece ; Mack & Brothers and J. H. Luken, of Cincinnati, English & Co., of Zanesville, and McDaniel, of Dayton, were each to furnish one thousand uniforms (coats and trowsers only), at sixteen dollars — one- sixth to be delivered weekly. Mr. Robinson, of Cleveland, was to furnish two thousand at the same rates. Stone & Estabrook were to furnish one thousand flannel shirts at one dollar and a half apiece. Other prices were in pro portion, and on all it appeared that large profits were likely to accrue."' In the sudden and tremendous, exigency which had been precipitated, it was almost a matter of course that advantage would be taken of the necessities of the public service. The proper economy would have been to prepare for the exigency during the preceding months of its steady and obvious approach. Immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter great apprehension began to be felt for the safety of the National Capital. The earliest of the troops to be organized were therefore demanded for its defense, and the Governor of Ohio was urged to send forward the first regiments available, with all possible dispatch. He protested that he had no uniforms, arms or ammunition for the men, but to this came the reply : " Send them on instantly and we will equip them here." Accordingly, two regiments were hastily organized on the eighteenth from the companies at Columbus; before dawn of the nineteenth they were on their way, by rail, to Washington. As they had not yet chosen their field officers, Mr. George W. McCook, a prominent politician, was appointed to conduct them. An order of April 18, from the Adjutant-General of Ohio announced their constituent campanies as follows : First Regiment, Major E. A. Parrott commanding — Lancaster Guards, Lafayette Guards (Dayton), Dayton Light Guards, Montgomery Guards, Cleveland 94 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. Grays, Hibernian Guards (Cleveland), Portsmouth Guards, Zanesville Guards, Mansfield Guards and Jackson Guards (Hamilton). Second Regiment, Major Lewis Wilson, commanding—Rover Guards (Cincinnati), Columbus Vedettes, Columbus Fencibles, Zouave Guards (Cincinnati), Lafayette Guards, Springfield Zouaves, Pickaway Guards, Steubenville Guards, Covington Blues (Miami County), and Baldwin Rifles (Urbana). On April 19 the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry, likewise en route to Washington, was mobbed in the streets of Baltimore. The President, in order to allay the excitement in that city, directed that no more troops should be marched through it if " in a military point of view, and without interruption or opposition," they could be marched around it. In consequence of this order and the serious nature of the Baltimore disturbances the two unarmed Ohio regiments were halted first at Harrisburg, then at Philadelphia. They were still in citizens' dress, untrained, and very indifferently supplied with food. To rush troops in such a condition to the front of conflict was little less than military madness. Its only results were to betray weakness,.stimulate rebellious activity and produce complaint. But the state authorities, although severely blamed, had in this matter simply executed the commands of the War Department, then directed by a man very shrewd in politics but utterly destitute of military knowledge. The departure of twenty companies for Washington reduced the number to be provided for at Columbus, but not long; their places were almost immediately filled. With swelling tide and constant clamor of drum and fife the volunteers kept pouring in. As soon as the sheds at Camp Jackson were ready, they took their course thither, and made themselves comfortable as best they could. For the time being the camp was the designated rendezvous of all the troops north of Hamilton County and south of the Western Reserve. It was soon crowded. Lieutenant-Colonel H. Z. Mills was announced as its commandant, but on April 18, was relieved at his own request. His immediate successor was Colonel E. A. King. On April 22, the Ohio Statesman announced that there were already troops enough in Camp Jackson to form a third regiment.'̊ By the twenty- seventh Columbus alone had furnished seven companies, five of which were at the camp ; the other two — Vedettes and Fencibles — had left for Washington. The scenes in and about the camp at this time are thus sketched in the Ohio State Journal : The gates of the high picket fence are guarded by sentinels who keep back the baffled and impatient crowd which surges to and fro from morning till night and only gets now and then an eyefull of the inside by looking through the palings. . . . Within, the scene is full of warlike interest. The white tents are pitched in the plain in the centre of the park beneath the yet leafless trees —peaceful above all that martial parade and clamor — and the young grass is crushed and cut in a thousand furrows by the feet and wheels that have passed over it. A large wooden building hastily erected near the tents adds nothing to the picturesqueness of the scene but adds immensely to the comfort of the soldiers, for it is full of" bunks," and is much better defense against the weather then canvas. Wagons are continually coming and going and the camp is strewn with straw from a stack brought thither for bedding. I. - IN WARTIME-1861 - 95 The visitors admitted to the grounds are not many and are chiefly ladies. Most of the men's faces you encounter are those of the volunteers, who are splendid looking fellows, and are for a great part fresh from the fields of the country. They are of all ages, from the man whose head is already gray to the boy on whose cheeks the down has not obscured the bloom. All the faces are resolute and there is fight in them ; some are gay, some are grave — as the temperament is, but all are determined. Physicially the troops are of good size and in good condition ; and having courage and muscle, a week's drill will fit them for active service. . . . A hastily improvised building near the main entrance to the park is set with long tables and substantial edibles. Great cooking ranges roar with preparation and the provisional government is marvelously efficient. The officers' quarters are in the building lately occupied by the keeper of the park and here all the business of the camp is transacted, though the headquarters are, of course, at the Statehouse." The patriotic women of Columbus'were no less zealous than their brothers, sons and husbands in signifying their loyal support of the national cause. Prompt to lead in this respect was the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Dennison, around whom rallied a host of willing and earnest coadjutors. On Monday morning, April 22, a meeting of ladies " interested in repairing clothes for the citizen soldiers" was hold in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church. The call for this meeting, signed by Mrs. John S. Hall, Mrs. F. W. Hurtt and Mrs. S. A. Champion, solicited " contributions of money, flannel, woolen socks, etc.," and concluded with this appeal : " Mothers ! wives! sisters ! let us do our part in our country's cause! " At the meeting thus summoned the first Soldiers' Aid Society in the city was organized. Mrs. Governor Dennison was chosen President, Mrs. H. F. Norton Treasurer, and Miss Pamela Sullivant Secretary. Working committees were appointed," after which the Society adjourned to reconvene the following afternoon at the Arnbos Hall, the use of which was generously tendered by its proprietor, Peter Ambos. From this time forward the work of the society was active and continuous. On May 10 a military hospital was established at Number 208 South High Street, with Doctor R. N. Denig as visiting physician and Mrs. Rebecca A. Janney as matron. Up to July 15 this Hospital had contained 300 patients. A board to examine applicants for commissions to serve the new regiments in the departments of medicine and surgery was named about this time by the Governor. Its members were, Doctors J. W. Hamilton of Columbus, L. M. Whiting of Stark County, and J. W. Russell of Mount Vernon. Doctor Ball, of Zanesville, was the surgeon in charge at Camp Jackson. On May 24 the City Council appropriated $20,000 for the relief and maintenance of the families of Columbus volunteers. A proposition from responsible ladies of the city to attend to the proper distribution of this fund was at the same time received. On April 26 the following pledge numerously signed by the business men of the city was published : Owing to the exigency of our state and national affairs it becomes the duty of the people of Columbus, in common with the citizens of the whole country to prepare for war. Many of the young men engaged as clerks in this city have responded to this call of duty. It is necessary that they should be drilled. We 96 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. therefore request all merchants of this city to close their business houses at eight o'clock r. M. For this purpose and to make this arrangement equal and fair, all who sign this paper agree to do so." Many employers, including merchants, railway managers and others gave assurances to their men that any of them who enlisted would be received back to their positions on returning from the field. On April 26, Camp Jackson contained about 7,000 men ; on the twenty-seventh this number rose to 7,826. The barracks on the grounds were crowded to their utmost capacity, yet were far from being sufficient to shelter all the troops which had arrived. The public halls and armories of the city, the legislative chambers, Supreme Court room, State Library room, rotunda and basement of *the Capitol and all the available apartments of the State asylums were brought into use as sleeping apartments of the volunteers, and still the accommodations were inadequate. In this predicament, with more troops on their hands than they knew how to dispose of, the Commissary and Quartermaster-General became the subjects of such bitter and general complaint that resolutions demanding their removal were introduced in the General Assembly and were adopted in the House by a vote of 61 to 24. A few days later a joint legislative committee to which the complaints giving rise to these resolutions had been referred, reported exculpating the Governor and justifying his arrangements as the best under the circumstances, that could have been made. Meanwhile grounds had been leased near Loveland, for a new rendezvous, to which General McClellan, then commanding the Western Department, gave the name of Camp Dennison.14 Fifteen companies were transferred from Columbus to this camp April 29, still leaving 6,435 men in Camp Jackson. That the latter was still not an ideally comfortable place of sojourn appears from the following newspaper statement of May 4 : " Yesterday was a wet, cold disagreeable day and the mud on the campground was nearly ankle deep."" The normal capacity of the camp at this time was adequate to the lodgment of about six thousand men. Up to April 26 the Adjutant-General had accepted 312 companies, 175 unconditionally and 137 subject to future requisition. Further acceptances were discontinued, others already made were recalled, and thirty companies accepted and present for duty were, much to their disgust, disbanded. Of the patriotic zeal of the volunteers, thus liberally indicated, Camp Jackson furnished the following illustration narrated under date of May 2. An affecting incident took place when Captain [John] Beatty's company from Morrow county was being mustered into service. Major Burbank, of the United States Army, whose duty it is to examine each man, rejected a private who had the misfortune to have lost an eye. He had been instrumental in getting up the company and was a favorite among them. When he heard the stern decision of the major he burst into tears. At this juncture the first lieutenant resigned his office and the rejected man was voted lieutenant by acclamation. Directly after the departure of the. First and Second regiments for Washington, the organization of the remaining eleven required under the President's call was begun. The companies assigned to the Third Ohio Infantry were A and I. - IN WARTIME-1861 - 97 B of the Governor's Guards, under Captains Marrow and Wing ; the Montgomery Guards, under Captain Turney ; " Captain Vananda's company, of Springfield ; Captain Rossman's, of Hamilton ; Captain Abbott's, of Zanesville; Captain McDougal's, of Newark ; Captain Beatty's, of Morrow County, and Captain Cope's, of Wellsville. Isaac H. Marrow, of Columbus, was chosen Colonel ; John Beatty, of Cardington, Lieutenant•Colonel ; and J. W. Keifer, of Springfield, Major. The five right companies of this regiment were transferred to Camp Dennison April 29, the remainder May 1. The companies assigned to the Fourth Ohio Infantry were: Those of Captains Crawford and Powell, of Delaware ; two from Knox County, under Captains Andrews and Banning ; two from Hardin County, under Captains Weaver and Cantwell ; two from Marion, under Captains Gilmer and Brown ; the Canton Zouaves, under Captain Wallace, and the Given Guards under Captain McMillen. Lorin Andrews was chosen Colonel, James Cantwell. Lieutenant-Colonel and James H. Godman Major. This regiment was transferred to Camp Dennison May 2, and was there mustered into the threemonths service on May 4 by Captain Gordon Granger. On May 3 the Columbus companies were thus distributed : Fencibles And Vedettes at Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; Governor's and Montgomery Guards at Camp Dennison ; and the Steuben Guards and Captain C. C. Walcutt's Company at Camp Jackson. By the commandant of that camp a night patrol for the city and a guard for the State Arsenal were detailed. Of the remaining regiments of threemonths volunteers organized at Camp Jackson, the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth were transferred on April 29, May 8 and May 9, respectively, to Camp Dennison, and the Fifteenth on May 8 to Zanesville. The Seventh Ohio Infantry, organized at Cleveland, halted at Jackson, en route to Dennison, May 5. Ten regiments, additional to the thirteen originally called for, having been authorized by the General Assembly for the State service, they were mustered into that service and held ready for emergencies deemed to be possible and destined soon to arrive. An important departure for Columbus as a military rendezvous was thus announced May 28 : "Workmen were engaged yesterday in taking down the barracks for the purpose of removing [them] to a new camp to be organized four miles west of the city. It is to be a regular camp. It will contain one hundred acres. It is plowed, harrowed and rolled smooth and will make a good place for drilling purposes." " The camp thus referred to, comprising a total area of 160 acres, was under National—not State—control, and began to be occupied about June 1. It bore the name of Camp Jackson until June 20, after which date it was known as Camp Chase. By June 12 it was said to have " assumed the appearance of a liberally sized town with great uniformity of houses, about 160 in number." 18 Its officers at that time were : Commandant, Colonel E. A. King; Commissary, E. A. Dennison ; Adjutant, Theodore Jones ; Assistant Adjutant, Jonathan Nee-reamer ; Quartermaster, R. E. Champion ; Assistant Quartermaster, Mark Simonton ; Post Hospital Nurse, Mrs. Elizabeth Richards. On June 24 Colonel King was succeeded in command by Colonel E. P. Scammon, who in turn, when called to the field, gave place to Colonel E. P. Fyffe. The surgeon of the camp was Doc- 7• 98 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. for Norman Gay, and its Sutler, William Jameson, both of Columbus. Mr. Jameson was appointed in August to succeed Messrs. Carpenter, deposed. In December a contract for provisioning the camp was awarded to Messrs. Zettler at $11.65 per hundred rations. Nearly contemporary with the change of location and general control of the Columbus rendezvous other important arrangements were made which brought great relief to the state authorities and commensurate benefit to the public service. Governor Dennison had been fortunate in obtaining the assistance and counsel of Charles Whittlesey and Lieutenants 0. M. Poe, J. W. Sill and W. S. Rosocrans, all men of military education and all destined to win distinction in the course of the war. Of equal and still more enduring benefit were the changes in the executive staff by which, on July 1, C. P. Buckingham, of Mount Vernon, became Adjutant-General, and George B. Wright, of Newark, Quartermaster-General of the State. The good effects of these appointments were immediate and far reaching." A second proclamation by the President, calling for 42,000 volunteers for three years, was issued on the third of May. The retention in an organized state of part of the militia which had responded in excess of the thirteen regiments required by the first call was therefore fortunate and favored execution of the plans conceived by Governor Dennison for pushing an army of occupation into Western Virginia. Accordingly the Twenty-third, -fourth, -fifth and -sixth regiments were at once organized for that service on the three years basis, and by the middle of June we find all these regiments at Camp Chase. Other regiments of antecedent numbers were more mature than these, and as fast as ready were sent across the border. The Fourteenth, Colonel Steedman, arrived and was armed at Columbus May 22, moved on the twenty-third to Zanesville, and on the twenty-seventh set out from thence for Parkersburg. The Fifteenth, Colonel Moses R. Dickey, was organized at Camp Chase May 4, moved to Zanesville May 16, set out for Grafton May 24, and arrived at the front in time to take part in General Kelley's movement on Philippi. The Nineteenth, Colonel Samuel Beatty, arrived at Camp Chase from Cleveland May 28, was armed from the State Arsenal, and at once set out for Bellair and Western Virginia. The Twentieth, Colonel Charles Whittlesey, left Camp Chase for Camp Goddard, near Zanesville, May 17. The Twenty-first, Colonel Jesse S. Norton, from Cleveland, arrived and was armed at Columbus May 23, and pushed on at once to Gallipolis. The Twenty-third, Colonel W. S. Rosecrans, was organized at Camp Chase June 12, and on July 25 was ordered to Clarksburg, Virginia, where it arrived two days later. The Twenty-fourth, Colonel Jacob Ammen, was organized at Camp Chase, and from thence set out for Western Virginia July 26. The Twenty-fifth, Colonel James A. Jones, organized at Camp Chase June 28, quitted Columbus for Western Virginia June 29. The Twenty-sixth, Colonel Edward P. Fyffe, was organized at Camp Chase and thence set out for Western Virginia, July 30. The Third and Fourth regiments passed Columbus from Camp Dennison to Virginia during the night of June 21. The Seventh and Tenth regiments passed by on June 24, and the Sixth on June 30, all bound eastward. On May 27 the First and Second regiments were I. - IN WARTIME-1861 - 99 at Washington, whither Mr. William A. Platt, of Columbus, was dispatched by the Governor as a special agent to inquire into their condition, and supply, if possible, their immediate wants. Of the minor military events which took place in Columbus during these memorable days it is not easy to make any systematic classification. Perhaps those which deserve mention may as well be recorded in the order of their occurrence. Major Robert Anderson, the defender of Fort Sumter, arrived at Columbus from Pittsburgh, May 16, and received the attentions of many citizens during the few minutes that his train halted. Governor Dennison accompanied him on his westward journey as far as London, Ohio. A secession flag, captured at Carrick's Ford by the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, was received at Columbus July 6. It was 6 x 15 feet in size and bore red stripes and a blue ground containing seven stars among which was coiled a large rattlesnake skin stuffed with cotton. Some serious instances of disorderly conduct by soldiers in camp and in the city are mentioned. On May 18, a party of thirtythree broke guard at Camp Jackson. An armed squad was sent in pursuit and recaptured ten of the fugitives. On June 30 some intoxicated men of the First Regiment destroyed a fruit stand kept by a colored man at the corner of High and Gay streets and mobbed the business place of C. A. Wagner. Two companies of Columbus volunteers under Captains Crum and Parks were called out to suppress these disorders. During the autumn of 1861 a good deal of unseemly conduct by soldiers in the streets was complained of. On July 24, Major-General Fremont visited Camp Chase in company with Governor Dennison and " was received by nearly five thousand soldiers with tremendous cheers and applause."" He quitted the city on the same day for the West. Early in July a recruiting office for the Eighteenth United States Infantry was opened by Colonel H. B. Carrington at the Broadway Hotel. Associated with him in the enlistment and organization of volunteers for this regiment were Lieutenant-Colonel Shepherd, Major Frederick Townsend, Majors Benton and Underwood, Captain W. S. Thurston and others. By the end of July about two hundred men were enrolled and a regimental rendezvous was established on the farm of Mr. Beers about four miles north of the city, on the Worthington Plank-road. In honor of the Adjutant-General of the Army" this rendezvous was named Camp Thomas. The regiment, so far as organized, set out for Louisville, Kentucky, on December 2, under Major Edmund Underwood, and was followed by three additional companies during the ensuing February. Early in September a rendezvous for the Forty-sixth Ohio, then being recruited under Colonel Thomas Worthington and Lieutenant Colonel C. C. Walcutt, was established near Worthington. It was at first called Camp Wade, afterwards Camp Lyon. To a prisoners' camp organized during the same month was given the name of Camp Carlisle.