Q. Will you be kind enough to make a statement of what you know in relation to the late riots?
A. On Friday, I believe the 21st of July, I received orders from the adjutant of the regiment to which we are attached, to assemble my command as soon as possible, at the armory. I sent a notice to the sergeants of the company, and about two o'clock in the afternoon, I reported to Colonel Howard, commanding the regiment, at Union depot. We stayed there some time—a short time—I suppose an hour, perhaps an hour and a half. The regiment was ordered out on the street, with two pieces of Breck's battery, to proceed to Twenty-eighth street. We were halted, after marching three or four hundred yards. We had no ammunition, and there was a box opened on the stone wall near the depot, and to the best of my recollection, we there received one hundred and twenty rounds for the company—that was issued to us—to the whole of the command, and we remained on the street some time, I suppose, maybe three quarters of an hour, and then we were ordered back on to the platform of the depot, inside of the railroad company's lines. We remained there all that night, the night of Friday, and until Saturday morning, until about four o'clock. At four o'clock we were ordered to move out along the line of the tracks. Two pieces of Breck's battery was placed on a gondola car, and the regiment I understood had been sent around in the rear on the hill. We were the first company on the track at Twenty-eighth street, and arriving there, we found from twenty-five to thirty men, citizens. There were not over thirty, I think; and to the best of my knowledge, the colonel ordered me to clear the tracks, and put them off the company's property, which we did. We moved up and down the track, and that was repeated, I suppose, a couple of hours. When we would move down the track to clear it, the parties would gather in on our rear and flank, there had been no pickets out, and they would gather in on our rear on the track. We remained there with the command, clearing the tracks, I suppose, until about two o'clock in the afternoon.
By Senator Yutzy:
Q. On Saturday?
A. Yes; on Saturday, perhaps later than that. I am not certain about the time. At that time I came in, had permission to come in and attend to some private business, and I was not there during the firing. As soon as I heard there was such a thing, I hastened out, and found that the Philadelphia troops had been put in the round-house, and it was reported that the Fourteenth and Nineteenth regiments, which constitute our division, that the Eighteenth had been sent to the Union depot. I learned this at the hospital. There was then a great mob making such a noise, as a mob usually does. I hastened to the Union depot, and met the sergeant, who informed me that our regiment was out at the transfer office. I went out there, and found General Brown and Colonel Howard with a portion of the command in a shed surrounded by cars. I asked Colonel Howard—he was the first officer I saw—asked him what he was doing there. He said he was there by orders, and asked me the state of affairs in the city. I told him the condition in the neighborhood of the Union depot. There was a large mob upon the street—from the Union depot to Twenty-eighth street was crowded with a mob, and they were hooting, yelling, and threatening what they would do. I heard them shouting, they would break into the armories and gun stores—that was the common threat that was used by the mob on the street. That afternoon, Colonel Howard said to me, that he would see General Brown, who was up stairs in the transfer office. General Brown came down. He asked me the condition. I made to him the same statement I had made to Colonel Howard, and I advised him to take another position than that—he had first asked me what my advice would have been. I told him that I thought he might get a better place for the men than that. I then came down to the city, to the armory, and found the mob there who had broken in and taken all the arms that had been left in the armory, with the exception of those that had been concealed. They got the arms and left.
By Senator Reyburn:
Q. Where is your armory?
A. It is on Market street. It is in the city property, over one of the market-houses. All of the regiments are quartered there in the city property. I suppose I had been there fifteen or twenty minutes when the balance of the officers, and the men of the regiment, came down into the armory. There was nothing more done that night. I was on the streets, I suppose, until twelve o'clock, until an alarm from the box at Twenty-eighth street sounded for fire, and, in company with several other persons, we started on the hill above the hospital, or near the hospital, not quite so far out, and there saw what I took to be the first car that was burned that had been set on fire. It was running down near the round-house. I remained on the hill a good portion of that evening—it was then morning.
Q. Sunday morning?
A. Sunday morning; yes, sir. Sunday morning I came home and laid down awhile, and got breakfast, and started to the city to see if anything had been done to gather the battalion together. I saw none of the officers on the street at all, I believe, with the exception of the assistant adjutant general, Colonel Moore, of our division, and one officer of General Pearson's staff. There was nothing done that day until afternoon. A citizen came up to the house—I had gone home. He said to me, says he, "The citizens are going to put this thing down. They would like to get your arms." I said, "No; if the citizens will back us up, we will find a gun for every man. We have got all ours. All we want is ammunition and backing." I sent out and I had as many men of my company who lived near me come to a room in my own house, and I there ordered those men to go out, and order the balance of the company to take their accoutrements, which they had so thrown off, and come to the mayor's office. I did not want to go to my own armory. In fact, I was afraid to go there, from the fact that it was a place that could not have been defended at all. It could easily be set fire to. Went to the mayor, and asked him if I could have one of the rooms in which to assemble men. He said, "Certainly." He was glad I had come. I sent one of my officers out—my first lieutenant, Mr. Brown—out to our colonel's house. I sent my lieutenant out to notify Colonel Howard what I had done—I had ordered the company to assemble at the mayor's office—and asking if he would procure us more ammunition than what I had. He came in—General Brown came in—and General Brown gave me an order on Major Buffington, and Mayor McCarthy furnished us with a wagon in which to go out and get ammunition. Major Buffington returned word that they had scarcely sufficient ammunition to give to their own guard. I stated the case to Mayor McCarthy, and Mayor McCarthy, about eleven o'clock, started out, and, in the course of a half or three quarters of an hour, he came back and handed me two hundred and forty rounds which he had got. He asked me if I would remain with him during the night, and put down any disturbance. I said I would, subject to the orders of my superior officers. On Monday morning, about half past eight or nine o'clock, I had left the men go to get something to eat, and the mayor said to me, "I don't want you to let the men go away from here unless under orders, and I will see that they receive provisions; that I should take my men around to a saloon near there; they would be attended to there." Shortly after breakfast he notified me there was a boat load of miners coming down on the packet from Elizabeth. He had received information that they had come down, and expected a pretty rough time, and asked me to go with them. I assembled the men, and General Brown went down with us. There was a squad of police. As I recollect the line of march, there was a squad of police in front. There was my company, and then there was a company of citizens, armed with shot-guns, rifles, and carbines, under the command of General Negley. General Negley and Mayor McCarthy and General Joe Brown were with us. We went down to Smithfield street, and we learned that the men, in place of coming down on the packet as far as its regular landing, had got off about half a mile above the landing, and come down that way; I suppose, so as to get in the city without any trouble. I threw my company across Grant street, and blocked up the passage. Ordered the men to load, and I saw then, while standing in front of the command, General Negley and Mayor McCarthy and others, making addresses to this band of miners—they were all reputed to be miners—I do not know whether they were or not. The crowd was dispersed. We marched down to Water street. There were no shots fired—no disturbance of any kind. They seemed to be pacified by the remarks made by the officers. We then went back to city hall, to the mayor's office, and were quartered there until the afternoon, when I received orders to report to my colonel. I reported to him on First avenue, and after supper we were sent to our armory again. During the night, between ten and eleven o'clock, I was ordered out again to support another detachment of the police. It seems that a party of roughs from Cumberland had taken a train, and taken possession of it, and the mayor was notified, and he sent down a detail of police, and we were sent down to support the police. The police had men under arrest before we got there, and the next day we escorted these men and the police over to Allegheny, to take the cars for Claremont. That was about all the trouble—all the duty we really did, with the exception of some ordinary patrolling—marching around. There was nothing of any importance.