Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-09-14
NUMBER 16.
COLONEL JACOB M. CAMPBELL.

=
brief reference to the antecedents and
characteristics, of our standard bearers
In another place we give such information
as we possess concerning the civic and mil
itary record of Major General Hartranft, the
candidate for Auditor General, and in this
article we propose to tell what we know of
our friend and fellow-citizen, Col Compbell
the nominee for Surveyor General.
Jacob NJ Campbell is a native of that
old Wing stronghold, Somerset county,
where he was born just forty-tour years ago.
When mere youth his parents removed to
Allegheny city, where he went to school
until 1885. In that year, being fourteen
years old, he became an apprentice in the
Office of the Somerset IFhig, a Democratic
newspaper, III which he remained until he
had mastered as much Of the printing busi-
ness as could be learned in country Office
Of that day. In 1910 he left Somerset and
worked for some time "at case" in the office
Of the Literary EranllneT, a mouthly maga-
| zine Of considerable merit published i'll Pitts
burg. From here our '.iour printer" found
| his way to New Orleans and into another
printing office. But his active nature was
! satisfied. The steamboat trade on the low
er Mississippi presented in 1910, as does
! the oil business III 1865, tempting induce
ments to enterprising spirits who care less
for hard knocks than for the substantial
benefits which they sometimes produce
Laying down his composing stick, the boy
| Of nineteen became a steamboatman and
for several subsequent years filled success
sivcly the positions Of clerk, mate and part
| owner of a vessel, always, however, making
PennSyl ylyania his home which he frequent
ly visited. In l847 the iron business of
our State attracted his attention, and he
embarked in it at Brady's Bend. In the
same year he married In 1851 he follow
ed the course of empire to California, but
did not long remain there, and in 1858 we
find him in Johnstown, assisting in lhe
construction Of our mammoth rOlling-mill
With this splendid enterprise he remained
connected up to the breaking out of the
war, holding all the time an important and
responsible position. He was one Of the
few men who kneaC hooV to build and man
age successfully the greatest iron establish
ment in the Union
In April, 1861, Fort Sumter was bombar-
ded and the first call appeared for volun-
teers to rally round the flag" At this
time Mr., Campbell was first lieutenant of
volunteer company III Johnstown, and this
company at once rendered its services to
the governor, who promptly accepted them
1t tCaS me FrSt company to enter Camp Cur
tin. Upon the organization Of the Third
regiment Of Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieu
tenant Campbell was appointed Quarter
master, position which he filled with great
acceptablllty until the regiment was dis
charged. On the 2Sth Of July he was mus
tered out Of service, and on the 30th was
commissioned to recruit a regiment In
due time the regiment was raised, the COM
panies composing it having beeu mainly re-
crulted III Cambria and Somerset counties.
and two in Lehigh and Northampton coun-
ties. The regiment was designated the Fif-
ty-Fourth.
For two years this regiment performed
the arduous duty Of guarding sixty miles
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and
while thus engaged really protected the
Maryland and Pennsylvania border from
rebel invasion and guerrilla outrages. 1t
is fact which may not be generally known
to Pennsylvanians that to the Fifty-Fourth
regiment they owe much of the security
they enjoyed in their persons and property
during 1862 and 1868, the two most critical
years OF the war, The position of the Fifty
Fourth was, at all times, an exceedingly try
ing and dangerous one, requiring the exer-
else OF the utmost vigilance and the sound |
est discretion. During its guardianship of
the railroad, it was frequently engaged in
sllirmshes with the enemy, and upon more
than one occasion gave timely and vaIua-
bic information OF his movements and de-
signs. In addition to his ordinary duties
as commander of the regiment, Col. Camp
bell was almost daily called upon during
this period to decide disputes between reb- |
els and Unionists residing along the line of
the railroad, and it is no exaggeration to
say that III no instance was Justice cheat
ed or rascality rewarded 1t is not our as.
sertion merely, but the testimony of all
are cognizant of the facts, that the COM
mander of the Fifty-Fourth manifested on
ali occasions the possession Of judicial tai
ent of high order Of his purely execu-
tive ability, the successful and always sat
isfactory manner in which the regiment
guarded those sixty miles of railroad in a
hostile territory is the only proof that we
need to cite We had almost omitted to
mention that from March, 1868, until March
1861, COL Campbell was in command of the
Fourth brigade, First division, Eighth army
corps, in which was his own regiment
Early in 1864 Gen. Sigel took command
Of the Department of West Virginia, and
moved with all of his available troops to
Martlnsburg, preparatory to a movement
up the Shenandoah Valley. In reorgani-
zatlon of the troops which took place, Col
Campbell, at his own request, returned to
the command of his regiment At the bat
tie of New Market May, 18th, the regiment
suffered severely. 1t occupied the extreme
left of the line, and was the last to leave
the field. Under Hunter the regiment took
a prominent part in the battle of Piedmont,
June 9th, again occupying the left of the
line, and this time thanking the enemys
right and attacking him in the rear After
the battle Col. Campbell was assigned to
the command of a brigade, and as a special
| favor his own regiment was transferred to
it, that it might remain under its old com
mander The brigade suffered heavily in
the attack upon the entertainments at Lynch
burg, and covered the retreat of Hunters
army when the attack failed. July oath
the brigade participated in the battle of
Winchester, and upon the fall of Col. Multi
gan Col. Campbell took command of his di-
vision. He continued in its command until
IFS consolidation into n hrio do