The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-08-02
EXPERIENCE

"My troops will see that the train
passes" said President Thomas A. Scott
when the First and Second regiments
from Philadelphia embarked on cars for
this city; ''wait till they reach Pitts
burgh, and you Will hear of the end of
the strike, and that the freights are
passing through to and fro as usual. y
His troops did arrive here ON yesterday.
They were lot of ine-looking young
fellows, who had left their offices and
desks full of life and gayety, and elated
with the prospect of military duty and
destruction. They were magnifcently
armed and equipped, and, belonging to
the first families of the city, they were
provided with an unusual array of ser
wants. One could hardly realize that
twenty-four hours could make such Il
change in the appearance of these men
collectively and individually. These
regiments, now a mere handful of men;
are tonight intrencIed some six miles
from the city, hungry, foot-sore, many
without arms, and one and all heartily
sick, and abundantly satisfied with their
brief days service.
Many of the regiment who started out
IN the full enjoyment of life lie dead in
some undertaker's establishment, while
others, dreadfully wounded, are in the
hospital of the United States arsenal.
Many deserted from the ranks, leaving
the main body while the crowd was press
ing it, diving down alleys and byways,
where they begged to exchange their
uniforms for the garments of the most
humble citizen.
81 served in the war of the rebellion, -
said one soldier, Z" and have seen wild
fighting and heard oftentimes the mel
ancholy music of whistling bullets, but
a night of terror such as last [ never ex-
perienced, and 1 hope to God [ never
will again. 1t was this way" said he;
"we came to Pittsburgh, must confess,
bent on having little fight if there was
any going ON. When we arrived at
Pittsburgh we We're all in good spirits,
and responded with alacrity to the COM
mand to move out to Twenty eighth street
where the strikers were gathered in
force. When we arrived there Gen.
Britton, commanding, formed us front
and rear on the outside of the network
of tracks at this point, and stationed the
Keystone Battery, with its Gatling guns,
,1,%a HI lciI 10
an elevation perhaps ten feet
above the level of the track. At this
moment the crowd began to scatter, not
in retreat, but apparently to make room
for the military. AS we rested on our
arms the silence of the great crowd was
broken, and storm of misses, yells and
jeers greeted us. Then platoon of our
regiment was ordered to clear the crowd
from the head of Twenty-eighth street,
where the strikers were blockading the
tracks of the railroad. The Sheriff and
his deputies mingled with the troops,
and urged the crowd to fall back and re-
turn to their homes. They could not
not make themselves heard, owing to the
confusion and the cries and yells of the
people. The platoon of soldiers then
pushed into the crowd, surging them
back until the order to halt was given.
At this time the hillside was literally
covered with men, wome n and children,
mostly spectators, judge, who were in
a manner penned up. The cries and
yelis of the crowd grew louder and
tiercer, and the military made prepare
tions to form hollow square ON the
tracks as near Twenty-eighth street as
possible, with two Gatling guns in the
center. The Pittsburgh troops, the Four
teenth regiment, I believe, were drawn up
in line, but remained passive. After some
maneuvering, rendered difficult by the
| iostiing crowd, three sides of q square
were formed by our two regiments, the
First and Second, numbering from 400
| to 500 men. One side of the square
| faced the hill, one faced to the east, and
! the troops of the other side stood with
their backs to Twenty eighth street, and
| also faced the hill.
1.-The crowd was slow in clearing 8
space for the east side of the square
and the soldiers began to force the mer
back. This occasioned some scuff1ing
several of the men taking hold of the
muskets and saying, You wouldn't
shoot q workinSman, would you?' while
those on the outskirts continued to hoot
and yell. About this moment the Grays
were ordered to charge Oh the crowd
which was impeding them. This they
did, amid the most intense confusion
and excitement, but the troops pushed
back the throng and retil ed The First
regiment, when the crowd began again
| to press, were ordered to charge
which they did with fixed bayonets, sfnd
in this charge one of the strikers is re-
ported to have been wounded by bayo-
net thrust The crowd now began pelt-
ing MS with stones, and some of our men
were hurt more or less This WAS the
match that fired the train, for, goaded to
| frenzy, either through fear of violence
| from the crowd or stung to desperation
by being hit with missiles, the order was
| given to fire, and fire we did Some say
there was no order given to fire, but one
OF the guns in the hands of member OF
the company went of, and others, mis-
taking this for an order, leveled THEN
pieces and discharged them Be this as
1t may, L heard distinctly the order to
| fire, and did not discharge nv piece I'M
til the order was given.
The firing was sudden ard unex-