Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1877-08-02
THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURGH.
An Eyewitness Account of the right at
the Round. House.
Philadelphia Times.


ingtOn grays, acting assistant adjutan
general on the staff of Gen. E. Wallace
Matthews, commanding the First brig
ade, First division, 2. n G., who was il
the thick Of the battle at Pittsburgh
gives the Times the following concise
but graphic account of that memorable
affrav:
The division, under the command OF
Gen Brinton, landed in Pittsburgh al
l :45 2. NJ on Saturday, six hundred
strong, the men each furnished with
thirty rounds of ammunition, and accom-
panied by two Gatling guns, obtained in
Harrisburg, in charge of the Keystone
battery. When the troops issued from
the cars in the Union depot they were
met by large number of people, who
appeared to be in perfect good humor,
and even greeted them with cheers.
That the bloodshed that afterward fol
lowed would take place was, therefore,
the last thing that entered the minds OF
! the soldiers After a luncheon of sand
wiches and coffee had been served the
troops remained in the depot until about
! half-past 3 o'clock, when the First brig
ade, composed of the 1st regiment,
companies B and C of the Sd, the Wash
ington grays and Weccacoe legion,
marched down the track as far as
IWenty-elghth street, accompanied by
! Vice President Cassatt, Mr.. Pitcairn, SUI
perintendent of the western division of
the Pennsylvania railroad, Sheriff Fife,
and forty-tive deputies, armed with writs
for the arrest of prominent strikers AT
Twenty-eighth street the head of the
column, composed of the Weccacoe le-
gion and the Washington graXs, found
themselves confronted by a mob about
two thousand strong, while on the hill,
some four hundred feet high, that faced
the right of the column, there were
ranged an immense multitude, at least
ten thousand strong. On the brow of
the hill were stationed detachments of
the 14th and 18th Pennsylvania regi-
ments pittsburgh troops), and imme-
diately above the railroad two pieces of
HutchinsOn's Pittsburgh battery, Sheriff
Fife after in vain endeavoring to serve
his writs, read the riot act. at which the
mob jeered and groaned, whereupon
the sheriff and his deputies and Mr.
Bassatt and Mr.. Pitcairn retired in pro-
found disgust. The troops We're then
deplOyed for the purpose of sweeping
the mob from the tracks, the grays and
WeccacOe legion facing the two thousand
OrmOre strikers that occupied the tracks
AT the back of the command was train
Of coal cars, behind which there were
about two hundred of the strikers In
order to force the principal mob back
the soldiers of the grays and the legion
aI.n nd rntS tlnJ, N+o,D
being to avoid doing the strikers injury.
The crowd laughed and jeered and final
ly attempted to wrest the muskets from
the soldiers, who then came to a charge
bayOnet, and in the melee that necessa-
rily followed one of the strikers was
wounded by a bayonet thrust. The cry
arose from the mob: Stick to it; give
it to them; don't fall backr' and the
men behind the coal cars began dis
charging pistols at the soldiers from I'M
der and between the cars, while the
crowd in front began heaving rocks,
with which q number of the soldiers
were hit, and Sergt. Bernard, of the
Weccacoe legion, seriously wounded.
The firing of the troops then began.
There was no order given for it. 1t be-
gan with the discharge of a single
musket and was Immediately followed
by an almost simultaneous discharge
from front and rear, right and left of
the brigade. The firing lasted about
ten minutes, men continually dropping
IN the fast retreating mob. 1t was at
this time that the Pittsburgh troops
threw down their arms and fraternized
with the strikers, Hutchinson's battery
and q cavalry company alone excepted.
Within five minutes after the firing
ceased the mob was back again but re-
Trained for a while from further assaults
upon the Philadelphians and therefore
there was no more firing upon them.
:" 1t was the most persistent mob" said
Lieut.. Elliott Il ever saw" The brig
ade remained on the field of battle until
6 o'clock, when they were ordered by
Gen. Pearson back to the round-house,
adjoining which is building in which
was stationed the Second brigade
1t was the retreat that was the great
mistake of the occasion. If the mob
had been pushed Immediately after they
had been fired into the riot would prob
ably have been ended at once and the
immense destruction of property that
afterward happened been prevented
The Philadelphians spent the night in
the round-house and adjoining depot
supperless, their commissary supplies
being captured Immediately under their
eyes within a hundred yards of the
round-house. 1t was about halfpast
or s o'clock when the mob began setting
fire to the cars There were then in the
round-house inclOsure the two brigades
with their Gatling guns and the Hutch
insOn artillery with two pieces. About
midnight cars filled with burning coal
petroleum were run by the mob down
the track and against the sand house,
large building near the round-house,
which was soon in flames. The round
house and other buildings within the in
closure, although In great danger, We're
saved by the use by the soldiers of the
hose belonging to the railroad company.
A gun belonging to the Hutchinson bat
terry that had been left on the hill was
now planted by the rioters within one
hundred yards of the round-house, and
loaded to the muzzle with couplings
and broken rails. That gun was never
fired, the Pittsburgh papers to the con-
trary Notwithstanding, and thirteen were
found dead beside it when the gray
morning dawn gave evidence of the
skillful craftsmanship of the Philadel-
phians, who picked them off one by one
as they crawled on their bellies along
the ground in the vain endeavor to dis
charge it. At no time were the soldiers
in the round-house smoked or scorched
by smoke or fire, as has been represent
ed. "On the contrary" said Lieut.. FL
liott, with laugh, Eve like to have
froze 10 death. At DAYLIGHT. however