The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-08-02
THE PITTSBURGH RIOT.
S,ripton { the Fight Between the
'ers from PbiIadeIpsiu and The Mob
ms Toid by One Of the Former.

kwsr.
oia'ers from philadelphia and The Mob
MS Told by One Of the Former.
m, "a member of the First resiSleilt of
li1 nliia1oeiphia, sent to Pittsburgh to
fIeii the disturbance there, gave the
..Iilowlp,g thrilling description Of the riot
.lia1 followed the arrival of the regiment
W w, New York Herald reporter 't''
when we arrived at Pittsburgh we
we're all in good spirits, and responded
with alacrity to the command to move
out to Twenty eighth street. where the
strikers had gathered in force. When
we arrived here, General Britton. com,
manding, formed lis front and rear OF,
the outside of network of track at this
point and stationed the keystone battery.
with its Gatling guns. in a little fat plot
on the hillside, elevation perhaps ten
.ect above the level of the tracks. At
ehls moment the crowd began to scatter,
not In retreat, but apparently to make
room FOR the military. 'I,5
rs we rested On our arms the silence
OF the great crowd was broken and
storm of misses, yells Mud cheers greeted
us. Then a platoon of our regiment was
ordered to clear the crowd from the head
OF Twenty-eighth street, which was
Diockading the tracks of The railroad.
ahe sheriff and his deputies mingled with
the troops and endeavore,i to make HIM
self heard, urging the crowd to fall back
and retire to their homes. He could
not make himself heard, owing to the
confusion and the cries and the wells Of
the people. The platoons of soldiers
pushed into. the crowd, surginE them
back until the order halt p was given.
At this time the hillside was literally
covered with men, women and children.
mostly spectators, L Judged, who were
IN manner penned up. All this time
the cries and yells of the crowd grew
iouder and fiercer and the military made
preparations to form hollow square on
q platform of tracks, rs near the Twenty
eighth street crossing as possible, with
two Calling guns in the center The
Plttsburgh troops and the Fourteenth
regiment, L believe, were drawn up in
line, but remained passive.
After some manuveripg, rendered
difficult by the jostling of the crowd.
three sides OF n square were formed by
our two regiments-First and Second
numbering from four to five hundred
men. One side of the square fnced the
hDl, one faced to the east and the troops
on the other side stood with their backs
to Twenty-eighth street and also faced
the hill. The crowd was slow in clear
ing space for the east side of the
square, and the soldiers began to force
them back. This occasioned some
scutfilng, several of the men taking hold
OF the muskets and saying: "You would
not shoot working men, would you ?"
whlie those on the outskirts continued to
moot and yell. About this moment the
trays were ordered to charge on the
crowd which was impeding them. This
was done amid the most intense confusion
and excitement; but the troops pushed
back the throng and retired
The First regiment, when the crowd
began again to press the men. was Or
dered to charge, which they did with
fixed bayonets, and in this charge one of
the strikers is reported to have been
wounded by a bayonet thrust. i he crowd
now began pelting us with stones, and
some of our men were hurt more or 'ess.
This was the match that fired the train.
and, goaded to frenzy, either through
tear OF violence from the crowd or st,lnc
TO desperation by being hit with mis-
sues, we fired, and fire we did. Some
say there was no order given to fire, but
one of the guns in the hands of a mem
Der OF Company A went off, and others,
mlstaklng this for an order to fire, level
ed their pieces and discharged them.
This may be, but heard distinctly the
order to fire, and did not discharge nv
piece until such an order was given.
The firing was sudden and unexpected
and seemed to come upon the vast crowd
like a stroke of lightning, and it was
scarcely realized until here and there q
man was seen to fall. Along the brow
OF the hill ran deep ditch, into which
those who had enough presence of mind
cast themselves. After the first shot the
troops fired in every direction. The
first volley swept over the hillside and
WAS delivered hy those troops nearest
the hill. Tho second side of the square
was along TIE track, and the others. SO
far as could be ascertained, wheeled and
fired down 'iwenty-eighth street.
Before d2rS, when the dead and wound
ed had been carried off and the crowd
got over the fright and commenced to
gather again in great numbers, we were
ordered into the round house, as afford
ing us shelter for the night and better
protection from the stray shots heard
every now and then With the approach
uf nightfall we got hungry and tired, but
were consoled in measure by the an
nouncement that supper had been order
ed and would arrive in a brief time. At
dusk, peeping ont of the windows of the
round honse, We saw the wagons carrying
our rations captured by the crowd;
dishes and their contents hurled into the
street, while the crowd cheered like
demons. AS the crowd in the streets
was Augmented with the approach of
night, all thoughts of sleep were given
over and guards stationed at the windows
OF the round house and also placed ut
each of the gates leading into the yards.
They were out of the reach of the crowd
and had instructions to fire upon persons
who attempted to enter.
At midnight the crowd outside, as we
could observe from the windows, had
grown into many thousands, and shots
were fired at us from out of the Yards of
the company i'll close proximity to the
round house. We replied to them, with
what effect we were unable TO ascertain.
When the fire was started in the box cars
we became very seriously alarmed. Some
few men l have heard made their way
out of their quarters in citizens clothes
and escaped from their perilous position.
We could see long lines of cars one after
the other burning, but dared not expose
ourselves to the guns of the mob.
The fire slowly but surely crept down
on us, and about this time the crowd