The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-03-28

enemy. The bravest and best officer
may well hesitate to trust his reputa-
ton In the keeping of such a capricious
command, and no good commander will
are to lead militia into action, unless
they have had at least all the in~struc-
ton and discipline they are capable Of
receiving. The moral faults we have
supposed to exist, can only be neutral
lied by the best system of preparation
for serious military duty known to the
profession"
The riot at Pittsburgh simply demon
strated the truth of these statements.
There the local militia disbanded at the
first opportunity, after having been in
friendly converse with the very men
whom they were sent to check. In
some cases the militia openly frater-
nized with the strikers. And why all
thisp Simply because the mob knew
the troops and, mingling with them,
won their sympathy. In this sad state
of affairs the Philadelphia militia were
sent for. 1t was thought that, being
strangers, they would overcome the
unlawful assemblage which blocked up
the railway tracks. The Philadelphia
ans arrived, and until they first fired
on the crowd in the endeavor to clear
the tracks, no riot had occurred. BY
this voley a number of women and
children standing in their own door
ways, looking at the disturbance, were
killed. They were far from the rail-
way. In fact they were up on the hill
side, while the men whom the troops
were to drive away, stood on the level
directly in front of the militia. The
truth is, the ''boys" with guns were SO
badly scared that they fred in all direc-
tions. There !were over 800 of them;
but they fled like sheep before the has,
tily organized mob which was Influenced
by the murder Of the innocent. The
militia retreated into the roundhouse,
and the fury of the rioters eliminated
in firing the building, to drive away the
hated Philadelphians. To this fact
may be attributed the arson and pill
laying which followed. The local mill
tia had all gone home in disgust at the
cowardice of the Quaker-city forces.
and for twenty-five hours the mob had
full sway.
But the most disgraceful exhibition
which the Philadelphia militia made,
was on the morning after the firing of
the roundhouse. When their citadel
was no longer a protection, they fired a
telling volley at the mob, and then
filed out to retreat from the city. They
fed OF the ''double quick" when there
were only fire or sic men pursuing them.
This fact was brought out repeatedly
at the trials which followed the riot.
When a man of the rear rank fell, he
was left to the tender mercies of the
''mob." Neither the dead nor the
wounded were picked up, and many a
poor fellow Frustrated by a disabling
wound, not necessarily fatal, was tram
pied to death by the half dozen ''aven-
gers-n Was ever such gross, i~nexcusa-
BILE cowardice shown by soldiers any
where in the civilized world? Yet
these are facts, established by abund-
ant and unquestionable testimony.
In the same year and at the same
time the militia at other points also
behaved badly, though disastrous re-
suits did not follow.
Two instances are sufficient to DEM
onstrate the value and grit of the reg
ulars during the same season of COM
munistic uprising, which dominated
the great railway strike of vi. Chi
cago was seriously threatened with
arson and pillage; and the police force
was so greatly outnumbered as to be
powerless. To call out the militia
would simply fire the magazine of hate.
In this strait, succor came. But we
will allow Gen. Rodenburgh to tell the
story. He says:
"In the largest and wealthiest city of
the west, great merchants went about
trembling with anxiety, and the arrival
of a single company of regular United
States infantry, fresh from the plains,
was hailed with delight and undiscrib-
able enthusiasm; it was the relief of
Lucknow repeated, one would have
thought. And once there, the besieged
would fain have kept the soldiers.
They appealed to congress to increase
the army to one hundred thousand
men, and authorize the establishment
of a permanent garrison in their city,
80 that never again might they be ex-
posed to torch and bludgeon."
At Charleston, West Virginia, a rail-
road blockade resulted from a refusal
of the strikers to allow any but passen-
ger trains to pass that point. "A freight
train vas manned and started out of
the depot, but drew up a short distance
outside, in obedience to the demands
of the mob, who were strongly en-
trenched and thoroughly armed. On
board the train was the guard. The
lieutenant in. command marched his
squad forward to a moro favorable
point, passing under cover of two hum
dred guns. But as the regulars made
no hostile move, not a shot was fired.
Besides, their GOODNESS in that defle,
where n volley could have wiped them
out of existence, excited the admiration
of the mob. When the stronger posi-
tion was reached, the guard faced the
rioters, and the beardless commander
stepped forward to speak to the enemy.
Said he, in substance: "We have been
sent here to take the train through, and
it soiN 60 through. You are three hun