National Republican., 1881-08-16
RECOLLECTIONS.
MORE ABOUT THE wIowAM ATTACK.
Some OF the witnesses and What They Saw on the
Oecasion--Aeeounts Of the Examination
Mr.. Clcphanes Testimony
Perilous Positions.

the Republican wigwam Oh the night of the 9Th.
William Il. Cleavcr saw the attack made by the
National Volunteers, and heard Or. Cleary urge II
| on, saying to the men, when shooting and throw
| ing stones: give 1t to her boys" &C. Saw Mr..
| La Truit, who asked witness what the attacking
party were doing. Dr. Cleary did not himself
shoot or throw stones. H. c. Purdy described the
advance of the volunteers on the Era Office, and
saw William II. Thomas and La Truit going to-
ward IT, Several the
AUXILIARY GUARD
were standing on G street. between Second and
| Third, looking on at the attack, but making no
motion TO arrest. Saw Mr.. La Truit; he was trying
to make the rotersleavc. The rioters shooting
| and crying, Burn II down. I" &c. Mr.. William Lord
kept ut respectful distance from the rioters. Saw
| the attack OH the wigwam. The only individual
he recognized among the volunteers was John
lIolohau. oficer Jacob r. King did not get to the
| place till after the shooting was over Recognized
Thomas Hnggcrty in the crowd. Thomas Berry,
one Of the counsel for the defense, acknowledged
| himself to be q member of the National Volun-
cers, but refused TO answer any question In refer
cnce to the organization of that corps. Officer
Bright and William II. Thomas gave testimony
similar to that of Mr. Purdy in regard to the con-
| duct Of La Truit--that he endeavored to prevent
the attack. Mr.. Mclean saw much Of the assault,
but could only remember Charles Donoho as one
of the party.
| TIE FURTHER RxAMINATroN
| was postponed to the following Monday OF which
the HttchigencG gives no further account. The Cbn
stituiiOn newspaper the Brcckinrdge organ) of the
| 18th OF November furnishes particulars of the in
| vcstigatlon before Justice Dom, which not TO
| be found In the abovc.na newspapers. That
journal gives the names of the defendants as fol-
| lows; NJ. Ia Truit, c. Donoho, J. f. Johnson, r.
| Harrington, p. NJ Browning, and william Ogden.
The Constitution also Introduces other witnesses,
who not mentionedin the Inteui0encers account.
,,J Jacob Wilson sworn: 80 Was at Browns Hotel.
| Heard some persons say they would 20 up to the
| Republican Wigwam. Witness told The party
that they would be there TO receive them. Heard
pistols firing Went back. Recognized NJ. La Truit
| and q. Sheckels. The watchmen were there.
| Heard La Truit, when they were coming away,
| give orders 10 form into line Saw persons up-
stairs, Witness thinks there were from two hun.
| drcd 10 three hundred persons present"
LEWIS CLEpnASE TEsTIPIEs:
Was present at the wgwam at the time, and was
all the ls ats and heard pistols and muskets fired.
me door was broken oEen, and al those inside
recognize any Of the parties that We're present on
MIR. Buel testified Was present with Mr.. Gle.
| phane, and corroborated all that he said.
j. Foss sworn: "Was in the building, and went
to the roof also. Heard cries Of Rally, National
V0lunteersV Then firing was commenced at the
]. Henley sworn; "was at the wigwam, when
some one came and said party was coming to at
| tack them. Heard pistols fired. The door was
broken open" Witness cannot recognize any PER-
sons that were there.
G. Belt sworn: Witness was at the wigwam,
| having been told that party was attacking the
| wigwam. Lieutenant McHenry WAS ahead of wit
ness, and had all the doors shut, keeping witness
| outside. There were some stones thrown. King
| and Scarf had hold OF man by the name of John
son, endeavoring to arrest him. Officers Ash and
Lieutenant McHenry testified that about one
o'clock witness was on the Avenue. Was told that
apart party were I, attacking the Republican wigwam;;
| the light burning and the door open and some
persons in the building Witness ordered the door
to be closed and every person in the room to be ar
rested.
ONE OF THE WITNESSES SPEAKS
of the building as the Era Office; but that paper
| had been suspended for several months. 1t de-
| rived its whole support from the North and West,
and strange TO say, the success OF the cause 1t
| poused worked It's overthrow. When anti slavery
became the main plank in the platform of great
political party, and the principle was boldly up
held by half the newspapers, daily and weekly
north Of Mason and Dixons line, there ceased TO
be demand for ono printed In Washington at q
higher rate TO subscribers. The Republic had also
ceased to be published, and THE REPUBLICAN, had
not them come into being, although II did first ap-
pear near the close of the same month, November
| 1860 The recoections OF Messrs. Clcphane and
Buel in regard to the mob agree substantially with
the foregoing statements. Mr.. c. states that after
the result of the election became fully known he
| had information of thefntcnded attack of the So
called National Volunteers that without COM
municating the fact to the large crowd of Repub-
| licans present. many of whom were armed,
| HE PROPOSED AN ADJOURNMENT;
and that they being reluctant to leave, he, to pre-
vent bloodshed shut of the gas, which caused
them to dsperse before the assailants arrived He,
| Mr.. Buel, and few others remained, but at the
| approach OF the large crowd of armed despera-
does, who began TO assail the building with stones
and firearms, they retreated TO the roof of the
building. Their position was pcrilous at best, and
when they heard the cry, Burn the house |" the
| horror of their situation can be better imagined
than described. They armed themselves with
brickbats, taken from the top Of one Of the chin
| neys, which they intended, If pursued, to hurl
down upon their enemies through the hatch or
skylight. Some amusing stories were told at their
| expense, for which cannot vouch one Of which
was that they discussed the feasibility of climbing
DOWN THE LIGHTNING ROD,
feat that might have been practicable for n light
weight like Mr, Clephane, but which would have
been a disastrous experiment with others The
Bell and Everett Club Immediately after the cleo
tion, the star states, resolved itself into " a body
guard for the preservation of the Union !" and at
the Douglas Club Lawyer Norris was making a
spirited little speech, in the course Of which he
administered a smart rasping to Henry A. Wise. of
| Virginia, for his disunion rant" Az Browns
Hotel "a short, light-haired chap called out vo-
ciferously for anybody to show him add black
Republican" "A Second Ward boy" not very
pronounced in his Republicanism, took him up
just for the fun of the thing, and opened the
tertaiument by" blow upon the nozzle" of the
aforesaid "lght-haired chap" who had to be
taken to the rear by his friends, much the worse
for wear, leaving the Second Ward boy and his
friends
| IN POSSESSION OF THE FIELD.
The reporter says that the policemen present on
this and another similar occasion preserved n
strict neutrality, The Star reporter of November
gives the following picture Of the wigwam as 1t
appeared the next morning:
The wigwam presented this morning, a sorry
appearance TO the crowd of persons who visited II
for the purpose OF ascertaining the extent of the
damage The lower story windows were protected
with a strong wire network OH the outside, not
withstanding which they were rdded with
stones, pistol balls, &c. The wire network was
the Second street front of the building, and marks
pistol bullets were numerous on the brick walls
and window frames The attacking party, after
perpetrating what damage they chose on the out
side, burst open the hall door and rushed up
the stairs into the large room where the meetings
of the association are held. Here they effected
more serious mischief by demolishng and pitch
ing through the windows benches, chairs, &c, up
setting and rending In pieces the tables, desks
staging, &C., demollshing Lincoln and Hamlin
trnnfpafencles and banners,
BREAKING wIDE-AwAKE LANTERNS
and statuettes Of the Republican candidates throw
ing large stones through the windows from the
outside, aud other acts which usually characterize
me onslaught ota lswleSs mob ON the hall fo0I
the windows aud IN the opposite walls were the
marks Of pistol balls, which, having spent their
force against IT, now lay scattered upon the hoor.
The Star OF the same date furnishes the follow
ing characteristic incident which occurred the
night before the election;
on Monday night an elderly man belonging to
the Republican Association visited the Democratic