Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-09-24
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ISRAEL S. SMITH.

ISRAEL S. SMITH.
Syph *rd's discharge reads as fol
lows:
II b*E to extend, to you, and through you
to the men under your command, the as
su1ance of my high appreciation CT the very
prompt ard patriotic manner in which, your
company was organized for the defense
of the capital and the very efficient serv-
Ices rendered by it during the time of its
existence" Signed, Simon Cameron, Sec
rotary of war; and countersigned, "Ap-
proved. A. Lincoln"
Then follows the discharge ON mus
ter out:
by virtue of authority in me vested as
captain of the Frontier Guards, I. James II.
Lane, do hereby certify that Thomas H.
Sypherd, a member of said company, served
his country ir defense Of the national cap
ltal at time If great peril, when threat
ened by hordeE of traitors; said service
commencing on the 18th day of April. 1861,
and ending on TIE date hereof. 1 also, by
virtue of said authority, co hereby honor
ably discharge the said Thomas H. Sy-
pherd from the service of the United States.
Given under my hand at the East Room
of the Executive Mansion, at Washington
City, this Sd day of May, 1861 j. H. Lane,
captain. J. B. Stockton second ueuten-
ant
'This document proved to be of
practical value to me few years ago
when l wanted to be reipstated in the
civil service under the oh soldier rule"
says Mr.. Sypherd. "When l showed
this discharge to Civil Service Commits
sioner Roosevelt he at cnce said:
That document thanking you for
your service, over the signature of the
secretary of war, with the approval of
President Lincoln, is good enough for
me- On account of this discharge, I
was restored to the desired clerkship
in the civil service which had been
taken from me for political reasons"
Mr.. Smith says: "One of the most
important decisions reached at one Of
our first meetings was that we should
not have uniforms. Gen. Clay insisted
that we be uniformed. Gen. Lane
made a speech in which he stated that
if we were uniformed the enemy
would know ot1r exact number; fact
which we did not want disclosed. This
statement settled the matter and we
were not uniformed. Consequently
every night we were taken out for
drill, and separated into small squads.
People saw us marching in all parts of
the city. The enemy multiplied our
numbers, as we wanted them to do.
+ Some time after the war was over
Marshal Kane, of Baltimore, said to
Ward Lamon: If I had known that
you had no more than 500 men under
your command I would have captured
Washington at that time. We under
stood in Baltimore that you had not
less than 5000 men, and that your
companies were gaining recruits all
the time
$50 you see," continued Mr.. Smith,
mot only our numbers, but our ruse
coupled with it, saved the capital. This
city was surrounded by the enemy.
You know the Sixth Massachusetts,
had to fight its way through the
streets of Baltimore. Other regiments
had to come by way of Annapolis and
march across Maryland. Our little
bands met the Sixth Massachusetts
and escorted that regiment to the cap
itol rotunda, where grand, parade
was given by that organiza ton. The
loyal people began to breathe more
freely, and our little bands felt some
what relieved of the tension. But OF
until about 10000 troops were here did
we disband, or give up our duties"
"We had regular headquarters" said
nv Cx-rhor1 SG0,,v hor -
guards occupied the Winder building,
opposite the. old war department.
Clay's troop occupied Wizards hall
We had arms of the latest make, and
plenty of ammunition. We knew how
to use the guns and were ready to use
them, too. Any force that had dared
to attempt to march across any of the
bridge approaches to this town would
have suffered severely, and I believe
that we could have repulsed an army
of considerable size. All of the con.
federates were raw recruits, and If we
had sprinkled lead in their faces, as
Jackson's rifemen did into the faces
of the enemy at New Orleans, they
would soon have had enough of u.s."
| These survivors of the emel gency
companies are proud of their service
which lasted from April 16 to May 5
1861, and they have reason to be, fo1
their service was even more important
; than that of "that little band of Spar.
tans which, in a mountain pass, with.
| stood whole armies"
| . SMITH D. FRY.