The National tribune., 1903-07-23
REGULARS in THE CIVIL WAR.
In Every Branch Of the Service Was Displayed erosm and
o.,h Devotion to the Flag.
By PATRICK BREEN Sergeant Sers

At the commencement of hostilities be-
J tween the States' the Regular Army was
probably 14.C00' strong, of all arms. Weed
out the nonleoni3at ants. such as musi-
siars. hospital men. sick and extra and
daily duty men, and you will have at the
outset of the war IN effective force Of
about 12.G0o men.
Immediately after Manassas some 300.-
| 0e0 volunteers answered the second call
| of President Lincoln. \ great many of
these veteranized in 1868 "a. and were of
the best soldiers the country produced.
History can never record too much Ill
| praise of the volunteers of 1SG1 mp to and
including 1853. Mixed in with those State
organizations was the small but efficient
Regular Arny. just from the Plains.
For years upon years before the war
this mere handful of disciplined and vel
| trained soldiers were scattered wide over
the country. from the confines of Maine
on the east to the Golden Gate of Califor-
MA. from the Great Lakes TO the Gulf.
and over the great divides and prairles Of
the Northwest, protecting alike the rich
and the poor, the farmer and the moving
| immigrant. the mechanic and the day la
| borcr. the banker and the merchant hard
| ly any three companies of the same regi-
mcnt at the same post at a time, being
| strangers to one another for long periods
of time. In fact, net till the rebellion did
| the i0. or II companies composing regI-
ment have the opportunity to know each
other as :: whole.
LOYALTY TO THE UNION.
Such were the circumstances under
which the loyal and patriotic Southeiner,
Mai. Anderson. found himself at Moll-
trc in South Carolina. with but two
companies, numbering in all not more than
4 ID men. .,.....
His officers at MouItrie, and who ac-
coIlpanied him to Sumter, were Capts.
Doubleday. Foster and Seymour and
iieuts. Snyder, Davis. Meade and Tai
bolt. the Post Surgeon being ID. w. Craw-
ford. Thus he found his garrison on the
eve of the rebellion. in Charleston Harbor
in December. 1850.
History, as meagcr as it is. carefully
perused, will inform its readers that n
mere brave and determined little band
of I,en never withstood the rigors and
haTdships of a siege of four months. at
the end of which time, with their fortress
in flames and confronted with starvation
after one of the severeSt OF artillery bonn
bardments at the hands Of an enemy a
hundrcdfold their number, behind we'll
protected works. Then, and not till then,
did this gallant little organization Of Reg
ulars in their dire distress exact from
their enemy conditions of surrender which
no European garrison in like clrcum-
stances would ever have thought of-the
saluting of their flag, marching out with
the hoIiors Of waT. and with their iiag
iloating proudly at their head. This from
the post they ;had'so valiantly defended.
In JanuaryD1S61 Co. g, 1st u. S. Art,
from its station at Fort McRea Fla, com
nianded by that Intrepid, brave and gal
liant Lieutenaht, Atiain j. Slemmer, aided
by no less brave and courageous officer,
Lieut. j. H.lGilnian. of the same regi-
inent, evacuated McRea and took posses
sion of Fort I'icKtins across the bay, on
Santa Rosa ISlana, as the better position
of the two for defense, to the astonish-
: ment of the hundreds Of State troops of
, Florida looking on aghast at the audacity
: of Siemmar, and wondering how to stop
the move. Time and again demand for
the surrender Of the fort was made by
the fire-eatersi of Alabama and Florida,
and as many times refused by the noble
Slemmer, he and his gallant band holding
the fort until relief came through MAJ
Brown and his command in May.
Then with his command he was directed
to take post at Fort Hamilton, \. Y, to
rest and recruit the broken-down health
Of his men. who were fast being taken
down with scurvy and other diseases
through lack OF proper food, fresh vege
tables in particular.
No less deserving was the conduct OF
the Regulars under Twiggs in Texas, the
enlisted men having been offered all sorts
of Inducements to go over into the rebe
ranks; but, no, these men, who were loya
to the core to the Federal Government
: spurned all Inducements to desert the
flag they had sworn to defend and main
. tain, even unto the shedding Of their life's
! blood.
Maj. Lynde, in marching down to Leay
g enworth with his command, the 7th Inf.
I from New Mexico, tried all he possibly
f could to turn the force over to the rebe
: cause, but to no purpose; the men wouit
t listen to nothing short of joining the loya
l garrison at Fort Leavenworth, and join il
y they did, while Lynde was cashiered. Who
1 will say that the Regulars were not loya
: to the cause Of the Union at this early
e day nj the rebellion?
u Maj Daniel II. Vinton, of the Quarter
masters Department. when told by thu
\ rebel authorities in Texas in 1861 tina
= all outstanding debts must be paid ant
u the balance turned over to the insurgen
: authorities on pain of imprisonment an,
= DEATH replied that he did not fear either
u ;. would do nothing dishonorable to his Gov
: ernment, and would not comply with thei
: mandate.
/ REGULARS AT MANASSAS.
5 ;. The first pitched battle of the war wa
. the field of Manassas, Sunday, July 81
:, 1861. The Regular Infantry engaged
:, here, commanded by Maj. George Sykes
18th Inf, late Il Captain of the Sd, were
five companies of the Sd. two of the I'd
=. and one of the Sth forming one battalion
o How well they behaved under all circum
h stances and with what precision and well
# maintained discipline they covered the re
|. treat of disorganZed and fleeing army
# | leave the skeptical to look up history o
= that day for his better information. TIL,
G following light batteries also participate,
It in action on this field: ID, 9th Art |. Is
/. Art, and Il. Sd Art. commanded respec
d lively by Griffin, Ricketts, and Ayers: ais
e q, 1st Art, and Il, NJ and ID of the %
g all maintaining themselves with the great
l. est of soldiery discipline.
II Chief of Artillery Maj. VIM. +. Barr.
says in his report, page 1S9, vol. /, Bat
It ties and Leaders of the Civil War;
o Returning to the position occupied b.
If Ricketts's and, ,GriiEin's batteries, l receiv
ed an order from Gen. Mcdowell to ad
z vance two batteries TO an eminence nea
n the Henry House. l therefore ordere,
IL these two batteries TO move forward n
e once, and as soon as they were in motio
went for and, procured as supports tn
y Fire Zouaves and the 18th Brooklyn, New
i York regiments. Capt Colburn's 1st Q
S. Cav. Squadron was subsequently order
ed as additional support. The two bat
teries at once opened very effective fir
on the enemy's left. A few minutes after
IS ward a regiment OF the enemy's infantr
J. appeared on the left, presented itself il
k line on the left and front of the batteries