Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1906-06-16
MCCLELLAN IN CHICAGO.
Impress Of the Young Officer on the
Military Affairs of the City
in 1851.

elected captain of the old Chicago
light guard Capt ]. B. Wyman, the
organizer of the company, was called
away from the city by business In
looking about for his successor mem
bers of the company and citizens in
terested In military affairs turned to
George B. Mcclellan, who had resigned
from the regular army to become chief
engineer of the Illinois Central rail-
road.
Mcclellan was at that time about
80 years old. He was, through his visit
to the Crimea and his book, published
soon after his return, one OF the best
known of the younger officers of the
regular army. The light guard was
then the crack military company of
the northwest, and it was natural that
the men should turn to the former
army officer who had just located in
Chicago and who carried himself like
a thorough soldier
Mcclellan did not remain long
enough in Chicago to leave his i'm
press on the local companies. When
the war came in 1861 the light guard
was not in existence as a military or
ganization, and Mcclellan entered the
service as commander and organizer
of the Ohio troops and was appointed
major general in the regular army be-
fore the real work of the war had be-
gun. Most of his old military friends
in Chicago went into service early In
the western regiments, Turchin going
to the Nineteenth Illinois, Barker to
the Twelfth Illinois cavalry, Forsyth
and others to the Eighth cavalry.
"Of all the old military circle OF
1857 and 1858, Capt. Barker, of the
Chicago dragons, was the only one
to be closely associated with Capt. Nc
Clellan of the light guard, in the early
months of the civil war. After partici-
pating in the Cairo expedition Bark
er, through the intervention of Nc
Clellan. took the, dragons east to be-
come the escort or bodyguard of Lit
tie Mac the most popular soldier of
the day. After three months service
the dragons scattered into various
regiments. several going to Farms
worth's Eighth cavalry. A score or
more of the dragons, who served with
Mcclellan, became commissioned Off
GERS and won distinction.
"McClellan's acquaintance in Chi
cago Che had been here before the
Mexican war, and attended the first
meeting of the ST. Andrew society
took another Chicago military com
pany east for special service early in
1861. This was the Sturgis guards,
armed and equipped as sharp shooters
by Solomon Sturgis, and assigned to
duty as McClellan's bodyguard in the
army of the Potomac. 1t would be In
teresting to trace the influence of Nc
Clellan's military experience in Chi
cago on his acquaintance here.
wonder if there is anyone living who
can do it?"
| eff Ellsworth had lived few
months longer said the colonel, So
| good many of the zouaves who went
into Turchin's regiment would have
gone east. The story of the military
companies in existence in the several
states in 1860 is a curious one But
in no state was the history of such or
CARNATIONS more highly spiced witt
romance than in Kentucky. During
the excitement preliminary to the
outbreak of hostilities in 1851 com
panies in many counties were organ
| lied for both armies. In Lexington
John Morgan, captain of crack com
pany, went into the confederate serv
ice. Sanders D. Bruce, captain of the
Chasseurs, another crack company o.
| Lexington, went into the union SerV
! ice.
Bruce was given command of the
Twentieth Kentucky, and later of {
brigade under Nelson. Morgan wa:
given an important cavalry command
and made several raids in Kentucky
In 1863 he surrounded one battalion
of the Twentieth Kentucky with 5000
men, and after stubborn fight cap
tured it. This gratified him exceed
ingly, but the several Kentucky cav
airy regiments galloped after hin
through Kentucky and Ohio, and il
turn captured Morgan and his immedi
ate command
81 saw those Kentuckians when
after their long ride, they made thef
last charge on Morgan's men, and i
was worth remembering. In all m.
war experience 1 never saw men S,
eager to make a capture as were thes
Kentuckians-some of them Morgan
old neighbors. They were not malevo
lent In their own language, the.
simply wanted to take John in out o
the wet" But they went at it in
way to make Morgan feel that h
would like to surrender to somebod.
else