New Britain herald., 1922-12-27
FredenckE E. CaNendar;
 FormerJeweler Sign ed Up for Service in Sheriff BiU Rileys
 Store, Former Site Of Booth Block.

America was under the shadows o
 some great. catastrophe. Visions o
 sufferings, .privations, death and de
 struction loomed in the offing.
 was in the spring of 1861.
 South Carolina had seeded, For
 Sumter had been fired upon and tn,
 nation was divided against itself
 From the Canadian border to the Rit
 Grande the tramp of marching fee
 could be heard. From the Atlanti,
 coast to the shores of the Pacific thu
 drum beat of a martial air was heard
 throughout the land. ..&
 The union must be saved. "A
 house that is divided against itself
 shall fall" President Lincoln, ever
 then an outstanding figure amidst the
 truly great of the world, had issued
 call for volunteers. Men above the
 Mason and Dixon line rushed to the
 colors. Men south of the line obeyed
 the call of Jefferson Davis and
 Hooked to- the Confederate banners
 New Britain, patriotic as she was, even back to Revolutionary days, and
 as she continued to be througfou
 the trying times of later wars. was
 stirred to her very depths. Patriot
 ism ran high. A recruiting office was
 opened and men flocked to the colors.
 But, everybody said, Tt will be a
 short struggle" Men enlisted for
 three months, feeling that in that
 time the war would be over Com-
 pany G., First Connecticut Infantry, was organized in this city.
 The summer dragged on. New Britain boys had gone to the front
 and were in the midst of the fray
 Cavalry, artillery and infantry regi-
 ments, all had New Britain men in
 fheir ranks.
 \ But the war did not cease. May,
 June, July and August passed by in heart breaking panorama. It settled down to a long bitter contest. < In New Britain men began to feel that the very life of the nation was at stake. This is no child's play" they said. Tt is g serious business and we must make an end to it.' The three months men had re7enlisted for the duration of the war.
 "Let's organize another New Brit ain company" suggested some one. "Good, we'll do it. was the reply. aYou can have. my store Tor Q re- crnting headquarters, said Sheriff Bill Riley, who occupied a store on the site of what later became the Booth block. q {. < August 25 and 26, 1881, were mem- orable ones in New Britain. Young men left their benches at the shop, | left their places behind the counter | or desk and even high school boys threw aside their books and hurried ! to Bill Rileys store, where they were sworn into the service of Uncle Sam. 5@ Only Survivor of Company G. r.. Among a bunch of half dozen school boys who enlisted at that time, was Frederick E. Callendar. Today "Comrade" Callendar is residing in Hartford, after an absence from Con- necticut of fl years and finds hi,n- self the only living survivor of that once famous Company G, Sixth Con- snecticut Volunteer Infantry.
 " Four men of that company were killed outright in action and two more died from wounds. Forty were wounded, including Mir. Callendar, who was shot in the leg at Peters, burg.
 v One man of the company was re-, ported missing in action, probably killed. Nine men were captured by Confederate troops. Three died in southern prisons. Eleven died of disease in the army. One met an ac- cidental death. Sixteen were dis charged for disability. When the company was mustered out at New Haven four were iunaccounted for. :, l4 S2 Recruits Secured Here. ' Practically half of the company, S2 {, men out of 1S0, enlisted from New Britain. A few were drawn from Southington and Berlin. Others came from as far as New , Hartford, Sayhrook, Cromwell and f Stamford. c When they were mustered out. MT. Calendar returned to New Britain n and resumed his employment with f the jewelry firm of Churchill X n Lewis, the founters of the present S Porter & Dyson business. He re- d tnained in this city for 16 years after t khe war and, then went to St. Paul, i, Mipn., where he has been for the i past fl years. Recently he returned S sast and now is residing with his 1 daughter, Mrs. George McClunie, of s B Goshen street, Hartford. ii j Mr. Callendar remembers many f, vivid features of the war He tells c ,f seeing 10000 prisoners released E rom Confederate prisons, struggle c lcross the river at Wilmington, N. C., fl ,n pontoon bridges. weak, emaciated, ii lalf- starved physical wrecks. ''The A worst sight of the whole war;" he c ays m He tells of standing waist deep in c sater during battle and then stand Il ug around a fire all night to set dry.
 He remembers many things of the lew Britain as he knew it. and when re a this city as the guest of Alderman fo Ieorge Wells, commander of l.. D. m enfield Camp. Sons of Veterans. at D, veterans Night" took occasion to ar ,ok the city over. Many things had St hanged. Where. Sheriff Bill Riley's ge ore stood he found a four story hank vs uilding. He found the house where vi e was born on Elm street being sed by the New Britain Machine af ,mpany as an employment office. He pl ,und a modern school house (The s iihu Bprritt Jr. High) on the site of tn le old North church. it The old South church was gone and DC new modern structure stood in its ou lace. The normal school had mov-