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The War Fever of 1799—War of 1812-15—Mexican War—Civil War 1861-65—Bradford’s Part Therein—Companies and Regiments—Bounties Given By The County—Militia of 1862—Emergency Men, 1863.

As a kind of substitute for grim and bloody war, June 18, 1803, John Dalton, living near Merryall, on the Wyalusing, met his neighbor, Amos Hurlbut, a son-in-law of Samuel Gordon, near Town’s Mill; they quarreled, when Dalton struck Hurlbut with a hoe he was carrying, and fractured the skull, and he died July 5, following.; Dalton was arrested, and examined by Guy Wells, and sent to Wilkes-Barre, and at court was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eighteen years’ imprisonment; but in 1808 was pardoned out by Gov. McKean, and he soon after died.

The ’97 War Cloud.—The Americans have been described as every man running around with his arms full of fight; much of this fighting spirit was toned down by the late war. But in 1797 we had so recently whipped Great Britain that we were ready to "knock off the chip" of any fellow who dared to put it on his shoulder. In 1797 the word passed around that we were going to have a war with France. Gov. Mifflin ordered the State militia to be enrolled in June, 1798, to be equipped, drilled and put in fighting trim. A great war meeting of Luzerne county, in which this then was, was convened at Wilkes-Barre July 3, 1798. Our general (Simon Spalding) was at the meeting as a matter of course, and was made president of it. All made war speeches and rung the glories of victory; resolutions were adopted, and, among other things, they declared: "No sensations of gratitude, no relics of enthusiasm [relics is good] remains to distract us from our duty, as Americans citizens, to our country, and here proceed to offer our services to the State, whenever the emergency arises in which she needs them." That was "the word with the bark on," so far as Luzerne county was concerned. A call for volunteers soon followed, and a company of seventy-five men, under Capt. Samuel Bowman, was recruited and attached to the Eleventh U. S. Regiment. John Hollenback, as sergeant, enlisted the company, and his reports contain this item: "I enlisted fourteen at Wyalusing, by the Kingsley spring.

* * * We met to play ball. I sent to Gaylord’s for two gallons of whisky, and when they had drunk pretty freely of it I paid them eight silver dollars apiece. I enlisted Wareham Kingsley, Thomas Quick, High Summerlin, Jonah Davis, James Lewis, Asa Harris. At Wysox and Tioga Point, I enlisted more. After hunting deserters in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, I went into

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winter quarters at Bound Brook, N. J. We were disbanded in the Spring, after Jefferson was elected."

The movements of the militia will be found in extracts from the files of the Bradford Gazette.

The War of 1812 came simultaneously with the civil organization of Bradford county, and nearly with the establishment of the first newspaper in the county—the Bradford Gazette. The good people of the county were not, it seems, very deeply interested in that war. The New Englanders, so far as there was opposition to the War of 1812, led the opposition, as the people of Bradford county were mostly from that section, this no doubt had its influence. The first draft for soldiers ever enforced here was in the year 1815. Several men were drafted from Wyalusing. Wysox and Canton mostly, but these got but little further on the way to the war than the place of rendezvous, when the treaty of peace released them, and they returned home. Looking over the old files of the Bradford Gazette of that time there is no other mention of that war, except the expedition of Harrison to the lakes, and the naval battles fought on the ocean and on the lakes.

Mexican War.—No organized force went from Bradford county to this war. A few individuals may have enlisted at other points. The excitement caused by this struggle extended to this part of the country in a feeble way, and the recruiting officers did not open an office in Bradford county. There was an old Mexican soldier, however, who was several years a member of the State Senate, and every session he produced his measure for the State to do something for these old veterans whose long marches in the cactus country, and whose puissant arms on the bloody field had won so vast a territorial empire from the Greasers and gave it to the Union. He never could get much attention to his bill—it was regularly "hung up" in the committee. There were no votes behind it on election day, and this weakness the thrifty politicians took advantage of—how fixed is the fact that kissing goes by favors.

The Civil War.—The first gun was fired April 12, 1861; the last, April 9, 1865; four years, less three days, from the rising of the curtain on this bloodiest tragedy in the tide of time and the ringing it down and putting out the lights, and dismissing to their homes the two million sun-burned and battle scarred veteran actors. The "boys" from the North had fattened many and many a new-made Southern graveyard. Never were such angry human passions stirred, never was such a mad rush made into the very jaws of death. Exactly what it was all about depends upon whom you ask the question. A noted man wrote a book entitled "The Great Conspiracy," that would seem to hold to the idea that American slavery and British free trade had joined hands to destroy the Union, and drive home the entering wedge. Others say it was to abolish slavery; and still others say it was a struggle for supremacy between the sections, a quarrel that had to come, fate; and "if it were done when ‘tis done, then it were well it were done quickly," etc., etc. This one thing, it seems, is tolerably well agreed upon among the Union soldiers: They went to war, after the dance of death had opened, to save the Union, to suppress rebellion

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and maintain the supremacy of government. That much is clear, but in this there is nothing for the historian to put his finger on as to the causes that ultimately led up to actual hostilities. The historian, or rather present chroniclers, must employ themselves simply aiding posterity in hunting out the remote causes, and by gathering and systematizing such facts as about which there can be no great differences of opinion.

Bradford county responded promptly and bravely to every call of the country during that long and terrible struggle. The merchant and clerk jumped over the counters, the mechanics left the bench, the plows were standing in the furrows, the lawyers laid aside their briefs and the physicians mercifully turned over their patients to "yarb" tea and the good old motherly nurses; flags fluttered in the breezes and the shrill fife and rattling snare-drum vexed the air, and pale and earnest men made war speeches, and the little erstwhile cloud, no larger than your hand, suddenly lowered from the whole heavens; grim-visaged war was afoot; the heavy tread of armies began to freight the winds, and the bugle charge but preceded the clash of the embattled hosts, and the Civil War was a terrible reality, and ladened the air with death and made it redolent of decay. As family quarrels are worse than all other manner of disputes, so is a civil war the most horrible of all manner of military strifes. The people of Bradford county for the first time in the history of this section were solidly united on the subject—that is, fighting it out to the bitter end—no peace but that of a restored Union. The guns that were fired upon Fort Sumter were not only heard around the world, but their dull echoes are reverberating yet, and effects will certainly not wholly pass away in the next hundred years. It was a sad day for the institutions of freedom here and elsewhere; its effects upon other nations, struggling toward their liberty and independence, were nearly disastrous, and it left upon many American minds that dark and hopeless faith in strong governments only; it made many Americans forget that our Revolution was against a government too strong where were a people too weak. The self-evident truth that the stronger the government always the weaker the people to resist usurpations was forgotten, and madmen rushed at their brothers’ throats. Beneath the bending heavens has there been anything, since the birth of Christ in this world, worth a tithe of the awful woe, the unspeakable sufferings, the wasted young lives, desolated homes and broken hearts that came of it all? Divest yourself of all hysterical sentiment, and per se what is there that should make reasonable human beings go to war? Germany is a military encampment, where the men are nothing more than mere parts of war machinery, animated muskets with fixed bayonets, and under that military empire the people go to war at the beck and nod of their divine emperor—who makes of his children’s nursery a soldier’s camp, but who is murdering German thought and civilization by "divine authority"—that fatal curse that came to barbaric man, that "a king is divine." When his Satanic Majesty was unchained for a thousand years, he need only have visited the earth and invested mankind with the cruel and wicked delusion that it was

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good to have a strong government and a "divine king" enthroned, and "Auld Clootie’ might have returned to his Plutonian shores in the restful faith that he had conquered mankind for thousands of years to come; captured their horse, foot and dragoons, by principalities, by empires and by nations. I know of nothing else, of all else, but that compared in sin to this divinity-of-ruler’s idea but that is as the grain of sand to the mountain range. Usurpers usurping everything under such plausible pretexts as promoting the public good. The foulest designs that were ever invented against the most sacred rights of mankind here come clothed in fairest face and winning smiles, and the devil surely hypnotized men’s very blood when he filled them with faith in the "divine" ruler, and that the sweet and pitiful heaven would be deeply grieved to see that idea gibbeted higher than was Haaman—the awful delusion extirpated from men’s hearts. And these monsters, measureless criminals against God and man alike, build churches and school-houses, and poor men crawl in their presence and worship them—powder food, slaves—soul and body. If mankind was made for no higher purpose than to set up these fetich-governments; to be governed by either an organized banditti or a miserable insane, diseased king, and to slave and suffer and perish, that the rotten dynasty might live, then surely life is one stupendous failure. Much of the current history of nations is merely elaborated war records, and consequently columns and whole pages of modern metropolitan newspapers are detailed accounts of the doings of the prize-ring bullies—those giants with fists like mauls and heads like tea cups. This trend of the public mind is the omnipotent educator of a majority of the average boys of the land, and when among grown men one of these two-legged brutes on exhibition can draw houses worth dollars, to where, perhaps, the finest intellect in the world would get pennies, it is enough to discourage the heroes who build up and extend civilization.

The first regular battle in the Civil War was Bull Run, and here were Bradford county men, and from there to Appomattox, in the Army of the East, and in many of the Western battles also, they were present. Nearly every township in the county, not only called war meetings, but organized societies for securing recruits; commissioners and boards of every municipality, and the county at large, were voting money, both as bounties and as assistance to families. The first shock of war paralyzed business everywhere, but such was the activity in recruiting and supplying the rapidly forming squadrons, that, soon, never before was more general business activity. In honor of Americans, it should never be forgotten that we had all preparations for war, in the way of raising and arming men, to make after actual hostilities had begun. Another thing, and a far nobler compliment to American advance in the higher walks of thought, is that our war was long, and millions of men were in line; yet, compared to the marvelous military genius of a Von Moltke, we had but most feeble ideas of quick and triumphant war. Von Moltke was the mere adjutant of Germany, and he played the game of war with the precision of fate. Our field commanders were, no doubt, the equals, perhaps the superiors, of any modern people; but this is not the science of war, it was hardly more than a prolonged

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life-and-death-struggle, where the deciding factor was a mere question of numbers. When Germany overran and conquered France, twenty years ago, besieged and captured their beautiful capital, and levied on the conquered billions of tribute money to carry back to Berlin, then it was that the volcanic French appeared in their best form. France, hardly stopping to look around on her desolation, the splendid ruins on every hand, when she set about rebuilding her magnificent cities, her vine-clad, sunny houses, and in the walks of peace, was soon far in advance of her recent conqueror. The South was overrun, devastated, and conquered, and the terms of surrender were hardly dry on the paper when the soldier became a civilian, and from that hour to this, the "New South" is a marvel even in this marvelous land. The haughty Normans overran England, conquered it, confiscated its entire public and private property, and made slaves of the conquered. The Normans are but an insignificant line in history, while their once slaves have pushed their all-conquering civilization around the entire globe. There are lessons in history that men should learn "by heart." The learning of those lessons will teach men to think, reflect and make of them reasoning beings. Such men only will advance, not only themselves, but their brothers. In a certain stage of development, emerging from naked barbarians, war is no doubt a developer, as Buckle pretty clearly shows that the invention of gunpowder was an active and powerful civilizer.

Following immediately on the firing of Fort Sumter came the President’s call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the Rebellion. Any man was a hero then, that would go beating, up and down street, the drum, and calling for recruits to his company. Where there were so many volunteering in hot haste, so many as to soon fill the call of the President, and thousands were turned away, disappointed, it would seem foolish to try to name the first man to volunteer from Bradford county. There is some strong evidence that Capt. Bradbury, now of Athens, was about the first to respond to his country’s call. The average man was stunned for a little while with the call to arms; he didn’t exactly know how to go about the first step in joining the army; there was nothing in sight to "join."

During the four years of war there were forty companies—nearly all full companies, went from this county—these were squadrons that joined New York commands. Over 4,000 men from one county, and that a county of farmers; not a city within its borders. The; (sic) whole number of men enlisted in the Union Army, not including State militia, and men enlisted for special emergencies, 2,656,553 men; killed or died of wounds, 96,087; died, 184,331; total who died, 280,418. What a countless army with banners! The "boys" went out from friends and home to war, to the long marches and summer’s heat and dust, and winter’s storm and biting cold; to the muddy trenches, the bivouack, the fierce charges and the headlong retreats, the cross and clash of bayonets, sickening wounds and the noisome hospitals, to disease and deathly home-sickness, to exposures that sapped the strongest constitutions, to despair and death. Four years, less three

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days, and the outstretched wings of the destroying angel darkened all this beautiful land.

Nearly three millions of men went out with the cheer of the multitude, the blare of bugles, the rattle of the drums and the martial music of the fife, full of young, lusty life, and health, and hope and boundless ambition. Nearly 400,000 perished—seven times the entire population of one of our States. At last, "stack arms!" "home!" and the common soldier returned foot-sore, weary, covered with dust and grime; toiling along the hot road, he approaches his return journey’s end, his heavy load is laid away, and his army shoes are pulled off, and he asks after his neighbors, and tells the gathering acquaintances of the "boys" that will never come back.

Among the eminent sons of Bradford who laid down their lives in the line of duty—names not born to die—may be mentioned those of Watkins, Spalding, Culp, Sturrock, Ingham, Guyer, Swart, Kellogg, Hemans, Tears, Case, and there are hundreds of others, whose memorial tablets are in the many different cemeteries of the county, while many others sleep in unknown Southern graves.

The Governor of Pennsylvania promptly convened the Legislature on the April call for troops, and May 15, 1861, an act was passed requiring the Governor (Curtin) to organize a military corps, to be called the "Rural Volunteer Corps of the Commonwealth," to be composed of thirteen regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry and one of light artillery, to be enlisted for three years. These were apportioned among the counties, and the ranks soon filled. Three more companies than the county was allotted, had, in their eagerness to go, organized and started for Harrisburg, and actually got as far as Troy, when they had to stop, as the quota was full, and no more could be received.

July 21, 1861, occurred the first fight at Bull Run, and the result of that battle was for a moment to send dismay through the North. The National army was routed, and the term of the three months’ 75,000 men was near its close; the capital was exposed, and instead of suppressing the Rebellion in the allotted "ninety days," it began to look seriously the other way. Most fortunately, Pennsylvania was ready with its organized force of three years’ men to step in the breach, and stay the victorious rebel onslaught.

War Meeting in Towanda.—April 18, only six days after the attack on Fort Sumter, a great war meeting was held in Towanda. Small spontaneous meetings had previously been held in nearly every township. Judge Mercur presided; Cols. G. F. Mason, John F. Means and W. C. Bogart, vice-presidents; P. D. Morrow (judge); W. T. Davies (Gov.); D. A. Overton and H. B. McKean, secretaries. Many stirring and patriotic speeches were made, and a mass meeting was called for the 23d. At this meeting the county’s population turned out, and recruiting went on briskly, the ladies partaking, and they presented the volunteers with a beautiful flag, the handiwork of their own hands, and Capt. J. W. Mason responded on behalf of the men.

April 30, three companies had been raised and organized: Capt. Mason’s, Capt. Gore’s and Capt. Bradbury’s, of Athens, and they started

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at once for Harrisburg, but on reaching Troy they were notified that the State’s quota was full, and were ordered to return. They were met at Troy by five companies from Tioga, and instead of disbanding or returning, they went into camp there. In a short time they proceeded to Harrisburg and were mustered into the State’s Reserve Corps. Capt. Trout’s Company being F, in the Fifth Reserve, and Capt. Bradbury’s Company F, and Capt. Gore’s, Company I, in the Sixth. Capt. Mason was transferred to the regular army, and after the war was lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Cavalry. The Fifth was hurried to Harper’s Ferry, soon after the Bull Run defeat, and from there to Washington, where they started 984 strong. In the three battles of Mechanicsville on the 26^th, Gaines’ Mills on the 27^th, and Charles City Cross Roads on June 30^th, the regiment lost 18 killed, 115 wounded and 103 prisoners. Capt. Robert W. Sturrock was killed on the 27^th, shot through the head. He had enlisted in April as a private. Lieutenant Riddle, of Campany F, and Adjt. Mason were wounded. Riddle was taken prisoner. Capt. Trout resigned in January, 1862; Sturrock took his place, and when he was killed Capt. J. A. McPherran was in command, and he was promoted to major May 7, 1864. A. G. Mason, first lieutenant Company F, was promoted to adjutant. A. Percival Shaw was promoted to first lieutenant, J. W. Means was, in 1862, promoted to lieutenant in the regular army. Lieut. William Riddle resigned in May, 1863, to accept promotion as major and aid on the staff of Gen. Reynolds.

Sixth Reserve—Thirty-fifth Regiment.—April 22, 1861, Capt. W. H. H. Gore, with his "Northern Invincibles," and Capt. Daniel Bradbury, with his company,the (sic) "Towanda Rifles," left Towanda for Harrisburg, reaching that place May 2, and formed the nucleus of the Sixth Reserve Regiment. They had failed to get into the three months’ service. June 22 the regiment was organized and the field-officers elected: W. Wallace Ricketts, colonel; William M. Penrose, lieutenant-colonel; Henry J. Madill, major. Lieut. Henry B. McKean, adjutant; R. H. McCoy, quartermaster; Charles Bowers, surgeon, and Z. Ring Jones, assistant-surgeon. A very succinct history of this command was given by Maj. Gore at the regimental monument dedication on the field of Gettysburg, September 2, 1890. After stating the formation of the regiment he said: "After the disastrous battle of Bull Run, a call was made on Governor Curtin for troops, and the Reserves were rushed to Washington; the Sixth was the first regiment to arrive, and was mustered into the United States service July 27, 1861, and sent to Tenallytown, Maryland. While in this camp over one-half of the regiment was stricken with typhoid fever, greatly retarding the efficiency of the regiment. While in this camp the Reserves were formed in three brigades; the Sixth with the Ninth, Tenth and Twelfth formed the Third Brigade. October 9, 1861, the division was moved across the river into Virginia, and went into camp near Langley.

"December 20^th, the Third Brigade and First Rifles fought the battle of Drainesville—gained the first victory for the Army of the Potomac.

"March 16, 1862, they broke camp, and marched to the vicinity of

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Hunter’s Mills, then back to Alexandria. In the meantime Col. Ricketts and Lieutenant-Colonel Penrose had resigned, and their places were filled by Wm. Sinclair as colonel, and H. B. McKean as lieutenant-colonel. The quartermaster also resigned, and A. A. Scuder was appointed.

"The division was attached to McDowell’s corps, and in April marched to Manassas, Collett’s Station, thence to Fredericksburg. In June they were on transports, and went down to Rappahannock, up the York and Pamunkey rivers to White House, and were attached to the Fifth Army Corps. The Sixth was halted at Tuntall Station to guard the road and keep open the communication with the front. While here, Col. Sinclair joined us, and assumed command; the left wing of the regiment was sent to White House to guard the stores; the Seven-Day battle opened at Mechanicsville, and the regiment was cut off from the main army, and, after destroying the vast accumulation of stores, was taken by boat via Fortress Monroe and James river to Harrison’s Landing, where they were joined by the balance of the division. The Sixth Regiment was here transferred to the First Brigade, which now consisted of the First, Second, Sixth, Ninth and Bucktails.

"The next move was by boat from Harrison’s Landing to Aquia Creek, thence by rail to Fredericksburg, thence by way of Kelly’s Ford to Warrenton, where they joined Pope’s army, and took an active part in the battle of Second Bull Run. Falling back with the army to Washington, they marched through Maryland to South Mountain, and in that battle was on the extreme right of the army, and was attached to the First Corps; at this battle and Antietam the regiment met with severe loss, especially in officers. Maj. Madill was now promoted to the colonelcy of the One Hundred and Forty-first P. V., and Capt. Ent was promoted to major.

"In November the march was again resumed, ending at Fredericksburg, where, on the 13^th of December the regiment, in connection with the balance of the Reserves, made the most gallant charge of the war.

"Our losses here were greater than any other battle we ever fought; we were but a handful left for duty, and the Reserves were ordered to Washington and vicinity to rest and recruit; the Sixth was sent to Fairfax Station, where it remained until June, 1863, when it again joined the army—was attached to the Fifth Corps and marched for this historic field; and here, on this ground, where we are dedicating this monument, we aided in fighting the battle of Gettysburg. Moving with the Army of the Potomac, marching and skirmishing, we finally went into winter quarters at Bristoe Station. In the meantime Col. Sinclair had resigned and field offices were filled by promoting Ent to colonel, Dixon to Lieutenant-colonel, and Gore to major.

"In the spring of 1864, they took in all the fighting under Gen. Grant, through the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna River to Bethesda Church, doing their full share of the work in that arduous campaign, ending their services with the brilliant victory of Bethesda Church.

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"And now, comrades, I have briefly sketched the history of your regiment, its marches and hardships, its gallant fighting; it never disgraced itself; there were other regiments as good as yours, but none better. We have met here to-day to dedicate this shaft as a monument of your valor, but your history will be a monument that will last as long as the American nation exists, and until after those stones shall have crumbled into dust."

This page of history is carved in the granite column that stands on the field of Gettysburg:

The monument stands a short distance to the right of Little Round Top, facing toward the enemy's lines, on grounds now owned by Mr. Frank Althoff, but at the time of the battle it was owned by Joseph Sherfy, the owner of the Peach Orchard. The wheat field in front, where the desperate charges were made, is now the property of the battle-field Memorial Association. At the left, on a giant boulder, on the summit of Little Round Top the bronze statue of Gen. Warren rises in bold relief as the masterly strategist that planted the

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Maltese Cross in advance of the enemy on the rugged heights where Vincent, O'Rouke, Hazlet and Weed fell, and rescued the key of the position from the grasp of the enemy.

Twelfth Reserve—Forty-first Regiment.—Had one full company from this county, Company C, Capt. Richard Gustin, commissioned, June 11, 1861, promoted to lieutenant-colonel, April 6, 1863; Henry S. Lucas became captain, April 6, 1863; mustered out with regiment; Daniel R. Jewell, promoted to first-lieutenant May 14, 1863; Oscar Templeton, second lieutenant, resigned August 10, 1861; Jacob B. Grantier, promoted to second lieutenant September 8, 1861, resigned August 11, 1862; John G. Rahm, promoted to lieutenant, May 1, 1863. The command was mustered in August 10, 1861, and at once started to Harper's Ferry, when their route was changed to Tenallytown. Their first engagement, their baptism in fire, was at the opening battle of Drainsville, where it held the left line, and was exposed to heavy firing. In 1862, when McClellan was calling for troops, this command joined him and was in his campaign, and in Pope's campaign. July 12, 1862, Col. Hardin was wounded in battle and the command of the regiment devolved upon Capt. Gustin and so fought in the battle of South Mountain. April 6, 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and was in command until Col. Hardin was able to return. The regiment was mustered out at Harrisburg, June 11, 1864.

Fiftieth Regiment, P. V.—Had two companies from Bradford county, and Edward Overton, Jr., of Towanda, major. Organized September 25, 1861, and, from Harrisburg, proceeded at once to Washington. Following is the record of the two Bradford companies:

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Fifty-second Regiment—This was one of the sixteen regiments of the Reserves organized in July, 1861. The company organizations were in July, and the regimental in October. In this command was a full company, Capt. Greenleaf P. Davis' Company E, and a part of Company F, that had been recruited in Bradford county by Treat B. Camp and Ransom Luther. Ex-Gov. Henry M. Hoyt succeeded John C. Dodge, Jr., as colonel of this regiment, promoted from lieutenant-colonel, January 9, 1864. Roster of Company E: Capt. Greenleaf P. Davis resigned November 7, 1863, and Hannibal D. Weed became captain December 21, 1863. W. S. Lewis, discharged by special order, April 6, 1862; Hiram A. Weed, promoted to first lieutenant and dismissed March 24, 1864; Silas A. Bunyan, first lieutenant by promotion from the ranks, died at Charleston, July 4, 1864, of wounds received at Fort Johnson, July 4, 1864; Charles R. Kenyon, promoted from sergeant to first lieutenant October 1, 1864, commissioned captain Company G. June 1, 1865; Harrison Ross, promoted to sergeant and then to second lieutenant September 22, 1862, resigned November 11, 1863; Edward J. Stratton, promoted from sergeant to second lieutenant June 3, 1864; Alvin Sayles, promoted to second lieutenant June 3, 1864.

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Company F: James Cook, captain, resigned October 21, 1863; Treat B. Camp, promoted to captain October 22, 1863; Burton K. Gustin, promoted to first-lieutenant December 21, 1863; Charles E. Britton, promoted to first-lieutenant June 3, 1865; Ransom W. Luther, second-lieutenant, resigned June 21, 1862, Nelson Orchard, promoted to second-lieutenant September 27, 1862, dismissed September 13, 1863; Alson Secor, promoted to second-lieutenant March 27, 1864.

Fifty-seventh Regiment.—This had two full companies from Bradford and a portion of another company recruited by Jeremiah Culp, who became major, and was killed at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862. Samuel C. Simonton was promoted from captain of Company P to major June 1, 1862; discharged for wounds January 17, 1863. Samuel Bryan was promoted from captain to major April 1, 1865.

Roster of Officers, Company B: Samuel C. Simonton, first captain, promoted to major; John W. Gillispie, promoted from second lieutenant to captain, discharged October 23, 1863; George W. Perkins, promoted from adjutant to captain, May 2, 1864, and to lieutenant-colonel, March 19, 1865; Israel Garretson promoted to quartermaster August 15, 1862; Thomas O. Callamore, promoted to first lieutenant October 1, 1862; resigned May 31, 1863, Daniel C. Comstock promoted to first lieutenant November 25, 1864; James Burns promoted to second lieutenant January 7, 1863. William H. Bell, promoted to second lieutenant June 7, 1865.

Roster of officers, Company G: George S. Peck, captain, resigned September 22, 1862; Samuel Bryan, captain, promoted to major April 1, 1865; Charles W. Forrester, captain, promoted to captain and A. A. G.; Daniel Mehan, first lieutenant, September 4, 1861, promoted to captain Company H, May 20, 1862; James M. Darling, promoted to captain Company H, January 24, 1863; David Larrish, first lieutenant October 17, 1864; Mort B. Owen, second lieutenant September 4, 1861, resigned October 16, 1862; Joseph H. More, second lieutenant November 1, 1864.

Seventh Cavalry—Eighteenth Regiment.—Company C in the regiment was recruited in Bradford and Tioga counties.

One Hundred and Sixth Regiment.—Capt. Samuel H. Newman's Company D was assigned to this regiment—the command mustered in August 27, 1861. In this regiment, in Companies C, H and I were also many Bradford county men. Capt. Newman was discharged on surgeon's certificate, July 19, 1862; William N. Jones, captain July 26, 1862; John Irwin, promoted from second to first lieutenant July 26, 1862, commissioned captain Company B, June 22, 1864, and transferred to Company K; Joshua A. Gage, promoted to second lieutenant July 26, 1862, killed at Spottsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864.

Eleventh Cavalry—One Hundred and Eighth Regiment.—Originally known as "Harlan's Light Cavalry," recruited during August and September, 1861. Company F, Capt. Newberry E. Calkins, from Bradford county, resigned March 4, 1862; Capt. Benj. B. Mitchell succeeded March 13, 1862, continued to end of term. Thornton J. Elliott became captain November 6, 1864. David O. Tears promoted from second to first lieutenant March 13, 1862; killed at Ream's Sta-

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tion June 29, 1864. William S. Spalding by promotions from rank to first lieutenant Noavember 6, 1864. Philip A. Palmer promoted to first lieutenant June 30, 1864. John V. Pickering promoted to second lieutenant November 4, 1864.

One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment.—Nine months' men; recruited in July and August, 1862, and had two companies from Bradford county. This regiment lost thirty killed, one hundred and fourteen wounded, eight missing; among the killed were Col. Oakford and Lieut. Anson C. Cranmer. The regiment greatly distinguished itself at the battle of Fredericksburg. The companies from this county were Company C, Capt. Herman Townsend, discharged on surgeon's certificate January 10, 1863; Capt. Charles M. Dougal succeeded same date; James A. Rogers promoted to first lieutenant January 10, 1863, Anson C. Cranmer, second lieutenant, killed at Antietam September 17, 1862; Company D, Capt. Charles H. Chase, resigned December 6, 1862; Capt. William H. Carnochan promoted from lieutenant, November 29, 1862; Charles E. Gladding, first lieutenant; J. W. Brown, second lieutenant, August 11, 1862; F. Marion Wells promoted to second lieutenant, December 6, 1862, wounded, with loss of leg at Chancellorsville.

One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Regiment.—Nine months' men; had one company from Bradford county, Company I, Capt. Thomas McFarland, commissioned August 26, 1862, resigned January 10, 1863, succeeded by W. F. Johnson; Joseph G. Isenberg, promoted from second to first lieutenant January 11, 1863; John L. May promoted to second lieutenant January 11, 1863.

One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment.—More than any other, this was a Bradford county regiment. Recruiting commenced for this regiment with a view of raising every man from this county, and had it been possible to give them a little more time, this would have been done. Seven full companies were Bradford men, and the other three from Susquehanna and Wayne counties. Chaplain David Craft has written and published an elaborate history of the regiment, a fitting and enduring monument to as brave a band as ever went forth to do battle for freedom's cause. Their record covers thirty three battles, and on more than one occasion they were sent in front of the army, to gain, at the bayonet's point, a footing where they could, and did protect the army's advance, as at the celebrated "mud march" of Gen. Burnside's; this regiment alone crossed the river, carried the opposite heights at the point of the bayonet, and held the crest of the hill in order that the army might cross in safety. They were thus sent again and again into the "imminent deadly breach' and never faltered, never seriously wavered, and theirs is the story of decimation and death, paralleled by few, excelled by none in the great army, where were millions of trained veterans. The regimental colors, all tattered and torn, were flaunted always defiantly in the face of the enemy; were never trailed, and, as they promised Gov. Curtin when they received them at his hands, were protected with their lives, and are now in the State Department, the mute but glorious testimony of the death-bravery of their custodians in war. Two-thirds of the men on its rolls carrying

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muskets perished that their country might live—a greater loss, as is shown by the official reports, than was sustained by any of the many regiments in the war, save one only, and that one particular regiment entered the service with a greater numerical force.

One July 2, 1862, the President issued his proclamation calling for three hundred thousand men. Now was real war "in battles magnificently stern array." One thousand of these men were Bradford's quota. The national outlook was gloomy, and on even children's faces came the hard lines and troubled looks. A meeting was called at Towanda July 19, following. Speeches and resolutions were had looking to the speedy enlistment of the required number for the county, and the meeting suggested that the townships should open recruiting offices, and when companies were formed all should be organized into a Bradford county regiment.

Early in August, a meeting was held in Terrytown, addressed by Guy H. Watkins, a rising young attorney to Towanda. August 4^th, a meeting was held in Wyalusing, the principal speaker being Hon. George Landon, one of the ablest popular orators in Bradford county, and at once fifty men were enrolled. The first company of this regiment was formed August 14, 1862, the outcome of the Wyalusing meeting, and represented Wyalusing, Herrick, Tuscarora, Terry and Wilmot townships. A small local bounty had been provided for each man, as well as a Bible and a well filled needle-book. The company marched out from Wyalusing on the fourteenth; stopped for dinner at Towanda, and here at the court house a company organization was effected: Capt. George W. Jackson [both fight and patriotism in that name]; Joseph H. Horton, first lieutentant (sic); William T. Horton, second lieutenant. In the afternoon the company proceeded to Canton, camped for the night, and the next day reached Harrisburg. The non-commissioned officers of the company were: Sergeants, Austin D. Jeffers, Joseph H. Hurst, Thomas R. Miles, Nathaniel P. Moody, James Van Auken; corporals, Martin B. Ryder, Erastus S. Gregory, Noble J. Gaylord, Edwin M. White, Jackson C. Lee, George H. Birney, James W. Alderson, Isaac F. Johnson; musicians, Jolin O. Frost and Edward A. Lord. Including the non-commissioned officers, the company numbered ninety-seven men, and being first was Company "A."

Company B.—During the early part of August, William T. Davies, a law student of Towanda, and Henry Keeler, of Wyalusing, began making enlistments in Warren and Pike townships. At the same time Guy H. Watkins, brother-in-law of Davies, and Benjamin M. Peck. were enlisting men in the Towandas. When a number sufficient for a company was secured, a meeting was held at Towanda. August 13^th, and an organization effected as follows: Captain, Guy H. Watkins; first lieutenant, William T. Davies; second lieutenant, Henry Keeler; sergeants, Joseph S. Lockwood, William Jones, Martin O. Codding, Ephraim D. Robbins and Jesse P. Carl, who was succeeded at Camp Curtin by Benjamin M. Peck; corporals, Andrew St. John, Amasa Wood, George D. Crandall, James Goodell, John Keeney, Josiah A. Bosworth, Homer H. Stevens and Charles H. Cran-

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dall; Frank J. Vanderpool and Henry W. Brown, musicians. Non-commissioned officers and men, ninety-eight.

Company C.—At the same time as the above, Rev. A. J. Swart, of Overton, was enlisting men at his place and Liberty Corners, Macedonia and Franklin townships, while W. J. Cole was enlisting men about Macedonia and George W. Kilmer was enlisting men from Asylum and Liberty Corners. As early as the 7^th of August it was ascertained they had men enough to form a company. A meeting was called at Monroeton, and the following officers elected: Captain, A. J. Swart; William J. Cole, first lieutenant, and H. G. Goff, second lieutenant. It is proper to state that G. W. Kilmer esteemed himself too young to accept office, and therefore declined when offered a commission. The company was mustered at Harrisburg, August 25. Sergeants, W. W. Goff, George C. Beardsley, Bishop Horton and A. R. Coolbaugh; corporals, John Chapman, George Owen, Charles S. Brown, Hiram Cole, Daniel Shoonover, Moses Coolbaugh, John Rockwell and Jerry Hakes. Company had eighty-nine men.

Company D.—Commencing with August, Morgan Lewis, of Orwell, began enlisting men by virtue of a commission he had received from Gov. Curtin, and he soon had seventy-five men from Windham, Herrick, Orwell, and Rome. At the same time Thomas Ryon, a young Towanda lawyer, was recruiting men in Burlington and the west side of the county, and had secured twenty-two men. The men met at the courthouse, Towanda, August 15 and organized: Captain, Morgan Lewis, but he declined the great responsibility, and, at his urgent solicitation, Isaac A. Park became captain; first lieutenant, Thomas Ryon; second lieutenant, Morgan Lewis. The medical examiners rejected nineteen of the men. And the joke on the examiners was that these nineteen men were accepted by the same board the very next day, when they had joined other commands. Mr. Ryan secured other recruits from Burlington for the men rejected. The non-commissioned officers: Sergeants, Marcus E. Warren, Henry J. Hudson, George Wilson, Charles J. Estabrook and David C. Palmer; corporals, William Howe, Simeon G. Rockwell, Charles B. Hunt, Charles E. Seeley, Robert Nichols, Elijah A. Mattison, David Benjamin and William Hewitt; hospital steward, Isaac S. Clark.

Company E.—This was known as Athens Company, though recruited there and in surrounding townships. Joseph B. Reeve, of Athens, was recruiting in this borough and in Litchfield; George C. Page, a farmer of Athens township, was recruiting among the farmers, and in Ulster and Sheshequin, while John F. Clark, of Burlington, was enlisting men about him. The different squads met in Athens, August 16, to form a company: Captain, Joseph B. Reeve; first lieutenant, John F. Clark; second lieutenant, George
C. Page; sergeants, Stephen Evans, Tracy S. Knapp, Mason Long, William S. Wright and William Carner; corporals, Orlando Loomis, James W. Clark, Alonzo D. Beech, Otis A. Jakway, Charles McNeal, William R. Campbell, Charles T. Hull, Russell R. Claflin and Handford D. Kinney. At the organization Col. C. F. Welles invited the "boys" to his office, and gave each man $5. The

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company left Athens on the 18^th, and were mustered at Harrisburg August 25.

Company I.—This was recruited by Sheriff Spalding and his brother, Israel P. Spalding, mostly in Wysox, Rome and Litchfield townships. The men met in Towanda on August 12 and organized: Captain, Israel P. Spalding; first lieutenant, Edwin A. Spalding, and second lieutenant, Charles Mercur. On the organization of the regiment Capt. Israel P. Spalding was elected major, and E. A. Spalding became captain; Mercur, first lieutenant, and John G. Brown, second lieutenant; sergeants, John S. Frink, William Bostwick, John D. Bloodgood, Truxton Havens, George F. Reynolds; corporals, John E. Gillett, F. Cortes Rockwell, Stephen L. Clark, John M. Dunham, Orrin C. Taylor, James Lunger, Eugene L. Lent, John Turnbull; wagoner, Daniel Lamphier. Total, eighty-five enlisted men. August 18 the company again assembled in Towanda, and, with Companies B and D, left the next day for Harrisburg.

Company K.—James K. Wright, whose three sons were in the service, and, though ageing (sic), yet he commenced enlisting in Smithfield, and, securing the required number, started for Camp Curtin. When he reached Troy, his men were told of the larger bounty offered in New York, and about one-half of them left him, but he went on with the remainder to Harrisburg. After reaching the rendezvous, two squads from Sullivan county, one from Dushore, under John S. Diefenbach, and the other from La Porte, under Henry R. Dunham, were united with Wright's men, and a full company formed. Captain, Jason K. Wright; first lieutenant, Henry R. Durham; second lieutenant, John S. Diefenbach; sergeants, Beebe Jerould, Aurelius J. Adams, Wallace Scott, Daniel W. Scott; corporals, Charles W. Smith, Calvin C. Chamberlain, Gordon T. Wilcox, Wallace W. Farnsworth, George W. Pennington, William Rogers, Nathan S. Brown, William R. Smalley; wagoner, William H. D. Green.

The three remaining companies, owing to the emergency of the hour, were not Bradford county men. Time was so important that Companies F and H were taken from Susquehanna county, and Company G from Wayne county. Could a little more time have been given, the county would have raised the full regiment.

The commissioned officers met August 28 to organize the regiment, and Maj. Henry J. Madill, already in the service in the Sixth Reserve, was unanimously chosen colonel. He had already made a brilliant army record, but now it may be well said that he had entered upon a career that will forever remain pre-eminent in the annals of war. Capt. Guy H. Watkins was chosen lieutenant-colonel; Capt. Israel P. Spalding, major; adjutant, Daniel W. Searls, who was first lieutenant of Company I; quartermaster, Robert N. Torrey; surgeon, Ezra P. Allen, but by mistake commissioned assistant-surgeon; assistant-surgeon, William Church, but commissioned surgeon; Rev. David Craft, chaplain; sergeant-majors, Charles D. Cash, Henry U. Jones and Joseph G. Fell. A total of 917 non-commissioned officers and men.

Roster, Field and Staff.—Henry J. Madill, colonel, September 5,

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1862; brevet brigadier-general, December 2, 1864; brevet major general, March 13, 1865; wounded at Petersburg, April 2, 1865.

Guy H. Watkins, lieutenant-colonel, August 22, 1862; promoted from captain; wounded and captured at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863; killed at Petersburg, June 18, 1864.

Casper W. Tyler, promoted from captain to major June 22, 1864; to lieutenant-colonel July 4, 1864; discharged on surgeon's certificate March 1, 1865.

Joseph H. Horton, lieutenant-colonel, promoted from captain March 18, 1865. Israel P.
Spalding, promoted from captain to major December 10, 1862; died July 28, of wounds received July 2 at Gettysburg. Charles Mercur, promoted from captain to major February 28, 1865. Daniel W. Searle, adjutant, wounded July 2 at Gettysburg; discharged on surgeon's certificate June 2, 1864. Elisha Brainard, adjutant, promoted July 1, 1864. Robert W. Torrey, quartermaster, discharged on certificate October 24, 1864. Charles D. Cash, quarter-master, promoted from sergeant major June 24, 1865.

William Church, surgeon, promoted from assistant surgeon One Hundred and Tenth P.V., September 2, 1862; discharged September 22, 1864. Fred C. Dennison, surgeon, promoted December 3, 1864. Ezra P. Allen, assistant-surgeon, promoted to surgeon of the Eighty-third P. V. December 13, 1862. John W. Thompson, assistant-surgeon, died July 4, 1864. Wellington G. Beyerle, assistant-surgeon, promoted December 27, 1864. David Craft, chaplain, discharged on surgeon's certificate February 11, 1863. Andrew Barr, chaplain, died at Coatsville, Pa., April 11, 1864. Lilburn J. Robbins, sergeant-major. Henry U. Jones, promoted to first lieutenant Company B, December 5, 1863. Joseph G. Fell, sergeant-major, died of wounds received at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Martin O.l Codding, quartermaster-sergeant, second lieutenant Company C, April 19, 1865. C. J. Estabrook, commissary-sergeant, and Isaac S. Clark, commissary-sergeant. Isaac S. Clark, hospital steward; Michael G. Hill and Gilbert B. Stewart, musicians.

Company A.—Capt. George W. Jackson, resigned October 31, 1862. Capt. Joseph H. Horton, wounded at Spottsylvania C. H., May 12, 1864; promoted to lieutenant-colonel March 18, 1865. Capt. Joseph H. Hurst, commissioned April 1, 1865, wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1363 (sic); at Spottsylvania C. H. May 12, 1864. First Lieut. James W. Anderson, commissioned April 22, 1865. Second Lieut. William T. Horton, discharged on surgeon's certificate December 22, 1862. Second Lieut. Jmes Van Auken, killed at Morris Farm, Va., November 27, 1863.

Company B.—Capt. Guy H. Watkins [record given above]. Capt. William T. Davies (Lieutenant-Governor), promoted September 1, 1862; discharged on surgeon's certificate May 23, 1863. Capt. Benj. M. Peck (President Judge), commissioned captain December 5, 1863; wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. First Lieut. Henry Keeler, discharged on surgeon's certificate February 9, 1863. Henry U. Jones, first lieutenant, commissioned December 5, 1863.

Company C.—Capt. Abraham J. Swart, killed at Chancellorsville

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May 3, 1863. Capt. William J. Cole, wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863; promoted to captain December, (sic) 5, 1863; discharged on surgeon's certificate June 27, 1864. Capt. George W. Kilmer, promoted from sergeant to first lieutenant December 5, 1863; to captain August 8, 1864; prisoner from October 27, 1864, to April 14, 1865. Second Lieutenant, Harry G. Goff.

Company D.—Capt. Isaac A. Park, discharged April 22, 1863. Capt. Thomas Ryon, promoted December 26, 1863; discharged August 6, 1864. Capt. Marcus E. Warner, promoted to captain December 20, 1864. First Lieut. Henry J. Hudson, promoted February 14, 1865. Second Lieut. Morgan Lewis, promoted August 23, 1862; discharged February 10, 1863.

Company E.—Capt. Joseph B. Reeve; resigned December 10, 1862. Capt. John F. Clark; resigned June 16, 1864. Capt. Mason Long, promoted to Captain December 20, 1864. First Lieut. Stephen Evans; resigned November 3, 1863. First Lieut. John M. Jackson, promoted January 24, 1865; wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863. Second Lieut. George C. Page; resigned December 29, 1862.

Company I.—Capt. Israel P. Spalding; promoted to major, December 10, 1862. Capt. Edwin A. Spalding; wounded at Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, and at Wilderness, May 5, 1864. Capt. John G. Brown, promoted captain, January 24, 1865; wounded at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. First Lieut. Charles Mercur; transferred to Company K, January 5, 1863. First Lieut. John S. Frink, promoted January 24, 1865.

Company K.—Capt. Jason K. Wright, resigned December 2, 1862. Capt. Charles Mercur, promoted to major February 28, 1865. First Lieut. Henry R. Dunham, discharged on surgeon's certificate December 9, 1862. First Lieut. Beebe Jerould, promoted December 5, 1863. Second Lieut. John S. Diefenbach, died October 11, 1862.

Seventeeth (sic) Cavalry Regiment.—Under the President's call of July 2, 1862, Pennsylvania was required to furnish three cavalry regiments. This was one of those regiments organized October 18, 1862.

Company D.—This was from Bradford and Susquehanna counties. Capt. Charles Ames, resigned May 22, 1863; Capt. Warren F. Simrall. First Lieut. Charles F. Willard; succeeded by Johnson Rogers. Second Lieut. Stanley M. Mitchell.

One Hundred and Seventy-first Regiment.—(Nine months) drafted militia, was called into service in 1862. Four companies, B, C, D and G were mostly from Bradford county. Theoplilus Humphrey, of Bradford, was made lieutenant-colonel. The regiment was in no important engagement; was most of the time in North Carolina.

Company B.—Capt. Ulysses E. Horton. First Lieut. William Jenings. Second Lieut. William J. Brown.

Company C.—Capt. William B. Hall, resigned. Capt. C. E. Wood, promoted April 11, 1863. First Lieut. Sanderson P. Stacey, Second Lieut. James H. Van Ness.

Company D.—Capt. Minier H. Hinman. First Lieut. Hiram A. Black. Second Lieut. Loomis B. Camp.

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Company G.—Capt. Albert (?-illegible to transcribe) Judson, First Lieut. Samuel C. Robb, Second Lieut. Samuel B. Pettingell.

Two Hundred and Seventh Regiment.—One year's service, organized September 8, 1864. No separate company was organized from Bradford county, but there were men from here in companies B, E and G.

Militia of 1862.—The threatened invasion of the State caused the Governor to call out all the able-bodied men to arm and prepare for defense. September 10 the invaders appeared in Maryland. Every man was to prepare to march at an hour's notice. The notice to report at once came to Bradford county on the 10^th, and on Monday following four full companies were on their way to Harrisburg, as follows: Capt. E. O. Goodrich's from Towanda, Capt. J. W. Evans' from Athens, Capt. Gorham's from Wyalusing and Pike, and Capt. Daniel Wilcox's from Canton. In the meantime Gen. McClellan had been recalled to the command, and fought the battle of Antietam, but the emergency passed and the men returned to their homes. These soldiers were out only ten days.

Emergency Men, 1863.—In June, 1863, Lee commenced his invasion that culminated and ended with the battle of Gettysburg July 1, 2 and 3. The Government called for 50,000 men from Pennsylvania to serve six months unless sooner discharged. A company of the Twenty-sixth Regiment, under this call, Capt. Warner H. Carnochan, was enlisted at Troy, and at once saw severe service in the preliminary skirmishes around Gettysburg. Capt. Carnochan and a part of his men were captured.

In the Thirtieth Regiment was Capt. S. H. Newman's company, of Canton. They encountered no serious service.

Governor's Call.—On the 30^th of June, 1863, Gov. Curtin issued a supplemental call for 60,000 additional men—ninety days. Under this call two companies were raised in Bradford, and assigned to the Thirty-fifth Regiment.

This is the brief outline of the organization of the Bradford county men in the Civil War; the beginning of the sacrifice in behalf of the Union. Their record in the field, in sieges and battles, is that of the war from the first to the end. Like every county in the Union the people were all deeply in the sacrifice; home ties were sundered and lives were the sacrifice. On both sides nearly four million of men were in some way identified with the army in the field, while each man left behind him anxious and bruised hearts, whose morning and evening prayers went out in behalf of "the boys" at the front. When the war-burst came it sent its terrible thrill to every hamlet and cross-roads in the land—meetings assembled in every county, at every church and school-house. While men were frenzied with the ringing call to arms, but few to any extent realized the situation in its full force, the unthinking regarded it as a mere passing storm, and welcomed it as a purifier of the elements, and going to the war more as a recreation for a few days than anything very serious. There were thousands of men, North and South, who at the preceding election had deliberately voted with the full knowledge that they were casting a ballot for war; their philosophy was, and you can yet hear this said, that there were irrecon-

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cilable differences between the sections of the Union and that war only could settle it permanently; that as war was inevitable, then the sooner it came the better. "It had to be" is to this day the judgment of many. The only people who were agreed in all the preliminaries before the rise of the curtain were the Fire Eaters of the South and the High Law fanatics of the North. Both hated the Constitution as our great Fathers made it. One because it recognized African slavery; the other because it bound them to the section where ran the many parallel lines of the Underground Railroad. The intelligent Abolitionist believed that war was the only destroyer of the institution of slavery, and he was consistently for war; the slaveholder believed that with a separation of the sections a foreign nation would not encourage the theft of his slave property; and the average Southern man, deep in his soul, believed that the loss of the slaves would be the doom of the South; they argued that the whole South and its splendid wealth and prosperity was based on slave labor, and with that gone, as their country was unsuited to white labor, as they supposed, it must lapse into a primitive waste and wilderness. The same contingent of demagogues, North and South, were playing their selfish part in the preliminaries of the life-and-death struggle. A chronic average office-seeker is always for his own selfish interests first, last and always. The liberality of these men in dispensing solicitude in behalf of hoped-for-voters pales the whole world's Christian charity. Jeff Davis was a characteristic American demagogue—that is all. The only place he deserves in history is silent contempt; in the great highway of civilization he was a mere toad or wart, and while called a statesman was as ignorant of that science as a Choctow Indian; he should be written as a specimen of "great war-times-men," who are great solely because they were figureheads when many of their betters were cutting each other's throats. Had the South now its coveted separation, all the same, their chieftan would have been a cheap fraud—a dirty fetich and nothing more. This is not kicking the dead lion, because it was a ground-hog and not a lion by any means. North and South the cheap demagogue was a part of the play; generally he was the one-eyed fiddler in the dance of death, and he piped his soulful strains to the peanut gallery; it was the rarest accident when he was found at the front with a musket; but behind the mountains, firing his jaw, he was not only brave but a terror—an animal this country has coddled and bred until they can show blinding pedigrees. The thoroughbred demagogue and the man who sells his vote for a drink are Siamese twins—they are for or against war, drouth or chinch bugs as it happens; great in loud pretensions, and the vilest of snobs by instinct and education.

As related in the opening of this chapter, when the direful news came of Fort Sumter the people spontaneously came together to hear war speeches. A great county meeting was held in Towanda in 1862; the hey-day of war had now passed away, and bitter tears coursed their way down the cheeks of many of the mothers and wives of the land. The battle and mob rout of Bull Run had passed into history, and the black war-cloud lowered over the North. At this meeting the one purpose was to raise recruits for the army. It was plain that

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there were hundreds of men eager to go and would go if only there was a way to keep their families from starving in their absence. The county had no ready money on hand, nor was there any provision in the law to provide for or give it. At this meeting the County Commissioners in conjunction with the Associate Court Judges were appealed to, to act and take the chances on the Legislature approving their action. They agreed to borrow the money, and certain citizens gave them an indemnity note agreeing to pay the money back to the county if the Legislature refused to legalize their action. In this way every volunteer was paid $25 when enlisting out of the $20,500 advanced by citizens, as follows: B. S. Russell & Co., $12,500; David Wilmot, $500; Pomeroy Bros., $5,000; M. C. Mercur, $500; John Passmore, $500; John Adams, $500; George Landon, $500; N. N. Betts, $500. Each one of the Bradford men in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment was paid $25 from this fund. The payments to soldiers were as follows: 1861, $2,459.99; 1862, $900.37; 1863, $17,981.44; 1864, $1,555; 1865, $673.30; 1866, $450; 1868, $25; 1870, $25, and 1876, $50—total, $22,118.10.

There are now within the county, according to official returns, 2,457 old soldiers and soldiers' widows. The once active mailed millions are slowly fading away, gathering beyond for the last roll call.

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