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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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 The Library of Congress 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/whowasgwbeingtru01perc 
 
'WHO WAS G. W.?" 
 
V 
 
u 
 
 Out of the World " Series No. IV. 
 
 WHO WAS G. W.?' 
 
 A TRUTHFUL TALE 
 
 ftfyz §>et>mtl) Hegtment in tfy #rmorp, 
 
 During tty Katljroao ^trtte 
 
 in 3lul& 1877* 
 
 REPRINTE^D FROM "THE WORLW\ 
 
 • ! o. kk.Q...M ' 
 
 NEW-YORK: 1879. 
 
 r 
 
[Note. — The following history appears here substan- 
 tially as it was printed in The World, with the addition 
 of a prologue and such few alterations as were necessary 
 to avoid breaking the continuity of the narrative.] 
 
 Copyright, 1879, by The World. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Prologue. — How the Story came to 
 
 BE TOLD 5 
 
 I. Camp Hardscrabble's Inception .... 9 
 
 II. The Discovery of the immortal 
 
 "gag" "Who was G. W.?" 24 
 
 III. Visit of the Great Communist. — 
 
 The Men under Arms 35 
 
 IV. Discovery and Perpetration of 
 
 Polo. — The Boys on Strike 56 
 
 V. The Mock Parade. — Breaking up 
 of Camp Hardscrabble 67 
 
PROLOGUE. 
 
 J'AIME LE MILITAIRE," sang 
 Phillis gaily, with plumes of cardinal 
 flower nodding quaintly in her hat, and 
 marching firmly up and down the bank, 
 where I lay looking at the ripples on the 
 lake, and watching the little patches of 
 sunshine flickering down between the 
 leaves and dancing on the grass. 
 
 " You have good reason for that. Bet- 
 ter than you have for most of your likes 
 and dislikes, at least," growled the family 
 Mentor from a post on the rocks above, 
 where he sat, looking like the " lone 
 fisherman." 
 
" Because ? " interrogated Phillis. 
 
 "Because," echoes the Mentor. "You 
 landed Jack there, all because he was 
 ' spooney' and plunged over the brink, — 
 where he had been hovering for weeks, — 
 the night he was sent for to join his regi- 
 ment, when the railroad men struck, last 
 year." 
 
 " Yes, I think that did have something 
 to do with it," replied Phillis demurely; 
 " but then you see," with sudden inspira- 
 tion, "he was sure to have done it some 
 time or other. Were n't you, Jack ? " 
 
 I grin, and shy a stone into the lake, 
 without replying. 
 
 " I hate engaged men," says the Mentor 
 viciously. "They are always like Moham- 
 med's coffin, suspended between heaven 
 and earth. Having rashly abjured bachelor 
 privileges and divertisements, and not yet 
 having attained to the delights of married 
 life, they are the most miserable creatures 
 in existence. Pah ! " 
 
" It 's a blessing that we don't know what 
 pitiable wretches we are," I exclaim. 
 
 "Jack," says Phillis, "tell me again all 
 about Camp Hardscrabble. I like to hear 
 it." 
 
 " Oh Lord ! He thinks that story is 
 part of his romance. I decline to hear it 
 again ; " and the Mentor disappears in the 
 primeval forest. Reader, you may accom- 
 pany the wise Mentor and make your 
 escape into the woods, or stay with Phillis 
 and hear my story. This is it. 
 
"Are not you moved, when all the sway of Earth 
 Shakes like a thing unfirm ? " 
 
 Julius Cesar. 
 
 r | A HE anxiety and apprehension which 
 ■*■ pervaded New- York City on Mon- 
 day morning, the 23d of July, 1877, were 
 greater than they had ever been since the 
 dread days in the summer of 1863, when 
 the city was actually powerless in the 
 hands of a mob. 
 
 Thousands of railroad employes in va- 
 rious parts of the country had struck work, 
 and were being joined at the most eligible 
 points by a vast army of tramps who were 
 eager to share in the plunder which might 
 9 
 
IO 
 
 accrue from the acts of violence and pil- 
 lage to which demagogues sought to incite 
 the strikers. Railroad and mail commu- 
 nication between the East and West was 
 entirely suspended; the great trunk lines 
 were in the hands of the mob of strikers 
 at most important points, and in some 
 cases the telegraph lines were down. 
 There had been violence and bloodshed in 
 other cities, and at Pittsburg the collision 
 between the mob and the militia had 
 resulted in the rout of the latter. 
 
 The red flag of the Commune had been 
 raised in New- York, inflammatory procla- 
 mations printed and circulated, and a mass 
 meeting called in Tompkins Square for 
 Wednesday night. There was good reason 
 to fear the result of bringing together so 
 much inflammable material to be exposed 
 to the firebrands which demagogues were 
 preparing to hurl in its midst. 
 
 Added to this, there came the startling 
 thought into many minds that a leader 
 
II 
 
 might be found for these disorganized 
 mobs who would lead them to avail them- 
 selves of their manifest advantage in hav- 
 ing virtually cut the country in two, and 
 thus enable them to remain masters of the 
 situation. 
 
 That these were not idle fears, men were 
 assured of by the fact that the President 
 of the United States had called around him 
 his Cabinet, and that they had seriously 
 considered the extreme measure of a sus- 
 pension of the habeas corpus. This action 
 was postponed for a day, and the Presi- 
 dent issued a proclamation preparatory to 
 declaring martial law in several of the 
 States where the insurrection was most 
 formidable. The Secretaries of War and 
 of the Navy began to prepare for more 
 serious possibilities. Military and naval 
 stores were hastily prepared, and the com- 
 manders of the forces, by land and sea, 
 received telegraphic orders to hold them- 
 selves in readiness for immediate service. 
 
12 
 
 Meanwhile, business was almost entirely 
 suspended, and the members of the busi- 
 ness community, in their enforced idleness, 
 could only seek eagerly for the latest 
 news, and discuss the situation with gloomy 
 forebodings. Men were thankful that their 
 families were safely located in the quietude 
 of the country, and those whose families 
 were in the city instructed them to remain 
 at home. The streets were almost entirely 
 deserted, and the broiling July sun lay 
 along the sidewalks unbroken by the usual 
 passing shadows. 
 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon of that 
 day, Adj utant- General Townsend received 
 the following dispatch at his head-quarters 
 in Albany, from Oneonta, N. Y. : 
 
 I am on my way to Albany. You will direct 
 the major-general of each division in the State to 
 hold his command in readiness for service at 
 a moment's notice, subject to my orders. 
 
 (Signed) L. Robinson, Governor. 
 
 When this announcement reached the 
 city, coupled with the declaration of the 
 
13 
 
 Governor that he would, if necessary, 
 call for 100,000 volunteers, in addition to 
 the 28,000 members of the National 
 Guard, a revulsion of public feeling was 
 at once experienced. The confidence of 
 the people of the city in their crack regi- 
 ments was always unbounded, and they 
 began to have a returning confidence in 
 the speedy triumph of the law, when it 
 was backed by bayonets. 
 
 The Adjutant- General, through his 
 assistant, Colonel Alfred H. Taylor, im- 
 mediately transmitted the Governor's 
 order by telegraph to the head-quarters of 
 the division commanders throughout the 
 State. The following was received at the 
 head-quarters of the First Division : 
 
 Major- General Alexander Shaler, Commanding 
 First Division, N. G. S. N. Y., No. ijs 
 Mercer Street : 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief directs that you have 
 your entire command ready for service, and hold 
 them subject to his orders. 
 
 Franklin Townsend, 
 
 Adjutant-General. 
 
14 
 
 Colonel Carl Jussen, Division Inspector 
 and Acting Assistant Adjutant- General 
 to General Shaler, at once prepared the 
 following, which was issued at 4.55 P. M. : 
 
 Head-quarters First Division, \ 
 N. G. S. N. Y., 
 
 New- York, July 23, 1877. ) 
 General Orders, No. 6. 
 
 In obedience to orders from the Commander-in- 
 Chief, the division will assemble, armed and fully 
 equipped, at the armories of the several organiza- 
 tions without delay. 
 
 By order of Major-General Alexander Shaler. 
 Carl Jussen, 
 Colonel and Division Inspector. 
 
 By telegraph and special messenger the 
 orders were very promptly carried to the 
 several armories, as well as to the resi- 
 dences of the colonels and commanding 
 officers. By 7 o'clock the news had be- 
 come generally known, and the men 
 poured into the armories at a lively rate. 
 
 During the entire evening soldiers in 
 uniform and others bearing soldierly ac- 
 couterments filled the streets which had 
 
i5 
 
 been so nearly deserted all day. Occa- 
 sionally a cheer would greet a passing 
 group of the Seventh's boys, and again a 
 suppressed murmur of disapproval would 
 go up, but neither interfered with their 
 hastily seeking the armory in Tompkins 
 Market. 
 
 Here even those who arrived earliest 
 found that the call for the assembling of 
 the regiment had been anticipated by 
 Colonel Emmons Clark, who had issued 
 an order during the afternoon for the 
 assembling of a guard of fifty men at the 
 armory. This was done in accordance 
 with his invariable custom at times when 
 great excitement prevails in the city, in 
 order that no person shall obtain from the 
 armory any arms or ammunition by force 
 or otherwise. The wisdom of this action 
 was seen at once in that Colonel Clark, 
 when he reached the armory, had 
 already at his hand fifty men to be used 
 as a guard and in notifying the members 
 
i6 
 
 of the regiment that they were wanted. 
 The first movement made was to send for 
 two howitzers which belong to the regi- 
 ment but which had been for some time 
 lying in the State Arsenal, and they were 
 at once placed in position to command 
 the entrance to the armory. A lieutenant 
 of the Second Company, who was officer 
 of the guard, immediately sent out mes- 
 sengers in search of the members of the 
 regiment, and they began to come in at 
 once. As fast as the non-commissioned 
 officers arrived they were posted off in 
 hot haste to notify the men, who then 
 began to arrive in numbers. The guard 
 placed over the doors was quadrupled as 
 the crowd collected in the street outside, 
 and strict orders were given that no one 
 should be admitted to the armory except 
 the members of the regiment and of the 
 veteran corps. The men hastened to 
 don their uniforms, many of them putting 
 on their knapsacks and getting ready for 
 
i7 
 
 active service at once. They soon dis- 
 carded again everythingbut their shirts — it 
 was hot. Still, the men kept coming, many 
 of them bringing large traveling-bags, 
 and evidently prepared to stay in the 
 armory or go anywhere else for an indefi- 
 nite period. The members of the veteran 
 corps came to the front almost as 
 promptly as the active members, and 
 not a few white haired and mustached 
 veterans donned their uniforms and pre- 
 pared for the fray. Queries as to what 
 they were to do or where to go were on 
 every man's tongue. Meanwhile the 
 friends of the members who had accompa- 
 nied them to the armory and were unable 
 to gain admission, and the idlers and 
 others attracted to the spot to the number 
 of several hundred, effectually blockaded the 
 street, and the captain of the Seventeenth 
 Police Precinct appeared on the scene at 
 10.30 with a file of reserves, and cleared 
 the street without the slightest opposition. 
 
i8 
 
 At ii o'clock nearly 500 men were 
 assembled in the armory, and telegrams 
 were being received from men out of 
 town, all of whom were coming by first 
 train, so that it was expected 1,000 men 
 of the active and veteran organizations 
 would be on hand by 10 A. M. the follow- 
 ing day. The boys started a piano going 
 in one of the company rooms, and glees 
 and carols were given lustily, but the 
 more phlegmatic men, taking their over- 
 coats for pillows, stretched themselves on 
 the floor and on benches to sleep, saying, 
 " If they had work to do, they'd need it, 
 and if not it couldn't hurt them." 
 
 But their slumbers were not undisturbed 
 by any means, for all night long perturbed 
 spirits walked the night in light and airy 
 attire, and mischievous ones began to give 
 indications of the carnival of fun which 
 was soon to be inaugurated. 
 
 The stillness of midnight which fell upon 
 the streets, as nearly deserted as the 
 
19 
 
 streets of a metropolitan city ever are, 
 made audible throughout the armory the 
 clatter of hoofs as some non-commissioned 
 officer, transformed for the nonce into 
 an amateur Paul Revere, "booted and 
 spurred," reined up at the door after an 
 equestrian tour of the city, in search of 
 absent members or knowledge as to their 
 whereabouts. Until long after midnight, 
 coupes and carriages flew around the cor- 
 ner, and drew up at the door of the armory 
 with a crash, which was followed by ring 
 of steel as the bayonets of the quadru- 
 pled guard unlocked and locked again, 
 admitting to the hall new-comers, as full 
 of curiosity as is natural in men summoned 
 suddenly from a summering by lake or 
 ocean side, and called upon to exchange 
 the touch of soft hands in gentle dalliance 
 for a grip of steel and readiness for stern 
 work. 
 
 Many had good cause to wear the faces 
 of knights of the rueful countenance, but 
 
20 
 
 none did. To a set of business and pro- 
 fessional men and clerks, called from com- 
 fortable homes in the city or in the 
 cool suburbs, the intolerable heat of 
 midsummer in a suffocating armory, with- 
 out beds or bedding other than that pro- 
 verbial and much-sought " soft side," 
 which a plank is popularly supposed to, 
 but rarely does, possess, might well have 
 been appalling, or at any rate irritating. 
 The period over which this confinement 
 might extend was also pleasingly indefinite, 
 and in many cases, doubtless, involved 
 serious questions of personal and profes- 
 sional engagements, likely to be broken at 
 no small cost. Not a man of them, how- 
 ever, seemed to give such considerations a 
 moment's thought. The appearance of 
 every new-comer was hailed with accla- 
 mations of delight, and he invariably 
 doffed his citizens' dress, and donned his 
 uniform in the enthusiasm of the mo- 
 ment, only to follow the example of his 
 
21 
 
 predecessors in a few brief moments, dur- 
 ing which it might be proper to say, meta- 
 phorically, that his enthusiasm was cooled, 
 and reduce his habiliments to a minimum. 
 But to say literally that anything or any- 
 body in that armory was cool, cooled, or 
 cooling during the ensuing four days, 
 would be mendacious, to say the least. 
 
 All through the night the " boys " came 
 pouring into the armory, singly and in 
 twos and threes. Each man, after eagerly 
 asking the regulation question, " Are we to 
 go away ? " and receiving the stereotyped 
 answer that no such orders had been as 
 yet received, had his own story to tell. 
 Some had been out late, and found their 
 orders upon a return home at an early 
 hour in the morning; these, as a rule, 
 found their explanations superfluous, 
 the facts were axiomatic. Others had 
 come in by late trains, some by milk 
 trains from summer resting-places by the 
 Hudson, or in the .cooling everglades of 
 
22 
 
 Jersey, or the sandy beaches of Long 
 Island. 
 
 Later arrivals came from Newport, Long 
 Branch, Lake George and Saratoga. These 
 had in not a few touching instances been 
 rudely recalled from dreams of love to 
 deeds of war, and could be found in cor- 
 ners far, or as far as it was possible to get, 
 from the " madding crowd," conning 
 over delicate missives, written in the 
 Anglo-Boston hand, or pouring into the 
 ears of their sympathizing and confi- 
 dential friends the tale of their interrupted 
 summer romance. 
 
 It is not only fair to suppose, but it may 
 in some instances be recorded as a fact, 
 that the startling cry, which the W. U. T. 
 and the A. & P's instruments emitted at 
 their termini, " To arms, to arms," led 
 many of the boys to arms, which they 
 were loth to leave precipitately. In these 
 instances, their tardy wooing had reached 
 a climax precipitated by feminine fears of 
 
23 
 
 danger to the knights summoned thus sud- 
 denly from carpet to field. 
 
 It can hardly be said that the armory 
 became quiet at any time during the 
 night. At the regular intervals the guards 
 were changed, and this made some noise, 
 while sleep did not come easily to the eye- 
 lids of many of the members unaccustomed 
 to overcoats for pillows and blankets for 
 beds on a night when coolest linen soon 
 became heated and uncomfortable. 
 
 The atmosphere of the armory was 
 superheated by numberless gas-lights 
 and by the presence of so many hundred 
 human beings, to a point almost beyond 
 endurance; but the boys, instead of growl- 
 ing, rambled about, chatting, and here and 
 there poker parties were organized. 
 
II. 
 
 QO THE watches of the night wore on, 
 ^ and the men were astir early in the 
 bright midsummer dawn. Washing facili- 
 ties were in great demand, but scarce. The 
 matter of toilet did not, however, deeply 
 concern their minds, which were much- 
 more exercised over the important ques- 
 tion of breakfast. Where and how was 
 this to be obtained ? The commissary, 
 however, proved equal to the occasion, and 
 the boys were marched out in squads to 
 breakfast at neighboring restaurants, with 
 whose proprietors arrangements had has- 
 tily been concluded. 
 
 24 
 
25 
 
 Among so many men there was to 
 be found, of course, a variety of talent and 
 accomplishments which could be turned to 
 account in the way of divertisement for the 
 multitude who, less favored, could only 
 contribute their quota of energetic second- 
 ing and enthusiastic appreciation of the fun. 
 Beginning in the company rooms, the 
 spirit of mirth soon became general 
 throughout the regiment as the men took 
 advantage of the unusual opportunity for 
 cultivating the acquaintance of comrades 
 in other companies whom they were not 
 in the habit of meeting on drill nights. 
 The " gags " of each company soon be- 
 came the property of the regiment, and as 
 they met with general favor, could be 
 heard in all parts of the building. 
 
 The "Seventh Regiment Sky-rocket," as 
 the boys call it, consists of a unanimous 
 whistling sound, a tremendous explosion, 
 and the anxious sigh of gratification likely 
 to assist at the successful termination of 
 
26 
 
 any rocket's career. The sounds are some- 
 thing like this : 
 
 " Swish-h-h-h — (prolonged). Boom! 
 — Ah-h-h-h," and when emitted in con- 
 cert are startlingly realistic. 
 
 This was kept going with really won- 
 derful pertinacity and enthusiasm ; the 
 men in all parts of the building picked up 
 the " cue," no matter how frequently or 
 from what quarter it was received, and 
 kept " whooping her up " with a will. 
 Gradually it seemed as though the men 
 were becoming fairly intoxicated with ex- 
 citement, and their unfailing flow of ani- 
 mal spirits incessantly bubbled over like 
 champagne. Higher and higher rose the 
 tide of innocent revelry, until fun held 
 high carnival in all parts of the building 
 as the hours wore away. 
 
 The day was if anything even warmer 
 than its predecessor, and the broiling sun 
 beat down upon the roof above the main 
 drill-room, making the armory hotter than 
 
27 
 
 a furnace. As the sun moved away on its 
 daily round, many of the boys sat out on the 
 cornice under their second-story windows, 
 smoking and cocking up striped-stockinged 
 feet at all the world. The armory was 
 rigidly guarded both as to egress and 
 ingress, written passes being in all cases 
 required. People passed without stopping 
 much to look up. Eight hundred men 
 were shut in there by evening, large re-en- 
 forcements arriving constantly, and a more 
 happy, high-spirited crowd it would be 
 difficult to find. Colonel Clark sat in his 
 little office, which commands the main 
 hall, and viewed the scene with the great- 
 est pride and amusement. The favorite 
 costume was a pair of trousers and an 
 undershirt without sleeves. 
 
 When dinner-time arrived, Delmonico's 
 waiters came hurrying in with big baskets 
 and trays, and long tables were set in the 
 large drill-room, and the men were 
 marched in to a cold lunch of meats and 
 
28 
 
 bread and iced coffee. The arrival of the 
 waiters was hailed with demonstrations of 
 unbounded joy by the hungry crowd, who 
 gave vent to a display of vocal pyrotech- 
 nics which greatly disturbed the imper- 
 turbability of the statuesque French gar- 
 fons, whose Gallic oaths, not loud, but 
 deep, gave indisputable evidence of their 
 lack of appreciation of American humor. 
 At 7, a similar meal was served to them, 
 which, as one of them said, " was n't such 
 
 d d variety, but it tasted good." The 
 
 howitzers were taken into the drill- room, 
 and the men drilled in their use, and, with 
 one thing and another, the day wore away. 
 Watching the horse- cars was one of the 
 standing amusements, but the game 
 of draw-poker, according to Minister 
 Schenck's rules, was the chief. In the 
 officers' parlor was the head-quarters of 
 all the fun. At least three hundred men 
 were assembled there that night, ranged 
 about the piano in a semicircle ten deep, 
 
29 
 
 and singing and dancing with great gusto. 
 " Way down on the Swanee River " was 
 called for. Immediately a young man in 
 a skeleton of an undershirt volunteered a 
 solo. His voice broke on the second 
 note, and a derisive shout settled him. A 
 score of suggestions were volunteered, 
 and in a second all was drowned in a 
 " sky-rocket," which was given with a 
 will. " The Sailor Boy " and the Gen- 
 darme song to original words met with 
 great favor, and for a double clog which 
 was volunteered, every man beat time or 
 " spatted " until the roof rang with the 
 tumult. 
 
 From the invisible treasure-house which 
 yielded all the necessary material for for- 
 warding the sports of the day, some one 
 drew a set of boxing-gloves, which at 
 once became the center of attraction for 
 the party. Invitations to " knock a chip 
 off my shoulder " were responded to by 
 inquiries as to "who struck Billy Patter- 
 
30 
 
 son ? " It was not long before a match 
 was arranged with much hilarity and no 
 little facetiousness in regard to the terms 
 and stakes. Suggestions as to the desir- 
 ability of " steaks," which had been 
 conspicuous by their absence from the 
 day's bill of fare, were received with 
 groans for the unfortunate punster, and a 
 suggestion to " put him out " was gravely 
 carried into effect before time was called 
 for the boxing, which then began. 
 
 The general physical standard of the 
 Seventh Regiment is very greatly misun- 
 derstood by the country at large. The fact 
 that the regiment is largely composed of 
 merchants and professional men who do 
 not earn their living by manual labor is as 
 widely known as is the name of the organi- 
 zation, and this fact has, not unnaturally, 
 led many persons to suppose that the 
 men would not be very formidable adver- 
 saries to cope with, were it not that intelli- 
 gence and pluck more than made up for 
 
31 
 
 that supposed deficiency in " fighting 
 weight." The fact is, however, that a 
 very large number of the men, while they 
 are not, it is true, physically developed by 
 daily manual labor, are the very first among 
 New- York's amateur athletes, almost every 
 athletic, boat, and yacht club and gymna- 
 sium in the city being represented in the 
 regiment. Any one who saw them rambling 
 around the armory by scores in sleeveless 
 gauze shirts, and marked the strong mus- 
 cular backs and shoulders, well- developed 
 arms, and the play of the muscles under 
 the clear, healthy-looking skins, sur- 
 mounted by clean-cut heads and bright, 
 intelligent, manly faces, would have 
 learned that brawn as well as brains 
 enters largely into the composition of 
 New- York's crack regiment. 
 
 - Two of these athletic fellows proceeded 
 to pummel each other lustily with the 
 gloves until they were both exhausted, 
 evanescent witticisms and facetious re- 
 
32 
 
 marks of an encouraging nature being 
 showered upon them by the crowd of 
 bystanders even more thickly than were 
 each other's blows. Other contests and 
 " set-to's " followed, and the crowd, 
 toward midnight, dropped off to their 
 respective company rooms. 
 
 It was on this memorable day that an 
 event of no little moment occurred. The 
 name of the inventor of the great Seventh 
 Regiment conundrum is, unfortunately, 
 lost to the world. The origin of the im- 
 mortal query is wrapped in mystery as 
 deep and impenetrable as is the authorship 
 of the Letters of Junius or the origin of 
 species. That this will be a matter of 
 as keen regret in the future to the histo- 
 rian and the antiquary as it is at the 
 moment to the reader and the writer there 
 can be little doubt. It will always, how- 
 ever, be a source of pride and gratifica- 
 tion to its originator, whoever he may be, 
 and he will undoubtedly feel in articulo 
 
33 
 
 mortis, to paraphrase the late A. Ward, 
 that he has not lived in vain — but in 
 New- York. At a time when there was a 
 momentary lull in the storm of jollity, a 
 voice from some quarter of the room 
 shouted out the conundrum, " Who WAS 
 George Washington ? " This elicited 
 from a score of near-by and evidently sapi- 
 ent throats the answer, in a school-boy's 
 sing-song, "First in war, first in peace, 
 first in the hearts of his countrymen" which 
 was immediately followed by a break- 
 down danced with the greatest vigor, 
 the audible result being something like 
 this : Slam i tee slam bang, bang, bang ! 
 For an instant there followed the hush of 
 pleased astonishment, and then, with a 
 roar of delight, the regiment made a rush 
 in a body toward the quarter from whence 
 the sounds described had proceeded. It 
 was, although perhaps open to the objec- 
 tion of being, like all true American 
 humor, slightly irreverent, a stroke of 
 
34 
 
 genius. In five minutes it had been re- 
 peated as many times, new voices each 
 time swelling the choral response and 
 twice as many additional feet assisting at 
 the break- down, until the roof rang with 
 the sound and the floor trembled under 
 the repeated shocks. 
 
 The regiment had adopted the gag as 
 its very own. 
 
 From that time forth there was hardly 
 an hour of the day, nor even of the night, 
 that this conundrum was not asked, and 
 answered a score of times by grinning 
 hundreds. It became thereafter the key- 
 note to all the festivities during the 
 encampment. 
 
 Again, the " head devils " of the regi- 
 ment made night hideous, notwithstanding 
 the good-natured growls of the sleepy- 
 heads. 
 
III. 
 
 "TT 7EDNESDAY morning broke at last, 
 ; * bringing with it that undefined 
 sense of impending danger which makes 
 the air at times portentous, but it pro- 
 duced little effect upon the boys. The 
 scene was changed a little, and the officers' 
 assembly room, in which the previous 
 night the boys disported themselves, bore 
 the sign " Brigade Head-quarters," and 
 had been taken possession of by Brigadier 
 General Varian and staff. A guard was 
 mounted over the door to keep out intrud- 
 ers, which added another warlike element 
 to the scene. There was a prospect of 
 work to do that night, but no indication 
 
36 
 
 of the fact could be found anywhere in the 
 armory. 
 
 Breakfast was a little variation of the 
 monotony of Tuesday's bill of fare, and 
 consisted of eggs, rolls and coffee. After 
 that important ceremony, Companies B 
 and I drilled together as one company in 
 the large drill-room, making an imposing 
 show of seventy- five files front. They 
 drilled sans jackets, and the movements of 
 loading and firing and charge bayonets 
 and charging on the advance were exe- 
 cuted with the precision of clock-work. 
 During this drill a catastrophe of a most 
 serious nature occurred. Mr. Delmonico 
 declared when called upon to feed the 
 regiment that the " boys " should have the 
 best of everything in his house, and accord- 
 ingly the finest French china and cut 
 glass were provided for their use. When 
 the drill was in progress the waiters were 
 requested to move the table on which 
 these articles were, and in so doing they 
 
37 
 
 upset the frail structure, and demolished 
 seven or eight hundred plates and goblets. 
 The crash was frightful, and brought 
 every man in the armory to an "attention." 
 The usual card-playing was, however, soon 
 resumed, and draw-poker passed away the 
 time quickly for its devotees. Whist par- 
 ties were made up and sought to rival it in 
 attractiveness, but without success. Watch- 
 ing the horse-cars from the airy second- 
 story windows and spinning yarns passed 
 away the time for some, while the how- 
 itzer squad spent a good deal of time in 
 familiarizing themselves with the use of 
 their guns. " Rushing," as it is commonly 
 known, was indulged in to some extent by 
 the irrepressible fellows overflowing with 
 animal spirits, and the query, " Who was 
 George Washington ? " which, ever and 
 anon, rang through the hall, was sure 
 to elicit the usual response, chanted forth 
 by several hundred throats. A squad of 
 the Eighth Regiment men, who were left 
 4 
 
38 
 
 behind on the departure of that regiment 
 for the north, were greeted with loud 
 cheers as they marched in to report at 
 brigade head-quarters. 
 
 During the day, Justus Schwab, the red- 
 flag man, who was to preside at the' Tomp- 
 kins Square meeting that night, paid a 
 visit of inspection to the armory on the 
 invitation of a friend in the command. He 
 had but little to say, and while he was 
 sharply eyed by the boys, with a rare 
 sense of humor, they gave, in his honor, 
 as a rousing chorus, " The Son of a Gam- 
 bolier." The words of that classic song 
 are regimentally adapted ; the first verse 
 (of an unlimited number) and the chorus 
 are as follows : 
 
 " I 've been in ev'ry country, 
 
 I 've seen the soldiers drill, — 
 
 The Horse Guards of Victoria, 
 
 The Footmen of King Bill, 
 
 The Musketeers of bloody Spain, 
 
 The Cuban volunteer ; 
 
 But the Seventh of New- York 's the corps 
 
 For this Son of a Gambolier. 
 
39 
 
 Chorus : 
 
 Then combine your humble ditties, 
 
 As from tavern to tavern we steer ; 
 
 Like ev'ry honest fellow, 
 
 I drinks my lager-beer, 
 
 Like ev'ry jolly fellow, 
 
 I takes my whisky clear ; 
 
 I 'm a rambling rake of poverty, 
 
 And the Son of a Gambolier. 
 
 Oh ! I 'm a son of a — son of a — son of a- 
 
 Son of a — son of a Gambolier, 
 
 A son of a — son of a — son of a — son of a — 
 
 Son of a — son of a Gambolier. 
 
 Like ev'ry jolly fellow, 
 
 I takes my whisky clear ; 
 
 I 'm a rambling rake of poverty, 
 
 And the Son of a Gambolier. 
 
 The great German Communist failed 
 to appreciate the humor of the song 
 which " the boys " caroled forth right 
 joyfully, but his eye noted carefully the 
 appearance and the quiet look of deter- 
 mination under the smiles on the faces of 
 the men, and he departed with his respect 
 for New- York's citizen soldiery, as typified 
 by the Seventh, visibly increased. 
 
 There was no lull in the fun during the 
 day, although the older men speculated 
 
40 
 
 considerably upon the chances of their 
 seeing some hot work in more senses 
 than one that night 
 
 Meantime, the authorities were not 
 idle, and all was activity and subdued 
 excitement around police head-quarters 
 in Mulberry street and the head-quarters 
 of the First Division, where for the mo- 
 ment the scene is located. 
 
 General Smith called together the 
 Board of Police Commissioners in the 
 morning, and, after a protracted consulta- 
 tion with his colleagues, sent the following 
 communication to the Mayor : 
 
 Police Department of the City of New- ^ 
 York, 300 Mulberry Street, 
 
 New-York, July 25, 1877. ) 
 To His Honor Smith Ely, Jr., Mayor of the City 
 
 of New -York. 
 
 Sir: The Board of Police of the City of New- 
 York, at a meeting thereof regularly convened at 
 the Central Office of Police in said city on this 
 twenty-fifth day of July, 1877, duly passed the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, That this Board, by reason of the dis- 
 turbances and riots in other cities of this State and 
 
41 
 
 of the United States, and of threats of like riots 
 and tumults in this city, apprehends a riot, tumult, 
 and mob within the limits of this municipality, 
 and that it therefore demands of and from the 
 commanding officer of the military of the First 
 Division the assistance of such military, to wit : 
 Of the regiments known as the Seventh, Twenty- 
 second, Eighth, and the Seventy-first regiments 
 of said First Division, pursuant to the statute in 
 such case made and provided ; and 
 
 Resolved, That the President of this Board re- 
 quest the written approbation of His Honor the 
 Mayor of the City of New-York to the foregoing 
 resolution, and to the demand therein contained, 
 and that the President of this Board, after having 
 obtained said approbation, serve a copy of the 
 foregoing and of this resolution upon said com- 
 manding officer of the military of the First 
 Division, and for a demand of the military assist- 
 ance hereby required. I remain, sir, your obe- 
 dient servant, W. F. Smith. 
 
 To this Mayor Ely sent the following 
 answer and indorsement : 
 
 President of the Board of Police : 
 
 I hereby approve of the resolution of the Board 
 of Police demanding the assistance of the military 
 of the First Division and of such deman'd. 
 
 Smith Ely, Jr., Mayor of New-York. 
 
 City Hall, July 25, 1877. 
 
 Upon the receipt of the Mayor's written 
 
42 
 
 approval, General Smith addressed the 
 following note to General Shaler : 
 
 Major-General A. Shaler, Commanding First 
 
 Division N. G. S. N. Y. 
 
 Sir : Herewith I have the honor to transmit to 
 you a copy of two resolutions of the Board of. 
 Police of the City of New- York, passed this day as 
 and for a demand upon you as commanding 
 officer for the assistance of the military of the 
 First Division — to wit, the Seventh, Twenty- 
 second, Eighth, and Seventy- first regiments — 
 together with a copy of the approbation thereof 
 of His Honor the Mayor indorsed thereon, the 
 original of which said indorsement will be exhib- 
 ited to you herewith. And I hereby request you, 
 on behalf of the Board of Police, to retain the 
 above-mentioned regiments in their respective 
 armories, subject to the orders of this Board. 
 I am, sir, yours respectfully, 
 
 W. F. Smith. 
 
 General Shaler promptly sent his an- 
 swer in the following terms : 
 
 Head-quarters First Division ) 
 N. G. S. N. Y., 
 
 New-York, July 27, 1877. S 
 General IV. F. Smith, President Police Depart- 
 ment, City of New-York. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the re- 
 ceipt of a copy of two resolutions passed at a 
 
43 
 
 meeting of the Board of Police held this day, 
 with the approval of His Honor the Mayor in- 
 dorsed thereon, demanding the assistance of the 
 Seventh, Eighth, Twenty-second, and Seventy- 
 first regiments, and to say that it will afford me 
 pleasure to comply with said demand, except 
 that I shall be compelled to substitute the Twelfth 
 Regiment for the Eighth, which is now en route 
 for Buffalo. 
 
 The regiments named are now assembled in 
 their respective armories, equipped for service, 
 armed with breech-loaders, and each supplied with 
 forty rounds of ammunition per man. The armo- 
 ries are located as follows : the Seventh Regiment 
 at Tompkins Market; Twelfth, Broadway and 
 Forty-fifth street; Twenty-second, near Sixth 
 avenue, in Fourteenth street; Seventy-first, at 
 Broadway, corner of Thirty-sixth street. 
 
 These regiments will be at once directed to hold 
 themselves in readiness to respond until further 
 orders to any demand which may be made upon 
 them by the Board of Police to aid in suppressing 
 riot, tumult, or disturbance of the public peace, 
 and to obey such orders and instructions as may 
 be received direct from said Board of Police or its 
 President. Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Alexander Shaler, 
 
 Major-General. 
 
 He then issued his orders to the com- 
 manding officers of the various regiments 
 designated, substituting, however, the 
 
44 
 
 Twelfth Regiment for the Eighth. The 
 Eighth, it will be remembered, had 
 already gone to Buffalo, a fact which 
 the Police Commissioners, in the excite- 
 ment of the moment, seem to have for- 
 gotten. Those received by Colonel 
 Clark were as follows : 
 
 Head-quarters First Division i 
 N. G. S. N. Y., 
 
 New-York, July 25, 1877. ) 
 Commanding Officer Seventh Regiment. 
 
 Sir : The Major-General commanding the 
 division directs that you hold your command in 
 readiness until further orders, to aid the police 
 authorities in the suppression of riot, tumult, or 
 disturbance of the public peace, and that you 
 obey to the best of your ability such orders and 
 instructions given for that purpose as you may 
 receive direct from the Police Board or the Presi- 
 dent thereof. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 Carl Jussen, 
 Colonel, Division Inspector and Assistant Adju- 
 tant-General. 
 
 With the other preparations made by the 
 Police Department this story has little to 
 
45 
 
 do. It is germane to the subject, however, 
 in order that the reasons why no trouble 
 actually occurred may be understood, that 
 they be briefly alluded to. 
 
 The entire detective force was on duty, 
 and a part of them were scattered through 
 the disaffected quarters of the city east of 
 the Bowery and west of Eighth avenue, 
 in order to feel the pulse of the dangerous 
 elements, and learn their plans if they had 
 formed any. This, it appears, they had 
 not done, and it soon became evident that 
 the danger to be confronted consisted only 
 in the readiness with which large gather- 
 ings of excited men are inflamed into a 
 spirit of violence. 
 
 Arrangements for massing the police 
 force at the entrances to Tompkins Square 
 and for conveying re-enforcements to that 
 place from the various precinct station- 
 houses in omnibuses in waiting for the pur- 
 pose, and other details suggested by pre- 
 vious experience were carefully attended to, 
 
4 6 
 
 and the knowledge of the facts widely dis- 
 seminated, with a view to intimidating the 
 mob. That it had the desired effect was 
 afterward clearly demonstrated. 
 
 To return to the Seventh Regiment 
 Armory. The supper hour arrived, and 
 the meal was as noisily and hilariously 
 discussed as had been its predecessors. 
 
 After it was concluded, Colonel Clark 
 called together the regimental staff and 
 the commanding officers of the companies, 
 and announced his plans, which are now 
 made public for the first time. 
 
 The record of the regiment at the 
 Creedmoor rifle ranges was called into 
 requisition, and the names of the men in 
 each company who had acquired the 
 greatest skill as marksmen were taken 
 from the roll. These were to be detailed, 
 and stationed as follows : a platoon to pre- 
 cede the regiment, and another to bring 
 up the rear ; two men to be placed on the 
 right and two on the left of the line of each 
 
47 
 
 platoon. These men were to be entrusted 
 with the power to fire without orders, and 
 were to keep a sharp lookout for persons 
 in windows, on house-tops, or in the crowd, 
 who should fire upon, hurl stones, or project 
 any dangerous missile at the regiment. 
 Any person detected in such a demonstra- 
 tion they were ordered to shoot down at 
 once — and not to miss their aim. The 
 remainder of the regiment was to await 
 the order to fire. 
 
 These orders, while they may at first 
 glance appear hazardous in the extreme, 
 from the danger of one of the detailed men 
 losing his head and precipitating an attack 
 by a reckless shot, have been pronounced 
 by able soldiers, experienced in street- 
 fighting, as a masterpiece of strategy. 
 
 Street-fighting is acknowledged to be 
 most trying ^to the nerves and courage of 
 even the most experienced veterans, and 
 it becomes doubly so at night. 
 
 A fair field, and the enemy in front, 
 
4 8 
 
 usually test men's courage. How much 
 more trying, therefore, is the venture into 
 the streets where the enemy may be, and 
 usually is, lodged on the house-tops, in 
 windows, and behind trees, from whence 
 to hurl a stone, or fire a shot unseen, into 
 the ranks of a regiment. 
 
 At the conclusion of the council of war 
 in Colonel Clark's little office, it was 7.30 
 P. M. Already the crowd had begun to 
 assemble in Tompkins Square, but the 
 Seventh boys were smoking their after- 
 dinner pipes and cigars; groups were car- 
 oling forth music-hall ditties ; the devo- 
 tees of " draw " were at their favorite 
 game of poker, and the spirit of deviltry 
 was rampant throughout the large building. 
 
 " Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, rat-a- 
 tat- tat, tat- tat- tat. R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r — 
 r-r-r-r-r-r-r,rang out the sharp clear rattle 
 of the drums. 
 
 In an instant, the careless, happy boys, 
 the echo of whose laughter had hardly 
 
49 
 
 yet died away, became soldiers, ready for 
 work. 
 
 Rapidly and quietly they gathered their 
 accouterments, and fell in, each company 
 in its room, and as each marched out, and 
 took its place in line, three hearty cheers 
 were given for the " Old Seventh." The 
 deep affection of the men for the regiment, 
 their enthusiasm, and their determination 
 to uphold its honor to the death, rang out 
 in those cheers, and a tear glistened in 
 many an eye as the last echo of the 
 " Tiger " died away among the rafters. 
 Then all became quiet in the ranks, and 
 the men stood firm and waited orders. 
 
 Forty rounds of ball cartridges were 
 served out to each man, and they were 
 directed to keep as quiet as possible, and 
 to be ready to fall in at a moment's notice. 
 Especially were they enjoined to keep 
 away from the windows, and avoid show- 
 ing themselves to the people in the street 
 below. In case any thing was said to 
 5 
 
5o 
 
 them, or any stones or missiles were 
 hurled through the windows, they were 
 ordered to retire from the company rooms 
 to the main hall, and not to make any 
 demonstration in return under any cir- 
 cumstances. The men then broke ranks 
 quietly, and awaited further orders. 
 
 The succeeding two hours were spent in 
 quiet but restless excitement. The scene 
 was in striking contrast to that of the pre- 
 vious evening, when the boys were sky- 
 larking at will. They wore serious faces, 
 and evidently realized that this was serious 
 business. All were in a state of the most 
 unenviable uncertainty. 
 
 Among those in uniforms were many 
 members of the Veteran Corps, who had 
 reported to the commanders of their old 
 companies for duty, and voluntarily and 
 quietly taken their places in the ranks, for 
 the purpose of standing by the honor of 
 the " dear old Seventh." 
 
 Many of the younger men were all 
 
5i 
 
 anxiety for the order to come which should 
 send them out to smell powder for the 
 first time. 
 
 " Gim'me another bucketful of gore," 
 was their cry, in an under tone. 
 
 With the men who had seen service 
 before during previous riots, the feeling 
 was very different. They were quietly 
 determined, and quite prepared to go out 
 if it became necessary for them to do so, 
 but they were far from anxious. They 
 knew from former achievements that it was 
 by no means amusing. That there is 
 little glory and less comfort in having 
 one's head crushed by a brick-bat they 
 had learned by experience. In the event 
 of trouble, they knew too that the force 
 of their example would be beneficial in 
 keeping the new men up to their work, so 
 they stretched themselves upon the floor, 
 and rested upon their arms. 
 
 A longer two hours men rarely know 
 than these which the boys so quietly 
 
52 
 
 passed. They were not even called upon 
 to follow the orders about self-control in 
 case of hostile demonstrations from with- 
 out. The street below was quiet as mid- 
 night; its silence only broken at short 
 intervals by the tinkle of the bells on the 
 car- horses as the cars passed emptily along. 
 Yet the air was full of apprehension. 
 Occasionally there would be heard a 
 sound like a faint cheer, and the men 
 lying on the ground would raise them- 
 selves on elbow to listen, then all would 
 be silent again, and they would fall back, 
 pull their caps over their faces, and be at 
 rest again. 
 
 Several scouts meanwhile had been 
 quietly inspecting the scene of the expected 
 disturbance. They had been selected by 
 Colonel Clark for their experience, cool- 
 ness, and good judgment, and in citzens' 
 dress, dispatched at an early hour to 
 Tompkins Square. Shortly after nine 
 o'clock they returned, and reported what 
 
53 
 
 was soon known by word of mouth 
 throughout the city. 
 
 The majority of persons composing the 
 crowd which had assembled in Tompkins 
 Square were workingmen drawn thither 
 more by curiosity than real interest. The 
 dangerous element, cowed by the ample 
 and careful preparations made for their 
 reception on the part of the authorities, 
 civil and military, thought it best and 
 safest to remain away. 
 
 The demagogues upon the platform 
 made speeches which were meant for fire- 
 brands to be hurled among an infuriated 
 rabble. They fell upon unsympathetic 
 ears, and sounded like " buncombe." The 
 crowd dwindled away, the communist 
 leaders wrangled among themselves, 
 blamed each other for the evening's 
 fizzle with school-boy-like crimination 
 and recrimination, and the meeting was 
 over. 
 
 A few evil spirits made a disturb- 
 
54 
 
 ance at one of the exits from the 
 square. 
 
 Whack, whack, whack descended the 
 mighty service clubs of locust wielded by 
 able-bodied policemen alike upon the 
 heads of the just and the unjust, but the 
 disturbance was " nipped i' the bud." 
 The much-dreaded communist meeting 
 was over, and the continued peace of the 
 city fairly well assured. 
 
 Informal notice of the fact that the 
 meeting had quietly dispersed was given 
 the men, and in a moment the armory 
 became again a bedlam. With a roar the 
 pent-up feelings of the men broke forth 
 like the mighty rush of waters which had 
 borne down an impeding dam. The 
 hot jackets were stripped off, pipes 
 lighted, card-playing resumed, and those 
 choice spirits, the "head devils," were 
 soon busy concocting schemes to drive 
 away that sleep which " knits up the 
 raveled sleeve of care." The fatigue 
 
55 
 
 which followed the excitement and sus- 
 pense of the evening added many to the 
 list of would-be sleepers that night, and 
 the watches of morning found the build- 
 ing wrapped in slumber, if the room of 
 the tenth company, which was never 
 quiet, be excepted. 
 
IV. 
 
 npHURSDAY morning dawned with 
 -*■ the same white, hot sun rising in 
 the same pale sky out of which the sun 
 seemed to have scorched all the color. 
 The air pulsed with the intense heat, but 
 still the boys came up smiling, and were 
 rewarded by hard-boiled eggs for break- 
 fast, a relief from the monotony of Del- 
 monico's delicate sandwiches and delicious 
 iced coffee. 
 
 Many of the men had not stepped foot 
 out of the armory since Monday night, but 
 there were no signs of weariness nor any 
 disposition to complain. They said, on 
 the contrary, that they were just getting 
 56 
 
57 
 
 used to the life, and were willing to stay 
 as long as they could be of any use. 
 
 Outside the walls of the armory the city 
 was still very quiet and deserted-looking 
 for New- York, even in midsummer. The 
 Police Commissioners met and fanned 
 themselves, congratulated each other upon 
 the bloodlessness of the work of the pre- 
 vious night, and passed the following reso- 
 lution, which was sent to the head-quarters 
 of the First Division, and thence trans- 
 mitted to the commanding officers of the 
 various regiments : 
 
 Resolved, That General Shaler be requested to 
 communicate the thanks of this Board to the 
 Seventh, Twelfth, Twenty-second, and Seventy- 
 first regiments, N. G. S. N. Y., for their services 
 while at the disposal of the Police Department, 
 July 25, and that he be requested to direct the 
 regiments named to remain in their respective 
 armories subject to the orders of this Board until 
 further notice, unless they should be relieved 
 from duty by order of the Governor of the State. 
 
 In the armory, the boys kept the carni- 
 val of fun going all day long. Those men, 
 
58 
 
 whose business imperatively demanded it, 
 were given a few hours' furlough by Col. 
 Clark in the morning, and appreciated it. 
 Only those who really needed the leave 
 applied for it. For the rest, they were 
 fairly bursting with animal spirits, and 
 instead of being subdued by the intense 
 heat and close confinement, like good soda- 
 water, they only effervesced the more. 
 
 The great conundrum : " Who was G. 
 W. ? " was asked and answered a hundred 
 times, the boys seemingly increasing with 
 each repetition of the answer in their ap- 
 preciation of its exquisite absurdity. 
 
 Not satisfied with that, however, some 
 one sung out from the midst of a crowd : 
 
 " Who was Ben. Butler ? " 
 
 " First in war, first in peace, first in 
 the hearts of his countrymen / chanted a 
 couple of hundred throats, and bang, bang, 
 bang, went twice as many feet in the regu- 
 lation break-down which followed. 
 
 Here was a new idea, and with charac- 
 
59 
 
 teristic avidity the crowd seized upon it, 
 and bandied it about from mouth to 
 mouth, hundreds of voices and more feet 
 being ever ready with the response. 
 
 " Who was Fanny Herring ? " 
 
 First in war ! first in peace !! first in the 
 hearts of her countrymen !!! came promptly 
 from the grinning crowd. 
 
 "Who was Jay Gould? " 
 
 (Same answer.) 
 
 " Who was Bill Tweed ? " 
 
 (Same answer.) 
 
 " Who was Madame Blavatsky ? " from 
 a youth of theosophical propensities. 
 
 That was too — too much. 
 
 " Put him out ! Bounce him ! " they 
 cried, and bounced he was with equal grav- 
 ity and promptitude. 
 
 So through a list of well-known names 
 the favorite gag was kept going, yielding 
 unmeasured fun to men, who had been 
 men not long enough to be hardened but, 
 still men in the fight for life and honor 
 
6o 
 
 which the world brings, long enough to be 
 glad of an opportunity to act like school- 
 boys again. 
 
 The regimental sky-rocket, which had 
 been for a time neglected by reason of the 
 tremendous popularity of the new gag, 
 " Who was G. W. ? " was at length resur- 
 rected, and the "Swish-h-h-h — Boom — 
 Ah-h-h-h," which is so exactly like the 
 sound which accompanies a rocket's 
 flight, alternated with the great conun- 
 drum. It was sent up countless times 
 during the day, and cheer upon cheer 
 rang through the old market until at 
 least half of the men were speechless from 
 hoarseness. An extra dinner in courses 
 was served to them. Shortly after the 
 conclusion of the meal, a procession issued 
 from one of the company rooms, fantasti- 
 cally dressed and preceded by a band car- 
 rying toy drums and trumpets, and beating 
 and blowing them lustily. A banner was 
 borne by one of the men, inscribed "Jen- 
 
6i 
 
 nie's Guard." They made the round of 
 the hall amid the wildest enthusiasm. 
 
 The heat made the men thirsty. Count- 
 less buckets of ice-water were consumed 
 from the cedar by means of tin cups. Ice- 
 water taken alone in quantities is well 
 known to be injurious, and this accounted 
 for the frequency with which men were 
 seen retiring to corners, and taking the 
 chill off the water with something which 
 they poured out of a black flask. 
 
 There are probably very few, if any, 
 drinking men in the regiment, but still 
 many of the boys, naturally enough, like a 
 " nip " occasionally, and various were the 
 schemes concocted to obtain it. Naturally 
 the first thing hit upon was the very sim- 
 ple expedient of hoisting a flask upon a 
 string from the hands of friends in the 
 street below. This worked well for a 
 time, until the Colonel placed a guard out- 
 side the building and put a stop to it At 
 the same time an order was issued, and 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 all the men going in and out were 
 " sounded " for bottles by the guard. 
 Notwithstanding these precautions, how- 
 ever, a few sober-minded young men 
 managed to keep a well-filled flask in 
 their lockers. How this was accomplished 
 still remains a mystery, which, as it may 
 again serve the boys a good turn at some 
 future day, it would be ungenerous to 
 attempt to solve. 
 
 From the tenth company room came 
 a suggestion that " Polo " might be 
 played in the big drill-room upstairs. 
 The proposal took like wild-fire, and the 
 regiment adjourned en masse to the scene 
 of the sport. 
 
 Sides were quickly chosen, a member 
 of the Westchester Polo Club explained 
 the rules of the game, and a dozen brawny 
 youths, with big bunches of muscle show- 
 ing through their clear skins, were selected 
 for ponies. The goals were placed at 
 opposite sides of the room, a manager 
 
63 
 
 chosen, brooms provided to do duty as 
 mallets, and, armed with these, the players 
 were soon mounted on the strong and 
 willing backs of their alleged ponies. 
 
 The manager called " Time" amid roars 
 of laughter from the crowd, and tossed the 
 ball, which was improvised from a towel 
 tied up with a string, in the air. The 
 official report of the game was as follows : 
 
 First Game. — Grand charge for the 
 ball. (Wild cheering from the specta- 
 tors.) First man makes a pass at the 
 ball, burns his pony's ear with his cigar, 
 and is thrown. Second player and his 
 pony stumble over him and fall also. 
 Meanwhile, other players make wild passes 
 at the ball, which at length is knocked over 
 the goal and out of the window. Players 
 dismount amid great enthusiasm. 
 
 Second to Twentieth Games. — Same as 
 first. 
 
 At the conclusion of the first game a 
 voice cried out, 
 
6 4 
 
 " What is Polo ? " 
 
 " First in War / First in Peace / / First 
 in the hearts of its Countrymen / ! ! " came 
 the response, followed by unnumbered 
 sky-rockets and wild cheers. 
 
 For an hour or more, polo proved suf- 
 ficiently amusing to hold the undivided 
 attention of the regiment The players 
 and the ponies panted from their exer- 
 tions, and glistened with perspiration which 
 sprinkled their play-ground as it dripped 
 from their faces under the influence of 
 such violent exercise, with the temperature 
 at ninety-odd degrees in the shade. They 
 tumbled over each other, they collided, 
 and went down in indiscriminate heaps of 
 strong, bare, brown arms and gray legs, 
 they shouted, they filled the air with eva- 
 nescent witticisms, and they sang. The 
 hours flew by, and, wearying of polo, not 
 a moment elapsed before helter-skelter 
 down- stairs they ran, and in a few mo- 
 ments two hundred coatless braves were 
 
65 
 
 in line as strikers, and, headed by a ban- 
 ner inscribed with the legend, 
 
 NO 
 
 MONEY. 
 
 NO 
 
 HASH. 
 
 NO 
 
 WORK. 
 
 they made the round of the armory, pick- 
 ing up recruits, and finally waited on 
 Colonel Clark, and presented him with an 
 address, in which he was informed that 
 the boys demanded $10 per diem and 
 four square meals. 
 
 Colonel Clark, who thoroughly enjoyed 
 the fun, made the boys a brief, good- 
 natured speech and beat a hasty retreat 
 to his snug little den under the stairs, 
 where for four days he sweltered good- 
 humoredly. 
 
 Supper-time found the boys with good 
 appetites, and, refreshed by their perform- 
 
66 
 
 ances with " Del's " cutlery, they returned 
 with great zest to the pursuit of pleasure 
 under difficulties. 
 
 An amusing travesty of the Pittsburg 
 riots, and the disgraceful rout of the militia, 
 and an undress rehearsal of the meeting 
 in Tompkins Square, filled up the hours 
 for the noisy gang, while the elder men 
 settled down to poker, and, in some cases, 
 to a vain endeavor to woo the drowsy 
 god. 
 
T^RIDAY morning dawned upon the 
 -*- city, and found the boys tirelessly 
 happy, notwithstanding the appalling heat, 
 and the fact that no definite prospect of 
 release from confinement came with it. 
 It was the fourth, and as it proved the 
 last day. 
 
 At Division Head- quarters, a copy of 
 the following resolution, passed by the 
 Police Commissioners, was received : 
 
 "Resolved, That His Honor the Mayor be in- 
 formed that in the opinion of this Board it is not 
 necessary to continue on duty the Seventh, 
 Twelfth, Twenty-second and Seventy-first regi- 
 ments at their respective armories subject to the 
 order of the Police Board. The Board takes this 
 opportunity to express to His Honor the Mayor 
 6 7 
 
68 
 
 its appreciation of the desire of the several regi- 
 ments named to co-operate cordially with the 
 Police Department while under its order." 
 
 This, while it was a gratifying assurance 
 as to the probability of the continuation 
 of quiet in the city, brought no prospect 
 of release to the men who had been or- 
 dered under arms by the Governor of the 
 State. That they would be dismissed 
 from duty until the Governor was assured 
 that order had been restored to the entire 
 State was not probable. 
 
 News from the absent Eighth and Ninth 
 regiments was anxiously looked for by 
 the Seventh boys. Colonel Scott, of the 
 Eighth, sent down during the day merry 
 telegrams to various officers. " Happy as 
 a clam," " Lovely as a rose." From the 
 Ninth, at Albany, the latest news was 
 brought by ex- Colonel Braine, who had 
 gone up with the regiment, and returned. 
 He reported the boys in fine spirits, en- 
 countering the heats of July with fortitude. 
 
6 9 
 
 Everything being quiet in the city, leave 
 was granted during the day to many of the 
 men to go to their homes and places of 
 business for a few hours. 
 
 General Varian was still on duty in his 
 head-quarters, which he had established in 
 the officers' parlor, as he had been contin- 
 uously from the start. Here the time had 
 been passed in chatting, story- telling, and 
 popping champagne corks. The time was 
 shortened by the stories of the chief medi- 
 cal officer of the staff, who is acknowledged 
 the best raconteur that New- York can 
 boast. Occasionally, the uproar without 
 would start all hands for the drill-room, to 
 laugh at the boys' fun. By Friday, how- 
 ever, the staff officers grew weary, and half 
 of them obtained leave, reporting for duty 
 again, however, promptly at six o'clock. 
 At ten o'clock in the morning, Mayor 
 Ely and the Board of Police Commission- 
 ers visited the armory, and were received 
 by Colonel Clark. As soon as it became 
 
known that they were in the building, the 
 boys prepared to give them a reception, 
 and the company rooms were decorated. 
 One company laid out as its coat- of- arms 
 four aces and a king, surmounted by a 
 whisky bottle rampant ; another mounted 
 a fine miniature battery of black ale-bot- 
 tles. As the visitors passed from room 
 to room the boys cheered vigorously, and 
 finally informed them that George Wash- 
 ington, Esq., was first in peace, etc. The 
 Mayor was very much amused, and 
 requested to be shown a game of polo,, an 
 account of which he had read in the morn- 
 ing newspapers. The boys, nothing loth, 
 made their preparations, and then His 
 Honor was escorted by the " Jennie " 
 Guards to the large drill-room, where a 
 seat of honor, flanked by the regimental 
 colors, had been provided for him. Several 
 games of polo were played, and then the 
 demands of the strikers of the night before 
 were referred to the Mayor, who read 
 them with huge enjoyment, after which he 
 
7i 
 
 went out amid a flight of " sky-rockets." 
 
 The armory then settled down to quietude. 
 
 Suddenly the following orders were 
 
 posted up in various parts of the building: 
 
 Head-quarters Continental Galoots, ) 
 New-York, July 27, 1877. £ 
 General Orders, ) 
 No. 19,000,000. $ 
 The Galoots will assemble this evening in 
 full regalia at the Adjutant's call, which will be 
 sounded at 9.00 G.M. 
 
 Field and Staff dismounted. No police. No 
 flowers. 
 
 The Telephone Corps will report to the Adju- 
 tant half an hour before the formation. 
 
 By order of Col. WALTER S. WILSON. 
 W. A. Lentilhon, 
 
 Brevet Lt.-Col. & Adjutant. 
 (Official.) 
 
 " A Mock Parade ? " 
 
 "Yes" — was the query and answer, 
 which passed around. The signatures were 
 those of the two young men, members of 
 the tenth company, who had been the 
 foremost in all the deviltry of the three 
 preceding days. 
 
72 
 
 A spirit of emulation was aroused, and 
 each company began making its prepara- 
 tions for participating in the fun, and out- 
 doing if possible its fellows in the ab- 
 surdity of its costume, and the originality 
 of its contribution to the general quota of 
 amusement. 
 
 An offer of the use of the swimming 
 baths, which was received, was communi- 
 cated to the men, accompanied by permis- 
 sion to avail themselves of it should they 
 like to do so. But they had other busi- 
 ness on hand, and hardly a corporal's 
 guard were lured by the offer of a swim, 
 although it was a day to make a man wish 
 himself amphibious. Later on a florist 
 sent in, with his compliments, a superb 
 flower piece of colossal size, containing as 
 a device an American flag and the figure 
 " 7." Some of the men found that the 
 coping beneath the second-story windows 
 was wide enough to hold a chair comforta- 
 bly, and it was soon filled with a row of 
 
73 
 
 statues, after the manner of that of the 
 late Mr. Seward. 
 
 All the afternoon and evening the doors 
 of the company rooms opening on the 
 main hall remained closed to every one 
 but their own members, who ran in and 
 out at intervals, and carried bundles and 
 dispatched messengers with a delightful 
 air of secrecy. It was quite evident that 
 some event of unusual importance was on 
 foot. 
 
 Mysterious packages, paint-pots and 
 other unmilitary paraphernalia were smug- 
 gled into the company rooms, and the ar- 
 morer and janitor was driven nearly out of 
 his head by the demands made upon him 
 for supplies unknown to him theretofore as 
 being among the requisites of a first-class 
 militia regiment. 
 
 Quiet reigned to such an unwonted 
 
 degree that Colonel Clark anxiously 
 
 poked his head out of the door of his 
 
 little sanctum at intervals, and surveyed 
 
 7 
 
74 
 
 the deserted hall-way with a dubious 
 smile. Finally some one called his atten- 
 tion to the orders quoted above, when he 
 grinned and retired with a re-assured air to 
 his office. 
 
 Supper-time arrived, the meal was dis- 
 patched hastily and in comparative silence, 
 and the men beat a rapid retreat again 
 through the firmly closed doors of the 
 company rooms, where they remained 
 until nine o'clock. Peals of laughter 
 occasionally rang out from behind the 
 closed doors, but the men were invisible. 
 
 A committee waited on Brigadier- Gen- 
 eral Varian and staff and Colonel Clark 
 and the regimental staff, and invited them 
 to the main drill-room on the floor above, 
 where seats had been provided for them 
 on a table, a number of civilians who had 
 been invited down, or who had heard of 
 the fun going on daily and nightly at the 
 armory, were admitted by the Colonel's 
 orders, and all was in readiness. 
 
75 
 
 In a few moments the companies began 
 to issue from their rooms and form in 
 line. The reason for the closed doors 
 and subdued bustle which had pervaded 
 the company rooms during the day was 
 at once apparent. The first company 
 wore its regimental trousers turned inside 
 out, and was naked from the waist up, 
 and a gigantic figure " 7 " was painted in 
 black on each man's bare breast, except 
 that of the darky water-carrier, who was 
 elegantly attired in a similar white- chalk 
 figure. Another company appeared as 
 Highlanders in blanket kilts. A third 
 wore uniforms made of brown paper in 
 the Continental style, with the inquiring 
 legend on each man's back in large letters, 
 "Who was G. W. ?" 
 
 Still another company was arrayed in 
 large flour sacks, and one company was 
 composed of stuffy-looking fat men. A 
 battery was organized, and came solemnly 
 upon the scene dragging by a ponderous 
 
7 6 
 
 harness a toy cannon about two inches 
 long. The line was formed with about 
 four hundred men. The crowd of specta- 
 tors was kept back by a detachment bur- 
 lesquing the "finest police force in the 
 world," who plied their • (stuffed) clubs 
 with equal impartiality and vigor. The 
 absurdity of the scene was heightened by 
 the pride taken by the men, fantastically 
 dressed as they were, in executing the 
 orders they received with the same pre- 
 cision which distinguishes them when 
 upon duty, and the line was as straight 
 as it was all the way down Broadway in 
 "61." The Colonel then took his place 
 in front of the line with an enormous 
 feather- duster plume in his cap, and with 
 so many pairs of stockings in the breast 
 of his coat that he greatly resembled a 
 pouter pigeon. With much difficulty he 
 folded his arms above this expansive 
 breast and maintained an air of dignity so 
 like Colonel Clark's that he was greeted 
 
77 
 
 with enthusiastic cheers and shouts of 
 laughter from the audience. The Adju- 
 tant, who was dressed in a costume of 
 decorative flags, and looked like a Bedouin 
 Arab, then formed the parade in the most 
 accurate manner, and read the following 
 orders : 
 
 Head-quarters Continental Galoots, ~\ 
 
 National Guard, J. A. M. S. N. Y. , \ 
 
 Camp Hardscrabble, July 27, 1877. ) 
 
 General Orders, > 
 No. 19,000,001. S 
 
 Paragraph 1. In compliance with a general 
 order received from Albany in a disgustingly sud- 
 den manner, about four minutes ago, this com- 
 mand will parade in night-shirts, without sleeves, 
 at six inches past two o'clock, to-morrow (Saturday) 
 morning. Captains of companies will see that 
 their men are provided with twelve years' rations, 
 consisting of the following, viz. : 
 
 1 Chromo of George Washington, with the 
 usual conundrum attached. 
 17 Bologna Sausages. 
 1 Thumb Tack. 
 14 Tuns of Holland Gin. 
 8 Reinas, Hoboken Brand. 
 1 Sock, " Bill Heath " calibre. 
 93 Fish-Balls. 
 
78 
 
 21 Nutmeg Graters, 
 i Derrick, 
 i Ounce of Minnie Gudgeons. 
 
 And, "in case of fire," one small "stash of 
 fluid." 
 
 Each 1st Sergeant will see that his company is 
 supplied with one cake of Soft Soap for purposes 
 of occasional ablution. 
 
 Paragraph 2. There having been a land-slide 
 in Skeneateles, which village is situated on the Har- 
 lem River, between Goose Creek and Podunk, 
 four hundred miles from the Elysian Fields, and 
 ninety-three inches from the dumping grounds, the 
 Galoots will occupy the left bank of the aforesaid 
 stream, and attend to the slaughter of the nimble 
 potato-bug. 
 
 However, this is neither here nor there. 
 
 In crushing these riots, the betting is 100 to 60 
 that we are liable to receive the " grand cough " ; 
 in consequence of which each and every man, 
 without regard to sex, will furnish himself with a 
 diving-bell and book of directions. 
 
 Paragraph 3. The Commandant will how go 
 on to state that this is all ; adding, however, paren- 
 thetically, that owing to circumstances of a suspi- 
 cious nature, he has not tasted flesh for seventeen 
 long years. 
 
 Flesh includes fluid. 
 
 He is now prepared to wallow in great lakes and 
 lagoons of Rhenish wine. And for no cause. 
 
 Paragraph 4. Major Chas. Snively is hereby 
 appointed Officer of the Day — for last night, and 
 
79 
 
 handsome Badgely will be Officer of the Guard — 
 with a large copper. 
 
 By order of 
 
 Col. Walter S. Wilson. 
 
 W. A. Lentilhon, 
 
 Brevet Lt.-Col. & Adjutant. 
 (Official.) 
 
 These orders were received with peals of 
 laughter, eliciting the stern command 
 from the flatulent Colonel : 
 
 " Silence in the ranks ! " 
 
 The "beat-off" by the drum-corps and 
 band, who were equipped with drums of 
 tin wash-basins and toy trumpets, the 
 Drum- Major being a side-splitting carica- 
 ture of that gorgeous functionary, was 
 again cheered. When the command of the 
 regiment was turned over to the Colonel 
 by the Adjutant, that officer led out 
 and introduced " Governor Robinson," in 
 the person of an imposing and bald-headed 
 sergeant, who was dressed in a black 
 frock and an old-fashioned and gigantic 
 beaver. The " Governor " made a short 
 
8o 
 
 speech in the most approved stump-orator 
 style, in the course of which he irrelevantly- 
 remarked several hundred times that "if 
 there was one thing more than another 
 that was it," and that, however, this was 
 " neither here nor there " and " for no 
 cause." 
 
 He finished his address by the statement 
 that he would proceed at once to solve the 
 Eastern question. 
 
 " Attention!! " yelled the alleged Col- 
 onel, and every man cleared his throat 
 with an effect like the "grand cough." 
 
 The " Governor " solemnly removed the 
 American flag which had been thrown over 
 a flour barrel behind him, raised the barrel, 
 turned it on end, and extracted from be- 
 neath it a small plaster bust of George 
 Washington, which he gravely placed 
 upon the bottom of the barrel, and re- 
 moved his hat. 
 
 "Who was George Washington?" yelled 
 the Adjutant. 
 
8i 
 
 Then, with a mighty roar from the nine 
 hundred throats in the lines and the au- 
 dience, came the response : 
 
 " First in War ! FIRST IN PEACE !! 
 FIRST IN THE HEARTS OF HIS 
 COUNTRYMEN!!!" And this was 
 emphasized with a double-headed break- 
 down which shook the walls, and made 
 the floors tremble mightily. 
 
 The lines having been opened, the 
 alleged Governor inspected the troops, ac- 
 companied by the Colonel, Adjutant and 
 Lieutenant- Colonel. The latter was ex- 
 tremely amusing in his dress, which was 
 white, with two soda crackers for epau- 
 lets and two lemons for coat-tails, and he 
 was obese to the last degree. He demon- 
 strated the duties of his office by frequently 
 wiping the Colonel's nose and giving him 
 an occasional puff on his cigar. The 
 Governor bowed blandly and inconse- 
 quently in every direction, and when intro- 
 duced by the Colonel to the captains as 
 
 
82 
 
 they passed, immediately grabbed and 
 fervently shook the hand of the nearest 
 private, after the manner of the machine 
 politician. The artillery fired a salute 
 for the Governor, the building shaking 
 with the detonation of the piece, which 
 made a sound like a small fire-cracker. 
 
 Then the men were put through the 
 manual of arms and the battalion drill. 
 The precision of their movements under 
 the voluntary command of some of the 
 youngest men in the ranks spoke volumes 
 for the efficiency of the regiment, and 
 pleased Colonel Clark greatly. The spec- 
 tators were aroused to so great a pitch of 
 enthusiasm that cheer after cheer rang out 
 as the men executed difficult movements, 
 and culminated, when, after a marching 
 salute to General Varian, the parade was 
 dismissed, in a mighty yell of delight. 
 
 The fun reached a climax in that memo- 
 rable " shindig " just in time. 
 
 An hour afterward, " Camp Hard- 
 
83 
 
 scrabble " was broken up by order of the 
 Governor of the State. 
 
 The order disbanding the New-York 
 militia reached the Seventh Regiment Ar- 
 mory about 11.30 o'clock. Some of the 
 men had gone to bed, but the majority 
 were still engaged in their evening revelry. 
 The order was passed around, but it did not 
 create a great amount of feeling one way 
 or the other. While many of the elder 
 and more staid members were glad to be 
 released and to return to their homes, 
 some of the younger received the order 
 with apparent regret. Then there was 
 lively bustling throughout the company 
 rooms as the men hastened to change 
 their regimentals for their civilian cos- 
 tumes. The ammunition which had been 
 issued to the boys was returned and 
 accounted for, after which the regiment 
 was disbanded by companies. The men 
 performed these duties in a quiet, business- 
 like manner, the only sign of enthusiasm 
 
8 4 
 
 being manifested as each company was 
 dismissed, when three cheers were given. 
 The men were allowed to take their knap- 
 sacks to enable them to unpack such arti- 
 cles as had been placed in them in antici- 
 pation of a possible transfer to some other 
 part of the State. So for an hour or two, 
 well-dressed young men were seen carry- 
 ing knapsacks through the streets adjacent 
 to the armory, making their way home by 
 devious routes. Now and then they were 
 jeered by corner loafers, but no notice of 
 this was taken, and the streets were soon 
 as quiet as ever. Colonel Clark sat in his 
 room in the armory half an hour after the 
 order had been read. He leaned back 
 negligently in an easy chair, and it could 
 easily be seen that a burden had been 
 lifted from his shoulders. " I felt that the 
 responsibility resting upon me was great," 
 said the Colonel. " My anxiety did not 
 arise altogether from the anticipation of an 
 impending riot and its effects upon the 
 
85 
 
 city; I felt the responsibility of handling 
 my men with discretion in case such a 
 thing did happen. A large proportion of 
 them are young, and have mothers," said 
 he, feelingly, " and had any of them been 
 killed there is no knowing where the blame 
 would have been placed. But since Wed- 
 nesday night I have felt that the whole 
 danger was over." Those of the men and 
 officers who lived out of town remained at 
 the armory over night. 
 
 When these departed in the morning, 
 " Camp Hardscrabble " was broken up 
 forever. Its memory will, however, last as 
 long as any of the men who passed those 
 four days in the armory shall live. 
 More : it will be remembered by those 
 who derived, in no small degree, a feel- 
 ing of immunity from danger while the 
 boys were camped down in the old Mar- 
 ket. Men who know how to play know 
 how to fight. They did not fight, they 
 suffered only minor discomforts, but they 
 
86 
 
 were there, and behind them were the 
 traditions of the regimental past, dear to 
 the heart of every New- York man, woman 
 and child, and thrice dear to " the boys " 
 themselves. 
 
 " What is the Seventh Regiment ? " 
 " Now then, all together " 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 1879. 
 
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 WHO WAS G.W.? 
 
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Since The World's Employment Office was opened on October 21, 1878, 
 11,988 Employers have been supplied with suitable servants. 
 
 REPORT OF 
 
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 For the Year Ending Oct. 21, 1879. 
 
 Servants Servants Servants Employers 
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 12,916 
 
 10,138 
 
 11,988 
 
 5,047 
 
 
 
 17,963 
 
 10,138 
 
 11,988 
 
 2,434 
 
 3,102* 
 
 
 2,959 
 
 2,821 
 
 
 933 
 
 1,428* 
 
 
 690 
 
 594 
 
 
 1,366 
 
 1,026 
 
 
 286 
 
 375* 
 
 
 272 
 
 120 
 
 
 539 
 
 164 
 
 
 842 
 
 232 
 
 
 813 
 
 117 
 
 
 1,782 
 
 159 
 
 
 12,916 
 
 10,138 
 
 11,988 
 
 5,047 
 
 
 
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