Homestead

On Saturday, the Democratic Committee of Allegheny County met in Pittsburgh at the call of its chairman, William J. Brennen, Esq., the attorney for the Amalgamated Association, and, after the completion of routine business, adopted, by an unanimous vote, resolutions sympathizing with the men of Homestead in their efforts to "maintain American and resist European pauper wages," condoling with the friends of those who had been "shot down by the hirelings of a greedy and arbitrary combination of capital" and denouncing Pinkertonism. These resolutions were presented by Jere Dougherty, of the Amalgamated Association.

Resolutions of similar tenor were adopted by all the labor unions in Allegheny County, and thousands of lodges in other localities placed themselves on record to the same purpose and, in most cases, coupled their expressions of sympathy and endorsement with offers of financial support. The South Side Glassworkers' Union, of Pittsburgh, demanded that the city councils reject Andrew Carnegie's gift of $1,000,000 for a free library, since the library would be paid for by the reduction of workingmen's earnings. This home-thrust was repeated by scores of other unions in and around Pittsburgh, and, as a consequence, the councils let public business go to the wall and avoided holding a meeting until the excitement had simmered down. The fact is that, since the gift had been accepted, the money received and deposited to the order of a special commission, and some of it already spent, there was no way of returning it; but anyhow the councils did not venture on a discussion of the question, which must have led to a division on pro-Carnegie and anti-Carnegie lines.

At Columbus, O., 2,000 workmen met in the statehouse yard and passed resolutions calling upon the Pennsylvania authorities and the United States Congress to exterminate the Pinkerton system.

At Chicago, representatives of 20,000 men engaged in the building trades discussed the propriety of taking up arms and marching to the relief of Homestead.

Even in England, the trades unions entered protest against the Carnegie methods and called upon Kier Hardie, a workingmen's representative in Parliament, to whose election expenses Andrew Carnegie had contributed £100, to return the amount forthwith. Mr. Hardie very promptly forwarded the money, not to Mr. Carnegie, but to the people of Homestead, who, he held, had a valid title to receive and use it.

Three days elapsed after the battle at Homestead, before the English agents of the American press associations, who had been ordered to follow him up, were able to locate Mr. Carnegie and obtain an interview. Although regularly advised by cable of the progress of the troubles at his mills, he did not let the news interfere with his pleasures, but spent those three days on a coaching tour from Edinburgh to Kinloch, in Scotland. At Kinloch, he rented a shooting-box for eight weeks at a cost of $10,000. Here an American interviewer found him. According to the correspondent's statement, he was received by Mr. Carnegie in a "contemptuous and insulting" manner, as if the "intrusion upon his ducal magnificence" were a thing to be resented with the hauteur distinctively belonging to an American iron baron, who can afford to have castles and shooting-boxes in Europe. In response to a request for his opinion on the occurrences at Homestead, Mr. Carnegie said: "I am not willing to express an opinion. The men have chosen their course and I am powerless to change it. The handling of the case on the part of the company has my full approval and sanction. Further than this, I have no disposition to say anything."

Possibly this brusque statement may have been prompted in a measure by the irritation resulting from the use of the deadly parallels at the little millionaire's expense in the Pall Mall Gazette, a marked copy of which lay upon a table in the reception hall of the lodge. On one side appeared a report of Mr. Carnegie's philantrophic talk at the opening of the free library at Aberdeen, where he was seconded by the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen, and on the other a tell-tale table of reduced wages at Homestead.

The report of this interview with the high-priest of arbitration supplied a rich theme of comment to the locked-out men and it was well for Mr. Carnegie's dignity, that, just at this time, 3,000 miles separated him from his employees. Even at that distance, his ears must have tingled.

On Saturday evening, the press committee of the Amalgamated lodges, of which Hugh O'Donnell was chairman, distributed official press badges to the newspaper correspondents whose credentials were approved, and the committee signified its purpose of keeping close watch on the work of these gentlemen and of expelling from the town anyone of the number who, either by a violation of confidence or by sending out false statements proved himself unworthy of toleration. The reporters proposed the appointment of a committee composed of two newspaper men, two workmen and a fifth member, selected by these four, to pass upon disputes as to news matter, but this proposition was dropped on the receipt of a guarantee from Hugh O'Donnell that the rights of the press would be respected.

Throughout all these proceedings, the men acted in the belief that they were doing their best to maintain good order, and, although the committee which had been sent to Harrisburg returned without genuinely reassuring news, no one seemed to have the least idea that the military would be called out.

However, the visit of the governor's agent, previously referred to, had already borne fruit when, on the morning of Sunday, July 10, Sheriff McCleary forwarded his final appeal for military aid. In this communication, the sheriff once more averred that his powers were exhausted, and that the civil authorities could not raise a force of deputies large enough to cope with the locked-out men, "Only a large military force," he added, "will enable me to control matters."

At 10 o'clock on Sunday night the governor issued the following order:

George R. Snowden, Major-General Commanding N. G. P.:

Put the division under arms and move at once, with ammunition, to the support of the sheriff of Allegheny County, at Homestead. Maintain the peace, protect all persons in their rights under the constitution and laws of the state. Communicate with me.

    Robert E. Pattison, Governor.

Sheriff McCleary was informed of this order and directed to communicate with General Snowden.

Immediately on receipt of his instructions, General Snowden issued orders to the brigade commanders. General Robert P. Dechert, in command of the First Brigade, with headquarters at Philadelphia, was directed to concentrate his brigade in camp at Mt. Gretna, near Lebanon, in the eastern part of the state, by Monday afternoon, battery horsed, and taking three days' rations. General J. P. S. Gobin, of the Second Brigade, was ordered to concentrate his command at Lewiston, moving west. General John A. Wiley, of the Third Brigade, composed of regiments from Western Pennsylvania, was ordered to proceed with his command to a point on the Pennsylvania Railroad within easy reach of the Monongahela River.

Within twelve hours from the time when Major General Snowden received the Governor's order the entire National Guard of Pennsylvania was on the march, fully equipped and ready for any kind of service.

It was no makeshift army that thus took the field on a few hours' notice. General Sherman said at the Garfield inauguration that the Pennsylvania Militia were the best body of troops in the National Guard of the country and, if confirmation of the accuracy of his judgment were needed, the Homestead "campaign" furnished it in amplest measure. The Guard underwent a signal transformation after the Pittsburgh railroad riot of 1877. Prior to that time it was a loosely constituted, loosely governed organization, wholly unfitted for service in an emergency and serving principally as an agency for the distribution of military titles. The disastrous consequences of the movement against the Pittsburgh rioters, in which ignorance, incompetency and lack of concrete organization, in addition to causing the destruction of millions of dollars' worth of property came near bringing about the loss of many lives, opened the eyes of Major General Hartranft, then Governor of the state, and led him to formulate and carry into execution a plan of reorganization the success of which is seen to-day in the superiority of the Pennsylvania militia to any other body of troops in the United States outside the regular army. Under Governor Hartranft's direction the several divisions of the guard existing under the old order of things were merged in a single division of three brigades, composed of eighteen regiments of infantry, three troops of cavalry and three batteries of artillery. The maximum enrollment was limited to 8000 men. The regiments are recruited from all parts of the state and include all classes of citizens – farmers, mechanics, clerks, merchants and gentlemen of leisure.

The mobilization of this great body of men was accomplished with a degree of celerity and effectiveness unknown since the civil war. When the regiments advanced on the morning of July 11, all had nearly their full complement of officers and men. In a single night, preparations for service, the duration and hardship of which could not be estimated, were completed, and 8000 soldiers stood unreservedly at the disposal of the commonwealth.

The news that the soldiers were coming was received in Homestead without any perceptible feeling of alarm. It was understood by every one in the town that resistance to the power of the commonwealth was out of the question, and at the same time the idea went abroad that General Snowden and his men would confine themselves to the preservation of the peace and not aid Mr. Frick in the manning of the mill with non-unionists or the landing of another force of Pinkertons. There were, it is true, some hot-heads who disputed the justice of the Governor's action and canvassed the possibility of resisting the militia or of inducing the workingmen who bore arms for the state to make common cause with their brethren in the beleaguered town. The advisory committeemen, however, aided by other influential and intelligent citizens, were quick to suppress these disorderly symptoms and to emphasize the necessity of giving the soldiers a cordial and patriotic reception.

At two o'clock on Tuesday afternoon a mass meeting of workingmen was held in the rink, with Hugh O'Donnell in the chair. Burgess McLuckie made a fervent address, counseling a friendly demeanor towards the soldiers and eulogizing the Governor. "This man Pattison," said the sturdy Burgess, "Is acting quietly and rightly. He understands our position. He does not cater to monopolies… Your friends are about to come; the safest, the best people that can come. We don't want Pinkertons here. We want the militia… I stand here to say that any man who insults the militia shall be taken to the river and ducked." Cheers and laughter followed this sally and a motion in favor of ducking in the river any man who insulted the militia was carried unanimously.

John M. Carter, of the Baltimore News, who was fresh from an interview with the Governor, delivered a cheering speech, and other addresses of a prudent, common-sense tenor were made by members of the Amalgamated Association.

The feeling of friendship for the militia became contagious. It was decided that the blue-coated visitors should be received in state. All the brass bands in town took to rehearsing music of a triumphal character, to the inspiring strains of which Homestead was to be amicably turned over to its "protectors." In one band room, when the question of appropriate tunes came up, the exhilaration of the hour brought forth some odd suggestions. A young man who proposed "See the Conquering Hero Comes" was summarily suppressed, and a like fate befell an individual who thought the "Rogues' March" might fit the occasion. "Hold the Fort." "Comrades," "Johnny Get Your Gun" and "The Bogie Man" were canvassed, but a compromise was not reached until some gentleman of equal tact and discretion suggested "Ta Ra Ra, Boom De Ay," which was accepted without a dissenting voice as the correct thing to express Homestead's new-born sentiments of hope and contentment.

A reception committee, headed by Burgess McLuckie and Hugh O'Donnell, was designated to welcome the representatives of the state and it remained only for the latter to reciprocate in kind to convert the military occupation of the town into a love-feast.

The Burgess issued a proclamation warning strangers to get out of town, directing the closing of drinking-places and enjoining women and children to keep off the streets. This duty performed, Honest John McLuckie immersed himself in the study of a speech, of specially artistic construction, intended for the edification of Major General Snowden and his staff on their entrance into Homestead, and warranted to inspire those dignitaries with a profound sense of the good-will and law-abiding spirit of the people of the town and their cheerful readiness to fraternize with the troops.

Unfortunately this little chef d'oeuvre was never delivered.

Like the flower in Gray's "Elegy," it was "born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness," if not on desert air, at all events on the cold and irresponsive dead wall of military discipline.

All other themes of interest had now sunk out of sight in the face of the great event of the hour – the converging of the militia regiments upon Homestead. Even the Pinkertons, the fear of whose return with reinforcements had endured over Sunday, were forgotten, and the entire community was on the tip-toe of expectation, not knowing at what moment the glitter of swords and bayonets and the clatter of horses' hoofs would herald the advent of the advance guard.

Night fell and still no soldiers. General Snowden had taken care not to advertise the route of the troops nor the time of their arrival. It was his purpose to take the town by surprise and to occupy the positions selected in advance by an officer detailed to make a reconnoissance, before the people could be apprised of the nature and scope of his movements.

The maneuvers were carried out with the desired secrecy, the newspaper men and telegraph operators along the lines of march being kept in the dark, despite their habitual alertness.

So the Homestead folk went to bed without the opportunity of looking down the muzzles of any guns except their own and even these, together with the Winchesters taken from the Pinkertons as the lawful spoils of war, had been hidden from view, the occasion for their use having now finally departed.

While the good people on the banks of the Monongahela slept the sleep of contentment, the soldiers of the First Brigade were stretched shivering on the open ground at Mt. Gretna, and General Snowden, with all of the Second and Third Brigades, except the regiments of the extreme West, was traveling as fast as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company could carry him towards the scene of disturbance.

CHAPTER X.

Camp McClellan

Snowden's Sharp Tactics – The Taking of Homestead – Troops in Possession – Soldiers Repel Advances and the Fraternal Reception is Declared Off – O'Donnell's Committee at Headquarters – Suspicion and Resentment Abroad – The Little Bill Returns – Congressmen Hold an Investigation – Capital and Labor in Conflict on the Witness Stand – The Cost of Producing Steel Remains a Riddle

IN pursuance of Gen. Snowden's plan to take Homestead by surprise, the Second and Third Brigades, instead of being massed as announced in the newspapers, at Brinton, a station on the Pennsylvania R. R. nearly opposite Homestead, came together at Radebaugh, a mile and a half west of Greensburg, and 28½ miles distant from Pittsburgh. By 2.30 A. M. all the regiments had reached the rendezvous, and at 5 A. M. the order to advance was given and the troops moved towards Homestead, crossing the Monongahela river over the P. V. & C. bridge near Braddock. The Tenth and Fourteenth regiments, and a battery, were left on the Braddock side of the river with orders to occupy the hills above Port Perry, from which the guns would sweep the mill yards and the Homestead river front.

The early morning hours were full of surprise for the people of Homestead. Look-outs were posted at all avenues of approach and anxious crowds hung around the telegraph offices. As it drew on towards 9 o'clock, a report was circulated that the troops were at Greensburg. Telegraphic inquiries dispatched to that place brought the response that they were not there. At 9.25 the operator at Greensburg sent this message: "No. 23 was wrecked above this place last night; tracks are blocked and troops are delayed." A bulletin conveying the news was pasted on the window of the telegraph office and elicited faint cheers from the crowd. Evidently several hours must yet elapse before the soldiers would arrive, and the interval was ample to rest and eat breakfast.

But at the very moment when the Greensburg operator was ticking his message over the wires, a train pulled into Munhall station at the eastern end of the town, and from a parlor car in front a tall, distinguished-looking man, wearing the stars of a major-general, alighted, followed by six others in uniform and an individual in civilian's clothing. It was Major General Snowden, accompanied by his staff and Sheriff McCleary. Behind the general officers' train, which was made up of two cars, came another train of ten cars, from the windows of which bayonets and muzzles of guns protruded. Then came another train and another and still others, until 95 cars were drawn up in line, all bearing the same freight of guns and bayonets and lusty-looking fellows in the blue uniform of the National Guard.

There were, perhaps, 200 men and boys at Munhall when the military trains came in. Some of them had been up all night and were but half awake. None of them had expected the soldiers to arrive at that depot. After the first surprise was over, half a dozen scouts, who had been posted by the advisory committee, ran towards the town shouting: "The troops! the troops!" The rest of the crowd pressed in around the staff officers' train and looked on with curious interest.

General Snowden, fearing that there was trouble brewing, held a hasty consultation with his staff, and had the troops drawn up in line without a minute's loss of time. Company E of the Eighteenth regiment was selected for skirmish duty and marched along the tracks, clearing the crowd away. Then the whole regiment advanced, throwing out detachments of skirmishers as it went, and taking a straight course to the place of encampment.

Shanty Hill, the position selected, lies north of the town and forms part of the Pittsburgh Poor Farm, which had been purchased by the Carnegie Company, but was still held by the city under a special arrangement. The hill slopes gently towards the base but develops midway into a rather steep ascent. A broad plateau extends back from the summit. A better position for military purposes could not have been found. The town and the mill yards stretched out below, covered within easy range by batteries on the heights, and no movement could occur on the streets without being detected from above.

Before the scouts who ran to give warning of the presence of the soldiers had fairly begun to spread the alarm, the Eighteenth regiment had gained the summit of the hill and formed a line of battle. The Fifteenth regiment followed and formed a line of battle to the right of the Eighteenth, then came the Thirteenth, Twelfth, Fifth, Ninth and Seventh regiments, and within half an hour 4,000 men were drawn up in parallel lines of battle, overlooking the town, and ready, at the word of command, to turn 4,000 rifles on the crowds that, by this time had massed below.

Meanwhile the surprised citizens of Homestead perceived another force of soldiers marching and counter-marching on the hill tops on the other side of the river, their bayonets and field pieces glittering in the morning sunlight.

Homestead was beleaguered at all points. Without the firing of a shot or the semblance of a parley, the town, which a week before had been the scene of carnage, was captured, and its guardians were taken so completely by surprise that they scarcely realized what was occurring until the troops were in possession.

General Snowden had proved himself an admirable tactician, and the swiftness and unerring precision with which he handled the large body of men under his control were universally applauded.

The unexpected fashion in which the soldiers entered broke up all the plans that had been arranged for their reception. The Homestead bands remained mute; Burgess McLuckie's speech was relegated to oblivion, and the reception committee was nonplussed by the circumstance that the guests had made themselves at home without waiting for a formal reception. It appeared, in short, that the soldiers were so intent upon business that they had no time for sentiment and that the process of fraternizing was not to be so easy as the people had expected.

If there was any doubt on this head it vanished when some of the workmen endeavored to make their way up Shanty Hill in order to mingle with the "boys in blue." Sentinels barred the way and informed those who sought to pass, that until further orders, no civilian would be allowed to go through the lines. So the townsfolk, including the committeemen of the Amalgamated lodges, had to content themselves with clustering at the foot of the hill and watching the manœuvres of the troops from a distance.

Shortly before noon a number of prominent citizens and leaders of the Amalgamated Association held a conference and appointed a committee to wait upon General Wiley (General Snowden's presence on the ground was not yet known), to tender the good wishes and co-operation of the Amalgamated Association and the people of Homestead, and to request that the military receive the workingmen in a body, accompanied by brass bands.

The committeemen obtained access to the headquarters of the Third Brigade, but, on stating the nature of their mission to General Wiley, were referred by him to General Snowden, who had established his division headquarters at the Carnegie school house on Shanty Hill.