furnished promptly its assigned quota of fourteen regiments, but increased the number to twenty-five; and such was the patriotic ardor of the people, that the services of about thirty additional regiments had to be refused,—making in all more than one-half of the requisition of the President." In the organization of the Military Department of the State Government, Edward M. Biddle, of Carlisle, was appointed Adjutant-General, Reuben C. Hale, Quartermaster-General and W. W. Irvin, Commissary-General of the State. Governor Curtin appointed on his staff, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, John A. Wright, Thomas A. Scott and R. Biddle Roberts. Colonels Wright and Scott, the former an extensive manufacturer of, and dealer in iron, and the latter the Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, served the State gratuitously. Colonel Wright continued on the staff during the War. Scott was appointed Assistant Secretary of War, and Roberts was elected colonel of the First regiment. A. L. Russell, Joseph D. Potts and Craig Biddle were appointed to fill the vacancies, and in September Colonel Russell was appointed Adjutant-General of the State, vacated by the resignation of General Biddle.

On the 18th of April Camp Curtin was formed at Harrisburg, and all the organized militia in the State were ordered to that place for the purpose of more thorough organization.

The assault of the secessionists in Baltimore, on the Massachusetts troops on the 19th of April, induced Governor Curtin to issue an order that all troops from Pennsylvania should be thoroughly armed and equipped before leaving the State; and about the same time, Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, requested that the regiments organized in Pennsyl vania be clothed, subsisted and transported at the expense of the State. Adjutant-General Biddle addressed himself to the work with a practical energy that soon transformed the new recruits into soldiers, organized and armed for active service. In ten days from the date of the President's call on the State for fourteen regiments, twenty-five regiments, with

arms, accoutrements and perfect organizations, numbering twenty thousand, nine hundred and seventy-nine men, were in the field.

The public men of Pennsylvania were in the very lead of the most zealous spirits in the nation. They urged on the National Government the immediate organization of powerful armies, that would overawe the conspirators, or crush their military forces at a single blow. Secretary Cameron exceeded all other Cabinet officers in energy,―he proposed at the beginning to call out five hundred thousand troops, and to use every element of strength within the reach of the Government, in order to meet and speedily overthrow the power of the rebels. Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, in State and National Councils, in his place in the House of Congress and in private circles urged, as a measure necessary for the public safety, and to preserve the honor of the Nation, that the Government should immediately call into the field an army of a million of men,-proclaim freedom to the slaves, and invite the emancipated negroes to join the army of the Union. This, he argued, would be the shortest and most efficient method of ending the rebellion; and hence, also, the most humane policy. The Secretary of War made full preparations for a long and severe contest. He provided munitions of war in proportions vastly disproportionate to the strength of the army; but, contrary to the opinions of men of less forecast, greatly inadequate to the subsequent demands of the Government. Mr. Stevens continued to plead for a large army, and Governor Curtin labored with unparalleled zeal to place the State of Pennsylvania on a war footing that would enable the people to respond promptly and vigorously to every demand for men, means, and materials to prosecute the war. Though the counsels of these men did not prevail, during the years of uncertain campaigns that followed, they did not depart from their original policy, which, two years later, was adopted by the administration at Washington.

On the 20th of April Governor Curtin issued a proclama

tion convening the Legislature of Pennsylvania in extra session. The proclamation was as follows: "Whereas, An armed rebellion exists in a portion of the States of this Union, threatening the destruction of the National Government, periling public and private property, and endangering the peace and security of this Commonwealth, and inviting systematic piracy upon our commerce; and,

Whereas, Adequate provision does not exist by law to enable the Executive to make the military power of the State as available and efficient as it should be for the common defence of the State and the General Government; and, Whereas, An occasion so extraordinary requires a prompt exercise of the Legislative power of the State; therefore,

I, ANDREW G. CURTIN, Governer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby convene the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, and require the members of the Senate and House of Representatives to meet in their respective Houses in the Capitol, at Harrisburg, on Tuesday, the 30th day of April, A. D. 1861, at 12 o'clock, noon of that day, then and there to take into consideration and adopt such measures in the premises as the exigency may seem to them, in their wisdom, to demand."

The members of the Legislature responding to the call, arrived at the Capitol on the appointed day, and during the first hour of the session organized, received and read a Message from the Governor, appointed a committee to revise the military laws of the State, received a bill, which a member read in his place, for the relief and support of the families of such volunteers as are or may be hereafter accepted by the Governor; also, a bill to stay executions in the collection of debts, and heard petitions of citizens from several counties, praying for a law, authorizing the Commissioners of the counties to appropriate money to aid in equip ping and supporting the citizen soldiery of those counties. In his Message to the Legislature, Governor Curtin said: "It is impossible to predict the length to which the mad

ness that rules the hour in the rebellious States shall lead us, or when the calamities which threaten our hitherto happy country shall terminate. We know that many of our people have already left the State in the service of the General Government, and that many more must follow. We have a long line of border on States seriously disaffected, which should be protected. To furnish ready support to those who have gone out, and to protect our borders, we should have a well-regulated military force. I, therefore, recommend the immediate organization, disciplining, and arming of at least fifteen regiments of cavalry and infantry, exclusive of those called into the service of the United States; as we have already ample warning of the necessity of being prepared for any sudden exigency that may arise, I cannot too much impress this upon you."

When the first call for troops was published, in every part of the State, the people every where responded with unparalleled alacrity. The mechanic dropped his tools; the farmer left his plow in the unfinished furrow; merchants and clerks abandoned the counter; judges, lawyers, and clients discontinued their suits; teachers closed their schools, and ministers left their pulpits at the first sound of the drum beating the call to arms; and, as a united people, offered their services to the Government. Business, home and family, were left to the care of a generous community. Nor did they leave them to suffer. In all parts of the State the people responded promptly, and most generously contributed of their means for the support of the families of those who had taken up arms and marched to the defence of the Nation. In some parts of the State the contributions of supplies like that of men, were wholly voluntary; in other districts, grand juries, courts and municipal corporations, recommended the appropriation of money from the public funds for the same purpose. At the recommendation of the Governor, the Legislature legalized these appropriations and gave the requisite authority to county commissioners to make further appropriations of

the public money for the support of the families of volunteers, whenever in their judgment circumstances should demand it.

In addition to these public provisions for the benefit of the citizen soldiers who had so promptly taken up arms in the defence of liberty and law, numerous societies were organized, composed chiefly of patriotic-ladies, who collected money and supplies of such articles of food and clothing as would add to the comfort of the soldier in health, or relieve the distress and pain of the sick and wounded. It is worthy of note, that the benevolent and patriotic women of Pennsylvania were the first to move in this labor of love, and that from the noble-souled women of this State, whose hearts, true to their Germanic origin, are ever responsive to the faintest calls of humanity, other communities, in other States, learned the lessons of practical, loving-kindness to the defenders of the Union. One of the first of these societies for the care of the soldiers was organized in the city of Lancaster, on the 22d day of April, 1861. At the close of a sermon on Sunday, April the 21st, Rev. J. Isadore Mombert, an Episcopal clergyman, who, while in Europe during the Crimean war, had witnessed much suffering by the sick and wounded soldiers, recommended to the people that they form a society, having for its object the threefold purpose of "providing for our brave volunteers the necessary outfit, of preparing for the wants of the wounded, and of forming a volunteer corps of nurses both for home and for hospital duty." A meeting was called to be held in the Court House on the following day. At this meeting the society of "The Patriot Daughters of Lancaster" was formed, with Mrs. Rosina Hubley as President; Mrs. Emanuel Reigart, Vice-President; Miss Anna Slaymaker, Secretary; and Mrs. John F. Long, Treasurer. While the people were still in the Court House perfecting the organization of this society, a messenger announced that two companies, sent from Lancaster, were destitute of overcoats and blankets. Immediately a "repository" was desig