CHARLES A. PECKHAM
The Ohio National Guard
and Its Police Duties, 1894
During the depression year of 1894,
Ohio, like other states, experienced a number of
severe labor disturbances caused by
unemployed or striking workers, the most
serious being the coal miners strike
during April, May, and June. In addition to
these disturbances, there were severe
fires in Springfield and Toledo, and three
times lynch mobs attempted to short cut
the system of justice. These crises made
demands upon city and county law
enforcement agencies which they often were
unable to meet, and as a result the Ohio
National Guard was called out repeatedly
during 1894 to preserve public order. At
one time 3,647 guardsmen were on active
duty, patrolling the greatest area under
military occupation since the Civil War.1 In
spite of the strain placed upon often
inexperienced young men, the Ohio National
Guard performed its duties effectively
with loss of life in only one incident.
The Ohio National Guard in 1894 was the
third largest in the country, consisting
of 6,039 men enlisted for five year
terms.2 Its purpose, according to the revised stat-
utes of Ohio, was ". . . to aid the
civil officers, to suppress or prevent riot or insur-
rections, to repel or prevent invasions
.. ." Units of the Guard could be called up
by the governor, the sheriff of any
county, the mayor of any municipal corporation,
or any state or federal judge
"whenever .. . there is a tumult, riot, mob, or any body
of men acting together with intent to
commit a felony, or to do or offer violence to
person or property, or by force and
violence to person or property, or by force and
violence to break or resist the laws of
the State, or there is a reasonable apprehen-
sion thereof...."3 Guard units were
required to respond immediately to these calls
and place themselves under the orders of
civil officials. However, the Code of
Regulations for the National Guard
required that all instructions be in writing and
stated that local officials were not to
interfere with the tactical arrangement of
troops.4
The Ohio National Guard was organized
into eight three-battalion infantry regi-
1. Ohio, Annual Report of the
Adjutant General to the Governor of the State of Ohio, 1894, p. 16.
2. Ibid.; New York had 13,254 men
and Pennsylvania had 8,959. U.S. Department of War, Annual
Report of the Secretary of War, 1894,
I, 24.
3. Ohio, Revised Statutes (Bates,
1897), 3054, 3096.
4. Ohio, Code of Regulations for the
Government of the Ohio National Guard, 1887, pp. 90-95. This was
the code in force in 1894.
Mr. Peckham is currently serving with
the United States Air Force.
52
OHIO HISTORY
ments of nine to twelve companies, a
black battalion of three companies,5 a light ar-
tillery regiment of ten batteries, two
troops of cavalry, and an unattached bicycle
company, the Toledo cadets from the
Toledo Military Academy. There were a total
of 104 units. These units were stationed
in sixty-one counties over the state, the
poorest coverage being in the coal
mining area of eastern Ohio. Units varied
greatly in size from twenty to
fifty-seven enlisted men.6 The governor was the com-
mander in chief, but his power of
appointment was limited to the adjutant general,
the quartermaster general and the state
staff. All other officers were elected by the
men, the field grade officers being
chosen by battalions and regiments, and com-
pany grade officers by their company or
battery. They were elected for a term of
five years and were commissioned by the
governor after their election. Non-commis-
sioned officers and regimental staff
were chosen by the regimental commanders.7
State support was limited but had
increased from $81,900 in 1891 to $119,150.50
in 1893; the subsidy for 1893 averaged
just under $19.30 a man. In addition,
$20,000 was received each year from the
Federal Government. Each company re-
ceived $300 a year for its armory and
$100 a year for maintenance of equipment.
Additional funds came from the guardsmen
themselves or from the cities and towns
where units were located.8
This limited support meant that the
equipment of the Ohio National Guard was
5. Although Negroes did not gain full
legal equality in the Ohio National Guard until 1878 (when the
word "white" was removed from
the 1866 statute requiring "all white male citizens" between eighteen
and forty-five be enrolled in the
militia), they had been associated with the National Guard since 1870.
In that year the General Assembly passed
legislation allowing for the formation of independent militia
companies from among the enrolled
militia, provided this was at no expense to the state. Within a
month after passage of this statute
Cincinnati Negroes under the leadership of William Travis, a black
Navy Civil War veteran, organized in May
1870 an infantry battalion of four companies. Five more
black infantry companies were organized
in the early 1870's: one at Zanesville in the summer of 1870;
one at Portsmouth in 1871; one at
Springfield in 1874; and two at Cleveland in 1875. Black militia units,
like their white counterparts, however,
suffered from a high rate of turnover, apathy, and lack of funds;
by the end of 1877 only the Springfield
company remained. After the 1878 law was passed, a black com-
pany was organized in Columbus, and
within two years was praised by the adjutant general for its dis-
cipline and proficiency in drill. In
1881 the two black companies then in force were organized into the
Ninth Battalion (nearly all the white
companies were organized into regiments), and in 1884 the batallion
was expanded to three companies, with
the organization of a company at Xenia.
Although detail is lacking, the black
companies appear to have been treated much the same as the
other companies. They were subject to
the same regulations, received equipment and arms from the
state, and several times conducted
summer encampments with white units. Because of the issue of race,
the use of black units was more
restricted than that of white. However, black units played an important
role in the Cincinnati riot of 1884. The
battalion commander at one time had several white companies
under his command in addition to one of
his own companies, and the captain of the Columbus company
won praise from the commander of the
Fourteenth Regiment for his coolness and presence of mind.
For laws affecting the legal position of
Negroes in the National Guard, see Laws of Ohio, LXIII (1866),
70, and LXXV (1878), 3. The major
reorganization laws of 1870, 1876, and 1877 make no mention of
race. Ibid., LXVII (1870), 170;
LXXIII (1876), 173-181; LXIV (1877), 227-239. Some details concerning
the formation of the first black unit
can be found in the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 25, May 11, 13, 19,
June 1, 2, 1870, and Cincinnati Commercial,
April 22, 23, 1870. The annual reports of the adjutant gen-
eral during the 1870's and 1880's
provide little data beyond the number of units and the time and place of
encampments. The Adjutant General
Report, 1879, pp. 24-25, sheds some light on black units during the
1870's; the Report, 1884, pp.
230, 264-265, contains reports concerning black units in the Cincinnati riots.
6. Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp.
7-8, 25 105; see also Revised Statutes, 3036, 3037, 3038.
7. Code of Regulations, 192-195.
8. Adjutant General Report, 1891, pp.
13-14; 1893, p. 13; 1894, p. 113; Revised Statutes, 3085.
By law,
companies could enlist contributing
members who paid yearly dues fixed by the company council of ad-
ministration. These dues could not be
less than $5.00 a year. Contributing members received the same
exemptions as active members, but not
the responsibilities. Each company was limited to 150 contrib-
uting members, and they could not exceed
15 percent of the voting population of the county where the
company was stationed. Adjutant
General Report, 1892 in Ohio Executive Documents, 1892, 1,
1499-1500.
usually old and often in poor condition. The infantry were armed with Model 1873 .45-70 caliber Springfield rifles, many of them in poor condition. The artillery con- sisted of twelve Gatlings, ten 3-inch rifles, and six old bronze pieces. Proper sights, harnesses, and horses were lacking. One thousand rounds of small arms ammuni- tion was kept in each armory and a reserve of 90,000 rounds in the state arsenal in Columbus; the 400 rounds of mixed artillery ammunition was divided between the batteries and the state arsenal. Some armories were excellent, but many were too small to drill in and/or provided no security for arms. The men's personal equip- ment was worn but serviceable, and all companies had basic cooking equipment, though all of the state's tents were kept centrally in Columbus. The Guard was not equipped for an extended campaign, but its equipment was adequate for limited service in the state where it could be moved rapidly and if necessary supplied by the state's excellent railway system.9 The National Guard was trained according to the offical United States Army drill regulations. Company drill was conducted weekly at each armory, and battalion, regiment, and extended order drill along with guard duty and rifle practice were conducted at summer encampments. The encampments paid for by the state were too short (only six days) to permit much practice, but many regiments stayed an ad- ditional two to four days at their own expense. In addition, theoretical training was provided for officers and non-commissioned officers through a correspondence school. Captain H. O. S. Heistand, the regular Army officer assigned to the Guard, was pleased by the interest shown by most officers in preparing themselves to meet their responsibilities. To be sure, a number of companies were persistently criticized during inspections for poor drill, discipline, and care of equipment, but Heistand observed a marked improvement in performance from 1891 to 1893. He further-
9. Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp. 112-113, 114, 116-117, 119-120. |
more stated in 1893 that the First, Fifth, Eighth, Fourteenth, and Sixteenth regi- ments had attained the highest state of efficiency for state troops on the basis of their high state of drill discipline and their smart appearance.10 One of the persistent problems of the Ohio National Guard was the rapid turn- over of personnel. According to an 1891 survey, members of the Guard were mostly young, unmarried men under twenty-five years of age. Nearly half were from outdoor occupations (farmers, laborers, mechanics) with the rest being teach- ers, clerks, accountants, and business and professional men. According to Heis- tand, 98 percent were native born and only a few were miners.11 In spite of the five year enlistment, early discharges were easy to obtain, and personnel turnover aver- aged about one-third of the National Guard per year. Officer turnover was equally as rapid, though there was relative stability in the higher grades.12 The training and composition of the National Guard also had certain short- comings for crowd control and riot suppression, its major duties during the 1890's. Little or no attempt was made during the limited training time available to deal spe- cifically with the problems presented by riot control,13 and what practical experience was gained was often lost by the failure to reenlist and the election of new offi- cers.14 Furthermore, an individual company was often too small to deal with a riot
10. Ibid., 1891, pp. 19-30; 1892, pp. 1494-1522; 1893, pp. 33-88; 1894, pp. 118-119. 11. Ibid., 1891, pp. 26-27. 1894, p. 118. 12. In 1894, 1,841 men were enlisted and 2,431 discharged; 158 commissions were issued, 79 to new of- ficers, making a total of 454 officers. Ibid., 6. 13. Only five pages in the Code of Regulations were devoted to the Guard's responsibilities during civil disturbances. Ibid., 1893, p. 6; Code of Regulations, pp. 90-95. 14. From 1888 through 1893 the National Guard was called upon to deal with civil disorders only three times, in all cases for lynch mobs. The greatest number called up was 105 men. However, some offi- cers, such as Colonel A. B. Coit of the Fourteenth Regiment, had served in the Cincinnati riot of 1884. Major Winthrop Alexander, "Ten Years of Riot Duty," Journal of the United Military Service Institution of the United States, XIX (July 1896), 16, 25. |
situation, and its members could not help but be influenced by the emotions and ac- tions of their fellow townsmen when dealing with local disorders. These defects, however, were often overcome by a number of positive factors. The National Guard's wide dispersal meant that most areas of the state had an emergency force of twenty-five or thirty armed men available on a few hours notice, and the Guard's central control meant that units from all over the state could be rushed to the scene of major trouble. The regulation drill of the National Guard included close order and skirmishes' drill and guard duty which were useful in the control of crowds and the suppression of riots. When called to active duty, the Na- tional Guard was under military law, which carried stringent penalties against dis- obedience of orders. Furthermore, the fact that the National Guard was locally re- cruited and drilled as a company meant that the men knew each other and drew mutual trust from this fact. In most situations the use of the National Guard was preferable to the other alter- natives. A guard unit was organized and ready while deputies, whether federal or local, had to be recruited from the general citizenry. Guardsmen were also more reliable. Local deputies lacked training and discipline and were hard to recruit when needed most, especially during violent strikes and for lynch mobs.15 Federal marshals, having jurisdiction over a larger area, had little trouble recruiting depu- ties, but most of these came from the unemployed and were often reluctant to en-
15. In all cases where the National Guard was called in to aid local officials, difficulty was encountered in getting deputies. In several cases during the Wheeling Creek campaign it is questionable if the sheriffs made a real effort to recruit deputies before calling for aid. |
56 OHIO HISTORY
force the law against fellow workers.16
National Guardsmen, though less well
equipped and trained, were more numerous
and more readily available than federal
troops, whose use had to be authorized by the
President. More importantly, state
troops were less dangerous politically
since a call for federal troops was an admis-
sion of the state's inability to cope
with the situation; and federal troops were, more-
over, not under the governor's direct
control as was the National Guard.17
In addition to these basic alternatives
there were two other organizations which
could perform police duties: independent
companies and the Sons of Veterans.
Under state law independent companies
could bind themselves to perform the same
duties as the National Guard when called
in return for receiving the privileges
granted members of the National Guard.18
At no time did they receive state sup-
port and they were only under the control
of the state when called to active duty.
All but one of the seven major
independent companies were in Cleveland, and, with
the possible exception of the
"Cleveland Grays," they were of questionable value.l9
Captain H. O. S. Heistand wrote that the
independent organizations:
Serve no useful purpose and are hurtful
to the interests of the State forces. There is no legal
provision which controls their methods
of instruction, administration, discipline, or equip-
ment, and they "sap" the
support which is due to those who do the work. Their practical ef-
ficiency is exhausted in their
appearance.
The Sons of Veterans, armed and equipped
and organized into one regiment and
ninety-five unattached companies and one
cavalry troop, had only a self-imposed
obligation to support the constitution.20
Their value was even more questionable
than that of the independent companies,
but on at least one occasion they per-
formed police duties effectively.21
At best, the Sons of Veterans and the independ-
ent companies were emergency supplements
to the National Guard.
During 1894 the Ohio National Guard's
police responsibilities involved three
kinds of duties: control of crowds
during fires, lynch mobs, and labor troubles. The
first call for the National Guard came
on January 3 when a major fire swept through
downtown Toledo, causing $600,000
damage. The National Guard was called out
by the mayor at 6 P.M. and by 7 P.M. had
cleared the streets of crowds and potential
looters and then stood guard during the
night. The National Guard's second fire
duty came on February 19 when the three
units stationed in Springfield were called
out to control the crowds at the Arcade
Hotel fire. Twelve men from Battery E ar-
16. Little use was made of federal
deputies during the Wheeling Creek campaign. Thirty-five were
sent to Massillon and twenty-five to
Wheeling Creek. Federal marshals several times attempted to move
trains but failed without National Guard
support. Ohio State Journal (Columbus), June 7, 12-16, 1894;
Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 11,
13, 18, 1894.
17. There were 427 federal troops in
Columbus barracks in 1895; no figure was given for 1894. Gover-
nor McKinley apparently gave no thought
to requesting these troops though the Canton Repository re-
ported that Attorney General Richard
Olney had given Marshal Hacket authority to call out federal
troops. U.S. Department of War, Annual
Report of the Secretary of War, 1895, I, 83; Canton Repository,
June 14, 1894.
18. Revised Statutes, 3040. The
Cleveland City Guards were a special company supported by the city
and organized under a special statute.
Their prime duty was to suppress disorders in the city. Ibid.,
3056-1 to 3056-5.
19. Heistand inspected the Cleveland
Grays in 1895 at their request and praised them for their excel-
lent discipline, esprit de corps, drill,
high intelligence, and "cordial good feelings" with the Ohio National
Guard. Adjutant General Report, 1895,
pp. 71-74.
20. Ibid., 1893, pp. 60-61.
21. In July 1894 the Sons of Veterans
drove "Count" Bylakorrski's industrial army from the Sandusky
county seat. Adjutant General Report,
1894, p. 211.
Ohio National Guard, 1894 57
rived within twenty minutes and with the
aid of guardsmen arriving later were able
to push back the crowd only minutes
before a wall of the hotel collapsed on the area
where the crowd had stood.22
The second major activity of the Ohio
National Guard was the protection of pris-
oners against lynch mobs, a duty which
it was called upon to perform three times in
1894. The first call came on April 15 at
Rushsylvania where a black man was ac-
cused of raping a white woman. After the
Negro was arrested an angry crowd gath-
ered and the sheriff, who had been
called by the local constable, telegraphed for the
Bellefontaine company. After a delay of
two hours, caused by the difficulty of as-
sembling men on Sunday, nineteen
guardsmen and one officer arrived by train.
The company was guided to the jail
through vacant lots in order to avoid the mob.
As the company approached the jail, one
guardsman seized a man who was lighting
a fuse leading to six sticks of dynamite
placed under the jail. The arrival of the Na-
tional Guard only made the mob more
angry, and the sheriff, wanting to avoid a
bloody clash, agreed to send the Guard
home after conferring with a group of citi-
zens who promised to guarantee the
prisoner's safety until he could be tried the fol-
lowing day. The National Guard company
obeyed the sheriffs orders and returned
with the sheriff to Bellefontaine.
Shortly after the guardsmen left, a group of men
assaulted the jail. The citizens guard
vanished, and the jail was knocked from its
foundations. The constable, who alone
remained to protect the prisoner, was
quickly overpowered and the prisoner was
dragged to the center of town where, af-
ter a delay of fifteen minutes, he was
hanged. A grand jury was called a month
later to investigate the lynching. The
judge instructed it that those who had partici-
pated in or abbetted the lynching were
guilty of murder, but it did not return any
indictments.23
The next time the National Guard was
called to protect prisoners it was more suc-
cessful. Following the arrest of men
accused of the brutal murder of a popular New
Lexington citizen, rumors circulated
that an attempt would be made to lynch the
prisoners. In order to forestall this,
the local company was called out on July 27.
No attempt was made, and the company was
released three days later when the
prisoners were transferred to Columbus.24
The third use of the National Guard to
control a lynch mob resulted in death for
some of the participants. At Washington
Court House on October 16 the sheriff
called out the local company after a
Negro accused of raping a white woman was ar-
rested. As the crowd continued to grow,
he asked for sixty reinforcements from Co-
lumbus. Colonel A. B. Coit with two
companies of the Fourteenth Regiment were
sent early the next morning, and at 2
P.M. the prisoner was safely rushed through the
seventy feet separating the jail and the
courthouse between a double line of guards-
men. Several members of the mob managed
to break through the end of one line
22. Toledo Blade, January 4, 5,
1894; Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp. 13, 14, 186, 187-189.
23. Ibid, 189-191; Logan County Index, April 19, 26, 1894;
Bellefontaine Examiner, April 17, 19, May
17, June 7, 1894; Bellefontaine Republican,
April 17, 1894. The leaders of the lynch mob seem to have
momentarily lost their nerve when it
came to the point of actually hanging the victim. The Republican
noted that "the hesitation that was
shown on the part of those who did the hanging convinced many that
if a few decided men, well organized,
had appeared upon the scene, while they were under the tree, the
man could have been rescued." Also,
editorial opinion was divided concerning the lynching. The Index
supported the lynching and the Republican
opposed. The Examiner praised the performance of the Na-
tional Guard and stated that the
evidence against the man was "purely circumstantial," but it also ap-
plauded the failure of the grand jury to
indict anyone.
24. Adjutant General Report, 1894, p.
212.
|
of guardsmen. They knocked the sheriff and his prisoner down momentarily, but were beaten off by the officers. Once inside the courthouse, the prisoner pleaded guilty and was immediately given the maximum sentence of twenty years. Rather than risk bloodshed by escorting the prisoner to the train and sending him to Co- lumbus, the sheriff called for additional troops. The crowd meanwhile became in- creasingly turbulent. At 7:30 P.M., ignoring repeated warnings that the troops would fire if a door was broken in, some members of the mob battered down a door with a large timber. The guard at the door fired, killing five and wounding over a dozen more. This scattered the mob, although repeated threats were made that the courthouse would be dynamited. The crisis ended when four companies of the Fourteenth arrived, followed by the First Regiment, Company M of Third, Com- pany H of Seventeenth, and Battery B. The Fourteenth then escorted the prisoner to the state penitentiary while the other troops remained at Washington Court House until they were ordered home at 10:50 A.M.25 This action caused a furor in the state, but all newspapers except the local one supported the guardsmen, pointing out that law and order must be preserved, even at heavy cost. The mayor of Washington Court House charged that the National Guard had knowingly fired into streets filled with innocent women and children, and the local coroner found "there was no justification for the shooting . . ."26
25. Ibid, 292-301; Cyclone and Fayette Republican, October 18, 25, 1894; Ohio State Journal (Colum- bus), October 17, 18, 1894; Cincinnati Enquirer, October 19, 1894; Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 19, 1894. The Plain Dealer sharply criticized McKinley for being out of state making speeches when the tragedy occurred. To some extent this criticism is justified, but McKinley did strongly support Colonel Coit in public statements. 26. Ohio State Journal (Columbus), October 19, 1894; Cyclone and Fayette Republican, October 25, November 22, 1894. The Journal stated that "never before . . . has the fair fame of the buckeye state been so disgraced," but that the guardsmen had no other course. The Republican, on the other hand, termed the shooting "cowardly." |
Ohio National Guard, 1894 59
Colonel Coit was cleared of any wrong
doing by a board of investigation composed
of National Guard officers, but he was
nevertheless charged with manslaughter by
the prosecutor of Fayette County. Coit's
lawyers obtained a change of venue, but
Coit was forced to undergo a prolonged
trial lasting from October 7, 1895 to Febru-
ary 7, 1896, in which the jury found him
innocent after deliberating for fifty hours.
In April the state legislature passed a
bill granting Coit $17,500 for legal expenses
and passed a joint resolution
instructing the Attorney General to enter a nolle prose-
qui on the two remaining indictments unless citizens posted
$50,000 bond for trial
expenses.27
The most common reason for calling out
the National Guard in 1894 was violence
arising from labor conflicts. Four times
during the year guardsmen were called out
and held in their armories in case of
need. Fifteen guardsmen were detailed to pro-
tect the armory in Cincinnati during
February and March following disturbances in
that city. On May 3 six companies of the
National Guard, in addition to the six in-
dependent companies and special
deputies, totalling 1,000 men in all, were called
up to deal with rioting laborers in
Cleveland. This riot, however, was quelled by
policemen, and the National Guard and
the independent companies were relieved
after several days. A few days later, on
May 9, Company B of the Eighth Regiment
and Battery F were called up in Akron to
deal with a threatened riot by the unem-
ployed. Although the National Guard was
popularly credited with cooling the situ-
ation, no duty was performed other than
guarding the armory and restraining
crowds during a fire on May 12. Most of
the National Guard were released on May
15 with the exception of a few who were
retained to guard the armory until May 17.
The National Guard was again called on
in Cincinnati when the mayor ordered
thirty guardsmen to guard the armory on
July 7 during the railroad strike, releasing
them on July 18.28 Meanwhile Governor
William McKinley had put the
Fourteenth on an hours notice due to a
strike on the Columbus, Hocking Valley and
Toledo Railway, but no action was taken
as the strikers won a favorable settlement
on July 17.29
The Ohio National Guard was also
involved with two "industrial armies" during
1894. The first clash with such a group
occurred on April 18 at Mt. Sterling, where
27. This trial appears to have been one
of the first in Ohio, if not in the United States, concerning the
legal responsibility of guardsmen for
causing the deaths of citizens in carrying out their duty. The attor-
ney for the state argued that Coit had
no authority to order the crowd to disperse or to fire into it and that
he had illegally assumed the powers of a
civil magistrate. In addition, in his opening argument he al-
leged that Coit and his men had been
under the influence of alcohol at the time of the shooting, but he
did not try to prove this during the
trial. Coit's defense attorneys, led by George Nash and Harry M.
Daugherty, argued that Coit was present
at the order of the adjutant general, that he had reported to civil
authorities, that a riotous situation
had existed, and that therefore Coit's actions were covered by statutes
6893, 6894, and 6895 which held civil
authorities guiltless in case of death during a riotous situation.
Much time was spent arguing legal
issues, and the judge's charge to the jury occupied seventy-seven type-
written pages. For information on the
trial see the accounts in the weekly Democrat and Watchman (Cir-
cleville), January 31, February 7, 1896,
and the Circleville Union Herald, February 6, 1896. See also Dau-
gherty's view in H. M. Daugherty to Ray
Baker Harris, June 7, 1936, in Ray Baker Harris Collection,
Warren G. Harding Papers, Ohio
Historical Society. For the legislation reimbursing Coit, see Laws of
Ohio, XCII (1896), 135-136, 790-791.
28. Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp.
195-197, 189-202, 302; Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 3, 1894;
Akron Beacon and Republican, May
10, 1894; Akron Times Democrat, May 9, 1894; Cincinnati Enquirer,
July 8, 1894. Earlier the mayor had
requested 200 rifles from the state arsenal, but Governor McKinley
refused this request on grounds that the
rifles were not available. John A. Caldwell to McKinley, July 4,
5, 1894, McKinley Papers, Ohio
Historical Society.
29. Mary Aldora Deibel, "William
McKinley as Governor of Ohio, 1892-1896" (unpublished M.A.
thesis, The Ohio State University,
1939), 65.
Galvin's Army had been holding a train for two days demanding transportation to Columbus. McKinley, after first sending Adjutant General J. C. Howe to in- vestigate the situation and getting a statement from the sheriff stating he had ex- hausted all his resources, ordered the First Battalion and Company L of the Fourteenth plus Battery H to the scene. Within six hours of the first alarm, the troops reached Mt. Sterling, and in less than an hour they had cleared the train after first setting up Gatling guns to command the train. After a conference, Galvin's Army was given uncooked rations, and later the National Guard and the army re- turned to Columbus on the same train, after Galvin succeeded in raising the $45 de- manded by the railroad to take his people to Columbus. Later, on July 27, a smaller industrial army under "Count" Bylakorrski invaded Clyde demanding that they be fed but withdrew when confronted by the hastily mobilized local National Guard Company.30 The greatest challenge the Ohio National Guard faced during 1894 was the maintenance of order and suppression of violence during the 1894 coal strike. Con- ditions for miners in Ohio had steadily deteriorated following the onset of the de- pression of 1892, and the Ohio mine owners had been forced to reduce wages from $.70 a ton to $.50 a ton, after cheap coal from Pennsylvania and other states caused the collapse of the price system they had established in Ohio.31 Mine worker lead- ers reluctantly accepted these cuts, but in the national convention of the United Mine Workers in April, they were thrown out and more militant leaders, headed by
30. Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp. 192-194, 210-211. See the McKinley Papers for the telegrams exchanged between the sheriff and McKinley. The Ohio State Journal stated that McKinley had no choice but to "send the Ohio guard in sufficient numbers to compel obedience" and that his act "will be universally commended." Ohio State Journal (Columbus), April 29, 1894. 31. Paul Kleppner, The Cross of Culture: A Social Analysis of Midwestern Politics, 1850-1900 (New York, 1970), 234-238. |
Ohio National Guard, 1894
61
John McBride, took over. McBride
advocated a series of short strikes designed to
reduce the supply of coal without
exhausting the union war chest, but the confer-
ence instead voted for a general strike
to restore pre-depression wages. More than
120,000 miners nationwide joined the
strike when it began on April 21.32 Though
McBride and other leaders repeatedly
urged that the strike be conducted peacefully,
instances of violence occurred in Ohio
even before the strike began. The number of
these instances increased as the miners,
who had little funds at the beginning of the
strike, became increasingly desperate to
halt the flow of coal into Ohio.33 Coal tip-
ples and bridges were burned, stones
were thrown at trains hauling coal, and miners
who continued to work were attacked.
One of the focal points of disorder was
Athens County, where a railroad bridge
was burned on May 14 and stones were
thrown at trains. On May 28 armed miners
attempted to stop a train at Glouster,
demanding that the cars loaded with coal be
dropped. That train got through but a
second train on May 29 was stopped. M.
M. Riley, the sheriff, unable to deal
with the situation, telegraphed Governor
McKinley for the National Guard.
McKinley immediately ordered units of the
Seventeenth Infantry to converge on
Glouster, but in the meantime railroad offi-
cials had agreed not to carry any more
coal. Riley then cancelled his call. Com-
pany A of New Lexington, Captain C. B.
Arnold commanding, however, was al-
ready en route. When the company
detrained at 6:10 P.M. it found that the sheriff
and other officials had left the scene.
The guardsmen were soon surrounded by a
large threatening crowd of an estimated
1200 miners, but Arnold gained some work-
ing room by backing his men against the
wall of a building and having them load.
After finding the mayor, who confirmed
that the call had been cancelled, Arnold
marched his men 300 yards to a vacant
lot and then to a schoolhouse, losing some of
his supplies to a rush of the mob in the
process. He was later able to get a special
train to take his command to Athens and
then to Lancaster where his company
spent the night until arrangements could
be made to return to New Lexington. The
performance of the National Guard under
these conditions met with well-deserved
praise from the Athens Journal and
the sheriff, but it apparently made McKinley
more cautious not to call out the
National Guard until he was certain that all local
resources had been exhausted.34
Incidents of violence continued during
the first days of June, and McKinley
showed his concern by summoning Adjutant
General Howe from his home in
Kenton to Columbus. At the same time,
whether at their own initiative or at
McKinley's command is unclear, some
regimental commanders made arrangements
for food and rail transportation.35
These preparations were justified, for
on June 6 McKinley received a telegram
from the sheriff of Guernsey County
stating that crowds of over 500 miners had
32. David J. McDonald and Edward A.
Lynch, Coal and Unionism: A History of the American Coal
Miners Union (Silver Spring, Maryland, 1939), 38-39.
33. The United Mine Workers had a
treasury balance of $10.368 going into the strike. Moreover, most
miners had only been working part time
for months before the strike. Ibid., 38.
34. M. M. Riley to McKinley, June 1, 2,
1894, McKinley Papers; Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp.
202-210; Athens Journal, May 31,
1894.
35. Ohio Stale Journal (Columbus),
June 4, 1894. Colonel H. S. Bunker of the Sixteenth Regiment,
for instance, ordered his quartermaster
to make arrangements for transportation and his commissary offi-
cer to get three days rations several
days before the regiment was called up on June 8. Adjutant General
Report, 1894, pp. 272-274.
62
OHIO HISTORY
blocked traffic on the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. After consulting with Howe
and J. L. Locke, an attorney of Guernsey
County, McKinley ordered the Fourteenth
and Eighth Regiments, seven companies of
the Seventeenth, and Battery H to as-
semble. These troops were concentrated
at Zanesville on June 7 and then moved
under command of Howe to Cambridge and
Mineral Siding, dispersing the miners
with little trouble. Calls were received
from Belmont County on June 7, and
McKinley ordered the assembly of the
Second Regiment and then sent it to Howe at
the latter's request. On June 8, Howe
moved the Eighth and Second into Belmont
County and occupied Barnsville, St.
Clairsville, and McClainsville Cut. On the
same day McKinley had the Sixteenth
Regiment and the Toledo Cadets assemble
and ordered them to join Howe. Before
they arrived, Howe left early on June 9 for
Wheeling Creek in response to urgent
calls for help. Though crowds of upwards to
600 miners had gathered there, guardsmen
cleared the areas with little trouble. On
the following morning Howe distributed
garrisons along the track and trains were
again able to move to Cleveland, which
was suffering severely from a shortage of
coal. Meanwhile McKinley had on June 9
ordered three companies of the Third
Regiment to assemble and report to
Columbus in order to establish a ready re-
serve.36
By June 11 conditions appeared to have
stabilized. Miners and mine owners had
resumed negotiations on June 9 and were
nearing a compromise agreement.37
Furthermore Howe had reported on the
night of June 10 that:
A better feeling towards the troops by
the strikers is manifested on all hands ... no disorder
of any kind has been reported to these
headquarters. The strikers seem now to appreciate
that troops were sent here for no other
purpose than to substain the civil authorities in main-
taining peace and order, the enforcement
of law, and protection of life and property.38
The guardsmen began to hope for an early
return home, but these hopes were
ruined by more calls for help, this time
from Stark and Tuscarawas counties. After
a long exchange of telegrams, McKinley
ordered the Fifth to assemble and report to
Stark County while Howe ordered the
Fourteenth and two Gatling guns to Tusca-
rawas County. Companies B, C, and I of
the Third were sent to replace them, and
on June 12 the rest of the Third was
ordered to assemble. Little resistance was en-
countered in Stark County, but the
situation in Tuscarawas County appeared to
McKinley to be ". . . as critical
as any we have had, requiring the utmost vigilance
and greatest precaution." On the following
day McKinley was guardedly optimis-
tic, and on June 14 he relieved the
Third while Howe, at McKinley's suggestion, in-
quired of the sheriffs whether troops
could be spared. Following this meeting,
Howe suggested that the Seventeenth in
Guernsey County be relieved, but before
this could be carried out the sheriff of
Caroll County telegraphed that 200 miners
were trying to burn a railroad depot at
Sherrodsville. After confirmation, all but
one company of the Sixteenth was sent to
deal with this situation.39
36. Ibid., 134-143, 144-149,
150-154.
37. Ohio State Journal (Columbus), June
10-12, 1894.
38. Adjutant General Report, 1894, p.
155.
39. Ibid., pp. 156-161, 164,
168-169, 170-172, 301; McKinley to J. C. Howe, June 13, 1894, William
McKinley Manuscripts, Series 2, Vol. 87,
Library of Congress microfilm. In addition, Troop A, which
was scheduled to go on a practice march
on June 12, postponed its march and camped in an old fair-
ground just outside the city limit of
Cleveland. A train was held in waiting until June 15, when they re-
ceived authorization from general
headquarters to continue their march. They received no pay for this.
Ohio National Guard, 1894 63
Though incidents continued, this was the
last time the National Guard was de-
ployed to stop violence resulting from
the coal strike as miners were reluctantly go-
ing back to work following the
achievement of a compromise $.60 a ton settlement
on June 11. McKinley was able to begin
relieving troops on June 15, when the Sev-
enteenth was relieved. On June 16, the
Eighth and Companies B, G, and I of the
Third were relieved while Howe made
quick trips to the garrisoned areas to pressure
the sheriffs for early release of
troops. The Second was relieved on June 17 and the
Fourteenth and the Sixteenth Regiment
were relieved on June 19, and on June 20
Sheriff Doll of Stark County reluctantly
released the Fifth Regiment. By this time,
the strike had nearly collapsed. Only
4,000 of the 27,000 miners in Ohio were still
out on strike, and the convention called
by state president A. A. Adams to oppose
the compromise settlement voted to
accept it, though under protest.40
In spite of the size and scale of the
campaign, no deaths or serious injuries directly
resulted to the strikers from actions of
the National Guard.41 The Guard itself suf-
fered two deaths; one from cerebral
hemorrhage and the other from a skull fracture
suffered when a guardsman hit a log
while driving into the Tuscarawas River. Sev-
eral other guardsmen and a black cook
suffered minor injuries from accidents. The
good health of the command was regarded
as phenomenal, with only two men being
sent home on account of sickness.42
The conduct of the campaign was
characterized by caution and massive use of
force. Before sending troops, McKinley
conducted extended telegraphic corre-
spondence with local authorities, all of
which was published in the Columbus Ohio
State Journal, to ensure that troops were indeed needed and to make it
clear that it
was the local authorities who were
calling in troops. Once he had decided to send
troops, he sent them rapidly by rail in
at least regimental strength to the major
trouble spots, the purpose being to
overawe the miners and thus avoid bloodshed.43
With the assistance of Heistand and
Colonel W. L. Curry, the Assistant Adjutant
General, he coordinated the movement of
troops, using Columbus as a central ship-
ping point. McKinley also kept in
constant telegraphic communication with Howe
and relied heavily on his advice, but he
nonetheless made the basic decisions on
how the campaign was to be conducted.
The National Guard proved to be a
reliable and effective instrument. Individ-
uals responded rapidly and loyally to
the call-up of their units; most companies had
90 percent of their men assembled in
heavy marching order within two hours of the
first alarm and were in the riot area
within twelve hours of receiving marching or-
40. Adjutant General Report. 1894, pp.
174-184; Cincinnati Enquirer, June 19, 1894; Cincinnati Com-
mercial Gazette, June 20, 1894. The Massillon miners continued to strike. They had been
locked out
since February 19 when they had refused to accept the
abolishment of the $.15 a ton premium previously
given them. They finally agreed to
arbitration and returned to work on October 10. The arbitration
board decided in favor of the mine
owners and they were forced to accept the $.60 a ton rate. Ohio, An-
nual Report of the State Board of Arbitration of
Ohiofor the Year 1894, pp. 47-55.
41. There were a number of unconfirmed
reports of deaths resulting from clashes between National
Guardsmen and strikers, and a wife
received a telegram stating her husband had been shot while on
guard duty, but these reports proved
erroneous. For examples see Cincinnati Enquirer, June 8, 1894;
Canton Repository, June 12, 1894;
Ohio State Journal (Columbus), June 15, 1894: Dayton Daily Journal,
June 19, 1894.
42. Adjutant General Report, 1894, pp.
219-220, 231, 253, 260, 267-268.
43. This policy was in part based on
McKinley's Civil War experiences in which he had noticed that
there was no fight when a brigade met a
division. Margaret Leech, In the Days of McKinley (New York,
1959), 54.
64
OHIO HISTORY
ders. Upon arrival, the immediate area
was cleared when necessary by a skirmish
line with fixed bayonets, the miners
usually fleeing before a physical clash occurred.
Once the area was cleared, a regimental
command post was set up and companies
distributed along the track to guard
bridges, depots, and other points. Guard de-
tails varied in size from four men and a
non-commissioned officer during the day to
twenty-five or more men and an officer
at night. Weapons were unloaded as stand-
ard procedure though guards were
authorized to fire if they were physically endan-
gered or fired upon. Shots fired at
guardsmen were returned, though no known cas-
ualties resulted from this. In many
areas, particularly during the first few days, at
least half of the men were on duty at
all times.44 Target practice, hunting, and other
activities which might cause a commotion
were prohibited.45 A number
of persons
were stopped for attempting to sell
whiskey to the troops, possessing guns, or wan-
dering into the guard lines. Most were
detained for a short while and then released,
although those involved in selling
whiskey or firing on guardsmen were turned over
to local authorities.46
The National Guardsmen were generally
well supplied and fed during the cam-
paign though a number of individual
companies suffered temporary shortages.
Some commanders had made advance
arrangements for food and transportation,
nevertheless most companies arrived with
only their basic cooking utensils and
some without even these. They were
housed in tents shipped from Columbus or in
railroad cars, but some were forced to
spend several nights out in the open. Where
possible, supplies were bought locally,
but some merchants refused or were unable
to provide the quantity needed. Where
necessary, supplies were shipped from
headquarters at Wheeling Creek, and
special supply trains were run between there
and Columbus. Rations were supplemented
by foraging and buying pies and other
foods from local farmers' or miners'
wives, and some companies reported that they
had fruit at each meal and steak at
least once a day.47
The Ohio National Guard's relationships
with the immigrant miners was surpris-
ingly good, particularly in view of the
anti-foreign bias of many newspapers and
some guardsmen. Great hostility was
initially encountered, but the guardsmen ig-
nored the threats and taunts hurled at
them and some made deliberate efforts to re-
duce tensions. Once it became clear that
the National Guard was only there in or-
der to preserve peace, a measure of
fraternization and cooperation developed. At
Wheeling Creek, a company's gift of
their oranges to miners' children the day after
the National Guard's arrival led to a
singing contest between the miners and the
guardsmen, and by the end of the
campaign, miners were allowed to freely circulate
44. Adjutant General Report, 1894, p.
130, 215, 216, 235, 236, 251, 265, 269, 271, 277, 314-315. Ohio
State Journal (Columbus), June 7-20. 1894, provides the best
reporting on the conduct of the campaign.
See also the Canton Repository, June 7-18, 1894. for
accounts of camp life. Colonel G. R. Gyger of the
Sixteenth made the policy explicit in
the following general order issued on June 11: "Battalion com-
manders will at once issue orders to
their commands . . . that no pieces be loaded except upon express
orders, and then only in cases of
danger. Guards must be instructed to fire only in self-defense, as many
of the persons having the right to pass
near our lines are foreigners, who do not understand our language,
and would not know the meaning of nor
obey the command 'halt' and their failure to obey should be no
excuse for a sentinel to fire on them.
The country is not under martial law, and any unjustifiable killing
or injuring of any person would subject
the soldier to arrest and trial in the civil courts; it is therefore nec-
essary that instructions to the
sentinels be very explicit." (p. 216)
45. Canton Repository, June 13,
14, 1894.
46. Ohio Stale Journal (Columbus),
June 19, 1894.
47. Canton Repository, June 11,
1894; Adjutant General Report, 1894, p. 132, 221. 231. 273-274; Ohio
State Journal (Columbus), June 11, 1894.
through the camp until 9 P.M. and guardsmen were taken on tours of the mines. In Stark County, the major clash which occurred was a softball game between the min- ers and the guardsmen, and at McClainville miners cheered on some guardsmen when the latter, tired of the taunts of some local toughs, piled into them with their fists.48 Even though general good relations prevailed, until near the end it was not uncommon for guard posts to be fired on or stoned at night. During the Wheeling Creek campaign, the National Guard benefitted from al- most unanimous public support. With the exception of Canal Dover in Tuscarawas County, where a company's train was delayed for a day by angry miners, the troops were given a warm and friendly send-off. To show public support, old veterans of- fered their services to KcKinley if needed, and the Sons of Veterans did the same.49 More importantly, various banks in Ohio volunteered to pay the local guard units upon presentation of vouchers signed by McKinley; otherwise the National Guard would have had to wait nearly two years until the state legislature met again to re- ceive their pay. Newspaper opinion was highly favorable to McKinley and the Na- tional Guard, praising his decisive use of the Guard and the courage and exemplary performance of the "brave boys in blue." Only two major papers opposed McKin- ley's policies. The Cleveland Plain Dealer charged that McKinley was too soft on the miners. The Cincinnati Enquirer reversed an initially favorable stand by sug- gesting that McKinley had not only expended money illegally by failing to get the
48. Some officers, along with the popular press, blamed foreigners for the violence associated with the strike, but one Guard officer maintained it was the American miners who were the most hostile. Dayton Daily Journal, June 15, 16, 1894; Zanesville Daily Signal, June 16, 1894; Canton Repository, June 9. 17, 1894; Ohio State Journal (Columbus), June 8, 11, 13, 15, 1894; Adjutant General Report, 1894, p. 280. 49. Ibid., 231-234, 242-243; McKinley to M. J. Lovett, June 14, 1894, McKinley Papers; Zanesville Daily Signal, June 11, 1894. |
66 OHIO HISTORY
approval of the Emergency Board for his
actions, but that the calling out of the Na-
tional Guard had only made the situation
worse.50 The major opposition came
from the miners and their sympathizers.
One group of miners returned a charity do-
nation, claiming that McKinley's
antipathy for labor was now clear, and the citizens
of Crystal Springs sent a public letter
to McKinley, stating:
We, the citizens of Crystal Springs,
were surprised to see a company of home guards sent to
our village on the morning of June 12,
and we condemn the action of Sheriff Doll and Gov-
ernor McKinley for sending home guards
to our village without first making an in-
vestigation. We, the citizens, think it
unjust in placing the expense on the county when it is
unnecessary. Where the eight companies
are now encamped is the most peaceable village in
Stark County.51
Dissatisfaction in a few quarters should
not obscure the fact that the Ohio Na-
tional Guard in 1894 fulfilled its
obligations effectively (though not flawlessly) and
with relative impartiality. On a local
level, it had responded promptly to the
requests of local authorities to control
crowds during fires, to protect prisoners, or to
suppress riots. On a statewide basis, it
had responded with little confusion to an
unprecedented call-up and had been able
to halt the spread of violence arising from
a major strike without bloodshed or
serious clashes. It is true that the intervention
of the National Guard did favor business
interests by hastening the end of the
strike, but this was basically a
by-product of McKinley's overriding concern with
public order; the National Guard was not
mobilized to smash the strike, and the
agreement which resulted from the
miner-mine owners meeting was a compromise,
not a complete victory for the mine
owners.
The relative success of the Ohio
National Guard was primarily due to its own ca-
pabilities, the situations in which it
operated, and McKinley's leadership. The
training, equipment, and leadership of
the Guard, while of varying quality, proved
adequate for the task. The policy of
rapid response and the use of troops in mass
overawed the strikers with force and
lessened the possibility that the guardsmen
might panic. The guardsmen had acted
with restraint, both because many of them
sympathized with the miners and had
experienced unemployment and because
some of the commanders made it clear
they were operating under civil law and were
responsible for their actions in court.
In all cases, the opposition was not well or-
ganized, and in the case of the Wheeling
Creek campaign, the miners were gathered
in relatively open spaces where the
discipline and tactics of the National Guard
could have the greatest effect and where
there were few hiding places from which to
fire or throw rocks. In two cases,
Glouster and Canal Dover, the possibility of panic
appeared as small companies of guardsmen
were surrounded by large, angry mobs,
but though weapons were loaded in both
cases, the guardsmen kept cool and no
bloodshed ensued.
Not the least factor in the success of
the Ohio National Guard in 1894 was the
50. The total cost of the Wheeling Creek
campaign was $143,000. Correspondence relating to this can
be found in the McKinley Papers. This
support compares quite favorably with that in other states. In
Illinois, the state had to pay 6 percent
on the money advanced to the troops and in West Virginia, the
governor had to sign a personal note.
Illinois, Biennial Report of the Adjutant General for 1893 and 1894,
p. 29; Cleveland Plain Dealer, June
10, 20, 1894; Cincinnati Enquirer, June 15, 1894. To the Enquirer's
charge McKinley replied: "We will
preserve peace first and arrange for the meeting of expenses after-
ward." Ibid. June 16, 1894.
51. Ohio State Journal (Columbus),
June 10, 13, 1894.
Ohio National Guard, 1894
67
leadership of McKinley. The governor,
though making extensive use of profes-
sional advice, nevertheless kept close
control over the movements of the Guard and
its actions. Throughout the Wheeling
Creek campaign he showed not only a deep
concern for the preservation of peace
and the welfare of the guardsmen, but also a
concern and understanding of the miners
as well. With the exception of the Glous-
ter incident, he used the National Guard
cautiously and removed the troops as
swiftly as possible. He can perhaps be
criticized for using too many guardsmen,
particularly in Stark County, but the
situation in Ohio was very tense, and it was
probably better to err by sending too
many rather than too few. Furthermore, in
making extensive use of the National
Guard he was well within the mainstream of
public opinion. A comparison with the
actions of other public figures is instruc-
tive. Governor J. P. Altgeld of
Illinois, who lacked McKinley's business support,
responded immediately to reports of
disturbances, sometimes before local author-
ities had formally requested aid, and
several times the Illinois guardsmen arrived to
find there had been no disturbance nor
any threat of one. In a more extreme case,
Attorney General Richard Olney pushed
President Grover Cleveland into sending
federal troops to Chicago without
bothering to notify the governor and with the de-
liberate intent of breaking the
strike.52
The major failures of the Ohio National
Guard were not due so much to the lead-
ership of McKinley or its own faults as
to decisions made by local authorities. The
sheriff of Logan County was the one who
decided to send the National Guard
home, and the sheriff of Athens County
was the one who decided to call for help
and then cancelled his call. The case of
Washington Court House is more complex.
McKinley was out of state making a
series of political speeches in preparation for
his 1896 presidential bid when the call
for help arrived, and it was Colonel Coit who
gave the order to fire if the doors were
broken in. Still, much of the responsibility
must be born by the sheriff, who
requested only sixty reinforcements for the local
company. With the local company Coit had
only eighty-five men, and eighty-five
men were not enough to overawe an
enraged and emotionally charged crowd or to
clear the courthouse square or even, as
it proved, to defend the courthouse without
using their weapons. Still, even in this
tragic case, the Ohio National Guard, as in
the other cases, met its responsibility
to assist civil authorities in maintaining the su-
premacy of the law.
52. Harry Barnard, Eagle Forgotten:
The Life of John Peter Altgeld (Indianapolis, 1938), 277-278;
Kleppner, Cross of Culture, 245-247;
Bennette Milton Rich, The President and Civil Disorder (Washing-
ton, D. C., 1941), 93-101. In fairness
to Altgeld it must be noted that when he found that he had acted
too quickly, he issued a general order
stating that the Illinois National Guard would not be used as
guards for private property.
CHARLES A. PECKHAM
The Ohio National Guard
and Its Police Duties, 1894
During the depression year of 1894,
Ohio, like other states, experienced a number of
severe labor disturbances caused by
unemployed or striking workers, the most
serious being the coal miners strike
during April, May, and June. In addition to
these disturbances, there were severe
fires in Springfield and Toledo, and three
times lynch mobs attempted to short cut
the system of justice. These crises made
demands upon city and county law
enforcement agencies which they often were
unable to meet, and as a result the Ohio
National Guard was called out repeatedly
during 1894 to preserve public order. At
one time 3,647 guardsmen were on active
duty, patrolling the greatest area under
military occupation since the Civil War.1 In
spite of the strain placed upon often
inexperienced young men, the Ohio National
Guard performed its duties effectively
with loss of life in only one incident.
The Ohio National Guard in 1894 was the
third largest in the country, consisting
of 6,039 men enlisted for five year
terms.2 Its purpose, according to the revised stat-
utes of Ohio, was ". . . to aid the
civil officers, to suppress or prevent riot or insur-
rections, to repel or prevent invasions
.. ." Units of the Guard could be called up
by the governor, the sheriff of any
county, the mayor of any municipal corporation,
or any state or federal judge
"whenever .. . there is a tumult, riot, mob, or any body
of men acting together with intent to
commit a felony, or to do or offer violence to
person or property, or by force and
violence to person or property, or by force and
violence to break or resist the laws of
the State, or there is a reasonable apprehen-
sion thereof...."3 Guard units were
required to respond immediately to these calls
and place themselves under the orders of
civil officials. However, the Code of
Regulations for the National Guard
required that all instructions be in writing and
stated that local officials were not to
interfere with the tactical arrangement of
troops.4
The Ohio National Guard was organized
into eight three-battalion infantry regi-
1. Ohio, Annual Report of the
Adjutant General to the Governor of the State of Ohio, 1894, p. 16.
2. Ibid.; New York had 13,254 men
and Pennsylvania had 8,959. U.S. Department of War, Annual
Report of the Secretary of War, 1894,
I, 24.
3. Ohio, Revised Statutes (Bates,
1897), 3054, 3096.
4. Ohio, Code of Regulations for the
Government of the Ohio National Guard, 1887, pp. 90-95. This was
the code in force in 1894.
Mr. Peckham is currently serving with
the United States Air Force.