Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/95

 Susquehanna, and Union troops were collecting there in great numbers. Among those I remember seeing were Lieutenant-Colonel Edwin Schall, of the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, and John F. Hartranft, later to become famous as a major-general, the organizer of the National Guard of Pennsylvania and Governor of the Commonwealth, so dark in complexion that he was at times called “Black Jack Hartranft.” With piercing black eyes, erect and vigorous, an exceptional horseman, taciturn, endowed with courage and great executive capacity, he ought to have been President of the United States at the time Hayes was elected, and would have been had not the bad Pennsylvania habit of opposing her own prevented.

The destruction of the railroad bridges had separated Washington from the North, and Perryville has the honor of being the earliest outpost of the war. A great outcry ran through the camp about the poor quality of the “shoddy” clothing, and there was much denunciation of the civil authorities. In the hurry of the time, clothing had to be secured in every possible way and at the outset it was very imperfect, but ere long it came to be of the most durable texture, and a workman who could secure a pair of old army-blue pantaloons felt that he was fortunate indeed.

Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts came to take command of the camp. At that time the railroad trains ran on to the top of a huge steamboat and it carried them across the river between Perryville and Havre de Grace. One morning when the boat was about to leave the wharf, Butler, complying with orders sent him by Major-General Patterson, the Department Commander, with a part of his force, marched on board and the boat started for the opposite shore. In mid-stream he ordered the captain to take his boat down the Chesapeake. The captain objected strenuously and gave many reasons why such a move would be impossible, but in the end was Rh