PAGE TWO
THE POST, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1940
Col. Butler Was First Commander
During The Yankee-Pennamite War
William H. Zeirdt Tells About Regiment's
Baptism Of Fire More Than 165 Years Ago
(Continued from Page 1) oT
IT’S A SMALL WORLD
SAYS DALLAS RECRUIT TO
TRUCKSVILLE SOLDIER
oY
General Assembly and commissioned
by the Governor. The chief com-
missioned officer of each company
was empowered to designate the
“days of training and trooping”’—
three days warning to the men to be
given through the clerk of the com-
pany. It was provided that the
training days should be “in some or
either of the months of March,
April, May, September, October and
November of each year.” The law
also required that ‘every centinel
shall appear compleat in his arms on
every such day; and every person
liable to train, having been duly
warned and not appearing and at- |
tending the same, shall pay a fine Ci
of three shillings—except he make
within twelve days a satisfactory ex- |
cuse to the commanding officer.”
The annual inspection of arms and
ammunition was required to be held
on the first Monday in May.
While on the train going to
Schofield Barracks from the
army transport which had car-
ried him to Hawaii, Gilbert
Huey, recently enlisted son of
Mr. and Mrs. Milton Huey of
Dallas, saw someone waving
outside his car window at a
station stop. Investigating, he
was asked by a uniformed
stranger, “Are you from Dal- |
las?” “Yes,” he replied, “but I |
don’t know you!” To which |
e the answer, “You should,
m Roy LaFrance from Trucks- |
ville.” |
UNITED STATES
NEw ORLEANS
TAMPICO Mer’
°
MErico
eiTY
Ending a dramatic attempt by four German merchantmen to run the British blockade, the 4,137-ton freigh-
. i ter PHRYGIA lies in the Gulf of Mexico, a scuttled, charred derelict. Her three companion ships turned back to
river, above the falls, with orders ; the Mexican port of Tampico (see inset map), where the vessels are shown previous to their sortie. The Nazi
to lie in ambush and prevent the! captains believed they were being pursued by British warships, but there is a possibility the warships were part
Some of our officers had prior landing on that shore of any boat’s of the United States neutrality patrol.
service in the French and Indian : l
Nw! crew. Col Ww it
wars and it is more than probable | olonel Butler, with the re-
NAZI MERCHANTMAN SCUTTLED OFF MEXICO
: | {
that they made efforts during the ; mainder of his force, then retired discharge of musketry, crackling | fortunately without mishap, and
summer ‘and fall to perfect them-|up the river about a mile to a point |
selves and their men in military ex- | of natural defense where a precipi-
ercise and discipline. Each officer |tous ledge of rocks extended from
and man furnished his own arms the Shawnee mountain in a south- |
and accoutrements. The men were | easterly direction almost to the |
from end to end of the long extend-
ed rampart, and giving no uncertain
notice that this unlooked for bar-
ricade was well garrisoned. One of
| were brought to in the pool at Har-
| vey’s Landing. Thus ended the oc-
currences of Sunday.
Early in the morning of Monday
—which was Christmas day—the
not uniformed, and it is doubtful if bank of the river, a distance of |Plunket’s men was killed and three | Pennamites, who had bivouacked on
more than a very few of the chief nearly half a mile. The land in the.
others were wounded, while the
| the flat at the mouth of Harvey's
officers possessed uniforms. Each | vicinity was well covered with trees, | body of the invaders was thrown | Creek, were astir. Colonel Plunket,
of the officers, however, wore some |and the road from Harvey’s Creek into great confusion, and, without | having formed his men in two di-
distinctive badge of rank—as, for to the village of Plymouth passed returning the fire of the Yankees, | visions, again marched up the river
example, a cockade or sash. For |between the lower point, or end, of | immediately retreated to Harvey's | to the breast works, or “rampart
some years prior to the Revolution, | the ledge and the river bank. The!
and during the first year of the Yankees took up their position at!
war, none of the militia organiza- this rocky rampart, and wherever past Nanticoke Falls by land, and |
tions in the Colonies were uniform-{it was defective for their complete
ed, except those companies which | defense they erected breastworks
were located in the principal towns of logs and stones.
and cities. Later in the morning of Sunday,
There were Pennsylvanians who | about eleven o’clock, Ensign Alden,
contested the right of the fJon-|being apprised at the mouth of Har-
necticut Yankees to settle in the | vey’s Creek of the approach of the
Wyoming Valley and historians re- | Plunket expedition, retired with his
‘fer to these conflicts as the Penna- | men up the river and joined Colonel
mite Wars. Late in 1775 Pennsyl- | Butler. Deploying his column on the
vania land claimants, eager to strike |flat just abandoned by the Yankees,
a decisive blow at the Yankee set-| Plunket directed a spirited advance
tlements, carefully planned and or- |in pursuit of Alden, not doubting
ganized an expedition under the, but that the main force of the set-
command of Colonel William Plun-,tlers was near, and that the hour
ket, who purposed conquering and | of conflict had arrived. In less than
subjugating the men of Wyoming | thirty minutes the advancing line
without delay. Some 600 or 700 was halted by Plunket, who was at
well-armed and equipped men were its right, in front, and was heard
soon embodied at Fort Augusta, now | to exclaim, “My God! what a breast-
Sunbury; and in order that the pro- work!” Scarcely had these words
posed expedition might have im-|been uttered when there came a
Creek. They then brought two of
their boats from Harvey's Landing
made preparations to cross the
river by detachments, in order to
march by way of the eastern shore
against the village of Wilkes-Barre,
the chief objective point of the ex-
pedition.
After nightfall, boats, well filled
with soldiers, started across the
river some distance above the falls.
When the boats had nearly reached
the opposite shore, they were, with-
out warning fired upon by Captain
Stewart and his men who were con-
cealed in the thick woods on the
bank. Two or three men in the
first boat were wounded, one of
whom subsequently died. The ‘boats
were hastily and excitedly backed
astern into the channel of the river,
whereupon, having got within the
suction of the falls, they shot down
through them and the rapids below,
parted to it a civil, rather than a| SS —————— y ARIE IEEE
AUT
military character, this small army
RZ
was denominated the “posse comita- | 4
tus of Northumberland”. It was to | NH
be accompanied on its march by the!
/}
Sheriff of Northumberland County—
within whose jurisdiction the Wyo-|
ming lands lay, acording to Penn-
sylvania law.
The formidable preparations being
made at Fort Augusta caused con-
siderable uneasiness and excitement
among the people of the valley. By
virtue of his rank as chief militia
officer and by reason of his exten-
sive experience in actual warfare,
Colonel Zebulon Butler was given
charge of the preparations for de-
fense, as well as command of the in-
habitants who responded to the call
to arms. Neither our regiment nor
eC
RRS RI TR IS TR TR TE TE BET 3
any one of the companies COmpos- | z
ing it was ordered out, as a militia | { Pla-Mor
organization, to oppose the oncom- ¥ SCOOTER
ing Pennamites; but the inhabitants | F-957
An inexpensive scoot-
er of great appeal.
Heavy-gauge steel. 7-
inch wheels. %-in.
of the valley generally were sum- |¥
moned to this duty. The men who I
responded were mainly—in fact, al- §
most exclusively—enrolled members ] L
of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and solid rubber Fires
6th companies of the 24th Regiment. | Embossed platiorm
D | gives greater
Scouts, sent out every day, reported |
the progress of the Pennamites—|
% strength. 33x30
who had taken up their line of :
$42
march about the 15th of December, {
from Fort Augusta. On the 20th the | )
invaders had arrived opposite the |
mouth of Nescopeck Creek, some]
nineteen miles below Nanticoke
Falls, but were advancing slowly on | g&
account of the snow which had fal- E
|
§
§
len and the ice which was gathering hg
in the river. Colonel Butler mus- |
tered his available force—which wriUM
numbered about 400 men—on Sat-| 2X-258
urday, December 23rd, and marched
to the left bank of Harvey's Creek, | : e
where he encamped for the night | ¥ You cen lead
on a level stretch of land near the 8 aradic i
river. It was impossible to pass ¥ with this big 13 in. drum. Two
Nanticoke Falls with a laden boat, '¥ fabric heads, real snares on back.
either going up or down the river. |# going assembled. Nice, deep
Early Sunday morning, December | tone. Colorful circus designs on
24th, Ensign Ne [den fn) § motal shell. Pair of 12-in. sticks,
command of a detail of eighteen shoulder straps.
men, was directed to remain on
guard at Harvey's Creek. Captain
Lazarus Stewart, with twenty men,
detached to the east side of the,
TRS
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LUZERNE, PA. :
*
OR SR ME FRE FETE RAI
rocks”, held by the Yankees. While
one division stormed the works, the
second division ascended the moun-
i tain on their left and attempted to
turn the right flank of the Yankees.
The conflict lasted, with frequent
cessations, during the greater part
of the day, and on the side of the
settlers some three or four men
were killed and three times as
many were wounded. Towards the
close of the day Colonel Plunket,
GAY-MURRAY
— NEWS —
SANTA CLAUS
Tl be at Gay-Murray’s
next Saturday, December 7,
at 7:30 P. M. with a grand
assortment of bikes, sleds,
skiis, skates and more useful
gifts than ever before. I'll
have a bag full of lollypops,
too. Better come!
x
Each Christmas finds
more useful things and more
health building sports equip-
ment in Santa’s deliveries.
Useful gifts give pleasure
long after trinkets are gone
and forgotten. We have
useful gifts for ‘Pop’,
“Mom”, ‘Sister’, and
“Brother”.
Pee
Charles Humphrey at
Montrose and Archie Ells-
worth at South Montrose
are recent customers for
Suburban Bottled Gas Ser-
vice and Bengal Ranges.
Say fellows! Wouldn't one
of these outfits be a swell
Christmas gift for your
“Missus’’ ?
tk
Good days to reroof are
getting scarce but it’s wiser
to put it on before it snows
than to groan after. Law-
rence Mock at Jenningsville
and Frank Spadine at Nich-
olson are using Moredrain
galvanized sheets. Albert
Race at Vernon is trying
our 5-ply roll roofing.
—
Dairymen! In our Harness
Shop we can now give you
prompt sharpening service
on clippers with new factory
grinding equipment. Barney
says, “We'll fix your harness
too.” Bring or send them in.
ee J ee
Try Graylawn louse pow-
der on your cows. If it does-
n’t get ’em we pay you.
Cees Wie
Gay-Murray Co.
Ine.
finding the position of the Yankees
too strong to be carried, withdrew
from the field and immediately be-
gan his retreat down the west side
of the river.
This was the baptism of fire for
the regiment. Colonel Butler's tact-
ical decisions and selection of
ground for the defense were sound
and logical. The dispute between
Connecticut and Pennsylvania was
now laid aside and all energies were
bent toward winning independence
from England.
Colonel Wright, who later com-
manded our regiment, recites the
following story which is interesting
and helpful in seeing the picture of
those times.
Benjamin Bidlack was a remark-
ably good singer. During the Penn-
ER rey,
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Will Preach Sunday
Miss Charlotte Mintzer, of Dallas,
will preach Sunday morning at 11
o'clock in the Glen View Primitive
Methodist Church, Fern Brook. A
short song service, led by John
Lowe, will precede the service.
amite-Yankee conflict he was ar-
rested and lodged in the Sunbury
jail, where his songs led the people
to collect about the grated window
of his cell and in the evening men,
women and children. would gather
there to listen to the Yankee’s
songs. They finally prevailed upon
the jailer to let the man out that
they might see him.
Upon one of these occasions, in
singing a song called “The Swagger-
ing Man”, he told his audience that
to give them a proper appreciation
of the character he was represent-
ing, they must give him a cane, and
make room for him, as he could not
do his subject justice otherwise.
They gave him a cane, and cried
out, “Give him room, make way, let
him have a fair-chance”. The pri-
soner, after taking a drink, and
passing backwards and forwards
several times, acting out the charac-
ter of a drunken man, to the -word,
when he came to the chorus, “Here
goes the old swaggering man”, he
bounded from them like a wild deer.
Pursuit was in vain, “ the swagger-
ing man” was too fleet of foot and
strong of limb for the pack at his
heels. Dawn of day found him thir-
ty miles from his prison door; and
before sunset, he rejoined his family
in his log house in Plymouth. At
this period of his life Mr. Bidlack
seems to have been addicted to ha-
bits of intemperance, later he re-
formed, became a religious man,
joined the Methodist church, and
devoted the remainder of his day to
preaching the Gospel.
He became an Ensign in our re-
giment in 1793; his brother was
killed in action at the battle of
Wyoming.
(To Be Continuel)
Scout Women
Plan Activities
To Entertain Scouts
At Christmas Party
Committee members of Girl Scout
Troop No. 9, Shavertown, were en-
tertained at the home of Mrs. Os-
car - Dymond, Thursday Evening.
Plans were made for the supper
meeting to be held at the Shaver-
town Methodist Church December
9th when the committees of troops
No. 66 and 9 will be hostesses to
the Dallas District Council... Plans
were also made to entertain the
scouts at a Christmas party Decem-
ber 12th. Mrs. Edward Gilroy, cap-
tain of the troop made a fine report
concerning the activities of the
troop. Present were: Mrs. Delbert
McGuire, Mrs. Martin Porter, Mrs.
S. R. Schooley, Mrs. Hayden Wil-
liams, Mrs. Herbert Lundy, Mrs. 'Gil-
roy and the hostess. :
Pinochle Club
Mrs. Mabel Davis, Parrish Heights,
entertained the members of her Pi-
nochle Club at her home on Monday
afternoon. Those present were:
Mrs. Emma Stookey, Mrs. Eleanor
Wilson, Mrs. Jennie Thomas, Mrs.
Margaret Adametz, Mrs. A. C.
Woolbert, Mrs. Eva Meade, Mrs.
Elsie Van Buskirk and the hostess.
Prize winners were Mrs. Woolbert
and Mrs. VanBuskirk.
Fernbrook Scouts Meet
Twelve Girl Scouts of Fernbrook
Troop met Monday afternoon under
the leadership of Miss Margaret Ger-
lach.
Jean Russell passed her tenderfoot
test and the second class scouts
worked on the Health and Safety
Field and the International Friend-
ship Field.
Games were played before good-
night circle at which group singing
was enjoyed.
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