Benjamnin F. Butler, Butler's Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin Butler

[125] or Irishmen themselves, and all its members were citizens, Democrats and Catholics. They did their very best to make themselves equal to the other companies, and they succeeded, precisely as in Boston now the Ninth Regiment, composed of Irishmen, is quite equal, in all that makes a soldier, to any other regiment.

Of course when the Know-Nothing “Native American” frenzy swept over the State, there was a call for the disbandment of that company, and an incident happened which called special attention to myself.

The bitterness of political opinion that resulted in Know-Nothingism raised strong antipathies among the unthinking and unruly elements of the city. At one time it was rumored that a riotous mob would attack and burn our very fine costly Catholic Church, as was done by a riotous Know-Nothing mob in Philadelphia. The city authorities were alarmed, and they called upon me to know, as colonel commanding, whether the military would be found stanch on the side of law and order. I had but one reply to make,--that the soldiery would obey my orders. The next question came: “But how about your Irish company?” I said I did not look for any trouble on that score. Meanwhile it was reported that the military might be called out, and this report caused the Know-Nothings to say that in that case they would know which company to stone. To make sure that the soldiers were all right, I called together four companies, instructed them that we might possibly be called upon to preserve the peace, and showed them how our organization might be made most effective.

Then I formed all the soldiers of the four companies into one line, giving the familiar order “size march,” upon which every man put himself in the rear of the man that was next above his height. When that line was made, intermingling the men according to their several statures, I divided the battalion into four equal companies, each averaging one Irishman to three Americans. I thought it would be difficult for a mob, in the night-time, to distinguish uniformed Irishmen so as to make targets of them; or, if we had to attack the Irish element, it would be equally difficult for them to distinguish the Yankees. That proposed formation of the troops was noised abroad, and our city was not disgraced by a mob or a riot.

Governor Gardner had scarcely got warm in his chair when I received his order disbanding the “Jackson Musketeers,” which I