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Show As I Remember Them General P. E. Connor By C. C. Goodwin NEARLY all our readers will remember General Gen-eral Patrick Edward Connor. He did a great service in Utah. ' p It is said that the society which has the building of a monument to him in chargo, is at work. Everyone in Utah should invest at least one dollar in the monument. Some men fight when they have to; some men fight when a fight comes to them; now and then a man goes out a'fter a fight. General Connor was one of that class. He was born near the lakes of Killarney in Kerry county, a spot which has some reputation in the world; and one of the things that it. is re nowned for is that there is not a living thing in that county man, woman, horse, dog, chicken ,v anything, that won't fight. He was born there March 17, 1820, on St. Patrick's Pat-rick's day, and when but a child he was brought by his parents to New York City. When nineteen years of age, in 1839, the Florida Flor-ida war was in progress. We suspect that at '" that time he had no fixed idea of just where Florida was, but he heard there was a fight there and volunteered. He served in the army five years, to November, Novem-ber, 1844. Early in 1846 he moved to Texas and when the same year the Mexican war broke out, he joined a regiment of Texas volunteers, of which Albert Sidney Johnston was Colonel. He was the second volunteer officer mustered into., service in that regiment, and he entered as a captain. He was in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, and was one of the immortal 4500 men who confronted Santa Ana's army of 22,000 men on that day of days at Buena Vista. He fought all day, although he was the first officer wounded in the battle. But that night he had lost so much blood that two of his comrades had to lie close to him on either side through the night to keep him from dying from cold and c exhaustion. """ j For his work on that day he was given a can- tain's full pension. Shortly after the war closed he passed through Mexico and reached California on Janu-ary Janu-ary 22nd, 1850. A little after his reaching there, great excitement was raised over gold discoveries discover-ies on Trinity River. At that time it was believed that Trinity River flowed into the Pacific, and . . acting on that belief, Connor with Lieutenants Blunt, Bache, and Browning, of the Navy, organized or-ganized a party for the purpose of locating the mouth of the stream and founding a settlement. They chartered the brig "Arabian" and sailed north. Because of contrary winds their progress ' was very slow, and seeing a schooner where they supposed was the mouth of Trinity River, Cap-'f Cap-'f tain Connor manned a whaleboat and started for the place, Lieutenant Bache acting as steersman and accompanied by Lieutenant Browning. That is a stormy spot up there, and the wind ' freshening, they decided to head for the shore. They rode one breaker, but the second upset their boat, throwing all the occupants Into the l water three quarters of a mile from shore. One sailor went down, never to rise; the rest clung to the boat with the exception of Browning, who at once swam to shore; but trying to return he ;! ft' was caught by the undertow and drowned. The remainder of the party reached the bar in safety. There in trying to land, Lieutenant Bache was drowned, and when Captain Connor reached the V rock he was utterly exhausted and his lifo was saved by one of the party named Robinson. They reached the boat that they had seen in 1 the offing, and found it to be Farragut, and i learned from those on Ijoard that Trinity River did not empty into the sea. In the next spring Captain Connor tried again to reach the Trinity River. He reached Humboldt Bay, cut a trail through the Redwoods and took his party to the banks of the Trinity river. With a small boat he learned the Currents and eddies and shoals of Humboldt Bay and for awhile served as a pilot. In 1854 Captain Connor was married to Johanna Connor, then a resident of Redwood City, but who was a native of the same county the Captain was born in. In October, the same year, he was appointed postmaster of Stockton, California. He was serving at the same time as Adjutant of the Second Sec-ond brigade and Captain of the Stockton Blues. He lived a very rugged life in Stockton. That was a centre of some very determined Southern men. Judge Terry's home was there, and there were a great many others; and as the war drew near, the feeling ran very high, and Captain Connor was a mark of especial detestation by some of those men. His life was a hundred times threatened and he walked those streets day and night for two or three years when he was not certain that he would live a minute. But he was always resolute for the government and the Union and courted rather than avoided danger. He established and owned the Stockton waterworks water-works and was drawing from that $8,000 a year and had a contract for building the foundation of the state capitol at Sacramento. He was released from that, however, by the legislature of 1861-2, being ordered to report with his command. com-mand. When the Civil war broke out he tendered his services at once to the governor of California, who appointed him colonel of the Third California Califor-nia infantry. His command was stationed at Benicla barracks, California, during the winter of '61 and '62, pending a transfer to Utah, where the command was ordered, to the great disappointment disap-pointment of the volunteers, who expected to be sent south. In May, 1862, Colonel Connor and his regiment embracing 850 men, consisting of the Second California Cal-ifornia infantry and four companies of the Second Sec-ond California cavalry, started on foot for Utah. He issued a bulletin to his soldiers when the march began ,full of patriotic fervor and in splendid form. They marched over the Sierras, then on through Nevada to a camping place in Ruby valley. val-ley. Here the men became very restlesB they wanted to go south. They offered all the money they had, some agreed to forfeit all their pay if they could be permitted to go south, and Colonel Connor sent a petition to General Halleck, secretary secre-tary of war, begging to be permitted to go and offering to pay their own passage from San Francisco Fran-cisco to Panama. But they were ordered to continue con-tinue on to Utah, and on the 24th of October, 1862, they marched through this city, stopping and the band playing In front of the house of the governor, and then marched on to the spot which is now the site of Camp Douglas. 'They were threatened with destruction before they reached here, but it made no difference. The threats came from no authentic sources and they continued their march. In February, 1863, the Indians being very troublesome in the Bear river country, General Connor took his command, the main portion of it, and marched up there in very much such weather as we have had hero the later part of December. The command consisted of company K, Third infantry, California volunteers, Captain, Hoyt, two howitzers, under command of Lieuten ant, Huntington; twelve men of the Second Call- jH fornia cavalry, with a train of fifteen wagons, H containing twelve days' supplies to proceed on M the 22nd of January; and the colonel himself fol- lowed with detachments of companies A, H, K H and M, Second California cavalry; Surgeon Reed, H Third California volunteers; Captains McLean, H and Price, and Lieutenants Chase, Clark, Quinn H and Conrad, Second California cavalry. Major H Gallagher, Third California infantry, and Captain H Berry, Second California cavalry, went as volun- H teer aides, leaving Colonel George S. Evans in H command at Camp Douglas. H They found the Indians in a very strong posl- H tion, and after a fierce engagement of twenty H minutes, finding it was impossible to dislodge them without great loss of life, Major McGary. H with twenty men, was ordered to turn their H left flank, which was in the ravine where It en- H tered the mountain. Shortly afterwards Captain H Hoyt reached the ford, three-quarters of a mile H distant, but found' it impossible to cross the foot- H men. Then a detachment of cavalry was or- dered to cross, and a little later Major McGary's flanking party turned the enemy's flank. H Up to that time the Indians were under cover H and had much the advantage of the fighting, and did fight with the ferocity of tigers. But the fl flanking party was ordered to advance down the M ravine on either side, which caused the Indians M to give way. H The fight commenced at 6 in the morning and M continued until 10. At the commencement of H tho fighting the hands of some of the men were M so benumbed with cold that it was with diffl- H culty they could load their pieces. They suf- H fered terribly during the march, and not less M than seventy-five of the men had their feet M frozen, some of them were crippled for life. The jH colonel bestowed particular praise upon Major M McGary, Major Gallagher and Surgeon Reed, and indeed he had only praise for the whole com- mand. Eighteen of the command were killed, H forty-five were wounded and seventy-six confined H to the hospitals from being frozen, making the H casualties one hundred and fortythree. H The writer asked General Connor once about H the battle, if it was not a little tough considering H the weather and the situation, and in his grim H way he said: "Wo had to win. If we had not, H none of us would ever have returned, for Utah H just then was an enemies' country for us." H It made peace with the northern Indians H which was never after broken. H Later in the war, when tho Colonel was pro- H moted to General because of his services, he was H offered a high place in the army, but he preferred H with the close of the war to give up his army H life to devote himself to mining. He mined in H Utah and Nevada, and he continued his work up H to within a few weeks of his death. H He died in this city, and was given a splendid H military funeral, with Colonel Rose in command. H He earned the name of being about the best H Indian fighter in the army. He was a fine sol- H dier, but his' patriotism was superior to all his H other traits. He was one of those men who held H his life at the service of his country every mo- H ment from the time he enlisted in the Florida , H war until he laid down his life in this city. He WM did a splendid work in Utah. Ho Avas not very successful in business here, because his whole M soul was that of a soldier. H Bom a a foreign land, not much accomplished M in the schools, coming to this country a poor H emigrant, at the first call he offered his lifo, and H that offer remained open until he died. From an H obscure foreign-born boy, by his own merits he M rose until the stars of a major general glittered H on his shoulders. He was a gifted soldier, his m courage was immeasurable. His lovo for his H adopteu country was a grand passion. He did the M work appointed forv him to do perfectly, and he H sank to rest with "all his country's honors blest." H |