GOVERNOR'S HORSE GUARD.

Centennial of the Hartford Company,

  The First Company, Governor's Horse Guard, under command of Major Frank Cowles, celebrated its First Centennial Anniversary, May 8, 1888, the event proving one of great public interest in the City of Hartford. The original committee entrusted with the control of arrangements for the Centennial was elected September 22, 1887, and consisted of Major Frank Cowles, Captain Wm. G. Hubbard, Lieutenant Charles H. Dillings, Cornet F. M. Warren and Quartermaster J. C. McClure. This Committee is entitled to most of the praise for the superb character of the celebration and the complete success with which the occasion passed.

The roster of the Guard on the morning of the Centennial, which is appended, includes the Honorary Staff. The roll in full being:

Frank Cowles, Major.

Wm. G. Hubbard, Captain and 1st Lieutenant.

Charles H. Dillings, 2d Lieutenant.

F. M. Warren, Cornet.

Joseph C. McCLURE, Quartermaster

Sergeants.

Wm. W. Whitehead.                                                                                         Joseph H. Phillips.

Fred'k W. Shepard.                                                                                         Charles. H. Peck.

Corporals.

Wm. R. Wood.                                                                                                  Frank H. Seymour.

Joseph K. Green.                                                                                               Horace L. Carter.

Color Sergeants.

Alfred S. Tillotson                                                                                            Clarence W. Allen.

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Privates.

Honorary Staff.

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  The guard assembled at the armory under orders from Major Cowles, and was formed by Orderly Whitehead. The colors and officers were received with due form in front of the headquarters. Thence the Command marched to Canton Street, when the Second Company, Governor's Horse Guard, under Major H. H. Strong, of New Haven, was received with military courtesies. From Canton Street the column proceeded to the Allyn House, where Governor Lounsbury and staff were received. The column was formed as follows:

Wethersfield Band, mounted.

Major Frank Cowles and Staff.

First Company, Governor's Horse Guard, Captain Hubbard.

Carriages as follows :

No. 1. Governor Lounsbury, accompanied by Adjutant-General

Camp and Executive Secretary McLean.

No. 2. Quartermaster-General Charles Olmsted, Surgeon-General

Charles James Fox.

No. 3. Commissary-General Charles H. Pine, Paymaster-General

John B. Clapp.

No. 4.    Colonels S. B. Home, S. G. Blakeman and J. D. Chaffee.

No. 5.    Colonel E. H. Matthewson, Assistant Adjutant-General

George M. White and Assistant Quartermaster-General H. C. Morgan.

Wallingford National Band.

Second Company, Governor's Horse Guard, of New Haven,

Major H. H. Strong.

  The line of march was through Trumbull, Church and Ann to North Main, down Main to Morris, countermarch to Jefferson, thence through Washington, Trinity (under the Memorial Arch), Pearl and Trumbull, to the Allyn House, where the Governor and Staff retired from the parade.

  After leaving the Governor the two companies marched up Trumbull to Main, down Main to the armory, where they were dismissed for lunch. About three o'clock the First Company escorted the Second to Canton Street, where the horses of the New Haven company were loaded on the cars, the members of the company remaining for the banquet.

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  Both companies reported at the armory at 5 P. M., and were formed by Captains Hubbard and Hall. Thence they marched to Allyn Hall, escorting the ex-members of the First Company. Meanwhile the Honorary Staff formed the invited military and citizens in the corridor of the Allyn House, and Major Cowles formed the civic guests, who were to take part in the celebration, in the parlor. When all was ready, Major Cowles with Lieutenant-Governor Howard led the column into Allyn Hall, where the Centennial banquet had been prepared. The Hall was elegantly festooned with flags, with crossed sabres and other cavalry equipments. Hanging at the rear of the stage were portraits of old majors, including Majors James Goodwin and James T. Pratt, and opposite the stage was the portrait of the Hon. David Clark, a liberal patron of the company.

  The galleries were thronged with spectators, the majority being ladies, who listened to the addresses and watched the festivities with evident interest.

  In the main hall were eight tables with a capacity of fifty each, nearly every seat being occupied.

  At the stage table were Major Frank Cowles, with Lieutenant Governor Howard and Mayor Root on his right, and General H. C. Dwight, Toastmaster, and Orator Simonds on his left. Others at this table were General Graham, Lieutenant Colonel Thomson, Major H. H. Strong, Major J. C. Kinney, Major Joseph Warner, Rev. Wm. DeLoss Love, Jr., Judge Advocates E. H. Hyde, Jr.,,of the Foot Guard, and C. H. Clark, of the Phalanx, Hon. A. E. Burr, Colonel C. M. Joslyn and General Aleck Harbison.

  Among other military guests present were Colonel Watson and members of his staff of the Fourth, the members of Gen­eral Graham's staff, Major Lee and other officers of the Second, the field, staff, and line officers of the First Regiment, the line and staff of the Governor's Foot Guards and of the Putnam Phalanx. A large number of civilian guests were also present, including many of the foremost citizens.

  The divine blessing was invoked by Rev. Mr. Love of the Pearl Street Congregational Church. The banquet was thoroughly satisfactory and was enjoyed with apparent zest and pleasure.

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The Centennial  Oration.

  At the conclusion of the banquet, Major Cowles introduced the orator of the occasion, Hon. Wm. E. Simonds, who gave an elaborate history of the Command from its inception. The address was a splendid effort. It is given in full.

Gentlemen of the Horse Guards :

Bear with me as I grope in the dry-as-dust of a century.

            Your original charter was granted in 1788, but the Guard probably had its origin, as a voluntary association, in the second year of the War of the Revolution. You may find in the Memorial History of Hartford County, written by a hand practiced in antiquarian research, the following mention of Major John Caldwell, your first commander: "During the Revolution, he helped to organize a voluntary troop of horse which did service in the State under Governor Trumbull’s orders, and which was incorporated in 1788 as the Governor's Horse Guards."

Your flags have always proclaimed your origin in 1778. Ten years ago, that question being mooted, living past members of the Guard who had served under your second flag with older members who had served under the first, testified to the declarations of illustrious charter members, Governor Oliver Wolcott, Jr. among them, that your flags have told the truth in this regard.

  Agai : In Stuart's Life of Trumbull you may find it stated that in August, 1781, Governor Trumbull decided to make a trip to Danbury, and that, (I quote) " attended by his body guard and by several members of his family he started for the frontier," that frontier being at Danbury. In this connection there are entries as follows in Governor Trumbull’s diary:

  "Thursday 9th. Set out for Danbury. Mrs. Trumbull and Faith with me. Stephen Brown to wait on us. Captain Norton, with Wild, two Olmstedds and Goodwin, Guards."

"Saturday 18th. Colonel Trumbull returned. Mr. Cook went with orders to officers of Governor's Guards, Hartford."

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  "Saturday 25. Set out at 8 o'clock, came into Hartford at 10 from Farmington. Lieutentant Bull of Governor's Guards and Brown came with me. Captain Jonathan Bull met us on the way. Captain Norton escorted me out and back."

  As to these entries it may be observed, first, that unless the unreasonable assumption be adopted that this journey of 184 miles was made at the pace of a walk the Guard which did escort duty was one of horse and not of foot; and, second, that the Foot Guard did not have a "Captain Norton," who, as Governor Trumbull says, "escorted me out and back." There is other evidence of the Revolutionary origin of the Horse Guards, but this suffices.

  In 1788, ten years after the original association, this command was regularly chartered by a resolution of the General Assembly. The Memorial praying for this charter—probably drafted by Thomas Youngs Seymour (of whom more hereinafter) sets out in part, incidentally, and to a degree necessarily, the distinguished character of the charter members of this command. It is as follows:

  "To His Excellency, the Governor, and the Honorable General Assembly, of the State of Connecticut, convened at Hartford, on the second Thursday of May, A. D. 1788:

  The Memorial of the subscribers, all inhabitants of the Town of Hartford, in the County of Hartford, and living within the limits of the City of Hartford, honestly sheweth that they are for the most part legally exempted from constituting the Military Force of this State, having been commissioned or staff officers during the late war, or are now holding some civil office which by law gives an exemption; that they have observed with regret that the ardor for military discipline possessed by the militia during the war hath since the peace very much decreased, and that they feel an ambition to contribute as much as possible to its revival. The memorialists have therefore associated together, to address your Honors on this occasion, to request that they may have a separate military establishment and may be formed into a troop of Volunteer Horse or Light Dragoons, to be called by the name of the Governor's Independent Volunteer Troop of Horse Guards, whose particular duty shall be to attend upon and escort the Governor of this State in times of peace and war, and in lieu thereof be exempted from every other kind of military responsibility, and in case your Honors shall think proper to establish said Troop, as aforesaid, that a day may be appointed for choosing the officers of the same, and when chosen and commissioned according to law that said officers may have power to augment said troop by enlistment, so that it may consist of sixty men, rank and

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file, and that it may be entitled to the same power and privileges that other troops of horse in this State by law, have and enjoy, and your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray."

Dated at Hartford this ist day of May, A. D. 1788.

            John Caldwell, John Morgan, Charles Phelps, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Peter Colt, James Bull, Hezekiah Bull", Thomas Bull, Asa Hopkins, William Mosely, Rod Olcott, Caleb Bull, Jr., William Lawrence, Chauncey Goodrich, Samuel Lawrence, Hezekiah Merrill, Wm. Knox, Horatio Wales, Bar Deane, Richard Hart, Richard Goodman, Tim Burr, Daniel Goodwin, Samuel Marsh, Jr., Samuel Burr, John Chenevard, Jr., Ashbel Wells, Jr., Thomas Y. Seymour, Ephraim Root, Samuel W. Pomeroy.

  The original charter is a resolution passed by the General Assembly as of the date of the second Thursday of May, 1788, and is as follows :

  "Upon the Memorial of John Caldwell, etc. Showing to this Assembly that they have associated together for the purpose of being formed into an Independent Volunteer Troop of Horse or Light Dragoons to be under the immediate command of His Excellency the Governor of the State, and requesting to be established accordingly as per Memorial on file. Resolved that the Memorialists John Caldwell, John Morgan, Charles Phelps, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Peter Colt, James Bull, Hezekiah Bull, Thomas Bull, Asa Hopkins, William Mosely, Roderic Olcott, Caleb Bull, Jr., William Lawrence, Chauncey Goodrich, Samuel Lawrence, Hezekiah Merrill, William Knox, Horatio Wales, Barnabas Deane, Joseph Hart, Richard Hart, Richard Goodman, Timothy Burr, Daniel Goodwin, Samuel Marsh, Jr., Samuel Burr, John Chenevard, Jr., Ashbel Wells, Jr., Thomas Y. Seymour, Ephraim Root and Samuel W. Pomeroy, be, and, they are hereby constituted a Troop of Light Dragoons, by the name of the Governor's Independent Volunteer Troop of Horse Guards, to be subject to the orders of the Governor and to attend upon and escort him in times of peace and war, and at all times as occasion may require ; be furnished with sufficient horses proper for said service, with necessary equipments, and be dressed in uniform all at their own expense and in lieu thereof be exempted from every other kind of military duty. And said troop shall consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one cornet, one quartermaster-sergeant, three drill sergeants, and four corporals and sixty privates, with power to the officers of said troop, so soon as they shall be chosen and commissioned, by enlistment, to augment the same to said numbers, provided always that in consequence of such enlistments, the other military companies in the Town of Hartford, out of which they may be enlisted, are not reduced below the number of sixty-four rank and file, and said troop shall have power

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to choose their said officers on Monday the 10th day of May, instant, being led to a choice by the Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the First Regiment of Militia in the State. And it shall be in the power of the officers chosen on said day, when commissioned, to call out said troop as often as they shall think proper to perfect the same in military discipline, and the names of the officers that may or shall be chosen as aforesaid, shall by said Lieutenant-Colonel be returned to the present General Assembly. And in case any of said troop shall neglect to obey the orders of their said officers they shall be subject to the same penalties that other Troops of Horse in this State are by law liable to suffer for neglect or disobedience. And the Captain of said Troop shall have the rank of Major. And this Resolve shall continue in force during the pleasure of the General Assembly and no longer."

  The election of officers called for in this charter was duly held under the direction of Hezekiah Wyllis, Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the 1st Regiment (the highest officer of all regiments then being a lieutenant-colonel) and they made choice of commissioned officers as follows: John Caldwell, captain (with the rank of major), Thomas Y. Seymour, first lieutenant, Charles Phelps, second lieutenant, and Timothy Burr, cornet.

CHARTER  MEMBERS.

  Although John Caldwell was the first major of this troop after the grant of the charter, the real promoter of this organization was Thomas Youngs Seymour, and for that reason I shall speak of him first. He was the son of Thomas Seymour, the first mayor of Hartford, and such for nearly thirty years; he was a student in Yale College when the Revolutionary War broke out, but left his studies to join the army; he was commissioned as a lieutenant in Sheldon's Light Dragoons, January 10, 1777, being then less than twenty years of age; he was promoted to a captaincy, October 20, 1777; he resigned November 23, 1778, and during the remainder of his life-time was a lawyer of character and eminence here in Hartford. One of the paintings in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington represents Burgoyne's surrender to Gates at Saratoga, October 17, 1777, and Lieutenant Thomas Youngs Seymour is shown in the foreground mounted upon a horse; a smaller copy: of that picture is in our Atheneum. In the Yale Art Gallery there is a miniature portrait of him, by Trumbull, which is very perfectly reproduced in the Memorial History of Hartford County. Seymour's reputation in the Revolutionary War is that of a brave and gallant officer; and the trust reposed in him by General Gates was so great that upon

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Burgoyne's surrender he was appointed to escort that general to Boston, in the performance of which duty he so pleased Burgoyne that the latter presented him a fine leopard skin for a saddle cloth, to which use it was often put when Seymour was Major of this Command. His first wife was a daughter of Colonel Ledyard, the eminent victim of the Groton Massacre. He was the second major of this troop, serving as such from 1796 to 1800. He filled many positions of trust both state and municipal, and died May 16, 1811, at the age of fifty-four. As may be seen from the portrait to which I have referred, he was a fine specimen of manly beauty. He cannot have been other than an ideal soldier, and this command may well take pride in pointing to this educated gentleman and gallant officer as its promoter.

  John Caldwell, the first charter member and the first major of these Guards, was one of the most prominent citizens of Hartford in his day. He was the first president of the Hartford Bank, one of the commissioners that built the State House in 1794, one of the first Board of Aldermen of Hartford, one of the commissioners to lay out the bridge and causeway to East Hartford, president of the Hartford Marine Insurance Company, and his name is first on the list of incorporators of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. He was a merchant in a very large sense, himself a builder of ships which he owned and employed in commerce with various parts of the globe; he was also a heavy underwriter of marine insurance for others. The early bills of the Hartford Bank bear a picture of his large warehouse on the bank of the Connecticut River with one of his ships housed and out of use during the embargo. He died in 1838 largely bereft of his fortune through the French spoliations but blessed with the highest esteem and respect of his fellow men. He was the grandfather of the late Colonel Samuel Colt, whose son, now living, bears the name of this worthy Major John Caldwell. Although Major Caldwell was a member of the Center Church, I find that when Christ Church was erected he contributed to the building fund the worth of ten pounds sterling in pure spirit. Notwithstanding its purity, I strongly suspect that this spirit was wholly of earthly origin.

  John Morgan, the second charter member of these Guards, was a graduate of Yale College, at times a member of the legislature, at other times a prominent state officer, a successful ship owner and trader, always public spirited and connected with almost every undertaking for the prosperity of the city of Hartford in its infancy; he was the projector of the bridge across the Connecticut River; the street leading to that bridge was named after him; near its junction with Main Street he built one of the most elegant and substantial residences of his day; he

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was also the builder of the first block of stores which Hartford had. Take him all in all he was well worthy of the noble company who make up your charter members.

  Charles Phelps, your third charter member, and your first second lieutenant, has left but little trace of himself in history, but that little is wholly honorable. He had served a long term in the War of the Revolution and was made Lieutenant of the Guards through force of high personal character and efficiency in military discipline.

  Your fourth charter member, Oliver Wolcott, Jr., has left, ample traces in history; he was a son, of Oliver Wolcott, Sr., a general in the Revolutionary Army, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Connecticut. Oliver Wolcott, Jr., graduated from Yale College in 1778. In 1779 and 1780 he was quartermaster on his father's staff. In1781 he was admitted to the bar; in1784 he was appointed, with Oliver Ellsworth, a commissioner of the State of Connecticut to adjust the claims between the State and the Nation. He was State Comptroller in 1788 and 1789; in the latter part of 1789 he was appointed Auditor of the National Treasury under Alexander Hamilton. He was appointed Comptroller of the United States Treasury in 1791; in 1793 he was appointed Secretary of the United States Treasury; which office he held through the remainder of Washington’s and nearly the whole of Adams' administrations, resigning in 1800. In 1801 he was made a judge of the Second Circuit of the United States. In 1817 he was elected Governor of the State of Connecticut, being the third of his family in lineal succession who attained that honor; he was elected for ten successive years, closing his administration in 1827; he died in 1833 and is buried in historic old Litchfield. Peter Colt, your fifth charter member, was born at Lyme, Connecticut, in 1744. He entered Yale College but was compelled to leave in his junior year through failing health. In 1774 he was appointed one of the New Haven Town Committee of Correspondence. In 1775 he became military secretary to General Wooster. In 1777 Congress appointed him Deputy Commissary General of Purchases for the Eastern Department, which included New England and a part of New York, and this gave him the rank of colonel; he was subsequently an active assistant to Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth in furnishing supplies to the French Troops under Rochambeau. From 1789 to 1793 he was Treasurer of Connecticut, but in the spring of the latter year he resigned and removed to Paterson, New Jersey, to take charge of the "Society for Establishing useful Manufactures." In 1796 he went to Rome, New York, to superintend the works of the Western Inland Lock Navigation

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Company, the forerunner of the Erie Canal. He died in 1824. He was an ancestor of the late Elisha Colt and also of Harris Colt, at present a member of the firm of Collins & Company in New York City.

  Your sixth, seventh, eighth and twelfth charter members, James Bull, Hezekiah Bull, Thomas Bull and Caleb Bull, Jr., were four brothers, all sons of Caleb Bull, Sr., who had twelve children, nine of whom were sons, and these nine all lived to manhood. They were all successful merchants and in easy circumstances. James Bull was at one time Commissary General of the United States. Caleb Bull, Jr., was one of the committee appointed in June, 1784, to fix the limits of the City of Hartford and draw up a petition for its incorporation, and when the city charter was granted he was a member of its first board of aldermen. Caleb Bull, Jr., was the grandfather of the late Hetty Bull of this city. The third major of these Guards, George Bull, was a son of one of these charter members.

  Your ninth charter member, Asa Hopkins, was a druggist and bookseller, successful in business and of good social standing; his store was for many years near Exchange Corner; the present successors of his business are Lee & Sisson. Hopkins Street is named after one of his descendants.

  Your tenth charter member, William Mosely, was a lawyer of good standing and practice in Hartford, from about 1784 until 1823. He constantly occupied positions of trust and was faithful to them all. Among other offices that he held was that of State Senator from 1822 to 1824. Your eleventh charter member, Roderick Olcott, was a gentleman of social position and in possession of an income permitting him to enjoy an easy life without special employment, but he constantly interested himself in matters of public concern in a way which was of benefit to the city. Your thirteenth and fifteenth charter members, William and Samuel Lawrence, were brothers and sons of John L. Lawrence, at one time State Treasurer; William Lawrence was a dry goods merchant in Burr Street, later North Main Street, and Samuel Lawrence was in the hardware trade.

  Your fourteenth charter member, Chauncey Goodrich, was born in Durham, Connecticut; he entered Yale College at the age of thirteen, graduated in due course, and in 1779 was elected tutor of that institution. In 1793 he was the orator of the day at Hartford, on the occasion of the celebration of the proclamation of peace between Great Britain and the United States; the same year he was a member of the legislature from Hartford. From 1794 to 1800 he was a representative in Congress. In 1802 he was chosen Assistant Counselor of the State and

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held that office until 1807, when he was elected United States Senator. In 1812 he was made mayor of Hartford, and in 1813 Lieutenant-Governor of the State, at which time he resigned his seat in the Senate.

  Your sixteenth charter member, Hezekiah Merrill, was the first cashier of the Hartford Bank and the first treasurer of the City of Hartford; he was the grandfather of Charles W. Johnson, the present Clerk of the Superior Court for the County of Hartford. Your seventeenth charter member, William Knox, was a manufacturer of saddles and harnesses, successful as such and of good standing in the community. Of your eighteenth charter member, Horatio Wales, I have found no special mention except that he was a deputy sheriff.

  Barnabas Deane, your nineteenth charter member, was a lieutenant in Captain Chester's company, which in 1775 marched for Boston on receiving news of the fighting at Lexington and Concord. He was brother to Silas Deane, American minister to France with Benjamin Franklin. He was the nominal head of the firm of Barnabas Deane & Co., whose secret partners were General Nathaniel Greene, Quartermaster-General of the United States, and Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, Commissary-General of the United States. The story of this firm was told fully, for the first time, in an article entitled "A Business Firm in the Revolution," in the Magazine of American History, for July, 1884, by Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull.

  Joseph Hart and Richard Hart, your twentieth and twenty-first charter members, were brothers. Joseph Hart, a graduate of Harvard College, and at one time candidate for Governor, was your third major. Both these brothers were among the very first business men of the day. Two brothers, descendants of these Harts, live among us today and have no occasion to feel anything but pride in these ancestors, Your twenty-second charter member, Richard Goodman, was an ancestor of the gentleman of that name now living in Lenox, Mass., and holding a distinguished social position, as did your charter member of this name of his day. Your twenty-third and twenty-sixth charter members, Timothy Burr and Samuel Burr, were relatives, and I think were brothers. Both were merchants and wealthy men. The street whereon they lived and did business was named after them, and is the same street since known as North Main Street. Timothy Burr was the first man promoted to be an officer of this troop after its charter was granted, and continued in the office about fifteen years; he was the commander of the First Regiment of Hartford County Troops, from 1804 to 1807, and Brigadier General of the First Brigade, from 1807 to 1809. The Burr Brothers, proprietors of the Times newspaper, are descendants of these charter members.

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  Your twenty-fourth charter member, Daniel Goodwin, was a man possessed of means sufficient to live upon the income thereof, and was a great uncle of the late Daniel Goodwin of our times. Your twenty-fifth charter member, Samuel Marsh, Jr., was a successful business man in Hartford, occupying a high rank in society. Your twenty-seventh charter member, John Chenevard, Jr., was a son of Captain John Chenevard; the father and son were associated together in business and in trading with the West Indies. Your twenty-eighth charter member, Ashbel Wells, Jr., is recorded as being a merchant and a wealthy man, and I have found no further record of him. Your twenty-ninth charter member was the Thomas Youngs Seymour whom I have already described. Your thirtieth charter member, Ephraim Root, was a lawyer of good character and large practice he was a son of Jesse Root, who was a member of the Continental Congress, Chief Justice of Connecticut and author of Root's Reports. Your thirty-first and last charter member, Samuel W. Pomeroy, was a successful broker, a man of standing in society and of very considerable wealth.

  This short biography of your charter members, giving only a part of the honorable things which can be truthfully said of them, shows that they were the most distinguished body of citizens, which in this State, and perhaps in any of the United States, ever associated themselves together for a like purpose. If I am correctly informed the position of the Governor's Guard, both Horse and Foot, is unique among the military organizations of the United States, for, I am told, that no other governor than ours has a guard which is distinctively his own, subject to no orders but his, and not affiliated with the military system of the State. I am greatly inclined to think that these men who formed the Horse Guard built to a degree at least upon a British model. The Royal Horse Guard were then, as they are now, the most aristocratic branch of the British military system. They were then, as now, a part of the Household Brigade, whose duty is to garrison the city of London in time of peace, to form a special guard for the palace at Windsor, and to escort the sovereign on all occasions of state and ceremony. The uniform which your charter members adopted was one of singular elegance and wholly in keeping with their distinguished personal character and with the ideal upon which they based their organization. That uniform consisted of a bear skin dragoon hat, white broadcloth coat brilliant with lace and braid of gold, red belt above tight pants and boots with yellow tops.

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LIST  OF MAJORS.

Your line of majors commanding the Horse Guards, as printed in the Memorial History of Hartford County, is as follows:

  These terms of service are not strictly correct, although they are probably so in the main. The name "D. F. Raphael" should be D'Ortigue Raphel. He came from Marseilles in France, and I confess to some degree of curiosity as to the why and how of his being major of this command.

  Upon the first four of your majors, John Caldwell, Thomas Y. Seymour, Joseph Hart and George Bull, I have already remarked sufficiently in speaking of charter members. Your fifth major, Henry Seymour, was a brother of Thomas Youngs Seymour, the father of Governor Thomas H. Seymour, a successful broker, a man of liberal education, and the Courant of that day tells that he was one of the

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committee of the Independence Day celebration of 1794. Your sixth major, Samuel Ledlie, was a successful broker, a man of means and a gentleman of culture. Your seventh major, Michael Olcott, was a son of the charter member of that name, half brother of Major John Caldwell and associated with him in his large shipping business; he was for years Quartermaster-General of Connecticut and frequently represented Hartford in the General Assembly. Your eighth major, Joseph Burnham, was a wholesale grocer, and at one time cashier of the United States Branch Bank in this city. Your ninth major, Joseph Kees, was a farmer living in West Hartford; he died in the first year of his command and was the only major who has died in office.

  Your tenth major, Daniel Buck, was associated with Dudley Buck as a merchant on a large scale. I infer that this Dudley Buck was an ancestor of the famous living musical composer of the same name. This Daniel Buck was influential in the introduction of Jersey cattle into this country. One of his early importations of these cattle came in the ship "Splendid." The names "Splendid" and "Splendens" are famous ones in Jersey pedigrees. Your eleventh major, Barzillai D, Buck, was a farmer of Wethersfield. Your twelfth major, John E. Hart, was a gentleman of means and leisure, a fine horseman and a good commanding officer.

  Your thirteenth major, James T; Pratt, was born in Cromwell, Connecticut, in 1804, died in Wethersfield, April 11, 1887, at the age of eighty-three, and for the whole of his adult life was a prominent figure in Connecticut. In 1824 he, with E. G. Howe and Roland Mather, was a pioneer, in this city, in the jobbing and commission dry goods business, the firm name being first "Pratt, Howe & Mather" and afterwards " Howe, Mather & Company." He enlisted in the Horse Guards in 1820, was chosen its major July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the American Independence, and he remained major until 1829. In 1834 he was elected major of the First Regiment of Cavalry; he became colonel of that command in 1836. From 1837 to 1839 he was the Brigadier-General of the First Brigade. From 1839 to 1846 he was Major-General of the First Division, and in this last year he was also Adjutant-General of the State. In the years 1847, 1848, 1850, 1857 and 1862, he represented the town of Rocky Hill in the legislature. In 1852 he was senator for the First District. In 1859 he was the democratic candidate for governor, but was defeated by Governor Buckingham. In 1860 he was delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Charleston, and in that convention planted himself fairly and squarely on the side of the Union. He was again a member of the legislature in

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1870 and 1871,"and although his democracy was of the strongest type he never hesitated to act with his political opponents when he thought his duty called upon him  so to do.  Take him all in all he was an honest, upright man, a true hearted gentleman and a major in whom this command has a right to take pride.

  Your fourteenth major, James Goodwin, was born March 2, 1803, and died March 16, 1878, full of years and well merited honors. It would be impossible to name any man more closely connected with the progress and prosperity of Hartford than Major James Goodwin. The history of Hartford for half a century is in large part his history. While yet a young man he with his associates controlled all the important lines of coaches radiating from Hartford, but comprehending with his keen foresight the then future of the railway, he disposed of his interest and in 1829 became a director of the Hartford and New Haven Railroad; he was one of the original incorporators of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1847; the next year he was elected its president and held that position until he died with the exception of three years; he was a director of the Hartford Fire Insurance Company for nearly forty years; he was an active manager of The Collins Company, The Hartford Carpet Company, The Holyoke Water Power Company, The Gatling Gun Company, The Connecticut Trust Company and many other business enterprises. He was a director of the Hospital, a trustee of Trinity College, a vestryman of Christ Church and connected with a great number of benevolent and religious institutions. He was one of twenty-six electors who united to call a town meeting in 1862, at which $100,000 were appropriated to support the families of drafted men and pay them bounties. In all this vast mass of business, which he apparently carried with the greatest of ease, there comes to us no record of any act of overreaching on his part, but there does come to us a lifelong record of uprightness straightforwardness, generosity, and Christian character.

  Of your other majors, all eminently capable and respectable, lack of time forbids me to speak in detail. But I cannot forbear to mention that Allen C. Boardman commanded the Guard for fourteen years; Henry Boardman for fifteen years, and Chauncey B. Boardman for fifteen years; it is alike honorable to you and to these gentlemen that for more than a third of the century we are now exploring, your major has been a Boardman.

UNIFORMS.

  Your first uniform, comprising the white broadcloth coat brilliant with braid and lace of gold, I have already described. Your second

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uniform came in about 1804. It was that of a French Hussar, grenadier bear skin hat, blue cloth coat trimmed with gold lace and reaching to the saddle, and bright blue pants. Your third uniform dates from about 1812, grenadier bear skin hat, light blue coat trimmed with gold lace and having short tails, bright red belt, blue pants with stripe and long cavalry boots; the saddle cloth and bridle were trimmed with red; under Major Pratt, about 1826, buff fronts were added to the coats. Your fourth uniform came in about 1846 with Major Henry Boardman. It comprised a grenadier bear skin hat, dark blue coat trimmed with gilt lace and reaching to the saddle, red belt, buckskin pants and long cavalry boots for the officers. Your fifth and present uniform dates from 1872 under Major Chauncey B. Boardman. It is a helmet carrying a yellow plume; a coat of dark blue trimmed with yellow; blue pants with yellow stripe on side; gauntlets, black belt and breast-plate. Officers wear a chapeau hat with black and yellow feather; dark blue coats trimmed with white; buff breeches with high top boots.

PAGEANTS AND PARADES.

  It would require more time than is at our disposal to detail all of the pageants, processions and parades in which you have taken part. You have paraded at substantially every gubernatorial inauguration of the last century, and these have included the inaugurations of Oliver Wolcott, Jr., one of your own charter members, for ten successive years. It is not at all unlikely that you were present, as a part of the escort, in September 1780, at the famous conference held in Hartford between General Washington, General Knox, Marquis de Lafayette. Admiral Tiernay and Count Rochambeau, for Stuart's allusion, in his life of Trumbull, to "glittering uniforms" worn by guards on that occasion has a peculiar appropriateness if understood as applying to your white broadcloth coats resplendent with braid and lace of gold. The Connecticut Mirror newspaper, says: "that the election parade of 1790 was viewed with particular satisfaction because the Horse were in uniforms made out of the manufactures of this state, which shows their patriotism and good sense. The Commander-in-Chief, (Governor Huntington,) dined in a beautiful cloth from the Hartford manufactory."  A correspondent of the Courant presumed that this patriotic example would great weight in introducing so laudable a fashion.

  Mrs. Austin (Updike) Lee's remembrance of the election parade of is given in the Memorial History of Hartford County. Among other things she says: "The company of Horse made an imposing appearance, horses were very fine and Mr. Pomeroy said that they were

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of two hundred dollars value each, which was a great price at that After tea, an hour before sunset, it was announced that the Governor; and procession were entering the city. When he arrived in front of the State House he alighted, ascended and stood on the spacious front step. The military passed and saluted him by a discharge of their pistols over his head.  After the salute he walked to a public house near. The next day the procession was the longest I had ever seen. It was headed by the military; then followed the sheriff with his sword, the Governor, Senate and members of the House of Representatives, two and two; then singly walked President Stiles, dressed in full black gown, cocked hat and full bottomed wig. I should think there were two hundred ministers dressed in black, and after them walked the citizens." The Courant of May 15, 1797, says: "On Thursday last the general elections of the State of Connecticut were celebrated in this city. About twelve o'clock a procession marched to the North Meeting House preceded by a band of music and company of cadets, and escorted by a company of Horse commanded by Major Hart; both companies exhibited proofs of a strict attention to discipline and reflected honor on their respective officers."

  You seem to have been on parade duty at least three times in 1798, for the Courant of May 15, 1798. gives a considerable account of your appearance at the election parade; the same paper of July 7, 1798, gives a description of you at the celebration of Independence Day, and the diary of General George Washington mentions your escort of him in what he calls "elegant uniforms " during the visits which he made to Hartford in October and November of that year.

  Kendall’s Travels in the Northern United States describe the election ceremonies in 1807. Kendall says: "I reached Hartford on Wednesday, May 19th. The Governor (Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.,) was expected to arrive in the evening. The Governor has volunteer companies of guard, both horse and foot. In the afternoon the Horse were drawn up on the bank of the river, to receive him and escort him to his lodgings. He came before sunset; and the fineness of the evening, the beauty of the river, the respectable appearance of the Governor and of the troop, the dignity of the occasion and the decorum observed united to gratify the spectator. The color of the clothes of the troop was blue. The Governor, though on horseback, was dressed in black; but he wore a cockade in a hat which I do not like the less because it was in its form more of the old school than of the new." Of the procession Kendall says: "At about, 11 o'clock His Excellency entered he State House and shortly after took his place at the head of the procession

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which was made to a meeting house or church at something than half a mile distant. The procession was on foot and was composed of the person of the Governor together with the lieutenant-governor, assistants, high sheriffs, members of the lower house of Assembly and, unless with accidental exceptions, all the clergy of the state. It was preceded by the Foot Guards and followed by the Horse, and attended by gazers, that, considering the size and population of the may be said to be enormous." Of the dress of the participants in the parade, Kendall says: " It was in the two bodies of the guards alone any suitable approach to magnificence discovered itself. The Governor was full dressed in a suit of black but the lieutenant-governor riding boots. All, however, was consistently plain, and in uniform itself, except the dress swords which were worn by the high sheriffs, with their village habiliments, and of which the fashion and materials were marvelously diversified."

  The Courant of July 1, 1817, gives a full account of your appearance at President Monroe's visit to this city, saying in substance, that on Monday June 23d the committee of arrangements, accompanied by Governor's Horse Guards under the command of Major Buck and numerous train of citizens, met the President at Crane's Tavern in Wethersfield, where he arrived at three o'clock p.m., under the escort of a of horse, the sheriff of Middlesex County, with Gen. Humphreys (had politely accompanied him from New Haven) and a number citizens from Middletown: thence he was escorted to Hartford. About a mile below the city, the President with General Swift and Mr. Mason, his private secretary, left their carriages and proceeded on horseback to Morgan's Hotel. The artillery companies fired a national salute. The escort was then joined by a large party of citizens, etc., etc.

  September 4th and 5th A. D. 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette paid a visit to Hartford and the Courant’s next issue gave a full account of. He was met fourteen miles to the east of the city by the First company of the Governor's Horse Guard under command of Major Hart.  He was expected to arrive in the evening and ample preparations had been made to illuminate Morgan Street, Main Street and House Square. The evening was dark and rainy but the streets were thronged. About midnight the sound of cannon from across the river announced, as was supposed, the coming of Lafayette. Instantly houses and stores were in a blaze of light. On the west side of the State House, that is, in front, was a superb arch wreathed in evergreens bearing  as a central illumination "Welcome La Fayette," at one side “Yorktown," and on the other side "Monmouth." A brilliant display

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of fireworks had been arranged, but about one o'clock in the morning a messenger came to say that Lafayette had stopped over night at Stafford. The lights were put out and many, but not all, went to bed. At dawn of day the sleepers woke to the sound of cannon, and soon the streets were thronged again although the day was not a pleasant one. About ten o'clock, more cannon, and the ringing of bells, put it beyond a doubt that the Marquis had come, sure enough. He crossed the bridge across the Connecticut under the escort of this Guard, attended by his suite. The procession moved up Morgan Street to Main, and then down Main to the State House, loud huzzas greeting him at every step, which he acknowledged with bows and smiles and the waving of his hand. At Bennett's Hotel he was addressed by the Mayor on behalf of the City, and by the Governor on behalf of the State, to both of whom he happily responded. After breakfast and an hour of rest, a barouche, drawn by four elegant white horses, received the Marquis and the Governor; other carriages forming in the rear. As the Carriages started, nine rousing cheers were given at the call of General Johnson. At the State House the Marquis alighted and went within, passing through ranks of hundreds of children from the city schools arranged in regular lines. In the Senate Chamber he received some hundreds of ladies. He then took his station under the arch in front and the troops passed before dm in review, etc., etc.

  The Courant gives an account of your escort to General Jackson on the occasion of his visit to Hartford in June, 1833; it says:

  "The President, accompanied by Vice-President Van Buren, Governor Cass, Secretary of War, Governor Woodbridge, Secretary of the Navy, Governor Marcy of New York, Governor Edwards, Hon. Joel Poinsett of South Carolina, Major Donelson, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Committee, and other gentlemen, was met at Berlin by he Mayor of this city, Aldermen and Common Council, and a large number of citizens in carriages and on horseback. About two miles from this city the President was met by General Hayden and suite, and the Governor's Horse Guards, and escorted to the city line where his arrival was announced by the national salute from the Artillery, and the ringing of bells. After reviewing the extended line of military, which was drawn up to receive him, a procession was formed and moved through the streets with the Horse Guards, under Major Denslow, at the lead. The bluff old hero rode a horse and received a hearty welcome." The Courant of June 29, 1847, records the visit of President Polk  this city, and mentions among the escort certain "Cavalry" which could not have been any other than this troop. A halt was made when

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the President arrived opposite Mr. Sigourney's" residence, and Mrs. Sigourney presented him with a bouquet of flowers. The Courant closes its account with the following droll remark: "Though the reception was decorous and respectful there was little warmth about it except that produced by the broiling sun."

 The Hartford Evening Press of June 26, 1867, records you as heading the military procession in the reception given to President Andrew Johnson, and remarks editorially: "If Phil. Sheridan were to come here today we should see what popular enthusiasm is." Well, Phil. Sheridan did come in that same year, October 24, 1867, and did receive a most enthusiastic reception, the First Company of the Governor's Horse Guards leading the line. On this occasion the Courant of October 25th said that Hartford had rarely seen a more enthusiastic gathering of citizens, or more elaborate decorations and illuminations. Crowds gathered on all the principal streets early in the day. Flags were thrown to the breeze from almost every staff in the city and from numberless windows and lines, while wreaths and festoons added to the general festivity. The engine which drew him said "I have brought you Sheridan" and was gaily draped with flags and streamers. General Hawley welcomed him as he stepped from the train, and the moment the great crowd had access to him they overwhelmed him with hearty welcomes. At the Allyn House he reviewed the procession from the balcony, and being introduced by Governor Buckingham, expressed his pleasure at his reception. The evening was made gay by a torchlight procession, more speeches, and by entertainments provided by David Clark and General Robert O. Tyler.

  On a perfect day in August 1874 (21st) Hartford had a gala day in the reception given Marshall Jewell on his return home from his mission as Minister to Russia, and the Horse Guards, as usual led the line.

  The Courant of June 9, 1881, records a very grand affair indeed, the Reunion of the Army of the Potomac at Hartford on the day preceding. The Courant describes it as a brilliant occasion. At an early hour the city resounded with the strains of martial music. The parade at noon was witnessed by thousands. The Opera House was crowded in the afternoon and the finale was a grand banquet with speeches in the evening. The third division of the line was headed by Cheney's band leading the Governor's Horse Guard who turned out fifty-eight officers and men. The sidewalks along the line of march were crowded and cheering was frequent and enthusiastic. The First Regiment was reviewed by General Sherman just before the procession formed. The Opera House was liberally trimmed. Everywhere flags, bunting and

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army badges made an attractive scene.  Prominent upon the stage were Secretary of War  Lincoln,   Lieutenant-General Sherman, Generals Wright, Burnside, Franklin, McMahon and Devens, Daniel Dougherty, Governor Bigelow, Ex-Governor Jewell, Governor Littlefield of Rhode Island, Senator  Hawley,  Mayor  Bulkeley, and  Lieutenant-Governor Bulkeley. Mayor Bulkeley delivered an address of welcome. Honorable Daniel Dougherty of Philadelphia, the orator of the day, was then introduced. When he referred to "The March to the Sea" and placed his hand upon Sherman's shoulder, the great concourse rose, cheered and waved their hats.    Upon his referring to President Lincoln, cheers were given for his son there present. The address was a magnificent effort. After music by the band, short addresses were made by General Sherman, Secretary Lincoln, General Burnside, General Franklin, Senator Hawley, General Sickles, General Devens, General Slocum and by Governor Bigelow in behalf of the State.

  These are the more prominent of the parades and pageants in which you have generally led the line, but they are only a part, for in all probability there has been no public occasion of any magnitude in the last one hundred and ten years in which the First Company of the Governor's Horse Guards has not been prominent and added to the dignity and importance of the display.

  It has not been the fortune of this troop, unless it were in Revolutionary days and under circumstances which have not come down to us, to meet an enemy on the field of battle, though men from your ranks have also served in all the wars the nation has known.

  Nevertheless for a hundred years and more you have rendered not only the service of ornament - itself of value and deserving of thanks - but you have also rendered that other distinct service which consists in keeping before the eyes of men, and especially of youth, that example of soldierly organization and military discipline which even a free people will always need till the coming of that blessed time when war shall be known no more.       

  As I stand here tonight and look back through the century to the gallant and handsome Thomas Youngs Seymour coming home from his captaincy in Sheldon's Light Dragoons to organize this troop, some reflections on the changes which that century has wrought rise for utter­ance without my special bidding.

  This Guard has seen less than four millions of people increase into more than sixty millions. It has seen the original thirteen State's add to their number till they are now thirty-eight, with a thirty-ninth and fortieth standing and knocking at the door. It has seen a commerce of half a

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million of dollars of exports multiply into seven hundred and forty millions. It has seen the invention of the railway, the steamboat, the telegraph, the telephone, and the great majority of all the other improvements by which man multiplies his natural capacity a thousand fold. It has seen a sparse fringe of population along the Atlantic coast, with magical growth, sweep in a resistless wave across the great prairies of the Mississippi basin, climb the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierras, roll down the western slopes and spread over the rich intervals

beyond, even down to the golden sands of the Pacific.

  It saw the consummation of the war of the Revolution and three quarters of a century later it saw the potency of slavery in a four years' death grapple with the potency of freedom, championed by the other half, with the victory, in the providence of God, for freedom and the

Union.

  For a century this Guard has been the personal escort of that long line of men, always worthy and sometimes great, who have been the governors of Connecticut. Meanwhile it has given such escort to Washington, to Monroe and to Lafayette; to "Old Hickory," to Polk and Johnson; to Phil. Sheridan, bravest of the brave; to Sherman of worldwide fame through his wonderful "March to the Sea;" and to all that brilliant galaxy of soldiers and civilians who made up the reunion of the Army of the Potomac in 1881.   

  And you have been the guard of honor of the Governors of a state peerless among all the sisterhood, I refer to the state - including the colony - of Connecticut; she who wrote out the first of free constitutions known to mankind and fashioned the model which is wrought into the dual sovereignty of the states and the nation; she who as a colony gave in a single year one little army for the help of Massachusetts, a second little army for the help of New York and a third for the invasion of Canada; she who produced Israel Putnam to command at Bunker Hill; she who sent into the Revolutionary Army more men in proportion to her population than any other state;  she who hung high before the admiration of the world the deathless name of Nathan Hale; she who, in the persons of Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth furnished the dominant minds of the Federal Convention of 1787 ; she who originated that system of common schools on which all the other states have built; she who furnished Fitch the inventor of the steamboat, Whitney the inventor of the cotton gin, Wells the discoverer of anesthesia and who has always maintained the lead of all the world in the race of inventive improvement; she who sent into the Union army fifty-five thousand men, an excess beyond her quota and nearly one-half her entire fighting

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force; she who, I repeat, is absolutely peerless among the sisterhood of states and for whom our best prayer can only be that her future may be s useful and as glorious as her past.

  Comrades—even if comrades only for today and for tonight - I can no better do than to commend to your perpetual inner vision this shadowy troop a century long, with gallant young Seymour at their lead, winding in and out among the glories of that century; and give you my best wishes that in 1988 your shades shall be worthy of the shades which have gone before.   

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Toasts  and  Responses.

  At the conclusion of Mr. Simonds's oration, the Toastmaster for the evening, General Henry C. Dwight, was felicitously introduced by Major Cowles, and discharged the duties assigned him with exceptional facility and grace, dressed the audience at the outset as follows:

  As this is the Centennial Anniversary of one of the Military organizations of the State, it is proper that reference should be made to the Military character of the people of Connecticut. In the two hundred and fifty years or more, that have passed since the settlement of the State, Connecticut has had soldiers of great renown. During the Indian and French wars the heroic deeds of her soldiers were not excelled. In the war of the Revolution the patriotic men of this State performed deeds of valor which are still household words, and their names are treasured in our hearts. Brave, loyal men, who, through great tribulations, great privations, fought the fight for liberty. There is no need of calling their names. All of them were patriots, soldiers, men. In the war of 1812 the same loyal, martial spirit was manifested.

  In the Mexican war this State was also ably represented, and the troops commanded by that brilliant soldier, Thomas H. Seymour, were worthy of all praise.

  In the war of the Rebellion, from Bull Run to Appomattox, Connecticut troops were ever in the van; their battle flags are inscribed with nearly every battle of the war. The quiet men who previously had no thought of being soldiers, enlisted and became the best soldiers in the world.

  The brave,  heroic men who gave their lives for the country they loved, their names are legion, and among them were Lyon, Mansfield, Sedgwick, Tyler, Ward, and thousands whose faces we call to mind today, and whose memory we cherish.

  We remember the livin : Terry, Hawley, and others whose names are familiar to us all.

  Then the rank and file of that Grand Army, whose deeds of valor and splendid service are our brightest inheritance.

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  These surviving ones, when the war was over, returned to their accustomed avocations, taking their places in business pursuits, the shop, the farm, etc. Many of them are with us today; they walk our streets and work side by side with you and me. Unheralded their deeds maybe, but their hearts beat quicker and their eyes brighten as they see Old Glory wave, The Flag of the country they loved and fought to save.

THE STATE OF  CONNECTICUT

  In the absence of Governor Lounsbury the initial toast of the evening was responded to by Lieutenant-Governor James L. Howard, of this city. The toast and response were as follows:

THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT.

  “Her enterprise, patriotism, and inventions are known at home and abroad,

The home of those

'Great not by kingly birth;

Great in their well-proved worth;

Firm hearts and true.’ ”

Gentlemen of the Governor's Horse Guards:

  Owing to an imperative call of duty, His Excellency the Governor has been obliged to go away, and thus lose what I know would have been to him a great pleasure.

  I am not the Governor; I am only the "leftenant," left to occupy, most unexpectedly, this position in his absence, and so am called upon to respond to the toast given.

  The State of Connecticut has been honored by the distinguished orator of the evening so fully and so well it leaves nothing more necessary to be said, except to express to you, gentlemen of the Horse Guards, the high estimation in which she holds you, and your predecessors of one. hundred years, whose faithful discharge of duties - so good in work, and so handsome as well, each man a gentleman - have won her and your fellow citizens' high respect.

  Long may your organization continue to grace "Election Day," and escort the Governor of the state at his inauguration, and long may you each continue to be members of the First Company of the Governor's Horse Guards.

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The second toast was   responded   to by Mayor  John G. Root, the sentiment and address being:

THE CITY OF HARTFORD.

  The Capital of the State.     Our headquarters.    She welcomes all good people, and insures most of them.

Major Commandant and Gentlemen :

  Hartford may well take pride in her military, organizations, and especially in the First Company, Governor's Horse Guard, whose one hundredth anniversary you are celebrating this evening. It seems, eminently proper that we should meet to commemorate this event with, a banquet. The service which this company rendered the State and the City of its birth, in the past, is a bright and pleasant page in your history, and will remain fresh in our memories.

  As we look back on the line of history, we find that many who have been enrolled in your company, have been active in city affairs, and have contributed by their industry to the development, growth and prosperity of our city. Hartford, steadily increasing in population numbering at the present time about fifty thousand prosperous and intelligent people; the Capital of our State, having many elegant buildings, including our State Capitol, one of the finest of its size of which any state can boast, a city with broad avenues, beautiful parks, fine educational and charitable institutions, a city of wealth and culture, with its great insurance interests, and manufacturing industries, which contribute to the support of nearly twenty thousand of its people, its citizens, liberal and public spirited, loyal and patriotic to the government, as was shown by its furnishing four thousand soldiers in the late war, unite in congratulations upon this, your one hundredth anniversary.

  No general in the field would lead an army to battle without a, proper cavalry support, so on all State occasions, and all parades, the Horse Guards are a necessity and indispensable. As your past record has been both honorable and brilliant, so may your future be meritorious, and your organization be perpetuated and be able to celebrate your two - hundredth anniversary. All honor to the First Company Governor's Horse Guard.

  In behalf of the city, I cordially welcome the Horse Guard of New Haven, and other visiting military delegations, to the festivities of this occasion. We are glad to have you with us tonight, as we always are on all occasions.

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THE SECOND COMPANY

  Major H. H. Strong of the Second Company, Governor's Horse Guard, of New Haven, then responded to the third toast of the evening, being introduced in a singularly delightful manner by General Dwight. The toast and response were:

THE SECOND COMPANY OF GOVERNOR'S HORSE GUARDS.

"Generous hosts on many occasions;  welcome guests always."

Mr. Chairman, Comrades of the First Company of Governor's Horse Guard, Ladies and Gentlemen:

  As the First Company of Governor's Horse Guards well know, I am no speechmaker, and I shall not attempt such a thing before this audience, and in the presence of these illustrious comrades and guests.

  The Second Company of Governor's Horse Guards are here for the purpose of honoring the first Company, and not to be themselves seen or heard. We are here to congratulate you, and we do congratulate you upon your vigorous and hearty condition at an age to which few attain, and that your eye is still undimmed and your natural vigor unabated.

  We congratulate you upon your age, your prosperous condition, your history. We congratulate as fine a set of men as ever bestrode a horse, upon having as fine a set of officers as ever wore spurs. We congratulate those men who in the enthusiasm of their patriotism organized this First Company, that their mantles have fallen upon such worthy shoulders.

  That organization was effected one hundred years ago, 1788. It was a notable year which gave birth to this Company. The war of the Revolution had closed, and Washington had just been elected the first President of the United States. England was taking the soothing syrup of self-reproach over the loss of the American Colonies, and France was shaping herself for the revolution and the advent of Napoleon. The inventions of today were still unthought of. The steam engine still slept in the brain of Stephenson; no paddle-wheel disturbed the frolicsome shad on the sand-bars of the Connecticut River, and the Consolidated road had not awakened our country towns to the dangers of grade crossings. The years that have passed since then have been full of the history of that Company of 1788.

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  But of the Second Company, which is the toast you have honored me with, what shall I say?

  Standing in the shadow of your hundred years, the Second Company, with its eighty years, are but boys. We cannot recount our illustrious deeds as your historian has done, for only the aged are allowed to boast. The Second Company has not as yet outgrown the modesty of youth; we hesitate, and would not even seem to detract from your glory by speaking of ourselves.

  We might climb the genealogic tree for two hundred and thirty-two years, and find the germ of the present Second Company in that troop of sixteen horse organized in New Haven in 1656, the first company of horse organized in the State. Only church members could be officers then, and the privates were exempt from taxes. We might follow the story down through the Indian Wars to the Revolution and tell you of their doings, and of their escort of Washington on his way to take charge of the Continental troops after the battle of Lexington. But we wont; we candidly admit that that troop of horse is not our troop of horse, and tonight, especially, we make no claim to antiquity, but willingly sit in the second place. And yet we cannot forget that in some degree your record is our record. We did not march with you at the inauguration of Jonathan Trumbull in 1807, but we were with you at the inauguration of his successor in 1809, and we have been with you ever since. We have followed your lead at the inauguration of J. Cotton Smith, Oliver Wolcott, Roger Baldwin, the war governor – Buckingham - not omitting Waller of New London, Harrison of New Haven, Lounsbury of Ridgefield, and we expect to be with you at the inauguration of Bulkeley of Hartford, and a host of others.

  The Second Company is modest, but it is always on deck when duty calls. When you from Hartford asked, we took a Bigelow from our ranks and gave him to you for Governor; sacrificed him without a moment's hesitation, and we have at least twenty others we can spare for the same purpose if you want.

  Again, in the stirring times of the Rebellion we sent Major Hoadley to Meriden to drill the Cavalry companies, the only Cavalry Drill Master in Connecticut, and as good a one as there was in the States. In addition to sending him to Meriden, some of us sent substitutes to the front; some of us, not all. Sergeant Henry Peck asked no substitute for himself, but fell with his face to the enemy, nobly fighting for home and country. Major R. P. Cowles, who is with us this evening, was through the war, but came back safe, and many others of our men were there and fought with the best and bravest.

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  Mr. Chairman, it has been my good fortune to have been closely connected with the First Company of Governor's Horse Guards for at least a quarter of a century, and under three Majors, and during all that time the First Company has led and the Second has followed. If we gave them a lunch, they returned a banquet; if we gave them a clam-bake on the shores of Long Island, they have sumptuously entertained us in return in gorgeously trimmed halls and with the strains of sweet music; and the reception today, and the entertainment tonight has riveted the bonds of friendship, which for eighty years they have been forging, so firmly that they can not be broken. Comrades, we of the Second Company are glad of your friendship. May your ability always be equal to your generosity, and may your shadow never be less.

  I thank you for the honor you have done me and the Company I have the honor to represent.

THE EX-GOVERNORS OF THE STATE.

  One of the wittiest addresses of the evening was delivered by Ex-Lieutenant Governor George G.. Sill, of this city, in response to the toast :

THE EX-GOVERNORS OF THE STATE.

  "From Samuel Huntington, the first governor whom we had the honor to escort, to Phineas C. Lounsbury the last; men worthy successors of Jonathan Trumbull, the great war governor of the Revolution and fellow patriots with William A. Bucking­ham, the unexcelled governor of the loyal States in the war of the Rebellion."

THE GOVERNORS FOOT GUARD

  At the conclusion of Ex-Lieutenant Governor Sill's sparkling witticisms, General Dwight announced the toast in honor of the First Company of Governor's Foot Guard, which was responded to by Major John C. Kinney and Judge Advocate E. H. Hyde, Jr., of that organization. The toast and, responses were:

THE FIRST COMPANY OF GOVERNOR'S FOOT GUARDS.

"The oldest military organization in the State. In dress and duty, royal representatives of the citizen soldier."

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MAJOR KINNEY'S RESPONSE.

Mr. Commander, and Gentlemen of the Governor's Horse Guard:

  I wish to assure you that you have the hearty congratulations of the old First Company Foot, the originators of the Governor's Guard, on having reached that centennial milestone, which you assisted us to pass 17 years ago. There seems to be for us some magic on the figures 17. Their combination makes our date, 1771. Seventeen years thereafter, half a dozen of our original members aided in forming your command, one of them, John Caldwell, being your first charter member, and your first major. You see I am giving you a little ancient history, which your admirable historian accidentally overlooked. And now 17 years after our centennial, we find the Horse Guard in command of a genial and gallant major, who was a much esteemed private of the Foot Guard on that occasion. So you see that you began and ended your hundred years with a Foot Guarder at your head! What wonder the century has been such a success? (Applause and laughter.)

  I see that the able military historian of the Hartford county history, insinuates that during the 17 years which had elapsed after the formation of the company then called the Governor's Guard, some of our members had grown wealthy and fat, and consequently preferred to do their marching on horseback. I shall not attempt to deny this, for while I am neither wealthy nor corpulent, (nor likely to become either,) I confess to a feeling of sincere regard for grand old Nathaniel Terry, of blessed memory, who had the rank of the commander of the Foot Guard raised to major with the right to go mounted.

  In the matter of horsemanship, I would not venture to compete with the Horse Guard, (although as your major is an Ex-Foot Guarder, I don't know but I would be willing to ride a race with him,) but when I have secured a horse, which is not a vain thing, for safety, I am willing to ride ahead and feel proud of the fellows who march behind.

  If I could make a speech, I should like to improve this occasion in the presence by proxy, of the Captain General and Commander-in-Chief and his Adjutant General, and the worthy commander of the best; National Guard brigade in the country, to express some views concerning the Governor's Guard of Connecticut, and the position it ought to occupy as a part of the military force of this honored commonwealth. I hope to live to see the status settled definitely, properly and satisfactorily to all parties as it should be.

  But this is not the time or place to treat the subject as it should be treated, and unfortunately I am not a speechmaker. I have simply risen to extend my personal congratulations and to introduce the gentleman, part of whose business it is to do the talking for the Foot Guard. Thanking you for your courtesy I beg to present Judge Advocate Hyde.

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THE  RESPONSE  OF JUDGE  ADVOCATE  HYDE.

Judge Advocate E. H. Hyde, Jr., then spoke as follows:

  Mr. Toastmaster, Major Cowles, Officers and Members of the Horse Guard:

  As I rise in the presence of this venerable and honorable battalion to respond, in part, to the sentiment which it has pleased you to offer in honor of the Foot Guard, I am reminded first of all, and most of all, of the wonderful fact that an association, a fellowship, has existed between these two organizations for a century.

  For an hundred years, full of great events, the First Company of Governor's Horse Guards and the First Company of Governor's Foot Guards have stood side by side in this city, of Hartford, doing together their appointed service to the State. They have carried on their muster rolls the names of many brave and gallant men, citizens distinguished alike in peace and war, and who were ever quick to respond to all the duty calls of life. They have borne together a conspicuous part in nearly all the state military parades of the century; and at home and abroad, often and again, the fair fame of the State has been entrusted to their care. An now, as they stand here tonight looking back over the century, it is their proud boast that their records are unstained by spot or blemish, and that during all these years their banners have been borne aloft bravely and in honor. (Applause.)

  What a history! Where can its parallel be found? It is true that the Foot Guard had a little the advantage at the start, for when the Horse Guards were organized in 1788, the Foot Guard already had attained what to them seemed to be the venerable age of seventeen years; and I suppose they were correspondingly proud. Those early years of theirs, however, were fraught with events of the utmost importance, not only to them, but to all the world, and to the cause of good government and civilization everywhere. The thirteen colonies had declared their independence and won it. The hour of liberty had struck, the independence bell had rung, the stars and stripes "Old Glory" had been unfurled, and Brother Jonathan had made himself a power among the nations of the earth.

  The Foot Guard witnessed these great events, and they must be pardoned if they recall with pride their participation in them. It is true that we took the field as an organization only once in the Revolution, and that was when we marched as volunteers to the assistance of General Gates, who was opposing the attempt of General Burgoyne to form a union with Sir Henry Clinton in New York, but Captain

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Wyllys, our first commander, was a colonel in the Continental army, and it is doubtless true that many of his men followed him into the service. We certainly should not let Major Kinney go to war alone now. He has been once, and we are proud of his record and his glory. We were present doing escort and guard duty at that great historical event, which took place here in Hartford, the first meeting between Washington and the commanders of the French Allies, and later we escorted them to that memorable conference at Wethersfield, where the campaign was laid out, which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Jonathan Trumbull was our Commander-in-Chief, and we were his trusted body guard. With such associations as these, with the names of Washington, Trumbull, Lafayette, Knox, Rochambeau, and Tiernay for our inspiration, at the mature age of seventeen years we welcomed the advent of our younger brother, the Horse Guard.

  He was a lusty boy and grew apace, and when he was ten years old he seems to have stolen a march on his elder brother, for when Washington again visited Hartford in 1798, the Horse Guard escorted him, and the Foot Guard did not, from which I infer that even in those days, people who could ride preferred not to walk.

  Since then our courses have run together, and in almost parallel lines. In summer and winter, at Hartford and New Haven, to the State House and the Capitol, one by one, we have escorted to their inauguration, the Governors of our honored commonwealth.

  The governors come and the governors go, but the Guard remains forever.

  And thus, Major Cowles, we have come with you down the century, and stand here tonight, as old comrades, as old friends, proud of your success, envious of nothing, to give you a true soldierly greeting on your centennial, to congratulate you on the past, and bid you God speed as you enter upon your second century's journey. (Applause.)

THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD.

  Brigadier-General Charles P. Graham, of Middletown, responded to the toast announced in honor of the National Guard of the State, the sentiment and address being:

THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD.

"Honoring the State by their service the State honors them."

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  Mr. Toastmaster, Officers and Members of First Company Governor's-Horse Guards, Felloiv Citizens:

  As a representative of the Connecticut National Guard, I desire to extend their congratulations on the success of this Centennial anniversary of the organization of the First Company Governor's Horse Guards. This large gathering of people from your city, and from all over the State, shows the deep interest they feel in this time honored organization.

  The exhaustive and eloquent historical address that has been delivered by your able historian, leaves but little to be said of the splendid record of your command. It is needless for me to attempt to add anything to the completeness of this history. This legacy that has come down to you through these years has been well preserved by you, and you deserve all the praise that has been awarded you. I trust that you will see to it that it is handed down to your children, and to your children's children, as unsullied as it has been in the past. I am very proud to represent the Connecticut National Guard on this occasion, for I believe it is the most efficient body of citizen soldiery in this country, as a whole, not because I have the honor to be its Commander, but because I know of what it is made, and what it can do if emergency should require its use. Few people outside of military organizations know the amount of labor and sacrifice the officers and members of companies are obliged to encounter to become proficient in military knowledge and training. They should be given all the support and encouragement possible by the people.

  It is not in keeping with our system of free government to maintain a large standing army, but rather to depend upon the National Guard of the State, and the many independent organizations that exist throughout the country. Nearly all the states have well drilled troops, fully armed and equipped, and could be made ready for the field in very short notice. This provides quite a large army, while those that have had a thorough training and have been discharged, would return to the service, and add largely to the force. This is our safeguard, and should any foreign power attempt to land an armed force upon our shores with belligerent intent, a hundred thousand national guardsmen would know the reason why.

THE FIRST REGIMENT

  Lieutenant-Colonel Charles E. Thompson, of the First Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, was assigned to the

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toast in honor of that superb organization, and most admirably met the exigencies of the occasion. The toast and response are appended:

THE FIRST REGIMENT OF THE CONNECTICUT NATIONAL GUARD.

"Representatives in the highest degree of the National Guard."

SPEECH OF  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL CHARLES E. THOMPSON,  COMMANDING FIRST REGIMENT, C. N. G.

  Mr. Toastmaster, Major   Cowles, and Members of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard:

  Taking a hint from the Lieutenant-Governor, who began his remarks by saying that he was not the Governor, but only the Left-Tenant of the house; I beg to announce that I am not the Colonel, but only the Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Regiment.

  The circumstances which put upon me the duty of responding to this toast, remind me of a story that is told of a Professor in a Theological Seminary in the State of Maine.

  During one of the coldest days of last winter, when the mercury was down nearly out of sight, and the Professor was enjoying the comforts of his warm study, there came a messenger, in haste, to ask him to attend a funeral to be held that afternoon in a country town some ten miles away.

  The name of the deceased seemed unfamiliar, but thinking that as many young men had been under his teaching, probably the call came from some one who had some claim upon his services, the Professor signified his willingness to perform the last sad rites for his unknown friend, and made his arrangements accordingly.

  Hiring a team, and wrapping himself up as warmly as possible, he started for the place of the funeral, wondering all the way who it could be that should send so far away on such a bitter day for his services.

  He arrived, at last, at the house nearly frozen, just at the appointed hour for the services.

  He recognized no one present as among his acquaintances; all was strange and unfamiliar. Perhaps a look at the dead would give him some hint, but no, it was a strange face that he beheld, and he was obliged to proceed with the services, trusting to Providence to make his words appropriate and fitting for the occasion. He got through as best he could at the house, and was then asked to go to the cemetery which took him two miles farther away from home.

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  At last all was accomplished that pertained to his sacred office, and he was ready to return. Still nothing had transpired to clear the mystery of his call.

  An invitation was extended to him to stop at the house on his way home and partake of some refreshments, which he gladly accepted, fully believing that he should succumb to hunger and cold if he did not accept, and hoping also that he would hear at last the solution of the mystery. But not a word was spoken by the family on the subject, and at last without so much as a "thank you" for his services, the Professor called for his team for the return to the city ten miles away. As he got into his carriage, he noticed an old man, a native of the place, one of the "horny-handed sons of toil," whom he recognized as one who had sold him wood on one or two occasions in the city where he lived, and as the old man tucked in the warm robes, and handed up the reins to the shivering Professor, he said, in tones which were calculated to make the Professor feel how much he had done for him, "I got you that funeral."

  Now as I stand here in trepidation at my first attempt to respond to a toast, and think of our Colonel exempt from all the duties his absence has laid upon me, I wonder if he isn’t saying to himself I got you that funeral."

  Now do not for one instant imagine that I am comparing this pleasant occasion to a funeral, although Major Cowles, you, I am sure, will not deny that this whole affair, so successfully carried out, has been something of an undertaking.

  Let me first extend to you, Major Cowles, and your Command, the congratulations and best wishes of the First Regiment, Connecticut National Guard, on this your Centennial Anniversary. 'Tis true you are in a different branch of the service from ourselves, yet I feel that we have common interests, and at least the mounted officers of our regiment have had experiences common to yours, for I recall a vision of one of our ex-inspectors of rifle practice midway between his saddle and the heavens, with his horse midway between terra firma and the inspector. The next instant the horse is seen in the distance and the inspector, prone upon the ground, realizes the fact that a horse is a vain thing for safety.

  I recall, too, one of our ex-paymasters, whose horse deliberately sat down upon him in camp, and it is said that our signal officer was seen, at the last encampment, vainly endeavoring to establish a station over the top of his charger's head. Then, too, it is reported that one of our Field Officers, not long ago, while mounted on a bucker, performed a

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number of maneuvers not laid down in "Upton." As he succeeded in breaking up Colt's First Regiment Band on that occasion, his tactics could not have been "Casey's," could they?

  The First Regiment dates its organization back to the year 1672, when at the June Session of the General Court, Captain John Talcott was appointed Major to command the Hartford County Regiment, which then consisted -of four companies from Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, and Farmington. The name was continued until 1739, when it was changed to First Regiment of 'Militia, and consisted of

  The law at that time provided that every listed soldier be provided with a well fixed firelock, a good sword or cutlass, a worm, primer, and priming wire, fit for his gun; a cartridge box, one pound of good powder, four pounds of bullets fit for his gun, and twelve flints.

  Punishment for disorders, or contempt, on days of Regimental exercises, were prescribed as not to be greater than "laying neck and heels," "riding the wooden horse," or "twenty shillings fine."

  From 1792 to 1816 two Battalions constituted a Regiment. Each Battalion was commanded by a Major, and the Regiment by a Lieutenant-Colonel.

  I will not take the time to read the entire list of commanders since 1672, but will only say that of the number, two were Governors of the Colony, to wit: Major Joseph Talcott who commanded from 1710 to 1724, and Major and Colonel Roger Wolcott in command from 1724 to 1741. Major Wm. Pitkin who was elected at the same time as Colonel Wolcott, was also at one time Governor of the Colony.

  Wadsworth who stole and secreted the Charter in the old oak, and threatened to make daylight shine through the body of the English tyrant Fletcher during the reign of Governor Andros in 1687, was a Lieutenant in the North train band of Hartford, at this time under Capt. Joseph Talcott, and himself became a Captain in the regiment in 1692.

  Coming down to later years, the Colonels since 1842 have been as follows:

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  The regiment has been represented in all the early Indian wars in the colony, French and Indian war, war of the Revolution, war of 1812, Mexican war, war of the Rebellion, to which list some of our younger members would add the battles of Cedar Mountain, Groton Heights, Battle of the Swales, Flanders, and Crescent Beach.

  In 1881 the regiment represented the State at the centennial celebration, at Yorktown, Va., of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army to General Washington. From Yorktown the regiment went to Charleston, S. C., by steamer, and home from there by rail, after an absence of twelve days. Probably no event in the history of the Regiment has exceeded this trip in interest to the participants, or furnished such opportunity for whole souled hospitality as was showered upon the regiment in Charleston by the citizens and military organizations of that city.

  It was after the parade and review in that city that Archibald Forbes, the Celebrated War Correspondent of the London News, wrote as follows:

  "I have seen all the armies in the world I believe, from the Afghan Scalawags, to the Russian Imperial Guards, and I have never seen greater precision and solidity than those men manifested on that dress parade.

  I am free to confess that it seems to me that if there are a great many regiments like that Connecticut Regiment which I see here on parade, in a nation, it don't want any standing army at all, as they would constitute a far cheaper and more effective force than any standing army would be. To me it was a revelation, and rather a disagreeable revelation, simply from this point of view, which you can easily under­stand, that I became painfully aware that here was another factor in the world capable of beating us.

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  We Englishmen have been indulging in the satisfaction that however, the continental countries might grow with their millions of reserves against our hundred or two hundred thousand trained troops, we were yet capable of swaggering over the United States in the matter of drill and discipline and punctilious performance of 'evolutions. But what I saw yesterday proved to me that such was not the case.

  Those men march and wheeled quite equal to our Grenadier Guard, and I don't think I have ever seen anything to equal the precision in the manual in that dress parade.

  It seemed to me that the commanding officer who went to the front and moved as a piece of mechanism, and not like a creature with bowels in him at all, had his foot on an electric wire which communicated with the regiment, and with every man in the regiment, and that each man was a mere automaton, not moved by the word of command, but by their Colonel's foot on the concealed wire in the ground. And what I admired most of all was the absolute rigidity of accuracy that was preserved in the minutest detail."

  To these complimentary words may be added the closing words of Governor Bigelow's congratulatory order to the Regiment after its return:

  "Above all I desire to commend the whole Regiment for its manly behavior on all occasions, whether as soldiers on duty, or citizens upon a pleasure trip. Every man acted as if the honor and dignity of the State of Connecticut was in his keeping."

  Colonel Barbour said in an official order from Regimental Headquarters issued about the same time:

  "Success brings with it additional responsibility, and it is hoped that the high position attained by this regiment will serve as an incentive to every member to make renewed efforts to maintain its degree of proficiency."

  In closing let me say that I believe that the high standard attained by this regiment in 1881 is still maintained, and, while this is not the place for comparisons as to the relative standing of our several regiments, I may confidently assert that when in the military arch of Connecticut a place is sought wherein to inscribe the standing of the First Regiment C. N. G. of to-day, it will be high up where both we and those who follow will be proud to point.

THE PUTNAM PHALANX

  The  toast  to  the Putnam Phalanx was  responded  to  by Major Joseph Warner and Judge Advocate Charles H. Clarke.

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The sentiment offered by General Dwight and responded to by these gentlemen, was:

THE PUTNAM PHALANX.

  "The youngest of the military organizations of Hartford; ordained to cherish and preserve the true spirit of American liberty, by commemorating the events and heroes of the Revolutionary period, and symbolizing in its dress, drill and music the army that achieved American Independence. May its future be worthy of its past success."

MAJOR WARNER'S RESPONSE.

Mr. Toastmaster, Officers and Members of the Governor's Horse Guards and Fellow Citizen:

  In rising on behalf of the Putnam Phalanx to make brief response to the sentiment which has just been uttered, I shall not presume at this time, gathered as we are to celebrate your most memorable anniversary, to make more than a passing allusion to its history.

  When I was told that it would be my pleasure and duty to respond to this sentiment tonight, my mind and heart went out to the noble organization that I love so well, and I felt all how poor my words would be to describe to you its pride, its patriotic virtues, its commemorative excursions, its pleasures, and the traits that endear it to its members. But I am more fortunate in this, that the Putnam Phalanx tonight responds to that hospitality and to the sentiments which you express in its behalf by names that weigh far beyond my words, or those of any other man. Appreciating the compliment and desiring to do you the utmost honor, the Putnam Phalanx responds tonight in the presence here of its first and honored comrade, Mayor John G. Root; it responds again in its loved and honored members, Hon. A. E. Burr, Hon. H. T. Sperry, Hon. S. A. Hubbard,. Hon. C. C. Hubbard; it responds again in our loved and honored member, Governor Phineas C. Lounsbury, and so it responds tonight in the worthiest of its worthy members. Was I not right when I said that the Phalanx, always equal to the occasion, has sent you here a response tonight beside which my words, or those of any other man, would be poor indeed?

  As your organization was formed just after the war that proclaimed us a free and independent nation, so we sprang into being on the eve of the contest, so to speak, to keep forever green the memories of the patriotic dead; to remind the young by what sacrifice our liberty was won. Again, whoever inquires concerning our unusual manual and tac­tics is told that such was the drill taught the soldiers in the camps of the Revolution by that gallant old soldier and lover of liberty, Baron Steuben.

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  Recall for a moment some of the bright pages of its history. The reception to that knightly soldier and honored statesman, Col. Thomas H. Seymour; the famous excursion to Boston and Bunker Hill; the memorable visit to Washington and Mount Vernon; the never-to-be-forgotten trip to Montreal, with attendant stoppages at Rutland and Bur­lington ; the notable excursion to Atlanta; the great centennial visit to Philadelphia; the delightful excursion to Saratoga, Ticonderoga, Lake George, and Fort William Henry; the participation in the centennial ceremonies at Bennington, at Concord, at Newburgh, and Stony Point. We have even dared to attack the fort at Portsmouth, and gallantly sur­rounded the bivalves of Rhode Island, and last, though not least, our recent pilgrimage to Washington, Mount Vernon and Baltimore with 335 dear souls—I beg pardon, sir, there were 335 beside myself.

  Our orators have spoken glowing and eloquent words of patriotism, our music preserves the drum-beat of the Revolution, our uniform recalls the patriot soldier of 1776. For a name we go back to that warrior-born hero, who for so long a period inspired and marshaled the warlike energies of our State, the man who feared God and loved his country, the exhaustless, indomitable Putnam. A hero from the cradle, he needed not the tactics of the schools to give him discipline, nor the maxims of the philosophers to make him brave. A monument, thank God, stands above his grave, which we hope is worthy of the place and is planted deep and immovable as the love he bore to his country was seated in his heart, and, above all, it transmits the epitaph that has so long told the pilgrims who visit his tomb, that " Putnam dared to lead where any dared to follow."

  Through all our history let me say, sir, that the Putnam Phalanx entertains toward the First Company Governor's Horse Guards friendly sentiments. We concur in every word of praise, every generous wish for its continuous prosperity, and to-night, as the bashful young man somewhat inappropriately remarked to the bride on her wedding day, "We wish you many, many happy returns of this auspicious occasion."

JUDGE ADVOCATE CLARKE’S RESPONSE.

Major Commandant, Officers and Gentlemen of the Horse Guards:

  In responding to the sentiment you have so kindly offered to the Putnam Phalanx, permit me in its behalf to thank you for your courte­sies, and congratulate you upon the celebration of this auspicious occasion. There are but few of the military organizations of this State, or of

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the United States, that have survived the lapse of a century. Brief as such a period may seem upon the great scroll of time, it is long indeed when measured by the history of your experience.

The average duration of membership in such a body is probably not more than five years, and every year is full of change. That you have existed for a century and still possess the prosperity which- is exhibited here to-night is evidence of the high public favor and esteem which your organization has enjoyed. Your activity began with the founding of our government, and has continued throughout all the years of its progress. What a wonderful pageant it would be, if to-night we could wit­ness the long procession of parades in which you have participated, interwoven as your deeds have been for a hundred years, with the inaug­uration of every civil administration of the State.

  The organization which I have the honor to represent tonight is one of the youngest of the military bodies of Hartford; nor is it exactly a military body in the sense which the others are. Its aim is not so much to perfect the citizen in the use of arms as to commemorate the events and heroes of that period which gave to us the spirit of our Amer­ican institutions.

  Many who are here tonight remember, and all who are familiar with American history have learned, how that for some years before the recent great civil war there was a growing anxiety in the public mind lest the union of the States, under the Constitution, might be disrupted and destroyed. The great danger of disunion has been indeed the theme of every patriot statesman from Washington to Lincoln. But, notwithstanding the immense importance of the Union, and the certain danger and destruction to our civil institutions from its dismemberment, yet a spirit of controversy had grown with our territorial expansion which threatened and was even hostile to the preservation of the Union.

  In the heat of that political strife, which led to the late civil war, the Phalanx was organized, with a view to aid in invigorating the glorious memories of the Revolution. It was designed to symbolize the patriot army, and by its dress, drill, music, and its ensign sacred to the memory of one of the greatest heroes of the Revolution, to quicken anew the people in their love of civil liberty, impress them with the great value of our institutions, and the heroic sacrifices with which they were obtained. It embraced within its ranks many of the most substantial and distinguished citizens of Hartford, was commanded by the venerable Horace Goodwin, and seemed to challenge universal admiration both at home and abroad. But this is not the occasion to celebrate our triumphs. It will be yet a long time before the Phalanx may enjoy its centennial

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anniversary, but we may and do rejoice to participate with you in gath­ering up tonight the sacred memories of the past one hundred years.

  Such, and similar celebrations, enrich the history of our State, and preserve and communicate that which is best in the past to become a living force in the future. Our beloved country is rapidly becoming rich in public memorials that everywhere commemorate the grand and heroic achievements of her sons. We have been making history but a little while, scarcely a hundred years, and yet there is nothing grand in peace or heroic in war and sacrifice that we have not abundant occasion to celebrate.

  We were scarcely two millions when the colonies challenged the authority and power of Great Britain—today we are sixty millions and at peace with all the world.

  Then our scanty settlements were established on the Atlantic coast, and only a few adventurers had crossed the Alleghanies and the Cumberland—now our teeming millions have overrun the broad valley of the Mississippi, crossed the great plains and mountains to the westward, and established towns and cities on the far-off shores of the Pacific. Everywhere from east to west, from north to south, we have conquered the wilderness with peaceful, happy homes and industry, until there is no land like ours to be enjoyed. It has limitless harvest fields, and the greatest wealth and variety of mineral and agricultural products, and these are everywhere supplemented by manufacturing and commercial industries which in their surprising scope and power excite the admira­tion of mankind.

  So much for the progress of one hundred years. But let us not forget that if we would preserve our country and transmit its glory and blessings to posterity, we must perpetuate the spirit and genius of her institutions as established by the fathers. Let it never be said of this fair land of ours, so justly proud of its first one hundred years of pro­gress, as has been sung of Hellas, once so free, so glorious in valor, art and history:

"The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece,

    Where burning Sappho loved and sung;

Where grew the arts of war and peace,

    Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung;

Eternal summer gilds them yet,

But all except their sun has set."

  We celebrate with you tonight your one hundredth anniversary. May you be with the Phalanx in 1958 to celebrate theirs.

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THE PRESS

  The toast in recognition of the press elicited an address of great force and eloquence from Hon. A. E. Burr, of the Hart­ford Times, who had been selected to respond to the sentiment. Mr. Burr was received by the audience with an outburst of applause, showing the high esteem in which he is held in this city as an expounder of public thought. The sentiment and

response were:

THE PRESS.

"Its  progress has been unparalleled. Its influence  unlimited."

Major Cowles and Ladies and Gentlemen.

  Your accomplished Toastmaster tells us that the progress and influence of the press are unlimited. When we look back for a period of only fifty years, and compare the condition and influence of the press at that time with its present resources and power, we may well say that its progress has been almost unlimited. To illustrate, permit me to state a single instance of the progress of a well-known journal. Fifty-three years ago on the 6th of this month, James Gordon Bennett, the elder, came to New York from Philadelphia, where he had been asso­ciated in the editorial department of the " Pennsylvanian," a daily paper of that city. Mr. Bennett had but little money. We are told that he borrowed $300, and James Conner gave him credit for a font of type. To the honor of Mr. Bennett it may be said, that during his long and prosperous career he never purchased type of any other foundry, so deep was his gratitude for Mr. Conner, who had been his friend when he was struggling for a foothold as a journalist. At that time the lead­ing daily journals of New York were J. Watson Webb's Courier and Enquirer, the Daily Advertiser, edited by Theodore Dwight, and Stone's Commercial Advertiser. I do not believe that the most prosperous of them issued over 2,000 copies daily. There were no Sunday papers then. Mr. Bennett started the Herald. It was a small paper, about twice the size of a foolscap sheet. He printed it on a hand press, which was capable of throwing off 250 sheets an hour, printed on one side—or 125 perfected papers, except the folding. It is reported that after printing a few hundred Heralds, he took out an armfull and retailed them on the street, as the newsboys now sell papers. The boys, however, soon learned that out, and it was not long before they were crying." 'ere's

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your Herald." Bennett studied the popular tastes and wants, and after a while his edition had increased so as to require a machine that would print 1,500 sheets an hour on one side; this was called a single cylinder. Much faster presses were not then invented. Later on he pro­cured a double cylinder press, as the machinists began to increase the cylinders and speed of their presses. Then, in good time, he procured a four cylinder press, then a six and an eight cylinder—each cylinder be­ing capable of printing 1,500 papers in an hour, but only on one side. . Each paper was handled twice, and twice run through the press. Finally, the Hoe Bros, brought out their great ten cylinder " Rotary Lightning Press." And here I may say that the great press manufacturing estab­lishment of the Hoe company stand at the head of all the press-making factories of the world. They have a branch in London, and supply the most prosperous of the European newspapers with the completest and fastest presses. Bennett procured one of these "Lightning Rotaries." He boasted of its speed and wonderful power. It printed 15,000 an hour, or 250 per minute, on one side. There were five cylinders, one above the other, on each side of this press. Each cylinder was fed by a young man, who handled the paper, sheet by sheet, sliding it up to the cylinder. The five men, on each side, stood upon platforms, one above the other, so these monstrous machines must have been 20 or 25 feet in height, requiring ten active young men to feed with paper the ten cylinders that made the impressions upon the type. When this great rotary machine appeared, it was claimed that the ingenuity of the inventors of newspaper machinery had been exhausted. But this was an error. It had only been stimulated to achieve grander triumphs. It was not long before the Hoe Bros, brought out a compact press of six feet in height, nine feet in width, and seventeen in length, and aston­ished the newspaper publishers. The 20 feet high ten cylinder " Lightning Rotaries," were pushed out of sight to take their places among the " slow coaches" of history. The new press fed itself from a continuous roll. From the same pages of type, it printed the paper on one side, turned it over and printed it on the other side, split it lengthwise, car­ried it to a folder, where each sheet was cut off and neatly folded, and if desired, pasted, and also counted. Its speed was 12,000 perfected papers per hour. Then by doubling this machinery and combining the principal parts of two machines into one, 24,000 papers were printed and folded in an hour. Then, by duplicating the stereotype plates of each page, 48,000 papers, complete, were printed in an hour, or 800 per minute, the press feeding itself and folding the papers as fast as they were printed, all this by one ingenious and compact machine. More

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than this. It now appears that Hoe has made a press which, by duplicating machinery and quadrupling plates, 96,000 perfected papers of four pages, can be produced in an hour, or 1,600 completed and folded papers per minute.

  The present century has produced many wonderful inventions. But no one of them has progressed with a rapidity equal to the progress of the inventions in the machinery of newspaper presses.

  Our Toastmaster has said that the influence of the press is unlimited. With its power to produce 48,000, and even 96,000 papers an. hour, or 1,600 copies per minute, on a single press, and by multiplying the stereotype plates, any number of presses may be run, and any num­ber of papers may be printed in a single hour, the 80,000 to 200,000 copies per day now printed in the large newspaper offices of the great cities, may be sent out morning and evening, by railway all over the land. This vast number of newspapers may be increased as fast as a growing population .and demand may call for them. What then, must be their influence ?

  Through the ocean cables the press brings to our doors twice a day, the doings of cabinets, the fluctuation of money markets, the rumors of war, in short the condition of every civilized country. This is influencing the minds of men, and holding monarchs in check. What then, must be the influence of the press in the next century, here and in Europe, compared with its feebler power, fifty years ago?

  In Europe, this great influence is already felt, for newspapers, and books, and pamphlets have been vastly increased and circulated there, though in all the countries of Europe, except in England, there is a censorship over the press. Notwithstanding this, the press of Europe is wielding a great influence, and liberal ideas, borrowed largely from this country, are spreading.

  In view of what has been done in the present century in advancing the influence of the press and in liberalizing public sentiment, what may we expect of the next century? We can only hope that the great standing armies of Europe that are drawing away the life-blood of the people, may fade away, and that the disputes of nations may be settled by peaceful means; that a censorship of the press may" not be known ; that broader views may grow up and more equality among the people be established, with a more refined and higher civilization than we have ever yet witnessed. All of these advances may not occur in a single century, but with a free press, progressing in its power and influence, we may anticipate much; and for vast changes for the better we may reasonably hope.

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THE BAR OF THE STATE

  The following sentiment was most happily responded to by Colonel Charles M. Joslyn, one of the most highly honored and respected members of the legal profession in this city.

THE BAR OF THE STATE.

  "Worthy, honorable men.    The prominent positions they hold in the State and Nation, with honor and credit evidences their character and worth."

  The toast in honor of the clergy was assigned to Rev. Wm. De L. Love, Jr., pastor of .the Pearl Street Congregational Church, who .was introduced to the audience with felicitous effect by General Dwight. The toast and response were:

THE CLERGY.

 "Leaders of an innumerable army, whose countersign is love of God and men."

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:

  It will not be expected of me at this late hour, that I shall do more than acknowledge in behalf of the clergy, your graceful compliment, and express my congratulations on this happy occasion. I recognize your tribute to that great army in which I esteem it an honor to be a humble private, and I thank you for so kind an introduction. I am reminded of a story of a young bachelor sheriff, who was required in the per­formance of his duties to serve an attachment on the property of a beautiful young widow. He called at her residence and when she met him at the door, he said "Madam, I have an attachment for you." The widow blushed and stammeringly informed the sheriff that his attachment was reciprocated. So will I pay off the compliments by my congratulations by no means for myself alone, but for all the members of our fraternity, who probably regret that they cannot be here tonight, and would regret it more if they could see the bill of fare. I congratu­late the worthy and honored officers of this command, who have carried forward so successfully the details of this centennial, and the members

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of the Governor's Horse Guard on this jubilee. They are a goodly company. I do not see how His Excellency, the Governor, could get out of this as he has to-night, with such a body of soldiers to guard him. I wish also to thank the Judge Advocate for his exceedingly able historical paper. I am surprised that he did not mention among his incidents, the interesting fact that the chaplain rode in the parade to-day the very horse ridden by Major John Caldwell, one hundred years ago. (I see Major Boardman laughing at this remark in a derisive manner. Well, if he does not know the age of a horse, no one in this city does,)

  I noticed, however, in the history of the Horse Guard one point of contact between it and the clergy. Reference was made to the contri­bution of spirits made by Major Caldwell at the founding of Christ Church. The Major, we are told, was a worthy attendant at the First Church, and I think he deserves a defense and should have it even at the expense of the clergy. If I am not mistaken it was in the year 1790 that the Rev. Dr. Nathan Strong, then the pastor of the First Church of Hartford, became a partner in a firm having a distillery down on Front Street, and I appeal to you, gentlemen, to say if the Major could be expected to do other than follow the example of his pastor? And what can be said for the clergy, except to plead the customs of the time? I remember to have read somewhere an incident concerning Rev. Dr. Kirkland, president of Harvard College, about 1810. During his time one of the most famous hostleries, in New England was at North Cambridge, kept by a man named Porter, and there may be those living and here to-night, who will remember the place. This inn be­came a resort for the college students, who gathered about that famous open fire-place, in the winter evenings to - well, I suppose get warm. One charm of the place was a drink called "flip." I do not know what " flip" is, but I suppose it is something which turns a man, head and tails, as when we flip a cent. In the course of time Dr. Kirkland dis­covered the resort and one day he went to see Porter, who trembled before the Doctor, expecting severe treatment. "Porter," said the president, "I understand that my boys come down here and drink your ' flip.'" "Yes sir," replied Porter. " Let me have some of that ' flip,'" was the Doctor's exclamation. The tavern-keeper did his best and the mug was brought. The Doctor sipped and looked sternly at Porter. Then he sipped again, and by and by drank the entire contents. Looking again severely at Porter, he said " So my boys come down and drink this flip do they? Well, I should think they would." But times have changed since then, and the century has witnessed greater marvels than the inventions of the telephone, etc.; it has seen the reformation of the clergy.

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  Now as to any further relations of the clergy to the Horse Guard, I must confess ignorance, except to say for myself, that I feel after the somewhat extended parade of the day, as though I had been a member about a century.

  But to speak seriously for a moment. There is one thing which I think worthy of mention at this time concerning military men. It has been my good fortune to meet quite a large number of both officers and men, and I am pleased to note the influence which military life has on their manliness. There is something in the uniform or organization, which fosters the spirit of honor. It promotes the discipline of young men, and I would unhesitatingly commend it. But more than this, the maintenance of a militia in a country like ours, when we have not the influence of the large standing armies of Europe, is essential in cultivating the spirit of patriotism among the young. They imbibe a love of country at every parade. Was it not so in war times? I was a curb-stone youngster then, and saw the veterans as they marched off to the battle fields, and with every pulse beat there came the love of my country. I saw in those regiments the very men I had seen on the parades. We must keep this spirit alive in the young. It may seem to some to be like boy's play, to ride a horse in a procession, but that example is not without its effect on the armies that march on the side-walks.

  And how can we tell when we shall need this patriotic fervor ? We know not how soon there may come another war. Why, before long we may have to cross the pond and whip out of those Britishers; that free trade heresy. (I beg the pardon of the honorable gentleman from the "Times," I would not offend him. He says he is not a free trader, then none have I offended.)

But now to close I would thank those to whom I am indebted for the pleasure of this day, which I shall long remember. And one espe­cially, who has carried out with greatest energy and success, the details of this celebration, whom I will dare to mention in an unusual way, by propounding a conundrum. Why is this celebration like the last winter's Reading R. R. strike? I suppose you all give it up. Because it's made your coals get up. (Major Cowles get up.)

THE EX-MEMBERS

  The concluding toast of the anniversary was in honor of the ex-members of the Guard, and elicited from General Alexander Harbison one of the most delightful and inspiriting addresses

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of his life. The speech making had been in progress from four to five hours, but notwithstanding that fact, the General's tribute to the ex-members of the Guard stirred and thrilled men's hearts like martial music, and was a fitting conclusion to the centennial festivities.

Mr. Toastmaster, Major Cowles, Ladies and Gentlemen:

  It is proper that at this centennial celebration that the Veterans should be heard from, and, although the hour is late, and your patience nearly exhausted, I shall ask for your attention for but a few minutes. I hardly think that it is necessary for me to attempt to add anything to what our valued historian has given us this evening. Such a history, full of information and valued statistics. The Veterans all feel under a debt of obligation to you, Mr. Simonds, for the time spent and trouble taken to make the history complete in its every part, and delivered with such grace and eloquence, as but very few possess. The Veterans, Mr. Major, and members of the Active Company, are with you tonight in fraternal greetings on this occasion. They have watched the progress of the company from year to year, notwithstanding, you do not have the old-fashioned Governor's parade, when it was the custom and duty of the Guards to meet the governor at a distance from the city and escort him into town. The Guards I notice have kept up the custom of riding only on beautiful horses, with tail and mane curled up in the most improved style, and while every member is not a Sheridan on horseback, they have tried to do their duty on every occasion. To keep up and sustain the military feeling in a horse company for a number of years past, has been no small task; the change from spring to fall elections, the annual parades coming in the winter, January instead of May, detracts not a little from the interest and enthusiasm; but that such a company should ever be sustained, there is not a question. I noticed that the historian closed his history of the company at the end of Major Harry Boardman's term. Pardon me if I make a few allusions to the two majors, who succeeded him, (Majors Waters and Boardman). The late Major James Waters held command for eight years. No man was ever better constituted to command the respect of his men than he, by nature en­dowed with an even temper, social in every part of his make up, willing on all occasions to do anything and everything. I doubt if any com­mander felt prouder than he when the Guards turned out with full ranks. Although not an ideal soldier in style or bearing, he was a very successful commander. After Major Waters we come to the only living

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ex-commander, Major Chauncey B. Boardman, who is with us this evening. He has had the honor to lead the company for sixteen years, and I believe I do not overstate it when I say, that from the time of your organization to the present, the company have not had a more competent, painstaking commander. Being himself one of the best of horsemen, he rides with grace, and his personal appearance on horseback marks him as a commander. He gave of his time and money to raise the company up to that high state of excellence in which you found it. He resigned in January, 1886, against the expressed wishes of the officers and men, beloved and respected by all; his name will ever be held in high esteem, so long as the company continues to exist. I see before me tonight many of the old familiar faces, who, before many years must cross the Jordan. I will mention but a few, Col. Caldwell Patter-son, George Clark, Ensign Charles H. Boardman, Captains George A. Hunn, Sylvester and Freeman Seymour, Hezekiah Butler, John W. Shew, Edward F. Griswold, Andrew Easton, etc. But there is one who has crossed the Jordan, whose memory is fresh in all our minds, the late Captain Frank A. White; he was a man who placed the company before self, at all times, in season and out of season, ready to do anything that would advance the company's interest. To him the company will ever owe a debt of gratitude. These men and their like constituted the men who sustained the company for over a quarter of a century, and they all rejoice in being able to be present with you on this memorable occasion Mr. Major, to you this night must be one of sacred memory, that at this one hundredth anniversary of the company, you have the honor to be its commander, looking back as you have no doubt done, over the long list of respected and able commanders. Your aim and purpose will be to advance its every interest, and when the day comes for you to lay down your sword, the First Company Governor's Horse Guards will not have gone backward, but forward to still higher achievement. The estimation in which the Active Company is held by the Veterans, was told today by Mrs. Major Waters, in words more eloquent than any lean give. As the Guards were passing up Washington Street this afternoon, during the parade she and Mrs. Samuel Waters stood by my side on the veranda of my residence, watching you pass. She said "here goes the Guards, but the Major is not with them. The Major loved the company when he was a boy, he loved them to the day of his death." Those words spoken by that good lady, whose heart had been so recently broken by her great loss, expressed the feeling of each and every Veteran. They loved the Guards when they were boys, they love them to-night, and they will love them to the day of their death.

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LETTERS OF REGRET

  Letters were received from distinguished representatives of the State, including the United States Senators and Congressmen, expressing the sincerest regret on account of inability to attend the centennial festivities. -These letters which will be of value to the future historian of the Guards, are appended. The letter of Hon. Henry C. Robinson, of this city, presents a number of facts, which will prove of great interest to the command.

Senator Hawley's Letter.

U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C., April 17, 1888,

Dear Major :

  I am pressed every day to go away from Washington on invitations, all of which are very tempting. I am obliged to refuse nearly all of them. I must be in New Haven on Decoration day, for I made a promise to be there a year ago, and I must be at Brooklyn, Windham County, at the dedication of the Putnam and the Soldiers' monuments. I have a conditional promise to go to Boston, April 27th. I think I shall be excused from the latter, but the other two agreements are final. I must beg you to excuse me from undertaking any more engagements at present. I am very sorry, for the Horse Guards are a very old, honored and established institution of Hartford, and we all wish them prosperity and a life of centuries.

Maj. Frank Cowles,                                                                            Yours truly,

Gov.'s Horse Guards, Hartford, Conn.                                                             JOS. R. HAWLEY

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Senator O. H. Platt.

Washington, D. C., April 23d, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Chairman   Committee Horse Guards'

Reception.

  My Dear Sir :—I am in receipt of your kind invitation to attend the centennial celebration and banquet of your organization, at Allyn Hall, Tuesday evening, May 8th.

  I assure you I should take great pleasure in attending, but fear that I shall be unable to leave my duties here at that time.

  Wishing that the occasion maybe an abundant success, I am

Very truly yours,           O. H. PLATT.

Congressman Vance.

House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C., April 19th, 1888.

My Dear Sir :

Your kind invitation has been received for which please accept my most sincere thanks. It would indeed be a very great pleasure for me to be present, but in the present unsettled state of affairs here, and having in view the manifold possibilities of the next few weeks, I find it impossible to positively accept. With my best wishes for the success of your company, and with the hope that this centennial may but be one of a long series, I am         

Yours, very truly,

To Major Frank Cowles, Hartford.                                           R. J. VANCE.

Congressman French.

House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C., April 2ist, 1888.

Dear Sir :

  I desire to thank the First Company Governor's Horse Guards for the kind invitation to attend their " centennial celebration and ban­quet," at Allyn Hall, on Tuesday evening, May 8th. Greatly regretting my inability to be present on that happy occasion, I am-

Yours truly,      CARLOS FRENCH.

Major Frank Cowles,

First Com. Gov.'s Horse Guard, Hartford, Conn.

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Congressman Russell.

House of Representatives, U. S.,

Washington, D. C., April 13th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Hartford, Conn.

dear sir :—I beg to acknowledge with thanks to you as chairman of the committee, the invitation to attend the centennial celebration and banquet of the First Company Governor's Horse Guards at Hartford, on the evening of May 8th. I shall not be able to leave Washington at that time, but wish you a most agreeable celebration of the centennial of your honorable service as a military organization, of which Connecticut is proud.                              Yours,

CHARLES A. RUSSELL.

Ex-Grovernor Minor.

  The  following  letter was received from Ex-Governor Wm. T. Minor, of Stamford, the oldest surviving Chief Executive of the State:

Stamford, May 1, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, First Company Governor's Horse Guards.

Dear Sir:—Your invitation to attend the celebration of the centennial organization of the Horse Guards has been received, but the letter has been very mysteriously mislaid and can not now be found. I regret very much that my health will not permit me to be present to join with you in the festivities of the occasion. The memory of the Horse Guards is very fragrant with me. I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

WILLIAM T. MINOR.

Ex-Governor Harrison.

The letter from Ex-Governor  Henry  B.  Harrison  of New Haven, was as follows :

New Haven, April 17,1888.

Major FRANK COWLES.

  My Dear Sir:—Your cordial letter of yesterday is at hand.  It would give me the greatest pleasure to unite with yourself and the gentlemen

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of your command, in celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of your honorable and highly honored Company, if I could do so. I am compelled, however, with much regret, to decline your courteous invitation.

  Thanking you for your kind attention, and trusting that your pro­posed celebration may be in all respects a happy one, I remain,

Very sincerely yours,

H. B. HARRISON.

From the Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State, Hon. L. M. Hubbard of Wallingford, responded as follows:

Major FRANK COWLES, Hartford, Conn.

  My Dear Sir :—I took great pleasure, some days ago, in accepting your invitation for the celebration and banquet of the First Company Governor's Horse Guards, on Tuesday evening, the eighth inst, and had anticipated much from that distinguished occasion, but I find today that I shall be detained at New Haven by a business engagement that I can neither postpone nor run away from.

  I am therefore compelled, regretfully, to say that I shall be unable to be with you. With best wishes for the success of the celebration, and renewed thanks for the courtesy of your invitation, I am

Very truly yours,

Wallingford, May 7, 1888.                                                                         L. M. HUBBARD.

Hon. Henry C. Robinson.

  Two letters from Hon. Henry C. Robinson are appended, one of which contributes a sketch of a very interesting epoch in the history of the command.

Hartford, April 18th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Commandant.

Dear Sir:—Your kind invitation to attend the banquet of the First Company Governor's Horse Guards at their centennial celebration, and to respond to a delightful sentiment are both at hand, and for them please accept my thanks. I am at present under appointment, which will call

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me out of town on the 8th of May, and fear that I shall have to deny myself the pleasure of attending your gathering and contributing what is in my power to its success. The occasion is one which interests me exceedingly; the long and honorable history of your company is one of which we all are proud. Should my business appointment fail, and you have an extra chair left, it will give me pleasure to occupy it if I may, but as at present advised I am compelled to fear that I must be away at the date assigned.                       I am very truly yours,

HENRY C. ROBINSON.

Hartford, May 7th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Commandant.

  Dear Sir:—I am very sorry that a professional call which I must obey will compel me to forego the pleasure of your banquet tomorrow night, and prevent me from responding to the sentiment which you assigned to me. There are one or two things which happened to come under my personal observation, which I would have been glad to suggest to your gathering. In the very warm and earnest struggle for the franchise of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard in 1854, I was serving upon Governor Button's staff as an aid. The duties of governor's aid were then less onerous, and their uniforms less ornamental than they are now. For uniform we wore only a cockade upon the right side of a silk hat, the governor wearing one upon the left; and our chief calls to duty outside of election parade, when we had a conflict of claim to escort duty between the Governor's Guard and the New Haven Blues, were connected with your charter, although our rank then as now, was lieut. colonel. The contest for the charter was a very exciting one. A second company of Governor's Horse had been organized here, under the patronage of Col. Samuel Colt, who was put in command of it. This had somewhat depleted the ranks and chilled the enthusiasm of the old Guards, and the new company made claim to the franchise and succession of your old company. The claims of the old Guards were urged by Maj. Henry Boardman and Capt. Caldwell Patterson chiefly, assisted as I think, by a legal argument in writing, submitted by the late Hon. Henry K. W. Welch. The claims of the new company were insisted on by Gen. W. M. Carter and Major Horace Billings, supported, if my memory is correct, by a learned and ingenious legal argument, by the late Gov. Hubbard. The commander-in-chief gave the subject careful attention, and Gov. Button was a lawyer and judge of marked ability. After sufficient deliberation, he awarded the charter

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to the old company, and it was my pleasure to serve copies of his decision upon representatives of both companies. That opinion ought to be among your archives now.

  I would like very much also to have said a word in honor of the Rev. Benjamin Boardman, ancestor direct of at least three of your major commandants, all of whom I remember as capital officers and elegant horsemen, one of whom, Maj. C. B., will be with you tomorrow night. The Rev. Benjamin Boardman was settled over the old South Church at the outbreak of the Revolution. He was a graduate of Yale, and a man of learning and strength. Almost at the beginning of the Revolutionary struggle, he enlisted as a chaplain of the Connecticut troops. He was in office with the Connecticut soldiers at the siege of Boston, and was chaplain of Col. Durkee's regiment in Washington's army.

  May the old Guard long follow the bugle and wave the sound.

I am yours truly,

HENRY C. ROBINSON.

Hon. David Clark.

The  following letter was from Hon. David Clark, who is held in the highest esteem by the Guard:

Hartford, May 7, 1888,

Major FRANK COWLES, and others of the Committee of Arrangements for the Centennial Celebration of the First Company, Govern­or's Horse Guard.

  Gentlemen:—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation, and say in reply, nothing could give me greater pleasure than to join you on that rare and festive occasion. But I regret that a previous engagement for that day will prevent my attendance. I beg to send a substitute bearing my name, which will, I trust, be as acceptable as my personal presence. Believe me, gentlemen,

Very sincerely your friend,

DAVID CLARK.

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Hon. Roland Mather.

Hon. Roland Mather, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Hartford, replied as follows:

Hartford, 14th April, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES.

  Dear Sir :—I am in receipt of your invitation for 8th of May. I am compelled to acknowledge, of late years, that my faculties are somewhat impaired, and should I attend such a meeting, am brought to feel that I should not be there. Thank you for the favor but must decline the pleasure. You and your associates of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard have my good wishes.

Very respectfully yours,

ROLAND MATHER.

Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull.

Monday, May 7, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES and others, Committee of First Company Governor's Horse Guard.

Dear Sir :—I sincerely regret that I am unable to accept your kind invitation to be present at the centennial celebration and banquet, to­morrow. I have delayed reply, to this time, only because I have hoped that my health might permit me the pleasure of attending the cele­bration, for which delay please accept this apology.

Yours truly,.

J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL.

Hon. W. W. Eaton.

  Ex-United States Senator W. W. Eaton responded as follows to the invitation to be present:

washington, D. C., April 22d, 1888. To the Committee of the First Company of Governor's Horse Guard.

Gentlemen:—With many thanks for your kind invitation to attend your centennial celebration and banquet, I regret to have to say that

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my engagements here will absolutely compel a declination. Connecticut owes much of its justly celebrated military character to the old "Revolutionary Corps," of which your, organization is an honored member. I know that you will have a joyous occasion, and I deeply regret that I cannot be with you.

Very faithfully yours,

WM. W. EATON.

Hon. John B. Buck.

To Major FRANK COWLES, et al.

Gentlemen :—I am greatly obliged for your kind invitation to the banquet of the Horse Guards, on May 8th, but lam unable to attend as I am obliged to be out of the state at that time. I regret that I cannot be present for I know that the occasion will be one of social pleasure

and future interest.                                                                     Yours,

JOHN R. BUCK.

Ex-Lieutenant-Governor Sumner.

  The letter received from Ex-Lieutenant-Governor Sumner was characteristic of the genial and felicitous disposition of the man, being as follows:

Office of the Gatling Gun Company,

Hartford, Conn., U. S. A., April 27, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Hartford, Ct.

   My Dear Sir:—Accept please, my very cordial thanks for your very considerate invitation for the celebration of May 8th, next. Im­paired health alone prevents me from availing myself of the exceptional gratification your courtesy extends. For uniform and unfailing kindness, believe me to be mindful and always

Your sincere friend,

GEORGE G. SUMNER.

Hon. E. S. Cleveland.

Hartford, May 4, 1888.

  Gentlemen :—Your very kind invitation to attend the centennial celebration and banquet at Allyn Hall, Tuesday evening, May 8th, was

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duly received. I have delayed answering, hoping that I might be able to accept. An important business engagement will, I find, take me out of the State on that day and evening which, I assure you, I very much regret. With thanks for your kind remembrance, I have the honor to remain, as ever,       

Your friend and ob't servant,

E. S. CLEVELAND.

To Major Frank Cowles and others of Committee.

James J. Groodwin.

The following letter, which was received from Mr. James J. Goodwin, a staunch friend of the Guard, is highly prized:

Hartford, Conn., May 2, 1888.

  My Dear Sir :—Before replying to your very kind invitation to be present at the centennial celebration and banquet of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard, on Tuesday next, the 8th inst., I have waited to see if my engagements elsewhere would permit of my being present on that, to me, very interesting occasion. I find, much to my regret, that I shall not be in town that day, and, therefore, unable to accept the pleasure you have offered to me. I trust you will have an evening not only of thorough enjoyment but one which will arouse en­thusiasm and put new vigor and life into the old Company in which my father, in his day, was so much interested.

Yours very cordially,

Major Frank Cowles.                                                                              JAMES J. GOODWIN.

Ex-Senator Cooley.

Hartford, April 30, 1888.

FRANK COWLES.

Dear Sir :—I regret that necessary absence from the city will prevent my accepting the invitation of the Governor's Horse Guard to attend their centennial celebration on the 8th of May. With thanks for your kind invitation,                                                 I am     Yours truly,

FRANCIS B. COOLEY.

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Joseph L. Barbour.

Hartford, May 3, 1888.

  My Dear Major:—I much regret that a business engagement compelling my absence from the city on the 8th inst., will prevent my acceptance of your kind invitation to be present at your centennial celebration and banquet on that day. I do not need to wish you a most pleasant and successful celebration, for you are sure to have it. I wish I could be here to enjoy it with you.

Yours very truly,

JOSEPH L. BARBOUR.

Major W. H. Dodd.

Hartford, May 3d, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES.

Dear Sir :—The very kind invitation of your command to be present with you on the occasion of your centennial celebration is received, and should have been acknowledged earlier. I shall esteem it an honor and great pleasure to be permitted to participate with you and all your friends, both officers and privates of the First Company Governor's Horse Guards, in this most interesting event. You are well aware, sir, that I have, and always have had, a great interest in the organization of the Guards, both Horse and Foot, as we were very closely associated under the same command some years since, and let me take the present opportunity to congratulate you that you have the honor to command so fine and distinguished a corps on such a historic occasion. I trust and hope you will have as interesting and pleasant a celebration as the old Footers did when we stepped over the line.

Yours very truly,

W. H. DODD.

Ferdinand P. Earle.

  The following letter was received from Ferdinand P. Earle, proprietor of the Hotel Normandie, Earle's House and Normandie by-the-Sea, who was a former resident of this city.

New York, April 26th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, Hartford, Conn.

  My Dear Major :—I regret exceedingly that I cannot accept your invitation of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard, on account

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of a previous engagement which will take me out of the city on that day; as I consider it a great compliment to be invited to your centennial celebration and banquet, particularly as I have the honor of being a Hartford boy. Hoping that you will have an enjoyable time, and the best wishes of the Second Battery, I remain,

Yours truly,

FERDINAND P. EARLE,

Capt. Commanding Second Battery, N. G. S, N. Y.

Eugene D. Fisk.

                                                              No. 3,000 Michigan Ave., chicago, April 27th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES, First Company Governor's Horse Guard, Hartford, Ct.

  My Dear Sir :—I regret to say that the present state of my health forbids the acceptance of the invitation to the centennial celebration of the Guards, and to speak in " behalf of the Veterans." Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be present. With best wishes for yourself and the organization, I remain

Very truly yours,

EUGENE D. FISK.

Lieutenant Wilson.

Armory First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry,

Philadelphia, April 26th, 1888.

    Lieut. Jos. Lapsley Wilson acknowledges the receipt of the kind invitation of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard, to take part in the centennial celebration on May 8th. He regrets that he finds it impossible to leave this city at that date.

Aner Bradley.

Torrington, Conn., May 4th, 1888.

To Major FRANK COWLES, First Company Gov.'s Horse Guard, Hartford, Conn.

Dear Sir:—I have the esteemed pleasure to acknowledge an invitation to the one hundredth anniversary, on the eighth of May. I much regret that circumstances will prevent my being present. You

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will allow me to congratulate the officers and members of the distinguished corps that today they are so honorably connected, as an organization of a century, dating back eight days only of a year, previous to the inauguration of Geo. Washington, on the thirtieth of April, 1779.

  May the associations of the past, blending with the present, prove an incentive for its continual efficacy in the future in the history of the State of Connecticut, which furnished more troops in the Revolution, in proportion to its population, than any other state in the Union.

Sincerely yours,

ANER BRADLEY.

State Treasurer Warner.

  The letter of the State Treasurer, Hon. Alexander Warner, who was absent from the State at the time of the centennial, was not received until May 18. It was as follows:

State of Connecticut, Treasury Department,

Hartford, May 18th, 1888.

Major FRANK COWLES.

  Dear Sir:—Your kind invitation to the centennial celebration and banquet at Allyn Hall, on the 8th inst., I found awaiting me on my arrival home last Saturday evening. This must be my apology to you for not responding sooner. Had I been in the State, I should most gladly have accepted your kind invitation. With many thanks for your kindness, believe me,

Very truly

Your obedient servant,

ALEXANDER WARNER.

Adjutant-General Camp.

  The following letter from Adjutant-General Camp, written the morning after the celebration, expresses the approval of Governor Lounsbury, and the gratification which he felt in the success of the occasion.

Adjutant-General's Office, Hartford, May 9th, 1888.

  Major FRANK COWLES, Commanding First Company Governor's Horse Guard.

Major:—I am instructed by His Excellency Governor Lounsbury to express to you his gratification at the fine appearance of your command,

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and also that of the Second Company Governor's Horse Guards, on the occasion of the centennial parade of your command, yesterday, and to congratulate you upon the entire success of the celebration on that centennial, the arrangements for which were admirably made and promptly executed. The Governor desires me further to express his thanks for the courtesies extended to himself and staff, and to again express his regret, that business which could not be postponed, rendered it impossible for him to be present at the banquet last evening.

I am, Sir,

Very respectfully,

FREDERICK E. CAMP,

Adjutant-General.

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  "We surrender considerable space this morning—and regret that we can not give more—to a report of the interesting exercises of the celebration of the centennial of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard. The historical address by the Hon. William E. Simonds is given practically in full, and is a very thorough review of the century's record. The addresses at the banquet were full of interest, but it is not possible to give them the space which they deserve. The celebration was a success. The old Company has a good start on the second century.—Hartford Courant, May 9, 1888.

Major Cowles and his command may be congratulated on the successful manner in which the centennial celebration of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard was carried out. The arrangements and management could not have been improved, and the day and evening passed pleasantly to the Guard, their honorary guests, and the New Haven Company of the Guard. Our citizens enjoyed the fine parade of the Companies.—Hartford Times, May 9.

  The centennial celebration of the Governor's Horse Guard at Allyn Hall was a very enjoyable affair. The address of ex-Speaker Simonds was excellent, as were many of the responses to the toasts. That of Lieutenant-Governor Howard, who was called upon to respond to that of "The State of Connecticut," assigned to Governor Lounsbury, who was suddenly called away to Fort Plains, N. Y., was brief but well timed. His remark that he was the " left-tenant" of the governorship brought down the house, as did also one remark of General Dwight, the toastmaster, in proposing the toast, "The City of Hartford," when he said, " Hartford welcomes all good people and insures most of them"—Hartford Telegram, May 9.

  The centennial anniversary of the First Company Governor's Horse Guard to­day is a notable event. Very few military organizations in this country have a record of one hundred years, although Connecticut is honored by two or three, the Horse Guard being of the number. The Company has been an honor to the city, and while not always as prominent as some of our other military organizations, it has numbered many of the best citizens of Hartford in it ranks since it was founded. A pleasant and profitable second century to it.—Hartford Evening Post, May 8.

MAJOR COWLES.

  Major Frank Cowles, the present commandant of the Guard, was born in Suffield, April 27, 1835, and was educated at the Literary Institute there. At the age of seventeen he was engaged as a clerk in the store of S. O. Loomis at Windsor, and

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in March, 1855, was admitted into partnership with his employer. Mr. Loomis died within a few months and the firm was dissolved. In the spring of 1856 Mr. Cowles removed to Windsor Locks, engaging in business with Major F. M. Brown, who was then managing a country store in that place. Two years afterward he purchased the business and assumed control. In 1863 Major Cowles engaged in business here and has since been .a resident of the city. Yesterday he completed twenty-five years with the house which engaged his services on his coming to the city. The firm name at that time was J. W. Danforth & Co. After the death of Mr. Danforth the business passed into the hands of Mr. J. G. Lane, who still owns it. Twenty-five years of uninterrupted service with one house is a record worthy of recognition. Major Cowles joined the Horse Guard in 1874, being appointed assistant-surgeon by Major Boardman. In January, 1885, he was elected captain, and one year later he was advanced to the majorship, succeeding Major Boardman. Major Cowles was the founder of the Connecticut Commercial Traveler's association and was president of the organization for five years. He is one of the leading members and is widely known throughout the State. Major Cowles is a member of St. John's lodge of Masons here, joining the order twenty years ago. He is a gentleman of superior social qualities and is universally esteemed, the list of his friends extending into all sections of the State.—Hartford Evening Post, May 5.

THE HORSE GUARD.

Presenting of Major Seymour’s Likeness.  Miss Talcott’s Researches

[Hartford Evening Post, May 6.]

  The following letter accompanying a photographic likeness of Major Seymour, the first Commandant of the Governor's Horse Guard, has been received by Major Cowles, the present commander, and will be read with special interest by the friends of the organization in this city:

815 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, March 16.

Major COWLES.

Dear Sir:—As the hundredth anniversary of the formation of the Governor's Horse Guard is approaching, I will take the opportunity to present to the organization a photograph of Major Thomas Youngs Seymour, the first commander. This photograph is taken from a miniature by Trumbull in the Yale Art gallery. The account of Major Seymour in the chapter on the militia in the Hartford County history is not altogether correct. He never crossed the ocean, and never studied the art of war in France. I have been working up the genealogy of the Seymour family, and so have been in communication with some of his descendants, and have ascertained the outline of his life from them and from other sources. He entered the

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Revolutionary army as lieutenant in Sheldon's Light Dragoons, January 10, 1777, and was promoted to a captaincy. October 20, 1777. He served in Gates' army against Burgoyne, and, as you are doubtless aware, was appointed to escort General Burgoyne to Boston after his surrender. The General was so much pleased with his performance of this duty that he presented him with a beautiful leopard skin, to be used as a cover for his saddle, and a contemporary relates that he had often seen it in use when he commanded the Governor's Horse Guards.

  Hoping this photograph will be of some value as a souvenir of a brave and gallant officer, your first commander, I remain

Very respectfully yours,

MARY K. TALCOTT.

MAJOR COWLES' REPLY.

Major Cowles sent a graceful acknowledgement to Miss Talcott extending the heartiest thanks for the gift received from her. He also quoted two or three paragraphs from the manuscript history of the Horse Guard which was prepared a few years ago. In response to the communication, Miss Talcott wrote as follows, adding very interesting material for a sketch of Major Seymour:

815 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, March 24.

Major FRANK COWLES.

  Dear Sir:—I do not think your historian was altogether correct in his account of Major Seymour.    I can not understand whence the story that he went to France to study the art of war can have arisen. I spoke some years ago to Miss Mary Seymour, Governor Seymour's sister, about it, and she said she never had heard of such a visit to Europe, and his grandchildren knew nothing of it.

  He was born in 1757, and was a student at Yale for several years before he entered the army, his name appearing on the catalogue in the class of 1777. The family tradition is that he left college before the expiration of his course, and returned home with the determination of entering the army. This is proved by the date of his commission as lieutenant, January 10, 1777. He resigned his commission as captain November 23, 1778, and very soon afterwards his name appears in the Hartford Courant as a practicing attorney here, and he was evidently here all along after that time. He married in 1781 his cousin Mary Ann, daughter of Colonel William Ledyard, the hero of Groton fort.

  It is said he served in the campaign of 1776, near New York, which seems to me quite probable, as his father was Colonel of a regiment which went to New York at that time. It is also said that he served after 1778, but there is no proof of such service. I have copies of some of the depositions relating to his widow's claim for a pension, now in the United States pension office, and from one of those I derived my information about the leopard skin given him by Burgoyne. I presume you are aware that Trumbull's painting here is only a much smaller copy of the larger one of Burgoyne's surrender, in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington, where Major Seymour is a very prominent figure. His law office in Hartford was for a time, at least, on Main Street, about where Hart & Merriam's store now is.

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Perhaps I should mention that Major Seymour's first wife died in 1782, and he married, secondly, in 1784, Susan Bull, daughter of Amos Bull. He had eight children. The oldest, Thomas S., was an officer in the United States army in the war of 1812, and served under Bolivar in South America. He was father of the late Daniel M. Seymour of Hartford.

If you wish for copies of the pension papers I can send them to you.

Very truly yours,

M. K. TALCOTT.

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