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| Picture of the Harrisonburg Guards between 1886 and 1900 from collection of Massanutten Regional Library. |
The Harrisonburg
Guards
The following article
focuses on the Harrisonburg Guards but also presents a picture of the region
transitioning from the destruction of the Civil War and the confinements of
Reconstruction to the creation of a new social order. The portrait of Harrisonburg in 1877 shows a
relatively prosperous, tolerant, and forward-looking segment of the South. The Guards Unit may seem to be a relic of the
past, yet the formation of the unit reveals an engagement in the new South and
the re-formed Union.
Formation of the Harrisonburg Guards
After
the contentious 1876 Tilden-Hayes election, the Democrats acquiesced to a Hayes presidency when the contender promised to end all Federal
intervention in Southern politics.
During the Reconstruction Era, one regulation forbade the former states
of the Confederacy to organize militias.
On March 4, 1877 Hayes was
inaugurated. Five days later on March 9 a “new infantry military company” organized
in Harrisonburg. Those with some
knowledge of local history will know the organizers - John Grattan, J.M Warren,
P.G. Bowman, George Basford, William Billhimer, and others - were mostly from
prominent families. According to the
1880 Census data, the participants were mostly in their late teens and early twenties. The fifty-nine “enterprising and spirited”
company members elected O.B. Roller their captain. Initially the cmpany adopted
the name Rockingham Rifles after the Civil War Company B of the 10th
Voluntary Infantry captained by James Kenney.[i] Four days after formation the guard unit changed
its name to the Harrisonburg Guards.
Duty
The
Guards, in need of uniforms and equipment, turned to fundraising. On April 26, 1877, friends of the Guards held
a benefit performance at the Masonic Hall of “Ireland As It Is,” described as a “very interesting drama.” [ii] Through the efforts of Senator S. H. Moffett, the Guards received
breech-loading muskets in early May.[iii] The Company appeared serious and diligent in
its practice of military skills during the three months following
formation. In early June, the Virginia
Governor appointed Maj. James Kenney to inspect and muster the Guards into the
service of the State.[iv]
The first public
outing of the Guards in uniform occurred on Memorial Day at ceremonies in the
Woodbine Cemetery around the monument to and the graves of the soldiers.[v] A few days later the Guards and the
Harrisonburg Band traveled by train to Staunton to participate in memorial
services there. The Guards marched in
the Harrisonburg Fourth of July parade.
The newspaper called the celebration “a lively affair” that brought
about 3,000 people from Winchester to Staunton to the town and the Court
square.[vi]
The mood of the
local citizenry on that July 4, 1877 can be sensed in the day’s oratory.
Captain John Paul read the Declaration of Independence. The audience “loudly” called for a speech by
the negro clergyman, Rev. J.W. Dungee, who discussed “the situation of the
colored race and their relation to society and government.” [vii]
Of course, the
Guard unit not only drilled to march in patriotic celebrations, it also
prepared for its constitutional role in executing the “Laws of the Union.” Twenty years after its formation , the
Harrisonburg Guards were called up in May
1898 for duty in Cuba but did not see action.
Most of the time was spent in camp in Jacksonville Florida. The Guards, feeling chagrined at not being
called to the front, returned to Harrisonburg in late September of 1898.
The role of the
militia in the southern states and elsewhere after the Civil War and
Reconstruction was not clearly defined.
The lack of clarity of purpose probably contributed to guard units
having the reputation of being men’s clubs and of being susceptible to
group-think for good or bad ends. To
establish professionalism, control, and purpose, the Congress passed the
Militia Act of 1903 and the National Guards Defense Act of 1916 that
established the National Guards and guaranteed the State’s militia status as
the Army’s primary reserve force. (to be continued)
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