prominence congregated within its walls; and it was here that the plans for the formation of the National Guard were discussed and matured, that regimental meetings were held and officers elected. It was the headquarters for military gossip and news; and the large public room on the second floor was the favorite place for drills, concerts and balls. Stoneall, the proprietor, was a genial and popular host, and the Tavern was a well-patronized rendezvous of New Yorkers until its destruction by the widening of Fulton Street in 1836.

would like to command a regiment of National Guards!"-a sentiment which met with an instantaneous response, and resulted in the adoption of that title for the new battalion.

Like most of the regiments of that period, the Eleventh was composed of two battalions, one of artillery and one of infantry. To the captains of the four infantry companies namely, Irad

Hawley of the First, John Telfair of the Second, William B. Curtis of the Third, and Howard A. Simonds of the Fourthand to Major John D. Wilson and Capt. Prosper M. Wetmore is principally due the credit of carrying out the plans heretofore referred to, and of thereby originating and organizing the Seventh Regiment.

The officers of these four companies met at Stoneall's Shakespeare Tavern, at the corner of Fulton and Nassau Streets, on the evening of August 25, 1824, and formally adopted the new designation.

The Shakespeare Tavern, which was built in part before the Revolutionary War, was a celebrated hostelry. Politicians, merchants, artists, and actors of

SEVENTH REGIMENT ARMORY.

The choice of a suitable uniform was a somewhat difficult matter, inasmuch as there naturally existed a variety of tastes and opinions; but the question was settled by a fortunate incident. Philetus H. Holt, a member of the Fourth Company, passing through Pearl Street one morning, and wearing a neat, gray office-coat, was stopped by Major Wilson and Captain Wetmore, who were suddenly attracted by the style of the garment. With it for a sample, Major Wilson had a gray military coat made, and, equipped as a private, he attended the meetings of the four companies interested in the new battalion, and exhibited the coat, which was admired and almost unanimously adopted. At the annual inspection in

On December 24, 1824, the Fifth Company, Capt. Oliver M. Lowndes, was admitted to the battalion, followed two days later by the accession of the Sixth Company, under command of Capt. Linus W. Stevens.

On June 27, 1825, Gov. Clinton issued an order instituting the Battalion of the National Guards; this order separated the battalion from the Eleventh Regiment, but directed its consolidation with the Second Regiment of infantry, a combination proving so unsatisfactory that the Commander-in-Chief detached the battalion a few months afterward and constituted it a separate organization. Meanwhile the Seventh Company, Capt. Egbert I. Van Buren, had been admitted in October, 1825, and as the addition of one more company would raise the battalion to the dignity of a regiment, great energy was used to accomplish that end. The efforts exerted resulted in the admission on May 4, 1826, of the Eighth Company, Capt. Andrew Warner, whereupon Gov. Clinton was immediately notified of the fact, and two days afterward directed that the battalion be organized anew as the Twenty-seventh Regiment of Artillery.

1826-'47.

In accordance with the Governor's order, just referred to, an election was held at the Shakespeare on May 23, 1826, and Lieut. Col. Wetmore was elected colonel, Major Stevens, lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. Telfair, major, of the Twenty-seventh Regiment; and its first

parade was made May 31, to receive an elegant stand of colors from the mayor of New York, the Hon. Philip Hone.

66

The military text-book used by the militia up to the winter of 1825-6 had been Baron Steuben's Tactics, with Gardner's Compend," when Congress adopted a new system known as "Scott's Tactics," which was ordered in use in the army, and which was at once taken up by the more aspiring militia organizations.

The officers of the Twenty-seventh Regiment promptly began the study of the new tactics, which proved somewhat difficult after the comparatively simple movements laid down in Steuben's manual; and for the purpose of instruction met once a week for some months in Dooley's Long Room. This apartment was on the second floor of an old wooden building in Duane Street, and was, in 1821, the largest drill-room in the city, "its dimensions being forty feet by eighty, and its fixtures and appointments exceedingly plain." The militia organizations from their beginning had occupied such quarters as they could best obtain; various small halls about the city were engaged regularly, and Dooley's Long Room was used for drilling purposes by several companies of the National Guard. Although considered a very fine apartment in those days, it would be deemed ridiculous at present when spacious armories predominate.

The annual inspections of this period were somewhat different affairs, at least in point of numbers, from those which now obtain in the Regiment. For example, we find that in 1826 there were present only 277; in 1833, 398; in 1845, 362; while in 1885, the number had increased to 921, and in 1887 the remarkable and unprecedented showing was made of 1,018 officers and men present, out of a total of 1,036 on the muster rolls. The customary Division parades and reviews were held on the Fourth of July, a practice which prevailed until quite recently, when Decoration Day was substituted very sensibly, the cooler weather at the end of May preventing the liability to sun-stroke, which previously was of such frequent occurrence. One of the amusements of this time was target-shooting, and in the summer a day was devoted to it by most of the militia companies. The

target excursions were looked forward to with pleasure, for in addition to the advantage of having an opportunity of learning how to fire a musket, there were valuable prizes contributed to reward the best marksmen. Guests, sometimes including ladies, were generally present, and the day's sport invariably terminated with a generous dinner.

The National Guard participated in the celebration of many notable events in the history of the city and of the United States. In 1830 it paraded at the grand popular commemoration of Louis Philippe's elevation to the throne of France; in 1832, at the centennial anniversary of Washington's Birthday; in 1842, at the opening of the Croton Water Works in New York City, and in 1847, at the rejoicings over the brilliant victories of

sons, among others those of Presidents Monroe and Harrison, Lafayette, and General Jackson.

Prior to 1840 the line of march on all these large parades seldom extended further north than Broome street, the troops usually assembling at the Battery, and passing through Maiden Lane, Pearl and Chatham, or other neighboring streets. Subsequent to that date Union Square remained for some years the northerly limit for the regular Division parades. This fact, besides. evincing the rapid growth of the city, strikes one oddly at this day when Union Square, or at least Washington Square, is invariably the most southerly point reached by the military, the dismissal often occurring much further up-town. And now, the line is always formed above Forty-sec