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- The Seventh Regiment of RI Volunteers in the Civil War, 1862 - 1865
by William P. Hopkins, Snow & Farmham Printers, Providence, RI, 1903
PERCY DANIELS Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Daniels, second son of Judge David and Nancy Ballou Daniels, was born in Woonsocket, R.I., Sept. 17, 1840. Left an orphan at six years of age he received the training of the common schools of his native town, but supplemented them with courses at the Westminster Seminary in Vermont and the University Grammar School in Providence, preparatory to the profession of civil engineering to which he has devoted much of his life. When the Rebellion broke out he desired to enlist at once, but health forbade, and, consequently, the winter of 1861-2 was spent in the pineries of Michigan. Returning East in May, he enlisted in the Seventh, and at once opened a recruiting office at Woonsocket. A second lieutenant's commission was given him July 26th, and a first lieutenant's September 4th, upon which he was mustered into service. January, 1863, found him in command of Company E., which he was largely instrumental in raising, and, March 1st, he was promoted to be its captain. June 29, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, but the records of the War Department as certified to by Fred. C. Ainsworth, the chief of the Record and Pension Office, Dec. 2, 1895, show that he was 'in command of the regiment from May 18, 1864.' The fact is, that when captain, he was twice assigned to the command of the regiment over his seniors. The first order was issued by the division commander immediately after the Second Spottsylvania, while the second came from brigade headquarters with the knowledge and approval of the higher authority reiterating it, but rendering it more specific by saying: 'In the absence of the Colonel Commanding.' He retained that authority until the regiment was mustered out. He was brevetted colonel to date from July 30, 1864. Colonel Daniels was present and on duty at every engagement in which the regiment participated. To secure this record on two occasions, he pocketed a leave of absence that had just been transmitted to him. The first he received July 4, 1863, just as the rebel flags came down in Vicksburg, but because of the Jackson campaign he forebore to avail himself thereof until the regiment had reached Cincinnati on its way back to Kentucky. On the way up the Mississippi River, he was the only officer present and fit for duty, except Capt. Edward T. Allen and the surgeons. Again, Oct. 7, 1864, he received a ten days' leave, but he tarried to take part in a little demonstration in the direction of Hatcher's Run, where, as he was superintending the slashing of timber in front of Twitchell's (rebel) battery, he had a horse shot under him and a bullet alike through hat and blouse. In passing it may be remarked that on two other occasions he had horses shot under him, and repeatedly his clothes were pierced and cut by the missiles of the enemy.
For two winters immediately after the war, Colonel Daniels spent his time on railroad work and prospecting in Kentucky and Tennessee. Just before starting General Burnside sent him a note from which the following is an extract: 'I desire before parting with you to express to you my sincere thanks for the generous, loyal, efficient and gallant service you have always rendered me during our long services together. I know of no one who deserves better of his country than you. You will carry with you my sincere prayer for your health, happiness, and prosperity. I am sure that the same energy, talent, loyalty, and gentlemanly deportment that have made you one of our best officers will make you a useful citizen and a kind friend to the
community in which you may settle.' Dissatisfied with the Southern outlook, he visited Kansas, and decided to made his home in that state. In June, 1867, he married Eliza Ann, daughter of Leonard and Isabel Newton Eddy, of Leicester, Mass., with whom he migrated to a home of his own making, near the old town of Crawfordsville and four miles northwest of the present city of Girard. Here he opened a country store and thus supported himself, while breaking and improving the farm on which he resides. This he has syled in remembrance of early associations Narragansett Farm. After a time he relinquished the store and devoted himself largely to surveying, until 1872, when he accepted a position in the city engineering department of Worcester, Mass., remaining there five years and being promoted, meanwhile, to the office of city engineer. In reference to his work there, which involved some of the most important questions of municipal growth and improvement, the 'Worcester Spy' in closing an editorial review of his report for the year just ended, on Jan. 30, 1878, said: 'The report to which these remarks refer is, of course, that of the retiring engineer, Gen. Percy Daniels, whose sagacity and good judgment, as well as his professional accomplishments, have been of great use to the city.'
From 1879 to 1881 Colonel Daniels tarried in Providence, R.I., while settling a brother's estatee, engaged, meanwhile, in his favorite occupation, civil engineering. In the spring of the latter year he returned to his farm in Kansas, where he has since resided, though, meanwhile, he has spent two years in railroad work and five years as country surveyor of Crawford County. In 1888 he became interested in politics, and, in January, 1890, he purchased the 'Girard Herald' 'to convince the voters of Crawford Country of the reasonableness of his demands' upon 'the Republican party to abandon its hypocritical position on the tariff and taxation questions, and keep their early promise, and to make an honest effort to destroy the trusts,' and especially of the necessity for the graduated estate tax or some similar expedent'. In October, 1891, the specific proposition was adopted and endorsed by the People's Party County Convention, as it had been by the County Alliance. So the next week he sold his paper, since which time he has had no other business but his farm, though he has taken an active part in forwarding the interests of the 'reform movement' since he joined it in 1889. He was delegate to the State Alliance in October, 1889, to the St. Louis Convention in December, 1889, to the Cherryvale Convention for the nomination of Congressman, and to the Omaha Convention that nominated General Weaver for president. June 17, 1892, he was, in his absence, nominated by the People's Party as its candidate for lieutenant-governor, to which position he was duly elected for a term of two years. So well did he fulfill the duties of his position that all the senators united in resolutions of commendation for the able and impartial manner in which he had presided over that body, though the spirit of partisanship at that time was very intense.
The qualificiations of Colonel Daniels for high military command have not been overlooked by his adopted state. He was commissioned by Governor Osborne brigadier-general of the Third Brigade, Kansas Militia, for 1873 and 1874, and major-general of the Division of the Kansas National Guard, by Governor Lewelling, for 1893 and 1894; but was not relieved until Feb. 22, 1895. While holding this position the great stike among the coal miners of Southeastern Kansas occurred, resulting in a serious disturbance and some bloodshed. The occasion had become very critical, and there were occasional skirmishes between the sheriff's posse and the rioters. The governor directed him to visit the scene of trouble, investigate, and report. He went and held a long interview with the strike leaders in which they were informed the laws must be respected. He then reported at Topeka concerning the situation, and recommended 'that the authority and the forces, if necessary, of the state be used for protecting property and preventing a conflict.' A meeting of state officers was held that evening to consider the report. There was a disagreement, and the result was that about one A.M. the Governor turned to him (remember he was also lieutenant-governor) and said: 'General Daniels, I am going home and going to bed, and turn the whole matter over to you to do as you think best.' Now the general had remarked in a campaign speech: 'The prime object of laws is the assurance of the individual rights and the protection of life and property; and it is not only expedient, but it is essential for the good of all classes that they be enforced against all classes alike. And the honest official, not the one whose honesty hangs either by the cord of popular clamor or the bond of potent influence, but such as are guided by that kind of honesty which is an integrity of purpose, however much their duties may be repugnant to their preferences, contrary to their wishes or hostile to their sympathies, will enforce the laws they are sworn to defend and uphold, or step aside and leave an unpleasant duty to those who would be required to fill their places.' He could not do otherwise than immediately order the adjutant-general to assemble eleven companies of the National Guard at their armories with three days' rations. Most of them were ready to move at daylight. The consequence was the strike was settled within twenty-four hours without more trouble. At the end of the year General Daniels's report to the executive included a statement concerning the strike, and documents referring thereto. This was published in full at the time in the daily papers, but when the state documents were printed two years later that portion of the report referring to the importance and the necessity of an impartial enforcement of the laws had been striken out.
For a time Colonel Daniels was a member of George H. Ward Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Worcester, Mass., also of Morning Star Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Woonsocket, R.I. More recently he was a charter member of the 'blue lodge' in Girard, Kan., but is not at present connected with any order. He has three sons, Frederick Percy, Walter Horton, and Earle Newton; also a daughter Elizabeth Buttrick, now Mrs. William P. Olin. All of these have attained their majority. He has one grandson, Frederick Harmon Daniels.
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