San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856 | Page 9

a distressing hunger or thirst would silently but
imperiously demand a halt; and as the Jail was neared, a light pair of

heels was frequently put in requisition without the slightest ceremony.
As might be supposed, the number that finally reached their destination,
was distressingly out of proportion to the work to be done; and the
Sheriff, after detaining them for a time, was reported to have dismissed
them with but scant courtesy.
Bulletins meanwhile were issued daily and almost hourly, by the
physicians in attendance upon Mr. King, detailing his condition. They
were posted in conspicuous places, and were read and commented upon
by eager and excited crowds. The enlistments into the Vigilance
Committee were constantly going on. The French citizens held a
meeting and tendered their services to the Committee, and a battalion
of three hundred men was at once organized and armed. The Germans
had no separate organization, but were distributed in large numbers
through the various companies. Arms were collected from all quarters;
cannon were obtained from ships lying at the wharves or in the harbor;
the gunsmiths shops were thronged; dray loads of muskets and
ammunition were taken to the Jail and the Committee Rooms; armed
men guarded and observed the Jail night and day; and although every
thing was done quietly, no person could escape the conviction that an
awful crisis was impending. In all the streets men on foot and
horseback were constantly passing and repassing, apparently engaged
in their ordinary pursuits; but a close observer could detect by the
interchange of a word, a motion, or a significant glance, that they had a
mutual understanding and a common purpose, and were on the alert
and quick and observant of all that was passing.
On Saturday evening, May 17th, in consequence of a telegraphic
dispatch from Mayor Van Ness earnestly requesting his presence,
Governor Johnson arrived in the City from Sacramento. He was met by
General Sherman whom he had appointed Major General of the Militia,
Ex-Mayor Garrison and some others. After a long conference with the
Executive Committee at two o'clock in the morning, he went with a
sub-committee of that body to the Jail. The Sheriff agreed that a
detachment of ten men of the Vigilance force should be permitted to
enter and remain in the Jail to satisfy the people of the safe keeping of
the prisoner. It was agreed the Committee should not take advantage of
the permission to wrest the prisoner from the hands of the Sheriff, but
that if they should resolve such a course, they would withdraw their

guard. At two o'clock P. M. on Saturday, the process of enrollment was
suddenly stopped. Two thousand six hundred men had then been
enrolled. In the evening the whole force was broken up into twenty-six
companies or divisions, as they were called first, of one hundred men.
Each division then made choice of its officers, consisting of a Captain,
two Lieutenants; and Sergeants and Corporals were likewise appointed.
The Command-in-Chief was entrusted by the Executive Committee to
Colonel Charles Doane; who, in all the subsequent military operations
proved himself to be a most skillful tactician and efficient commander.
The great body of the force at first under his command, was infantry
armed with flint-lock muskets, afterwards changed for percussion ones.
There were, in addition, a company of horse; two companies of
riflemen, and artillerists for two field pieces. The evening closed with a
sharp drill of all the divisions.
Sunday the Eighteenth day of May was bright and beautiful. It dawned
on the pleasant and picturesque City slumbering in its holy light. The
roar and tumult of the populous City in its hours of business were
stilled. The sun shone joyously in the deep blue sky, undimmed by
cloud or vapor. All was hushed in the breathing repose of nature, and
the soft and fragrant air, the still earth, and the unruffled surface of the
magnificent bay, graced and dignified by grand old Monte Diavolo
looking down upon it from its far off border, seemed united together in
the same sweet spirit of devotion. As the day wore on, the bells of the
various churches rang out their summons to the house of God. No
unusual movement or sound in the early morning gave token of that
calm solemn, most fearful uprising of the people which, at a later hour,
was to make that day one never to be forgotten by any who took part in
or witnessed its extraordinary events. The Executive Committee with
consummate prudence had kept their plan of action profoundly secret.
At an early hour in the morning the Commander of the force issued
orders to the Captains of Companies to notify their men to appear at
Head Quarters, No. 41 Sacramento Street, at nine o'clock