The 11th had been mustered out of the army
about a month before, and when the regiment crossed the Ohio river, the amount of control
the officers exercised over the men was tenuous, at best. After traveling to Indianapolis,
the men changed trains and journeyed to Sidney, where they were slated to catch a
northbound train for Sturgis, Michigan. Just outside of Sidney, the train stopped so that
Mudge could consult with his quartermaster, whom he had sent ahead to check on
transportation arrangements in Sidney. The worried quartermaster reported that of all
people, Vallandigham was scheduled to speak in Sidney that very afternoon on the same
platform with Vice- presidential candidate Pendleton. Mudge knew there would be trouble.The
Democrats in Sidney, looking forward to hearing the distinguished Democratic speakers,
were unaware of the potential powder keg that was headed to Sidney from the west, in the
form of the 11th. The Michiganders arrived in Sidney at 9 am on September 24. As Mudge
cautiously unloaded his men from the train onto the platform, he learned that they could
not catch a northbound train until 4 PM. Seven hours in town with Vallandigham and
Pendleton was a recipe for disaster. The regimental history of the 11th Michigan records
that the editor of the town's Republican newspaper, the Sidney Journal, met the men
of the 11th, invited them to lunch served by the young ladies of Sidney, and reminded the
soldiers to cheer for Lincoln during Vallandigham's speech.
No sooner had the men disembarked, than the train from Cincinnati carrying Pendleton
and his cohort arrived from Dayton. Immediately, a cannon was fired in honor of the
speakers for the day. At the first report of the gun, Mudge's men surrounded him saying,
as he later recalled, "That cannon is being fired in honor of Vallandigham. For
God's sake Colonel let us charge that battery." Mudge struggled to keep control
of his men, assuring them that he would take charge of the situation.
The Democrats in the town remembered things differently. In editorials that appeared in
the Shelby County Democrat on May 26 and July 28, 1893, the editor commented that
the people of Sidney were receiving the Vice-presidential candidate in "a proper
and orderly manner. Mudge led the (soldiers) in cheering for candidates to whom
they knew the crowd in town that day were politically opposed, and tried to provoke that
crowd by calling for groans for one of the prominent speakers." Some of his men
were "intoxicated."
As the speakers prepared to ride to the place where the assembly was being held, the
soldiers, armed with their weapons, lined the street where the carriage was passing. As
the speakers went by, the men commenced firing squibs and blank cartridges, with the real
possibility of a bullet or two being mixed in. Col. Mudge recalled "I did not
think the carriage could pass the line, and the occupants survive."
Mudge quickly bolted in front of his men, shouting "Now boys three cheers for
Lincoln, now groans for Vallandigham." His men took off their hats, and thus
stopped loading their rifles. At the same time, with a nod of his head, he directed the
driver of the carriage to take a right turn down a side street, avoiding the rest of his
regiment. By this act, Mudge felt he had saved the lives of Vallandigham and Pendleton.