Springfield in the Spanish American War
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Meanwhile, everything that could be done with the limited resources at command, was being done. The company commanders sent into Santiago and bought at the commissary stores, such decent food for sick men as could be procured, and through the efforts of Col. Clark, some suitable food and delicacies were obtained from the Red Cross society. The Colonel also purchased, at his own expense, a number of cots and hammocks for the regimental hospital.
It was indeed a trying time. Officer after officer and man after man went down with the fever. Adjutant Paul R. Hawkins was hard hit with it and was finally removed to the second division hospital. Major Henry C. Bowen, the regimental surgeon, also succumbed and was taken to the same hospital where he died. Quartermaster E. E. Sawtell was another victim but did not go to the hospital. Captain John J. Leonard of G, was stricken and for long days fought the disease in his quarters, and Lieut. Edward J. Leyden of his company was taken to the hospital. Lieut. W. L. Young and Lieut. Harry J. Vesper of B were attacked, the former not seriously, however. There were but few men in any of the companies fit for duty and it was difficult to get enough men for the necessary details. The drills were given up for not enough men to make a decent showing were fit to turn out and it was with difficulty that enough men for regimental and brigade guard were provided. Some necessary work had to be done and from brigade and division headquarters details were constantly being asked for and every man able to stand on his feet had to be pressed into service.
The officers, during this trying time, did all in their power for their men, but it was not much they were able to do and the men felt at the time, that they should have done more. In this they were unjust, for the officers were suffering as much as the men, and the latter have since come to realize that many of the opinions expressed at this time and later, on this subject, were unjust. The fever and the other diseases spared no one, whether he wore shoulder straps or not.
Dr. Hitchcock, our assistant surgeon, succumbed to the fever, and was taken to the division hospital and the surgeon, Dr. Bowen, soon followed him there. This left us without a medical officer, and for two or three days the outlook for the sick men of the Second was a dark one. But we were then provided with two contract surgeons, Dr. Persons and Dr. Dunwoody, and both proved themselves excellent gentlemen and hard workers. Soon after their arrival, Dr. Gates, our other assistant surgeon, who had been detailed to the Fourth infantry, was sent back to us, and his presence was as good as a tonic to the sick men. His cheery smile and sympathetic ways were even better than his medicines, and for a time, after his return, the health of the command appeared to improve. Meanwhile, the famous "round robin" had been sent, and its result was that the Fifth corps was ordered to return home as soon as transports could be procured. From then until August 12 the thoughts of the men were concentrated upon the time we were to go home.
Meanwhile, the men who escaped the fever and other diseases, were doing all possible for their comrades. The company officers, finding that idleness at this time was the worst possible thing for the men who were at all able to get about, set them at work, and though this seemed at the time a hardship to the men, it turned out to be the best thing that could be done, for it not only served to keep them in better shape physically but helped to keep their minds occupied and prevented them from dwelling too much upon the gloomy situation in the camps and from thinking too much of home. They were encouraged and in most cases ordered to build raised bunks for themselves, these serving to keep their bodies off the ground while sleeping, and to erect shelters of boughs and palm leaves instead of remaining in their shelter tents. When the big wall tents arrived there was no further need of these "shacks" but they served a useful purpose even if not handsome looking.
It was not long after the surrender that we began to get large packages of mail, including the Springfield papers and it is hardly necessary to say that they were welcome. In these papers we found stories of the campaign and of the part the Second had played in the actions at El Caney and San Juan. Many of the letters the boys had written from Tampa and Cuba had been printed and in the reading of these there was much fun. We learned from the papers of the big Fourth of July celebration that had been planned in Springfield, and how it had been given up when the news of El Caney and the rumors of heavy loss in "Ours" reached home. And we received the Fourth of July buttons which had been made in honor of that occasion and proudly wore them about the camp to the envy of some of the other companies of the regiment. It did us some good to know that we had not been entirely forgotten. And sometimes in the mails there were packages for us, sent by loving friends from home and welcome, whether they contained much or little. The arrival of the mail was an event in those days. Sometimes all that there was could be brought from Santiago on the back of one horse, but there were times when one of the two wheeled carretas was necessary to transport it. The array of bags would be dumped off in front of the office tent of the regiment and then the work of sorting out the contents would begin. That destined for each company having been piled up, there were usually enough men waiting to take it away, and for the next few hours the men would read their letters and papers and exchange news. The arrival of the mail was invariably followed by a time of letter writing and the return mail was sometimes nearly as heavy as that which had come in.
As time went on the fever appeared to be wearing itself out and some of those who had it began to recover slowly until they were able to drag themselves around. For days there was a feeling that the worst was over, and this feeling was especially strong in our battalion, which, by the way, had not as yet been as hard hit by the fever as some of the other sections of the regiment. But then came the yellow fever scare and the deaths of one or two of our men and these resulted in a return of the old depression and consequently the sickness.
Quartermaster Sergeant Richard H. Bearse of B, was the first man of the Springfield companies to succumb to the fever and the nostalgia which accompanied it. He was taken sick soon after the surrender, but kept up and about for some time, as he had all through the campaign. But he went down at last and the end came on rapidly. He died on August 1st, and there was not a man in the regiment more regretted for all who ever knew "Dicky" Bearse, loved him.
The second man to go, in the battalion, was Corporal W. C. Piper of K, who died in the division hospital, August 5th, of pernicious malarial fever. He had been taken there only the day before and his comrades were horror stricken when notified of his death. The day following a detail from his company was sent to the hospital and buried him. Private Paul Vesper of B, died the 10th, from the same cause as Piper, in the division hospital.
It was a day or two afterwards that we heard of the famous "round robin" and its result. The thought of soon sailing for home did much to cheer us up and we began to make what few preparations we had to make, although there was as yet nothing authentic about our going. But on the 10th Col. Clark received orders to be ready to embark on short notice and the news spread like wildfire through our camp. Our working suits which we had worn all through the campaign, and our blankets and haversacks were ordered burned and in place of them we were issued the khaki uniforms of yellow with blue facings.
A few days before Col. John F. Marsh, of Springfield, had arrived, and brought with him several boxes of good things sent by the people of Springfield. The time was so short that many of the boxes were unopened and were taken to the ship when we sailed. Nearly all their contents were looted, however, during our trip to Montauk point.
August 11th we received orders to embark the following day, and on the 12th those of the regiment able to march, fell in, and we "hiked the pike" for Santiago. With flags flying we marched through the Calle de Marina, or Marine street, and after a short wait on a pier, were put on a lighter and taken off to the transport Mobile, already occupied by the other two regiments of our brigade and a number of horses. The sick officers and men were sent to the pier in ambulances and those able to walk not only had to do that, but were also obliged to handle all the baggage, a job that would have been child's play at other times, but which in our debilitated condition was a task almost beyond our strength. Col. Clark had been attacked with the fever that morning and was unable to do anything. Lieut. Col. Shumway was so ill as to be unfit for duty but he stuck it out and did what he could. Lieut. Hawkins and Lieut. Leyden were brought down from the division hospital and Lieut. Vesper was brought down from his tent in our camp by Captain Crosier of D. Company.
Meanwhile there were a number of our men sick in their quarters or in the hospitals who could not be moved to the ship, besides others who had been spotted as "suspicious" cases by the surgeons on the day previous, and ordered to remain behind, it being feared that they were in the first stages of yellow fever. It was necessary that some remain behind to care for these poor fellows, but who to detail to this hard duty was a problem which Col. Clark finally solved by detailing Lieut. W. H. Plummer of A Company of Worcester, and a detail of one man from each company in the regiment to remain. Private Dozilva Lamoreaux of G, Private Robert A. Draper of B and Private Albert Marsden of K volunteered to compose this detail from our companies, and their sacrifices in doing this will not be forgotten by their comrades.
Privates Little, Stetson, Brownell and Dunn of G company, Corporal John B. Fulton, and Privates Judd, Rivers, Champagne, Smith, Wheeler and Frey of B company, and Privates Maynard, Solace and Hall of K were left behind on the island, either sick or as yellow fever suspects when the regiment was ordered home.
CHAPTER XVI
OUR VOYAGE HOMEWARD ON THE DEATH SHIP MOBILE
OUR voyage homeward on the Mobile was not exactly a pleasant one. At the very outset we again found that in army language we were "up against it." Our entire brigade, composing some 1500 officers and men, were on the boat, which although large, was not fitted up in very good shape for transport service and as a result there was at first much overcrowding. The Mobile had recently conveyed a cargo of mules to Porto Rico and on her return from that duty had lain for several days in the festering harbor of Santiago so that her sanitary condition could not be termed an ideal one. The officers were crowded together in her few staterooms and as for the men they were jammed below decks and above decks in any old way. The Eighth and Twenty-second regiments had been on board some time before our regiment arrived and of course had appropriated the best portions of the ship to themselves, something for which they could not be blamed so very much.
That evening we of the Second just simply "bunked" anywhere we could and as a rule we went to bed supperless, for everything was in such a mixed up condition there was no effort made at giving out rations. And on our arrival we found that we were to pass another time with our old friends, the canned "beef" and the nourishing and palatable (!) travel rations. After bidding them farewell, as we thought, forever, this was felt to be the worst blow we had yet suffered but there was no use "kicking" and we made the best of it. Fortunately or unfortunately, as one looks at it, the majority of the men had money enough to purchase quantities of canned fruits and delicacies before they left Santiago and these helped us out to some extent.
What we at first thought was a blessing but which afterward turned out to be the reverse was the presence of a large tank of ice water below decks to which we freely helped ourselves and with evil effect upon some of the men who developed dysentery from indulging too freely in the cold liquid. After a day or two the ice water was shut off from the men, and they were compelled to drink the regular ship's water. There was any amount of grumbling at this but it was the best thing to be done under the circumstances.
We remained in the harbor the night of the 12th and early on the 13th, our old "hoodoo" number being with us again, the Mobile swung her nose around and steamed down the harbor. Every man able to be up was on deck as we started out and realized that we were homeward bound at last. There were mighty few regrets expressed at leaving Cuba and our chief concern now was to reach home as quickly as possible. It was known that our destination was Montauk Point, L. I., and beyond that our information was a trifle hazy.
Passing down the harbor we came to the Merrimac as she lay about where Hobson had sunk her and we could see that she was not of much avail in stopping the channel. A little further we passed the wreck of the Reina Mercedes as she lay where the shells from our warships had put her out of business and just a little distance further along we passed out under the frowning walls and grim looking guns of Castle Morro, over which our flag was now floating. On the other side of the harbor entrance was an unimportant looking sand battery, but it was from it that the Spanish guns did their most effective work against our fleet. One turn more and we were out of the harbor and again on the bounding billows.
This day quarters were assigned the various companies of our regiment below decks. The men were supplied with hammocks and as these had to be slung close together and the men were just a bit unfamiliar with their management there were many tumbles out of bed that night. We found the sleeping accommodations on the Mobile superb. If you say that word "superb" quick it sounds well and that's the way we said it. A number of the men were obliged to sleep on deck and under a covering of loose planks and as it happened to rain two or three nights in succession, they did not like their sleeping quarters any too well.
The steward of the Mobile was an Englishman, like all her officers, and he was a direct descendant of thieves and inherited all their instincts of robbery. He thought nothing of charging $5 for a half-pint of vile liquor and his prices for anything else he could sell were in proportion. He contracted with some of the company commanders to furnish a number of loaves of bread each day for the men but the loaves turned out to be nothing more than biscuits and the prices asked were so exorbitant that a complaint was made to the captain of the ship and the steward was compelled to make restitution.
One of the first incidents of our passage homeward was the stopping of the Mobile by a United States gunboat on our second evening out from Santiago harbor. It seems that the Mobile was not showing just the proper lights and the gunboat steamed close to her to investigate, firing a blank charge across her bows as a signal to stop. The Mobile stopped. Then after a brief colloquy between the little gunboat and the big Mobile the latter was allowed to proceed. It should be said, however, that when the officers and crew of the gunboat ascertained that the Second Massachusetts was on board they gave us three hearty cheers.
Life on board the Mobile was not a bit more luxurious than it had been on the Knickerbocker or in Cuba. We had the same old travel rations and no means of cooking them. After the first day out an arrangement was made whereby Walter Butler, the cook for B company, was to have the use of the crew's galley to make coffee for the three Springfield companies. Walter did as well as he could under difficulties but ofttimes the water used in making the coffee was so poor in quality that the concoction was not exactly palatable. But it was better than ship's water.
The men messed as best they could. The officers had their meals in the dining saloon, paying $1 a day for them and they were not over luxurious. Neither were their quarters, for with the entire brigade on board the staterooms were insufficient to accommodate them all and they were forced to double up and in some instances three officers were assigned to one room and forced to "bunk" as best they could.
Many of the officers and men were just out of hospitals, and for them the voyage was a harder trial than those who were officially in good health. The ship's hospital was established on the aft deck and was protected from the elements only by canvas awnings and during the two or three times it rained during the voyage the sick men were drenched as they lay in their cots or hammocks. Surgeon Gates and Dr. Piersons, the contract surgeons who had done so much for our regiment in front of Santiago, were indefatigable in their attendance upon our sick and so were the hospital stewards, but the medical supplies were as usual insufficient and the accommodations entirely inadequate. Two men were detailed each day to assist in caring for the sick men from their companies and while of course they meant to do all they could for their comrades their performance very often fell far short of their intentions. Naturally the sick men were often peevish and troublesome and it cannot be said that the lot of the attendants was a very pleasant one.
On our second day out occurred the first death in the regiment, Sergeant Harold B. Wentworth of C company, who had been ill with typhoid fever and malaria. His body was buried at sea a few hours after death and the sad event was the first of a series during the voyage. Private George Higgins of F company was the next victim, his death occuring on the 15th.
August 17th was a black day for the Second. At 12.30 that morning Second Lieut. Harry J. Vesper of B company died after a long illness, with gastritis and malaria. He was a very sick man when brought on board but was nursed and cared for as tenderly as possible during the voyage. Private James Ryan of B was detailed as his attendant and was constantly with him, but even the best of care could not have saved him. The same day his body, wrapped in the folds of the American flag, was lowered into the deep, the Mobile being hove to for the purpose. The band of the 22d regiment played appropriate airs and Chaplain Wellwood of the Second conducted the services. The burial was nearly off Cape Hatteras. Lieut. Vesper, who was one of the most popular officers of the regiment, met his fate bravely and died in merciful ignorance of the fact that his brother, Private Paul Vesper of B company, had died a few days before the regiment left Cuba. At that time Lieut. Vesper was ill in the division hospital and it was deemed best to keep the knowledge of his brother's fate from him.
On this same day another B company man, Wagoner Paul J. Kingston, answered his final roll call, dying in the afternoon. Privates Earle C. Clark of H company and Franklin W. Manning of M company, made up the death roll for the day and their bodies were given to the sea.
On the 18th Privates Charles H. Cranston and Henry C. Collins, both of I company of Northampton, died and on the 20th just before we landed at Montauk Point Sergeant Ryder of E company passed away. On the voyage from Santiago to Montauk our regiment lost ten, one officer and nine men, and it is no wonder that the Mobile was referred to as a "death ship."
It is no wonder either, under these circumstances, that the men became depressed. Cooped up in an ill-smelling hold during the night, fed on unsuitable food and seeing the bodies of their comrades cast overboard day after day it was not strange that they became blue. But happily the voyage did not last long for on the afternoon of the 19th we sighted Montauk Point and knew that in a day or two we would be on good United States soil once more.
It was night when the Mobile cast anchor and early the next morning she was towed into what we supposed was quarantine. We passed several steamers with the yellow quarantine flag hoisted at their sterns and after a while the Mobile anchored and some quarantine officers came aboard and inspected the passengers and crew. Fortunately this ceremony did not last long and when it was over the Mobile was brought alongside a wharf as we in our innocence supposed to allow us to land.
But as it happened we were not to land that day. On the wharf were sentries and those of "Ours" who happened to get as far as the wharf were at once driven back. Neither was any one allowed at first to come aboard. As we swung in the stream before the Mobile got to the wharf a small boat containing some Springfield newspaper men attempted to get within reach of the Mobile, but she was ordered away and at the wharf it was some time before anybody was allowed to come aboard the Mobile. The first Springfield man we saw was Dr. David Clark, the surgeon for years of the Second while it was in the militia service. He finally came on board and was at once surrounded by the men of the three Springfield companies so that it was some little time before he made his way to the quarterdeck, where Col. Clark and the officers were awaiting him. He brought plenty of news for us and much information concerning Montauk Point and the arrangement of the camps there. At the same time came aboard baskets of sandwiches and fruit which Dr. Clark had provided. Thanks to the kindness of Dr. Clark many messages were sent from the ship to the anxious ones at home announcing the safe arrival of the Mobile and that the senders were well.
It was not until the next day that we were allowed to land and it was a sad spectacle to watch the disembarkation of the gallant Second from the ship. The men who were able to walk got down the steep gang plank in some kind of order and after an attempt at regimental formation, marched up to the quarantine camp, a distance of some two and a half miles, over the very roughest kind of a road. The sick were transported in mule wagons and they did not find the ride a very pleasant one. On arrival at the camp it was found all laid out with large wall tents arranged in company streets and the majority of the tents equipped with board floors, a luxury we had not experienced for many moons. Rough sinks had been made in rear of the company streets and supplies of soft bread, fruits and milk were waiting for us. A number of the sick officers and men were taken directly over to the hospitals and it began to look as if things might be half decent after all.
CHAPTER XVII
WE AND OUR FRIENDS ENJOY OURSELVES AT CAMP WIKOFF, MONTAUK POINT
FROM the beginning it was evident that our lines in Camp Wikoff were to be cast in more pleasant places than had been the case since we left Lakeland in June. To be sure the detention camp was not an abode of princely luxury and there were shortcomings in plenty about it, but there was an honest effort to care for our comfort. There were but few of the officers and men in our regiment in good health and even the men who did not go to the hospitals were in bad shape physically, but the knowledge of the fact that we were on United States soil at last and that but a short time would elapse before we would be en route for home was better than medicine. Then, too, there was the great improvement in our food, which was worth something, and there was the presence of our friends from Springfield, including some who had made all manner of sacrifices and had endured toil, discomforts and trouble to get to us with help and cheer.
No one can doubt but what it was the full intent of those in authority at Washington to treat the returned soldiers from Cuba in the best possible manner, but it is a matter of common knowledge that as a paving material for a certain warm place good intentions is the very best material yet devised by the arch enemy of mankind. The performance at Montauk fell far short of the promise and this was aided by the over officiousness of some very young and very fresh officers who had no idea beyond the blind following of red tape regulations no matter what might happen. It was to these officers that the delay and vexatious troubles experienced by Dr. David Clark of Springfield in his mission of mercy to us of the Second can be attributed and others associated with him had to face the same difficulties. The story of how Dr. Clark, Lieut. T. A. Sweeney and others were "held up" at the mouth of the rapid fire guns of the converted yacht Aileen by one Lieut. Rhodes, whose name is still cursed by every Second regiment man, is still fresh in the minds of all of us and it was only when the presumptuous young officer was made to realize that he was not the only thing that ever happened that the supplies sent to us by loving hands in Springfield reached us. There is the memory too of the long and weary hours Dr. Clark spent underneath the pier at Montauk in order to remain inside the guard lines and be on hand to greet us when our ship came in. There are the memories of the good work done for us by our old surgeon when the Second was a militia regiment, Major Brown of North Adams, and of Lieut. Sweeney, E. S. Bradford, P. H. Quinn, Charles Lathrop as the representative of Dr. D. J. Brown, T. W. Hyde, and last but by no means least of Frank P. Frost of Springfield, who as the personal representative of Henry S. Lee, worked like a beaver day and night. The Springfield newspaper men, too, should not be forgotten and the thanks of many a poor fellow are due to H. L. Hines, G. H. Atwood and Frank Lee of the Union and to H. K. Regal of the Republican and T. W. Burgess of the Homestead for many kindnesses and unfailing sympathy.