X L^^ >{t) Class Book ^Sxpedition to Cuba to Bring Back the Bodies of Our Dead by Geo. W. Hale, ------- 96 A Tragedy of the Home-Coming by Edward Branch Lyman, - 100 "Company L" by Lizzie S. Taylor, - - - - - 103 Historical Sketches of Greenfield in the Wars, - - - - 106 Greenfield in the Rebellion, ------ 107 Greenfield Light Infantry, - - - - - - -in Ex-Members of Company L, - - - - - - 112 Roster of Company L, July I, 1900, - - - - - 116 Eleventh Provisional Company M. V. M., - - - - 117 Lieut. C. H. Field, Garrison R. & V. Army and Navy Union, - 118 Greenfield Auxiliary to Mass. Vol. Aid Association, - - 119 Letter from Dorothy Ouincy Hancock Chapter, D. A. R., - - 122 Citizens Relief Committee, - - - - - - 123 Woman's Relief Corps and E. E. Day Post, G. A. R., - - - 124 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece, Maj. F. E. Pierce. Map of Cuba. Compauy L, 2nd Reg. lufty U. S. V., (group picture.) Officers and Members of Compauy L. Camp at Lakeland, Florida. Company L, Barber Shop and Lauudry. Colonel Clark and Major Whipple. A Few Consorts and Transports, 5th Army Corps. Transport "Seneca" No. 5 and Others. Battlefield from Block-house, El Caney. Block-house and Barbed Wire Entanglement. Position Company L, Battle El Caney. Ruins vStoue Block-house, El Caney. Palm Tree Bullet Pierced. San Juan Hill. Lime-kiln Hospital, Kettle Plill. Where Lieut. Field was Buried, El Caney. Field Hospital, El Caney. Palm Grove Between Firing Lines, El Caney. On the Road from El Caney to Santiago. Site Captain Pierce's Tent, Santiago. vSite Colonel Clark's Tent, Santiago. Second Regiment Hospital, Santiago. Plan of Santiago de Cuba Showing Portion of Troops, etc. Tree where Hobsou was Exchanged and Treaty Signed. Stone Bridge, San Juan River. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. vii Cemetery, Santiago, Started by Company L. Final Surrender Tree and LaVenus Cafe. Santiago de Cuba from Harbor. Morro Castle. Socapa Battery. Governor's Palace Plaza, vSantiago. Cathedral of Santiago 300 Years Old. Front of Hospital, Santiago. Slaughter House, Santiago. Fac-simile of Money Order Baiquiri. The Mobile which Brought the Boys, etc. Brotherly Love. Bull Ring, Santiago. Fac-simile Captain Pierce's Commission as Divisional Postmaster. Court Yard, Hospital, Santiago. The Sunken Merrimac. Wreck of Reina Mercedes. A Typical Spanish Soldier. Judge Franklin G. Fessenden. ^■J-X, v^; ig-it '^>' :. - ,. 7'.^ c \x ' -v ^^- INCIDENTS LEADING UP TO THE DECLz\RATION OF WAR WITH SPAIN. Much has been written and said about the war with Spain being one for humanity's sake. But certainly, it was not alone in the cause of humanity, that we fought, for history shows us that the rule of Spain could and would have been terminated in the Island of Cuba years ago had not the United States refused to allow intervention. Rather was it the natural outcome of having a perpetual stench of tyranny and oppression at our very doors ; the memory of the "Vir- ginius" affair and the final culmination in the most dastardly and cowardly outrage ever perpetrated upon any nation. "Remember the Maine," was the battle cry on many a lip and Spain has had plenty of time since that night of Feb- ruary 15th, 1898, to regret that a United States battleship on a friendly mission to her shores and while anchored in the harbor of Havana, should have been blown up, totally de- stroyed and 266 servants of Uncle Sam hurled into eternity. The Virginius affair may not be fresh in every reader's mind. It was during the ten years' war for Cuban liberty, in the year 1873, that an American Merchantman, the "Vir- ginius," was overhauled on the high seas by the Spanish gun- boat "Tornado." and her crew of fifty officers and men taken prisoners and conveyed to Santiago de Cuba. They were confined in the old Spanish bullring, a picture of which is to 1 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. be found in this volume, and from there taken to the pali- sades, a picture of which also appears in this book, and shot. This latter enclosure is now the site of a slaughter house, an appropriate monument to mark the spot. The wrath of the people of the United States can be im- agined, but war was averted by the desire of those in power in our country, and the men in control of the money market, to have peace at any price. The vessel was declared to be improperly registered and we took money for our dead and peace was preserved. I visited the beautiful cemetery in Santiago where the bodies of these men were buried, but at that time the location of their graves was not marked. CLa^ ROSTER OF COMPANY L SECOND REGIMENT, MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY, UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS. Frederick E. Pierce, Captain, Charles H. Field, ist Lieutenant, Fayette B. Mason. 2nd Lieutenant, Charles C. Class, ist vSergeant, Alston G. Salisbury, Q. M. Sergeant, Thomas D. Murphy, Sergeant, Charles E. Chapin, ■" Archie C. Hale " Don a. Aldrich, Donald M. Lobdell, Corporal, Edward M. Slocomb, Albert E. Denison, Albert W. Beckworth, George M. Brooks, Edward J. Class, MerTon R. Dean, Musician, William H. Murphy, Musician, Henry E. Ariel, Artificer, Henry M. Stewart, Wagoner, Andrew B. Anderson, Private, Charles C. Arnold, " Gilbert C. Bangs, Harry J. Barnes, " George E. Blackmer, Frank J. Brassor, Frank M. Breslin, " Albert E. Brown, " Frederick W. Brown, " Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass South Deerfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield , Mass. Hartford, Conn Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass Turners Falls, Mass Colrain, Mass Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass Millers Falls, Mass Turners Falls, Mass Greenfield, Mass Riverside, Mass Greenfield, Mass Millers Falls, Mass Greenfield, Mass Greenfield, Mass CO. L, 2ND MASS, IN SPANISH-AM KRICAX WAR. Peter J. Campbell. Private, Robert A. Cary, Frank W. Carpenter, Earl D. Coates, James D. Cook, Edward M. Cornell, Herbert H. Davis, Warren P. H. Davis, Georgh H. DeRevere, Henry H. DeVenger, James M. Farll, Willis B. Fay, Fred F. Floury, " Julius J. Forgette, Louis E. Freshour, Clark S. Frost, Peter C. Fuchs, Clayton D. Goland, " Henry C. Graves, Peter A. Greenia, Harry C. Hall, William J. Kelliher, William J. Kingston, Edward J. IvAGuE, " Joseph M. Lanois, William H. Miller, Timothy J. Murphy, Frank P. Norton, " William O'CoNNELL, George H. Patnode, Walter C. Raymond, Thomas Rii.ey, Frederick C. Schiller, " Charles A. Smead, " Frank A. Smith, Ward W. Smith, Ralph J. Snow, " LovELL S. Spaulding, " Robert Stockburger, " Jeremiah J. Sullivan, " John Thyne, Jr., " August H. Ungrich, Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Shelburne, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Scranton, Pa. Greenfield, Mass. Deerfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Chicago, 111. Greenfield, Mass. Montague, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Conway, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Riverside, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. East Deerfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. ROST?:kS OF COMPANY L. Richard A. Van PiiXERSiLGK, Private, Harry A. Watson, Frederick E. Williams, Charles P. Wilson, Harry A. Wise, Harry L. Woodard, Otto Zeigi.er, South Deerfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. Shelburne Falls, Mass. Turners Falls, Mass. Greenfield, Mass. - Turpers Falls, Mass. IN MEMORIAM. Charles H. Fikld, First Lieutenant. Killed in battle El Caney, July 1, 1898. Ch.\rles E. Chapin, Sergeant. Died Montauk, L. I., August 30, 1898. Archie C. Hale, Sergeant. Died Santiago de Cuba, August 15, 1898. George M. Brook.s, Corporal. Died Santiago de Cuba, August 1, 1898. Peter J. Campbell, Private. Died Montauk, L. 1.. August 28. 1898. Peter A. Greenia, Private. Died Conway, Mass., September I, 1898. Edward J. IvAGUp:, Private. Died Montauk, L. I., August 26, 1898. Joseph M. Lanois, Private. Fatally wounded battle El Caney, July 1, 1898, Died Divisional Hospital, July 3, 1898. Timothy J. Murphy, Private. Died Turners Falls, Mass . September 6, 1898. Frank P. Norton, Private. Died Montauk, L. I., August 2.', 1898. Gp:orge H. P.\Tnode, Private. Died Boston, Mass., September 1, 1898. Jp;rp;miah J. Sullivan, Private. Died Santiago de Cuba, August II, 1898. Henry M. Stewart, Private. Died Greenfield, Miss., September 29, 1809. John Thynp:, Jr., Private. Died Santiago de Cuba, August 0, 1898. Frederick E. Williams, Private. Died near Havana. Cuba, September 9, 1899. Otto ZeiglER, Private. Died Springfield, Mass., August 29, 1898. Jacor P". vSt.\rk, Civilian, (Captain's servant.) Died Santiago de Cuba, September 10, 1898. FORMATION OF COMPANY L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. The breaking- out of the Spanish War found Company L, Second Regiment Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, or as it is known socially, "The Greenfield Light Infantry," in a fairly flourishing condition. Many of the members were old timers and had distinguished themselves as well drilled men, and at the rifle butts. There were men in the organization who had been with it from its inception, and who w^ore upon their breasts the bronze star of the distinguished marksman, the badge of the sharpshooter and many other tokens of prowess won at dif- ferent competitions. Socially there were men in the ranks who represented the best elements of the town. But with the formation of Com- pany L, Second Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, United States Volunteers, many of these men were not included in its roster. Some were dropped from the rolls after physical examination, owing to some slight defect, and some found it their duty to remain at home with their families, rather than to hasten to the front. Sometimes at such a call it takes more courage to remain at home than it does to go to war. All honor to the man who can have the courage at such a time to do his duty to 8 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IX SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. his family, even at the cost of his reputation and in the face of insult and innuendo. It became necessary, therefore, to advertise for recruits to fill vacancies and to increase the Compan}' to its maximum strength of seventy-seven officers and men. It was with little difficulty that the required number was enrolled and the Company made ready to start for South Framing-ham, the rendezvous of the regiment. Before leav- ing, the patriotic citizens tendered a reception and banquet to the Company. Few of those who attended that magnifi- cent send-off will ever forget it, for it was not only a credit to those who conceived the idea, but it v/as an honor to the town, as it showed the patriotism and stalwart worth of her citizens. DEPARTURE OF COMPANY L FOR SOUTH FRAMINGHAM. The Company left Greenfield for vSouth Framinghara, May 3, 1898, in a drizzling rain ; but the enthusiastic and warm- hearted send-off of the townspeople made up for the dark clouds and soaking moisture, and most of the boys went off with light hearts and a determination to do their dutv in such a way as to merit the confidence and good will dis- played by the citizens. Very few of the citizens, or soldiers for that matter, dreamed of active work for the regiment; certainlv no one expected the Second Regiment to see the service or make the magnificent record it did.- It was not alone the men of the town, but the ladies were, as in all ages, foremost in the good work of the home guard. The "Woman's Relief Corps" presented the Company with their colors, as did also the "Daughters of the American Rev- olution." We could not carry these to the front, but they will be kept by us always in remembrance of the thoughtful I. 1ST. Lt. C. H. Field. 2. 2ND. Lt. F. B. Mason. S. Capt. F. E. Pierce. CO. L, 2NI) RV.C. MASS. INK V, U. S. X'. kindness of the ladies. Not alone was their patriotism con- fined to parting- remembrances, but all throuo;-h our absence, sympathetic hearts and willing' hands worked unceasing-ly to send us comforts. It was not their fault that most of these were never received, and had the war been prolonged we should have had much from them that would have been of g-reat value and comfort to us. The Company proceeded direct to Camp "Dewey" without incident worthy of note. LIFE .A.T CAMP DEWEV. The days spent at South Framingham were extremely busy ones. The Companies in the Regiment were examined physically, in order of their letter, so that Company L was next to the last one examined. This examination was very rigid and we lost several men by rejection. I was obliged to return to Greenfield for recruits, and advertised my re- turn and its object, with the result that I received between thirty and forty applications for the sixteen vacancies. These men were examined by a local physician and I selected eighteen men and returned with them to Camp Dewey. They all passed the board and we contributed two men to the ranks of Company F, the Gardner Company. I recall how anxious all of the men were to pass the ex- amination, and how disappointed some of them were be- cati.se they failed to get in. The first test was the eyesight. If you could not pass here you were rejected without further examination. One man in particular, I recall as nearly broken hearted because he could not see clearly enough with one e\'e to pass. The surgeon was very fair and gave him several trials, but he finally gave it up. When I went to the office to verify my list I was surprised to find this man marked accepted. 1 told the clerk it must lO CO. L, 2NI) MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. be a mistake, but he insisted the man was accepted, so I in- cluded him in the roster. The boy was overjoyed and I will say to his credit that he made one of the best soldiers in my command. He was probablv the only man in the Regiment who was mustered in without taking a full physical examin- ation. This man was Private Williams. I was prejudiced against enlisting him at first, but he was so earnest in his de- termination to enlist and promised me so faithfully that if permitted to join the Company he would conduct himself in such a manner that I would not be sorry for taking him, that I finally consented. Let me record here, that I considered him of great value as a soldier and I became very much at- tached to him personally. No man ever did his duty better or worked harder for the comfort and welfare of his com- rades than Private Williams. After he was mustered out of the volunteer service he joined the regulars, and in a short time became an acting non-commissioned officer. The saddest part of his history came, barely four months after his second enlistment, when the news reached us from Havana that he was dead from yellow fever. Thus the light of another brave soldier of Company L United States Vol- unteers has gone out, but his memory will live with us always. Another boy was so disappointed that he cried. He gave his weight as 125 pounds and the surgeon said he should weigh 135 pounds for his height. He asked me what he should do, and I advised him to go down town and get a written certificate of weight from some merchant. I inci- dentally remarked that he should gain ten pounds from the exercise of walking down town. He came back shortly with a paper showing he weighed 135 pounds and the surgeon passed him. I have been told since thart some stones in his pockets, which he gathered on his way down town, helped materially in the increase. However that may be, he made 3. Sgt. T. D. Murphy, 4. Sgt. C. E. Chapin. 5. Sgt. A. C. Hale. I. ist Sgt. C. C. Class. 2. Q. M. Sgt. A. G. Salisbury. 6. Sgt. I). A. .\Li>RicH. 7. Corp. D. M. Lobdell. 8. Corp. E. M. Slocomb. CO. L, 2ND REC;. .MASS. INK'v. V . s. W I I a good soldier. This man was Private Cook of vScranton, Pennsylvania. The facts concerning- his enlistment are in- teresting- to note, as at the time of his sig-ning; the enlistment book, he was a travelling man, but while in Greenfield heard that several of his friends at home had enlisted in a Penn- sylvania Reg-iment, and not wishing to be behind them in patriotism, and fearful lest he could not get in the home regiment, he telegraphed his resignation to his house and joined Company L. He writes me that he is not sorry, but proud to have been in Company L of the gallant Second Massachusetts. Another boy would be eighteen years old in a very few days, but in his excitement lest he should be rejected, he forgot himself and gave his age as seventeen and so re- mained at home. This man was Waldo Johnson. That he would have made an excellent soldier cannot be doubted as at this writing he is a member of the Twenty-sixth Regiment, United States Volunteers, and experiencing active service in the Philippines. He was, however, nearer the eighteen year mark than one boy in my Company who was mustered in, and whom I have learned since, was barely fifteen years of age. I refer to Private Raymond, a good soldier who did his whole duty without complaint. At this writing Private Raymond is in the United States Marine service stationed on board the cruiser "Buffalo" and en route for the Philippines or China. We did some remarkable hustling after this in the prepa- ration of our rolls with the result that Company L had the distinction of undoubtedly being the second Company of In- fantry to be mustered into the A^olunteer service of the United States in her war with vSpain. Company K of Spring- field was the first Company of Infantry to be mustered into the United States service. The remaining days at Camp Dewey were enjoyable ones. Some of the boys complained of the food, but after they were 12 CO. L. 2ND MASS., IN SP.\NISH-AMERICAN WAR. mustered into the service of Uncle Sam, they must have dreamed of these meals and imagined they were seated at banquet tables groaning from the weight of every luxury of the season. I remember the experience of one of the boys, who, pre- suming too much upon the friendship of the cook, insisted upon being waited upon out of turn. The cook quietly in- formed him he must fall in line and be .served with the rest, whereupon the young man became abusive in his language. The quick temper of the cook was aroused and in anger he threw a sugar bowd at the offender which smashed in pieces upon his head. I did not witness this affair, but the boy came to me and asked to be sent to the hospital. I found he had quite a bad scalp-wound. I asked him how it hap- pened and he said he had been playing ball and had been hit on the head by a pitched ball. The cook afterwards felt very sorry and related the circumstances to me. The prin- cipals were soon as fast friends as ever. So kind hearted was the cook and so anxious to show the man his good will, that he afterw^ards gave him two dollars to buy luxuries with. Let me recoi'd here that I held the cook. Private Farll, in the highest regard. He was a good soldier, who had seen service in the Regular Army, and was of material assistance to me until wounded at San Juan Hill, July 2nd. We kept very busy these days. We had to be equipped and clothed, and recruits had to be drilled and there was a general hustle to insure a complete readiness for an active campaign. At last came the day for our departure from Camp Dewey. Reveille was sounded early on account of the amount of work to be performed, and the uncertainty of the hour at which we should break camp. The morning trains brought thousands of friends from all parts of Massachu- setts. All were anxious to see their dear ones before they left the State. At eight o'clock tents were struck, and at 3. Artificer H. E. Ariel. 4. Corp. A. \V. Beckworth. 5. Corp. G. M. Brooks. I. Corp. A. E- Denison. 2. Wag-oner H. :M. Stewart. 6. Corp. E. J. Class. 7. Mu.sician M. R. Dean. 8. Mu.sician W. H. Murphy. CO. L, 2NI) RKC. MASS. INF'v, V. S. V. 13 3.30 p. m. the Second Reg-iment was reviewed by the Gov- ernor, after which his Excellency Roger Wolcott presented to each commissioned officer his commission. We left the camp grounds about six o'clock and marched to the station. The people of South Framingham did them- selves proud in the way of decorations, and nearly all of the houses were decorated with bunting and patriotic symbols. A large arch had been erected over the principal thorough- fare under which we had to pass, upon which was inscribed the words "God be with you till we meet again." We reached Newport at ten o'clock that night. At all the sta- tions of the towns and cities through which we passed we encountered crowds of people who showed their enthusiasm and interest by wild cheering, building of bonfires and burn- ing red lights. At Newport, R. I., we boarded the steamer "Plymouth" of the Fall River line for New York. There we went on board the transport "vSaratoga," and later transferred to the "Vigi- lancia." We anchored off Bedloes' Island for the night, and remained on board the boat during the next day until even- ing, when, to our surprise, we were landed at Pennsylvania Railroad Docks, and went on board trains and proceeded south by rail. We afterwards heard that a rumor of a Span- ish fleet off our coast had caused the change of program. OUR TRIP SOUTH BY RAIL. There were three sections to our train, and each section had a sleeping car attached for the use of the commissioned officers. I think the officers felt worse than the men did on account of this distinction. Our life on the cars was a fairly enjoyable one, and the trip through the south was pleasant, though very fatiguing. We had a fine quartette of voices in our battalion and the 14 CO. L, 2ND MASS., TN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. boys were invited every day into the officers' car. Their songs helped to drive dull care away and to stifle homesick- ness. Two members of this quartette died in Cuba a sacri- fice to their country. We supposed we were going to Tampa or Key West, in Florida, but were delighted when orders were changed. We reached Lakeland the night of May i6, and disembarked on the morning of the 17th. CAMP MASSACHUSETTS, LAKELAND, P^LORIDA. This spot is charming and the site selected an ideal one, situated on the picturesque banks of Lake Morton in a grove of tall white oaks, whose drooping branches were festooned with great bunches of beautiful vSpanish moss. It was at this camp that Private Brass of Company I died of pneu- monia. It was our first loss by death and a feeling of sad- ness and awe crept over the entire camp. The funeral, which was held at the little Episcopal church near by, was a great tribute to the worth of the volunteer, who had given his life in the service of his country. Nearly every Com- pany in the Regiment, with the field and staff officers, at- tended ; and as Richard Harding Davis expresses it, "He was given a funeral that a marshal of France might have deserved and one which taught a fine lesson." "It showed that the man in the uniform of his country is the man his countrymen honor above all other men." Private Miller of L Company was sick at the same time with pneumonia, and I well remember the two cots side by side, and when poor Brass died, all that separated the dead from the Irving was a sheet hung between the cots. Referring to Richard Harding Davis, he was rather a con- spicuous figure at that time in our camp, and created quite a favorable impression upon those who came in contact with I. Private A. B. Anderson. 4. Private H. J. Barnes. 7. Private F. M. Breslin. 2. Private C. C. Arnold. 3. 5. Private G. E- Blackmer. 6. 8. Private A. p;. Brown. 9. Private G. C. Bangs. Private F. J. Brassor. Private F. W. Brown. CO. L 2ND REG., MASS. INF'y, U. S.' V. 1 5 him, but we have to smile when he compares the Second Massachusetts to the vSeventy-first New York. It shows he isn't posted upon Western Massachusetts. He says : "The New York men were city bred ; they had the cockney's puzzled contempt for the country. Their nerves had been edged by the incessant jangle of the cable cars, and the rush and strain of elevated trains. Their palates had been fed on Sunday papers and Wall Street tickers. Their joys were those of the roof gardens and Muschen- hiems." "The 2nd. Mass. men on the other hand were from the smaller towns in Western Massachusetts. They were farm- ers' sons and salesmen in village stores; some of them were country lawyers, and many of them worked in the mills." He spoke of their pining for one more look at a stone fence and a drink of water out of a bucket drawn from the well. (They were all used to drinking out of wooden buckets.) He hits the truth the nearest when he says "The New York boys held the Spaniards in such fine contempt that as one ex- pressed it, 'They wouldn't do a thing to them.'" He goes on to say that "later they kept their word." We were very fortunate at I^akeland in making many lasting friendships. The banker of the town was a man by the name of Neuen- kamp, a German of good education, who had been a consul at some South American port at one time. I had taken the precaution to establish my credit at this bank so that in case of need I could obtain money through it on my personal checks. My Masonic associations also helped me, as Mr. Neuenkamp was master of the Lodge at Lakeland. He offered to give the Masons in the Regiment a recep- tion and great preparations were made for the affair, but we were ordered away from Lakeland the very day of the re- ception. The race prejudice in Florida is very great and the distinction between the whites and blacks is very sharply l6 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SrANISH-AMERICAxN WAR. drawn. One had only to step into a barber-shop or to board a street car or railroad train to find the whites had nothing in common with the colored population. While at Lakeland a colored trooper .shot a white man, and the race prejudice was so strong that the wildest excitement existed. The trooper tried to get shaved in a barber shop and was refused, whereupon he whipped out his revolver and began demolishing the shop. He succeeded in doing this, but a stray shot struck an inoffensive citizen passing by and killed him. I was shaved at the barber shop the next day, or rather on the side-walk, as the shop itself was com- pletely wrecked. A few of the ollicers started a club in town and gave an entertainment one afternoon, consisting of banjo playing, singing, etc. I shall never forget the recitation, "Presenting the flag," given by Lieutenant Vesper of Company B. Poor fellow, we buried him at sea, and by you who have witnessed the last sad rites of a burial at .sea our feelings can be best appreciated. It is .sad enough when it is a stranger, hut when your friend and fellow comrade is to be buried it is nearly heartbreaking. There is something grand about it, too. Wrapped in Old Glory the fitting shroud of a hero, with comrades as bearers, the band playing a solemn dirge, and the chaplain reading the impressive service for burial at sea, it is grand, though sad. We witnessed many scenes like this on our homeward voyage. You have read of General Francis V. Greene. While at Lakeland, I acted as banker for the Regiment, and the bank required my indorsement" to personal checks before they would cash them. General Greene had just received his commission as Brigadier General of Volunteers and ordered to Manila. He came to the bank that day and wanted a check cashed so he could leave for San Francisco at once. I. Private P J. Campbell. 4. Private E. D. Coates. 7. Private H. H Davis. Private K. A. Car v. Private J. D. Cook. Private W. P. H. Davis. 3. Private F. W. Carpenter. 6. Private E. M. Cornell. Q. Private G. H. DeRevere. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 1 7 The banker required identification and I identified General Greene, but that was not sufficient, I must endorse his check. The General at first declined my profiler to endorse for him, but later, in his anxiety to leave at once he came to me and asked for the endorsement. Let me place myself on record as saying that I think the American soldier is the best in the world. I expected we volunteers would be severely criticised by the Regular offi- cers we came in contact with, but such was not the case. You read accounts of criticism from some of the higher ranked officers, but it is in my opinion caused through jeal- ousy or ignorance. General Young, now in the Philippines, who in my way of thinking is much too old to command troops on such a cam- paign, is on record as saying, "it was a mistake to take the volunteers with the Fifth Army Corps." I don't know where he formulated his ideas, certainly not from his connection with us. He was in command of the brigade to which we were attached while at Lakeland for a short time, but if he made up his mind then, he showed it in a peculiar way. I remember his stopping Major Whipple and myself on the piazza of the hotel at Lakeland, one afternoon and address- ing the Major, said he desired to ask a question relative to a dress parade we had just come from. He said, "I ask this question, not to criticise your Regiment but because I don't know myself." The Major, wishing to grind me a little, I suspect, replied, "General, if you have any questions on tac- tics or regulations, Capt. Pierce is authority." General Young vStated the question and I was glad I could answer him off-hand and correctly. We saw nothing of him, practically, after we left the States, and he left Cuba before the battle of "El Caney." When he wanted a good penman for his headquarters, I notice he came to our Regi- ment and Company L was honored by the selection of one l8 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. of our men. Private Barnes, one of. the cleanest boys in Company L, was detailed for this work and accomplished it with much credit to himself and to the organization to which he belonged. The average volunteer in the ranks is more intelligent than the regular. This is necessarily so for we draw our material from the school, counting-house, factory, store or farm, and usually gel better educated men in consequence. If the Second Regiment was considered outclassed, why did every Division Commander in the Corps request that we be attached to them and every Brigade Commander ask that we be included in his brigade? If we were not satisfactory, why were we constantly pushed to the front? When they wanted a man with experience and good common sense to superin- tend the construction of roads, bridges or entrenchments they sent to the Second Regiment and requested that Major Whipple be detailed. I recall no hesitancy on the part of those in command in placing Colonel Clark in command of the brigade when Colonel Van Horn became incapaci- cated. In fact I have heard his work, while in that position, highly commended by Regular Army officers. I have al- ways been sorr}^ he was not retained permanently as our brigade commander. When they finally wanted a postmaster for the Division, it was to the Second Regiment they came for the man. I state these few of many cases to show what rot it is for these jealous old fogies to criticise our Regiment when they could have assigned plenty of regulars to these positions had they preferred them, or thought them more efficient. It certainly was not our fault that we were armed with the "Springfield" rifl.e, or "smoke-stacks," as they were commonly called. We wanted the "Krag" but they refused to issue them to us. In fact, they thought at that time the Spring- field rifle was a superior gun. I really think it is superior I. Private H. H. DeVerger. 4. Private F. F. Floury. 7. Private C. S. Frost. 2. Private J. M. Farll. 5. Private J. J. FORGETTE. 8. Private P. C. Fuchs. 3. Private W. B. Fay. 6. Private L. E. Freshour. 9. Private C. D. GoLANn. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. I9 to the Krag as far as stopping- qualities are concerned, and if we could have used smokeless powder, as they are doing now in the Philippines, I would not care to exchange for the Krag-Jorgensen. You notice they armed the volunteers sent to Porto. Rico later with the "Krag." You read that we were handicapped with so many recruits. The same conditions, and even worse, prevailed in the regular Regiments. The Eighth United States regulars received sixty recruits on board the "Seneca" who had never fired a rifle and were not even provided with uniforms or equipments until just before we landed. I wush to say that this spirit of criticism did not prevail amongst the Eighth and Twenty-second United States Reg- ulars, two of the best regiments in the service, and brigaded with us. Major Conrad, in command of the Eighth, told me he wished Companies I and L could be attached to his Regi- ment permanently. There are some 3000 lakes in the county of Lakeland alone, beautiful sheets of water, and we enjoyed many a delightful plunge in the cool of the morning or after sun- down. There was a slight drawback to this pleasure in the snakes and alligators which abound in and about these lakes. The alligators seem quite harmless as they float about on the sur- face, occasionally raising their heads as if in wonder at our intrusion. We had a man in our company who was quite an expert snake catcher. I have seen him catch a large whip snake, resembling our black snake, at least six feet long, and holding it with his right hand near the head wind its body about his arm clear to the shoulder. I remember the creepy sensation which came over me hearing a couple of small boys tell about killing two moccasins the day before, right where we were bathing. The quality of the food issued here was good, but to strong healthy men it seemed to be 20 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, lacking in quantity. As one of my men facetiously re- marked, the camp should be named "Little Eat" instead of "Massachusetts." OUR CAMP IN THE SUBURBS OF TAMPA, FLORIDA. From Lakeland we went to Ybor City, and again we were blessed with a fine camping ground. I enjoyed those few days in the suburbs of Tampa. Those of you who have been to this Florida resort know that it is well worth the trip just to stop at the beautiful Tampa Bay hotel, a "palace in Fairy- land." They have a salt water plunge in connection with the hotel and we enjoyed going over if only for a swim in the tank. It was a grand and magnificent sight to enter this hotel, and especially at night, when the brilliancy of the electrics set off the gay uniforms of the officers and foreign attaches and the beautiful gowns of the ladies. Here one saw the social side of the men you read about. Such celebrities as General Miles, Shafter. Wheeler, Lawton, Chaffee and Kent could be seen often in the hotel rotunda or strolling along the lengthy piazzas. It was at this hotel that some of the officers of the vSecond learned to look with disfavor upon those in command of the other Volunteer In- fantry Regiment in our Corps. The Colonel was no gentle- man, and openly insulted the wife of one of our Captains by speaking to her in a nasty way about the Second. He had his reward and the tears were scarce with us at the disgrace of their Regiment later. Orders finally came to us to proceed to Tampa Bay and board transports. We were obliged to leave Private Miller behind as he was too weak from sickness to accompany us. He probably felt as keen disappointment as any of us at his being left behind. But if he could not fight for his country on a foreign soil he had a hard fight for his life in the poorly equipped hospitals of I. Private H. C. Graves. 4. Private W. J. Kelliher. 7. Private J. M. Lanois. 2. Private P. A. Greenia. 5. Private W. J. Kingston. 8. Private W. H. Miller. 3. Private H. C. Hall. 6. Private E. J. Lague. 9. Private T. J. Murphv. CO. L, 2ND KEG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 21 the south. A man's merit is weighed by his endeavors and he is entitled to as much credit as though he had accompa- nied us. We suffered much annoyance here just before sailing in receiving and dispatching our mails. I understand our let- ters home were held for five days at Tampa, partly because of poor facilities for handling it and more especially to pre- vent rumors spreading as to our intended departure and destination. Our trials began here in earnest. Ordered to strike tents and be ready to march at once, we lay out in the cold with- out any covering that night, and it was late the next day when we received marching orders. We finally marched to the train and proceeded to Port Tampa. We found the transport "Orizaba," the boat assigned to us, occupied by another Regiment. It was here our first tight should have been made, but in- stead the boys were obliged to spend the night in an old freight shed on the wharf. The next day, instead of right- ing matters, the Regiment was split up, one battalion going on board the "Concha," one battalion and Headquarters on the "Orizaba," and one battalion on the "Seneca;" after- wards the two battalions on the "Concha" and "Orizaba" were transferred to the "Knickerbocker" of unlucky number thir- teen, and Companies E and M, with our Major, were sent on board the "Manteo," I and L remaining on the ''Seneca." The histories of these two latter Companies, from this time until our landing on Cuban soil, is distinct and separate from the rest of the Regiment. LIFE ON THE TRANSPORT "SENECA." Rumors were frequent those days, and we had hardly gotten out into the harbor before we were all hustled back 22 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. and tied up to the wharves to keep out of the way of imag- inary Spanish torpedo boats. It was during the confusion, incident to getting the transports back to the wharves, that the "Florida" was run into by the "Miami." I can see her now with a great fissure running down her side from the rail . almost to where the sharp prow of the "Miami" struck her water-line. Next day we were out in the harbor again. It was while waiting for orders to proceed that I came in touch and familiar with the poor facilities of the Quartermaster General's department. This condition prevailed, I believe, largely through the inefficiency of appointees to commissions from civilian life. I was ordered to procure transportation from the wharf to the transport for men and supplies. I re- ported to Colonel H., in charge, and was informed I must see Captain S. in regard to the matter. I politely inquired where he might be found and was told, in the most insulting tones, I could look for him anywhere within three miles of the office. I saluted after thanking him for information and re- ported the affair to my superior officer. We got the trans portation, however, because we took it without permission, inasmuch as we couldn't get it through proper channels. I took a great interest in trying to keep the boys supplied with their letters from home. This perhaps, in part, was be- cause of my familiarity in handling the mails, but I was a firm believer all through the campaign that a letter from home was the best tonic that could be given to the boys. I remember visiting the little one-horse postoffice near the wharf at Tampa Bay and finding it packed and jammed full to the ceiling with undelivered mail matter, I got all the mail I could for our Regiment and returned to the trans- port. In my hurry I had taken a lot which belonged to the companies on the "Knickerbocker." The captain of the "Seneca" kindly gave me a boat's crew and we rowed over to the Knickerbocker and gave them their mail. They were I. Private F. P. Norton. 4. Private W. C. Raymond. 7. Private C. A. Smead. 2. Private W. O'Connell. 5. Private T. Riley. 8. Private F. A. Smith. 3. Private G. H. Patnode. 6. Private F. C. Schiller. 9. Private W. W. Smith. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 23 a discouraged looking lot of fellows and [ was well satisfied to get back to the "Seneca." Those were long days and monotonous ones, but finally, under protection of consorts, we started. The suffering on these crowded transports can be imagined when I tell you we were on them fourteen days before landing. The water issued to the men was vile. It was Mississippi water, but stored in foul casks. The water drunk by the officers was the same but stored in an iron tank and run through ice. I reported the condition of affairs to the surgeon, but he said I was mistaken, that the water was chemically pure. I finally took a cupful to him and the odor was so offensive that it nauseated him. I laid in with the steward and between us we hypothecated all the water we could, and I passed it out of my state room window to my men. I recall telling Lieu- tenant Mason the suffering of the men for want of water, and asked him to see if he couldn't get them some. In his characteristic manner he said he thought that easy and walked over to the officers' table and took a large pitcher of ice water and carried it to his state-room and passed it out to our men. As senior officer of the vSecond Regiment on board the "Seneca" it was my duty, in company with the majors of the Eighth, to inspect the boat twice each day. The bunks, made of rough boards, had been thrown together hurriedly and every inch of space was utilized. The boat, filthy to start with and overcrowded with men, supplies and baggage, was hard to keep in anything like a sanitary condition. In 'con- sequence the lower decks were foul and ill-smelling. The men in a great measure preferred to spend their time and sleep on the' upper deck and you would find them huddled together in every conceivable spot. Even when it rained, they preferred the fresh air and wet clothes to going below where the air was close and stifling. 24 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Corporal Lobdell showed the stuff he was made of on this sea-trip of fourteen days. He was not a i^ood sailor and suf- fered in consequence from seasickness. I ordered him down to my state-room and got the steward to give him some food. He protested and said he must not be treated differently from the others. The only way I could get him to take some nourishment and fresh water was by getting him to distribute some amongst the other boys. He was a prime favorite with all the boys and not one of them would have complained if he had received Benjamin's share, or ten times the comforts they did. It was a grand sight to see the long line of transports in three columns guarded on the flanks and in advance by the warships of our navy. I shall never forget the magnificence of it all. There were nearly fifty boats of all kinds in this expedition. The signal lights at night, with their beautiful colors and the long flash of the search-lights, were superb. No one knew where we were going. One day it was Santi- ago de Cuba, the next it would be Porto Rico, but we were pretty sure it was Santiago when we turned to the west after leaving the windward passage. I have every reason to be- lieve that the Fifth Army Corps was originally intended for Porto Rico. But after Cevera's fleet was bottled up in Santi- ago harbor, prominent naval officers predicted that the city could be taken by the combined forces of the navy and a land force of 10,000 men. Our corps being the nearest to readi- ness for active duty, was hustled off for this purpose. While anchored near the breakwater off Tampa Bay, the boys had lots of sport swimming and diving in the water. We had some expert swimmers and divers in our Company and the magnificent physique and set-up of the men was the wonder and admiration of the regular officers. They would dive off the top rail of the boat, some thirty-five feet, with the ease and grace of an expert diver. Privates Woodard CO. L 2ND REG., MASS. INF'V, U. S. V. 25 and Albert Brown were, perhaps, the best divers in our Com- pany. Thev were both good soldiers and did excellent ser- vice. Occcasionally a school of sharks would appear near by and there would be a grand scramble for the side of the boat. But no casualties occurred from this cause. By the way, did you ever know of an authentic case where a man was killed by a shark(?) The Captain of the boat asked me that ques- tion and I was obliged to reply in the negative. He claimed that a shark would never attack a man and challenged any- one to cite an instance where they actually knew of anyone's ever being devoured by one. On the way down I saw a real water-spout. I had never seen one before except as pict- ured in my geography, and it was well worth the seeing, I assure you. The Southern Cross was also an interesting sight, not that the stars are any brighter, but because it can- not be seen so far north as this. BOMBARDMENT OF DAIQUIRI AND SIBONY. We slowed up off Santiago, and it was finally announced that we were to land somewhere next day. The bombardment and manuevering of our war vessels was a grand sight. The bombardment took place at both Siboney and Daiquiri, so that our actual landing place should not be known to the Spaniards. A perfect shower of shells was fired into the sides of the mountains and along the coast. A serious mis- take was made just before our landing. The officers had dressed themselves in their Khaki uni- forms and they were much more comfortable than the thick blue ones. But the senior officer in command of the troops on our boat, a strict disciplinarian and West Pointer, refused to allow us to land in any but our blue fatigue uniform. We suffered much in consequence from the heat and because 26 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. the officers became conspicuous marks for the ever watchful sharpshooter. LANDING AT DAIQUIRI. Finally we were ordered to land at Daiquiri. This was no easy task, as the "Seneca," improperly loaded with heavy siege guns and in the trough of the sea, rolled from side to side, until it seemed as if she would capsize. It did not soothe our feelings much to learn that there was a quantity of dy- namite stored in the hold. Referring to the heavy rolling of the transport, I recall a group of officers sitting in the saloon of the boat waiting for orders to land. The old boat would roll from side to side with a cradle-like motion until her rails almost touched the water. Everything not fastened down was thrown in all directions. Suddenly she began to pitch and roll and the glass-ware on the sideboard came crashing down. I was seated in a chair which was screwed to the floor, but so sudden was the lurch that the chair was torn from the floor and I found myself hurled clear across the saloon. Before I could pick myself up I was thrown to the other side. I remember seeing a fellow going down a ladder with a dish-pan full of Irish stew. The boat gave a sudden lurch and he lost his footing and fell. You can per- haps imagine the condition of things within twenty feet of where the dish-pan landed. The boats from the "Massachu- setts" came for us and it was a very difficult matter to keep the boats near enough to our transport for the men to jump into them. We had many narrow escapes that day. Finally the boat in which I landed was filled with men and pulled away from the "Seneca." We could not row ashore but waited to be towed in by launches. The launch that was to take our boat went off without seeing us, and so we tossed up and I. Private R. J. Snow. 2. Private L. S. Spaulding 4. Private J. J. Sullivan. 6. Private J. Thyne, Jr. 7. Private K. A. Van Petersilge. 8. Private H. A. Watson. 3. Private R.^.Stockbukger. 6. Private A. H. Ungrich. 9. Private F. K. Williams. CO. L, 2ND RECz. MASS. INF Y, U. S, V. 2'J down waiting for its return. I never saw men so ill from seasickness in my life. Finally our signal was seen and we were towed in towards the rough coast. It was as hard land- ing as it was getting into the boats, but we finally all got safely ashore. Others lost their lives later in making this landing. Here I saw the first and only wounded Cuban I saw dur- ing the campaign. He was a poor, inoffensive native, who had been hit by a shell from one of our battleships and lost his arm. The inhabitants here were very kind and hospita- ble. Here we got our first cocoanuts and saw some of the natural beauties of the island ; such magnificent palms and rank tropical growth I had never seen before. The mount- ains, too, were grand, raising their heads away up in the clouds. It surprised me to learn that many of these peaks were higher than our own White Mountains. Another pecul- iarity, but not an attractive one, about these high peaks, was that nearly every one of them was surmounted by a Spanish block-house. These block-houses are rather interesting to look over (after they are in your possession.) They look something like a Chinese pagoda and not unlike a signal station, or switch house on our large railroad systems. They are some- times made of stone, but more frequently of wood. They are boarded inside and out and between these boards are filled with stones and gravel. Loop holes are left at fl-e- quent intervals, and on the whole they make a very formi- dable fort. I remember seeing the American flag raised at Daiquiri. The men sent to raise it had to climb a high peak overlooking the harbor. It was a long, tedious climb up the narrow, winding pass, but they finally reached the top and took down the Spanish flag and hoisted the American flag in its place. As the stars and stripes proudly fluttered in the breeze, the war ships saluted with their guns, and the 28 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. transports blew their whistles, and one could not but feel proud that he was an American. During the bombardment and landing, the band on our boat played that familiar tune, "There will be a hot time in the old town to-night." We secured pieces of this flag captured at Daiquiri and keep them now as souvenirs of the occasion. The iron railroad bridge at this point, as well as the shacks and other buildings, showed signs of the terrific bombardment from our fleet. A block-house at Daiquiri was burning when we landed and a quantity of ammunition destroyed, which was evidenced by the constant explosion of cartridges. Lieuten- ant Field made friends with a poor German woman who had married a Cuban, and came back with proofs of her hospital- ity in the material shape of a bottle of wine and some fruit. The condition and suffering of some of these Cuban families was most deplorable. Their poor emaciated bodies, reduced to mere skin and bones and covered with a few rags, showed but too plainly the results of Spanish misrule and oppres- sion. Scenes of almost indescribable suffering are recorded in the reconcentrado districts and devastated portions of the island. Our stay here was of short duration. At one time it looked as if we might be attached to the Eighth United States Regulars, and as senior officer present, I was ordered to proceed with the Eighth with the four Companies landed. Just before starting I was informed the "Knickerbocker" was in sight and 1 would wait for Colonel Clark. I have no doubt this delay kept the Eighth and a part of the Second from being in the fight at La Guasima. At Daiquiri, I was ordered to furnish a Company for scout- ing purposes, and I detailed Company E, the Orange Com- pany, for this duty. I was also ordered to furnish a detail for engineer work and selected the men from L Company. One of these men, Mus. Murphy, a splendid campaigner and one of the most popular boys in Company L, found in an I. Private C. P. Wilson. 2. Private H. A. Wise. 3. Private H. h. Woodard. 4. Private O. Zeigler. 5. Servant J. Stark. 6, 7, S. AS THE BOYS I.OOKED ON THEIR RETURN. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 29 abandoned block-house, a map or chart of the country around and including Santiago. Quick witted and with good judg- ment, he reported the find to the engineer officer in charge. He was complimented by this officer, whom I think was Lieutenant Colonel McDerby, and informed it was a valua- ble find and would be of great service to the Commanding General. He took the man's name and organization and I supposed he would at least be mentioned in general orders, but he never was, and like many another man who has ren- •dered good service, he was overlooked. He came back with a machette he found in the block-house and was envied by the other men until they met with equal success. I was ordered to furnish a guard to report to Lieu- tenant Rees to guard engineer property at the wharf, and Corporal Denison and Privates Arnold and Bangs were de- tailed for this work. SIBONEY. We camped that night not far from Siboney and next day entered the town. We nearly overtook the Spaniards and so hasty was their retreat that they left their breakfast cook- ing on the fires. I was in command of the Second battalion at this camp and I detailed Lieutenant Field to have charge of posting the outposts around our camp. This was import- ant duty and it is needless to say that it was done well. • Here again the ingenuity of the volunteer was brought in- to play. We captured two locomotives, among other things, and found that the Spaniards, in their haste had but par- tially dismantled them. They threw away, or buried a few parts, but these were found and a Second Regiment man, a skilled machinist, assembled the parts and soon had the en- gine fired up. It must have been galling in the extreme for the Spaniards up in the mountains to hear the whistle and 30 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. the rolling noise of the locomotive as she was steamed up and down on a half-mile track. Siboney, or better known as "Crab City" by the boys, was a quaint old place. The Cubans were poor, but kindly dis- posed and hospitable. Their homes g-enerally were merely thatched huts. The floors are of natural clay soil. Some of them at this place were more pretentious, owing- to its being a mining and lumber town, the industries largely being run by American capital. Some of their huts were without fur- niture, cooking utensils or other conveniences, and only with mere heaps of cast-off clothing or rags for beds. These un- happy creatures subsist on native fruits for the most part. We had to be very careful about eating the fruits com- mon to the island. Mangos could be eaten, but caused a fever if eaten in large quantities and with liquors. The liquors would cause fermentation and sickness was sure to follow. Pineapples were considered unhealthy and limes had to be indulged in sparingly. We saw very few bananas, as it was not the season for them. I remember the dish of rice boiled with cocoanut and filled with raisins prepared for me by a Senorita. It w^as fine, compared to the bacon and hard tack we were living upon. Their coffee, too, was deli- cious, and one old lady who had been a danseuse in her younger days and travelled in this country, was so delighted by a few commonplace compliments paid her, that she in- sisted upon furnishing me with a cigar, the duplicate of one she was smoking. Did you ever see a land crab? They range in size from a ten cent piece to a good sized lobster. It is a delightful sen- sation to wake up and find one of these repulsive crustace- ans crawling over you. They are harmless, and, we learned, were good eating, but there is something so creepy, crawly and repulsive about them as they click, click over the ground, crawling backward as rapidly as forward, that I should in- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 3 1 deed be hungry to try my appetite on one of them. The spiders and scorpions, too, were nightmares to us. The Cubans show absolutely a lack of fear for the tarantula, called by them "aranya pelour," and with perfect nonchal- ance pick them up with their fingers, grasping them by the fat thorax. The fangs of this long hairy spider are beneath the body and when held by the thorax they are powerless. The scorpion called by the Cubans "alakran," is in no sense deadly poisonous, but their sting is quite painful ; neverthe- less, the Cuban boys pick them up by their business end without slightest fear of injury. You see them everywhere and every stone has one or more under it. The centipede is dreaded above all. It is called by the natives "cien pies" — hundred feet. They grow to great size, sometimes as long as eight inches. They are very hard to capture and when disturbed, scurry away with the speed of a railroad train. The chameleon is seen everywhere, and with its ever chang- ing colors, is 'beautiful to look at. I have seen and killed a great many spiders as large as 5'our hand stretched out with fingers and thumb extended. The colored soldiers dug them out of the ground and had fights between them. They were as great fighters as the colored troops them- selves, and never ended the contest until one or both were killed. I had the experience of being stung by a scorpion and it is not a pleasant sensation I assure you. I remem- ber waking up one night and finding one of those monster spiders crawling over me. It made as much noise as a rat would, as it scurried away over the Lieutenant sleeping with me in the tent. Perhaps I didn't perform a somersault out of that tent that would have done credit to an acrobat. I hustled the Lieutenant out and we lighted a candle and hunted for the monster. We took down the tent before we found it, and I pledge you my word of honor it was so large it could not get into a two quart tomato can, but sat with its 32 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. legs spreading over the sides, while its body rested upon the sugar in the can. We killed it and retired to dream of hunting elephants, tigers, and other large game. I remember being aroused suddenly from my slumbers the night we spent at Siboney. I thought for a moment I had been hit by a Spanish shell, but Lieutenant Mason, who was sleeping with me, apologized for thus rudely awakening me. He said he had awakened suddenly from some noise, and saw perched upon me one of those lobster looking crabs and had struck at it with his hat and hit me instead. The men accidently discovered a lot of wine and stores left by the Spaniards and helped themselves quite liberally before the officers learned of the discovery. I remember some griddle cakes made by the boys out of linseed meal they had found. They had the consistency of stove-lids and resembled them not a little when fried. The beach at Sib- oney was very sandy and the opportunities for bathing were good. The approach from the ocean was much better than at Daiquiri, and the large transports could come in quite near to the landing. The horses and mules were lowered into the water and headed for the shore. Occasionally one would get headed out to sea and in many cases it was im- possible to get them to go towards the coast, and they would drown. From this cause and the results of sickness the beach was strewn with the dead bodies of these animals. ENGAGEMENT AT LA GUASIMA. It was while bathing in the surf at this place that I saw .some of the wounded Rough Riders who had been brought back from the scene of the battle at "La Guasima." One of them had four bullet wounds through different portions of his body. We were hurriedly rationed and when I tell you that we received four days rations at this time, you can im- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 33 agine what each man had to carry in addition to his other equipments and luggage. They issued tomatoes in two-quart cans, and many of the boys had to throw them away or give them to the Cubans, because they could not carry them over the rough, steep mountain trail. The Second was left to guard the town and the Eighth and Twenty-second were pushed ahead to reinforce the col- ored troops and Rough Riders. We could hear the crack, crack of the rifles away up in the mountains and knew there was an engagement on. We were hurried along later, and reached the scene of the battle of a few hours previous, just at dusk. I shall never forget that scene. It was our first experience of the results of battle. It is not the worst part of army life to face bullets, but to see the sufferings of men around you. It was a sad sight which met our gaze. Stretched upon the ground were our dead, numbering six- teen, all told. The colored boys were burying their dead as we reached La Guasima. All around were the wounded, and some suffering terribly. We pitched our camp quite late in the evening and the boys were obliged to put up their little shelter tents in the dark. These little shelters were only six by six and three feet high. Each man carried one- half tent and poles in his roll. Two men would assemble their parts, button the light weight canvas at top and one side and crawl in for the night. The hummocks, stones and hollows were on intimate, if not easy, terms with the body and the boys soon got accustomed to these little hardships. The Rough Riders were without food, and my men gave them nearly all the rations they had. I remember going over the battlefield next morning early, with Major Whipple. That any were left to tell the tale is a marvel to me. The trees were riddled with bullets. Do you know the effect of a mauser bullet on a good sized tree? Well, it will go clean through it. We came across the body of a "Spanish guer- 34 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. ilia," which had been neglected and unburied. The Cubans hate them so they will not bury them. Private Bangs be- came badly strained on this march and the next morning a detail was obliged to carry him back. to Siboney. It was a hard job, and the detail suffered much in getting him back. They finally got some Cubans to help them out and landed him in the hospital at Siboney. He did not join us again but was sent back to the States. The detail lost all their rolls, etc., on this trip. They were so burdened with the heavy rolls and iheir human freight that they conceived the idea of burying their shelter tents, blankets, etc. The thiev- ing Cubans nosed out their hiding place and took everything. This detail consisted of the following men: Privates Coates, Lague, Lanois and Spaulding. It was about this time I first saw General joe Wheeler. He is a very active, genial and lovable man. I recall his kindly greeting to me and his thoughtful incjuiry regarding the welfare of my men. We pushed on from here and finally camped in line of bat- tle formation a few leagues from Santiago. While camped here we tried our luck fishing in the brook which flowed peacefully by our camp. A couple of regulars had tried to hook a fish, resembling our rock cod, with a pin fastened to a long string. One of the boys loaned me a fishhook and line and I hooked the fish through the body and got him out. Our mess had a taste of fried tish for supper. Private Kingston tried his luck later and secured several fairly good fish for his pains. It was here that the detail left on board the "Seneca" to guard our property and see it safely landed, reported. The following is an account of the experiences of the de- tail left on board the "Seneca" as reported to me by Quarter- master Sergeant Salisbury: Captain F. E. Pierce: — Sir, — On the morning of June 22nd, when the troops were ordered CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 35 to make a landing at Daiquiri, they carried rolls, haversacks, can- teens, belts and rifles, leaving knapsacks on the boat. They were also ordered to carry "three days' rations." By feeding the men on short rations since being on the boat we had managed to have a limited quantity of canned meat left, which they took, together with all the hard-tack they could carry; of this latter luxury there were several boxes remaining. When the Company disembarked I was ordered, as you know, to remain in charge of a detail of two men, Privates Anderson and Patnode, and Servant Stark, to look after the Company property left there, consisting of rations, knap- sacks and the personal baggage of the officers. I remember a huge lump arose in my throat about that time and it was an extremely hard thing to swallow. I must admit that it was a bitter disappoint- ment to be left aboard the transport and see the rest of the boys going ashore, but it was an order, so that settled it. That night was the dreariest onel have ever spent. About six o'clock, just before dark, one of the transports discovered a United States flag being raised away up on top of one of the mountains on a block- house, and it would be hard to imagine a more deafening noise than that which came from the whistles of all the boats in the harbor. The next day the quarters of the different Companies were cleaned by the details left in charge, which included at least twenty-five regulars, non-commissioned officers and privates. After this we were given an opportunity to look over our remaining food, etc., which included a large quantity of hard-tack, flour, sugar and coffee, and four dozen cans Cleveland's Baking Powder. We immediately made friends with the regulars left with us, and as they had a cook with them we arranged to eat with one of their Company details, contributing our share of the food, of such as we had, and have it all cooked together. We had all we wanted to eat during that week, our bill-of-fare including hot tomato soup and griddlecakes. Of course we had had no fresh milk for some time, not since we left Framingham, and we had secured condensed milk since then only as we bought it. The cook, however, had supplied himself with three cans of this latter luxury before leaving the States, and having disposed of one can, the two remaining were left on the boat. This was of course a most happy discovery, and I must confess that a meal including condensed milk in our coffee nearly made us believe we were dining in a first-class hotel somewhere in our own "country. The two men of my detail, Anderson and Patnode, helped one of the ship's mess cooks, and so got most of their meals with the crew. Servant Stark ate with the "condensed milk squad." We soon ^ came to enjoy ourselves to a certain degree on the boat. During 6 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. the week as we cruised back and forth along on the coast we saw a good deal of the bombarding of the coast by the war vessels. On Friday night we were ordered to go down to a point some distance below Santiago, where some of the Cuban army were assembled, and bring them up to where the American forces had landed. We took on several hundred men, and 1 made up my mind then and there never again to discredit any stories I might hear about destitution in the Cuban army. If one of the men owned a shirt and panta- loons at the same time he was lucky. Many of them had nothing but a cloth around them. In place of canteens, for carrying water, some of them had cocoanut shells with a small hole in one end with a cord attached, others had a sort of cup made of the same mate- rial, and still others carried large whiskey bottles in their hands, having no way to fasten them to anything. For haversacks some had woven straw bags or sacks, similar to the covering to tea- chests shipped from wholesale dealers to grocery stores, and others had bran sacks or parts of them, while many had none at all. Their rifles were nearly all what we would consider unserviceable; there were "Remingtons," ''Lees" and "Springfields," all so old and rusty that if an American soldier were to use one it would surely put a black-and-blue spot on his shoulder, but the Cubans were so dark I don't suppose they saw anything of that kind. The officers were dressed somewhat better than the enlisted men, each one wearing an ill-fitting thin crash suit. Nearly all of the men carried machettes, all rusty and dull, which was evidenced by the fact that as soon as they boarded the boat and discovered that there was a grind-stone aboard they made a rush for it, keeping it busy for several hours. They were continually jabbering in their native tongue and making all sorts of signs to the Americans. The Cuban soldier is dark skinned, but not generally as dark as the American negro, although there were many of them in whom African blood was much in evi- dence, for they were very large and black. There was at least one officer in the force who was an Englishman, and he was taken by an American soldier to the ship's mess room and treated to a good meal, which, according to the officer's story, was the only good one he had had for nearly three years. It had taken some hours to load them and when they were finally gotten up on deck we started back toward Santiago for Siboney. At supper time that night our officers supplied them with several boxes of hard-tack, which they ate ravenously. Before we had started, one of them had been fishing over the side of the boat and had caught several large red-and-silver fish which he and some of his comrades ate raw. There were, of course, some cases of sickness among them; i ^ CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U, S. V. 37 one in particular, that of a young man, presumably about twenty- three years of age, who had a gaping wound in the back of his foot in the cords just above his heel, made by a piece of Spanish shell some days before; this wound had received no care, blood-poison- ing had set in and he was about at the point of death; our surgeons could do nothing for him, he was so far gone; his face presented a horrible sight. But in the main, these soldiers seemed a happy and contented lot, laughing and talking continually and evidently not thinking it much of a hardship to put up with scanty clothing in a hot country. We were awakened the next morning by their bugler sounding the call. He was evidently a fine player; never have I heard an American bugler play a more beautiful strain, or with any more correctness. Nearly all their officers carried revolvers and I tried to swap mine to an officer for the one he carried; it was of Spanish make, nickel-plated, with pearl handle studded with stones; he only smiled and shook his head. We arrived at Siboney about seven o'clock the next morning, Sunday, and the landing of the Cubans began at once, being done in the same way that the Ameri- can troops landed the week before at Daiquiri, small boats being sent from the war ships, five or six tied end to end with ropes, drawn by a steam launch and manned by the sailors. We finally succeeded in getting them ashore. Two young officers of the bat- tleship Massachusetts came on the Seneca with a message for the Captain of the boat and 1 heard one remark, as he passed through our Company quarters, "What must life on a transport be!" and I was forced to agree with his sentiments. Our boat then went back to Daiquiri, the first landing place, where we stayed for a few days. One morning I went on shore with the Quartermaster in charge. Lieutenant Lindsey of the Eighth Regulars, and had my first experience in Cuba. The ground seemed to heave and rock, just like the motion of the ship, so that at first I was hardly able to keep my balance; and how hot it was! It was simply stifling, the sand, rocks and dense growth of vegetation throwing back the heat in an immense degree. I was glad to get back to the boat and have a good fresh breeze and I must say that my ardor for landing in Cuba with the troops was somewhat dampened. One of the regular sergeants on board went on shore with Lieutenant Lind- say one day during that week and disappeared, having gone into the interior trying to find his regiment. He came back two days afterwards and was immediately put under arrest for desertion. But according to his own story, he had seen the fight at La Guasi- ma, and he certainly gave an account of it that agrees with the articles written by correspondents present. At noon, the 28th of 38 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. June, the order came to our boat for all our soldiers and stevedores to disembark and join their regiment at once, at the front, leaving the Company property on the transport without guard. This made us happy, and I can safely say that we were not long in getting our personal luggage together preparatory to quite a change in pro- gram. We were transferred to a Lighter at Daiquiri and conveyed down to Siboney, where we were landed in boats rowed by natives from the town. The day before, Private Brassor came back from the regiment to the Seneca with mail for us who were on the detail, and as luck would have it. he arrived just before our landing, so we had a guide to where the regiment was stationed, several miles from Siboney. We began our journey to the front, immediately on landing, about six o'clock at night, taking the trail leading under the railroad bridge and back some distance inland. This trail was in miserable condition, having been hastily built by our engmeers for the passage of the troops, and at places was impassable, so we had to cut through the jungle at the side; we occasionally met a stray Cuban soldier, finally arriving at the gulch at La Guasima, the scene of the engagement of the 24th between the Rough Riders and the colored troops and the Spaniards. The enemy had been driven over this trail across the ravine, and after we had arrived on the opposite hill we turned off the trail a few steps to the right and found the graves of seven of the Rough Riders and one Cuban soldier or Spanish guerilla, who had been killed in that fight, one of them being Sergeant Hamilton Fish of New York.' This made us realize a little more that we were in the enemy's country and that we were likely to see things unlooked for. A little farther on we came to the camps of the American troops. During the trip, we had stopped to rest two or three times, and in the pitch dark| we could hear soldiers singing that piece so familiar to us then, "Enjoy yourselves," and a little later my suspicions were confirmed when we found that the singers were of our own regiment and Company. We received many warm greetings in the camp and I know that I voice the feeling of the rest of the detail when I say that it seemed almost like' arriving home; we were ready for any kind of fun then, so long as we could ourselves partake of it Respectfully, Alston G. Salisbury, Q. M. Sgt., L Co., U. S. V. This detail had been ordered off the boat and without ac- complishing; the purpose for which they were left behind. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 39 My servant, Stark, did have presence of mind enough to bring along my grip, and its contents proved of much value later on. I found a cigar in the grip, and lighting it, walked up through the regimental lines. We had had no tobacco, and I recall the looks of curiosity from the men as I strolled along smoking my cigar. The officers nearly mobbed me, but I enjoyed the cigar nevertheless. Tobacco became so scarce that one man offered $42.50, all the money he had, for a pound bag, and found no takers for his money. One of my men, knowing I had a couple of pipesful of tobacco, informed me he knew where he could get a lot of hard-tack for it. We were very short of rations at the time, so I gave him the tobacco. He came back with 184 hard-tack, for which he had ex- changed the tobacco. It proved to be a case of "Cast your bread upon the waters," for one of the boys, not a smoker, knowing my weakness, gave me a bag full, which proved to be much better than that I had exchanged. General S., sitting at the side of the road as the troops were passing, with nothing about his uniform to designate his rank, spoke sharply to some stragglers. One of the men inquired of his neighbor who that was, "I don't know," said his friend, "But he must be a Major-General, for he is smok- ing a cigar." This same General was strolling about the streets of Santiago shortly after its surrender, paying no par- ticular attention to those he met. He was dressed similarly to a private soldier, with slouch hat and blue shirt, and with no insignia of his rank upon his clothes. A young Lieutenant, who had been graduated several months before his time, owing to the scarcity of officers at the outbreak of the war, met the General, and not recognizing him, called him to task for not saluting an officer. He said, "My man, what do you mean by not saluting your superiors. 40 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. take the position of a soldier ; heels together, feet spread apart, now salute." The General did as requested and the Lieutenant requested him to give his name and organization, and threatened to re- port him if he ever found him remiss in courtesy again. The General, with a twinkle in his eyes, said, "I am Samuel S., Brigadier-General in command of the Cavalry troops around Santiago." The feelings of the subaltern can be ap- preciated as he hastily saluted, and bolted from the presence of his superior officer. It was quite near this camp that the observation balloon- went up. Wire cutters of an obsolete pattern were issued here. Each Company had two, and Privates Cornell and Smead were detailed to handle them. "Wire cutters to the front," was a common order heard all along the lines when we were marching through the country, as there were in- numerable barbed wire fences encountered everywhere. In fact, that was about the only kind of fence we .saw on the Is- land. THE BATTLE OF EL CANEV. Finally the time came for us to advance. You who have faced death and know the sound of the minie ball or the ping of the mauser, can appreciate a man's feelings as he enters action. We had tramped through the mud, and forded sev- eral streams before we were finally ordered to bivouac for the night. How well I recall that last night before the battle of "El Caney." It was about ten o'clock, I think, when we halted from our march over the boulder-strewn trail, and we were tired, almost beyond endurance. The roads were in fearful condition, and the black, cement-like mud clung to our shoes with the tenacity of glue. We had to cross several swollen streams, and we were consequently soaking wet. I CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 41 remember our Major decided he would keep his feet dry, and at the first stream took off his shoes and stockings and waded through to the other side. He put on his footwear, and walked perhaps a hundred feet and found another mountain river to cross and decided it was too much bother to change so often, so waded in like the rest of us. We met hundreds of poor half starved, ragged men, women and children going to the rear from Santiago and El Caney. Xhe lights of Santiago could be distinctly seen in the dis- tance, and it seemed as if we must be on the outskirts of the city. But we had to face the enemy, entrenched and forti- fied at El Caney and on the San Juan Hills, before Santiago could be captured. We had met countless Cubans and refugees going to the rear. The former would grin, and to whatever we might say they would invariably answer back, "vSantiago, boom- boom !" It was their way of telling us they knew Santiago was to be bombarded. How well I remember poor Charlie Field, as brave and conscientious to duty in the field as he was in everything else which he undertook. We laid down together in the tall, wet grass, and with the bright stars twinkling above us, were soon fast asleep. A single rifle shot aroused us, but it was probably an accidental shot from one of our outposts, and we were soon back to sleep again. It seemed but a few min- utes before we were aroused and found it was nearly four o'clock. No fires had been allowed, and not even a match could be lighted. We were disgusted when we found the country around us dotted with the camp-fires of the Regulars. On account of the darkness or some misunderstanding in orders, the First battalion got under way without our bat- talion Commander noticing its departure. I sent back word that I thought it had proceeded, but I was notified that I would hold my Company until ordered to march. This was 42 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. a serious delay and resulted in keeping back the Third, and one Company of the Second battalion, as these rear Com- panies were halted near Capron's battery, to enable the bat- tery to open fire on the town. L, M, and E Companies, how- ever, got by, and we soon overtook the vanguard of our Regiment. We left the road and hurried on through the tall grass, tangled weeds and chaparral, tearing our hands and clothing as we pushed our way to our position. It seemed as if every bush and shrub was covered with sharp projections, and the Spanish cactus was sharp as bayonets. To add to our troubles we encountered innumerable barbed wire fences, and it was no easy task to cut your way through with but two obsolete wire cutters issued to each Company. It was necessary to throw out flankers, so dense was the un- ^dergrowth, to insure our position and warn us of any attempt to ambush or the approach of the enemy. These flankers were Privates Coates, Frost, Spaulding and one other. Com- panies L and M were designated for the firing line in our battalion. Finally we were ordered to throw off our rolls and I was ordered to conduct my Company to a certain position. We left my servant, Stark, in charge of the rolls, and he guarded them as religiously as though he had been an enlisted man and a member of the Company. It was no easy task, for he had to fight off the thieving Cubans and occasionally a bullet would whiz over in his direction, causing anything but a feeling of comfort and security. We had proceeded but a short distance before we were or- dered by another officer to a different position, and hardly had we started in the new direction before we found our- selves in the thick o^ the fight, in the open, with but lit- tle to screen us from the watchful eyes of the enemy. We were directly in the zone of fire and the only protection af- forded us was the tangled undergrowth and a few spreading CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 43 palms and mangos. Sometime previous to this, Capron's battery opened on the town and soon the crack, crack of musketry could be heard all along the lines. The Spaniards were not slow in returning our fire and the engagement soon became general. As I previously stated, we were in the engagement almost before we knew it. We lost several men wounded before we realized our position. Private De Revere was the first man hit. A bullet struck his rifle, glancing off and penetrated his hand, crippling the two middle fingers of his left hand. With the blood stream- ing from his wound he started towards the rear. He was met by our Major who inquired in his gruff way where he was going. De Revere showed him his hand and the Major told him to go back to the hospital and have it dressed. Private Schiller was hit near by. He was evidently just raising himself from the position of lying down when a bul- let penetrated his chest in a slanting direction, coming out of his side several inches below. I examined his wound later as he lay in the roadbed and remembering one of the principles of "First aid to the wounded," required the wound to bleed externally, and as I could see no indication at first of outward hemorrhage, I thought I should have to open the wound before the surgeon arrived on the scene, but after examination I found the wound where the bullet came out was bleeding freely. As he lay there with flushed cheeks, red lips and smiling face, cheerful through it all. he presented the picture of perfect health and vigor. It was a rare case, as the shock from being hit by a bullet usually blanches the cheeks and lips, and gives the features a drawn and pinched appearance. Private Cornell was also wounded at this position before crossing the sunken road. He was hit in the chest, the bul- let penetrating one of the shoulderblades. He took the sit- uation philosophically, and bore the pain with fortitude. I 44 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. missed him very much later on, as he had been of material assistance to me, being a carpenter by trade, and always will- ing and ready to be detailed for any work in his line. But we pushed on through the tall grass across a sunken roadbed, and lying down, began firing. Hardly had the smoke from our Springfields begun . to rise before we re- ceived such a shower of bullets that it seemed at one time as if the Company must be wiped out of existence. I remem- ber kneeling in the grass and discussing the situation with Lieutenant Field. We both agreed tliat our position must be changed or our loss would be terrible. I decided to get permission from our Major to change our position where we could have some protection from the fusillade of mausers, pinging and cracking all about us. I crossed the field and found the Major, who at once or- dered us to a different position. I hastened back to where I had left Lieutenant Field and yelled at top of my voice for him to take his platoon to a position in the sunken road lead- ing to the main road towards El Caney. The noise was ter- rific, and not until I had nearly reached the spot where I had left the Lieutenant did I manage to hear one of my men hollering that he thought the Lieutenant was wounded where I had left him but a moment before. I hurried to the spot and found poor Field. He had pitched forward on his hands and knees and I saw that he was badly wounded. A bullet had struck him in the left eyebrow and came out at top of his head. I tried to carry him to a safer spot but found I had not the strength, but some of rny men came to my assistance and carried him to the roadbed. He only lived a minute or so, and I never wish to pass through such an experience again. Put your- self in my position. I had known Lieutenant Field and been associated with him in a military way for more than ten years. Never had a hard word passed between us in all CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 45 that time. Obedient to commands, always, and ever ready for any duty assigned him, he won the respect of all he came in contact with. Ready to take commands himself, he expected and insisted upon those under him doing likewise. Let me record right here I was proud of my men that day. They behaved like Regulars, and I know of no greater honor than to have been their Captain. Officers and men alike, I was proud of them. General Ludlow had a horse shot under him and one of my men was sent to take the saddle and bridle from the animal. It would take too long for me to attempt to chronicle all the brave deeds they per- formed that day. There was many a close call from death. Private Wilson was burned on the hand by a bullet. Pri- vate Ungrich received a bullet clean across his breast, ofoincr through his canteen strap, blouse and two shirts, and not touching his skin. He slipped down from the bank beside the roadbed and stood there in a sort of dazed condition. Lieutenant Mason in command of second platoon to which Ungrich belonged, saw him and asked him what was troub- ling him. "I don't know," said Ungrich, "but I think I am hit." "I guess not," said the Lieutenant, "work your arms up and down." The man did as he was told, and the Lieu- tenant, seeing it was only a close call, ordered him back to his position, where he went without a murmur. Private Cook had a ball pass between his arm and breast. Private Breslin received a bullet on the breast-plate to his belt, glancing down and scooping out the lead from a car- tridge in his belt. Private Spaulding's drinking cup was perforated by a mauser. He threw it away because, as he said, it would not hold water. Had it been mine 'I would not have taken $1000 for it. Time and again I had to scold my men for needlessly ex- posing themselves to the fire of the enemy. Private Thyne (poor fellow, he died before we left Santiago) was a pictur- 46 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. esqne sight with a red bandanna handkerchief wound around his head. He would insist upon standing up when he fired, because, as he said, he could see better. Narrow escapes were not all we had to contend with. Artificer Ariel was shot through the fleshv part of the thigh in one leg near the body. He was sent back with the other wounded men to the temporary hospital. The spot where he was wounded seemed to be a particularly danger- ous one, as I saw several officers and men hit in that imme- diate vicinity. In the meantime, nearly a whole squad of my Company got separated from us. These men were Sergeant Thomas D. Murphy, Corporals Lobdell and Class, and Privates Barnes, W. P. H. Davis and Williams. The noise and confusion was so great they evidently did not hear the orders for changing our position. I hastened to where I had last seen them but could not locate them, and it was not until several hours afterwards I found they were safe and mixed up with other organizations, on the firing line of the first battalion. It has been said that the Second Regiment was withdrawn from action early in the day, but this is not so, for aside from a cessation of fires by volleys early in the fight, the Companies on the firing line kept up a desultory and indiv- idual fire throughout the entire action. I recall our Major coming to me and saying, "Pierce, let's you and I go up to the left of the line." I went with him, and as we walked along the bullets would occasionally come pretty near, and zip and ping as they went by or over our heads. I found I had a tendency to dodge or keep covered when I had a chance, but the Major, who is a very large man, walked along as unconcerned as could be. I warned him about exposing himself, but he laughed and said, if he was going to be hit, he would be. It was shortly after this that the colored regulars made their charge and took a block-house. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS INF'Y, U. S. V. 47 The Major and I were behind a tree, and looking- through a glass, when suddenly we saw the Spaniards begin to climb out of their trenches and retreat. Our men mowed them down like grass as they tried to make their escape towards Santiago. The battle of "El Caney" was over, but it had lasted nine and one-half hours. If this battle was to be fought over I feel sure that the artillery would play a more import- ant part than it did, and the- batteries would have been planted nearer our position, where they would have done more execution. It had been planned to take El Caney in a half hour, and then our division was to proceed towards San Juan and attack the enemy on the flank while the other division engaged them in front; but the day was far spent when our first battle was over, and the men were tired al- most beyond endurance. I have often thought, and still think, if our brigade commander had ordered us to charge the block-houses and entrenchments of the enemy we would not have lost any more men, if as many; we could have saved much valuable time, and established a reputation and name for our brigade which would have been second to none. I remember some of the colored troops passing us as we were resting by the roadside. Some of them were pretty badly used up, but they had lost none of the dash and good nature so characteristic in them. "Hello, you Second Regi- ment fellows, what do you think of that for a charge?" was their familiar greeting as they swung by us. They had every reason to be proud of their work that day. I heard a story (I cannot vouch for its being authentic) how a negro soldier bagged a Spanish sharpshooter that day. It seems that -while some officers were standing under a tree one of them was hit by a bullet from a sharpshooter hidden in a tree not far off. His brother officers had called to the colored soldier to help carry him off the field. He started towards them but suddenly halted and shaded his 48 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. eyes with his hand, peering into the branches of a large mango. Suddenly he raised his piece to his shoulder and a voice from the tree yelled, "Cubana, Cubana, no Espanola, no Espanola." As the colored boy fired he yelled back, "I dunno what you are but you coming down for shuah." And he did come down with a bullet through his body. Speaking of these colored boys makes me think of an instance where a young lady, collecting souvenirs, was fooled. There were a number of colored soldiers standing on a wharf in New York, surrounded by a crowd of ad- mirers. This young woman was begging buttons from their uniforms. She stepped up to a colored boy who was dressed in a uniform and asked him for a button. He said "Why. certainly ma'am," and took off a button and handed it to her, Her disgust can be imagined when she came to examine the button later to find it was marked "Pullman," and to realize she had begged it from a porter of a drawing-room car. Private Blackmer received a scalp wound over the ear. I saw him walking about in a dazed manner and asked him what was the matter. He didn't seem to know he was hit, but I saw the blood trickling down the side of his face, and after examining the wound I sent him back to the hospital. We lost one officer killed and six men wounded (one fa- tally). The wounded behaved like the heroes that they were and bore the pain and suffering without wincing, even making light of their wounds. Private Lanois died July 3rd, at hospital, from wound received at "El Caney." Poor fel- low, I saw him for a minute at the hospital before I had to leave. He was as brave as anyone I ever knew. He knew he must die and was not afraid to face death. He asked me to do one or two little things for him and then I had to sro. What a comfort to the boys, dear old Father Fitzgerald, Chaplain of the Twenty-second, was that day. He came to me a few days later and told me where they had buried Barhed-wire Kntanglement. Block-house. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 49 Charlie Field. In his rich, round brogue, he said, "I saw the Lieutenant decently buried and read the Episcopal service over his grave. It was the least I could do for the poor boy. I planted a cross over his grave to keep the devils from dese- crating it." Everyone loved him for his fearlessness and gentle ways. No self sacrifice was too great for him if by it he could help the boys. He told me he would give almost any price for a little extract of beef for the poor boys back in the hospitals, and remembering I had a small can which Lieutenant Field had carried with him, I gave it to Father Fitzgerald, feeling if any one was entitled to it he was, after his kindness in seeing poor Charlie Field decently buried. Lieutenant Field had often told me that little can of beef would come in handy some day, and I have no doubt it did a great deal of good. SAN JUAN. It seemed hard and cruel to me to be obliged to leave our wounded so poorly cared for and our dead unburied ; but there was no alternative, and we pushed ahead towards San Juan. We could hear the distant firing and knew the en- gagement must be fierce. I remember how tired and worn out we all were that night. We halted near a stone bridge which leads over the vSan Juan river towards Santiago. A picture of this bridge appears in this volume. It was ru- mored that the Spaniards were heavily entrenched beyond, so we went no further. We dropped down in the road right in our tracks. The pack mules with rations passed along the road, nearly stepping on the prostrate forms, but the men were too tired to mind them. Then we had to get up and get our rations, and were on the move long before day- break. How footsore and weary we all were. 50 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. They marched us back over the same road and then took a trail which brought us to the San Juan road near the "bloody bend." We met scores of wounded and many Seventy-first New York men going to the rear. We asked these latter where they were going and they informed us that their Reg- iment was all cut to pieces. It was here that they fulfilled their promi.se, when they said, "they wouldn't do a thing to the Spaniards." Some of the wounded we met along this road were horribly mutilated. I remember seeing one col- ored trooper with the upper jaw shot entirely away. We threw off our rolls and crossed the ford where so many poor fellows were shot. It was near this spot where one of my men. Private Farll, was shot through the shoulder by a sharpshooter. These sharpshooters were the bane of our existence. Using, as they did, smokeless powder, and cov- ered with green branches and leaves, they took up their position in the tall trees and it was difficult to hunt them out. It was along this line of march that the dead bodies of several American soldiers lay for hours without burial. That repulsive of all birds, the vulture, hovering above, would watch its opportunity and swoop down upon these bodies and pick and tear at the upturned faces. Our route lay along the base of San Juan hill and we were constantly under fire from the sharpshooters and Spaniards on the dis- tant hills. I remember our lymg down under some trees to rest. The bullets flew so thick and fast it was like a hornets nest which had been stirred up. It was here that General Law- ton came along, and in conversation with Major Whipple asked him if he found he ever dodged when a bullet came pretty near, remarking that tfe could not help it himself. The Major said he did not think he minded the bullets, but just as he spoke, a mauser bullet hit the tree quite close to CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 51 them and the Major ducked his head. "I see you don't dodge, Major," said General Lawton, laughing. "SLIPPERY HILL." We finally took up our position on "Slippery Hill," so called by the boys. It was a peculiar position for a camp. Our tents were pitched upon the side hill and it was so steep we had to brace our feet against the trees to keep from slip- ping down the hill. Up to this point, Private Carpenter had struggled along with a lame foot. It became so swollen that I took him to the surgeon for treatment. He said he could do nothing for him, and told him he would have to go back to the nearest hospital for treatment, and get there the best way he could, as there was no ambulance to be gotten. He told me, on the quiet, he feared blood poisoning had set in. Let me say it to Carpenter's credit, he was a plucky soldier. He came back as soon as he could and joined his Company, with a brand new outfit with Krag and ammunition. He was too good a soldier to go home, as he could have done read- ily, had he so desired. It was at this place that several men exchanged their rifles with the Regulars for Krag-Jorgensens. I found we had a dozen or fifteen men fully equipped with Krags. I hated to remind the men that I was charged with vSpringfields and I should charge the missing guns to them, but it was necessary, and I advised them to find their "smoke-stacks." It was a bitter pill, but they had no difficulty in exchanging Krags for Springfields, and although I admired their judgment in pre- ferring the Krag with its smokeless powder it was hardly my duty to permit the exchange. Some of them tried to carry both guns, but the load was too much, and they discarded them one by one until only 52 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. one or two Krags remained as relics. We dug shelter trenches along the ridge of this hill covering our front. THE NIGHT ATTACK. We were attacked that night at about ten o'clock. It was dark as pitch and the wildest disorder prevailed. From my standpoint the Regulars were more rattled than the average Volunteer. The men would slip and crawl up the side to reach the ridge, and as a result a great many were badly poisoned by a kind of ivy which grew in abundance on this hill. The affair was soon over and I believe it was done by the enemy to cover their retreat into Santiago, or else the firing started from both sides imagining they were at- tacked. The Regiment lost in this attack one killed and two wounded, as I recall it. Sergeant Aldrich and Private Wilson were poisoned quite badly by the ivy and suffered a great deal in consequence. A Cuban gave them some simple remedy which, in time, cured them. BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO. Next day we pushed ahead and took up the position which the Spaniards had occupied the night before, overlooking the city of vSantiago. We dug entrenchments here and we were so short of tools to dig with that the boys used their knives, forks, spoons and meat cans to .scoop up the hard, black earth. I think our total outfit of tools for 943 men consisted of four shovels and two picks. No better entrench- ments were dug before Santiago. We filled gunny sacks with sand and dirt and placed them in a regular row along the ridge. For ten miles around Santiago .similar entrench- ments were dug, and before each Regimental organization the stars and .stripes floated proudly all day long. The CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V, 53 Spaniards could not understand our enthusiasm. The bands played at least twice a day and such pieces as "My Country t'is of Thee," "The Stars and Stripes Forever," "There Will be a Hot Time in the Old Town," (The Regimental song of the Eighth Regulars, with a change of words) and always to close with "The Star Spangled Banner." All alonof the line as far as the music could be heard the men would stand at attention with heads bared while this piece was played. REGIMKNTAI^ SONG OF THE EIGHTH UNITED STATES REGULARS. There'll be h — for every Spaniard When the Eighth begins to scrap, For we are the hot tamales And we never give a rap. We are going to land in Cuba And we are going to do it quick And when we get in action, We will make the vSpaniards sick. Oh, you bet, we're not the men to crawl. From the Dons we're going to take a fall And then we'll come back victorious Or we won't come back at all. There'll be a hot time in the old town that night. My baby. In h — you'll find the .Spaniards When we finish up the job. For we are tired of this fooling With their d— uncivil mob. And we're going to stop all nations From their fooling with our flag And when it is all over We'll accumulate a J — g. When you hear the lead begin to sing, Clear the way and we won't do a thing For we will give them h — And then we'll rub it in, There'll be a hot time in the old town that night, My bab)'. 54 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. It was at this camp that the brigade commissary informed me that he could purchase and deliver a quantity of pro- visions if we gave him the necessary funds to procure them. He was under some obligation to me for past favors and I felt no hesitancy in taking advantage of his offer. Captain Hicks of M Company joined me and we gave the Lieutenant fifty dollars apiece and a list of things we desired. Our dis- gust can be imagined when a little later he appeared orw the scene and sold out at least a half of the stuff' our capital had purchased. Indeed I had hard work to get back the money due me on the advance. On July 3rd we heard heavy firing in the direction of the ocean and imagined a naval battle was taking place between our fleet and Cevera's. In this con- jecture we were correct and our feelings can be imagined when it was rumored that the Spanish fleet was completely destroyed. A little later this rumor was verified in a neat little flyer printed on board the cruiser "New York" and sent around the lines. Next to us the Cubans dug entrenchments for one of our batteries. I remember one of the gunners remarked he would dismantle a cannon we could see in front of one of their hospitals. He kept his word, for after one shot had been fired from it he struck it squarely and rendered it use- less. It was at this camp that one of my Corporals, pos- sessed of a roving disposition, came back to camp after a visit to the Cuban quarters, with a bottle of "spiritus fru- menti." I was not feeling well at the time, and the Cor- poral brought the bottle (and contents) to me. Saluting, he said, "Sir, I bring this to you from General Garcia with his compliments." It seems that he was at the Cuban camp, and in conversation with a subaltern, asked him if he had any wine or liquor. The Lieutenant told him to go to Gen- eral Garcia and ask him for it. The Corporal said he would not presume to address the Cuban General, but the attache CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS INF'Y, U. S. V. 55 told him the General was a pleasant man and would gladly give him anything he had. With more courage than good judgment, perhaps, he went over to General Garcia, and saluting, stated his errand, emphasizing it with the remark that his Captain was ill and he wished the liquid for him. The old General asked him what organization and Reo-i- ment he belonged to and then handing him a bottle of Cuban rum, said, "Give this to your Captain with General Garcia's compliments, with the hope he will soon be better." This man was Corporal George M. Brooks. He was a very likable fellow ajid was a staunch supporter of his Company Commander. He was our first loss by death from disease. He died on August ist, 1898, at our Regimental hospital near Santiago. Poor fellow, I saw him just before he died and he was delighted to see me. He held out his thin, emaciated hand in welcome to me. He could hardly speak and be- fore I left him had lapsed back in unconsciousness. He was returned by surgeon department as having died from exhaustion following an attack of malarial fever. My returns show he died from neglect. Not that his own com- rades failed him in the hour of sickness, for I had men de- tailed day and night to care for him, and they did so ten- derly and at great sacrifice to their own health and comfort. We buried him in a little cemetery I started near by, under the shade of a "monkey plum tree," between our entrenchments and the Regular hospital. So sick and worn out were my men that only a small squad could be raised to dig his grave in the hard, flint-like earth, and Lieutenant Mason and my- self were obliged to forget our rank and handle the pick and shovel in turn with the plucky little squad of volunteers. I remember Garcia very well indeed. A gray haired man of striking appearance, who sat his horse like a centaur. Next to Maximo Gomez he held the respect and command of the Cuban forces. He wore a gray mustache and goatee and 56 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. had rather a sad but kindly face. In his forehead was a deep scar, the result of a bullet fired by his own hand while a pris- oner in the hands of the vSpaniards. Let me put myself on record by saying that I have no con- fidence in the Cubans as a race to govern themselves. The majority of the better class are almost entirely of Spanish blood. The pictures you see in the magazines are generally very good and the grote.sque appearance of the men and women are no exaggeration. I have seen many a Cuban soldier clad in little beyond a breech-clout. A set of pa- jamas or underwear would be sufficient clothing to designate a Major General. Barefooted and with little to cover their nakedness, your sympathies are at first aroused, but don't turn your back upon them to express this sympathy to your companions, else in the meantime they steal all your belong- ings. Private Ungrich was taken ill at this place and sent to Regimental hospital. He was afterwards sent back to Divis- ional hospital and his ailment diagnosed as yellow fever. From here he went to the yellow fever hospital. He had been away from us for some two weeks when he reported back to his Company in a new Khaki uniform, feeling quite himself again. We were not allowed to stay here long and the vSeventy-first New^ York occupied our trenches. I was in- formed later that the General commanding was on a tour of inspection and coming near these entrenchments enquired what organization occupied them.. He was informed the Seventy-first New York. He complimented them very highly and said they were the best trenches he had seen. Naturally the officers of the vSeventy-first New York did not disclaim the workmanship, the credit of which should have been ours. We were pushed around to the right and occupied some entrenchments built by the Cubans. Our Company had a good place to camp, in a grove of bamboo trees, but our en- trenchments were partially on a side hill. The bombard- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'v, U. S. V. 57 ment of Santiago commenced while we were here. It was a grand sight and one you will not see more than once in a lifetime. On July 10, at 4.45 p. m.. the Twenty-second Infantry, just to right of our Company, opened fire. A truce was on near- ly every day and we were ordered to cease firing on this occasion at 7 p. m. I recall .seeing a Spaniard who was most tantalizing in his moderation in walking back and forth from a building pur- porting to be a hospital, (all the large buildings floated Red Cross flags), to a small outhouse, probably the entrance to a line of entrenchments. Taking a rifle I sighted it at about 1700 yards and tried a few shots at him, then Lieutenant Mason tried a Krag, but our shots did not seem to annoy him. P"'inally, our Major came along and inquired what we were doing, and asked for a try at him. I told him I thought the distance was perhaps nearer 1800 yards and he fixed his sight for that distance and and tried a shot at the fellow. It must have been a close one, for he picked up his heels and scam- pered into the building. We did not see him again. A little plea.sure boat, a side wheeler, was m plain sight at the upper part of the harbor. The batteries were busy dur- ing the bombardment, but were careful not to destroy build- ings or property in the city proper. A shot went through this boat, however, and soon only her smokestack and work- ing beams could be .seen. In.stead of firing into the city the batteries kept busy trying to locate the trenches and to find any magazines that might be located nearby. I saw a shell strike the old bull ring and tear a hole in the .side. This building was filled with Spanish troops. The return fire from the Spanish batteries did but little harm. The shells which came over our heads made a most peculiar and unus- ual noise. We afterwards found that this was caused from the fact that they were using shells much smaller than the 58 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. bores of the antiquated cannon with which the city was fortified. A night's camp in a road LEADING TO THE CITY. We left our entrenchments and again were ordered to take the extreme right and directly overlooking the harbor. I remember Company L was camped that night in a road lead- ing to the city. This road sloped gradually down to the harbor. We posted outposts down this road because it was feared that the Spanish troops might try to leave the city, and if they had this would have been the probable route for them to take. So near were our outposts to theirs that their voices could be plainly heard. That night a terrific electrical storm came up, and when I tell you the worst thunder storm I have ever witnessed in this country is as a gentle April shower compared to this storm you can perhaps appreciate what it was like. We were washed out of our tents and everything and everybody soaked with water. Most of the boys slept through it all, but some of them stood up all night. I remem- ber Lieutenant Mason and myself after a vain attempt to keep dry, and finding an inch or so of water running through our tent, decided to get out. We had but one match between us, so putting our rubber ponchos over our heads we lighted our pipes and stood up the rest of the night. The mud is something beyond descrip- tion. We had at least ten pounds on each foot and it required a hatchet to get it off. I think that was the longest night in my experience. The water came down in tubfuls and the lightning zigzaged and played all about us, while the inces- sant crack and roll of the thunder was deafening. Morning came at last, but the water continued to pour down upon us. I was once asked why my Company lost so heavily in battle and disease. I answered, and I do now, because we were "in CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 59 it" from the start to finish. Our position was the most ex- posed in the battle of El Caney, and our positions in the en- trenchments and camp were usually as bad as could be. Sometimes this was the result of chance, as, for instance, the night we were camped in the road, the night before digging the last line of entrenchments before the final surrender. Company L never shirked its duty and never begged off from any detail or work assigned to it. OUR LAST CAMP AND ENTRENCHMENTS NEAR SANTIAGO HARBOR. We were ordered to push on to the right, and to our won- der and surprise ordered to dig entrenchments on practically level land in a brushy swamp near the tail end of vSantiago harbor, within 500 yards of the enemy's position on a hill and overlooking us. Even those in direct command demurred, but we were informed that if we did not care to occupy the position, other troops would. We supposed that we were digging our own graves and expected any minute to be fired upon by the Spaniards. To be sure there was a truce on, but we did not know it at the time, and I think they would have been justified, under the circumstances, in firing upon us, be- cause, in my estimation, we had no right to do any work of a defensive or offensive nature during the truce. I remember how hard the boys worked all that day in the rain and until long into the night. I had two or three can- dles, and would walk along the ditch and let the men get their bearings and then they would have to guess where they were picking or digging. One boy asked me to hold the candle down in the entrenchment to see what he was ^stand- ing upon. It was a snake which was wriggling beneath his foot. Next day at noon we were in our trenches and ready for the bombardment and attack which we expected. It never 6o CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. came, for the Spanish surrendered the city, and our fighting with them was over. SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO. The heat in the trenches was something fierce, and as the minutes passed by after noon and no signs of the bombard- ment took place, we crawled out on the top of the entrench- ments, one by one, until nearly the whole command were in plain sight of the enemy. They also seemed to know that there was no prospect of an immediate attack and did like- wise. Pretty soon we saw away off to the left a solitary horseman spurring his horse along the line of our entrench- ments. He would stop in front of the different organiza- tions and in a minute up would go the hats of the men in the air and he would ride on to the next regiment, when a similar scene would take place. At last he reached our posi- tion and we learned his message. We were informed that the Spanish had surrendered the city, but we were enjoined not to cheer, as it would only make the vSpaniards feel badly, and we wanted to make it as easy as possible for them. Up went the hats of the men in the air, and it took the place of a mighty cheer which the men could hardly refrain from giving. By the terms of the surrender the Spanish com- mander agreed to surrender not only the city of Santiago, but all of eastern Cuba east of a line passing from Acerra- deros on the south to Sagua de Tanamo on the north, via Palma Soriano. This included not only the 12,000 Spanish soldiers in the city proper, but as many more in the outlying districts. The United States agreed to return the entire Fourth Army Corps to vSpain, without arms, at our expense. The formal surrender took place on the morning of July 17, mid- way between the lines of the two armies. At 12 o'clock, CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 6l noon, the American flag was raised over the Governor's palace with appropriate ceremonies. During- these cere- monies we were paraded in line on top of our entrench- ments, and as the American flag was hoisted on top of the palace, a mighty cheer went up all along the lines. Up to August 24, when the last of the Fifth Army Corps left Santiago, our forces lost 24 officers and 226 men killed, 83 officers and 12 14 men wounded, 13 officers and 296 men and 9 civilian employees from disease. Of course a great number have died since their return from results of hardship and disease. Our forces making up Fifth Army Corps when it left Tampa Bay June 14, 1898, comprised 815 officers and 16,072 enlisted men. The losses on the Spanish side were probably not as large as ours in killed and wounded, as they had a distinct advantage in fighting on the defense and behind breastworks and fortifications. However, in the battle of El Caney alone, out of an estimated garrison of between 600 and 700 men, not over 80 escaped death, wounds or capture. In this engagement several Spanish officers were either killed or wounded. Among the killed was General Vara del Rey. In the succeeding engagements they lost heavily in officers, and General Linares, the chief in command, was seriously wounded. This left the Spanish forces in. com- mand of General Toral. At time of surrender, the Spanish had something like 1700 sick in their hospitals. Here comes the saddest part of our history. The men overworked, underfed, and weak from exposure to the ele- ments and climate, having existed until now upon their nerves, suddenly collapsed. I wish these pages in our history could be torn out. One after another and in squads they sickened, until not one man in the Company was free from disease. It was a horrible sight to see the poor fellows get up in the morning, blink sleepily in the sun and stagger out for roll 62 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. call. A good many could not even do that. Warren Davis was one of the sickest men we had. He was full of pluck, and possessed of a determination not to give up, and it was due to his cheerful disposition and strong will power that he is alive to-day. He was finally sent to the Regimental hos- pital and I despaired of his being able to accompany us home, but he was sent down to the wharf in an ambulance, and improved somewhat on the homeward voyage. Reveille was sounded at about 5 to 5.30 a. m., and the boys who were able to stand up, would fall in and try to look sol- dierly. Many a poor fellow would overestimate his strength and faint away, or have to fall out and be assisted back to his tent. I have seen more than one man fall flat on his face in the mud in a dead faint. What a forlorn, ragged, unhappy looking lot we were, to be sure. In our rags, we rivalled the Cubans from the crown of our hats to the soles of our feet. Some of the boys were reduced to mere skeletons. One of the men, in describing the condition of a friend of his in another Company, said he was so thin the seat of his trousers dragged on the ground. Surgeons' call came at 5.30 to 6 a. m., or thereabouts, and the sick men who could crawl had to fall in and be marched to the surgeons' quarters to report and be excused from duty. Many a poor fellow, discouraged at the harsh treatment, or words received, and finding no re- lief, would slink away unseen, and would wait until the squad came back, when he would join it and pretend he had been treated. The rest of the day was occupied at first by Company drills and by regular routine camp life. The drills had to be dropped at last, as there was plenty of work to keep the men busy caring for the sick, getting water and fuel, etc. Corporal Lobdell had been growing worse since July 4th, and was in the hospital. He had plenty of pluck, and hated to give up. His age was against him, (in years he was but a mere boy) and the fact that he j^JIW" «ife.1l»£» » CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 63 was not matured physically was especially a drawback. The tremendous loads each man was required to carry on our long marches completely wore him out, besides permanently injuring him. Coupled to this, dysentery set in. and he was reduced to a mere skeleton. I finally succeeded in getting an order to send him back to the Divisional hospital with a recommendation that he be sent back to the States. He kicked vigorously, but it was an order, so he had to obey it. I gave him some money and sent my servant. Stark, with him. It seems that the ambulance driver was intoxicated, and after driving a few miles in a circle, deposited the men on the ground about a mile from where they started. I am of the opinion that Lobdell was not greatly disappointed at the turn of affairs. I was thunderstruck when he appeared in camp and told me of the affair. He announced his determination to get better and, sure enough, he did improve for several days, and to such an ex- tent that he asked to be put on regular details. But the im- provement was not long-lived and he was soon compelled to give up again. He improved on the "Mobile," and when we reached Montauk I congratulated myself that I could send him home in better health than most of us were in. A well meaning ship's officer, with more sympathy than good judg- ment and against my orders, gave him some fruit the night before we landed. He was sent to the hospital direct from the boat, contrary to my orders, and it was some time before I could locate him. I telegraphed his parents to come for him as soon as I could get permission to send him home, but when they arrived, they found he had been sent to New York. This affair was a fair sample of the conditions we had to contend with. After promising me he could go home with his parents, those in charge of the hospital allowed him to be sent to some hospital around New York, and without the 64 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. slightest record of where he had been taken. He was located after a two days' hunt in a horrible condition and practically neglected by those in charge of the hospital. What a place to read character. Sacrifices were made and deeds of heroism accomplished which have never been told, but which are as deserving as the leading of a forlorn hope. This ground fever has a most depressing effect upon the one afflicted. You must keep constantly on the move, have something to occupy your mind or nostalgia will set in and you are lost. Men become discouraged, despondent, lose vitality and with it their hold upon life. It was necessary at times to use extreme measures with such cases, even to be- ing cross and abusive to them in order to keep them from giving up. Company L lost five men at this camp from dis- ease. So many men were ill at the time that it became necessary for Lieutenant Mason and myself to help dig some of the graves. I remember, when finally I was taken ill, hearing one of the men as he passed my tent say, "The Cap- tain will now know what it is to have this fever." There was certainly no excuse for our not having proper medical attendance here. What I could purchase at Santiago in way of meditine and supplies, the Government and others could certainly have done. Quinine was about the only thing prescribed and this for every kind of disease. The meat, potatoes, onions and fresh bread issued here were good for the most part, but it was so late before we got them that the boys had no appetite and the Cubans had many a good meal from our rations. The canned goods issued were for the most part vile. I truly believe the canned roast beef had had the juice extracted from it before canning and then grease or "embalm- ing fluid " (so called) injected to preserve it. I have seen pieces as large as my fist of refuse meat not fit for dogs to eat. There was no excuse for this state of affairs. We were CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 65 fed upon bacon until the grease came through the pores of the skin, so that when you washed, the water would roll off you as it does from a duck's back. There was a long time we went without our mail because the General commanding said it was no time for reading let- ters. A lot of this mail was, I understand, destroyed at Siboney, when that town was burned, to prevent the spread of yellow fever. What a mistake to deprive men of their letters from home. It is food and stimulant and the only sure cure for nostalgia. Anyone who could have seen those poor, ragged, sick sol- diers drinking in every word contained in those precious lines from home and seethe faces brighten and the step seem to grow more buoyant and their voices grow stronger as they read and reread their letters, would offer, rather than refuse, every facility possible to get such beneficial medicine into their hands. I worked hours myself sorting out letters, of my own free will and accord, and I wanted no greater re- ward than to see the smiling, happy faces, as they eagerly welcomed the sound of their name as it was called. But I am not testifying before a whitewash commission. Enough that we did suffer from evils that ought never to have occurred. Hardships we expected, and I think every soldier agrees with Sherman, "War is Hell." SANTIAGO DE CUBA. There were some rays of sunshine, and I recall with pleasure some of my trips into Santiago. This quaint old city, founded in 1 5 i4by Velasquez, and named after Saint lago (Saint James), the patron saint of Spain, is the oldest in the West Indies, if not in America; certainly the oldest of any size on the con- tinent. So old is it that its streets, houses and general ex- \ 66 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. ternal appearance would not astonish Columbus could he see it to-day. Cortez started from it to make the conquest of Mexico. The city^s built upon a hill which slopes gradually down to the harbor, Its streets are narrow and tnostly paved, but such paving 3'ou can hardly imagine. The stones are all sizes and not laid with any regularity except near the docks where the roads are in very good shape. They had no sys- tem of sewerage, and the water and refuse matter was allowed to flow along the gutters or in the middle of the street. I have seen a pool of green, slimy water in the middle of a thoroughfare, and dead dogs, cats and decaying matter float- ing on its surface. Its houses are low and of peculiar architecture. The exter- nal walls are either of limestone, limestone stained and painted, or of a sort of primitive lathing of tree twigs and branches, cov- ered with plaster. They are in all stages of disaster and de- cay, and some have entirely collapsed along streets full of gulleys and gaps. Every house is roofed with cumbrous scal- lop patterned tiles, and the windows are merely fencework, made of light iron bars. The houses are mostly only one story high. You can see in and through them, and very neat and cool the ones in the nicest streets appear. Bent wood or cane-seated furni- ture, plenty of rockers, white walls, bare rafters and stone floors are the rule. Viewing the city from the harbor, with its spreading mass of low houses, built upon the mountain .slope, their plastered walls decorated with nearly every shade and tint, presenting more than the colors of the rainbow, it looks for all the world as if it might be in Algiers, Morocco or Tripoli. It was a most delightful experience to visit the San Carlos Club, the swellest one in the city, or to dine at the La Venus Cafe, the Delmonico's of Santiago. I have always been sorry that I could not spare the time CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 6/ to Study more closely the means of defense of this city. Many of its fortifications, though obsolete, were unique and picturesque to an extreme. There were forts and fortresses with ramparts, parapets, moats and other bulwarks. Its more modern methods of defense, consisting of trenches, blockhouses and barbed wire entanglements were well nigh inexpugnable, if not entirely impregnable. Some of their heavy guns were, externally, works of art and very ancient. I remember two of them bore dates back in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They were of bronze and covered with inscriptions and other decorations. On the whole, it is an extremelv interesting city and can be made a very attractive one. I have met on my way into the city, at one time, eleven funerals. They averaged about fifty deaths a day while we were there, in a city of perhaps 70,000 inhabitants. Their cemeteries are beautiful and I really believe they care more for their dead than their living. I met many of the Spanish officers in the restaurants of the city and I must admit they were, as a rule, capital fel- lows, kindly disposed, hospitable and very gentlemanly. I remember being in the city one day with Major W. We were introduced to an officer, a Captain in the Spanish ser- vice. He was a very agreeable fellow and evidently well educated. We were told afterwards that prior to the war he owned the finest residence in the city of Santiago. The Major w^as soon on very intimate terms with him and tried to induce him to sell his belt, which was a very elaborate affair, with money pouch and watch case attachments. The Spaniard refused to part with it at any price, but the Major determined to have a souvenir from him, and to my dismay, finally expressed a desire to have a button from his coat and got two by taking them without leave or license. The Spaniard seemed very much astonished at the liberty taken by the Major, but the latter laughingly told him he 68 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. could have a couple of his if he liked. The Spaniard de- clined the offer, and with a shrug of his shoulders left us. The merchants of the city soon learned the value of our mone}' and in addition to charging us the highest prices for their goods, insisted upon being paid in "Americano" money. They tried to be very smart and clever by handing back the change in Spanish money. We got even with some of them, however, by telling them they could take Spanish money or nothing. An American dollar was worth one dollar and eighty cents in their coin. One day while I was in the city my horse went lame. I had about made up my mind to \\"alk back to camp when I came across our Quartermaster sitting on the curbing of a sidewalk. He had been taken suddenly ill and was in the act of sending his horse back to camp by a colored lad, and going to the hospital for treatment. I promptly exchanged horses and went to the United States Quartermaster's depot and assisted in checking up a lot of goods consigned to our Regiment and helped not a little in getting them ready for shipment to our camp. I rode back to camp in company with our Major. We stopped at the wharves and saw tons of supplies, etc., piled high on every side. We saw some cots among other things, and as they were not marked or guarded, the Major sug- gested we ride back later and help ourselves. I told him'l had been taught that "the time to do a thing was in the time of it," so we hired a "volante," loaded it up and escorted the wagon back to camp. It was merely an exchange, as we had plenty of cots, etc., in the pile if we had been allowed permission to hunt them out. I received an order one day to report at General Lawton's headquarters. Taking Private Barnes as my orderly, I started on foot to report. I well remember that day. The air was hot and stifling and we had a mile and one-half to walk. We CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 69 both had received letters, and I recall the satisfaction it gave us as we read and re-read those loving- lines from home. We reached headquarters at last and I reported to General Law- ton. I sjiall never forget that interview with our Divisional Commander. Major-General Henry W. Lawton, who but re- cently lost his life by a bullet from an insurgent's rifle, while on the firing line in the Philippines, was a fine specimen of a man and soldier. Standing fully six feet in his stock- ings, bronzed from exposure and hardships, and with his grey mustache, he presented a striking and commanding figure. A great campaigner and a good disciplinarian, a strat- egist and thorough organizer, a gentleman and model officer, such was General Lawton. I shall never forget him as I saw him that day, dressed in his pajamas and reclining upon his cot, trying to keep cool and comfortable. I tried to look every inch a soldier as I stood at attention and saluted him. The General, in his kindly way, invited me into his tent and said, "Don't be formal. Captain, but make yourself as com- fortable as possible here." He said he wished to appoint me Divisional Postmaster and I still treasure the document designating me as such, to- gether with the pass, giving me permission to pass to and from the city at all times. I was furnished with a mount and ordered to go to Santiago and confer with the postmaster there in regard to methods to be adopted, and to report re- sults. I found the Postmaster desirous of putting into prac- tice a scheme for the improvement of our mail facilities and I advised General Lawton to permit him a trial and he con- sented to it. I remember carrying back the mail to Divis- ional headquarters that day and I was requested to go back by way of General Ludlow's quarters and hand him some documents. (General Ludlow was afterwards the Military Governor of Havana.) I have ever\- reason to believe he received his commission as a Major-General of Volunteers in 70 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. that mail, and if not he certainly had letters from home, for he came out and said he was under obligations to me for tak- ing it to him. I was invited to dinner, and I breathe it soft and low, we had griddlecakes and watermelon on the table. I saw Major Conrad of the Eighth that day for the last time. He was a magnificent fellow and I owed him much for kindncvss extended to me. You will rarely find a man his equal in physical makeup, and in addition, a good officer and a gentleman. On the "Seneca" he was next in command to Colonel Van Horn, who was in command of the First Brigade, Secondv Division, and much of the routine duty on board the transport devolved upon hiin. I was in command of the de- tachment of Second Regiment on the "vSeneca," and I have always been grateful to him for the experience and treat- ment accorded me on that voyage. He always treated me with the same consideration he did his own battalion com- manders and required me to perform duties similar to those to which they were assigned. Poor fellow, he died on a hospital boat in the harbor the day we left Cuba. At dinner with me were Captain Kells, the Brigade Commander's right hand man and an indefatig- able worker. Major Crompton, Brigade surgeon. Lieutenant Davidson, Commissary officer, all good friends of mine and men I learned to admire. After the surrender of Santiago, I made up my mind to leave nothing undone which would assist me to get permis- sion to have the body of Lieutenant Field returned to the States. A brother of Lieutenant Ord, of the Twenty-second United States Infantry, was killed at El Caney, and the Lieutenant had said he would never return to the vStates without the body of his brother. He very kindly ofifered to u.se his influence in my behalf in getting my wish granted. Another brother of Lieutenant Ord was on the staff of General Shafter at the time, and we CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. Jl felt very hopeful in getting permission to remove the bodies, especially as they had been officers, and had been killed by bullets. I went into the city and secured an interpreter and through him was introduced to a priest connected with the Cathedral at Santiago. He was a delightful man and offered me every assistance possible. We interviewed an under- taker, who finally, through the efforts of the priest, agreed to raise the body, place it in a metallic casket and deliver it at the wharves in Santiago for ($200) two hundred dollars. His first price was $300, but the priest succeeded in working him down to $200. I accepted his terms conditionally upon my securing permission to have the body removed. I returned to camp quite satisfied with the progress so far made, but was doomed to final disappointment in the mat- ter. Lieutenant Ord was unsuccessful in his mission, owing to the numerous requests of a similar nature to ours. Lieutenant Ord kept his word about staying in Cuba until he could remove his brother's body. He secured a staff po- sition, I think, with General Lawton, who was at that time acting as military governor, and remained in Santiago until he had accomplished his desire. "Jo-Jos" were verv popular during the last few weeks of our stay on Cuban soil. They consisted largely in ill founded rumors of our speedy departure for home. Private Riley, a good natured fellow, and one who always did his duty as he saw it, was dubbed the "chief of the Jo-Jo." Riley was on horse detail at headquarters, and he delighted to come down to our camp and tell the boys the latest news. Sometimes this was largely drawn from his imagination, but he was al- ways diverting and the boys welcomed his rumors, even if they usually proved unfounded. He was very kind to the boys back at the hospital and would come down nearly every day with a horse and take back their share of rations to them. 72 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. I was reading with much interest one day a copy of the Gazette & Courier, which I had received from home. An acquaintance of mine, an officer in the Eighth Regulars, came along and asked me what I was reading; so earnestly. I showed him the paper and he said, "Where in — did you get that paper?" I informed him he was mistaken as to the place where it was published, adding that it was edited and publi-shed in Greenfield, where I lived. He then informed me that when he was courting his present wife she lived with some people on a ranch in Wyoming. They were for- merly residents of Greenfield and sub.scribed for the Gazette. He was stationed at Fort Russell, near Cheyenne, and when he visited his best girl she insisted upon his reading to her from the Greenfield paper. Who of us will ever forget Quartermaster Sergeant Salis- bury? He was of a religious temperament and I honor him and we all respected him because he had the courage of his convictions and was not ashamed to say his prayers or read his Bible at any or all times, regardless of who was watching him. He did not smoke or chew, but as Quartermaster Ser- geant it was his duty to divide up the tobacco and deal it out to the men, and he always did it without the slightest partiality. Sometimes he swapped off his share for hard- tack, but more often he gave it to some fellow whom he knew enjoyed it. It was his duty to divide up the hardtack and bacon and he worked late and early to see that each man had his share. Sometimes the boys abused him thoughtlessly, but I am sure they always felt sorry for it afterwards. Private Ward Smith was handy with a knife and helped the (Quartermaster vSer- geant to slice up the sides of bacon or the mouldy quarters of beef when we had any. THE MEN LEFT BEHIND. When orders did finally come for us to prepare to go on CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INP^'V, U. S. V. 73 transports we were obliged to leave some of the men behind because they were yellow fever suspects. It was a great trial, but we were powerless to interfere or change the edict. Those left behind were Sergeant Hale, Sergeant Murphy, Private O'Connell, Private Smead, Private Patnode, Private Anderson, who had been detailed at Divisional hospital and was sick at the time, and Private Van Petcrsilge, who was at- tached to the hospital corps. "Van," as the boys familiarly called him, did good work in the hospitals and at the time we left Cuba, was quite ill at hospital at Siboney. wSergeant Murphy was one of my best non-commissioned officers. To show how popular he was with his comrades and in what high esteem he was held by all who knew him, he was elected First Lieutenant of Company L on his return to the State militia, to succeed Lieutenant Field. It was an honor well merited and it was unfortunate he failed to pass the physical examination and was not assigned to duty in consequence. I was especially fortunate in my selection of non-commis- sioned officers and they all did their duty in a most satisfactory manner, and by example and hard work did much for the welfare of the command. Their willingness to work and good nature kept up the spirits of the men and prevented many a boy from giving up the struggle. Corporals Slo- comb and Denison were always cheerful under the most try- ing circumstances and managed successfully to inject their good feelings into the dispositions of the other boys. I smuggled young Patnode into the ambulance assigned us for men who were too weak to walk to the boat, but one of those contract doctors sent down to Cuba by the Govern- ment to find yellow fever, nosed him out and refused tQ let him go with us. I felt very sorry for the poor boy, for he was physically quite strong at that time, but was what the boys called a little "nutty." He had an idea he was going to die 74 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. and would wake up in the night and scream with fright. I could always calm him on these occasions and I feel quite sure if he could have come home with us he would have pulled through all right. Poor boy. he came up on the hos- pital boat "Bay State" later, and died in a Boston hospital, of dysentery, shortly after landing. One of the saddest cases was that of Sergeant Hale. All the boys liked Archie and he was as faithful and unselfish as anyone I ever knew. He had been gradually failing for several weeks and the medical treatment he received seemed to do him no good. I knew his condition perhaps better than anyone else, because he confided his feelings to me. He could not sleep nights'and often would come to me dur- ing my illness and ask to sit in my tent in a steamer chair I had picked up in Santiago. It distressed him to lie down and, as he said, •'! can rest in the chair and you might want .something in the night." I shall never forget his thoughtful- ness, and when he died I lost not only a good soldier but a faithful friend. The doctors said he had a remote chance to live if he could be gotten back to the Divisional hospital, and I gave the contract surgeon. Dr. Dunwoody, $20, and he promised to send him back, if possible. I told him to draw upon me if he needed more. So far as I can learn he did absolutely nothing towards getting him sent back, and poor Hale died on the 15th of September in the Second Regiment hospital. Lieutenant Plummer of our Regiment was left in charge of the men who were kept behind, and he did everything possible to make the boys comfortable. Much credit is due him for his self-sacrificing work. We would cheerfully have allowed him all the money he asked for, but aside from a small assessment to cover actual expenses, which we paid, he would take nothing. Dr. Dunwoody has since died, .so I never learned why Sergeant Hale was not sent back to Di- II ^ ^ •• 4) .s J o t« S S "■So cc o c3 o u H a; S o <3 a ^ ^ g K O O i^ a: <1 = .H § 3<1 = t. O O O 3 O 5 gaEi-^ f— i s J a e ^ ;3 ;3 O & s fe S •H li H H to ^ H >i CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INFV, U. S. V. 75 visional hospital. To show how considerate and conscien- tious to duty vSergeant Hale was, let me relate a little inci- dent. I was obliged to punish a man for disobedience and had put him under arrest. After I left him, it seems he made threats in his anger to knife me, or put a bullet into me the first chance he got. Sergeant Hale overheard his threats and was somewhat alarmed for my safety. He came to me and told me what he had heard and warned me to keep my eye on the fellow. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness, but told him I knew the nature of the "beast" better than he did and had no fear for my personal safety. It was Sergeant Hale who told me that Lieutenant Field had been wounded just before I found him and had him taken to the road-bed. As one of his dearest friends expressed it as we were gath- ered around his grave, "I feel reminded of a part of Inger- soll's eulogy at the funeral of his brother: — "If everyone were to bring a blossom to his open grave who had received some kind service from his now lifeless hand, he would rest at night in a wilderness of flowers." I did not have the heart or courage to tell the boys they must stay behind, and Sergeant Aldrich broke the news to them by telling them they were to go later on the* hospital boat. They showed great courage and the stuff they were made of by not complaining, and I have no doubt this cour- age and the excellent treatment they received saved some of their lives. We had all sorts of experiences and some of them not without a touch of pleasure or a dash of the ridiculous. Who of us will ever forget a certain private when he came back from a trip to the Cuban village near by. He was one of my best men and of a quiet and obedient nature. It seems that a Cuban had given him a drink of Cuban rum. This vile concoction is very seductive, and unless one is ac- 76 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. quainted with its "'get there"' qualities he is liable to find him- self in trouble before he knows it. This was the case in this instance and the private came home under the friendh' escort of our Chaplain and carrying the top to an antiquated sewing-machine which he had picked up in the village. With the characteristic instinct of one under the control of that bad medicine, which the boys learned to shun, he went to the Orange Company to show the boys of that fa- mous sewing-machine town his find. He had an admiring crowd around him when I learned of his presence and con- dition. The rules were strict and orders imperative about going outside the lines, owing to the fear of contracting con- tageous diseases and thus endangering the health of the en- tire command. I ordered his arrest and he was brought before me. I talked to him pretty severely and told him he was under arrest and must be punished as Colonel Clark might see fit. He looked at me in the most aggrieved man- ner possible, and as if the possession of the old sewing-ma- chine should be a most forgiving element and extremely extenuating reason for disobedience, said, "Great Heavens, Captain, just think of the value of this machine." I confess I felt like laughing with the boys, but felt com- pelled to send him to headquarters. He was severely repri- manded by the Colouel and then forgiven. We were all pleased with the results, for he w^as popular and a good soldier. Several of the men were under suspicion of going into the city without permission, but when the proof was not positive I filed away their cases. I had not the heart to punish them and would gladly have tried to get permission for them to visit Santiago if it had not been for the great risk of contracting disease and thereby endangering the health of the entire command. The Cubans came to sell us curios of all kinds, and cigars, clothing, etc. It seems as if I should never get the inces- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 77 sant clatter and jargon of the Cuban women out of my ears as they came to our camp begging our rations or selling their wares. It was like the scramble and clatter of a flock of English sparrows fighting for a handful of crumbs. We had to watch these Cubans as you do the "dago poko" who haunts your back yard with his iron hook, now and then smuggling your week's washing from the clothes-line. The toe of your boot or a club had to be used sometimes to make them leave the camp. They would go off muttering "Amer- icano mucha malo," which interpretated means, Americans very bad. "Cuban Charlie," a Lieutenant in the Cuban army, was perhaps the most popular Cuban we met. He was born and educated in this country and was pretty nearly of Spanish blood. He came back on the "Mobile" with us, but I lost sight of him after we reached Montauk. I saw a good deal of him in Santiago, and he helped me collect several valua- ble souvenirs. I remember also how he got the best of me on a horse trade. My knowledge of Spanish was necessarily limited, but I had about concluded the purchase of a small Spanish pony, "Poco cabbalarii" at $20.00, from a Spanish Cavalry man, when "Cuban Charlie" came on the scene. He immediately took up the negotiations, and I supposed was helping me out, when to my dismay he handed the Spaniard $15.00, took the horse away from him and rode off. A little while afterwards he apologized, but said he needed him badly as he was commissioned to take messages to General Garcia, who was camped somewhere in the interior. While we were talking, he saw the same Spaniard stand- ing in a store holding a whip in his hand. Charlie walked up to him and demanded the whip as a part of the purchase, and the fellow finally gave it to him. This made his pur- chase a horse, saddle, bridle and whip for $15. I secured some beautiful medals from a Spaniard one day. He was of 78 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. the guard Seville, or Queen's guard. He had been severely wounded, and was also a sharpshooter of some fame, and these medals had been given to him for bravery in battle and meritorious work as a sharpshooter. I recall on one occasion being on detail as Officer of the Day. It was the day following the announcement of the sur- render of .the city. Some Spanish soldiers, either looking for some horses which had strayed away, or wishing to make friends with the " Americanos," came quite near to one of our outposts and were taken in custody. I was at a loss to know what to do with them, but the Field Officer of the Day appearing on the scene, I appealed to him and he told me to take one of the prisoners to Regimental headquarters. Feel- ing I was relieved from responsibility in the matter, I did as I was ordered. The Colonel " didn't do a thing " but call me down for allowing the vSpaniards in our camp and I was or- dered to have them conducted beyond our lines and not al- low them in again. I afterwards explained my position and was relieved from all blame or censure in the matter. The general impression is held, L believe, that "Snowball," the young negro lad who visited Greenfield after our return, was the mascot of our Company. This, however, is not so, as "vSnowball" went to Cuba as the protege of some regular Regiment. To be sure he did turn up in our Regiment after he had been kicked out of several other organizations, and we tried to be kind to him, but he inherited that greatest weakness of his race in stealing right and left and was finally driven from our camp. He was a great horse thief and had at different times no less than eight horses while on the island. He was useful to me for a while in running on errands into Santiago, but we saw little of him until after our return to Greenfield. While here he got into several scrapes and at least twice was sent back to his home in Wash- ington. But he would bob up serenely after a short absence CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS INF'Y, U. S. V. 79 until he became a great nuisance. He was finally before the District Court and sent to the reform school for the rest of his minority. How solemn the sound of " taps" made us feel as the bugle notes trembled out through the silent night. This call usually means lights out and to bed, but we associated it with the more solemn use it is put to at the burial of the dead. So many men were dying all about us in the different camps that "taps" could be heard frequently throughout the day. Men trembled, wondering who would be next to an- swer the last roll call. And when it came directly home to us, how it made the heart ache and with what tenderness we wrapped the poor fellows in their blankets and how reg-ret- fully we threw the clods of earth upon those poor blanketed forms. Corporal Brooks was the first to succumb to disease in our Company. He died August ist; then came Private Thyne's death, August 6th, and Private Sullivan followed on August nth. I shall never forget the feeling of sadness that came over me when Private Graves came up from the hospital to tell me poor "Tynie," as he called him, was dead. Private Graves had been detailed to care for him that night. We had sent him to the hospital because we felt he would have better treatment there than we could give him in his tent. He was up about fifteen or twenty minutes before he died and Private Graves had seen him, and supposed he was in no immediate danger, so had dropped off to sleep himself. A few minutes later he awoke and went to his cot to see if he wanted anything and found him dead. It completely un- nerved him and he was on the point of collapse when he came to notify me and I can see him now as he said, "For God's sake, Captain, give me a little stimulant to steady me." I tell you it took courage to do your duty at such a time and I have the greatest respect for the men who showed their 8o CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. unselfishness and did what they could to comfort their poor comrades. Thyne's sudden death was a great shock to us. He was one of the strongest men in the Company and had worked up to the day he was sent to the hospital. One of his companions has since told me that Thyne was given some liquor to drink by a native, while he was on outpost duty near the city. He said he was taken with cramps directly afterwards, and his death, following so soon, he believed could be traced to that drink of liquor. The men detailed at this time to care for the sick in the hospital were all sick enough themselves to be in bed. But they did what they could, and as a rule, without complaint. Poor Sullivan was sure he was going to die, and refused to make a struggle for life. I urged him to make a fight for it, and he would promise me, but the minute I left him, he would give up, and lie down again. We finally sent him to the hospital, but so sure was he that he must die, he refused his food and medicine, and finally died, September ii, from exhaustion, following ground fever. I have read and been told that the Volunteers lost men from diseawSe because they did not know how to care for themselves as did the Regulars. This was certainly not so in our case, for as a matter of fact, substantiated by the re- ports from the War Department, the vSecond Regiment did not lose as many men from disease as the Eighth and Twenty-second Regulars brigaded with us. These two Reg- iments put together just about equalled in numbers our Reg- iment. We had at least three men in our Company who had seen service in the regular army, and good men they were too. I refer to cook Farll, Corporal Beckworth and Private Stockburger. If we were lacking in knowledge which the regular outfits were in possession of, we had the examples and experience of these men to aid us. We were very particular about bathing when water could CO. L, 2ND RKCi. MASS. INF'V, U. S. V be found, and boiled the. water for drinkini); purposes when- ever we could do so. In fact we tried to make these rules very rigid. The water, "agua" the Cubans called it, was for the most part condemned as impure. The boys well remem- ber the detail made every morning to sand the sinks once an hour, and the men so detailed were excused from all other fatigue duty tliat day. Captain Hicks of M Company and myself combined forces and had sinks dug in common for the use of our Companies. We constituted ourselves sani- tary-inspectors and did what we could for the healt.h of our commands. What a funny sight it was to see the water detail start out to fill their long bamboo poles with water. They would come back with these hollow poles filled with water, with the open end plugged up with a tuft of grass. The men would fill their canteens with boiled water at night and hang them on their tent poles with the plug out, and in the morning the water would be quite cold. Later on we were permitted to buy ice from the city and it was indeed a great luxury. I recall that we paid Si. 25 a hundred for it and it cost us about a dollar to deliver it at our camp. I re- member one poor fellow who was too weak from sickness to wash himself and I punished one of the men for some petty disobedience by obliging him to give the invalid a good scrubbing. It was indeed a severe punishment and one he did not relish or soon forgot. Private Bras.sor secured a horse, the Lord and himself only knows where. We had him only for a day or so and some thieving Cuban probably had the benefit of him. It relieved the water detail while we had him and we would have parted with a lot of cold cash rather. than lose him. Lieutenant Mason and myself were never so happy as when we could steal away for an hour from our many duties and take what we called a shower bath. Many a mile we have tramped to find a good spot to bathe. The orders were very strict about 82 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. bathing in the streams where the water was used for drink- ing purposes. I shall never forget the feeling which came over me when I discovered a negro cavalryman washing his dirty underwear in a brook a little ways above where I had filled some canteens with water for drinking purposes. Even boiling would have hardly killed the germs in that water, I feel quite sure. I was especially fortunate as regards the clean-cut personnel of my Company. Where could you find more sturdy, uncomplaining soldiers and men than Privates Freshour, Frost, Kelliher, Kingston, Watson, Gary, Smead, and in fact with hardly an exception, the entire Company. They all knew the sacrifice they were making in leaving their happy, comfortable homes, but they did it willingly with the true instincts of a good soldier, and if necessary, were willing to give up their very lives for their country and the dear old flag. Sergeant Aldrich and Private Williams were of the great- est help in those last dark days. First, Aldrich would have a chill and have to give up, and then Williams would boil water and cook for twenty-five or thirty men who were un- able to do this work for themselves. Then Williams would begin to shake and Aldrich would stagger out and say he was feeling first-rate and do the work. They kept up this work for several days and without doubt saved several poor fellows, with nourishment and example, from giving up en- tirely. I went into Santiago and got supplies and medicine, and for awhile was called Doctor instead of Captain by the boys. Perry Wilson was also entitled to hang out an M. D. shingle. His father, being a physician, sent him a good many simple remedies, which he always generously divided amongst the boys. He had an attack of mumps as a sort of diversion while we were waiting for orders to be sent home. We seemed to be the banner Company for furnishing details; for instance, there was Private Riley and Corporal Beck- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'V, U. S. V. 83 worth on horse detail, Musician Dean as a bugler and orderly at headquarters, Barnes, detailed at brigade headquarters for a time as clerk. Van Petersilge in the hospital corps and Arnold m the pioneer corps. Then Fay was detailed as or- derly for Lieutenant-Colonel Shumway, and Anderson finally at the Divisional hospital. Colonel Shumway spoke very highly of Fay and his ser- vices while with him. When Musician Dean was finally re- lieved of his duties and sent back to the Company he was taken with an attack of hiccoughs which lasted three days and I thought he would die from them. He enlisted after his return home in the Ninth United States Infantry Band and is now in the Philippines or China. Private Snow and Private Arnold also enlisted and are seeing service in the Philippines. Private Forgette joined the Regular Army and Private Floury was for a time in a battery stationed near Havana. A favorite dish prepared by the boys from their hard-tack and bacon was made as follows: First, they would fry the grease from a piece of bacon then soak their hard-tack in water until it had the consist- ence of mashed potato, then put it in their frying pan and pour over it the grease from their bacon and fry it. It made a very toothsome meal, but the great trouble was in getting enough of it to satisfy your hunger. The name given to this dish is a very expressive one, but would hardly look well m print, so I will simply give the receipt, if any of my kind readers would like to try it. How lighthearted and full of fun the boys tried to keep even up to the very last. There were numerous organiza- tions in the Company, but perhaps the most noted one was the combination known as the "Indian Bohos." This was the outgrowth of the "Indians." Before we left America the "Indians" included in their membership such men as 84 CO, L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISII-AMRRICAN \YAR. Sergeant Aldrich, Corporals Class and Slocomb, Privates Barnes, Hall, Frank Smith, Van Petersilge and Miller. The "Bohos" were Privates Herbert H. Davis, Frank Smith, Sergeant Hale and Harry Hall. I can hear Hall now as he used to call the boys in the morning. You could hear his voice for a quarter of a mile and there was no sleeping when once the "Indians" were fully aroused. Herbert Davis was another active member, and he and Hall were probably the strongest men physically in the entire outfit. Then there was Frank Smith and Sergeant Hale. These last four occupied the same quarters and always quite near the officers' tent. They were staunch supporters of their officers and made excellent campaigners. I shall ever remember their tender solicitude for and gentle care of poor Archie Hale. Their big hearts nearly broke when they had to leave him behind and realized they had probably seen him for the last time. Then there was an order, named by themselves, the "Toughenders," and their tent while we were camped in front of Santiago was familiarly called the " Patch." As I recall it they included among their members " Happy," Billy O'Connell, "Spider" Murphy, " Spide " DeVerger, Jerry Sullivan and John Thyne. To see O'Connell was enough to make one forget the blues if you had them and his smile was as bewitching as a sea-nymph. Murphy and DeVerger were always full of fun and kept the boys moving and good na- tured. Sullivan was of more than ordinary intelligence in some ways and his letters to the Turners Falls Reporter are familiar to many of you. We were not lacking in celebrities. Perhaps Fuchs con- tributed as much to this list as anyone in the Company. I shall never forget his appearance the morning after being encamped in the roadbed near Santiago Harbor. Some of the men were about used up and Fuchs made a pack horse of himself in his endeavor to carry three or four men's rolls, CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'V, U. S. V. 85 etc. He was ordinarily j^ood natured, but when picked upon and crossed he would use the most extraordinary German I have ever listened to. Perhaps one of the most disagreeable and responsible positions to fill in active campaigning is that of First Sergeant. Charles Class was the Orderly Sergeant, and though he made mistakes, (and who of us did not?) he made a good non- commissioned officer and did his duty to the best of his abil- ity. I could always rely upon him and he was one of my best supporters and a hard and conscientious worker. I re- member a fad the First Sergeant had, and that was in always detailing Spaulding for anything and everything. It was not because he had anything against him, but Spaulding was always so willing and uncomplaining that it was a great temptation to work him, especially during the last few weeks, when it was so hard to find men well enough to go on detail. I really had to interfere and lessen Spaulding's re- sponsibilities, it was so apparent he was being overworked. vSergeant Class was quite ill before we left Santiago and at times very much out of his head. Like a great many others, he became disheartened and was on the point of giving up the struggle for life on more than one occasion. I had to abuse him and use very strong language to him as well as to others to put them on their mettle and continue the fight for their lives. He has since told me that my harsh treatment probably saved his life and that he never laid it up against me. I certainly used this means for their good, otherwise I could never have seemed unkind to any of those poor strug- gling fellows whom I had learned to love and admire. Corporal Class was another one who made a good fight and won out. I did not expect he could stand the voyage home he was so weak and sick. I remember what a deplorable condition he was in when the ambulance reached the store- houses near the dock. He, with Fred Brown and Goland, 86 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. was completely helpless. I left him in charg-e of a private, with instructions not to leave him a minute during my ab- sence. I hired a Cuban Volante or " Go cart " to take them to the lighter alongside the wharf. When I came back I found the man I had left in charge had gone into a saloon near by and had purchased a couple of bottles of beer and was in the act of giving some to Class. In my rage I grabbed the bottles and dashed them to pieces on the pavement. My return at that moment probably saved the boy's life. At any rate the doctors told me it would have been a rank poison to his system in his condition. About two weeks before our departure from the island I had a par- tial attack of sunstroke. I was on duty as Officer of the Day, and my duties kept me out in the boiling sun in the middle of the day. I must have been pretty ill for some of my su- perior officers have since told me they did not think I would pull through. I was examined by a contract doctor, who pro- nounced my trouble yellow fever. This so angered me that I got up and dressed myself and staggered out and insisted I was all right. Perhaps this exertion saved my life, for I be- gan to pick up immediately. Our payrolls had to be made up at this time and I had de- tailed Private Barnes as Company Clerk to assist me. Mala- ria got the best of him and he had to give up. I had no one else strong enough to do the work, and after working at it myself until I was so weak I couldn't stand up, I found a man in one of the other Companies who was a good penman, and although sick himself, the compensation I offered him for his assistance was too great a temptation and he helped me out. One of the saddest, and at the same time most interesting, cases, was that of the Captain's servant, Jacob vStark. Stark had been a member of Company L, M. V. M., for a number of years and was very anxious to go into the United States CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 87 service. He was thrown out in the physical examination for some slight defect, and it just about broke the poor fellow's heart. So anxious was he to accompany us that he begged me to take him as my servant. I really did not need a ser- vant, but I had not the heart to refuse him. and so he went with us. He was faithful and made himself invaluable to me. " Jake," as he was commonly called, kept fairly well until the latter part of July. About that time he got very home- sick and not being in service he asked me if I was willing he should go home. He was encouraged in the hope that he might get back, because he had known of a similar case where a civilian had gone back to the States a few days previous. I told him I was willing he should go, but advised him to .stay and go with us, and expressed the hope that we would go soon. But he was so anxious to try to get pas.sage that I sent him over to Santiago with a detail, and when they re- turned at night they informed me Jake had secured pa.ssage on the "Miami" which was to sail next day. The following day another party of ray men saw Stark in Santiago and he showed his papers entitling him to passage and a pass from the boat to Santiago. He said the boat had been delayed twenty-four hours, but would sail next day. That was the last we saw of him and we supposed he was home when we landed at Montauk. It seems, from later knowledge of the affair, that he was taken ill on the docks and placed in the Nautical hospital in wSantiago suffering from typhoid fever. General Wood, in his report to the family later, wrote that civilian Stark had been sick at the hospital and his recovery had been expected, as he was so far convalescent as to be up and about, but that through some indiscretion on his own part he had a relapse and died at the hospital, September 10, 1898. The first knowledgfe of his whereabouts and death was made 88 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. known through the War Department's list of deaths at San- tiago, published in the daily papers. OUR TRIP HOME ON THE "MOBILE." At last came the welcome news that we were to go back to the States. Our trip home on the "Mobile" was a sad one. After the first night our men had as good quarters as any on the boat. When we boarded the transport we found the Eighth and Twenty-second had occupied the whole boat and taken pos- session of all the hammocks. I turned robber that night and stole eighteen hammocks and a lot of bread, canned beans, etc. I felt justified in doing it. The next day I used diplomacy on the Captain, third officer, steward, cook and baker, with the result that my men had probably the best food served on the boat. They certainly had more whole- some food than I received in the saloon of the transport. I conferred with Major Fairbanks, who was the only field officer not incapacitated at the time, with the result that he convinced General Ludlow that the Second was not getting its deserts. We certainly had good quarters after that. I assisted Major Fairbanks and we straightened out the diffi- culty, and assigned the Companies to their new quarters. I recall one Company of the Twenty-second Infantry housed directly under the horses. We felt sorry for them, but we had all we could do to look out for ourselves. As we slowly crept out of the harbor we passed quite clo.se to the wreck of the"Reina Mercedes," sunk by our fleet July 4, and the masts and funnels of the collier "Merrimac," the "Cork in the bottle," sunk by Lieutenant Hobson and his men. Before us loomed up the entrance to the port of Santiago, an entrance so beautiful as to defy description. This key to CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 89 the harbor is but 600 feet wide, and proteeted on the one side by Morro Castle and on the other by the Soeapa battery. The sight of this old, yellow eastle. El Morro, almost makes you rub your eyes and doubt what they show you. The high, green bank has broken off almost preeipitously, and at the fraetured edge is this ancient Moorish stronghold which extends down the steep incline to the very surface of the water. Morro Castle, at Havana, is modern beside it. It has little belfry arches here and there, and singular towers and barred window sifting light into cavernous dungeons, and stairs hollowed by the feet of generations. It has been used principally by the ^Spaniards as a political prison. Lieu- tenant Hobson and his men were confined in this structure prior to their exchange and release. On the ocean side under the fort, the sea has cut deeply into the rock, making huge caverns beneath, and it is said by the natives that boatmen who ventured into these caves never returned. We had the experience of being held up by a United vStates Man of War, the "Yankee," but after we were recognized, the tars and marines all lined up near the rail and gave us a three times three. The Captain of our boat was an Englishman and probably did not enjoy being held up, but after the "Yankee" had fired a couple of shots as a warning, he decided to lay to and be interrogated. We were on the "Mobile" less than a week, but what un- told misery the men suffered in those few last days. It was not so much the treatment and hardships as it was the re- action and change of climate and life which got in its fearful work. Quite a number of men in the Regiment and one officer succumbed before we reached our native soil. I think, all told, there were eight buried at sea. The enlisted men were buried from the stern, and the officer, Lieutenant Ves- per, from the port side of the vessel. It seemed all the more sad because they were almost home. 90 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Lieutenant Mason had to give up the day we went on board the "Mobile." He was probably, when he enlisted, as strong- a man physically as anyone in the command. But the hard work and mental strain, together with the poor food, water and exposure, brought him down finally. That he was nat- urally of a strong constitution is evidenced when I tell 3^ou he was sick with typhoid-malarial fever for at least a week before he had any medical treatment. He was a splendid campaigner and did his whole duty in the Company to my entire satisfaction. His work on detail and outpost duty was highly commended by his superior officers. If I was to go through a similar experience I would ask for no better officer and man to assist me, and would elect, if I had my choice. Lieutenant Mason. He had a hard fight for his life after he reached the hospital at "Montauk," and it was several weeks before he was well enough to be sent home. I shall never forget a little incident in which Lieutenant Mason figured while we were camped in front of Santiago. He had been detailed in charge of twenty-four men, two from each Ccnnpany, to "police" the Headquarters camp. Policing is a military term which, applied to civil life, in a measure refers to house-cleaning. I was in Colonel Clark's tent at the time and we were ear witnesses to this little inci- dent. A couple of non-commissioned staff officers had a tent not far from a dump-hole where the refuse matter was buried. They either did not realize that they were enlisted men or were too lazy to keep the vicinity of their quarters in a clean- ly condition. We heard the Lieutenant say to his detail, "You men police up to within eight feet of that tent and no nearer; if they want to make a pig-pen of their quarters let them live in their filth or clean it up themselves." It is needless to say the non-commissioned officers received or- ders from the Colonel to clean up their quarters. The Lieutenant was a man that rarely complained of being over- CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF Y, U. S. V. 9I worked. He had been out all night on outpost duty and had then been detailed as above related. After .seeing the head- quarters of the regiment properly policed, he reported and retired to his tent to get some well earned rest. He had hardly gotten to sleep before an order came down from head- quarters detailing him for outpost duty for the next twenty- four hours. He went up to Headquarters to report and told the Colonel he was sorry to be so popular. Our Regimen- tal Commander saw at once it was a mistake on the part of the Adjutant in detailing Mason and had him relieved at once. CAMP WYKOFF, MONTAUK, L. I. We finally reached " Montauk," and what a mistake it was to take us to such a change of climate as we had to endure there. Lhave seen the thermometer register from 119 to 1 30 degrees in Cuba. When we reached Long Lsland it could not have been over 60 to 65 degrees and the wind blowing a gale across this narrow stretch. It seems as if it would have been better to have landed us in Florida or North Carolina. It would have saved the lives of many who had not the strength to stand the climatic change. The morning after our arrival at Montauk the men were landed, and those who were able to walk were marched to the detention camp. Nearly all the men of Company L had im- proved somewhat in health on the sea trip and we had but two men in the .sick bay, or hospital proper, on board the "Mo- bile." These men were Privates Goland and Fred Brown. I arranged to have Lieutenant Mason and the sickest of our men sent to the hospital, direct from the boat. There was a squad of our men too weak to walk to the camp, and I ar- ranged that these men should ride up in an army wagon to our camp. I placed them in charge of Sergeant Chapin and he was one of the last of our Company to leave the " Mobile." 92 CO. L, 2NU MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. For some unknown reason my plans in regard to these men miscarried and they were taken to the hospital. Sergeant Lobdell was in this party. After I had gotten my Company off from the boat I collapsed myself, and had to be carried to the detention camp. I was so ill that I was relieved from command of my Company and a Lieutenant from one of the other Companies placed temporarily in charge. This officer had a chance to make a record for himself, but failed and the Company would have been better off without him. We remained four days at detention camp under the yellow flag of quarantine. During these few days the men failed in health rapidly. Most of the cases were com- plete exhaustion, following malarial or typhoid fevers and dysentery. The sudden and extreme change of climate was too much for the boys and we lost several by death. Private Frank P. Norton was the first to die. He passed away at the hospital August 22nd. He was a conscientious fel- low and did his duty uncomplainingly. Norton was the trader of the Company and always had something he had picked up, for sale or exchange. Another good soldier, Private Laofue, died the 26th. He was followed bv Private Peter J. Campbell, who died August 28th. Campbell was looked upon as the best looking fellow in the Company. His was a quiet disposition and he had many warm friends in the Company. I remember how disappointed the men were because Camp- bell just failed of being appointed orderly to the Colonel at a guard-mount. It was customary for the Adjutant to pick out the best looking and most soldierly man as the Colonel's orderly. Campbell was complimented, but another private was detailed. Sergeant Charles E. Chapin died the 30th. He was one of the most conscientious fellows I ever knew and one of my best non-commissioned officers. In his devotion to duty and sol- dierly qualities he resembled Archie Hale, and my heart was CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 93 heavy when I learned of his death. With all respect to the living, it seemed as if some of my very best and most reliable men were taken. The old sa3'ing, "The good die young," cer- tainly proved true in the early taking off of these young heroes. From the detention camp we were sent to the General Infan- try camp. I was granted leave of absence and sent home in charge of a physician, Doctor Brown of North Adams, who kindly offered to take charge of me and see me safely home. I recall that the Secretary of War was on the train at Mon- tauk and shook my hand. I thought a lot, but said nothing. Too much cannot be said in praise of the work done by the delegation sent down to Montauk from Greenfield and other towns. They worked like beavers and they will alwa3's have m}^ gratitude, which extends not only to them, but to all those who contributed so generously in time and mone\' for our relief and comfort. The people of Greenfield and Turners Falls may well be proud of the record which they made in caring in such a generous and patriotic manner for the boys who represented those towns and vicinity in the late war. In those last days kind friends brought cheer to those poor fellows and a wealth of loving sympathy which they craved. I was in New York, at the Murray Hill Hotel, when the re- quest was made by telephone, by a strong supporter of the Regiment and an influential friend of the President, that the Second Regiment be sent home at once. I know fully the circumstances connected with this event and too much praise cannot be given to the honorable gentleman who brought about so much good to the Regiment. THE DEPARTURE FOR HOME ON FURLOUGH. The Company and Regiment left Montauk by steamer 94 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. "Block Island" for New London, August 27th, where large crowds met the returned heroes, and paid them the greatest possible attention. There they took trains and were hurried towards Springfield. It seems that Private Zeigler of our Company had received a box of frosted cake and other lux- uries, and insisted upon eating them. Some of the boys re- monstrated with him, but, as he expressed it, he was going to have one square meal. Poor fellow, he became violently sick, and was taken from the train at Springfield in an un- conscious condition and taken to a hospital, where he died August 29th. COMPANY L REACHES CJREENFIELD. The train reached Greenfield at about 4 o'clock p. m., and a large and sympathetic crowd of friends and relatives had gathered to meet the returning heroes. Tenderly they car- ried them to their homes or sent them to the hospital. In some cases it would have been better to have sent men to the hospital when their friends and relatives insisted upon taking them home with them. The excitement was too great in some instances and the poor fellows, whose bodies were racked with pain and fever, could not stand the strain and died from sheer exhaustion. Among these was Peter A. Greenia. He drove to Conway that night, and the citizens met him with a drum corps and held a great demonstration with red fire, etc. He died on September ist. Another sad case was that of Timothy J. Murphy of Turners Falls. He died September 6th, at his home. Murphy had been very ill and was obliged to ride to the wharf in vSantiago on a load of baggage. I had him ordered off from the army wagon at first, but after thinking it over I decided he was too weak to walk and let him ride. I have CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 95 always been glad I did so, for I am afraid my conscience would have troubled me after poor Tim died if I had denied him that request. The men who were left in Cuba as yellow fever suspects came up later on the hospital boats, and, for the most part, were better off in consequence. Poor Patnode, however, contracted dysentery and died in a hospital September ist, just after reaching Boston. Nearly a year after our muster out, Henry M. Stewart, the Wagoner of the Company, died of consumption at his home in Greenfield. He was quite ill and in the hospital much of the time, in Cuba, and after his return to this country had an attack of pneumonia which left him in a very weakened con- dition and he died September 29th, 1899. After nearly four months of hardship, bloodshed, sickness and death, the gallant little Company which left Greenfield were gathered about their own firesides, and the horrors of Cuba, drifting like a nightmare through their clouded mem- ories, was dispelled by a loving atmosphere which nothing but devotion to flag and country would ever call them away from again. Thursday, November 3rd, 1898, six months from the day they left Greenfield, Company L was mustered out with the Regiment, at the State Armory in Springfield. Previous to this, and from October 24th, the Company was garrisoned at the Armory and on light duty. That last gathering of the Regiment was a sad one. Its ranks, decimated by bullets and disease, its remnant Companies but ghastly skeletons of their former strength. They went away in the full strength and buoyancy of youth ; they returned, many of them, de- crepit and broken down old men. A grateful nation, a liberty loving people will ever cherish their memory and inscribe their names upon the pages of 96 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. history, with those who have fought and died for their coun- try and its flag. THE EXPEDITION TO CUBA TO BRING BACK THE BODIES OF OUR DEAD. In February, 1899, an expedition, partly fitted out by the Government, went to Cuba to bring back the bodies of our dead. The personal expenses of those who represented the different organizations were paid by private subscriptions. Private Wise of Turners Falls, by request of the people of that town, went to look after the bodies of the boys who' came from that village. George W. Hale of South Deer- field, father of vSergeant Archie C. Hale, also went with the party, and through his untiring and kind efforts all the bodies, but that of Joseph M. Lanois, were recovered and brought safely back. Lanois was buried in a trench with a number of other poor fellows and it was impossible to iden- tify his remains. After the return of the expedition, mili- tary funerals were held in Greenfield, Turners Falls, and South Deerfield, and the highest honors paid to the memory of those heroes who had given up their lives in the service of their country. The accompanying sketch, through courtesy of George W. Hale, will be of interest to my readers: SKETCH OF CUBAN EXPEDITION FOR THE RECOVERY OF OUR DEAD. By George W. Hale, Father of Scrpeaiit Archie C. Uale. wlio dieil .at Santiago, August 1.5, '98 From New York at noon, February 4th, 1899; after many vexatious delays, the steamer Roumanian cut her way out through the harbor ice to find the summer land. Starting upon an expedition, grand in conception, unique in history, sad in its reality. It would be idle to dwell upon the inade- ^■•J Ilk CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 9/ quate provision made for our transportation, or many another ill that we fell heir to. We dismiss them as accidents of war, calamities of progress. Misfortune makes the whole world kin. And so our seeming difficulties, including mal de mer, made us the second day out a very sympathetic family. We had a quiet, uneventful voyage, measured by winter and summer days, enlivened only by a passing sail, or .some joke at the expense of a fellow traveller. Owing to some mistake on the part of the writer, all flying fish were called Hale's birds during the trip. Arriving at San Juan, Porto Rico, February loth, we found that our steamer had been loaded with the expectation that we would land first at Santiago. Con.sequently, nearly every- thing that was necessary for carrying on the work was buried under tons of general freight. By the delay thus occasioned an opportunity was given those who wished to wander about this quaint old city, sur- rounded by its walls that are crumbling with the centuries, study its .strange pleasure-loving, poverty-.stricken people, en- joy its drowsy noons and star-crowned nights. Realize the poverty and misery surrounded by this veritable garden of the gods, and then picture to oneself the pos.sibility of uplift- ment and ongoing for this people, when hand in hand they shall walk with us out into a brighter day, a better civili- zation. Upon the morning of February 14th, bidding adieu to San Juan, with its castles and vine-clad walls, we watched the while the beauteous picture of her mountains, sunkissed to gold and bronze, and saw them fade away ere we realized that we were bound for Ponce. The day pas.sed all too soon, and the night, with no linger- ing twilight, fell down upon us while we watched a light along the coast, far up among the mountains, that made us think of home, and conjure up a thousand fancies as to who 98 CO. L, 2NU MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. and what tlie people might be that kindled it, their hopes, their daily lives, and, some might question, their destiny. And SO the night wore on until at i a. m. we fell asleep with Ponce lights m view. With the morning new dilBculties met us. Small-pox was raging at this port, and no one could land with the in- tention of returning to the vessel. This decision led most of the Massachusetts men to take passage that evening upon The Obdam for Santiago. But for those who remained, the quarantine was soon removed, and we shall ever have a pleasant memory of its busy roadway from the sea, its old cathedrals, and around and above all, its pyramidal moun- tains, peak on peak. We remained here until P'ebruary 23rd, having then on board 125 bodies. This did not complete the work at this place, so a detachment of men under Captain Massey was left at this port. And after having made a trip to Maya- gueze for ice, which was sadly needed, we started at 3.30 p. m.. Feb. 23rd, for Santiago, arriving upon Feb. 26th, 7.00 a. m. The bodies of the Second Regiment men were im- mediately located, and we anticipated a speedy accomplish- ment of our work, but delay after delay occurred until over a week elapsed before anything was done. In the meantime. General Wood assured us that when work was commenced, the Second Regiment bodies would be the first to receive attention. Such was not the case, however. Bloody Bend and San Juan Hill being the initial working points, but by persistent personal effort, and by superintending the work ourselves, the fathers succeeded upon March iith in getting the bodies of their sons. This was soon followed by activity of endeavor all along the Sec- ond Regiment line, resulting the following week in getting all the bodies ready for shipment. We now petitioned for transportation home by first steamer. CO. L, 2ND REG. MASS. INF'Y, U. S. V. 99 This finally led to the decision to send the Roumanian home with the bodies then ready, about 700. Consequently, at 12. a.m., March 23rd, we commenced our homeward journey, which ended at New York six days later. And as we say ^ood-bye to Santiago, with its dirty, broken streets, that have been dirtier, we try to forget the tragedies of its encircling trenches, the bloodstains of its hills. We listen only to its music, we remember only the quiet, sacred nooks where beneath God's shadows we found our dead. And taking them as it were in our arms — each one his own— we bring them back, and once more lay them to rest at home, placing upon each grave a hero's laurels, and leaving daily there our footprints, because they were our boys. A TRAGEDY OF THE HOME-COMING. Through the kindness of Edward Branch Lyman, the author, I publish with this volume the story entitled " The Tragedy of the Home Coming." This beautifully written, but sad tale, is founded partly upon facts and is of especial interest because it relates to one of Company L's dead heroes Joseph M. Lanois of Riverside, Mass. In justice to the com- manding officer of the Company, it should be stated that the family of Lanois were notified of his death, and a notice of it appeared in the public press shortly after it occurred. As one member of the family explained, the sister thought the report might not be true, so went to Greenfield to meet her brother. "She had been one of the first to arrive at the station. Roses bloomed unnaturally in her pale cheeks. They had begun to bloom that morning, when, in her faded calico gown, she had gone to the superintendent of the big paper mill in the toil-worn little town of Turners Falls and had asked if she might take time off to go and see her brother's company return. And the superintendent, whose heart chanced not to be one of the machine-made kind, — with a look of some wonderment on his face, had said she might. And as she flitted out, he had turned to one of the clerks and said: "That's just the difference between the French and our other foreigners here — they have the sentimental and the emotional in them." irmroracctcir 555555'5 jjjjjjjjj jjjjjjj JJJJ-JJJJJ 0000000 000000000 QOQQD'" QOQQQQQOQi' 55(-l-l-i-H-[-Hf-5£t^t>''-'''- V &^ ■a o , s c !r: z2 */ ^ ■C ■'•O c^ > «.2 J' dj 'J c o(E o Eos ''•a ■!;; *-■ C 1- gate Ch ^-^ oa k; ^ 1-^ iU ffl .j; >.c; 5 cj > - S c o -r -^ O • oj ■d rr C ► !MaSg • * ° S c C M S: p J^^^ ^T3- « O i; bJ3j5 m 3 C t'' C ^-w •'* C I- p •" cti 0-'^5oCbfl«CcS c« --^ . J. U oJ 2 •" ^ o, ■S ►*: " g 5 t. aj o ^ --C a_fi'^s~"Cb,^ X aj * o ^ T! ^ -aoffl'iuao-j u-a S cs o > 1h rt^ .2 .2 -M o ^ O =* m < in ^ W-. X X j ^ S -r o 't' * *^ S ^ ~ D.:5 o -c ca -^ ' S * 'X *' .fcj -" ^_. rL"*- y 1; V- ^ •^ '^ bJ3 j: , ; p S e 0: : c« i A > X .5 A TRAGEDY OF THE HOME-COMING. lOI Out she had sped — past the big bulletin board that read, "Co. L reaches Greenfield 4.30 this afternoon," — back to the low, brick row of company flats, and up to the two poor, hot little rooms where she was the housekeeper — a lonely little housekeeper ever since that early summer morning when she had so proudly, yet so tearfully, helped her soldier boy — her brother — into his uniform. The roses deepened in her cheeks as she put on her best things — the bright-colored gown that made her figure look so neat. Then she put his pipe where he always found it after the day's work was done; gave one last glance at the little especial provision she had made for supper for her poor, tired soldier boy; — and started on the way, feeling that at last, all her longing and waiting, all her lone- someness, were almost at an end, and that soon her little family of two would be united again. The hum of the mill, the daily and nightly heat, had all seemed so unusually wearisome while he had been away. They had lived so much together — so much apart from the others around them;— they had tried to live good lives, remembering the sweet-faced mother who had faded away when they so needed her. She was soon at Greenfield station; the crowd had begun to grow in the bright sunlight of the beautiful, late-summer afternoon. She could but think of the contrast to that dreadful May morning of rain and wind, when the crowd had gathered at daybreak to see "the boys" off. "Just off to camp for awhile," they had said. She remembered that last kiss — right in the big crowd. But the war had come on, and there had been awful fighting. Tidings of this had penetrated through the din of the mill, had reached her in her isolation and had made her pray more fervently than ever for her brother. She got a place next to one of the ropes. The crowd poured all about her — strangei-s all. An hour and more they stood waiting, waiting. The roses were in full bloom on her cheeks now. From her vantage ground she could see the track the tram would come on. She noticed the flags draped over the doorway — "Co. L, Wel- come Home." This she partly spelled out. She saw the men with the red badges in the rope-cleared space — the police, the reporters, 102 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. the doctors. She saw women around her — their pale faces, their expectancy. She felt lonely. Suddenly, long, moaning whistles made the crowd press closer; then the gongs of the shops along the tracks began to sing a sad sort of song; the rumble of the train was felt under foot; the crowd mur- mured. Various cries were heard: "It's almost here." Small boys yelled. "Hush !" — the word went round. A silent welcome had been the plan. There was a roar like the roar of the sea — the train came tearing in, not tenderly, not silently. It seemed to crush the heart out of the crowd. Silence! — yea, verily, silence! For the train had stopped. Shattered men in blue were being helped from the cars, each with two strong supporters — doctors or older-time vet- erans. Those ghastly, ghostly faces! those thin, weak forms! — the pity of them! The carriages rolled out through the porte-cochere, each bearing its crumbling bit of humanity. There were gasps of recognition- tears, expressions of horror; and yet joys, of those who would fain have flung themselves upon the "boys in blue" they had so longed for, but who, so weak, so changed, seemed almost irresponsive to the dear home faces of which they had never lost sight, even amid the hosts of war and fever specters. She could wait no longer. She must get to her boy. \Vhere was he? He had not passed to the line of carriages. Who should help him but she? She crouched under the rope, and, deerlike, rushed to the wan, mummy-like band who had dropped to the seats of the waiting-room. Into all the faces she peered, eagerly, lest one should be taken away to a carriage before she had a chance to look. A horror came over her. Suppose she could not recognize him; — but she would, he was so tall, so handsome, so lovely — especially in uniform. A badged man noticed the slight figure with the brilliant cheeks — so young, yet so strangely old. "Whom are you looking for, girl?" "My brother, ," giving his name. "God!" said he, fervently, and instinctively bowed his head;, then turned quickly, rushed to another badged man, and said: "She don't know! God, I can't tell her." A TRAGEDY OF THE HOME-COMING. IO3 "Don't know what? Who don't?" Then he told the other badged man that she was the sister of the boy who had been one of the first to fall in that gallant charge to victory at El Caney — his had been one of the very first deaths reported in the 2d regiment. All the world had known of it — ex- cept the little sister, deep in the mill-whirl by day, deep in prayer and longings for her boy after the day's weary grind was over. Neither could break the word to the now pale, statuesque being, whose big eyes stared. But the man for the word was there. Many a harsh word had he, as judge in one of the state's highest tribunals, said with the maximum of kindness and the minimum of anything that cuts or adds sting to sufficient punishment. He saw here a duty. His voice was gentle. His face was kindly, full of emotion, shadowed with sorrow — and yet there was in it a sustaining influence, a helpfulness. For a moment the young form seemed to turn to stone. Then the face relaxed its strain. The tears fled forth. The head bowed. Death, here is thy sting! No last word to the brother I Weeks in the past! In an un- marked, hastily-made grave he lies! Hero! The mill grinds on. The roses deepen. 'Tis very lonely house- keeping in the little rooms in the low, brick row of company flats." "COMPANY L." (Dedicated to Company L, second Massachusetts United States Volunteers ) There were only two of the circle left, The sister so loving and true, And the brother, who looked so handsome and tall In his coat of army blue. For the war was on and he longed to go, So she bade him a tearful farewell, And watched him proudly marching away With the boys of Company L. Away to dread scenes of carnage and death; To battle's tumult and roar; I04 CO. L, 2ND MASS , IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. And the spiteful hiss of the Mauser balls On Cuba's war-swept shore. How bravely they followed the beckoning flag, Where its blue folds rose and fell. Let history record the story some day Of the boys of Company L- She turned again to the busy mill. With its ceaseless clatter and din, While the loom of Fate, threads of somber hue, In silence began to spin. But the days were bright when a letter came With the news that all was well. That soon he'd be coming home again With the boys of Company L- So time went on till the wires flashed, O'er the land and the blue sea foam. The tidings glad to each waiting heart That the Second was ordered home. And the stern man smiled at the sunny face, As he asked her her errand to tell. "I must go, you know, for he's coming to-day With the boys of Company L-" For hours she waits with the anxious throng. Who close to the station press; When the whistle sharp on the wind is borne Of the Springfield day express. But the cheers died out in a wail of grief. And the waving kerchiefs fell : — Were those ghastly faces and wasted forms The boys of Company L! From one to another she eager gazed, But no well-known form appears; And the roses paled in the winsome face, While the eyes held a hint of tears. The soldier who had faced, on the firing line, The .Spanish shot and shell, Shrank back when she asked for the brother who went With the boys of Company L. A TRAGEDY OF THK IKJ.M K-COMING. 105 And whiter still grew his pallid face At those eyes with their look of woe; To a comrade he turned, "You tell her, I can't; My God! she doesu't know That the day we stormed El Caiiey's hei,t,dit He was one of the first that fell; That we buried him there with his comrades dear, From the ranks of Company L. —Lizzie S. Taylor. Jackson, Mich. HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD IN THE WARS. GREENFIELD IN THE REVOLUTION. When the war, which severed the colonies from the rule of Great Britain with the fights at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775. Greenfield, then a town of less than five hun- dred people, was prepared to do its share in the cause of liberty. There were two Military Companies in town at that time. Although the Company officers were unwilling to lead them into the continental service for fear of what they thought would be the crime of treason to the crown, the men, like hardy sons of old New England, were ready to take up arms and help to throw off the yoke of King George. They thought it better to die in defence of right than to re- main subjects to a despotic government. " What Kings decree, the soldier must obey, Waged against foes; and when the wars are o'er, P'it only to maintain despotic power." — Drydeu. The story is told that when the news of the Concord mas- sacre was heralded throughout the land, the people assem- bled at the Greenfield common and when the courier came in they were so wroth they could not wait for men, but called for the Company drummer to beat the long roll for volun- GREENFIELD IN THE WARS. IO7 teers. Scarce had the first note sounded when the hardy young sergeant, Hastings, though admonished by his Com- pany commander that he would have his neck stretched for it, stood out and exclaimed, "Who next to risk his life for his country?" It was hard to tell who answered first, for near- ly all were in line at once. Early morning fcmnd the Greenfield soldiers on the road to Cambridge to join the army. Another Company was soon made up and put into the field. Men with stouter hearts than these Greenfield boys never took up arms. Braver than they never fought. It might well be said : " Those barren fields offered man and steed, the soldier and his sword." How could hirelings expect to conquer men fighting for their liberty? Their mothers at home were working long into the night to cook the meager food and run bullets for their boys to use against the foreign foe. The term of service at that time was short; but we read of the Greenfield boys as being eager to go wherever their country called. They were in the siege at Boston ; at Ticon- deroga; in the campaign against Burgoyne when he at- tempted to separate New England from the other colonies; at the battle of Bennington, and many other engagements. One might think from this record that the sons of Green- field loved war ; but not so, for when the war was over wh at were left of them returned to their homes and farms and be- came the sturdy founders of the new nation. GREENFIELD IN THE REBELLION. The Greenfield Guards, Company G, M. V M., were organ- ized in 1853, and at the breaking out of the war had won a good reputation for drill and discipline. They were at first attached to the Eleventh Regiment, which later became the I08 CO I.. 2N1) MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Twelfth Regiment, and finally, at about the time of the break- ing out of the civil war, became Company G. Tenth Regi- ment, M. V. M. When the news of the fall of Sumter reached Greenfield. Capt. E. E. Day, modest and unassuming, but the right man in the right place, raised the Stars and Stripes over his armory and recruited his Company to the war standard. Through the spring of that eventful year there was constant drill for those Company G boys, often taking the form of long marches into the country. At last the long expected orders to go to the front arrived, and on the morning of the 14th of June, 1861, Companies G and H, of the Tenth, were drawn up in line in front of the armory for a farewell address by the venerable Dr. Chand- ler, before embarking for Springfield to join their Regiment. Soldiers all seem to have a weakness for the fair sex. Just before the departure of Company G, each man was presented with a pincushion by the young ladies of Miss Russell's school. And it is safe to say wherever you find a Company G man, you will find one of those pincushions. After three long years of service about twenty men, all that was left of Company G, returned home after having served in most of the battles of the Army of the Potomac. In the fall of '61 the Twenty-seventh Regiment was raised and although there was no Company from Greenfield, twenty- four of her men enlisted in the Regiment. Early in '62 the Thirty-fourth Regiment enlisted forty- seven men in Greenfield. All enlistments to this time were for three years. In August, '62, the President issued a call for 75,000 men for three months ; sixty-five men were required from Greenfield. Company A, Fifty-second Regiment, was promptly organized and in a few days had enlisted the required number of men. This Regiment was with General Banks in Louisiana, and at the expiration of its term of enlistment, as its presence GREENFIELD IN THE WARS. 109 was needed, it did not return home. After the fall of Port Hudson, General Banks announced that the Reoiment that had remained after its term should have the hon'^or of being the first to ascend the Mississippi. The Fifty-second was accorded this honor. The Fifty-second was the last org-anization that went from Greenfield. After this, recruits were .sent to the various Recr- ments then in the field. "'^ The Greenfield boys experienced the joys and .sorrows of war. They were in the battles of Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, The Wilderness, Gettysburg, vSpottsyl- vania, Washington, Roanoke and many other c^onflicts in which they rendered valiant service. A copy of Company orders and the roster of Co. G, 1 ith Reg. 6th Brigade, 3rd Div. M. V. M., Sep., 1855, follows':- MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA. COMPANY ORDKRS. To F. M. Thompson, Clerk of Co. G, nth Reg., 3rd Division. You ar.- hcrehj- ordered to warn, and give four days' notice, to all the Non-Conmnssione.l Officers and Privates of the Conipanv under my com- mand, whose names are specified in the Roll annexed, l)y reading to each man m person, verbally, or by leaving at his last and usual place of abode a written or printed Order, directing him to appear with the uniform, amis and equipments required by law, at the Armory in Greenfield, on Tuesday,' the nth day of Sept. inst., at 8 o'clock, in the forenoon, for military duty. Hereof fail not, and make return to me of your doings herein before the day of appearance. Dated at Greenfield, this 5th day of September, 1855. Signed WENDELL T. DAVIS, Commanding Officer of Company G, ir Regiment Battalion, 6th Brig. 3rd Div., M. V. M. . '6 RETlTRN. This Certifies that I have warned and notified according to law all the undernamed Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates of the Company afore- said. Dated this Eleventh day of September, 1855. F. M. Thompson -' Signature of the person to whom / the Order was directed. 1 lO CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Briggs, Enoch Bridges, J. F. Bascom, Moses P. Bell, John Coburn, J. P. Chapin, Henry L- Childs, J. P. Day, E. E. Day, Joseph ,S. Hawks, Hilkiah Ingersoll, Charles Jones, Sylvester Jones, Hosea A. Keith, George Keith, Charles Knights, Warren Knights, J. R. Lyon, David Mirick, H. D. Munn, C. H. Morgan, J. P. Megrath, A. W. Newhall, Albert Pierce, George Plumley, Charles Potter, Geo. W. Pierce, Samuel R. Pierce, William Rice, E. J. Robbins, H. S. Reed, A. E. Remington, Lorenzo Remington, G. W. Rogers, Charles A. vStowe, S. A. Sibley, Truman Sil)ley, Tyler . Strattou, E. A. Thayer, Edward Tywell, C. P. Thompson, J. W. Thompson, E. M. Wells, A. W. Warner, George Wells, J. W. Wells, Roswell Williams, Dwight Wells, George D. Wood, E. W. Wilson, Sewall. For several years following the close of the Civil war there was no military organization in Greenfield. About 1870, Company A of the Second Regiment was formed in Greenfield and existed- about ten years. The first Commander of this Military Company was B. S. Parker, Esq., and he was followed by Captain Anson Withey, and Gorham D. Williams, Esq., in order named. After this Company was mu.stered out of the State service there was no Company in Greenfield until 1887, when the present Company L of the Second Regiment was formed. ,'iC^^^- / /■ ^ i^^^'^^r Facsimilik, Capt. Pierce Commission as Divisional Postr GREENFIKI.I) IN Tllli WARS. ii[ GREENFIELD LIGHT INFANTRY. Company L, Second Regiment of Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, otherwise known as the Greenfield Litrht Infantry, was organized November 21, 1887. The interest displayed in its formation can be readily appreciated, when it is understood that there were no less than twice the num- ber of applications for membership at that time than was necessary for the formation of the Company. The sixty-two men required for the full complement of the Company were mustered into the service of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts for the term of three years, under the direction of Brigadier-General Benjamin F. Bridges, then Colonel of the Second Regiment. General Bridges took a great interest in the formation of the Company and has al- ways been a staunch friend of the organization. The election of officers following the mustering in of the Company resulted in the choice of Hon. Franklin G. Fe.ssen- den, Captain ; Fred E. Pierce, First Lieutenant ; Nathan D. Allen, Second Lieutenant. Mr. Allen was obliged to retire from the .service shortly after on account of his health, and Thos. L. Comstock was elected to fill the vacancy. These officers were duly qualified, commissioned and assigned to duty as the officers of Company L. Judge Fessenden was deeply interested in the work of making a first-cla.ss Company and was rewarded with success and by being selected as one of Gov. Russell's military family, with the rank of Colonel. On his retiring from the Company, Fred E. Pierce was elected Captain, T. L. Com- stock was elected First Lieutenant and Henry H. Cutler, vSecond Lieutenant. April 17, 1891, Lieutenant Cutler was elected First Lieutenant to fill vacancy caused by resigna- tion of Thos. L. Comstock; Chas. H. Field was elected Sec- ond Lieutenant. May 6, 1892, an election was ordered to fill vacancy caused by resignation of Lieutenant Cutler, and C. 112 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. H. Field was elected First Lieutenant. F. B. Felton suc- ceeded Lieutenant Field as Second Lieutenant. Lieutenant Felton resigned his commission April, 1894, and E. P. Har- rison, then Orderly Sergeant of the Company, was elected in his place. J. R. Bickford, Second Lieutenant, succeeded Lieutenant E. P. Harrison, who resigned his commission in April, 1895. Lieutenant Bickford resigned later and Fayette B. Mason was elected to fill vacancy. Upon reorganiza- tion of Company L after the Spanish War, Lieutenant Mason was elected First Lieutenant, to succeed the late Lieutenant Chas. H. Field, who lost his life in the battle of El Caney. Lieutenant Mason declined the election and Thos. D. Mur phy was elected. Lieutenant Murphy was not able to pass the physical examination, owing to his not having recovered from hardships of Spanish war, and Don A. Aldrich was elected to fill the vacancy. Captain Pierce was elected Major on Feb. 13, 1900, and at an election held to fill the vacancy of Captain, Frederick A. Draper was elected Captain of Com- pany L. Both Lieutenant Aldrich and Lieutenant Mason received the votes of the Company, but declined to serve. The Company has always worked hard for a good stand- ing in the Regiment, and holding such, the town has many reasons to be proud of the Company who represents it. EX-MEMBERS OF COMPANY L SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY, M. V. M. COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. Hon. Franklin G. Fessenden, Lieut. N. D. Allen, Maj. F. E. Pierce, " F. B. Felton, Lieut. T. L. Conistock, " E. P. Harrison, " H. H. Cutler, " J- R- Bickford, " C. H. Field, " T.D. Murphy. EX-MEMBKRS OF COMPANY L. 113 NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. F. C. Alston, J. ly. S. Barton, E. H. Baker, G. R. Beebe, A. T. Beals, L. B. Boutvvcll, E. J. Davis, J. W. Elder, F. P. Forbes, P. E. Fitzgerald, S. G. Gray, F. O. Gaines, Chas. Iv. Hall, John Hohner, CM. Ilolden, PRIVATES AND H. E. Ames, G. E. Arms, G. J. Alcott, W. L,. Barton, F. L. Baker, A. A. Baker, C. M. Bickford, J. B. Bridges, W. S. Bardwell, B. H. Bennett, J. M. Bitzer, J. C. Blagden, N. Blouin, T. N. Buddington, Ed. Bulman, W. E. Buffington, E. J. Brennan, W. E. Brainard, C. G. Brown, G. L,. Browne, J. B. Black, C. F. Blodgett, G. G. Burnham, T. H. Benton, G. H. Kaulback, F. M. Munson, C. W. Munson, E. H. Morey, E. J. Moray, L,. Mogle B. B. Noyes, Jr., W. J. O'Brien, E. S. Rockwood, W. J. Sears, G. H. Stearns, E. M. Slocomb, J. H. Smead, F. H. Ulrich, C. E. Winslow. MUSICIANS. S. H. Burroughs, h. A. Cook, A. G. Childs, Geo. Clutterbuck, P. C. Comstock, J. H. Carney, C. D. Cram, M. Chase, E. J. Coughlin, D. I/. Crowninshield, F. C. Chapman, M. S. Carpenter, C. B. Carpenter, A. B. Cromack, F. H. Clapp, T. Chadwick, CD. Conway, J. Dalton, E. W. Davis, J. S. Dripps, B. M. Dowd, M. S. Donovan, W. J. Dempsey, D. Doherty, 114 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. A. H. Davey, J. F. Duuuigan, W. Deneault, H. O. Edgerton, J. Iv. Eppler, C. B. Eads, G. M. Ellis, H. t,. Field, M.J. Farr, E. J. Flynn, J. H. Flynn, J. L. Fegan, J. F. Forrestall, G. C. Frary, D. M. Foley, C. Fountaiue, A. S. Foster, F. C. Griswold, B. E. Gaines, W. B. Gaines, C. H. Goodnow, W. H. Griffith, F. Gascoigne, O. George, ly. A. Hawkes, H. H. Hayden, F. A. Hayden, W. P. Herron, A. E. Holdeu, J. M. Hubbard, R, B. Hubbard, C Hickey, J. P. Hanley, E A Howland, M. D. Howland, H. Johnson, W. Johnson, C. B. Jenkins, W. C. Kenuon, J. S. Kennedy, S. Kennedy, G. W. Kimball, H. E. Kimball, R. A. Lee, F. M. Logan, T. F. Lynch, B. M. Lamb, G. B. Loo mis, E. Mason, W. J. McAdams, II. Murphy, D. H. Murphy, F. A. Morey, F. D. Morey, W. C. Merz, J. H. Marrion, H. P. Marvel, I. W. Magrath, A. J. Markley, Jas. McVey, F. A. Moebus, J. W .Morrison, J. J. McCarthy, C. H. Mann, C. C. Magoon, F. Nutting, G. L. Nash, H. Nash, C. J. Osgood, F. O'Brien, H. E. Potter, F. H. Porter, F. S. Perry, F. H. Perkins, A. C. Paull, R. E. Pray, A. X. Petit, H. L. Parker, S. F. Phillips, H. vS. Pierce, A. J. Patnode, Jr. J. F". Powers, M. J. Powers, C. Pond, The Sunken " Mkkrimack." Wreck of the " Reina Mercedes. EX-MEJMB1£KS OF COMPANY L. 115 P. J. Peltier, A. Quackeiibush, J. H. Reynolds, G. G. Ross, E. C. Rice, H. O. Rockwood, W. F. Russell, E. F. Russell, W. J. Riley, C. J. Rist, F. S. Sweet, L. W. vSuiith, G. W. Smith, M. W. Smith, F. W. Strecker, C. L. Stay, G. W. Sniead, J. B. Siuead, A. C. vStaunard, C. S. Shaw, W. M. Simpson, J. H. Sears, M. J. Shea, V. T. Seaman, H. S. Savage, W.J. Slattery, W. A. Stark, J. F. Stark, G. C. Schaffer, B. W. Snowman, W. M. Tooniey, M. W. Topham, W. L. Tatreau, F. F. Tatreau, C. W. Thayer, J. Thompson, J.J. Wait, W. S. Wait, E. R. Warner, O. M. Woodman, W. W. Wilcox, H. M. Woodard, M. F. Whithed, C. Wells, C. Wise, D. J. Walker, P. Wayand, W. W. Wilber, J. Welch, J. F. Yetter. ROSTER COMPANY L 2ND REGIMENT INFANTRY, M. V. M. July i, igoo. Captain, Frederick A. Draper. First Lieutenant, Don A. Aldrich. Second Lieutenant, Fayette B. Mason 1st Sergeant, Donald M. Lobdell, Private, Patrick H. Dunnigan, Q. M. Sergeant, Edward J. Class, " Arthur W. Eden, Sergeant, Herbert S. Porter, " Clarence W. Elliott, Henry J. Stearns, " Ernest Fizzette, Willis B. Fay, " VVilliam D. Galvin, Henry C. Graves, " William Graham, Corporal, Herbert N. Kelley, " Elwin A. Graves, Hugh S. Riddell, " Ralph Hale. David F. Sears, " Arlie W. Herrick, Charles E. Smart. " Charles L. Hillman, Harry C. Hall, " Arthur E. Jackson, " William E. Luzarder, " Timothy Kiley, Allen Mellor, (cook), " Louis Luippold, Musician, Ferdinand D. Roudenbush, " William Luippold, Private, Harry W. Ashley, " Fred Peterson, Robert F. Barr, " Arthur C. Pratt. Robert E. Bean, " Edward Schrotler, Gotlieb Bitzer, " Fred C. Seibert, George W. Bowers, " Frank A. Smith, " Frank M. Breslin, " John S. Smith, " Thomas Breslin, " Lester F. Smith, Edward F. Bundy, " Lovell S. Spaulding, " Robert C. Childs, " Ernest K. Suhl, " Jesse A. Clifford. " Sereno W. Thayer, " William E. Corless, " John A. Thorniley, John Curkendall, " Frank Vladish, Warren P. H. Davis, " George O. Williams, John A. Day, " Leon C. Williams. James Donovan, ELEVENTH PROVISIONAL CO. M. V. M. After the departure of Company L for the front, it became necessary, under the law, to establish a temporary or provis- ional Company to take its place during its absence. The home guard responded promptly, and, after much delay on the part of the State, the following men were enrolled and niustered into the service on August 24, 1900: — T. L. Comstock, Captain. F. B. Felton, First Lieutenant. U. H. Cutler, Second Lieutenant. VV. S. Allen, Esq., J. B. Kennedy, F. C. Alston, B. M. Lamb, B. H. Bennett, H. L. Moody. A. T. Beals. M. D. Mitchell, F. W. Blanchard, F. E. Mogle, S. D. Conant, Esq.. • H. S. Porter, J. H. Carney, Alfonso Patnode, Geo. C. Derry, E. C. Plumley, Victor Damm, J. C. Plumley, A. W. Eden, H. VV. Parker, J. F. Flynn, E. R. Parker, W. B. Gaines, F. D. Roudenhush, B. E. Gaines, G. H. Stearns, L. M. Graves, C. S. Shaw, L. A. Jacknian, P. L. Streeter, W. E. Johnson, Fred A. Smith, E. W. Jones, A. F. Smead, H. N. Kelley, F. H. Sherman, W. E. Kimball, Edward Schroder, W. C. Kennon, S. W. Thayer, Sherrard Kennedy, F. A. York. Several of these men had been officers or members of Company L, M. V. M., and made up an organization which the town might well be proud of. They were mustered out of the service early in 1899, after accomplishing the purpose for which they were organized. LIEUT. CHAS. H. FIELD GARRISON, NO. 190. REGULAR AND VgLUNTEER ARMY AND NAVY UNION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. As a natural result of comradeship and a desire to per- petuate the memory of our dead heroes and the hardships and experiences through which we passed during- the vSpan- ish war, it was proposed and carried into effect to establish a Garrison of the Regular and Volunteer Army and Navy Union. This Garrison was very appropriately named in honor of Lieut. Chas. H. Field. It was instituted on May 8, 1900, and has the following membership : Major F. E. Pierce, Commnnder, Lieut. F. B. Mason, Senior Vice Commander, Lieut. T. D. Murphy, Junior Vice Commander, Lieut. D. A. Aldrich, Adjutant, A. G. Salisbury, Paymaster, Chas. C. Class, Quartermaster, E. J. Class, Officer of the Day, H. H. DeVerger, Officer of the Guard, Donald M. Lobdell, Officer of the Watch, W. P. H. Davis, Chaplain, R. A. Gary, W. J. Kingston, F. W. Carpenter, W. H. Miller, J. D. Cook, E. M. Slocomb, E. M. Cornell, F. A. Smith, G. H. DeRevere, C. A. Smead, C. S. Frost, F- C. Schiller, L. E. Frcshour, R. A. Van Petersil ge, VV. B. Fay, H. L. Woodard, H. C. Hall, H. A. Watson. A TvpicAi, Spanish Soi.dikk. GREENFIELD AUXILIARY TO THE MASS. VOL. AID ASSOCIATION. THE WOMEN AT THE FRONT. These may not tread the jungle, nor storm the frowning hill; They stand not in the rifle-pit, they man no sullen gun ; But they are with the army, and with strength their pulses thrill. And theirs will be the victor's part, when once the strife is done. Standing for the old flag, standing firm for God, Standing for humanity, they meet the battle's brunt. These women, who for heart-ache, scarce can see the path they've trod, Since they kissed the lads they love so dear, and sent them to the front. — Tlic Independent. This organization wa.s the outgrowth of benevolent work laid out by Dorothy Qiiincy Chapter, D. A. R. It was first proposed that tliis Cliapter should carry on the relief work necessary, but the fact of its being- a small body numerically, decided the starting of an association which could embrace all sects and creeds, and the members of other charitable or- ganizations, and give everybody a chance to join its ranks and take an active part in the good work which it contem- plated. As a result the Greenfield Auxiliary to the Massa- chusetts Volunteer Aid Association was started on June 6, 1898. Its by-laws follow : ArTICIvE I This organization shall be known as the Greenfield Auxiliary to the Massachusetts Volunteer Aid Association. I20 CO. L, 2Nn MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. Article II. Its special object shall be to promote the health and com- fort of the soldiers and sailors from this locality serving in the war with Spain, and the care of their families. Article III. Anyone may become a member of this Association by pay- ing into its treasury the sum of fifty cents. Article IV. Its officers shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Re- cording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer, and sixteen Direct- ors There shall also be a First and Second Auditor. There shall be three standing committees of five members each in charge of the following divisions of the work, namely : Finance and Information, Purchasing and Packing. Article V. Section i The officers, including the Directors of the Auxil- iary, shall constitute an executive board Section 2. The duties of the exe- cutive board shall be to fill standing committee, to appoint the special com- mittee that may be required to carry on the work of the Auxiliary, to fill vacancies in their own body, and to manage all the business and interests of the Association. Article VI. Seven members of the executive board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business Article VII. There shall bean advisory committee of men, the chairman of the board of selectmen to be chairman ex-officio Article VIII This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present, and voting at any regular meeting, notice of such amendment having been given at the previous meeting. Its first officers were: Mrs H C. Embury, President; Mrs. A C. Walker, First Vice-President; Mrs N S. Cutler, Second Vice-President; Jos. W. vStevens, Treasurer; Miss Edith A Stratton, Recording Secretary; Mrs H. W. Kellogg, Corresponding Secretary; Directors, Mrs. E A Hall, Mrs. J. H Sanderson, Mrs J Solon Clark, Mrs. Dwight D Holden, Mrs. W S Carson, Mrs Frank W. Foster, Mrs. Sarah E VVoodard, Mrs. Henry E Goodell, Miss Maggie O'Brien, Mrs. Emma Cowan, Mrs. James Pigott, Mrs J C. O'Brien, Mrs Henry L, Miller, Mrs John Brooks, Mrs C Class, Mrs Rode Advisory Board, E B Blake, chairman; Hon E A. Hall, Chas R. Lowell, N S Cutler, E A Newcomb Finance and Information, Mrs A C Deane, chairman; Mrs P" E Snow, Mrs J. G. Stoddard, Mrs. Anson Withey, Miss Eliza Osgood. Purchasing Committee, Mrs. Jos Griswold, Mrs. W. H. Pierce, Mrs. F. L,. Greene, Mrs. Grace D. Richmond, Mrs N.J Lawler. Auditors, Mrs. A. C. Walker, Mrs. H. L. Miller Collector, Mrs. J. H Sanderson. GREENFIELD AUXILIARY. 121 The Auxiliary voted to gain membership in the Massa- chusetts Vohmteer Aid Association on June iith, and Mrs. Susan Embury, its President, was selected as the member to represent the Auxiliary in that body. Its membership swelled to a grand total of 245. The amount of work it did in the six months of its active career was enormous. If Company L had remained in the service longer the goods purchased and made by this Association, would have been of incalculable value. As it was, much good was accom- plished, and the boys of Company L will always have a warm spot in their hearts and memory for the good people who made up this philanthropic body. A LETTER FROM DOROTHY QUINCY HANCOCK CHAPTER, D. A. R. To Capt. F. E. Pierce and Members of Company L: — As the time approaches for you to go upon duty, the ladies. of Dorothy Quincy Hancoclc Chapter, Daughters of American Revolu- tion, feel that they cannot let you depart without making an effort to express to you their deep and abiding interest in you and the cause for which you go forth. As loyal descendants of those sturdy patriots of 1776, to you — many of you also descendants of the same honored band, — we ask your acceptance of this slight testi- monial — our society colors, — in token of our respect for, and con- fidence in, your ability to nobly perform whatever duty may de- volve upon you; and trust that in connection with our well beloved Country's Flag, it may prove a fitting inspiration toward the suc- cessfulness of your mission. And as you go forth, may you feel that the heart of every loyal woman responds to the Country's Call, and that the members of the Dorothy Quincy Hancock Chapter — with this penant — wish you "Godspeed," and, commending you to the Omnipresent Power, "A safe return with shield unsullied." Louise Griswold Deane, Regent. Greenfield, Mass., April 30, 1898. Judge Frankiix G. Fessenden. CITIZENS RELIEF COMMITTEE. This committee had no real organization, but sprung up spontaneously as a result of a desire on the part of promi- nent citizens to assist the local Company at the front in a financial way. John F. Spring and Joseph W. Stevens had written to Captain Pierce inquiring how best the citizens could assist the Com- pany, and they had been informed that a small financial con- tribution would be of great help to the organization. As a result, over one thousand dollars were raised, and much of it by voluntary contribution. Five hundred dollars ($500) was placed to the credit of Captain Pierce, and of this sum three hundred dollars was returned to the fund on the re- turn of the Company to Greenfield. The opportunities to purchase needed supplies, etc., were poor, or a much larger sum would have been expended. But the money has been handled to great advantage in the care of sick soldiers and their needy families. It is too bad for the sake of local history, and deserved mention, that this Relief Committee was not regularly organized, so that the names of at least the more prominent leaders and officers could be given in this book. Modesty and a spirit of un- ostentatiousness has prompted the prominent leaders in this movement to request that no special mention be made of their names. Too much cannot be said in praise of the good 124 CO. L, 2ND MASS., IN SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. work accomplished by these citizens, which was carried on largely in conjunction with that of the Greenfield Auxiliary to the Massacliusetts Volunteer Aid Association. woman's relief corps and EDWIN E. DAY POST, G. A. R. Special mention should also be made of the Woman's Re- lief Corps and the local G. A. R. Post. The Relief Corps presented us their colors and badge on our departure for the front, and in our absence contributed largely for our benefit. The members of the G. A. R. Post have exhibited every sign of comradeship and courtesy possible, and shortly after our return publicly manifested their interest in us by giving the boys a reception and banquet. We' congratulate the members of Edwin E. Day Post upon moving into their new quarters. This home was made pos- sible because of the appreciation of their services by the loyal citizens of Greenfield. '-A.