Part 7

On October 24th, Lieutenant Francis H. Downey of Company I, died at the St. Joseph's Hospital in Lexington, of pneumonia. Funeral services were held over his remains in the city, and were attended by the officers of the regiment, and by Companies D and I. He was the only officer in the command who died during the service.

On the 28th, Lieutenant-Colonel Edwin W. M. Bailey resigned, and Major William Stopford was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. The vacancy in majority was not filled, as the United States allowed at this time but two majors to a regiment. Colonel Stopford continued to command the First Battalion. Owing to the place of his promotion, he became known in Lexington society as the real Kentucky Colonel.

Lieutenant Stephen N. Bond of Company K, resigned on October 28th.

During the temporary absence of the regimental surgeon, Captain Rutherford of the Second Missouri, was assigned and remained on duty with the regiment several weeks.

After the Third Division had recovered its health, the proposition to make a practice march was again discussed. Lieutenant Francisco A. DeSousa of Company E, with a detail from the regiment, was sent over the road to Frankford, Kentucky, to locate camps and select a suitable place for rifle practice. It was the intention to have each regiment march to Frankford and spend a week at target practice. Owing to the lateness of the season and the approach of cold weather, the undertaking was abandoned.

On October 10th, General Waites, who was about to retire from the command of the Second Brigade, tendered the officers a reception at his quarters. Soon after the officers of the Eighth had returned to their camp, Colonel Pew received directions through a staff officer to issue ball ammunition, and hold his men in readiness to march. The order was immediately obeyed. No explanation was offered, and the regiment awaited developments.

In the quiet night the measured beat of marching was heard along the Bryan Pike, and the Regimental Guard reported the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana going into Lexington to quell a riot. A member of the Third Kentucky on provost duty in the city, had shot and killed a soldier of the Twelfth New York, who refused to halt when ordered. The sentinel was arrested pending an inquiry.

A rumor spread through the camp that a number of the Twelfth New York and the First Territorial Regiments had started for the city to lynch this sentinel. There was more or less disturbance at the Montrose station by a mob of excited soldiers, and several shots were fired.

The Eighth was ordered to deploy one battalion as skirmishers across the Bryan Pike, and railroad track, and stop all soldiers. The other two battalions were to remain under arms in camp as a reserve. Colonel Stopford executed this deployment with the First Battalion. Nothing happened, and he was withdrawn before morning. The situation in the city was easily controlled by the provost guard with the help of the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana.

In October Governor Wolcott directed General Robert A. Blood, the Surgeon General of Massachusetts, to visit the camps of the Eighth and Fifth Massachusetts regiments and report on the sanitary condition, rations and hospital accommodations of these regiments. As a result of this trip, General Blood made the following report to the Governor:--

"After three or four days at Camp Meade, visiting the Fifth Regiment, I proceeded to Camp Hamilton, Lexington, Kentucky, where I arrived in due time. I found the camp of the Eighth Regiment about four or five miles out from Lexington, and in the heart of the blue-grass country. This was a most delightful situation, and I think, one of the finest locations for a camp I have ever seen.

I was cordially received by Colonel Pew, commander of the Eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and every opportunity was given me by the Colonel to inspect this camp. This regiment was stationed at Camp Thomas for a long time. There had been a great deal of sickness, mostly typhoid fever, but at the time of my visit there were no new cases, and the cases in the hospitals were progressing favorably. At this time there were no regimental hospitals. Orders for re-establishing the regimental hospitals had just been received from headquarters, but no medicines or medical supplies had been issued. I looked the camp over very carefully, saw the men on duty and off duty, and visited other camps for comparisons. I saw no regiment at Camp Hamilton that seemed so thoroughly up to all that goes to make a good regiment as the Eighth. The men were soldierly in their bearing, the grounds were kept in perfect condition, tents were all in order and scrupulously clean. A great many of the men had fixed up temporary bunks or cots for their beds. Altogether this was perhaps the cleanest regiment, excepting the Fifth Massachusetts, that I saw in all my visiting soldiers in the field. It was certainly equal to any.

I saw almost nothing in the sanitary arrangements of this regiment to criticise. The only thing, as with the Fifth Regiment, which I think could be improved, is the company cooking. Of course this will improve in time. I stayed with this regiment nearly a week. I visited and dined with General Breckenridge, commander of this post, and with other general officers commanding divisions and brigades. General Breckenridge was very kind to me, showing me every attention, and all the officers I met at Camp Hamilton treated me with the greatest consideration. I take this opportunity to thank them. This army corps was, I believe, under better discipline than any other corps I saw during the summer, with the exception, possibly, the regulars at Montauk.

I desire to say here, that, in my judgment, Colonel Pew is a most excellent commander, and all the officers of the Eighth whom I met seemed to be well up in their profession and doing most excellent work. The regiment as I saw it was an honor to the State."

By the end of October the nights had become chilly, and although bed sacks and extra blankets were issued to the men, it was difficult to keep warm. Americus, Georgia, had been designated in orders as the future home of the Eighth Massachusetts and Twelfth New York and a detail from the Eighth was already upon the ground preparing a camp site.

Orders were issued for the Eighth to entrain on November 10th for Americus, and upon this date the regiment was transferred to the Second Brigade, Second Division, First Army Corps. The regiment had been ordered to entrain early in the morning near the Montrose station, but owing to the delay in loading the baggage of Brigade Headquarters, it was impossible for the Quartermaster of the Eighth to begin loading his baggage before afternoon.

The regiment had risen early, and had its breakfast before 5 o'clock, and in compliance with orders, all baggage had been packed and transported to the station. The day was cold and raw, and a steady downpour of rain had converted the camp site into a mass of mud. Tents had been struck and shipped to the station, and the men were required to remain on the camp ground all day without food or shelter, waiting for the passenger sections to pull in from Lexington.

Many of the men in their efforts to keep warm, drank too much whiskey, and a large number in the regiment became sadly demoralized. The guard house, a wooden structure, was set on fire, and some of the prisoners had a narrow escape from cremation. The event was known as the evacuation of Lexington. The troop trains did not arrive until after dark, when the regiment embarked, and for the first time since five in the morning, the men were served with food and hot coffee. The departure from Lexington was sad and dispiriting and was made under trying conditions.

_Americus_

When the regiments of the Second Division were moved from Lexington, they were assigned to camps in southwestern Georgia, in the cities of Macon, Columbus, Americus and Albany. The Eighth Massachusetts and the Twelfth New York went to Americus, where three regimental camp sites had been prepared, and orders were issued for the Eighth United States Infantry to join the brigade. This order was countermanded, and no other regiments went to Americus.

On the morning of November 12th, the four sections bearing the Eighth Massachusetts and its impedimenta reached Americus. The two camp sites were about a mile from the city, and separated by the highway. The Eighth was assigned to a large sodded field, where substantial wooden company sinks had been constructed, water pipes laid to each company kitchen, and an electric street lighting system was being installed.

For a week the men of the Eighth were as industrious as ants. Each company erected a long shed at the foot of the company street, one end of which was closed in for a kitchen, in which was assembled every convenience for preparing food. The rest of the shed was used as a mess house, and furnished with long deal tables and benches, where the men could sit and enjoy their meals. Canvas awnings were attached to the long sides of the mess hall, to be used as a protection against rain and wind.

Deep pits were dug for kitchen sinks. These were covered with tree trunks and the dirt replaced and carefully arranged in a mound. A detachable hopper was placed in the top of each mound to drain liquid wastes into the sinks; the solids were than collected in closed iron cans, and were carted twice daily to a crematory. The hoppers were enclosed in wooden boxes with covers, which were always resplendent with a fresh coat of whitewash.

Long wash stands were constructed with an overflow trough into the kitchen sinks. A pipe ran the length of these stands, with frequent faucets and iron wash basins. Each company was supplied with a bathing tent in which a shower bath was constructed, where the men could bathe every day if they so desired, and were required to bathe twice a week. Tent floors were provided, and lumber for bunks and clothing racks. A system of drainage was installed, and each company street ditched and crowned to the center.

Battalion water plants were constructed, where all the water supplied to the regiment for drinking purposes was boiled, filtered and iced.

The means for caring for the sick were excellent. In addition to a regimental hospital, used as a dispensary, but supplied with quarters sufficient to care for a number of men, there was a brigade hospital located in a dwelling house, and adjacent to this were erected a number of hospital tents with double boarded floors, and with sides also boarded, so that patients were as comfortable in the mild climate of Georgia as if they had been in the best managed institution of the kind in Boston. The Brigade Hospital was in charge of Major William Cogswell.

A building was erected for a post exchange, which was successfully operated by a council of officers consisting of Captains Alexander G. Perkins of Company A, William C. Dow of Company F, and Edward J. Horton of Company G. All necessaries that were needed by the men were offered for sale here at reasonable rates, and its restaurant became famous for egg sandwiches and oyster stews. All these paraphernalia of comfort and health were daily inspected by company commanders, battalion commanders, regimental commander, and the brigade commander.

Just before Thanksgiving, Colonel Arnold A. Rand of Boston, visited the camp and reported its condition to Governor Wolcott. He said:--

"I think you would be glad to know that the regiment is in most excellent condition; the officers cheery, trim, and a credit to the State. I did not see the regiment on parade, but which was very much better, I saw quite thoroughly the quarters, and examined everything as to the sanitary condition, from the sinks to the corral. I also saw the men at mess, and the quality of the rations. The whole regiment seemed in excellent condition, and is such a credit to the state that it is a very great pleasure to make such a report to you."

The men were allowed much liberty between drills, and passes were issued to visit the city during the day. Many side trips were made to Andersonville to visit the site of the celebrated prison where many Federal soldiers were confined during the Civil War. Order was preserved in Americus by a provost guard, under command of Lieutenant George H. Dow of Company A. This guard arrested all soldiers found in the city without proper passes, and returned them to the guard houses of their respective regiments for trial for absence without leave.

The camp at Americus was at first named in honor of Major Forse. The name was subsequently changed to Camp Gilman, as another camp had earlier received the name of Camp Forse.

During the first few days at Americus, the Eighth was greeted with many showers. The weather, however, was so mild that the men did not wear overcoats except as a protection against the rain. During the entire stay of the Eighth, wildflowers and roses were in full bloom.

On one side of the camp an extensive cotton field waved acres of bolls, breaking into white flowering balls, which at a distance looked like a sea of white roses. It is said that the low prices of cotton did not warrant picking this field, and it was left intact and beautified the approach to camp.

At no great distance were fields of sugar cane fit for harvesting, where the men were often welcomed and treated to a supply of chewing cane for the company. A solitary peanut farm was discovered by some of the soldiers in their peregrinations, and its product brought to camp.

The Georgia pines attracted much attention. Many of these trees were transplanted and grouped about the camp for landscape effect. Every line officer had one at his front door.

All the officers constructed wooden porches in front of their tents. The porch had two faces, in one of which was a door, and in the other a glass window. The interior space between the two faces was utilized for a Sibley stove, and the pipe was carried through the wooden roof of the porch. All these porches were whitewashed. A line of officers' tents looked like a row of diminutive cottages, and in the morning when every funnel was smoking, suggested the busy preparation of breakfast in many little homes.

The officers of the regiment, however, messed together in a commodious building, which was divided into a dining hall and kitchen. The dining hall was also used as a regimental school room, and as a place for social meeting in the evening.

On one occasion a birthday dinner was given in this hall at which a historic cake figured. A lady sent this cake with an appropriate number of candles to one of the officers, and by way of a joke, wrote a letter to the Secretary of War, pretending to be the officer's sister, and asked to have the regiment held at Americus until her brother got his cake. This letter was preserved by Secretary Alger as a bonafide communication, and was later commented upon in his history of the War with Spain as follows:--

"Of all the requests however received, perhaps the most unique was that which came from a young lady in Boston. Her note paper, hand writing, and rhetoric vouched at least for the culture of the writer. Her request was simple and plainly worded. With much unfeigned earnestness she stated her case. The press despatches had announced that the volunteer regiment of which her brother was a member, was to leave for Cuba at a fixed date, but the brother's birthday came two days before the date assigned for his embarkation. A birthday box of cake, jellies, pies, etc., she said, had been forwarded to him, and would not be received if the regiment left on the date announced. She naively asked that the regiment be detained until the sweetmeats arrived, as she was sure it would make no difference to the Government, whereas, it would be such a disappointment to her brother."

During the first few weeks at Americus, the camp was overrun with colored people. They came from far and near to see the soldiers. Many of them carried covered baskets, and it was not long before a well-founded suspicion grew, that many of these baskets came into camp empty, and went out filled with plunder. The Eighth soon had a little race problem of its own to solve. In each company a squad of strong men assumed the duty of elevating the colored race.

The process of elevation consisted in capturing every colored man with a covered basket, and tossing him on a blanket into the air, until the arms of the soldiers got tired, and they could keep it up no longer. The sight of a negro with a basket was the signal for a rush in his direction with a blanket, and he was soon traveling skyward, in spite of every objection on his part to such treatment. For a few days, every such colored visitor was received in the open arms of a regulation blanket.

As objectionable visitors became scarce, and covered baskets disappeared, this moral propaganda ceased, and as far as the Eighth was concerned, the race problem was solved.

Major Edward H. Eldredge was detailed by General Waites to select a rifle range for the entire brigade. He selected one about half a mile from the camp, where targets were installed under his direction at 200 and 500 yards. It was reported that the regiment was to be armed with the Krag-Jorgensen rifles before the command was sent to Cuba, and it was the intention to have the soldiers spend a portion of each day at the range.

On November 20th, General Sanger arrived to relieve General Waites of the command of the Second Brigade. Under General Sanger, active preparations were at once begun for Cuba. Medical inspections were instituted to weed out officers and men unfit for foreign service. The regiment received a consignment of Krag-Jorgensen rifles, and its supplies generally were overhauled and replenished. General Sanger made a thorough inspection of the regiment by battalions. This inspection lasted three days. Permission was obtained from the Adjutant-General of the Army to recruit the regiment to full strength, by transferring men from regiments in Massachusetts not yet mustered out. A number of men who served in Porto Rico with the Sixth Massachusetts, and were at home waiting muster out, were transferred to the Eighth under this permission, and joined the regiment in December and January.

On December 9th, General Wilson, the Corps Commander, and General Ludlow, the Division Commander, visited Americus to inspect the brigade. Owing to a severe storm, the review of the troops was omitted; but the camp was thoroughly inspected by the Generals.

At the hospital of the Eighth, General Wilson said to the officer in charge:--"Surgeon, this is a model hospital, because it has no patients." The health of the regiment had steadily improved since the end of the first month at Lexington, and on the morning of this inspection there were just 1000 men present for duty with the colors. On December 27th, for the first time in seven months, there was not a single soldier of the Eighth in either the Regimental, Brigade, or Division Hospital.

On December 12th the mess-house of Company L burned. A kettle of fat boiled into the fire, and the flames quickly caught the roof of the kitchen and spread, exploding a can of kerosene. The building was soon wrapped in a sheet of flames. The regiment turned out and saved the adjoining buildings, but the mess house, with all the company supplies, was a total loss. The men of L were assigned to other companies for rations, until a new dining hall and kitchen were constructed.

About this time, Company L met with another loss, in the death of its mascot. The company had appropriated a young razor-back at Chickamauga, which, becoming attached to the company, followed it from camp to camp. He lived in the company street and was as familiar with the men as a well-trained dog. By Thanksgiving, the pig had grown to such proportions that he was ordered by higher authority, turned over to a butcher and served to the company as rations.

Company F had a lady goat as a mascot. She went through the service with the company, and was finally mustered out in Haverhill, where her descendents are numerous. The goat would follow the drum corps anywhere as long as it was marching away from camp, but immediately the direction was taken towards camp, the goat became obdurate and had to be pulled home.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Colonel received the following telegram from Captain Augustus P. Gardner:--

"Should be glad to pay cost of best Thanksgiving dinner for your regiment. If you approve, wire answer."

The proper answer was promptly wired, and the regimental commissary was sent into market to purchase turkeys and all that goes to make up a best Thanksgiving dinner. A similar dinner was furnished to the regiment at Christmas time by Hon. George von L. Meyer. These feasts were much appreciated by the men and were enjoyed amidst much merry making.

About this time several changes occurred among the commissioned officers, Captain Frank B. Denning and Lieutenant Linville H. Wardwell of Company C leaving the service by resignation. Second Lieutenants F. A. DeSousa of Company E and David F. Jewell of Company F were promoted to first lieutenants. The former was assigned to Company I and the latter to Company K.

At the same time First Sergeant Loran J. Harvey of Company I, and Sergeant Alexander Robertson of Company E were commissioned as second lieutenants, after a competitive examination. The former was attached to Company E and the latter to Company F.

On December 22nd the weather bureau, predicting a great storm, sent a telegram of warning to all the military camps. The telegram to the Eighth stated that the thermometer would drop 30 degrees. Not knowing just what to do with this information, the Colonel directed it to be published at evening parade. At evening parade, the orders of the day were read by the Adjutant, and on this occasion the telegram was read as the last part of the daily order; then followed the usual phraseology,--"By order of Colonel Pew." The reading of this telegram at the end of an order, caused considerable amusement in camp, at the idea that Colonel Pew would order the thermometer to drop 30 degrees.

A flag pole was furnished the regiment and erected near the center of the camp. On December 28th a garrison flag was received and broken out from this pole with appropriate ceremonies. Thereafter, at reveille and retreat it was hoisted and lowered. The flag and pole were carried to and used in Cuba. On being mustered out, the flag was presented to the regiment, and is now preserved at regimental headquarters.

During this stay at Americus, Major Frank A. Graves and Captain Charles T. Hilliker of Company D were absent from the regiment most of the time on court martial duty at Columbus.

A common diversion in southern Georgia is cock fighting. Many mains were attended by members of the regiment. A number of officers were presented with railroad passes, and invited to go to Savannah to see a review of part of the Seventh Corps, previous to its embarkation for Havana. Permission was obtained for about 20 officers to make this trip. The train left Americus at midnight, but through some misunderstanding, the officers assembled at the hotel about 7 o'clock, and had an evening upon their hands.