Part 8

One of the officers, thinking cock fighting was not tabooed by law, and having been told by a prominent citizen that a main could be arranged on short notice at any time, called up the citizen by telephone in the hotel lobby, and invited him to bring the cocks to the hotel and begin at once. He was promptly suppressed by the hotel proprietor, and the law explained to him. A quiet, gentlemanly main was tolerated, but not a public and bold defiance of the law.

A quiet, gentlemanly main was accordingly arranged for in a large upper room, occupied by the grand jury as sleeping apartments, while they were supposed to be engaged in an all-night session at the Court House. Various mysterious bundles were smuggled into these quarters by darkies, the windows were darkened, cocks were heeled, and fighting was soon in progress. After several fights had been pulled off, word came that the grand jury was about to leave the Court House, and retire for the night. There was a wild scramble to put the place in order, and a hurried exit of cocks and darkies. The officers brought up the rear of this retreat, and wished the grand jury a pleasant night's rest as they passed them in the hotel corridors.

About the middle of December, General Ludlow, who commanded the Division, was ordered to Havana as a military governor. His place was taken by General Sanger, and the command at Americus devolved upon Colonel Pew.

Conical tents were issued in sufficient quantity to equip half the command. This was the regiment's first experience with khaki canvas. Company commanders were loath to substitute them for the wall tents which they had been using. Accordingly each company was required to erect these tents on one side of the company street. After the first night, almost every company commander informed headquarters that he had no objections to having his whole command in conical tents. It did not take the men long to discover the advantages of khaki canvas, and that they could burn a light behind it after taps, with no fear of detection. Conical tents at once became popular in all the companies.

On December 23rd, the Twelfth New York received orders to proceed to Charleston and embark with General Sanger for Matanzas. Major Eldredge was detached from the regiment to accompany General Sanger as a member of his staff. The command of the Third Battalion was assumed by Captain William C. Dow, of Company F. The New York regiment left Americus the day after Christmas. Fifty-four men and one officer remained behind as unfit for foreign service, and were temporarily attached to the Eighth until they could be mustered out.

On December 30th, the Eighth received orders to prepare for Cuba. They reported 40 officers, 1112 men, 29 wagons, 119 mules, 26 horses, and 26 civilian employees, with all necessary supplies ready to move at once.

At this time, when the regiment was anxious to move, and congratulating itself on the absence of all sickness, measles broke out. The matter was kept quiet, and every company was inspected by the surgeons twice daily, to detect and isolate suspected cases. The surgeons thought the spread of the disease could be stopped if everything in camp was boiled.

The last day of the year was as mild and pleasant as a summer day in the North. Early in the morning, active preparations began for boiling. Everything that could hold and boil water, was called into service. Caldrons, pots, pans, and kettles, were soon steaming all over the camp. Visitors were excluded for the day, and by noon time the whole regiment had committed its belongings to boiling water.

A naked drum corps furnished music for a couple of hours, and the men danced about like a mob of naked savages. At a distance, passing natives gathered on the highway and wondered what it was all about. The colored people were willing to believe that the evil one was at the bottom of it all. After the regiment had boiled itself free from germs, the guard was relieved, and went through the same process.

Everything in the regiment which could stand boiling, was boiled, and everything which could not stand a soaking was otherwise disinfected. Measles were thoroughly stamped out, and at the end of a week when the regiment left for Cuba, but five men remained behind for this reason.

On January 4th a large delegation of citizens visited camp to say good-bye. After evening parade Colonel Lane, in behalf of the City of Americus, addressed the regiment. He spoke in laudatory terms concerning the conduct of the soldiers, and how the presence of Massachusetts troops in Georgia had created new bonds of sympathy between North and South.

Colonel Lane had requisitioned a wagon as a convenient platform from which to address the soldiers. Many citizens had come in carriages, and these carriages were wedged in about the orator, facing the regiment. At the conclusion of Colonel Lane's remarks, Drum Major Thomas, catching the enthusiasm of the moment, caused the drum corps to break into "Dixie" under the very noses of several hundred horses. Horses turned short in their shafts, and stampeded to the rear, the orator's platform slid from under him, and it was some time before the ceremonies of leave taking could be resumed with proper decorum.

The next evening the regiment returned the courtesy of this call by marching into town and holding an evening parade in the public square. On the return to camp, it found that Harry E. Stiles, its bandmaster in the Militia service, had reported for duty, to organize a band and accompany the regiment to Cuba.

More changes among the commissioned officers occurred during this month. Lieutenant Eugene Larrivee of Company L resigned. Chaplain George D. Sanders, who had resigned, was re-commissioned and rejoined the regiment. Lieutenant John M. Pettengill of Company B was promoted to captain and assigned to Company C. Second Lieutenants Frank Stinson of Company B and Frederic P. Smith of Company C were each made first lieutenants in their companies.

First Sergeant Edgar J. Whelpley of Company H, First Sergeant James W. Jackman of Company K, Sergeant Charles R. Warner of Company I and Sergeant William H. Clendennin of Company M were commissioned second lieutenants. Lieutenant Whelpley went to Company C, Lieutenant Jackman to Company B, Lieutenant Warner to Company G and Lieutenant Clendennin to Company L.

On January 6th the First Battalion under command of Lieutenant Colonel Stopford, entrained for Savannah, where it embarked on board the transport Obdam. It broke camp during a rain storm on the coldest day the regiment had experienced in Georgia.

As soon as the Twelfth New York left, Colonel Pew began to collect a supply of lumber for use in Cuba. The buildings which this regiment had occupied were pulled down, and every board washed with a solution of corrosive sublimate. Two cars were obtained and loaded to accompany the regiment.

On the evening of January 8th the Second and Third Battalions and Headquarters entrained for Savannah. The most of January 9th was spent in being shifted about in the freight yards at Savannah. A casual visitor to one of the sections told the officers that the ground in the yard where they were was so saturated with pine pitch, that a lighted match dropped would start a conflagration. One of the officers, thinking to call this bluff, made an experiment. The visitor had told the truth, and the regiment had a conflagration on its hands. The flames licked up the ground as if it had been saturated with kerosene. The soldiers were powerless to stop the fire with the means at their disposal. The railroad fire department appeared with chemical tanks, and soon had it under control, before any damage had been done, except blistering a few cars.

In Savannah the Colonel received a letter from Major Eldredge, telling him the character of the camp site the regiment was to occupy at Matanzas. The Major suggested the men would have to use iron tent pins and do some blasting to make their Cuban home comfortable. The Depot Quartermaster at Savannah was called upon and furnished a supply of drills, sledge hammers, powder and iron rods. The soldiers spent most of the night in the cars, while details were loading supplies onto the transport. At 3 o'clock on the morning of January 10th, the men began to embark, and at daylight the transport Michigan had cast off, and was slowly steaming down the river. At last the regiment was off for Cuba.

_Matanzas_

On January 10th the Obdam bearing the First Battalion of the Eighth, came to anchor at Matanzas, in a wide, shallow bay, where ships lie a mile or more off shore to discharge. Hills topped with palms, rose on either side of the city, which spread out on a strip of land between two little rivers, and straggled up the slopes, until the stone houses of the town proper gave place to palm thatched huts on the outskirts. The city upon a close inspection, was dirty and battered, but from the sea its pink and blue walls presented a picturesque appearance.

General Wilson, the Military Governor, and his staff, immediately landed, and were received by the Twelfth New York. The men of the Eighth witnessed this function from a distance. They were kept on the transport during the day, while their baggage was landed.

The military camps were located on the western shore of the bay, where the northeast trades blow continually across the bay from the open ocean, always insuring pure air. It was a scant mile from the city, and pipes from the municipal water service were laid, insuring a bountiful supply of water.

The camp of the Eighth lay behind the old Spanish Fort San Severino, and between the camp of the engineer battalion, and the Twelfth New York. A broad boulevard in a bad state of repair extended from the old fort to the town. All the troops were encamped along this boulevard, on ground that for rockiness and general hardness of appearance, outclassed any perpendicular farm in New England.

The rocks were of coral and volcanic origin, thrown up ages ago, and appeared above the surface in many fantastic shapes. Every square yard had its share of rock jutting above the red soil in sharp pinnacles. The ground had been covered with brush and cactus, but the engineers had been at work during the week prior to the arrival of the Obdam, clearing this away, so that when the First Battalion landed, it found the ground cleared of all vegetation.

The landing was made at a small wharf near the fort, and a few steps across the dilapidated boulevard, brought the men to their future home. The regiment had an excellent site, the bay lay before it, and the ground rose in terraces from the water until it terminated in a range of hills a mile back of the camp.

Major Eldredge who had preceded the regiment as a member of General Sanger's staff, received the public property turned over to the United States by Spain, in accordance with the evacuation agreement, in Matanzas, and later in the City of Cardenas and other towns in the province. When the regiment arrived, he was busily engaged at Matanzas in establishing charities, and in reorganizing the police department. The country about the city, as in other parts of Cuba, was a waste, and the people were in a destitute condition. It was the first duty of the United States to care for the people, and supply them with food.

While the First Battalion was locating itself at Matanzas, the Second and Third Battalions were enjoying a delightful voyage. During the whole trip the sea was calm, and the Michigan glided along as smoothly as any pleasure yacht upon a summer cruise. Very few men complained of sea sickness, and soon got over any unpleasant feeling, and enjoyed the trip.

It was warm and stuffy where they were quartered in the hold, but their discomfort vanished with daylight, when they climbed on deck to loll in the shade and enjoy the steady northeast trade. The Michigan was formerly a freight vessel of the Warren Line, used as a cattle boat to carry live stock to England.

The enlisted men were assigned quarters between decks. There were no berths, but each man was furnished with a duck hammock, which at night was hung on hooks in wooden uprights. These hammocks were hung in tiers, one over the other. In the morning the hammocks were rolled and stored, and the quarters prepared for inspection, which took place twice daily, at 10 A. M., and just before retreat. These inspections were made by the Colonel, accompanied by the transport quartermaster, the police officer, medical officer, and master of the ship. After the morning inspection, daily exercise was required on deck.

Sometime during the day every man had a bath. They stripped on the forward deck, and were pumped upon with a stream of water from the ocean.

The officers quarters were as cramped as those of the men. There were only ten state rooms. The ships guard consisted of one company detailed for each day, the captain acting as officer of the day, and the lieutenants as officers of the guard. Each company commander provided his command with proper police utensils from the ships quartermaster, and looked after the policing of the company quarters. Cooking was done in the ship's galleys. During the trip, Stiles commenced work with the musicians on board, for the new regimental band. This nucleus had band practice every day.

During the second day the transport steamed along the Florida coast within sight of a continuous stretch of beach sand and palm groves. At Jupiter Inlet a salute was exchanged with some guns mounted near the summer hotels, and the ship went so near the shore that the winter visitors could be counted on the hotel piazzas.

Late in the afternoon of the 12th, the first glimpse was caught of Cuba. During the night the transport lay off shore waiting for a pilot. On the morning of the 13th, a pilot came on board and the vessel steamed into the Bay of Matanzas, and came to anchor about two miles from the city. A guard detail was immediately placed upon the small wharf near San Severino to guard the baggage as it was landed. Details were made to clear up the ship and assist in discharging baggage and live stock.

As soon as the sentries were posted on the wharf, the soldiers began to be lightered to the shore. A corral was established near the wharf, where the horses and mules were soon assembled. Before night the men on the Michigan were landed, and had joined their comrades of the First Battalion in a pup camp, between the Boulevard and the water, under the walls of San Severino.

For a week the soldiers of the Eighth were busy preparing their new camp. Large hospital tents were issued to the command. Each company was divided into squads of six men under a corporal, and assigned to a tent. These tents were large enough to accommodate ten men, and in them seven men had all the room they required. A large fly was issued with each tent. As it was impossible to drive tent pins, large joists were used in the framing of the tent floors, and portions of these joists were extended on either side, to which the guy ropes were attached. The tent floors were laid about a foot above the surface of the ground on posts. To every man there was issued a Gold Medal cot.

Each company, with the lumber brought from Americus, erected a frame mess house with substantial flooring, and constructed mess tables and seats. The roofs of these mess houses were covered with canvas, and in the rear of each a kitchen was built. The quarters of the battalion commanders were upon a terrace slightly raised above the level of the line officers street. Behind this terrace was another, the center of which was occupied by Regimental headquarters. On one side of this terrace, a Regimental hospital was established, and on the other end, a stable with a canvas roof for the horses and mules.

The greatest difficulty was experienced in constructing roads through this camp. The rocks cropped out in points, which had to be broken with sledge hammers, or blasted with powder. Major Graves performed the important duties of superintendent of streets, and soon had a beautiful macadamized road running the whole length of the camp in front of the line officers quarters.

From the center of this road, a well constructed way led to the field officers terrace, and to the corral on the headquarters terrace. Each company street was also macadamized. The rough pointed stones which had been broken off were laid as a foundation and gravel and sand were brought in as a covering. These roads were crowned in the center, and were a most creditable production, and the source of much favorable comment and praise. Major Graves was often congratulated upon the work of his new department.

The gray walls of San Severino early attracted the attention of the soldiers. It was an old Spanish fort erected to defend the approach to Matanzas, and had just been evacuated by Spanish troops.

The Cuban visitors to camp who could make themselves understood, spread harrowing tales of death recently inflicted upon insurgents within its gloomy masonry. The old fort had been standing for centuries, and looked to the imagination like a suitable home for any kind of horror or torture. The tales told were to the effect that insurgents were often lined up in squads against the walls and shot to death, or decapitated and their bodies thrown into the bay. A special wall in the counterscarp was pointed out as the execution place.

The American soldiers, ever on the outlook for souvenirs, succeeded in probing many battered bullets from the coral masonry of this wall, which were sent home as evidence of these tales. The fort was soon occupied and used as a military prison.

Lieutenant James H. Craig of Company L was detailed as its first commander, and under him the casements were made habitable for its guards, and for the prisoners awaiting general court martial or serving sentences. An old piece of Spanish ordnance was mounted on the parapet and did duty for a sunrise and sunset gun.

This picturesque pile was always in the foreground of any outlook from the camp of the Eighth, and under its shade the men loafed, or took they daily dip in the waters of the bay. All shipping passed the fort or lay at anchor under its guns. In the morning or at night the water in front of it was alive with birds and pelicans, diving for food, with great fish bags hanging from their lower jaws, and in the lazy afternoons, these same birds were seen perched on pieces of flotsam taking siestas.

A few miles across the bay the walls of a settlement said to be occupied by Cuban insurgents, broke with a broad band of glittering white between the bright blue of the water, and the green expanse of grass and palms, which on rolling hills, rose to meet the blue sky on a distant horizon. The steady trade wind, beginning about eight in the morning, and dying away just before sunset, rendered life in the shade of the fort pleasant and comfortable, however high the thermometer mounted in the sun.

As soon as the camp was put in condition, military work outside of guard and provost duty was usually performed in the early morning or late afternoon. During the middle of the day officers and men had leisure to enjoy the pleasure of just living and being in the tropics.

Much of the hard work in unloading transports and getting the camp sites ready for occupation was done by Cubans in the employ of the government. Some two hundred of these worked about the camps in squads, under the charge of non-commissioned officers from the engineer battalion. A large number were employed in cleaning up the city, and putting it in a sanitary condition. Much work was undertaken by the government to furnish employment to the poor.

Lieutenant Colonel William Stopford was appointed general police officer for all the camps, and had quite a force of civilian employees under him. In his sanitary work he was charged with the duty of destroying the many reconcentrado huts that had been constructed on the outskirts of the town. The sides of these huts were made of dried palm bark, and the roofs were thatched with palm leaves. They had been built by the poor country people compelled to come within the lines of concentration by the Spanish soldiery. Their owners were usually glad to take the fifteen dollars offered by the government and move out. The purchase and moving out process was completed in a few minutes, and the evacuated homes set on fire.

There was a great deal of destitution throughout the cities and towns of Matanzas Province. Most of the towns had been occupied as fortified camps by the Spanish troops, and the people of the surrounding country had been brought within the limits of the camps to prevent their helping the insurgents.

The food supply was inadequate to support the population herded together in this way, and there were many deaths from starvation, and great mortality, especially among the children. Committees were formed throughout the Province for the purpose of getting food to these people. Captain Horace S. Bean of Company B was sent into the interior to organize these committees and superintend the distribution.

Chaplain George D. Sanders was detailed on special duty as chairman of the commission on charities and corrections for the District, where he served with much credit until mustered out.

Many poor people came to the camp to collect scraps of food that were thrown away. They were mostly children and were not burdened with much covering. They were special objects of pity to the soldiers, who supplied them with food and clothing. After the depots were opened in the city for the distribution of food, people were forbidden, for sanitary reasons, assembling about the mess houses.

The men were annoyed by other visitors for whom they had no compassion. There was a large variety of bugs and insects that made their homes among the coral rocks. Centipedes and tarantulas were especially unwelcome, as they formed the unpleasant habit of spending the night in flannel shirt sleeves and trouser legs, and resented being disturbed in the morning when the owner put on his clothing. Fortunately, their bites, although very painful, were not deadly. It was soon discovered that they disliked tent floors which had been washed with a solution of corrosive sublimate, and after a while these pests either died, or migrated to other quarters, where they were treated to less frequent doses of corrosive sublimate.

Everything in the City of Matanzas, including streets, people, buildings and language, were at first matters of great curiosity to the soldiers. The city was supposed to have a population of some 40,000, and was the chief sea port and capital of the province bearing the same name. The streets were narrow and ill kept. The sidewalks were not over two and a half feet wide, and most of the roadways were so rough that it would be impossible to drive a light American wagon over them without great discomfort.