OUR VOYAGE HOMEWARD ON THE DEATH SHIP MOBILE.
Our voyage homeward on the Mobile was not exactly a pleasant one.
At the very outset we again found that in army language we were "up
against it." Our entire brigade, composing some 1500 officers and men,
were on the boat, which although large, was not fitted up in very good
shape for transport service and as a result there was at first much
overcrowding. The Mobile had recently conveyed a cargo of mules to
Porto Rico and on her return from that duty had lain for several days
in the festering harbor of Santiago so that her sanitary condition
could not be termed an ideal one. The officers were crowded together in
her few staterooms and as for the men they were jammed below decks and
above decks in any old way. The Eighth and Twenty-second regiments had
been on board some time before our regiment arrived and of course had
appropriated the best portions of the ship to themselves, something for
which they could not be blamed so very much.
That evening we of the Second just simply "bunked" anywhere we could
and as a rule we went to bed supperless, for everything was in such a
mixed up condition there was no effort made at giving out rations. And
on our arrival we found that we were to pass another time with our old
friends, the canned "beef" and the nourishing and palatable (!) travel
rations. After bidding them farewell, as we thought, forever, this was
felt to be the worst blow we had yet suffered but there was no use
"kicking" and we made the best of it. Fortunately or unfortunately, as
one looks at it, the majority of the men had money enough to purchase
quantities of canned fruits and delicacies before they left Santiago
and these helped us out to some extent.
What we at first thought was a blessing but which afterward turned out
to be the reverse was the presence of a large tank of ice water below
decks to which we freely helped ourselves and with evil effect upon
some of the men who developed dysentery from indulging too freely in
the cold liquid. After a day or two the ice water was shut off from the
men, and they were compelled to drink the regular ship's water. There
was any amount of grumbling at this but it was the best thing to be
done under the circumstances.
We remained in the harbor the night of the 12th and early on the 13th,
our old "hoodoo" number being with us again, the Mobile swung her nose
around and steamed down the harbor. Every man able to be up was on deck
as we started out and realized that we were homeward bound at last.
There were mighty few regrets expressed at leaving Cuba and our chief
concern now was to reach home as quickly as possible. It was known
that our destination was Montauk Point, L. I., and beyond that our
information was a trifle hazy.
Passing down the harbor we came to the Merrimac as she lay about where
Hobson had sunk her and we could see that she was not of much avail
in stopping the channel. A little further we passed the wreck of the
Reina Mercedes as she lay where the shells from our warships had put
her out of business and just a little distance further along we passed
out under the frowning walls and grim looking guns of Castle Morro,
over which our flag was now floating. On the other side of the harbor
entrance was an unimportant looking sand battery, but it was from it
that the Spanish guns did their most effective work against our fleet.
One turn more and we were out of the harbor and again on the bounding
billows.
This day quarters were assigned the various companies of our regiment
below decks. The men were supplied with hammocks and as these had to be
slung close together and the men were just a bit unfamiliar with their
management there were many tumbles out of bed that night. We found the
sleeping accommodations on the Mobile superb. If you say that word
"superb" quick it sounds well and that's the way we said it. A number
of the men were obliged to sleep on deck and under a covering of loose
planks and as it happened to rain two or three nights in succession,
they did not like their sleeping quarters any too well.
The steward of the Mobile was an Englishman, like all her officers,
and he was a direct descendant of thieves and inherited all their
instincts of robbery. He thought nothing of charging $5 for a half-pint
of vile liquor and his prices for anything else he could sell were
in proportion. He contracted with some of the company commanders to
furnish a number of loaves of bread each day for the men but the loaves
turned out to be nothing more than biscuits and the prices asked were
so exorbitant that a complaint was made to the captain of the ship and
the steward was compelled to make restitution.
One of the first incidents of our passage homeward was the stopping
of the Mobile by a United States gunboat on our second evening out
from Santiago harbor. It seems that the Mobile was not showing just
the proper lights and the gunboat steamed close to her to investigate,
firing a blank charge across her bows as a signal to stop. The Mobile
stopped. Then after a brief colloquy between the little gunboat and
the big Mobile the latter was allowed to proceed. It should be said,
however, that when the officers and crew of the gunboat ascertained
that the Second Massachusetts was on board they gave us three hearty
cheers.
Life on board the Mobile was not a bit more luxurious than it had been
on the Knickerbocker or in Cuba. We had the same old travel rations
and no means of cooking them. After the first day out an arrangement
was made whereby Walter Butler, the cook for B company, was to have
the use of the crew's galley to make coffee for the three Springfield
companies. Walter did as well as he could under difficulties but
ofttimes the water used in making the coffee was so poor in quality
that the concoction was not exactly palatable. But it was better than
ship's water.
The men messed as best they could. The officers had their meals in
the dining saloon, paying $1 a day for them and they were not over
luxurious. Neither were their quarters, for with the entire brigade
on board the staterooms were insufficient to accommodate them all and
they were forced to double up and in some instances three officers were
assigned to one room and forced to "bunk" as best they could.
Many of the officers and men were just out of hospitals, and for them
the voyage was a harder trial than those who were officially in good
health. The ship's hospital was established on the aft deck and was
protected from the elements only by canvas awnings and during the two
or three times it rained during the voyage the sick men were drenched
as they lay in their cots or hammocks. Surgeon Gates and Dr. Piersons,
the contract surgeons who had done so much for our regiment in front
of Santiago, were indefatigable in their attendance upon our sick and
so were the hospital stewards, but the medical supplies were as usual
insufficient and the accommodations entirely inadequate. Two men were
detailed each day to assist in caring for the sick men from their
companies and while of course they meant to do all they could for
their comrades their performance very often fell far short of their
intentions. Naturally the sick men were often peevish and troublesome
and it cannot be said that the lot of the attendants was a very
pleasant one.
On our second day out occurred the first death in the regiment,
Sergeant Harold B. Wentworth of C company, who had been ill with
typhoid fever and malaria. His body was buried at sea a few hours after
death and the sad event was the first of a series during the voyage.
Private George Higgins of F company was the next victim, his death
occuring on the 15th.
August 17th was a black day for the Second. At 12.30 that morning
Second Lieut. Harry J. Vesper of B company died after a long illness,
with gastritis and malaria. He was a very sick man when brought on
board but was nursed and cared for as tenderly as possible during the
voyage. Private James Ryan of B was detailed as his attendant and was
constantly with him, but even the best of care could not have saved
him. The same day his body, wrapped in the folds of the American flag,
was lowered into the deep, the Mobile being hove to for the purpose.
The band of the 22d regiment played appropriate airs and Chaplain
Wellwood of the Second conducted the services. The burial was nearly
off Cape Hatteras. Lieut. Vesper, who was one of the most popular
officers of the regiment, met his fate bravely and died in merciful
ignorance of the fact that his brother, Private Paul Vesper of B
company, had died a few days before the regiment left Cuba. At that
time Lieut. Vesper was ill in the division hospital and it was deemed
best to keep the knowledge of his brother's fate from him.
On this same day another B company man, Wagoner Paul J. Kingston,
answered his final roll call, dying in the afternoon. Privates Earle C.
Clark of H company and Franklin W. Manning of M company, made up the
death roll for the day and their bodies were given to the sea.
On the 18th Privates Charles H. Cranston and Henry C. Collins, both of
I company of Northampton, died and on the 20th just before we landed at
Montauk Point Sergeant Ryder of E company passed away. On the voyage
from Santiago to Montauk our regiment lost ten, one officer and nine
men, and it is no wonder that the Mobile was referred to as a "death
ship."
It is no wonder either, under these circumstances, that the men became
depressed. Cooped up in an ill-smelling hold during the night, fed on
unsuitable food and seeing the bodies of their comrades cast overboard
day after day it was not strange that they became blue. But happily the
voyage did not last long for on the afternoon of the 19th we sighted
Montauk Point and knew that in a day or two we would be on good United
States soil once more.
It was night when the Mobile cast anchor and early the next morning
she was towed into what we supposed was quarantine. We passed several
steamers with the yellow quarantine flag hoisted at their sterns and
after a while the Mobile anchored and some quarantine officers came
aboard and inspected the passengers and crew. Fortunately this ceremony
did not last long and when it was over the Mobile was brought alongside
a wharf as we in our innocence supposed to allow us to land.
But as it happened we were not to land that day. On the wharf were
sentries and those of "Ours" who happened to get as far as the wharf
were at once driven back. Neither was any one allowed at first to come
aboard. As we swung in the stream before the Mobile got to the wharf a
small boat containing some Springfield newspaper men attempted to get
within reach of the Mobile, but she was ordered away and at the wharf
it was some time before anybody was allowed to come aboard the Mobile.
The first Springfield man we saw was Dr. David Clark, the surgeon for
years of the Second while it was in the militia service. He finally
came on board and was at once surrounded by the men of the three
Springfield companies so that it was some little time before he made
his way to the quarterdeck, where Col. Clark and the officers were
awaiting him. He brought plenty of news for us and much information
concerning Montauk Point and the arrangement of the camps there. At
the same time came aboard baskets of sandwiches and fruit which Dr.
Clark had provided. Thanks to the kindness of Dr. Clark many messages
were sent from the ship to the anxious ones at home announcing the safe
arrival of the Mobile and that the senders were well.
It was not until the next day that we were allowed to land and it was
a sad spectacle to watch the disembarkation of the gallant Second from
the ship. The men who were able to walk got down the steep gang plank
in some kind of order and after an attempt at regimental formation,
marched up to the quarantine camp, a distance of some two and a half
miles, over the very roughest kind of a road. The sick were transported
in mule wagons and they did not find the ride a very pleasant one. On
arrival at the camp it was found all laid out with large wall tents
arranged in company streets and the majority of the tents equipped with
board floors, a luxury we had not experienced for many moons. Rough
sinks had been made in rear of the company streets and supplies of
soft bread, fruits and milk were waiting for us. A number of the sick
officers and men were taken directly over to the hospitals and it began
to look as if things might be half decent after all.