WE AND OUR FRIENDS ENJOY OURSELVES AT CAMP WIKOFF, MONTAUK POINT.
From the beginning it was evident that our lines in Camp Wikoff were
to be cast in more pleasant places than had been the case since we
left Lakeland in June. To be sure the detention camp was not an abode
of princely luxury and there were shortcomings in plenty about it, but
there was an honest effort to care for our comfort. There were but few
of the officers and men in our regiment in good health and even the men
who did not go to the hospitals were in bad shape physically, but the
knowledge of the fact that we were on United States soil at last and
that but a short time would elapse before we would be en route for home
was better than medicine. Then, too, there was the great improvement
in our food, which was worth something, and there was the presence of
our friends from Springfield, including some who had made all manner of
sacrifices and had endured toil, discomforts and trouble to get to us
with help and cheer.
No one can doubt but what it was the full intent of those in authority
at Washington to treat the returned soldiers from Cuba in the best
possible manner, but it is a matter of common knowledge that as a
paving material for a certain warm place good intentions is the
very best material yet devised by the arch enemy of mankind. The
performance at Montauk fell far short of the promise and this was aided
by the over officiousness of some very young and very fresh officers
who had no idea beyond the blind following of red tape regulations no
matter what might happen. It was to these officers that the delay and
vexatious troubles experienced by Dr. David Clark of Springfield in
his mission of mercy to us of the Second can be attributed and others
associated with him had to face the same difficulties. The story of
how Dr. Clark, Lieut. T. A. Sweeney and others were "held up" at the
mouth of the rapid fire guns of the converted yacht Aileen by one
Lieut. Rhodes, whose name is still cursed by every Second regiment
man, is still fresh in the minds of all of us and it was only when the
presumptuous young officer was made to realize that he was not the only
thing that ever happened that the supplies sent to us by loving hands
in Springfield reached us. There is the memory too of the long and
weary hours Dr. Clark spent underneath the pier at Montauk in order to
remain inside the guard lines and be on hand to greet us when our ship
came in. There are the memories of the good work done for us by our old
surgeon when the Second was a militia regiment, Major Brown of North
Adams, and of Lieut. Sweeney, E. S. Bradford, P. H. Quinn, Charles
Lathrop as the representative of Dr. D. J. Brown, T. W. Hyde, and last
but by no means least of Frank P. Frost of Springfield, who as the
personal representative of Henry S. Lee, worked like a beaver day and
night. The Springfield newspaper men, too, should not be forgotten and
the thanks of many a poor fellow are due to H. L. Hines, G. H. Atwood
and Frank Lee of the _Union_ and to H. K. Regal of the _Republican_
and T. W. Burgess of the _Homestead_ for many kindnesses and unfailing
sympathy.
The sad scenes attending the disembarkation of the Second from the
Mobile will not be forgotten for many a day by those who witnessed or
participated in them. A number of the sick men were taken off late in
the afternoon of the 19th, but when dusk fell Gen. Young, the commander
of the camp, refused to allow any more to be brought ashore until the
next day. The next morning the exodus from the ship began at an early
hour and continued until at last we were all ashore. First came the
sick in a ghastly procession down the steep gang planks and into the
ambulances which were to convey them to the hospitals and the sight of
the poor fellows was pathetic in the extreme. The sick ashore, then
came those able to walk or totter and these men, the majority of them
wrecks of their once vigorous selves, dragged themselves to the pier
laden down with their baggage and fell in for the march to the camp.
Those unable to walk were piled into mule wagons and the procession
started.
It was not a long march, but it was a fatiguing one for the men and
they were glad when the big wall tents assigned to the Second appeared.
This was the "detention" camp for in the eyes of the medical officers
we were still suspects even if we had passed quarantine, and we were to
be isolated for five days. It was not a bad camp. The tents were new
and clean and many of them were provided with board floors, a luxury
that reminded us of our militia days at South Framingham. It had been
the intention of the war department to provide straw for us to sleep
on but like many other intentions it was not fulfilled until Secretary
Alger happened to visit the camp of the Second and found no straw.
Then some came along in a hurry. There were cooking outfits, too, and
the days of the canned roast beef and the other constituents of the
palatable and nourishing (?) travel ration were numbered. In their
place came the appetizing beef stew, the roast beef, soft bread and
cool milk. There were also canned delicacies, and fruits, and tobacco
in plenty. In fact, there were too many good things for some of the
boys, as the hospital records attest.
It is needless to say that the hospitals were filled. They were
overcrowded, and that, too, in spite of the fact that additions were
put on as fast as possible. The hospitals were of canvas but with
raised floors and were equipped with cots. What the emotions of the
sick boys were when they actually found themselves lying on a bed and
between clean white sheets, and tended by kind and devoted nurses can
be imagined. Not only that but they were given plenty of nourishing
food and medicine was in plenty. After the lack of everything of the
hospitals in Cuba the contrast was sharp, even though the Montauk
hospitals lacked some things. As for the nurses and the doctors there
was nothing they were unwilling to do to help the sick. Many of the
nurses were Sisters of Charity or Sisters of Mercy, others were from
the Red Cross society, others volunteers, but all were actuated by the
same motives, and worked unremittingly to do all in their power for the
boys. Some of the doctors were army surgeons and others were contract
surgeons, but all worked alike. Then, too, there were any number of
volunteer hospital assistants, all zealous to help us, some of them
a little too much so, and it was a rare thing for the sick men in a
hospital ward to lack for attention. Diet kitchens were established
and a system of looking after convalescent and furloughed soldiers
was established. In this work the noble efforts of the Massachusetts
Volunteer Aid Association was pre-eminent and there are none of us who
will forget what its representatives did, not only at Camp Wikoff but
after our return to our homes. Not only did the society work among the
soldiers from Massachusetts, but many a regular soldier was aided and
comforted by its representatives.
Under the influence of proper care and food the men in the
hospitals and the camps began to improve and though many died, yet
more recovered. As soon as a soldier inmate of the hospital was
anywhere near convalescence he was given a furlough to his home and
transportation furnished him. At first these furloughs were only for
ten days but after a bit they were lengthened to 30 days so that when
the Second came to leave Montauk a good percentage of the officers and
men had preceded it home. A large number of the sick men were taken
from the camp hospital and sent to New York, New London, New Haven and
other places where the local hospitals had opened their doors to the
soldiers and where the care they received was in some respects better
than that possible under the crowded conditions at Montauk.
In spite or all that could be done at Montauk there were many instances
of individual hardship and although it seemed as if there were at least
two or three people anxious and willing to look after every soldier
yet there were cases of apparently unnecessary suffering. Soldiers
discharged from the hospitals as convalescent would be sent to the
depot at Montauk, a good two miles from the hospital, on foot and would
be compelled to wait for hours in the hot sun before they could get
transportation orders. At the depot there were often good men and women
with cans of milk or lemonade and food, but even their zealous efforts
could not prevent some suffering. All this was perhaps inseparable from
the overcrowded condition of the camp and hospitals and the fact that
there were not nearly enough officers to do the work properly.
On the 24th the regiment was released from quarantine and moved from
the detention to the general camp. By this time rumors that we were to
be furloughed and sent home were rife again and the date was finally
fixed for the 26th. Meanwhile there had been some important visitors
in our camp, including Col. Roosevelt, Secretary of War Alger and Gen.
Wheeler and they all had good words to say for the Second. Also there
were many visitors from Springfield and Western Massachusetts and
the men were fed upon all kinds of delicacies, in some cases to the
detriment of their health.
Musician Frank P. Jones of K company was the only Springfield man to
die in Montauk, his death occuring on the 27th, after he had suffered
for days with malarial fever of the Cuban type. He had not been ill in
Cuba but the seeds of the disease lodged in his system there and in his
weak condition when we landed at Montauk he was unable to resist it.
We heard while at Montauk of the death in Cuba of Private Arthur M.
Burnham of K and there were many regrets among his comrades. Private
Burnham was ill when the regiment left Santiago for home and so was
left behind.
On the 25th verbal orders furloughing the Second for 60 days were
received and the regiment was ordered to be in readiness the next day
to proceed home. At the expiration of the furlough the regiment was to
be mustered out at South Framingham but this was afterwards changed
to Springfield. The officers and men were all ready on the 26th to go
home and the night before had been spent in packing up and putting
everything in shape. The rifles and equipments had been turned in and
the morning was eagerly anticipated. There was much disappointment when
the day came and there were no signs of an immediate movement from
the camp. Hour after hour passed and when it was finally ascertained
that the departure was deferred to the next day because of a lack
of transportation, there was nothing but disappointment from the
commanding officer down to the privates. But the Second had by this
time learned resignation and so the men waited through the long day and
the equally long night for the word that the boat which was to convey
the regiment to New London was ready.
The night of the 26th was made memorable by a wild stampede of a number
of horses of the cavalry through the camp of the Second. The animals
were being led to water and in some manner became frightened and
getting away from the man in charge ran pell mell through the company
streets of the regiment, upsetting stacks of arms and tents and leaving
everything in much disorder. Fortunately no one was injured.
There was but little sleep in the camp that night. The boys were too
much excited over the prospect of being at home on the morrow to care
much for slumber, and they were up long before reveille sounded.
Breakfast was hastily cooked and eaten and the outfit, or what was left
of it, fell in for the march to the boat, some three miles away. There
were ambulances for the sick and these were filled again and again. The
men able to march were not numerous, and the companies did not have
full ranks by any means. The men were without arms and clad in all
sorts of uniforms, the yellow and blue Khaki predominating, although
there were some who preferred the old militia blue uniforms they had
worn from South Framingham. The regiment finally started for the pier
amid the cheers of the 22d and other regiments it passed, and a short
time after embarking was once more on the water but bound for home this
time. The sick men who were unable to stand the journey were left in
the hospital and those allowed to go were carefully looked after.
Arrived at New London the regiment fell at once into good hands. The
people of that city had known of its coming and delegations were on
hand when the boat came in, with food and refreshments for the boys.
Meanwhile preparations had been made by the militia authorities of the
state, and the people of Springfield and other places interested in the
Second, to look after the men. Gen. Dalton had sent a detail of staff
officers to Springfield with full power as to expenses to see that the
returning soldiers who had shed credit upon Massachusetts were properly
looked after, and a special train had been made up to go to New London
to bring them on from there. Food and refreshments were taken on the
train, and representatives of state and city were on board to render
all possible assistance. The trip was a comparatively short one. At
Palmer the three Worcester companies and F of Gardner were transferred
to a train for their destination while the other companies came on to
Springfield.