IN WHICH IS TOLD HOW WE PREPARE TO QUIT UNCLE SAM'S SERVICE.
The home coming of Springfield's soldiers was not as glittering or gay
a spectacle as had been counted upon by those who watched us march away
on the morning of May 3d. That morning was a rainy and disagreeable one
and there were many who consoled themselves in thinking of the rather
tame character of our farewell, that when we returned the scene would
be a far more cheerful and inspiriting one. It wasn't. For days and
days, ever since the story of our losses at El Caney and San Juan had
been known and the people had become somewhat familiar with the tales
of sickness and suffering in Cuba and Camp Wikoff, the return of the
boys had been anxiously awaited, but when the time came, when it was
known for a certainty that the companies were to return, there was a
common feeling that the occasion would be an ill timed one for any
display of ceremony or pageantry, and as it became more known that the
majority of the officers and men were in the poorest possible condition
to stand the strain of an official, or even a semi-official welcome it
was settled that their return was to be as quiet as possible.
The coming of the regiment from Montauk had been expected on the 26th
and in anticipation a huge crowd had gathered at the union station
to meet the soldiers. But the people were repaid for hours of waiting
by the arrival only of a few men who had been furloughed from the
hospitals. On the next day it was soon known that the regiment would
surely arrive and long before the hour set for the special train to
arrive from New London the station and its approaches were crowded with
people, including the relatives and friends of the members, not only of
the Springfield companies but of the companies from the other sections
of Western Massachusetts. In view of the condition of the soldiers
special efforts had been made to impress upon the people that the less
excitement the men were made to undergo the better for them and to this
end the station approaches were roped off and a large force of police
was on hand to keep a passageway clear from the cars to the carriages
which had been provided to bear the officers and men to their homes or
wherever they felt inclined to go.
The state and the city co-operated well in making plans for the comfort
of the returning soldiers. Gov. Wolcott was on hand when the special
train rolled in and three members of his staff had been at work for
several days previous assisting in the preparations for the reception
of the men. Mayor Dickinson and the city officials had done everything
in their power to aid the soldiers and with them at all times were the
officers and members of the Volunteer Aid association and many private
citizens, good men and women who labored zealously in the good cause.
Others there were, too, not connected officially with state or city
or with any society, but whose work was ably done and is never to be
forgotten.
[Illustration: MONITOR LEHIGH IN ACTION]
At 2.58 in the afternoon the train came in and the 10,000 people in
waiting set up a cheer at the initiative of Gov. Wolcott. Then the
people pressed hard against the ropes which marked the clear space on
the platform through which the men were to go and the police officers
had their hands full for a time in keeping them back. The north side
waiting room had been cleared of occupants and outside were hundreds
of public and private carriages waiting to carry the boys wherever they
might wish. And in this one detail of carriages the thoughtfulness
of the people of the city as well as their willingness to do all in
their power for the boys of the Second were shown. Scores of them had
volunteered the use of their carriages that day and their offers had
been gladly accepted, for in the majority of cases the men were hardly
able to walk any distance, and a ride on a jolting electric car would
not have been the best thing in the world for them. But there were
carriages in plenty and the men were quickly and carefully conveyed
either to their homes or the hospitals.
When the train stopped the people detailed to look after the
disembarkation of the men at once got to work and the boys were
quickly but tenderly taken through the waiting room and placed in the
carriages. There were many who were unable to walk even this short
distance unassisted, but in the majority of cases the men were so
glad to be once more at home that the excitement kept them up and
some lingered about on the platform, exchanging greetings with their
relatives or friends in the crowd. A number of physicians were on
hand to look after any of the men who were in immediate need of their
attention and in many other ways provision had been made for all. The
majority of the men were driven directly to their homes. Others went to
the House of Mercy or the Springfield hospital.
The 10,000 or more people which greeted the returned ones did so in
sober but cordial fashion. There was no demonstrative welcome, for
common sense told the people that it would have been the worst thing
possible for the men whom the crowd wanted to honor. They were in no
condition to endure such a welcome and what they wanted was to get to
their homes or a resting place as quickly as possible. When the Second
went away it was in the blue uniform of the militia of Massachusetts.
The men in the ranks were all young and vigorous and looked a composite
picture of youth and strength. When they came back it was in the faded
yellow khaki uniforms issued to them in Cuba, although a few still wore
the blue. The natty uniforms of the officers were worn and soiled and
the faces of all were haggard and in many cases the beards of veterans
had replaced the smooth cheeks and chins of the militiaman. On almost
every face was the badge of the campaign against the pestilential
fevers of Cuba and the sunken cheek-bones and emaciated forms bore
eloquent witness to the hardships and sufferings that had been
undergone. It had been no holiday excursion for the gallant Second.
For days and weeks after the return the greatest interest was shown
in the welfare of the men. Physicians placed their services at the
disposal of the Volunteer Aid association and that body kept actively
at work in its efforts to care for the men. Some of the boys were
able to be out on the streets and in public places immediately after
their arrival but in the majority of cases the men were glad enough to
stay at home. Others were too ill to make their appearance in public,
but those who were had no reason to complain of any lack of interest
in them or their doings in Cuba. Columns were published daily in the
newspapers concerning the condition of the sick men and the experiences
of the well ones and the sight of the worn campaign uniform on the
street was the occasion for a gathering of interested people. But as
time went on the interest slackened, as it is in the nature of things
so to be, the men showed a marked preference for citizens' dress
instead of the uniform, and settled down again to the ordinary ways of
life while waiting for their furloughs to expire and their muster out
of the service of Uncle Sam.
There had been much concern expressed over the orders instructing the
Second to assemble at South Framingham for muster-out and there was
much satisfaction when it was known that the orders had been changed
and that Springfield had been selected as the place. It was felt that
this was fitting and proper and both the local members of the regiment
and the people of the city were well pleased at the decision of the war
department.
Meanwhile the men who had been left behind in Cuba, at Montauk and in
hospitals at other places continued to arrive home and some time before
the expiration of their furlough nearly all the surviving members of
the Second were at home. From Cuba came the men who were left behind
too sick to be moved when the regiment left for home and with them the
men who had volunteered or been detailed to remain care for them. But
all of them did not come. Privates Little and Stetson of G company had
succumbed to disease and Dr. H. C. Bowen, the surgeon of the Second,
was also a victim. He was in the division hospital when the regiment
sailed and his death soon followed.
The fate which befell Dr. Bowen was a hard one. Enthusiastic to
volunteer at the outbreak of the war he was assigned to duty as the
surgeon of the Second with the rank of major and he had high hopes
of a useful career in the army as had his friends for him. But he
was totally without experience in army medical life, his assistant
surgeons, though young and enthusiastic in their profession, were
also inexperienced in this line of work and at the very outset he
and they were thwarted and discouraged by their incessant conflicts
with army red tape and the consequent difficulty in obtaining needed
medical supplies for the regiment. Time and time again Major Bowen
sent in requisition after requisition but no supplies came in answer
to them and had it not been for the finely appointed medical and
surgical outfit furnished by the state of Massachusetts the equipment
of the Second would have been meager indeed. With these on hand the
lack of proper government supplies was not seriously felt until after
the landing in Cuba and then with the brilliancy which marked so
many other features of the campaign, the Second's medical chest was
not brought ashore, but was left on board the Knickerbocker until
some time after the surrender of Santiago. As a result the medical
supplies were short and though he tried again and again Major Bowen
could obtain no more. Soon after he landed he was attacked by the
malarial fever and though at first it was in a mild form it combined
with the discouragements to which he had been subjected to make him
low-spirited and not altogether a genial minister to the sick men or a
companion at the mess. Directly after the battle of El Caney Assistant
Surgeon Gates was taken from the Second and attached temporarily to the
Fourth infantry, which regiment had no surgeon and Assistant Surgeon
Hitchcock became ill so that the entire work of caring for the Second
was thrown upon Major Bowen. This added to his other troubles and his
own illness resulted in making the latter extremely serious and though
he struggled against it for many weeks he was at last forced to give
up. Before this he had manfully stuck to his post and tried in every
way to do his duty but results of his failing health and his heavy
burden of work were mistaken by many of the officers and men for lack
of sympathetic feeling and for this he was criticized. This criticism
was a mistaken one, for at bottom Major Bowen was of a kindly and
sympathetic nature but it was his misfortune to have his illness and
troubles put a veneer of impatience upon his normal disposition and
this conveyed the mistaken idea referred to above. In his service with
the Second Major Bowen did all possible for a man to do and those who
knew the heavy burden under which he toiled have always been willing to
accord him the tribute he was justly entitled to. He died in the Second
division hospital just outside of Santiago. Some months after his body
was exhumed and sent to his family in Westfield. There was some mystery
concerning the whereabouts of his watch and other effects but some
time after his death they were accidentally discovered in New Orleans
and restored to his parents.
At Montauk Point K company suffered a loss in the death of Musician
Frank P. Jones, who succumbed to fever in the camp hospital August
27th. All through the campaign in Cuba Musician Jones not only kept
himself well and his spirits up but his cheery speech did much to help
his comrades. It was not until he reached Montauk that he gave in to
the disease which laid so many of the Second low.
Even after the regiment had returned home and the sick men were being
given the best of medical attention and care in their homes or in the
hospitals the death angel did not cease. On Sept. 13th Corporal Patrick
J. Noone of G company died at his home after a long illness with the
fever and two days later his remains were escorted to the grave by
his comrades and laid to rest after the three volleys which mark the
soldier's burial had been fired. On October 8, Private Frank Burke of G
died and was laid to rest in the same cemetery.
Meanwhile in both the Mercy and the Springfield hospitals all that was
possible was being done for the sick "soldier boys," and physicians
and nurses were untiring in their efforts. Both institutions had many
soldier patients and they will long remember the devoted care and
kindnesses they received.
All this time preparations for the muster-out of the Second had been
going steadily on. It had been settled that the outfit was to be
formally discharged from the United States service in Springfield and
on Sept. 28th First Lieut. Oliver Edwards, 11th Infantry U. S. A.,
came on to assist in the work preliminary to muster-out. There was
considerable to be done in the way of getting ready for the ceremony
and there were many things to be explained to both officers and men
before all was in readiness. In the effort to have everything clearly
understood and all the "kinks" straightened out Lieut. Edwards was
untiring and he made a most favorable impression upon all with whom his
duties brought him in contact.