MOBILIZATION
Activity preparatory to the mobilization of national guard units began
with Troop A early in April when the usual weekly drill was augmented
by an extra session later in the week for the non-commissioned
officers and ambitious privates who cared to attend. Hikes on Saturday
afternoons and several trips to Montgomery's farm in Mt. Carmel were
added to the training. This program was filled with interest by the
proclamation of President Wilson in May calling all militiamen in
the northeastern department into active service on July 25th. Then
a period was given over to equipping the men and forming them into
units of correct proportions during which there were endless amounts
of paper-work to be handled and a large percentage of recruits to be
trained.
As the 26th Division never saw a concentration camp, this early
training was of such a nature as to physically fit the men for active
duty, but at no time tended to increase their knowledge of the
particular work they were to do. On responding to the call to report
at the Troop A armory in Orange Street on the morning of July 25th the
men found that their soldierly duties lay largely in packing equipment
to be shipped to camp, a little kitchen police and cleaning out the
armory. Considered as necessary evils, these tasks were cared for with
good will. However, the departure of Lieutenant Condren with thirty-one
men and the Troop's complement of horses on July 27 for Niantic was
an appreciated move in the direction of desired activity, and the
following day the remainder of the organization experienced the varied
emotions of a leave-taking on the Green with Mayor Campner on hand to
bid them good-bye in the name of the city, and a cheering crowd lining
the streets to the station.
Soft muscles felt the strain of unloading the freight from the special
train which bore the unit to Niantic, and with the camp erected, the
kitchen operating and a guard posted, the rigors of the first night in
camp for many of the men were softened by slumber which soon overcame
any objection men from offices and factories might have taken to
sleeping on cots long since past the stage of usefulness.
In the meantime the men under the command of Lieutenant Condren had
arrived at camp, put up picket lines and cared for their horses.
They had made the march from New Haven to Niantic by easy stages and
had been extensively fêted in the village of Westbrook by one of the
residents who had befriended the Troop on former occasions. Thus field
conditions obtained for the first time for the new Troop A.
Sunday in camp was its usual delight with visitors from home and
Monday was given over to perfecting the camp arrangements. Other units
on the state reservation were Troops B, L and M, forming with Troop
A the 3d Separate Squadron of Connecticut Cavalry, Troop A, Signal
Corps, the 1st Ambulance Company, the Field Hospital, the 1st Separate
Company (Infantry), and batteries E and F, 10th Field Artillery, all
units of the Connecticut militia. All were placed under the command
of Lieutenant Colonel Shuttleworth, U. S. A., for training and
organization.
The following week both mounted and dismounted drills were inaugurated
and camp routine began with a formal guard mount on July 31, the first
few attempts at this ceremony affording great amusement for all except
those participating. Social lions in the ranks of the Company were
establishing themselves in the hearts of the fair inhabitants of Pine
Grove and carrying off the honors at the dance pavilion and under the
energetic leadership of Sergeant Rogers a baseball team was being
formed. In short, camp was being established with all the formalities
attendant upon such an event.
On Saturday, August 3, all organizations were mustered into the Federal
service by Lieutenant Colonel Shuttleworth. Thus the men were made
soldiers of the United States Army, permitting the War Department
to use the various militia units for duty outside the borders of
Connecticut. Governor Marcus B. Holcomb reviewed the Squadron on the
afternoon of August 7 in its first and last appearance before him as
cavalry.
Baseball was taking its proper place on the schedule with games
arranged for Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays, but Troop A fared not
so well on the diamond in competition with the rest of the Battalion as
it did later on the football field. The proper spirit to win games was
never lacking, but talent was scarce until the recruiting drive of the
latter part of the month brought several good players into the Company.
Summer's hottest and most sultry days were passed at Niantic with the
minimum of discomfort because of the location of the camp almost on the
shores of Long Island Sound, where breezes from the water tempered the
efforts of the sun down to a point where comfort was possible and the
proximity of bathing facilities allowed the men relief after drills.
Evidences of preparation for a prolonged stay and perhaps a lack of
knowledge concerning the conditions in store for them created a certain
restlessness among the men, whose hearts were all centered on the hope
of getting to France.
Endeavors of the ladies of Niantic to promote community spirit and
provide the men with the proper kinds of entertainment were ably
seconded by Troop members, who were always well represented at social
events and took a leading part in contributing excellent talent for all
sorts of entertainments. From Scheffler's singing and Culver's type of
vaudeville to Parmalee and Hine as boxers, there was an almost endless
amount of artistic ability.
In preparation for the journey the men were to take, talks were
delivered on hygiene and kindred topics by members of the medical
department; and a Red Cross worker who had seen service with the French
armies related some of his experiences to crowds which grasped each
word with the avidity of a youngster listening to his first tales of
achievement. The "Front" was a great mystery and one who had actually
seen parts of that ever-changing line of opposing armies was looked up
to as an individual upon whom the gods of fortune had smiled.
Another effect of this feeling of impending movements which was
growing among the men was an increased desire to take advantage of the
proximity to their homes, and many were the exits and entries through
the fence while the unsuspecting guard "walking his post in a military
manner" was going, according to schedule, in the opposite direction.
Falling as a mixed blessing came the announcement on August 15 that
the horses were to be taken from the Troop and the personnel used
in the formation of a machine gun company. To the new men in the
ranks it was a relief, but to those who were with the outfit when
it enjoyed that happy little picnic on the Mexican Border during
the summer of 1916 it meant the loss of their most valued friends.
They wasted no time in mourning, however, but gathered up all the
available information on machine-gun work and set their minds to become
proficient in that branch of the service with the cheerful prospect of
becoming members in what the British army called the "suicide club."