yw 0^ v y ^ * " ■ ^ <&y ^ » ^^ A „Y-^ • w V v * ; %^ * <* n . ' t- « s -Sk <*^ . < \^ ' It o I. * Or -0^ Z t s ^ G ^Ad* IV r-\ - "CL- c> z ^ ^.Q* ^ ^1 p *, G c 0* y K * : ^o A O o. «/°" /\ /°" '•> % A. $ ^ <* >! (-0 - °^> A G •** 0° "^ G* °o ■ f Honor 435 History of- Company A 263 Roster of Company A " 267 History of Company B 294 Roster of Company B 298 H istory of Company C 353 Roster of Company C 360 H istory of Company D 333 Roster of Company D 339 History of Company E 275 Roster of Company E 281 History of Company F 320 Roster of Company F 324 H isti >ry of Company G 369 Roster of Company G 3*5 History of Company H 383 Roster of Company H : ' s -' 12 INDEX. History of Company I 306 Roster of Company 1 311 History of Company K 239 Roster of Company K 241 History of Company L 396 Roster of Company L 398 History of Company M 250 Roster of Company M 255. PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Anderson, James L 393 Anheire, Anthony A 304 Backus, Victor M 282 Biederwolf, William E 225 Brown, Denver 444 Brunt, John R 222 Buchanan, Richard W 331 Caldwell, George H : 383 Crooker, William W 273 Comstock, Paul 317 Cosby, Charles E 335 Dexter, Jacob W 447 Dority, Charles E 395 Drapier, William H 319> Durbin, Winfield T 216 Durbin, Fletcher M 262 Durbin, W. T., and Staff 21 Espey, James E 417 Everson, Charles 447 Fitch, George W 249 Fortune, James W 272 Gerrish, Millard F 408 Goodrich, George E 350 Gould, Andrew 450 Graham, Alonzo M 449 Guthrie, William 303 Gwinn, James M 380 Hudgins, Thomas J 349' Jackson, Cyrus A 332 Johnson, August H. W 261 INDEX. 13 Kepperling, George 443 Kimmel, Elmer E 318 Kuns, Clarence D 441 Lewis, John J 440 Megrew, Harold C 288 Menzies, Winston 290 Meyers, James 1 368 Mount, James A 44 McCauley, Edward A 274 Ogborn, Albert D 366 Olds, Lee M 346 Owens, Temple H 238 Parkhurst, Layton M 333 Patton, Henry B 381 Peterson, Eli W 394 Pittman, Charles M 369 Puhlman, Ernest R 439 Reynolds, Ivy L 352 Saltzgaber, Laird G 19 Silverthorne, ( leorge M 260 Smith, Charles C 237 Smith, Will M 322 Smith, Wickliff 406 Starr, W. Thompson 19 Still.-, Henry 44:5 Stivers, Wallace 1) 442 Stott, Wilfred T 236 Tichenor, I (liver M 220 Trimble, Charles 448 Turner, Joseph F 44f> Ward, John K 305 Weaver, William ( ; 44.". \\ .l,h, Percy 293 West, ( ieorge A 248 Williams, Asa E 292 Williams, Ernest S 426 Wilson, James ... 410 Company A 264 Non-< !i immissioned < Mticers 266 Company B 2 ( .'-> Non-Commissioned Officers 297 Company C 355 Non-Commissioned Officers : '-'~ 14 INDEX. Company D 334 Sergeants 336 Corporals 338 Company E 276 Sergeants 278 Corporals 280 Company F 321 Sergeants 323 Corporals 325 Company G 370' Sergeants 372 Corporals 374 Company H 384 Sergeants 386 Corporals 388 Company 1 307 Non-Commissioned Officers 309' Company K 239 Sergeants 242 Corporals 244 Company L 397 Sergeants 399 Corporals 401 Company M 251 Non-Commissioned Officers 253 A Cuban Camp 122 A Mixed Race 146 Backus Garbage Burner 73 Barb W ire Defense 123 Barn — Camp Cuba Libre 65 Bastile — Camp Cuba Libre 229 Block House 124 Bonaventure 104 Bugle and Drum Corps 432 Camp Airing 172 Camp Columbia 139 Company G Street by Moonlight 175 Company Street in Camp Cuba Libre 61 Commissary — Camp Cuba Libre 62 Cuban Plowman 147 INDEX. I ^ Fatigue Duty— Camp Mount 24 Fumigated Gloves 191 Going Aboard Transport " Mobile " 108 Going on Board the " Logan " 185 Government Warehouse at Quemados 169 Graves 487 Guard Mount — Camp Columbia 39 Hangman's Tree 17 s Headquarters— Camp Onward 92 Human Bone Yard 160 Kangaroo Court 198 Live Curios 184 "Logan" 186- Medical Officers and Helpers 420 M idway 1"0 " Mobile "—Off for Cuba 109- Monument 143 Morro Castle HI Next 17& Off for the Mail HI Packing Up — Camp Onward 100 Passing in Review — New War's Day 135 Post Exchange at Camp < Inward v;i Prisoners Cleaning Camp 138 Regimental Band 427 Regimental Hospital at Camp Columbia 141 Relieving the Guard— Camp Mount 27 Ruined Estate 148 San Jose Espigon (Wharf) 183 Sea-Sickness on the " Logan " 187 Second Battalion, Skirmish Drill Camp Cuba Libre 85 Sentinel on Duty— Camp Cuba Libre 71 Soupee! Soupee! Soup! Soup! 136 Storm Scene at Third Division Hospital 79 The Maine Graves • 158 The Way Mother Used to Do 187 Yento Springs 167 Wagon Train on its Way to Camp 113 Waiting for the Train Camp-Breaking at Camp Cuba Libre 89 Wreck of the " Maine " 150 CHAPTER I. ORGANIZATION. The war with Spain was on in earnest; Manilla had fallen, several Spanish prizes had been taken at sea, and every preparation was being made for pushing a vigor- ous campaign into Cuba. Already two hundred thousand troops were in the service of the United States, when President McKinley, on the 25th day of May, 1898, issued a second call for seventy-five thousand more volunteers. Indi- ana could have furnished them all, but after her other regi- ments, with companies averaging eighty-six men each, had been recruited to their full quota of one hundred and six men it was her further privilege to furnish one full regi- ment and an additional two companies of colored men. There was at once the greatest competition and the great- est diligence on the part of influential friends to secure one of the twelve coveted places in the new regiment which, in order, was to be the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry. Letters poured in upon the gov- ernor from every corner of the state telling of companies formed and ready to move at notice, but desiring to give the congressional districts a somewhat equal representation in this matter the twelve companies now composing the regiment were selected. Of this selection the companies were notified by the governor on the 24th day of June. The original intention of bringing them to the capital, a company at a time, for examination was abandoned as the urgency of the hour demanded that all should corneas soon 2 1 8 HISTORY OF THE as possible. Accordingly all companies were ordered to repair at once to the state fair-grounds at Indianapolis. The first •company, " H, " reported at 12:40 June 30. The others in quick order, Company " I" entering the grounds last at 4:30, July 5th. The man whom Governor Mount had chosen to be colo- nel was Winfield T. Durbin, of Anderson. He was sitting in the factory of the Diamond Paper Company, of which he was at that time general manager, when he was 'phoned from Indianapolis by Colonel Charles E. Wilson, military secretary to Governor Mount, asking him to come at once to the capital. Upon his arrival he was informed by Sec- retary Wilson of the governor's desire. It was his first intimation of such a decision and the following day (Sunday) he called at the governor's home and there gave his prom- ise to lead the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana to its destiny in the conflict then on. Doctor Wickliff Smith, of Delphi, was called to the position of surgeon, and Drs. Milliard F. Gerrish, of Sey- mour, and James Wilson, of Wabash, were chosen assistant surgeons. The surgeons were examined by the State Board of Medical Examinations, Friday, 24th, and were the first of the officers to be mustered into the service (June 25th) as it was essential to begin at once the physical ex- amination of the men. Every man had been required to pass one, and the majority two, similar examinations at the place of his enlistment, but the final and more severe test of acceptance was to be made by the regimental surgeons themselves. The examinations began Tuesday, July 5th, and lasted eleven days, the highest number of men exam- ined in any one day being two hundred and eighty-six. This examination resulted in a further rejection of fourteen per cent, of the men, and gave to the state as sound and as healthy a body of soldiers as ever volunteered their serv- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 19 ice. The following statistics, taken toward the close of their period of service and read in their presence by the colonel at regimental review, will be of interest and may be appropriately inserted here as the regimental makeup was in general the same throughout its period of service. The average age was twenty-six. The average height was five feet eight inches. The average weight was one hundred and forty-nine pounds. Two hundred and ninety- six were farmers, one hundred and eighteen were clerks, three hundred and sixty-two were common laborers, four hundred and thirteen were skilled laborers, forty-seven were professional men, twenty-five were merchants; twelve hundred and sixty-five were American born, fifty- four foreign; one hundred and twenty-eight were married and eleven hundred and ninety-one were single. On June 28th Baird G. Saltzgaber, of Lebanon, Indi- ana, a recent graduate of Wabash College and former ^§lr B '^n^^^l mt * M M w&^^^ \Y. Thompson Starr. Baird G. Saltzgaber. graduate of Kenyon Military Academy, was mustered as quartermaster sergeant, and on July 5th W. Thompson Starr, of Richmond, Indiana, class of '98, Michigan Mili- 20 HISTORY OF THE tary Academy, Orchard Lake, Michigan, was mustered as regimental sergeant major. On July iith, at 4:30 p. m. , four companies, A, B, C, D, each member of whom had signed the muster-in roll, were mustered. On the same date Harold C. Megrew, of Indianapolis, was mustered as major and Oliver M. Tich- enor, of Princeton, as first lieutenant and regimental adju- tant. The following day, July 12th, four other companies, E, F, G, H, were mustered and the remaining companies, I, K, L, M, on the succeeding day, July 13th. There was some unavoidable delay in the appointment of Matt R. Peterson as major. The position had been tendered Lieutenant Bundy, of the Third Infantry, who was at that time with his regiment at Santiago, Cuba. Being impossible to await his reply, owing to the destruction of the cables, it became necessary to make another appoint- ment, which was given to First Lieutenant M. R. Peterson, of the Sixth United States Infantry, who was at that time on duty in the quartermaster department at Indianapolis. Lieutenant Waterman, of the Eighth United States Cav- alry, who was the United States mustering officer, refused to muster the regiment as a whole until such appointment was made. Accordingly, on July 15th, in the evening about 6:30 o'clock, the whole regiment was massed to the east of the Administration Hall and in the presence of numerous friends and visitors who were there to witness the ceremony, Colonel Durbin and such of his staff as had not yet taken the oath were mustered into the service of the United States. Besides the colonel there was Victor M. Backus, of Indianapolis, who was mustered as lieuten- ant-colonel, and William E. Biederwolf, of Logansport, who was mustered as chaplain. This completed the roll of staff officers with the exception of John R. Brunt, of Anderson, who had been mustered as first lieutenant and 2 2 HISTORY OF THE quartermaster on June 30th, in order that he might begin officially the administration of his required and urgent duties. It will not be out of place to have here said by one who came in closest daily contact with the men and who learned to know their individual history and character, that the quality of the regiment was exceptionally fine. The men occupying the most responsible positions were men of experience and of the best caliber, and the official body as a whole may be safely characterized as one of exceptional character and capacity. Among the enlisted men were hundreds belonging to Indiana's best families; young men of learning, of profession, of wealth and of social standing, and while in any and every such body of twelve hundred men there is much and much-to-be-regret- ted immoral conduct, vet the record of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana during the time of its service shows it to be a regiment of unusual high moral character for a military organization. CHAPTER II. CAMP MOUNT. June 30, '98 — August 11, '98. The State Fair ground was admirably adapted as a place for holding the regiment during the completion of its organization and preparation to report for duty wherever sent. Headquarters and the dispensary were established in the administration hall and here for many days was a rush of business of a character such as the place had never seen before. The fine art building was used as the commissary and quartermaster department and one of the pavilions near by as a shelter for the guard. To each company as it reported was assigned one of the large stock buildings. The two colored companies, A and B, commanded by Captains Jacob M. Porter and John J. Buckner, who, by the way, were the first colored captains ever commissioned, were sheltered in the barns nearest the main entrance to the grounds. The companies were, for convenience at the first, lettered according to the order of their arrival; they were met at the entrance by Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, who escorted them to their quarters, and at once, or as soon as possible there- after, they were in line at the quartermaster's department for some of the articles such as would be immediately necessary for the new mode of life into which they were then to be initiated. They were given axes and spades and picks and rakes and wondered what it meant; then to each company were 24 HISTORY OF THE also issued one hundred and six blankets, meat-cans, knives, forks, spoons, tin-cups, two Meyers cooking ranges with Fatigue Duty. utensils complete, one cord of wood, and one day's rations. Some of the companies had a little of camp experience at home, sleeping in barns taking a few meals picnic style, and more from the well loaded tables of their towns people, but when they opened those marvelous double- sided, self-sealing meat-cans to receive their first army cooked food and looked into the depths of those del- icate quart coffee cups, washed their own tin-dishes, made up their own beds of boards and straw, then they knew they were soldiers; and so for twenty-six days they lived together, twelve large families in twelve large barns. Here were formed the first impressions of something, but only something, of what army life really was. Here the rich and poor, the college graduate, the mechanic, the laborer and the fellow who was " doin' nothin " touched elbows at night and here were formed many of those friendships such as hallow the memory of every war. The ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 25 work of the hour was the examination of the men. Each company was sent to the creek for a bath and then in squads of twenty reported up stairs in the administration building for the ordeal. Every one knew pretty well his chances from the previous like experience, and many a one stood before the scrutiny of the merciless surgeons and for- got their nakedness for the fear and trembling that was in them. And the ordeal was severe. The surgeons looked right into them. A man must be all there: of course there are always exceptions; the fellow with one toe did get in; they said "you can't run, suppose we have to retreat what will become of you "? "Run, " he said, "you ought to see me; me and some more stirred a hornet's nest yesterday, and I beat the hull of them out of the woods." And the fellow who could'nt read got in: he said " ," and he forgot himself when he said it for he said it in an awful way, " I did'nt come here to teach school, I came here to fight." However the fellow in the regiment with a glass eye— but we promised not to mention it for you know science is very perfect these days, and a fellow can see through a glass eye about as well as he can through a good one. Most companies came with more than the re- quired number of men, and after one out of seven had been rejected the average strength of the companies was ninety- six. New recruits came in from time to time and the companies left Camp Mount with an average strength of one hundred and four. As fast as the men were examined attention was turned to the preparation of the rolls for "muster in;" a hercu- lean task, to do it correctly and neatly, as the best and most careful penman from each company will most cer- tainly testify. While such steps were being taken preparatory to the complete regimental organization, the men were not idle; 26 HISTORY OF THE they spent one-half hour each morning and evening doing the setting-up exercise and marched out of their barns every day at 7:30 a. m. , 11 A. M. and 4 p. m., and spent one hour in the evolutions of squad and company drill. The colonel, however, at once ordered all drills to be con- fined exclusively to squad drill; in those early executions one would hardly have recognized the crack steppers of the Seventh Army Corps. To their last day the boys will hear the "left, right; one, two; hepp, hepp; unc, anc," and al- though, the drill leaders had not as yet learned to spell " March" with an initial " h," nor to put the Spanish on the last syllable of "Attention," they did their best in pure English and the men did their best and it was this doing their best and the excellent Esprit de corps of the entire body that brought them to the enviable position they later enjoyed in the Seventh Army Corps. They were only " boys in blue " in name for the uni- forms were not yet issued and the single outfit they brought along soon had the appearance of a " Weary Willie " cos- tume, and on July 10 many of the boys had a most excel- lent-excuse for not coming to church to hear the Chaplain preach his first sermon in the great grandstand by the race track. But this could scarcely be called their hardest trial; it was rather -when s/ie came down on the Sunday excur- sions to see him once more before he left. He hoped she would excuse his appearance and tried to explain to her something about the "channels" through which the new suits had to come. He never turned his back upon her then and when he said good-bye he backed away; anyhow those were happy Sundays with their home friends and their heavy baskets; the soldiers remember them; the sur- geons remember the Monday mornings sick call. On the 1st day of July, when five companies only had arrived, the first guard was posted by Lieutenant Crooker. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 2/ There were five posts and three reliefs, and the men were armed with hickory clubs. Later the guard was increased and were armed with the old-time guns of the National Guard brought from the state house, and each company, Relieving the Guard. commencing with Company B, took its turn in doing guard duty, the chief service of which was to keep at bay the venders of sweetmeats and pies, the arrest of whisky smugglers and guard-line runners. It's an old saying that whisky is easy to get. Well, it was. It was captured, quart after quart, and turned over to the surgeons for use in the medical department. One scoundrel was brought in — yes, he did have a bottle for a friend who ordered it. Lieutenant-Colonel Backus found it difficult to locate that particular bottle, for, in searching the fellow, he found eight others — nine bottles on one man. The Colonel was indignant; he would show the fellow some military discipline; forthwith he and his three pals were lodged in the guard-house for the night, where they stayed — until they took a notion to climb out. 28 HISTORY OF THE Of course the guards had to be tested; they must learn never to surrender their gun, not even to the colonel; but it was just as one poor crestfallen darkey guard, who had surrendered his gun, said to the officer of the guard: "He done won my confidence, sah," and it was a rather underhanded and merciless way to do; but it isn't generally known that the colonel was held up one night till the next relief came on; the calls did not work that night; neither corporal, sergeant nor officer of the guard came, and the colonel — well, he waited. The men were there for a pur- pose and they knew it, although there were some things they all as yet could not be expected to know, for instance: Stranger approaching — "Are you a sentinel, sir?" Company A man on guard — "No, I am a Swede." Such was life amid the busy scenes of those first days of Camp Mount until the regiment was ready for muster, July 15- The following day, July 16, Colonel Durbin issued the first general order of the regiment, a copy of which is here inserted. An important document to the compliance with the admirable tone of which is greatly due the standard afterward attained by the regiment under his command, and which contains regimental data of special interest for officers and men. Headquarters i6ist Reg. Ind. Vol. Inf. \ Camp Mount, Indianapolis, V July 1 6, 1898. ) General Order No. i. Congratulating the officers and men of the One Hun- dred and Sixty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry upon having passed and received the approval of the Examining Board and mustering officer, and imposing the fullest confidence in the officers and men, the following is ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 29 published for the information and guidance of all concerned: Obedience and proper respect to the superior officers are the first requirements of a soldier. An officer in any grade in command should and must receive the same obedience and respect as though he be of the highest grade. Fidelity to duty, with zeal and energy, is none the less a requisite. In the present war, to create armies and make soldiers of men in the shortest time is the aim of those in control. Therefore, in order that the highest state of efficiency may be attained, it will be expected of you that you should at once and at all times call forth your best energies, and let it be the effort of each and every one, of whatever station, to have it said of him, "duty well done." All authority should be exercised with firmness, de- corum and, above all, impartiality, and authority should be respected by implicit obedience and loyal support from subordinates. Let it be the aim of each and every one to labor earnestly to perfect himself in military drill, in- structions and discipline. It will be necessary, and one of the first cares, to pre- serve health, and as your commanding officer I enjoin upon officers and men to look well to preserving your present physical condition, which is evidenced to be good by reason of your acceptance by the surgeons and mustering officer. Going into a hot climate, as we doubtless will, it will be necessary to the preservation of health to abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks. Let your aim be at all times to be prepared for duty by presenting yourself in your best physical condition, with- out impairment of body or intellect produced by any article that will weaken or impair. Let your stimulants be a pride in the perfectness of your bodies, and a zeal and 30 HISTORY OF THE energy to become the best regiment not only from our own state, but any other state. It is expected of you, and is due the government which you serve, that we will do nothing that will interfere with all the requirements, demanded of us. 2. The letter designations of companies is as follows: Captain Lee M. Olds, Company A. Captain Winston Menzies, Company B. Captain Thomas J. Hudgins, Company C. Captain Charles E. Crosby, Company D. Captain Louis C. Baird, Company E. Captain William M. Smith, Company F. Captain Albert D. Ogborn, Company G. Captain James M. Gwinn, Company H. Captain William Guthrie, Company I. Captain Wilford T. Stott, Company K. Captain James L. Anderson, Company L. Captain George A. West, Company M. The relative rank of all' commissioned officers of the same grade corresponds to the designation by letter of their companies, those of Company A being senior, and through regular gradation by letter to Company M, its officers being junior. For instance, the captain, first and second lieu- tenants of Company A will be the seniors in rank in their grade in the regiment, and those of Company M the juniors. Precedence of non-commissioned officers of the same grade and the same relative positions in a grade will, like- wise, be determined. For instance, the first, second, third, etc., sergeants of Company A will be senior in rank to the first, second, third, etc., of other companies, but the third sergeant of Company A will not be senior in rank to the second ser- geant of any other company. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3 I 3. The following assignment of companies to battal- ions is hereby announced: First Battalion, Companies A, E, K, M. Second Battalion, Companies B, D, F, I. Third Battalion, Companies C, G, H, L. Lieutenant-Colonel Victor M. Backus, Major Harold C. Megrevv and Major Matt. R. Peterson, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, are assigned to the command of the First, Second and Third Battalions re- spectively. They will be obeyed and respected accordingly. Battalion commanders are authorized to appoint their commissioned and non-commissioned staff officers, with the approval of the regimental commander. 4. On and after the 17th inst. , officers' school will be established and held daily, Saturdays and Sundays ex- cepted, from 3:15 P. m. to 4:15 P. m. Officers' call will be sounded at 3:05 p. M., at which time all officers not excused by regimental commander will repair to regimental head- quarters. 5. On and after the 17th inst. non-commissioned of- ficers' school will be held daily from 8:45 a. m. to 9:45 a. m., at such places as company commanders may designate. The instruction of each company will be under the super- vision of company commanders, and all company officers and non-commissioned officers not excused by the regi- mental commander will be required to attend. School call will be sounded at 8:35 a. m. 6. All drills, until further orders, will be squad drills. Battalion commanders will see that this order is strictly en- forced. 7. The verbal appointment of John K. Brunt, first lieutenant and quartermaster One Hundred and Sixty-first 32 HISTORY OF THE Indiana Volunteer Infantry, to be acting ordnance officer of the regiment is hereby made of record. By order of Colonel Durbin. Oliver M. Tichenor, ist Lieut, and Adjutant 161st Ind. Vol. Inf. It will be noticed by the order of companies herein mentioned that the company from Hammond, commanded by Lee M. Olds, was made the ranking company of the regiment. No body of men worked harder than did the boys and officers of Company A. They were at it early and late and attained very speedily to the degree of excel- lency that characterized their work. Other companies as well were doing most excellent work, but the Mount Ver- non company was perhaps the one that made the Ham- mond boys work hardest for their distinction, and the earnest and pleasant rivalry resulted in a hard choice be- tween them. The four company commanders first mus- tered were called into the presence of Colonel Durbin and the battalion commanders. They were given the prefer- ence of choosing the ranking company themselves or leav- ing the decision to the committee before them. They pre- fered to abide by the decision of the latter, and the choice was accordingly made. At a meeting of all officers the following evening a like method was determined upon for fixing the rank of companies mustered on the 1 2th and 1 3th. The first meeting of officers was held July 13th in the dispensary room of the headquarters building where Major Megrew, Captains Smith and Guthrie were appointed a committee to suggest some out-fitter's establishment for uniforms, etc. There was only one man in those days and his name was Pettibone. Accordingly Mr. Pettibone's agent was busy for weeks fitting (?) the officers out. Patience is a most excellent virture and the officers now ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 33 had the most excellent opportunity for its display. They waited many weary weeks after those gilded coats and striped pants were due, and when they came, — to see those fits! The officers had to do something and not being pro- fane men, they had to laugh; they had a perfect fit of this. To see John R. Brunt poke his long arms through a Kaki that would quicker fit a Lilliputian — short sleeves perhaps intended for evening dress; — to see Victor M. Backus color up with blood as he tugged to squeeze himself on the inside of his — to see W. T. Durbin lose himself in his — and every one else look ridiculous — to see this would have made Pettibone himself laugh. In fact those were marvelous suits, self-fitting, warranted to fit anybody and lest any one who is in the distance heard the hilarious proceedings that lasted so long into the night of July 25th should form an unfavorable impression of our sobriety let it here be chron- icled that the officers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry were simply trying on the Pet- tibone suits. At a similiar meeting of officers the next day the colo- nel announced the first officers' school, which met on Mon- day, 1 8th, in the upstairs of the headquarters building. A few remarks were made by Colonel Durbin in which he designated Major Peterson as instructor. A typical school in which "Tactics " were explained, for which a man was supposed to study his lessons, at which the roll was called and which no officer could absent himself without a legiti- mate excuse. The officers always knew how to execute the movement in question with their men but could not tell in school just what command they would use to do it with. This was the one peculiar and mysterious feature. On Tuesday, July 19th, the first issue of clothing was made by the quartermaster and as fast as possible there- after the men were supplied from United States clothing 3 34 HISTORY OF THE department. One can easily imagine the change that such change of garments made. The boys did really look taller, but it is doubtful if they looked as much taller as it seemed to them they were. On Wednesday, 20th, the first bat- talion formation was made by Major Megrew, commanding the Second Battalion. In the evening of the 21st the friends of Lieutenat- Colonel Backus presented him with a sword. Concerning that occasion the following is from the Indianapolis Senti- nel, of the 22nd of July: The porch of the headquarters at Camp Mount was the scene of a very pleasant gathering last evening on the occasion of the presentation of a sword to Lieutenant- Colonel Backus by a number of his friends in this city. It was filled with the officers of the regiment, and a number of ladies and gentlemen and a crowd of soldiers of the camp were gathered before it. Mr. Ben Webb and Mr. E. M. Johnson were the chief managers of the ceremony. The presentation speech was made by Mr. J. P. Dunn, who spoke as follows: "Lieutenant-Colonel Backus — We are come to tender to you a token of esteem for the past and a confidence for the future. A third of a century has passed away since the gloomy cloud of civil war lifted from our country, but time has not dimmed the memory of the glorious deeds that were done in that gigantic struggle. With us of Indi- ana and Illinois there is no part in the achievements of that war that is looked upon with higher pride than that borne by Wilder's brigade. The rest of the country does not know as we know the story of that flying swarm of the pio- neers of battle. We have listened with eager earnestness to the account of its brilliant victory at Hoover's gap. We have heard with breathless interest the story of its daring destruction of the supply depot at Decker, and its ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 35 escape over the hills from the overwhelming Confederate force that came just too late for its protection. We have thrilled with excitement over the description of the un- looked-for attack on Chattanooga when Lilly's guns wak- ened the enemy from a sense of security. We have heard with quickened pulse the account of its stubborn fighting at Chickamauga, at Selma and at Macon. It is a wonderful story of wild raids and desperate chances taken— of riding by night and fighting by day — for there was little rest where John T. Wilder commanded. And we may well wish it were all recorded in permanent form that those who come after us may know it as we know it. Those who can re- count it are swiftly passing from our sight. It is but a few weeks since they laid to rest that true and tried soldier, John Fleming. But a little later this whole community bowed in sorrow at the announcement of the death of that peerless man — that knight errant in war and peace — Colonel Eli Lilly. Only this week you buried gallant Bill Bray — as brave a man as ever carried a musket in our army. And I can but think that there must have been great satisfaction to that grizzled veteran in his last days, when he heard how you, his youthful protege, the youngest soldier of the brigade, had given to Indiana the un- precedented honor of tendering the services of a full regi- ment of volunteers before the president's call was received. " But while we treasure these memories of the past, we rejoice that we have reached new times and new condi- tions. We glory in the knowledge of an united country, and we know that the blood now shed in battle against a foreign foe shall cement the hearts of all sections so that we shall be disunited no more forever. Surely our sol- diers shall march with quickened step and lighter heart be- cause America is all on one side and under one flag. We are one nation and one people. 36 HISTORY OF THE "Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, I address you in behalf of your fellow-citizens, your neighbors, your friends. We offer you this sword with unbounded confidence that it will never know dishonor. We know that if its blade shall be reddened it will be with the blood of the enemies of your country, shed in fair and honorable combat. We know that when it flashes in the charge it will be before the eyes of your men. We wish that when you grasp its hilt it shall bear the message to you that our hopes, our kindliest wishes and our prayers are with you and all your comrades who go to uphold the nation's honor. Some of you may not return. The enemy's arms or dread disease may leave you lifeless in the foreign lands. Some of you may return broken with sickness or with wounds. We hope for the best. We trust that God may deal kindly with you. We wish this sword to be with you in remembrance that what- ever may befall you, and all of you, shall be held by us in honor, in esteem and in affection, while we shall live." Lieutenant-Colonel Backus received the sword with evident emotion and briefly returned thanks to the donors. He said that he was certain that the regiment was the best one that had been sent out to the war. It had the best colonel, the best majors, the best captains and the best men. He was certain that good reports would come from it when it got to the front. When he returned from the the Civil, war thirty-three years ago, he carried a Spencer rifle and he only hoped that this sword would come back with as good a record as that rifle. He would promise one thing, and that was that it should not come back dishon- ored in any event. On Saturday, July 23d, occurred the first wedding. The Second Batallion, of which the bridegroom was a mem- ber, formed in hollow square in an open space of the grove. Two other companies were also present, and here in the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 37 presence of comrades and friends, on nature's soft carpet, and under her beautiful skies, after Colonel Backus had said " I give this woman to be the soldier's bride," the regimental chaplain performed the ceremony that made Sergeant Robert L. Cromer, of Company I, and Miss Pink Allen, of Logansport, man and wife, and the soldiers gave three rousing cheers for the happy couple. On Sunday, July 24, the first regimental parade took place. Visitors were in abundance that day and from the grand stand and from the windows and balcony of the Administration build- ing they watched eleven hundred boys form in one long line of companies that stretched through the oval race track from end to end; it was a big crowd of soldiers and and as Lieutenant-Colonel Backus looked upon it, it seemed to grow bigger with every second; finally he shouted: "Right forward! fours right!" and after a remarkable maneuver got them to pass in review before Colonel Durbin. It was on this day that the adjutant's remarkable riding furnished material for such favorable newspaper comment. In the meantime international concerns were progress- ing exceeding slow, and while the men were speculating as to the when and where of our departure, public opinion was forming itself into the impression that we were on our first and only camping ground. As soon, however, as tentage was received the regiment was to change quarters, to leave the old barns and pitch a more model camp in the eastern portion of the grounds. This savored of a longer stay but was simply the purpose to improve the time and camp and give the men a little more military experience, even though the tents should stand only for a day, but who knew? Accordingly the camp was laid out, thirteen wells were driven, tents were issued, and on July 29 and 30 the boys took up their beds and walked to the little village of tents 3§ HISTORY OF THE and in the evening at taps laid themselves down by fives in the little white houses. The ground was the same as that occupied by the other Indiana regiments, but so orderly and in such system was this camp laid out that favorable comparisons and com- ments were heard by all who visited the regiment while there. It was the idea which later perfected made the One Hundred and Sixty-first camp a "revelation." On July 31st (Sunday) occurred the first muster for pay. "Of all the signing of rolls that was the best one yet," said one man as he finished. On the 2d day of August the 45-caliber, 1884 pattern, Springfield rifles with bayonets were issued. They made the men appear very formidable, and they began at once the practice of the manual of arms; and for several days the boys drilled and speculated on the future, and posed for Treadwell-Shane, who hung the " Father of his Country " out to smile upon the boys, while he made mounted heroes out of them on a card 14x20, all for the small sum of $1.50 each. Saturday, August 6, at 5:30, the first guard was mounted, in a military fashion, Major Peterson acting as regimental adjutant; Captain Olds was officer of the day, and Lieutenant Reynolds was officer of the guard. The band was in formation, but instrumentless, and two of them accompanied the ceremony with bugles. This has always been an attractive feature; it was interesting that evening because it was new, but later, when executed with such spirited precision, the inspiring music, the inspection of guns, the entire ceremony, from the marching up of each detail to the passing in review before its officers, the act, although somewhat dramatic, was attractive and inter- esting, and impressed thoughtful minds with a world of meaning. In that ceremony one could see the whole his- tory of a war; so much have sentinels to do with battles. 40 HISTORY OF THE Boys, do you remember the brave deed of August 5 ? History would be incomplete without it. It was 2:30 p. m. when you formed yourselves and with determination deeply stamped upon your brows you advanced on head- quarters. Lieutenant-Colonel Backus was not the man you was looking for, and when he asked your purpose you demanded that he bring the colonel out, and the colonel came out of his tent; you remember when came and looked right at you — you know how the colonel could look — and when he said: " What does this mean ? " your leader swal- lowed the lump that rose like lightning in his throat and managed to say: " We want more privileges ? " and the colonel said: "Every man of you to your tents, at once ! ' In a minute not a man was in sight. You always were obedient. On August 7 (Sunday) the regiment was called out for parade; Lieutenant-Colonel Backus passed the regiment in review and rode to his place by the side of Colonel Dur- bin. The colonel asked him to form the regiment in line of masses, as he had something to say to them. After complimenting them on their appearance as a regiment he told them of the following order he that day received. Washington, D. C, August 7, 1898. Col. Win field T. Durbin, commanding One Hundred and Sixty -first United States Volunteer Infantry, Camp Mount, Indianapolis, Indiana: By direction of the secretary of war, you will proceed as soon as practicable with your regiment to Jacksonville, Florida, and report to the commanding general there. Upon receipt of this order you will at once communicate with the chief quartermaster, Chicago, for the necessary transportation, and with the chief commissary, Chicago, for ten-days' field rations, the necessary travel rations and cof- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 4 1 fee monev. The quartermaster general and commissary general have instructed the chief quartermaster and chief commissary as above to provide the transportation rations, and coffee money. Telegraph day of departure to command- ing general of Seventh Corps, also to this office, specifying amount of tentage, kind and calibre of arms and ammuni- tion taken with you. Acknowledge receipt. By order of the secretary of war. H. C. Corbin, 12:38 P. M. Adjutant General. No one present will forget the demonstration which followed the reading of this order. It meant that the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was not to go home, but was to share in whatever there was yet to do to accomplish the end for which war was declared. And didn't the boys shout, and didn't they yell, and didn't every hat go up in the air, and didn't the officers do their share of noise- making, and how the people in the grand stand did wonder what the Colonel had said that threw the boys into such a commotion, and then when they were given "fall out" after reaching the company streets, how each company vied with every other in seeing which could make the most noise. After supper breaking the news to mother and other friends was the order until taps, and immediately next morning all loose articles were carefully packed away and preparations made for an immediate departure. Tents were searched and all side arms demanded. The boys had enlisted to fight and couldn't understand this seeming hard- ship, but experience calls it a wise precaution. Tuesday, the 9th, the paymaster squared every man with the Government, and on Wednesday we would have been marching to the cars had transportation been furnished as per expectation, but all was in readiness the following 42 HISTORY OF THE day, and I p. m. , August n, found the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana marching toward the Nor«th street depot, from which point, by contract, the Big Four was to carry us all to Jacksonville. Concerning this day's events the following is taken, in part, from the Indianapolis Journal of the 1 2th instant: "The One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment has gone to Jacksonville, leaving Camp Mount deserted except for the two colored companies. There were no drills in camp in the morning, but every soldier was intense with excitement in anticipation of the move to the south, even though none of the troops may ever see the smoke of battle. The offi- cers were instructed to have a man at each corner of every tent at nine o'clock promptly, and at bugle call to draw the ropes and pack tents and equipment at once. As soon as the bugle blew the blast every tent fell over to the north just as if a cyclone had struck camp and swept the field clean. In twenty minutes the tents were down, packed and loaded into wagons to be hauled to the cars near by. "An early noon mess was ordered, and at one o'clock the ride to Sixteenth street began. The colored compa- nies, which acted as escort to the regiment, came first and were followed by the First Battalion. These were followed by the Second and Third Battalions. The soldiers left the cars at Sixteenth street and marched across to Meridian, where they halted, waiting for Colonel Durbin and staff, who came up a few minutes before three. Governor Mount, his secretary and the When Band were in waiting. At three o'clock ihe order to ' fall in ' was given and the line of march began, the colored men in front, then Gov- ernor Mount, Colonel Durbin and staff. The First, Sec- ond and Third Battalions followed in the order given. Company F carried the flag in the middle of the regiment. The length of the line was six blocks, four abreast. Hun- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 43 dreds of people lined the way along the line of march, shoutirg 'good-bye' to the soldiers. When the flag was carried along the crowd went wild with applause and hats were lifted until it had passed. In front of the state house the troops were drawn up and passed in review before the governor." We have always thought of the governor as our friend, and every officer and private felt something of the debt to him for its magnificent beginning under his care and super- vision. Every regiment claimed and received his interest and his attention, and he dealt fairly and impartially with them all, out of concern for the credit they were to reflect upon the State that sent them forth, but the One Hundred and Sixty-first, being the only volunteer regiment, he nec- essarily came into closer touch with its organization. His notable wisdom in the selection of officers and the justice characterizing his every dealing with the regiment, won the admiration of every soldier. Its welfare received his attention in every possible way and the good reputation it afterward sustained was to him a source of deep pleasure. It is a pleasure to here insert the governor's speech which was made to the regiment drawn up before him and which so many of the men far down the narrow street could not hear. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH. "Soldiers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteers — You are to-day bidding good-bye to friends, to home and to your native state. In behalf of this com- monwealth I desire to bid you good-bye and godspeed on your journey. In common with thousands of brave men, you tendered your service upon the first call of the President of the United States for volunteers. You pleaded ear- nestly and with importunity that your service might be accepted. You reflect but the patriotism of tens of thou- sands of other brave men in Indiana who tendered their Governor James A. Mount. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 4$ services and who have importuned earnestly that their serv- ice might be accepted. (Applause.) It has been your patriotism and the patriotism of the brave men of Indiana that enabled the state to take her proud position at the front of the states in furnishing her quota of soldiers. (Applause.) It was this patriotism that enabled Indiana to report her quota ready first of all the states. It was this patriotism that enabled Indiana to have her soldiers first mustered into the service. It will not, soldiers, militate against your patriotism or your honor that you may not engage in battle. You have made per- sonal sacrifice — no one knows but a soldier and a soldier's family the personal sacrifice he makes when he enlists in his country's service. He goes forth to meet the dangers of battle and the disease of the camp. He goes forth perhaps not to return to those who are dear to him. He enlists and is ready for whatever service the government may accept of him. He sacrifices his home, he leaves loved ones, and only a mother can tell what sacrifices she makes when she bids farewell to her darling boy, and only that boy knows the sacrifice of leaving home when he bids farewell to his mother and his friends. Some of you have bade good-bye to a loving wife, some of you to a mother and a father, some to brothers and sisters, but you are all bidding good-bye to friends who are as dear to you as your own life. Not only this sacrifice, but many of you are sacrificing your business. You have allowed nothing to come between you and your country. I may truthfully say of Indiana that the five regiments that have gone forth from this state, and are now going, and the two independent companies, and the two batteries, are as grand men as ever enlisted in any cause. (Applause.) And they are all of them as brave men as ever entered an army for the defense of the country. (Renewed applause.) And if opportunity offers Indiana soldiers will reflect credit upon the govern- ment and upon this great commonwealth. (Applause.) " It looks at this time as though the war might be near its termination, and in the dawn of peace we all rejoice. These brave men have been willing to give their lives, but God spare their lives and permit them to return. 46 HISTORY OF THE all of them, to this state. (Great applause.) But, sol- diers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first, I am not a prophet, but I predict that you will tread on Cuban soil before you are welcomed back to the state of Indiana. {Tremendous applause.) I believe that the gallant Fitz- hugh Lee, if he does not go to Cuba as conqueror, will go there with an army of occupation (applause), and I believe this regiment, with General Lee, will be on Cuban soil next winter. And, comrade soldiers, there will be battles for you to fight, though they may not be against the enemy. The insidious temptations that follow camp life require courage to meet and maintain your honor and your dignity. I would counsel you, meet these temptations of camp life like heroes. There is no schooling, in my judgment, that is grander than the schooling a soldier receives in camp and in battle. The mask will be thrown aside. You will see men in their true character. In the army some men will do that which they would scorn to do in society. But the true soldier will maintain his dignity, his gentlemanly demeanor, in camp and in battle, as well as in society. (Applause.) And those soldiers that meet the dangers and temptations of camp and return with their characters unsullied, dignified, temperate, gentlemanly at the close of war will be men who have learned lessons that will be of incalculable benefit to them through life. So my parting words would be to these brave men, be diligent, be active, be brave, be temperate, be contented, maintain a cheerful disposition. We are told that a cheerful spirit doeth good as a medicine. The soldier that becomes disheartened and discouraged in camp is in danger of inviting disease and of meeting death. So, soldiers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first, acquit yourselves like men, so that when you return to your friends and to your state you will return bringing back that nobility of character and manhood as well as a brave record as a soldier. I have no fear the good name of Indiana will be vindicated in the camp or in the furnace of battle. (Applause.) Go forth, brave men of Indiana, and may God's blessing and God's protecting power go with you, and in his good providence may you be per- mitted to return and receive that welcome that patriotic ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 47 soldiers deserve from their friends and from their native state." (Tremendous applause.) Colonel Durbin made a few happy remarks and then, dismounting from his horse, shook hands with the gov- ernor. Colonel Backus followed Colonel Durbin's exam- ple. Cheer after cheer was given by the soldiers for the flag and officers. The march then continued to the North street depot, where cars were in readiness. At 8:30 o'clock the first section, bearing the Third Battalion, left the depot; a few minutes intervened between the starting of the other two sections, the first of which carried the First Battalion and the second the Second Battalion. The arrangements were complete and were carried out with precision in every detail. The One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry was on its way to join the army of Fitz Hugh Lee. CHAPTER III. EN ROUTE TO JACKSONVILLE. The three trains left North street station a few mo- ments apart and passed in close succession through the Union depot at 9:10 p. m., and a few moments later the lights of Indianapolis were shining far behind us as the well- loaded coaches sped away to the south. The entire train save the baggage and freight accom- modations was composed of sleeping cars and the troops were transported with every possible convenience and comfort. The brief run of each section is better described by one who was there. THE FIRST SECTION. While the big guns were belching at Santiago the One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment, just mustered into service, was listening with bated breath and wondering if ever it would be theirs "to do or die." The wiseacres knowingly shook their heads and said "you fellows will never leave Camp Mount until you are mustered out," so it was a great relief to all when the orders came to report at Jacksonville. The Third Battalion was designated as the first section, carrying besides its four companies, Colonel Durbin, with Major Smith and Adjutant Tichenor of the staff and Lieutenant-Colonel Crooker, commissary officer, and the usual amount of impedimenta including the regi- mental horses. It was 8:50 p. m. before we were loaded on Pullmans at the North street station and started on our ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 49 mission for humanity's sake over the Big Four by way of Louisville, Kentucky. Our first stop was at Shelbyville at i t o'clock, where a large number of people were waiting with a farewell for the boys of Company C; but little time was given them, however, and we were soon speeding on our way, arriving at Louisville about 3 A. M., where we were transferred to the L. & N. Railroad; a few hours more and we were passing through some battle fields of old upon which there is a monument to the memory of the boys in blue who had fallen there long before the majority of us were born. At Bowling Green trouble began with a native selling whisky to the men and who had no intention of respecting the order of Lieutenant Dority, who had been appointed provost marshal for the section, and when the bystanders interfered in behalf of their fellow townsman trouble of a very serious character began to brew, until Colonel Durbin and the adjutant came to the marshal's assistance; the liquor was confiscated, the soldiers ordered to the train, and the offending party allowed his freedom for lack of time to punish him. The train went flying away, making Nashville about noon, where coffee was served for the first time since leaving Camp Mount. We were soon on our way again, reaching Birmingham, Alabama, shortly before midnight, where we passed General Carpenter and staff of the Fourth Army Corps on their way to Huntsville, where that corps had been ordered from Tampa. At Birming- ham several colored men boarded the train and began to' go through some of the clothing of the men whose fathers had made them free. They were, however, soon promptly fired from the train, and, after a few shots fired in the air by the daring lieutenant appointed for that purpose, the train was ready to proceed. The next morning papers at Decatur told us that the protocol had been signed and that 50 HISTORY OF THE the war was virtually at an end; but on we went, arriving at 2:45 p. m. at Thomasville, known as the "garden city of the south," and one of its best known and most popular health resorts. Late in the afternoon we came to Way- cross; here we had an hour's stop. The colonel ordered the battalion off and instructed company commanders to give their men the setting-up exercise and some of the foot movements. A heavy rain interfered even before Com- pany G could complete its roll call, yet it was finished de- spite the fact that every man got soaked through; the other companies broke for shelter at the first sign and were soon scattered over town, some looking for a bite to eat, others for a drink, the former getting the best of the deal, for Waycross is a sure enough "dry town," despite the fact that the streets were flooded with water and the mud ankle deep. At Waycross an old darkey brother came to us with the query "is you all gwine down to jine Sherman?" Assuring him that we were, we again boarded the train and soon finished our journey, arriving at Jackson- ville at 9:30 p. m. of the 13th, where we were run into the yards and there awaited the coming of the other sections, which were said to be somewhere in our rear. The trip was devoid of any incident further than the excitement, to some of the favored ones riding on the engine while pass- ing through Georgia, caused by running over an occasional steer. SECOND SECTION. This section followed closely after the first. It car- ried the First Battalion with Lieutenant-Colonel Backus in command and with Lieutenant Gerrish and Chaplain Biederwolf of the staff. The men were comfortably fixed, two in a lower berth and one in an upper and with every one in highest spirits ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 5 I we chased away in hot pursuit of the section in advance. Captain Baird was made officer of the day and Lieutenant Fitch officer of the guard. For every coach end there was a guard who stood with- out in the day and sat within at night. We knew the good example the first section would set us in sobriety and it was desirable to set the same example to the section following us and one of the works of chief importance was preventing liquor being passed to the men through the windows by those who were dwarfed in character enough to do it. One son of darkness was caught in the act just before we started; he was brought into the presence of Lieutenant- colonel Backus who ordered him turned over to civil au- thorities; how he did beg and promise and finally when the Colonel asked him how quick he would get out if allowed to run he said " Now boss, foh God! if you give dis chile three seconds you can shoot at him. ' The colonel gave it to him and he was out of sight in less time than he had bargained for. At every stop along the way guards were placed outside along the cars who did double duty of keeping the men in and every thing undesirable out. In this regard the section is indebted to Lieutenant Ger- rish for admirable service rendered. The train reached the smoky city of Louisville early on the morning of the 1 2th where it had the misfortune of starting up before some of the men got on board. Billy Woods, of Company A, and a few others had only met some friends but they turned up in Jacksonville as good as new a few minutes after the regiment was on the ground. The boys didn't do a thing to the big juicy water- melons that were waiting all along the way to meet the train. They were dessert to the corn-beef. and beans and hard-tack that fed the boys, and revenue to the sleepy old 52 HISTORY OF THE farmer who was fortunate enough to have his crop in the right market at the right time. Everywhere we were greeted with characteristic south- ern cordiality, especially generous under circumstances fast obliterating the last bit of sectional feeling and calling us together in the common struggle then on. There were cheers and there were waving handkerchiefs, there were hand-shakings and expressive good-byes though they had met but for a moment. Beautiful bouquets, roses and loose flowers were laid in our hands at every stop and on every side expressions of universal good feeling and best wishes to cheer us as we went, made the run an interesting and delightful one. From an occasional inquiry as to when the preceding section had passed we learned that either they were gain- ing time or we were losing it; our frequent stops to repair couplings suggested the latter; the platforms were pulling off and in order to arrive with the same number of cars with which we started it became necessary to stop at Decatur, Alabama, and throw three cars to the rear. The train then rolled on to Montgomery, Alabama's capital, and for a brief period capital of the Confederate States; here the men who cared to wake up got coffee at 2 a. m. The first section seemed to be uneasy about the tardiness and sent us the following telegram, received about one hundred and fifty miles out of Montgomery. " Lieut. -Col. Backus: " Why is second section so far behind; report condition of your command, including chaplain. "Col. W. T. Durbin." The following reply was wired at once. "Col. W. T. Durbin: " Making best possible time, three couplings broke; all sober except chaplain." "V. M. Backus." ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 53 That was an ingenious stroke, but a few hours later when information was received that beer was substituted for coffee at Thomasville the chaplain had a fit of genuine sobriety. Could any one think that a hungry man would prefer beer to a quart of delicious hot coffee; were the men who did not drink beer to have nothing? No. A canvass was made. " Boys remember those who take beer get no coffee." Be it to their credit that three-fourths chose cof- fee, which they got; the guzzler gulped his beer and then begged for coffee which he didn't get and the train rolled on to Waycross. More than a century ago General Ogle- thorpe, then governor of the colony of Georgia, had his head- quarters in Waycross; it is to-day one of the most attract- ive places in the state, its temperature and its environs making it a rendezvous for many a winter visitor. After a short stay for supper the train pulled out for the last part of the long run to Jacksonville just as the third section came up at 9 P. m. Arriving at Jacksonville at 2:30 A. M. , we found the first section a few hours in advance of us and after waiting until 6:30 A. M. the men had an opportunity for breakfast, and were ready to leave for the campsite, six miles out of the city. THE THIRD SECTION. After a long, weary wait on the transportation depart- ment there came a scramble for berths in the train which was to convey the third section to Jacksonville, Florida; then another one of those unexplained delays which seemed to be intended for those who had mothers, wives and sweet- hearts to bid goodbye, and we steamed slowly away from anxious friends and relatives, from our native state and from the scene of our regimental birth. Our trip was to be a long one, uneventful in most part, but in fact made up of 54 HISTORY OF THE numerous modest incidents which become more interesting with retrospection. Besides the battalion commander and his companies this section was accompanied by Quartermaster Brunt and Dr. Wilson of the staff. Officers of the day and guard were appointed, the train was carefully searched, all lock- ers and other places of possible concealment opened and every discovered drop of intoxicants thrown away and every precaution taken to bring the section through in an orderly and commendable way. Sleep and sociability were scarce that night; in sub- dued wakefulness the boys lay quiet and thought of the past and the unknown future. Of course the coffee did not turn up at the breakfast hour, but it came later. The first meeting with the preceding section occurred at Bow- ling Green, Kentucky, where, after a short breathing space, we separated for another run. At Nashville it was late coffee again. We were fast leaving our beloved North behind us as was plainly noticed by the increase of colored people and by the increase of R's in the speech of the whites. We stopped for a short time at the historic town of Pulaski, made historic by its association with the Army of Tennessee in the last great war. We stayed in Pulaski too long, all on account of a dog; just a shepherd dog, nameless so far as we knew, but he left Pulaski with our train, it is presumed, and soon the wires were hot with messages which were being continually poked at us in regard to that dog; the militia was not ordered out by Governor Taylor, nor was the military force of Alabama called upon to restore the much desired canine, but many a self-important marshal of many a sleepy southern town was forced to stop whittling his favorite store-box and inquire for the lost pet. In the meantime the dog's con- science troubled him for leaving home and we kindly put ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 55 him in a condition to return, and when we were next approached by a diplomatic representative of the Mont- gomery police force in reference to the dog he was given carte blanche to search the train, but in vain, for if the dog wasn't on his way home, who could be blamed? Surely not the policeman. The short stops at the small stations, such as Ashford in Alabama, Bainbridge, Thomasville and Naylor in Geor- gia, gave us an opportunity to observe the strangers among whom fate had thrown us. At Bainbridge and Naylor our coaches were strewn with beautiful southern roses; at the former of these places a charming little southern beauty gave to Major Megrew a sweet smile, accompanied with a beautiful bouquet of roses, on the inside of which was a little note which read: "If you want to make the Spaniards run, just give the rebel yell," and signed "A Little Rebel." The extreme cordiality which was shown to us all through the south was too strong to be misunderstood; it was a feeling of friendship and good will. We reached Jackson- ville about 3:30 a. m., August 14, and in six hours with the rest of the regiment we were disembarked at Panama Park, and the pine and palm thickets were being razed in a most unceremonious manner, and palm trees that were sold for dollars in our own states were being chopped down like thistles, and in their stead arose the square white houses of the new comers — the tall hoosiers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. First impressions are not always reliable, but the men were scarcely ever relieved of the unfavorable impression which Florida first made upon them. No doubt they were expecting too much; their imagination had been fired by 56 HISTORY OF THE glowing accounts and exaggerated pictures of her luxuriant vegetation and they were going " Way down in the South where gulf breezes blow, Where tall, stately pines and the live oaks grow, Where soft summer nights are cooled by the dew, And a summer sun shines the winter months through." They were bound for the "sunny South," where lux- urious fruits of untold variety would be theirs for the trouble of gathering them; they were expecting monkeys to threw cocoanuts at them out of the tops of beautiful palms. But it is true that the Seventh Army Corps did not locate in the best part of this reputed land of flowers and although recent winters have been too severe for much of its fruit- age yet there are many portions of the great peninsula that are veritable garden spots. But there was an abundance of some things; for instance, there were darkies enough; there were pine trees enough and there was sand enough; enough for a whole Sahara if you made up in depth what it lacked in breadth; there was also sun enough; the boys always had trouble about noon in finding their shadows and the direct and intense heat made one dull and stupid; and there was Florida moss enough dressing all those live oaks in mourning so prophetic with their drapery of the spirit that was so soon to take hold of the men. When the several trains arrived at the camping site the regimental effects were at once unloaded and the men began to carry them to their proper places where the com- pany streets had been laid out. An elevated piece of ground already cleared for drilling purposes by the Third Nebraska, who were immediately on our right, had been reserved for us and immediately the busy scenes incident to arranging camp commenced; by late evening all tents were up and the camp in such shape as a day's work of a ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 57 regiment will usually put it, but all the men were tired; the tramping over sand and scorched by a hot August sun that cooked the vitality out of a fellow and the hard work after a hard ride went a good ways for the strongest man who was not accustomed to such depressing environment and when the evening came with its cool blessing the boys laid down to sleep and in a* few moments might have been for all they knew back in the Hoosier state where so many soon wished they were. Immediately to our right was the Third Nebraska, beyond them the Second Mississippi and behind us a little to the left the Third Division Hospital. Upon our arrival Colonel Durbin was notified that his regiment had been assigned to the First Brigade, Third Division of the Seventh Army Corps. The Seventh Army Corps had at that time the following composition: Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, Commanding. FIRST DIVISION. Major-General J. Warren Keit'er, Commanding. FIRST BRIGADE. Brigadier-General Lloyd Wheaton, Commanding- First Texas Volunteer Infantry. First Louisiana Volunteer Infantry. First Alabama Volunteer Infantry. SECOND BRIGADE. Brigadier General W. W. Gordon, Commanding. Second Texas Volunteer Infantry. Second Louisiana Volunteer Infantry. Second Alabama Volunteer Infantry. 5^ HISTORY OF THE THIRD BRIGADE. Colonel C. B. Hunt, First Ohio Vol. Inf., Commanding. Fourth United States Volunteer Infantry. First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. SECOND DIVISION. Brigadier-General Abraham K. Arnold, Commanding. FIRST BRIGADE. Brigadier-General Andrew S. Burt, Commanding. Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. First North Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Second New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. SECOND BRIGADE. Colonel D. V. Jackson, Fiftieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Commanding. Fiftieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. THIRD BRIGADE. Brigadier-General H. C. Hasbrouck, Commanding. Second Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Fourth Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Forty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. THIRD DIVISION. Brigadier-General Lucius F. Hubbard, Commanding. FIRST BRIGADE. Brigadier-General Lucius F. Hubbard, Commanding. Second Mississippi Volunteer Infantry. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 59 Third Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer In- fantry. SECOND BRIGADE. Brigadier-General James H. Barklay, Commanding. Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. First South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry. THE SECOND UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. Colonel Jay L. Torrey, Commanding. SIGNAL CORPS BATTALION. Captain H. C. Giddings, Commanding. The Seventh Army Corps on September ist consisted, therefore, of three infantry divisions, one cavalry regiment, one signal corps battalion, three hospital and four ambu- lance companies. A total of twelve hundred and fifty-two commissioned officers and thirty thousand one hundred and nineteen enlisted men. CHAPTER IV. CAMP CUBA LIBRE. August 14, '98-September 30, '98. The following day was like the first and with the com- ing of the next came also the news that on that day, Aug- ust 16, there would be held a brigade review in honor of the governor of Nebraska; Governor Holcomb had arrived in the city, Saturday evening, the 13th, and had come as a visitor of Colonel Bryan, of the Third Nebraska, to Camp Cuba Libre on Sunday, and after spending the night in camp witnessed the review on Monday. Being the first review with which the regiment was connected the officers had naturally a little solicitude about the part it was to play in the parade and did not return in the highest elatement over its deportment, but the fault lay elsewhere than in the regiment. On the 17th occurred the first regimental formation in the South, regimental parade being held late in the after- noon; the following few days were spent as usual under such circumstances; there were tents to be floored, sinks and shacks to be built and land to be cleared; the tempera- ture was 103 and the drilling necessarily very light, one and one-half hours only being devoted to those military gyrations which some of the men have dubbed "The Sol- dier's delight;" now Florida was a part of our country and still is, although some of the men were of the impression that one of the peace conditions should be that Spain should take it back, yet being of their native land, like true patriots ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 6l whose sole purpose it is to sacrifice themselves for their country, the men all became members cf " The Florida Land Improvement Company" and spent their spare time in grubbing stumps and roots and underbrush, thereby enhancing the value of the land so that an acre wholly worthless when we came might under pressing circumstances be sold for a few farthings when we left. On the banks of the St. Johns, not far away, was situated the famous Cum- mer Lumber mills, one of the largest establishments for the sawing and shipping of yellow pine in the United States and with its genial proprietor arrangements were made for fnrniqVn'ngr the regiment wit*" 1 'umber. All told two hundred Company Street in Camp Cuba Libre. and forty thousand feet of lumber were there used by the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indima; as fast as it could be 62 HISTORY OF THE hauled to the regiment it was made up into floors and need- ful structures and by the 19th every tent in the regiment had its floor that was to guard its sleeping inmates from those sneaking malarial microbes that came up out of the ground like a thief in the night to fill the men with poison fever and to steal away their color and their spirits. By the end of the first week the carpenters detailed for the purpose had erected all the company cook shacks; back of headquarters the battalion and noncommissioned mess tents arose and finally after the colonel and all his staff had more sand in their craws than ever before or since a kitchen and breeze catching dining room covered a spot on the sand where they could humour their stomachs in comfort when there was any thing else besides fish to eat. Among the first regimental buildings to be erected was the Commissary. Camp Cuba Libre. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 63 structure to be used for the purpose of the commissary. Here the meat was handled and the bread baked and the rations issued and in this building the Exchange had its birth the following month. The commissary business at Camp Mount had been in the hands of M. R. Peterson, assisted by Lieutenant Meston and rations were issued from the Fine Arts building. Upon the regiment's departure for Jacksonville First Lieutenant Crooker was appointed regimental commissary officer, which position he held until sickness made necessary a leave of absence and Second Lieutenant Freeman was appointed to succeed him on the 5th of September and served till the service closed except during the time between February 23 and March 23, when sick in the Second Division hospital at Camp Columbia, during which time Lieutenant Brunt acted in his stead. Lieutenant Freeman has been ably assisted by the valuable clerkship of Sergeant Charles E. Wolf, acting regimental commissary sergeant. This department draws and issues all rations for the regiment and besides the one thousand three hundred to one thousand five hundred loves of bread baked each day, practically a loaf a day for each man, the following figures will show at what cost to the Government a month's rations are issued to a regiment of men. These figures are furnished by Lieutenant Freeman. Fresh beef, 3 1, 500 lbs. at 6c $1,890.00 Beef roasted, one-pound cans, 3,900 lbs. at 14c 195.00 Flour, 30,400 lbs. at 2c 608.00 Hard bread, 1 1,700 lbs. at 6c 702.00 Beans, 3,000 lbs. at 2c 60.00 Rice, 2,000 lbs. at 6c 120.00 Potatoes, 208 bush, at $1 208.00 Onions, 52 bush, at $1 52.00 64 HISTORY OF THE Tomatoes, 3,480 lbs. at 8} 2 c $295.80 Coffee, green, 2,000 lbs. at 8|c 175.00 Coffee roasted, 1,440 lbs. at I2|c 183.00 Sugar, 5,900 lbs. at 4.\c 265. 50 Vinegar, 400 gals, at 12c 48.00 Salt, 1,600 lbs. at |c 14.00 Pepper, 100 lbs. at 15^0 1 5.50 Soap, 1 , 560 lbs. at 3c 46. 80 Salmon, 3,936 lbs. at 9c 354.24 Bacon, 8,775 lbs. at 7c 614.25 Total $5,847.09 On the 19th another review was ordered, and the brigade was passed in review before its commanding officer, Colonel Montgomery, of the Second Mississippi. On this occasion, as on the previous one, there was no band to fur- nish music for the regiment, but after a long wait a very inferior set of brass band instruments came on the morn- ing of the 22d. All around us from other regiments had been heard the music of their bands, but now the boys were fixed and that day there was music down the lines. " Tich " beat the bass-drum, and the band marched down by the companies, while all the men fell in to cheer; the next morning at " can't get 'em up " time they were aroused in the same way. It was only two weeks until the instruments in question were laid aside and replaced by the high-class ones of the Second Mississippi, who were bound for home. There was another review held on this day, this time it being the division which was passed in review on the usual parade place at 4 o'clock p. m. before Brigadier- General Hubbard. On the 24th the chaplain's assembly tent arose, a cool and commodious affair, where the officer ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 65 in charge could always look for his detail when they turned up missing, and where the men licked the ice when there was no water in the barrel and the hot sun made it danger- ous for them to venture after a bucketfull. On the same day the barn, with its sixteen stalls, the best the horses ever saw since leaving Hoosierdom, was ready for them, previous to which they had stood about making the best of it. At Camp Mount they were sheltered in the comfortable stock barns, in Savannah in a rented affair that passed for a barn, save a few that were given free stalls by a kind friend across the way, while the accommo- dations in Cuba are shown in the accompanying cut. Barn — Camp Cuba Libre. The 25th saw the colonel start on his flying trip to Washington; no one could swear to the purpose for which 66 HISTORY OF THE he went but every private in the ranks knew. Already some of the men wanted to go home but the colonel was in for "On to Cuba," to which place when he returned the fol- lowing Sunday he told them they had the brightest pros- pects of going; it was Sunday evening just time for the chaplain's service when the colonel decided by reason of the exigence of the occasion to hold a little service of his own; he always drew a bigger crowd than the chaplain and that night the men being particularly anxious about their future state he got the whole regiment and when he told them of their probable going to Cuba the same fellows who had just before preferred home -going broke loose in uncon- trollable enthusiam upon the expenditure of which the chaplain had to wait for his service. During the colonel's absence the division was reviewed on the 26th by its commander, and a few days later was passed in review before General Lee. This was the first time the corps commander had reviewed the Third Division, and it brought to the men their first opportunity of seeing the general, of whom they had heard so much. The men were in heavy marching order, and the formation was in masses, on three sides of a hollow square, in the clear space by the side of Panama park. It was the most elab- orate affair the boys had yet attended, and they did them- selves proud; their excellent training was beginning to show, and the regiment received the unqualified recom- mendation of the general. This review was closely fol- lowed by another on the last day of the month. This was, however, to be a review, and the first one, of the entire Seventh Army Corps, and was to be held in the city of Jacksonville before the commander of the corps. The regiment left camp at 12:30 and marched into the city, taking its place in the Third Division, which was reviewed first after Torrey's Cavalry and the Signal Corps ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 67 had passed the reviewing stand. Twenty-three regiments and more than twenty-eight thousand men were in line. The entire police force of the city went before the pro- cession, and General Lee and staff headed the column until the reviewing stand was reached. Every inch of available space was crowded with a mass of white and black humanity, while from the piazzas of the Windsor the more favored looked down and pitied(?) the less fortu- nate. It took two hours for the corps to pass the review- ers, and the men were greeted with long and continued shouts of approval, although, from a military standpoint, the review could not begin to compare with those put up by the same corps, though reorganized, in later months. Among the remarks of the press it was said "Colonel Durbin's command won much praise by its fine marching, full companies and straight lines." Not more than a dozen men from the One Hundred and Sixty-first fell out from exhaustion, but it was a noticeable and notable fact that the men of the southern regiments could not stand the ordeal as well as those from the north, but with drooping heads, laid down in every spot, as the sturdy Hoosiers showed them how to endure their own climate. The companies returned at leisure, marching slowly and resting at will, until they arrived at camp, from 6 to 7:30 p. M., glad the day was over and ready for the night. With the corps review closed the month and its events; much of the men's spare time was spent in exploring the country adjacent to the camp, many whiled away the hours between drills along the shell road that led to Jacksonville, that fine driveway that came into existence when northern generosity sent the suffering south more money than she needed or knew what to do with; others sought the shade under the solemn live oaks in Panama park and glanced in upon the concrete oval where some of the world's bicycle 68 HISTORY OF THE records have been made. The chief amusement was fish- ing in the placid St. Johns at Cummers mill or at the rail- road bridge at Trout Creek. Saturdays and Sundays found many disciples of Izaak Walton with line and net angling for drum and bass or devoting all energy to catching crabs, for it took two men to haul in a crab and then they gener- ally missed him. There was so much sameness to the scenery and the men saw it always before them so they will never forget it were there nothing else but impressions of idle moments to fix it before them. For sixteen days now the regiment had been swelter- ing in awful heat; the burning sun was above and the burning sand beneath, filling all space with direct and reflected rays of intensest heat that drove the men moping to their tents. A small breeze about 10 o'clock that came blowing its way so gently up from St. John's direction, as if it felt uncertain of its welcome, was all that made the day endurable. Between the hours of 1 1 and 2 wisdom drove every man into the shade and regimental work had to wait for cooler hours. The chief blessing of that climate is in the cool nights; all that yellow pine grows in the night time; the humidity of the atmosphere is so dense that a man must either roll his clothes up and hide them or wring them o o o > o K W z w IS 74 HISTORY OF THE wood at each operation. The institution was presented to the Third Division Hospital on the regiment's departure and a somewhat smaller one procured at Savannah which did service throughout the stay in Cuba, where the locomo- tive was fired by Harry Rider, of Company F. For ten days after the 12th nothing of note occurred save the faithful work of the men at drill. Every morn- ing from 7 till 9 battalion drills were on, and a regi- mental parade for every afternoon at 4:30. In looking back upon the work of these early days and upon the continual marching in review at " port arms " before the colonel one may discover the chief reason for that degree of excellence afterwards attained. It was not meant to pass in silence the narrow escape of our old friend Newton Burke, the wagonmaster; may he livelong and prosper; his laugh was a cross betweeen a bantum cackle, a horse neigh and a sheep bleat; you can tell him in the next world if you're near him and he takes a notion to laugh. Others had escapes; Good- rich just missed a cork leg; the chaplain a swampy grave and Stott a humiliating death in the presence of the com- mand, all on account of a horse — the first two from inferior horsemanship, but to manage the steed that Stott rode took skill and strength that few possess. Every one has seen the picture of Sheridan in his daring ride so highly tragic as he dashed along the line of his command, but Phil wasn't in it with Stott. He was mounted on "Kaki." Every- one knows Kaki and knows that if he could speak he could tell some ancient tales, but the way he flew up and down the lines that day was most surprising to Stott and made him think seriously of resigning his commission and joining the Rough Riders. But Newton Burke's experience beat them all. You see, Newton was the new wagonmaster, and, before the corral equipments came, had a few days of leisure and would see the wonderful country into which he had ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 7$ come. Now, Newton should have known better than to get on Pete (pronounced as two syllables) for Pete would do any- thing for Sam Kahn and knew that Sam and Newton didn't get along very well, and consequently had it in for Newton; he couldn't dump the old man outright, for his purpose would have been too apparent, and so waited an occasion which came when a neighboring regimental band began playing as Pete and Newton were going along a ditch by the railroad. Now, Pete didn't do a thing to Newton but roll down the ditch and light on Newton with enough force to break his rib, and the latest is, that Newton got even with Pete by applying for a pension for being kicked by a government mule. September was a month of noted camp improvement. The latter part of the first week's work was begun on the guard-house and ended by erecting a veritable prison, which the men called the bastile, and a cut of which is on another page. Prior to its construction the men were lodged in the assembly tent, and called it a snap; but when put in the bastile the thing was different, and yet how seemingly strange that some men were willing to spend much of their time there rather than make an effort to be a good soldier. About the middle of the month the bath-houses were built, one for each battalion, and a little later, one for headquarters; then the mess-shacks were built, and the necessary work of this character at an end; provision for comfort, cleanliness and sanitary conditions had been made, but work did not stop here. Improvements contin- ued; early in the month two poles were spliced, making one of enormous length, and raised before headquarters to bear the regimental flag, and at reveille and retreat the stars and stripes were raised and lowered as long as Camp Cuba Libre lasted. This ceremony is at once beautiful j6 HISTORY OF THE and impressive, the flag going up to the music of "My Country, 'tis of Thee," and dropping slowly to the soft strains of the "Star Spangled Banner," as every man uncovers and lays his hat over the place of his heart. Witness it once and you will know the American loves his flag. Around the base of this pole was a seven-pointed star-shaped frame, filled with fresh sawdust from the mill, which, when the new pole was raised after the storm had broken the first one, was replaced by a mortar star, cov- ered over with a pure white coat, imprinted with the name of the regiment's brigade and division. Later in the month, on the 19th, was begun the rustic fence running to the right of the regiment and bearing in letters, made from limbs, the regimental and battalion designations; the tall pines standing, in the camp were dressed in a coat of white- wash; the walks along the officers' quarters were covered with sawdust, every visible root was grubbed up and the utmost pains taken in policing the ground, and when the end of the month was near and the news came that the honorable secretary of war was about to visit the corps, the camp of the One Hundred and Sixty-first was ready for any man's inspection. General Alger's visit to the Camp Cuba Libre was a notable event for the Seventh Army Corps and for the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana. The general was accompanied to the city by Surgeon-General Sternberg and General M. I. Luddington, quartermaster-general. The First and Second Division hospitals were inspected and the divisions reviewed; it was after four o'clock when the general and his party reached the Third Division hospital in the rear of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana camp. Not content to allow the surgeon to make these inspections alone, General Alger accompanied him, and together they walked through every ward on the grounds, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. "JJ making inquiry as to needs and conditions, and speaking words of kindness and encouragement to the boys who were sick. The sun was going down as the general left the hos- pital and walked over into the camp of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana. He gave only a casual glance at the white-washed trees and the well-made sawdust side- walks but passed to the rear of the camp. It was on this occasion that he pronounced those words which caused the eyes of the whole Seventh Army Corps to turn upon the regiment from Indiana. He said the camp was "a marvel of neatness" and pronounced it a "revelation." It was dark when the Honorable Secretary of War reached the parade grounds to watch the Third Division pass in review before him; it was perhaps the only review of its kind ever held, and was a most interesting spectacle to the people who waited impatiently for the general to come; the moon was vainly endeavoring to get from behind the hazy clouds and was barely successful in keeping total darkness from covering the scene. One regiment could hardly be distin- guished from another as they passed before the distin- guished visitor, but there was one regiment different from all the rest, and when it had passed the general said to its commanding officer, "Colonel Durbin, that is the finest regiment I have ever seen." After the infantry came the cavalry and the pack mules, which latter afforded great amusement for the visitors as they kicked up their heels and dust and broke away in double time toward the corral which they much preferred to passing in review before the distinguished guest from Washington. It is needless here to comment upon the satisfaction- to officers and men caused by General Agler's commenda- tion of the camp and of the regiment. It shows duty well done and hard honest effort made to bring honor to the great commonwealth from which we came and we have a. right to be proud of the record. CHAPTER V. CAMP CUBA LIBRE. October 1-23, '98. October was ushered in by a Saturday that brought its usual inspection and accompanying quiet while the men lounged around in the shade, or strolled away to the river. The sky was a little overcast in the afternoon and no one would have been surprised if an ordinary storm had blown down upon us, but as night drew its sable gown around us and the men lay down to sleep, none ever dreamed of the things he should behold on the morrow; but the fact was that a hurricane had arisen in the West Indies and was fast sweeping toward us over the south Atlantic coast. The storm struck us in the "wee small hours" of the night; the flags began their slap bang crack as the wind blew "great guns," and the rain poured down in torrents; the poles creaked, the tents swayed and the ropes tugged at the pegs, but they stood it well; yet a few went down in the night and their contents were blown over Duaval county, while a few hats were supposed to have crossed the St. Johns river. No one could sleep and either lay or sat up in their tent, expecting every moment to be buried beneath the groaning canvas. At 5 a. m. the storm abated and all hands were out to see the sights. It was a dismal scene that met the eye, but even while the men were talk- ing of the night's experience, the elements began returning in all their fury; this time every blast that blew discounted one hundred fold anything the night had seen. The storm ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 79 seemed to grow fiercer with every passing moment; the tall pines moaned and strained their fiber as their tops came bowing to the ground, the flag-pole snapped and falling struck Sergeant Major Starr across the back a glancing blow that saved his life. One after the other the tents went down; the huge assembly tent was torn in shreds as the angry wind first blew it down and then played so fiercely underneath it; the wet soil had gathered tight around the pegs, but the houses were built on sand and true to proph- ecy fell. There was no waiting on orderlies then, but every man's hand was turned to save his property, and, while so engaged word came of needed help at the Third fc*-%4. B^» ^K ^^L * ^Bt^^^^^M w ^gj^i . ■ v *m a ml ■s i mtk * *w.«r. .. ' '. uifl C^ "^r >v y l Y*^ m*w^&Wr '.-' w* ^^ a^l . a * T*. ;: Mm H "* \ B - 1 4 1 < IK' • '^ I BBI Stokm Scene at Third Division Hospital. Division hospital. At once more men than could be used left their tents to the mercy of the wind, and went to render heroic service in caring for their sick comrades. By 80 HISTORY OF THE reason of their size the hospital tents were harder to keep from going down, but they were held in place by main strength at the ropes while firmer fastenings were secured. Everything in camp was drenched and the men were cold, tired and hungry. Although the storm was abated by i p. m., a strong and threatening wind blew all day, and fearful of another night of similar experience, the colonel made arrangements with the Florida Central & Peninsula railroad to furnish passenger coaches for the comfort of the men and when they came out in the evening many of the men availed themselves of this opportunity to secure a good night's rest after the stormy events of that gloomy but stirring October day. On the 3rd the new hospital mentioned on another page and prompted by the generous impulse of Colonel Dur- bin, was begun and certainly did prove a blessing to the men who so quickly exhausted its accommodations. About this time a skin concern sent its advance agent into the camp with a proposition to take its convalescents and men with that tired feeling "down the St. John's river for an airing." The price was to be seventy-five cents per man and a fine clamchowder, coffee and ham sandwich dinner free for every man who went. The boat, a fair vessel with " Crescent" written on its prow, left the docks at Cum- mer's mill at 9:30 o'clock with two hundred and fifty men of the described character on board. The chaplain in charge gave the management credit for honesty, supposed the wonderful dinner was being held in reserve for the: men, although sandwiches and coffee were being sold with marvelous rapidity at ten cents each, and when dinner time came the firm was very sorry but everything was gone but chowder, some sort of a red pepper solution through which a clam may possibly have crawled on his pinchers so ele- vated that the real thing never touched the water. It was ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 8 1 also evident that instead of taking the men out for their health they were taken out for a drunk, as beer and whisky were being sold freely; the bar was, however, ordered closed and a guard put over it. The boat finally arrived at Mayport an old stuck-in-the-sand town that betrays its beautiful name, where there was plenty of whiskey but not a thing to eat but dried beef and crackers. Lieutenant Johnson told the management the opinion of honest people in a very emphatic way, and the vessel was boarded for return and we came back a hungry, tired but wiser crowd with only one man wet outside and he fell off the dock in an effort to walk the gang plank. The following day the regiment was rejoicing in pay day and on the 7th the colonel was in possession of communications authorizing him to have his regiment ready to move to Savannah, from which point it was expected embarkation would be made for Cuba. Anywhere to get away from Jacksonville. Its people had been kind and many soldiers will always remember grate- fully their introduction into the families and treatment by the good people of that place, but they were anxious to leave. Just what the Savannah trip meant they did not know — grape-vines were sprouting — an immediate departure for Cuba, a winters stay in Georgia — getting ready for muster out — but news of such a definite character was enough to fill the men with new life, for a volunteer hates stagnation and that is what the continued camp life at Camp Cuba Libre was, and so the men waited eagerly for orders to pack. It was on the 7th that the post exchange was opened for business, the officer in charge being Lieutenant Hanson G. Freeman, Company M, Lawrenceburg. Sergeant C. B. Owens, Company G, was detailed as sergeant in charge and manager. Privates Will A. Taylor, Company M, and Otto Beard, Company C, were detailed as clerks. The 82 HISTORY OF THE regiment having no funds to purchase goods with, the first bill, amounting to one hundred dollars, was bought on ten days' time but was paid off within five days after date of purchase, this being the only bill contracted for and not paid upon delivery during the entire existence of post exchange. The line of goods handled were always of the choicest quality, consisting of fruits in season, canned and bottled goods, cakes, crackers, fresh pies, nuts, candies, cigars, tobaccos, smokers' articles in general. The drinks served being soda water, lemonade, ginger ale and Hire's root beer; no intoxicants whatever were sold or handled in any way. From starting out with an original invoice of one hundred dollars, the stock on hand at different times would invoice two thousand dollars. Dividends would be declared monthly derived from the profits of the post exchange and distributed to the different companies of the regiment, the band, non-commission and hospital mess. . The largest dis- tribution for one month amounted to eight hundred and sixty dollars, this being in the month of March at Camp Columbus, Havana, Cuba. Lieutenant Freeman being the regimental commissary, asked to be relieved as officer of post exchange. Lieutenant Paul Comstock was appointed January I 5, 1899, to take the place made vacant by Lieuten- ant Freeman. No changes were made in the force employed. The largest day's receipts amounted to three hundred and fifteen dollars. Total amount of cash given to regiment in the six months and ten days of its existence amounted to $2,460.00, besides other donations to the regiment amounting to about seventy-five dollars being made. The loss incurred in moving camps by reason of theft or other- wise amounted to five hundred dollars. One feature of the business in Cuba was the purchase of oranges in bulk by the wagon load, from five thousand to 84 HISTORY OF THE six thousand being required to fill one of our army wagons. The wholesale prices of this luscious fruit ranged from five dollars to fourteen dollars per thousand, according to quality and quantity on the market. The first month in Cuba the post exchange handled eighty thousand oranges. Great credit is due both to Sergeant Owens for his careful management and to private Will Taylor for his long and faithful service as clerk. The first target practice of the regiment occurred on October 8. In the afternoon the regiment went to the rifle range and each company was assigned to two targets, and supplied with a thousand rounds of cartridges. Now was the time to put in practice the instructions given by that officer of the regular army who gathered the commis- sioned and non-commissioned officers of the regiment in the assembly tent and told them how to shoot; carefully calculating the distance, the resistance of the air and the parabola of the bullet they pulled the trigger; the old Springfields banged back into their shoulders with a ven- geance that made them blue; the men looked for the red signals, but the target keepers generally forgot to wave them; occasionally a red sign would appear and describe now a horizontal and now a perpendicular or perchance a circle each of which every man that fired declared meant a " bull's eye." The regiment returned at 6:30 p. m., and a few days later marched again to the range, but found that an order had been issued declaring the practice stopped. The drills were now being carried out at greater length, but the monotony of the wearisome "column right" and "left front into line," "to the rear" and "right forward fours right" and .other preliminary move- ments was broken by the more interesting and less exhaust- ing skirmish drill, the men dodging about in the bushes, stooping around by twos and fours, and little groups snap- is. pi o o z c > r o z in t-H 53 r r > O cj K > r Pi 86 HISTORY OF THE ping their rifles and making charges on an unseen enemy with yells that would scare the life out of a whole tribe of Sioux Indians. The iith of the month brought with it another divi- sion review. General Hubbard, the division commander, was about to leave, and the review of this day was not only his last but it was the last time before leaving Camp Cuba Libre that the regiment was to be reviewed other than by itself, and when it was over the men fell back into the rou- tine of the life to which they were by this time so well accustomed, and wondered when the order was to come in definite shape for the move to Savannah; this order, how- ever, was delayed on account of the coming visit of the Washington board of inspectors. This board consisted of Evan P. Howell, of Atlanta; Charles Denby, of Indiana; Colonel James A. Sexton, of Illinois; D. C. Gilman, presi- dent of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. W. W. Keen, of Philadelphia, and General Grenville M. Dodge, of New York, and was appointed by President McKinley to investi- gate charges pertaining to the sanitary conditions of the army. The party arrived at noon on the 17th, and pro- ceeded at once to the camps of the corps. They examined the sinks, and the baths, and the bakeries and the commis- sary stores, and thoroughly inspected the condition of every corral, the report returned to the president being on the whole a favorable one. The following day, at regimental review, General Hubbard was present and witnessed the parade, after which the regiment marched to his quarters, and forming in column of masses tendered him an appropriate farewell. The closing scenes of Camp Cuba Libre were enliv- ened by many an evening spent around the "camp fire" during the cool October nights of our last week on the banks of the St. John's river. The men of the various ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. Sj companies were wont to gather round a blazing fire of pine knots and while away the long evenings with song and jest, and many a song of love and home was wafted on the soft winds that blew up from the old ocean. This was an every night occurrence; but now and then a general "camp fire" would be held, and around the huge fire a great circle would be formed, and in the light of the blaze the best talent of the regiment would entertain the boys and officers till "taps." Amateur boxers donned the gloves and administered the "solar plexus," Rudy gave his "coon" song and "nigger" dance; Jacobs did his "turn," and Sergeant Wolf delighted the assembled sol- diers with his sweet voice. Will those evenings ever be forgotten, whiled away under the tall graceful pine trees and the beautiful night skies of Florida? They were the green spots in the Jacksonville desert, and will grow dear as the years go by " and fond recollections present them to view." On the 2 ist the order came directing the First Brigade, Second Division, to which, upon the corps reorganiza- tion, the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana had been assigned, to repair to Savannah on the evening of October 23, Sunday, of course. On the night of this same day just after "taps" the camp was aroused by the cry of fire; the guard on post near the railroad platform discovered a small blaze in a heap of rubbish in one of the abandoned stands near the regiment; he promptly gave the alarm and the guard assisted by numbers of the men of the regiment attempted to save the adjoining buildings but to no purpose as the light dry pine burned fiercely and the buildings were soon consumed. The pine trees near by caught fire and added luster to the scene and all the night around us was made as bright as the day while dense volumes of pitch black 88 HISTORY OF THE smoke rolled up to make the heavens darker above us; the whole affair made a very respectable bonfire. The 22nd was a day of packing such as the day before our departure from Camp Mount had witnessed and with the dawn of the 23rd the business of getting out began. At 9 o'clock the signal sounded for the tents to fall and in three seconds every tent was flat. The freight was in and near the camp and by 6 o'clock was loaded and ready to leave and soon thereafter the men were ready also but it became evident that a wait was in store for the regiment and as darkness began to fall camp fires were lighted and every one tried to make themselves as comfortable as possible. A little of this would have sufficed as the men were tired and supper- less save the hardtack and such cold lunch as could be pro- cured. The camp ground of the One Hundred and Sixty- first presented a scene that night that will be one of the lingering memories. Every company had from three to four fires as the nights were cold and all must be warm. There was a camp fire at Major Megrew's quarters and one where the colonel's tent had stood; many of the buildings had been reduced to lumber for transportation but plenty were left to burn and everything was ignited; the kitchens and mess shacks that were left standing were fired one after the other and the very sky was illumined by the conflagration while the scene was enlivened by stirring music from the band and then the men began to stretch themselves around the fire to wait while the flames dispelled the darkness and silhouetted their resting forms on the sand of Florida that was soon to be left forever. At 12:15 A. M - tne first train came in and the first section, under command of Lieutenant- Colonel Backus and composed of the First Battalion and Companies B and F of the Second, went on board and started; Major Megrew also accompanied this section. The rest of the regiment waited till 2:30 a. m. before their 90 HISTORY OF THE transportation arrived and hungry and sleepy were soon following the others on their way to the new camp at Savannah. A few days previous to our departure the regiment had been assigned to its new position in the Seventh Army Corps, which had on the 21st been reorganized as follows: CAVALRY BRIGADE. Seventh United States Cavalry. Eighth United States Calvary. FIRST DIVISION. FIRST BRIGADE. First Texas Infantry. Second Louisiana Infantry. Third Nebraska Infantry. SECOND BRIGADE. Ninth Illinois Infantry. Second South Carolina Infantry. Fourth Illinois Infantry. SECOND DIVISION. FIRST BRIGADE. One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Infantry. Second Illinois Infantry. First North Carolina Infantry. SECOND BRIGADE. Fourth Virginia Infantry. Forty-ninth Iowa Infantry. Sixth Missouri Infantry. CHAPTER VI. CAMP ONWARD. Savannah, October 24-December 12, '98. When the first section arrived at Savannah at 9 a. m. the next morning it found the regimental impedimenta one hour in advance and Captain West's force busily engaged in getting the horses and mules out on "terra firma." In the unloading of the remaining freight the record was broken. The quartermaster and commissary supplies were handled with the accustomary dispatch but the transporta- tion department, altogether out of harmony with the usual "southern hustle," got in a hurry, and backing the cars into the freight yard, pitched the lumber, floors, tables, bench- es and boxes into a confused, tumbled, jumbled-up heap that looked like it had been struck by a Kansas cyclone or a Jacksonville storm. When the second section arrived one and one-half hours later, like the first it. was served with coffee at the station before starting for camp. As the companies marched through the city the men crowded out of their stores and the women out of their homes and while the chambermaids waved sheets or pillowslips from the sec- ond-story windows the daughters used their handkerchiefs below and the populace on the sidewalk cheered the boys from Indiana a welcome as they passed, and on out the Thunderbolt road they marched to camp and stacked arms on the site which was to be their " stomping ground " for the next seven weeks; this time the regiment was less fort- unate in the land reserved for them; it was low and 92 HISTORY OF THE swampy, cut through by ditches and altogether undesirable for a regimental camping site; objections were made with- out avail and everybody prepared to make the best out of it. The company streets had all been staked off and an old dilapidated board and wire fence that ran through the length of Company K street was removed; a deep ravine ran along the right of the regiment and a large ditch almost through the center, which necessitated two thirds of the men to pass what they called " over Jordan " to affili- ate with members of the First Battalion; the swamp pre- vented the First Battalion line officers' tents from being Headquarters. pitched in their accustomary place and both these and the battalion commander's tent were pitched toward the road along which ran the staff tents with the exception of head- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 93. quarters which were more comfortably located in an old house situated nearer the company tents and which has since burned. The colonel's tent was used for a guard house until quarters were prepared, and later, in the second week of November, the tents occupied by the staff were moved near the headquarters house and in a row with the Third Battalion line officers. The tents were pitched without floors and a couple of days were passed before sufficient material could be rescued from the debris at the freight yards to furnish them with that much-needed comfort and the tents that were all too small under Jacksonville condi- tions had room enough and to spare as the boys hugged up in spoort fashion to pass the night. Camp construction be- gan at once, and while the colored men of chain and stripe cleaned the ditches and drained the camp the carpenters began their work and cook shacks sprang up along the rear as fast as material came in and in a week every company cook was under cover, bridges were built across the ditch- es, and after the third day the drills were on again. On the 27th the battalions marched to Thunderbolt, a Coney Island sort of a place; some of the companies fell out and some of the men fell in to a well stocked establish- ment and after waiting on themselves forgot the eighth com- mandment and told the men to "remember the Maine" for his pay; the battallions marched down past Bona- venture and returned along the other road by way of Dale Avenue drive. The next day occurred the first regimental formation on Georgian soil; the review, which was not the best ever given by the regiment, was witnessed by General Williston from his tent door. The drills began on the 29th with their usual regu- larity; a couple of days at close order and attention was devoted to the more important skirmish drill. A most suitable spot for extended order work was later found back of 94 HISTORY OF THE the cemetery that lay near the junction of the road and street car track, and here in the underbrush and ravines and around the old Confederate breastworks the officers found ample room and excellent environment for scattering their men to the best advantage for such purpose. The last few days of the month brought to the line officers the usual burdensome necessity of getting the rolls in shape for monthly muster and the new month came in with the sound of hammer and saw at work on the commissary, bakery and guard house, while Anthony Montani took his sweater and clarionet and other articles and bid us all a fond adieu. The substantial structure that rose beyond the ditch to the regiment's right during the first week in November was prepared for the commissary, the bakery and the exchange, and was by conceded opinion the finest arranged building of its kind in the corps. Sunday was the 6th, and this day, as on other Sab- baths, the One Hundred and Sixty-first camp looked lonely by contrast; while southern regiments were swarming with visitors from Savannah; ours, the nearest to the city, was passed by with a glance over the fence; in this one respect, like the man who fell out of the ballon, we simply were not in it. Why this apparent thusness? is it so hard to forget? Let us be charitable and say they were unthoughtful, but Ivy said the young ladies didn't know what they were missing. The next day brought Major Wright, the colored pay- master. The major was assisted by his son, also colored, and encountered no embarrassment in disposing to the officers and men of the regiment the coin which the gov- ernment had seen fit to entrust to his care; the major remarked of his respectful reception. In the afternoon General Green, accompanied by other distinguished officers of the army, reviewed the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 95 division. The six regiments marched to an open field across the way from the Second Division hospital and stood in column of masses at attention for about thirty minutes while whole regiments of armed sand flies enjoyed an undisturbed picnic pestering the patience out of an army of men to whom military etiquette forbade interfer- ence, after which the division passed in review before the general, in whose honor it was held, before his departure for Cuba. On November 1 1 General Lee arrived at Savannah from his home in Virginia, where he had been in attend- ance at the bedside of his aged mother during her sickness, death and funeral, and which had necessitated an absence from his official duties for a period of several weeks, during which time the command of the corps devolved on Gen- eral Keifer of the First Division. The general was accompanied to Savannah by Governor Tyler and a dis- tinguished party of Virginians, both ladies and gentlemen. This was his first appearance at Savannah since the arrival of the corps at that point, and he was given a royal wel- come both by the citizens of that beautiful and enterprising city and by his command. He immediately established his headquarters at the DeSota hotel and assumed command of the corps. One of his first official acts was the naming of the camp, which he designated "Camp Onward" in view of the onward march to Cuba. He immediately issued an order for a review of the corps, including all the troops under his command, which took place the following day in the city of Savannah in what is known as Forsythe Park Extension, and was wit- nessed by thousands of citizens of Savannah and neighbor- ing cities and surrounding country, for whom it was a gala occasion. Most of these people had never seen any con- siderable body of troops together before, and were enthusi- 96 . HISTORY OF THE astic in their demonstrations of approval. The One Hun- dred and Sixty-first Indiana was tendered little short of an ovatiorf upon its splendid appearance; its full companies, straight lines and excellent marching being commented upon for many succeeding days by its enthusiastic admirers, who were numbered by the hundreds in the city of Savannah; the Press of the city was also effuse in its praise of the work of the regiment, giving it special mention in its account of the review and commenting at length upon its excellent appearance. The succeeding days brought with them the usual rou- tine of camp life, unbroken by any event of interest. On Sunday, 13th, the camp site was inspected by a surgical board; complaints of a sanitary nature had been made from the day the regiment first saw the grounds and were about to result in an exchange of position between the regiment, brigade and division headquarters which would have fur- nished excellent locations of sufficient size for all, but owing to the speedy departure for Cuba the inspecting board advised a retention of positions then held. Com- pany E was at this time on duty at the rifle range, having been detailed there the 9th of the month to superintend the target practice of the corps. On the 16th Companies A, K, M and L went to the range for practice, the other companies having been there the day before; five shots at two hundred yards and five at three hundred were allowed each man, and the time was spent shooting at black Span- iards on boards, with results showing remarkable improve- ments in the art of war since the previous like experience at Jacksonville. On the 2 1st the quartermaster unloaded before his store-house twenty-four large boxes, and as the men lined up by companies each one received and was charged with a $11.49 navy blue brass-button caparisoned over- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 9/ coat. They made every man look like Napoleon, but that wasn't what they were for; they were intended to shield the men from those cold blasts which the colonel told them next day at parade were sweeping over Hoosier- dom and which came whizzing over the cotton belt a few davs later and sent the men shivering to their tents right giad the authority was wiser than they, many of whom only a few days before had vigorously protested against any such needless and extravagant expenditure. The greater part of the drill during the middle portion of November was battalion extended order. Nothing of note occurred until the 24th, for which day the boys had been anxiously waiting and wondering what good thing it had in store for them. The day was ushered in with all the beauties of a typical autumn day in the south, and was given up wholly to pleasure. At 10 o'clock in the assembly tent a most excellent sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Smith, of the city; this was followed at the noon hour by elaborate spreads in each of the twelve companies of the regiment. The ladies of Savannah were in the dinner serving business out of most excellent motive, but on a plan hardly savor- ing of the generosity which could so easily have come from so large a populace so greatly benefited by the presence of so great a number of soldiers; we were to raise the money and they were to serve the turkey; but not out of any crit- icism, but simply with the feeling that the money once raised the serving would be a comparatively easy and pleasant task, while the good ladies were already over- burdened with an infinite amount of the same thing, the colonel made the preparation and the serving of the dinner a strictly regimental affair. The ladies were offended, but a due explanation once more bridged the chasm between the north and the south, and sweet harmony was restored. 7 98 HISTORY OF THE The boys did not have the ladies but they had warm turkey instead and plenty of it. One thousand one hundred pounds of turkey were furnished by Armour & Co., to be accounted for in surplus meat. There were ninety gallons of oysters that day; there were cranberries and celery and mince pies and other delicacies which appeal to the inner man and which go hand in hand with the day thus observed. For once, hardtack, bacon and canned beef was but a memory which the very next day arose to haunt those who had partaken of the feast in the shape of a life-sized reality and to head off any tendencies to gout by reason of the gormandizing of the boys the day before. Only one kick was registered, and that of an enlisted man who having disposed of nine pounds of turkey, a quart of cranberries, two mince pies and other edibles in proportion kicked be- cause his capacity for consumption went back on him at time so inopportune, but who was reconciled to his fate on hearing of the Thanksgiving dinner which the boys in the hospital had: poor fellows who were given a bit of turkey to chew, on the express condition of spitting it out just when it was in the best condition to swallow, and the cruel part about it was that some one was there to see that they did spit it out. In some of the officers' messes dinner, during which service the table fairly groaned under its load of good things, was postponed until evening in order, as some of the officers asserted, that they might "eat with the boys" but which knowing ones assert they did by reason of the fact that visions of two good dinners were in sight. The afternoon was given over to a diversity of amusements upon which the boys were privileged to attend; many cheered the picked baseball nine of our regiment while it secured a victory over a similarly chosen nine from the First North Carolina on the parade ground of our regiment; others attended the shooting match between picked teams of the best shots from ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 99 the Seventh Army Corps and the Savannah Gun Club at the rifle range of the latter east of the camp; still others wit- ness the football game in which an eleven from the Second Louisianas contested for supremacy with the First Texas Knights of the Gridiron at the City ball park; not a few at- tended the matinee at the Savannah Theater or saw the Rough Riders in their exhibition at Thunderbolt. The day ended most auspiciously in the evening when some of the ladies of Savannah gave an elocutionary and musical entertainment in the assembly tent at which some of the best talent in the city appeared in the various num- bers, a favor highly commendable and thoroughly appre- ciated; and thus the entire day was one joyous occasion that will long be remembered by every man in the regi- ment. The aforesaid festivities were followed on November 25th by a sham battle between the two brigades of the Sec- ond Division; the First Brigade was assigned to a position behind the huge earthworks thrown up east of Savannah for the protection of the city at the time of Sherman's famous march to the sea; the works in question remain intact although overgrown to a considerable extent by for- est trees and shrubbery and are a grim reminder of the fruits of war in the terrible strife of '61 to '65. To hold these works against the attack of the Second Brigade was the duty assigned to the First Brigade; previous to leaving camp both brigades were supplied liberally with blank cart- ridges; the Second Brigade was given one hour's start of the First in which to afford them ample time to reconnoiter and decide upon their mode of attack; the First Brigade, with band playing and banners unfurled to the breeze marched out and took possession of the earth works and awaited the report of the scouts sent out in all directions to locate, if possible, the enemy and their probable mode of attack; in 100 HISTORY OF THE the meantime the firing line was established and supports and reserves held in readiness, the One Hundred and Sixty- first Indiana being assigned to the firing line; in about one hour the sounds of occasional shots about one and one-half miles to our front indicated that our scouts had been dis- covered and were being driven in; shortly afterward they could be distinguished across the open country directly to our front through the undergrowth just beyond, hastily retreating, closely pressed by an under fire of the advance guard of the enemy; re-inforcements to cover their retreat were now sent out; the scouts having reached the edge of the open space between the enemy and the earthworks, took advantage of such protection as the country afforded firing as they came; having advanced to a sufficient distance to be no longer endangered by a fire from the earthworks, and a company of the enemy in close order formatoin having needlessly exposed itself about three-quarters of a mile directly to our front, Major Peterson, of the Third Battalion of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, which occupied the center of the works, with the Second Illinois on our extreme right, and the Carolinas on our left, ordered the squads of his battalion on the firing line to fire by volley on the company thus exposed and which must necessarily have been riddled in actual engagement, which opinion the commander of the company in question evi- dently shared, for he immediately changed his formation from a close to an open order; re-inforcements quickly came up and the enemy continued to advance under heavy fire which now became general on both sides; they were prac- tically subdued even before the support was ordered to the firing line, and with the result that much of the reserve of the First Brigade did not fire a single shot, although the entire force of the enemy was hurled against the works; needless to assert that the enemy was called off the field ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. IOI by the judges of the occasion, competent officials of the regular army, and the battle awarded to the First Brigade as having thoroughly and effectively protected their entrenchments. During the succeeding few days the overcoats which had been issued a week previous were very much in demand, the temperature having fallen very perceptively, together with cold, drizzling rains, accompanied by biting blasts, which heralded the coming of one of the severest winters known in the south and throughout the states; woe to the luckless soldier whose finance was such that he could not possess the luxury of an oil stove; during the day he borrowed a warm-up from his more fortunate comrade or huddled up in his overcoat, backed up against a tree on the windless side in order that the full energy of the sun's rays might be spent to the best possible advantage in heighten- ing the temperature of his anatomy; darkness overtaking him he huddled around a convenient camp fire in the com- pany street, and at taps crawled between blankets and piled upon him all the sundry articles in his possession, such as trowsers, old shoes, socks, collar buttons and neck- ties, without even the formality of removing his hat, much less any other article of his wearing apparel. The quarter- master's ability to supply the demand for blankets was taxed to its utmost and he and his chief clerk were the most sought after individuals in camp. The only instance of note to mar the monotony of the period thus intervening was the issuance of the new United States magazine rifle, which occurred on the 28th; the rifle in question includes all the meritorious points of the Krag- Jorgensen, together with the improvements adopted by the government; the men were highly pleased and they relin- quished with pleasure the old Springfields with which they had been armed. 102 HISTORY OF THE On the morning of the 30th occurred a regimental in- spection that was the first and last of its kind. The regi- ment was lined up in heavy marching order and with open ranks while the colonel and members of his staff with polished boots and white gloved hands marched before them, between them and behind them while the colonel re- minded them of neglected points of military toilet and attire and the officers made explanations of the same in writing after which the regiment passed in review and mus- ter for pay began. On the same day the new recruits began to arrive. The One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was the only regiment granted the privilege of recruiting at so late a date, which partially accounts for the unusually large com- panies that so pleased the visitors when this regiment passed before them in the parades and reviews down in Cnba. On November 5th Captain Stott was sent for this purpose to Indianapolis, the mustering-out place of the earlier regiments; he found only the One Hundred and Fifty- ninth, a very much discouraged lot of men and the work of recruiting went hard; all told one hundred and three men were secured, the larger number of whom left Indian- apolis on the 28th, the others starting a few days later and arriving during the first four days of December. Sixty- nine of those who arrived on the 30th were mustered for pay after they stood for a short time in line before the old headquarters building and listened to a few words of wel- come and advice from their new colonel; the others were mustered on arrival. The officers of the regiment were thus kept busy dur- ing the remaining days of the month arming the troops and in the preparation of the pay rolls for the month of Novem- ber. On the morning of the 30th regimental review pre- ceded the muster for pay and in the evening at regimental ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. IO3 parade Major M. R. Peterson, of the Third Battalion, sev- ered his official connection with the regiment, his resigna- tion having been accepted by the department at Washing- ton that he might resume his duties in the regular army. His battalion having taken the assigned place on the parade ground, Colonel Durbin requested the major to take the position of honor on the right of the commanding officer of the regiment, who then proceeded in a few well-chosen words to express the regret of the entire command at los- ing such an efficient and painstaking officer. Major Peter- son responded feelingly, expressing his regret at his enforced leavetaking and his best wishes for the future welfare of the regiment; the regiment having passed in review he assumed command of his battalion and in the battalion street formally took leave of the offices and men of his companies. On the following evening at regimental parade Major Lee M. Olds, past captain of Company A, occupied the post of honor on the right of Colonel Durbin, who, in the presence of the regiment, formally presented the new major with his commission issued to him by the governor of Indiana after which he reviewed the regiment. It was the next day the information became current that the Second Divis- ion was to start in a few days for Cuba and Colonel Durbin was notified to have his regiment ready to move by the following Tuesday. During the forenoon of the 5th the regiment took a pleasant inarch to Savan- nah's noted " City of the dead." Bonaventure is said to be one of the most beautiful cemeteries in America and the history and romance connected with it make it doubly interesting; the estate, first owned in colonial times by an English nobleman, was sold to John Mulryn, whose only daughter was given in marriage to Josiah Tatnall and the union was typified by planting those now aged and hoary 104 HISTORY OF THE live-oaks in a monogram comprising the letters " M " and ** T " still traceable in the shape of the sylvan aisles between the stately trees. Josiah Tatnall was a great soldier, serv- ing in the wars of 1812 and of 1846 and was commander of the Merrimac in its battle with the Monitor. He became governor of Georgia and lies buried to-day in Bonaventure near the spot of his birth. The place is full of sacred asso- ciations and its gigantic trees, hung with their long hoary moss tresses, seem to speak of mourning and of weeping. In view of the fact that the Second Division was to Tnove so soon, an order for the last corps review on Amer- ican soil previous to our departure was issued by General ILee. December 6, the day designated, was a delightful one for the occasion; all business was practically suspended ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. IO5 in the city during the review, and the residents of Savan- nah gathered by thousands at Forsythe, the park extension, to witness the imposing spectacle. On this occasion, as on November 12, the review was a complete success, in which the One Hundred and Sixty-first added to its already envi- able reputation, again securing special mention in the press of Savannah. Right in the center of this great field of flashing steel and union blue was the statue of a confederate soldier stand- ing erect on his handsome pedestal. He gave no sign of interest in the passing of so many thousands of soldiers; he saw the stars and stripes go by, but did not uncover; he watched General Lee ride past on his handsome gray charger, but did not bring his gun from parade rest; many a soldier wondered what he thought of it all, but we j venture that he was glad to see the Yankees from the north and the sturdy western boys marching with proud step ; side by side with the men from Virginia and the Carolinas, and in it saw the evidence of a reunited nation, grand and I great, and rejoiced with them in the mission they were going to accomplish. Upon the return to camp the initial preparation for departure began, as the arrival of the transport was daily expected. The company tents were to be left, and all officers' tents were taken with one exception. Captain j Guthrie was highly elated over an ingenious contrivance for heating his tent; he knew what destruction a lamp had caused before, but scorning experience he passed many a comfortable night while his less ingenious fellow officers were breathing hard to warm the space underneath the covers. The midnight hour of December 8 had passed when the explosion came which covered the captain and everything inside with burning oil. Unlike the men of another fire who came out unsinged, the commander of io6 HISTORY OF THE Company I came forth bearing the marks of his disaster, which disappeared in a day or so and left him as good as new, but the tent and most of its contents never went to Cuba. On the 8th Colonel Durbin assumed command of the brigade. The Mobile arrived late in the evening of the 9th, and all the day following all floors and building, Packing Up — Camp Onward. the reduction of which to lumber form had occupied several days previous, were hauled to the wharf, and during the forenoon of the 12th the wagons of the Forty-ninth Iowa and Fourth Virginia, which were at the regiment's service, its own and its mules having been put aboard the Rou- mania, bound for Cuba on the 8th, hauled the regimental ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. IOJ baggage to the docks, and shortly after the noon hour on December 12 the regiment broke camp, and at 1 p. m. the march to the docks began, arriving about 3 o'clock. Owing to the ample facilities for the loading of both troops and baggage on the transport Mobile, now the Sherman, there was little delay in getting all on board. In addition to the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana there was aboard the vessel one battalion and the band of the Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, one or two companies of the signal corps, one company of the Fourth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, the Seventh Army Corps provost guard, General Williston with a portion of his staff and many other officers and men of various detachments, in all to the number of probably two thousand souls with baggage and supplies in endless quantities. Colonel Durbin being in command of the troops, and Colonel Backus being executive officer of the boat, Major Megrew was in command of the regiment. All men and officers being detained on board, the evening was spent in conversation, and at an early hour all were in their berths and bunks. The vessel lay alongside the dock until morning, and at 7 a. M. on the morning of the 13th the tug Marguarite started the great vessel down the river, cutting loose at 9:30; after fifteen minutes more the Estill took the pilot from us and we started on a calm sea toward the " Pearl of the Antilles." The Mobile is an English-built vessel, and was for- merly a freighter and cattle vessel. She was purchased from the Atlantic Transport Company by the United States government and refitted for the purpose of carrying troops. She is a twin-screw steamer capable of making seventeen knots an hour. The dining-room and officers' quarters are roomy and well furnished, while the men were provided with comfortable beds of wire springs and cotton mattresses arranged in tiers three in height. The Georgia shores ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I09 having been lost to view, no land was sighted until the following morning. At 1 1 o'clock the first and each suc- ceeding day inspection of quarters was held; every man •• Mobile " — Off for Cuba. was ordered below and proper inspection made as to clean- liness and ventilation. Major Smith, of the First North Carolina, assisted by Major Longstreet, division commissary officer, and Lieu- tenant Welsh, of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, was in charge of the distribution of rations; three times a day the men were served with warm meals. Details from each company went into the kitchen, the food when cooked was placed on tables and the men, two companies at a time, filed by and receiving their portion ate it wherever most I IO HISTORY OF THE agreeable within limits of their restriction, The two thou- sand men were fed in about forty-five minutes. During the entire next day the vessel steamed along with the sandy beaches of Florida plainly in sight; at 10:45 a. m. we passed Palm Beach and as darkness again set in we were nearing the southern coast of the peninsular state; the last light-house on the Florida keys was sighted at 9 p. m. ; the keys were passed during the night and at daybreak no land was visible until about 8 o'clock when the shores of the stricken island for which we were bound could be dimly discerned in the distance; arriving off Havana we cruised in the waters of the gulf to a point opposite what was afterward the site of our camp, waiting for a pilot to take us ashore when orders were received from General Green directing us to come in to the Havana harbor for the purpose of disembarkation; at about 10 o'clock the Mobile entered the mouth of Havana harbor directly under the guns of the famous Morro. As we glided along through the narrow entrance to the harbor, the frowning guns of old Morro and the antiquated fortress, Punta, hovering over us, as it were, on either side, not unlike the vultures which soared in count- less hundreds, to our front, to our rear, above us and in all directions, the scene was absolutely indescribable and beggars description. Every nook and corner which afforded standing room on the walls of Moro Cubannas or the Punta was crowded with Spanish soldiers looking down on us, silent and sullen. Every house-top, balcony or win- dow, the shores, docks and vessels in the harbor, were thronged with multitudes of a strange looking people rep- resenting almost every nationality of the earth, a condition existing in all tropical countries. The cheers of the two thousand of Uncle Sam's boys on board the transport who thronged the upper decks or balanced themselves in the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I I I rigging of the vessel, when the two bands on the ship struck up " My Country Tis of Thee" was answered in a no un- certain manner by the foreigners on shore and ship. Morko Castle. Steaming thus slowly down the harbor, the climax was reached when we hove in sight of the wreck of the Maine, the broken and twisted mass of iron, visible above the sur- face of the water, illustrating as nothing else can do how over two hundred of our brave boys met death and now lie at the bottom of the harbor, victims of the treachery of an unscrupulous foe. Every head was uncovered and not a sound was uttered as the band struck up the « ' Star Spangled Banner." The stillness was almost oppressive, as all eyes were upon what was once the pride of our navy, now a worse than useless mass lying deserted off a foreign coast, a 112 HISTORY OF THE monument, as it were, to the boys who lie in their watery graves beneath. The sublimity of the occasion and its attendant incidents are beyond description. Heads were bowed and eyes tear-stained and it was with effort that the boys on board controlled the emotions surging through their hearts, and many experienced a choking sensation that they suppressed with difficulty. As if to add to the impressiveness of the occasion, the U. S. Topeka began firing a salute of thirteen guns. Passing a little beyond the charred and blackened wreck, we cast anchor under direction of the harbor pilot; this we had scarcely done when the transport was boarded by Lieutenant Fitzhugh Lee, Jr., bearing messages as to the disposition of the troops aboard. A few minutes later our corps commander, Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, accompanied by members of his staff, in a steam launch of one of the American battle ships in the harbor, hove in sight. His appearance was the signal for a spontaneous outburst by the boys aboard, who made the ancient harbor sound and resound with their cheers for their beloved commander. Shortly after the noonday mess had been served we struck anchor and proceeded to the docks where we lay until the following Saturday morning, during which interval the immense cargo of supplies and baggage had been unloaded and the disembarkation of the troops began, much to the pleasure of the boys, who, having been five days and nights aboard, had grown tired of the transport, the strange sights and unfamiliar scenes about them and were anxious to go ashore. The regiment had been preceded by a detail of men in charge of the corral contingent and other regimental property. On the 7th Lieutenant Anheier, by order of Colonel Durbin, selected as a detail of men to accompany him on this mission Corporals Imes, Holdridge and Gor- man and Privates Stanley, Reynolds and Hurst, of Com- I 14 HISTORY OF THE pany I, and Private McAdams, of Company H. Sergeant Owens, of Company H, Ralph Robinson, Corporal Wilson and Sam Kahn were also to accompany the party. They went aboard the transport Roumania about 8 p. m. the evening of the 7th. The First North Carolina were on board. Seven regimental horses were in charge, two ambulances, twenty-seven wagons and seventy-nine mules. The vessel left at 5 a. m. on the 8th, arriving before the harbor the night of the 10th, and waited until Spanish law allowed it to enter after 6 a. m. the next morning. By 6 p. m. mules and wagons were unloaded and the mules corraled by a long rope stretched down a wide street. Those nights were wild ones in Havana — nights of quarreling and wrangling and shooting, and it was the first night that the much-commented-upon riot occurred at the Hotel Inglaterra in which five Cubans were killed. By noon of the next day, all effects unloaded, the wagon train was ready to start for the ground that was to be the camp- ing site for the Indiana regiment. A guide was secured, and under a hot sun the journey was begun. The camp was reached about 4 p. m. on the 1 5th. The wagons were used to bring the corps headquarters effects from the wharf to Buena Vista. When the regiment arrived the property was turned over to proper authority and Lieutenant Anheier reported with his men to the regiment. CHAPTER VII. HAVANA TO CAMP COLUMBIA. The pen seems reluctant to write; not that the heat and dust and final fatigue which belong to the experience of this never-to-be-forgotten day, are things hard of descrip- tion; such 'are common place, the mere mention of which suffices, but that the scenes which were ours to witness: the unbounded enthusiasm, the unrestrained manifestation of welcome, the glad shouts of happy-hearted people and the feelings which stirred the soul of the American soldier, are simply indescribable. The troops were in command of Colonel Durbin, who, with his staff of brigade officers, headed the moving col- umn. The One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, while Major Hol- man G. Puritan commanded the Third Battalion of the Second Illinois, which followed immediately in the rear. Our regiment alone would have been the largest body of volunteer soldiers that had yet passed through, but with the above-mentioned battalion of the Second Illinois there were in all about fifteen hundred men in column on this memorable occasion. The One Hundred and Sixty-first band of thirty-two pieces, ten snare drums, four fifes and eight bugles, marched in its accustomed place behind the regimental staff. The Illinois Battalion was headed by their regimental band. The great column began to move at 8:50 A. M. It marched through one cr two minor streets, then up Cuba I l6 HISTORY OF THE street, until it arrived at Rigla, one of the principal business streets of the city; through this street, or city lane, as they all might be more properly called, by reason of their uncom- fortable narrowness, the column passed until it reached the Prado; passing to the left of Parque Central it moved out Principe Alfonso, and from here wound its dusty way for five miles more, until at 2:10 o'clock we were in the vicin- ity of Quemados, at the allotted place for the staking once more of tents. It was, indeed, a triumphal entry and passage through the city. If ever there was tendered a more enthusiastic reception to an army of men history has failed to record it. From its beginning to a point far beyond the city lim- its, at which place the multitudes were turned back by the Spanish guards, its memorable scenes will make a glorious chapter in the history of that people and in our own. Thus far in our experience it was the one thing that paid every soldier of us a thousand times and more for his enlistment. All the heat, all the sickness and homesick- of those sultry days at Jacksonville were forgotten in the midst of the glad excitement and grand demonstration that gathered round us on our march. The man who wanted to go home was now glad he came and he beheld things it is the privilege of few to see. Other military processions have been longer; many times our number over have followed behind the royal standard of an Alexander, a Catsar, or a Napoleon. Our own people in the sixties received the boys in blue as they "came marching home again " with a joy and an enthu- siasm that knew no bounds and that memorable review of May, '65, when the assembled army of the Union marched through the Capital city of our nation can never be sur- passed for glory, or grandeur, or the accompanying display ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 117 of a rejoicing people; but these were different and this is the first instance in the history of the world where a nation marched its army into a land it had saved from the oppres- sion of a tyrannical master. These people were therefore not only happy; they were grateful and their enthusiasm for that reason the more uncontrollable; was therefore the more soul stirring for every one who witnessed it. Every one was in high spirits. The band played so well, so much and with so much vigor that the wonder was they had enough wind to reach the camp; the men when in cadence step marched with utmost pride; the crowds shouted and even the horses seemed to catch the enthu- siasm which swayed the multitude of soldiers and of people. It was a proud moment for the American soldier when for the first time he took off his hat to his own beautiful flag on foreign soil. It was waved from a balcony on our right shortly after the march began, the Stars and Stripes that made the people free! It greeted us with a world of meaning. The business part of the city was not so thor- oughly Cuban as the residence portion and as our moving column filled the narrow avenues whose only virtue is that the ladies can "shop" from one side to the other, thereby getting a maximum variety of prices at a minimum cost of fatigue, we met the gaze of many who doubtless wished us safe at home, or worse. Now and then an American flag was unfurled from some of the crowded balconies above us, but as the regiment proceeded the enthusiasm ran higher and the crowd that kept continually pouring in from all sides would have com- pletely choked the street, had such a thing been possible before so large a body of moving men. At the end of Rigla street "halt " was given to rest the men and to clear an entrance for the regiment into the Prado and from this time until the column had passed the Spanish guard-line, I 1 8 HISTORY OF THE the enthusiasm and excitement grew with every square we marched. It was the chief delight of the barefooted Cuban boys, of the swarthy young men and in fact of the entire Cuban element to clear the way of any obstructing vehicle whose driver chanced to be a little tardy or a little stubborn in turning into the side street to give the regiment its needed room for passing. It was in one of the wider streets that a heavily laden cart was encountered, but the regiment was marching in columns of platoons and it was evident that either the reg- iment must turn back or break into column of fours or the driver must right about face and wheel to the rear. The colonel thought it would be easier to move the cart than the regiment and although he had scarcely been on the island an hour he did not experience the least difficulty in making his wishes known; the jubilant Cubans charged upon it with a vengeance. " Fuera, " (get out) they cried and never gave the driver a chance to do it but with an amaz- ing economy of ceremony they siezed the concern by the bridle and by the wheels and hustled the whole lumbering affair into a side street in a way not calculated to leave its occupants in the sweetest possible humor; and they were not, for they were Spanish guards on a cart loaded with commis- sary supplies; they remonstrated and though they were recipients of some vituperation and a little mud, they did not resist for they had had their day and seemed to know it; but all along the route be the vehicle a Spaniard's or a Cuban's it must needs leave the passage clear and woe betook him who hesitated, especially if he were a Spaniard. The Spanish street car driver had a long gauntlet to run, but it was nothing worse than hisses and biting sarcasm sprinkled with a trifling bit of mud or an occasional spray of Cuban saliva. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 119 As the regiment took up its course through Alfonso street it became evident at once that we were to pass through a residence portion of the city occupied by the more influential class of Cubans. The houses, dressed in Cuba's characteristic colors of white, light blue and pink, presented a better and more substantial appearance, though everywhere was the iron-barred windows which gives to the city at the first impression the suspicious air of a huge penitentiary (and makes one curious to know what is going on within). And now the display of stars and stripes and the Cuban flag grew more profuse. They were run up the flag-staffs, Old Glory always above; they waved from the housetops, they hung from the balconies, they stretched across the porches, or, better still, waved us their salute from the hand of some beautiful senorita. The wealthier and more cultured were satisfied to crowd the porches and balconies, but those whom the world has been pleased to call the common people packed the streets from the buildings to each side of the moving column. They ran before, they followed behind, they pressed along the sides, singing, dancing and filling the air with "Viva Americano," " Viva Cuba." A strange conglomeration of an amalgamated people; some with skins as black as Plu- tonian night, or ebony, if that is blacker, some as brown as any Malay, and some as fair as any Caucasian can ever hope to be. The eyes of these half-clad people sparkled with unaccustomed luster and delight. They would kiss the American flag and shout " Viva McKinley, " while occasionally one more wrought up than others must needs give vent to his feelings in some emphatic oration; with wild gesticulations and a highly-strung husky voice, he would beat his uncovered breast and shout away at an angry woman's rate, stamping Spain into the dust beneath his feet, and lauding Americo and Cubano to the skies; at 120 HISTORY OF THE least we thought he did, for this much we understood: that Spain was " mucho malo ' and America and Cuba " mucho bueno. " From the windows and doorways and porches and balconies and steps were waved beautiful silken flags, bright colored handkerchiefs and fancy Castillian fans, accompanied by the nodding heads and gracious glances of Cuba's fairest la'dies. We were all acquainted and the formality of etiquette was forgotten, and if any soldier was fortunate enough to faint or fall out at such a place he was immediately envied by every stalwart man in ranks. Frequent stops were made to rest the men and on one occasion the halt was made with the head of the column before what was apparently the residence of a wealthy family. Two large and handsome flags, America's and Cuba's, were crossed before the steps leading to its en- trance. As the ladies seized the stars and stripes and waved them to greet us, the adjutant requested the band to play "The Star Spangled Banner." At the first note every hat was removed and the scene that followed can never be forgotten. Every one was loaded with bouquets; the bridles of the horses were filled with roses and every mounted officer covered with flowers as fair as the sun ever shone upon. They carried us the coolest water, the finest wines, and imported brandy and the choicest of Havana cigars. Cheer upon cheer filled the air and touched the heavens with their volume while the band played their soul stirring music, now the One Hundred and Sixty-first, again the Second Illinois and sometimes both. As the column once more took up its march toward its destination a great number who had followed all the way pushed on before, men and women of assorted colors, middle aged and chil- dren; they stripped the trees of their long green branches and holding these aloft the) 7 led us on out the road through ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 121 'Cerro, chanting some fantastic air and keeping time with their feet which threw them all into a strange sort of swinging gait which continued 'till they reached the Span- ish guard line, where falling to the side they watched the "big soldiers" pass and then slowly took their tired selves back to their humble homes. The regiment had now reached the Spanish barracks, about six miles from the heart of the city; the band played and the Spanish guard turned out in double column on either side of the road; they came to a" present arms" while we marched past at " port arms." This much must be said for the Spanish officers that they treated American soldiers with all proper respect and consideration, saluting in a most respectful manner when it was proper to do so. If you could put yourself in their place you could better appreciate their feelings and therefore better ap- preciate their courtesy. The Spanish soldiers had had an experience of which he had long since wearied; the poor unpaid and half starved fellow had grown tired of chasing a foe who, like a phantom, always evaded him while all around him his comrades were dying by the score, of fever instead of falling in open, honorable battle, and when the "boys in blue" came he knew what all the world knew, that he was fighting a hopeless battle. The humblest of them were reserved and respectful. From the Spanish barracks the regiment moved silently along the dusty high- Avay through Puentes Grandes and Ceiba out to its destined camping place by Quemados. High up on the right, and just beyond Cerro, a Spanish fortification frowned down upon us. Around it was the in- genious and formidable barb wire obstruction, with a depth of eighteen feet, interspersed with posts three feet high and interwoven with wire; it made a difficult and almost impos- ble approach for the enemy. The exposure while cutting ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 123 it and the certain entanglement consequent upon any attempt to pass over it when cut, placed the approaching force too completely at the mercy of its foe. With the Barb Wire Defense. proper entrenchment behind, it is hard to conceive of a better device for holding an enemy at bay. It will have a part in the fortifications of the future. Now and then along the roadside and dotted over the country, there came in view the notorious Spanish "block house," some hexagonal in shape, some round, the majority square; some one, some two stories high; masonry work of no considerable strength whose chief and indeed valuable service consists in affording a shelter place from which to fire. So many were they that it was impossible for any considerable number of men to pass through the country 124 HISTORY OF THE without coming repeatedly within reach of their firing distance. ,^ MMHM Block House. Nothing further of interest can be noted, save every- where the beauty and fertility of the country — the stately palms, the bananas, the cocoas and other products of the rich, red soil. At Beuna Vista the regiment passed the Seventh Army corps headquarters, and in twenty minutes the First North Carolina and the Second Illinois saw us marching by to occupy our allotted place in Camp Columbia. The boys were tired and glad to drop down for a good rest. The day's march was over, but the memory of it will ever be fresh in the mind and its scenes forever live before the eyes of every soldier who participated in it, and Old Glory, too, will always have a deeper meaning and a richer splendor because of the experiences of that day. CHAPTER VIII. CAMP COLUMBIA. December 17, '98-January 31, '99. Upon arrival Colonel Durbin reported the same and relinquished the command of all troops other than the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The companies marched each to their places as designated by an officer of the engineer corps and threw themselves down for a rest. The regiment had been given what seemed to us the most unlovely spot on all the island, but around us in every direction was a panorama of wonderous beauty; behind us the green fields adorned with magnificent palms stretched a mile away to Ouemados and Marianao, whose red tiled roofs would have been visible ten times as far away, and twenty miles in the distance, over nature as fair as God had ever made, rising in clear outline against the sky to our left were the northern limits of the Blanquizar mountains. On the gentle slope to our right were pitched the tents of the Second Illinois and the First North Carolina and be- yond them the brigade and division headquarters, and just before us, three miles that looked like one, lay the shining waters of the Florida straits that washed the shore of the island and lost themselves far in the dim distance that it gave the men day dreams of the land they knew the wa- ters touched far away in the north. It was the slowest camp pitching the regiment ever experienced, first because the men had nothing to pitch and secondly the next day when the quartermaster's supplies 126 HISTORY OF THE did come the boys experienced great difficulty in driving the wooden pegs into the stone upon which the camp was stationed. It was one collossal rock here and there sticking its face above the soil, but never sinking more than six inches below. Some one had blundered in the loading of the ves- sel; the tent poles were at the bottom and it was impossi- ble for the quartermaster to furnish the regiment tents the first day, and that night the boys stuck up their guns and hung them with their ponchos, threw up their little shelter tents or, in good old patriarchial way, took the soft side of a stone for a pillow and slept out under the Cuban skies. Some of the officers did likewise or pitched such old tents as could be found, and night closed over a strange scene, such as might be taken for an army resting from a hot chase of a retreating enemy. Some of the men received cots for this first night and the next day the issue was completed; this was a new lux- ury for soldier life and when placed in the large tents, also provided for the first time, one for six men, gave as much comfort as a soldier could reasonably expect. Quarter- master and commissary supplies and headquarter stuff were piled in a seemingly promiscuous heap. The following day, December 18, was spent in "im- proving the land." It was quarry work — piles of stone were raked together and hauled away, a stone fence demol- ished and other necessary but rocky work undertaken. At the close of the day tents sufficient to shelter the men were up; the headquarters were still jumbled together and remained so for a week. The officers ate what they could procure and paid outrageous prices for it, and the Cuban bread, sweet-meat and orange venders were in clover. They gathered in groups around the camp, a motley set of people, shoeless, the most of them covered ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 12 J with straw hats and linen pants and a part of a shirt and every one with his cuchillo (knife) hung in its leather case inside his pants at the waist. They had oranges dumped on the ground, four for five, jelly in cakes and sweet meats of innumerable variety and color; they jabbered their mother tongne at the boys and taught them Spanish, but the most that most of us learned was to say " quanto " and get skinned a little in the change. Now was the time for the capturing of prizes and the gathering of relics; the Cuban who could tell the biggest lie was the man who made the sale; later, "machetes" and " mausers " became ordinary weapons of war that sold for a few dollars without a history, but during those early days one could almost see the blood dripping from the famous machete and hear the dying yell of an innumerable host of Spaniards shot down by this or that ritie as they were brought near the camp by some illustrious patriot "del ejercito Cubano." It was in these days that Lieutenant- Colonel Backus made his wonderful find and he didn't ask any one to believe his story; there was the history of the rifle written under his own eye by the Cuban himself, and our own regimental Cuba should read it, which he did, and — " never mind the history! " On the 22d the headquarters were established in their proper place, but an objection had in the meantime gone to corps headquarters concerning the unfavorable location of the camp, and on December 22 General Lee, accompa- nied by General Williston, rode over the ground and ordered all clearing work to stop. For a few days the men seemed to wander at will and began to explore the neighborhood; but reports of yellow fever in the vicinity caused the guard lines to be drawn very close and no one was allowed to leave the camp. Seven miles south of Camp Columbia are the Vento 128 HISTORY OF THE springs, beautiful and powerful, which supply Havana with the purest water and from which water was to be furnished the Seventh Army Corps; but until the piping work was completed, all the water used was hauled in barrels from a spring beyond Mariano, two and one-half miles away. There was consequently at first a scarcity of water. One does not need to mention it, but the regiment needed a bath;, and on December 23 the entire regiment marched three miles away to the sea coast, near Playa, and turned its coral beach for a brief time into a big bath tub for twelve hundred men. Some got clean and some got something else — they got their feet rilled with big black porcupine bristles that stung and caused the feet to smart and swell, and then they got to ride home in the ambulance, as did others who preferred to ride and therefore " didn't feel very well." Christmas was near at hand — a few selections by the band — a few thoughts homeward, and its eve had gone. The next day ushered in a day like one in August at home. On the knoll among the scattered supplies the chaplain held a little Christmas service. It is said that the staff also had a little time at mess. In his turn each one entertained the rest, save the chaplain, who had gone to take Christmas dinner with one of the companies whose officers had generously provided their men with turkey and other good things. The staff did not have turkey — Lieu- tenant Wilson had purchased one, but it was too fat. He could thin it down a little for New Year's day, so he made a " reconcentrado " of it, and shutting it up in a pen began his cruel process of starvation. By New Year's day he had a dead turkey, and the staff had ham for dinner. On Christmas day one officer and five men from each company were allowed to be absent from camp till 6 p. m. The same allowance was made in other regiments. The wisdom of restricting passes is at once apparent, consider- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 29 ing the existence of three armies whose soldiers might come in conflict, and the serious consequence that might result from disorderly conduct. Considering the American pretense and what the nation stands for before the world, and the consequent example of sobriety and manliness its soldiers should place before a people whom we have dared to call less civilized than ourselves, it is deplorable that even officers should so conduct themselves in abuse of the above privileges that there must needs come down the evening of the same day an order to the effect that owing to the disgraceful conduct of some of the Seventh Army Corps officers no more passes would be issued. It is not an attempt at self-justification, but due the officers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first to say that investigation exonerated those absent from camp from any suspicion that the above charge rested upon them. A drunken officer is less of a man because of his straps. It had now been decided to turn the camp about, practically end for end. Such a move necessitated a like change for appearance sake of the two other regiments in the brigade, but when the change was made the entire brigade not only presented a better appearance, but occu- pied a better and more convenient position. Six com- panies moved on the 28th, the remaining and the head- quarters on the 29th. The 31st brought the last day of the year and the uppermost thought was the long march on the morrow. In the evening there was music and a " Hoosier " watch party, and as the old year died "taps" were sounded with fine expression by musicians Williams and Hays, and as the last note died away in the stillness the band struck up the national tune "America," then they played " The Star Spangled Banner' and "On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away." 130 HISTORY OF THE " New Year's in Cuba" will bring a flood of memories to the men of the regiment. At 8:30 o'clock the companies were formed ready for the long march to Havana and re- turn. Every soldier wanted to go. Many offered to do double tours of guard duty for the privilege of changing with one of those going. Off up through the camp of the Second Illinois the column moved, headed by Colonel Dur- bin with his staff and the band. Out from between the rows of great royal palms onto the highway the boys swung into line, happy and proud to be a part of the day's ceremonies that marks such an epoch in the history of the beautiful island. There was little to be said on the way for the first two or three miles. Probably there were thoughts of those so far away and of other New Year's days. All along the highlands to the cliffs overlooking the gulf, now down into the little green valleys, now up looking down into them, with a brisk salt breeze fanning them, the men of the regiment kept up the march with infrequent halts and short rests. Down the hill roads to the coast line the long line led into Vedado, the aristocratic suburb of Havana. Here the first long rest was made almost four miles from the home camp. Along the way on every little Cuban cottage the Cuban and American flags had been displayed, but at Vedado the decorations were on a larger scale. Entire fronts of buildings were covered with the flags intertwined with green. Black eyed senoritas in stiff white skirts and fresh ribbons came out from the vine covered verandas and proceeded to capture many hearts with their "Viva los Americanos." A fifteen days' life in Cuba had not given the men a very complete knowledge of the Spanish lan- guage, but the pretty girls were assured that they were " mucha buena." From Vedado to the city all the way is guarded by the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 3 I old Spanish forts, which were occupied by American troops and American gunners. At 1 1 :45 o'clock the pontoon bridge was crossed and the regiment was in Havana. Off across the narrow bay Morro stood silent and gray, beating back the waves that forever surge at her feet. Above the stone walls floated the yellow and red emblem of the defeated nation, so soon to be drawn down forever. As the time drew nearer to the noon hour the excite- ment among the people increased until they were running about the streets crying, shouting, laughing and singing. Dozens of bombs, exploding high in the air, added to the noise and confusion. There was an intense feeling. The hour thev had so long prayed for and fought for was almost at hand. They knew that at that same minute the hated Spanish were leaving the governor-general's palace and that the Spanish guards were being relieved for all time in the Morro. Their fair land, " The Queen of the Antilles," was about to be taken from the hand of the oppressor. Twelve o'clock! Boom! The first gun from the Morro ever fired in honor of the American flag. And the men of the One Hundred and Sixty-first stood on the shore opposite and watched the Stars and Stripes ascend over that stronghold and joined in the cheer that went up with a strong Hoosier yell that was probably heard at the fort. Just by the regiment the bells of the Catholic hos- pital, San Lozaro, pealed forth clear and sweet, rung by the black-robed Sisters, heralding the new day in Cuban history. Tears they shed, maybe in sympathy for the 'mother land, maybe for joy. Farther down the street, at the palace, the old white-haired general, Castellanos, of Spain, was handing over to General Brooke the keys of the mansion, symbolic of the final evacuation of the island. 132 HISTORY OF THE The scene at the palace was simple and pathetic; the officers who were to take charge of the various depart- ments were instructed by Brigadier-General Clous, the master of ceremonies of the day, as follows: " On the fir- ing of the last gun of the first twenty-one at noon, you are to go to the place assigned you and demand possession of the office in the name of the United States. " At iimo Major-General Wade and Major-General Butler, of the American evacuation commission, arrived; at 11:30 Major- General John R. Brooke, governor of Cuba, and Major- General Ludlow, governor of the city of Havana, came and at 11:45 Major-General Lee joined them. Just a few minutes before 12 Captain-General Castellanos suddenly entered the salon and after greeting General Brooke and others, moved toward a group of Cuban generals and on being introduced to General Rodriguez shook both his hands according to Spanish custom, and said: "We have been enemies, but I respect you for your correct attitudes and opinions. I have pleasure in shaking your hand." General Rodriguez, replied: " I thank you, General; I feel sorry for the Spanish army which has defended the banner it was sworn to defend. I also have pleasure in shaking your hands." At this moment the big guns began to roar the national salute and at once General Castellanos, addressing General Wade, who was president of the Amer- ican Commission, the words having been placed on manu- script, said: "Gentlemen: In compliance with the treaty of Paris, the agreement of the military commissioners of the island, and the orders of my King, at this moment of noon, January 1, 1899, there ceases in Cuba Spanish sovereignty and begins that of the United States. In con- sequence, I declare you in command of the island, with the object that you may exercise it, declaring to you that I will be first in respecting it. Peace having been established ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 33 between our respective governments, I promise you to give all due respect to the United States government, and I hope that the good relations already existing between our armies, will continue until the termination of the evacuation of those under my orders in this territory." The address having been translated, General Wade handed it to General Brooke, saying " I transfer this command to you, " and General Brooke said: " I accept this great trust in behalf of the government and President of the United States, and (turning to General Castellanos) I wish you and the gallant gentlemen with you a pleasant return to your native land. May prosperity attend you and all who are with you." General Castellanos immediately retired from the throne room and turning to his officers said, with tears in his eyes: "Gentlemen, I have been in more battles than I have hairs on my head, and my self- possession has never failed me until to-day. Adieu, gentle- men, adieu." The old man bowed his head as he walked down the stairway and out into the plaza. Some Ameri- can ladies waved their handkerchiefs to him and bowing he kissed his hands to them and accompanied by General Clous and by his own staff he started toward the wharf; all the way he was hooted and jeered by the Cubans and there was no Spanish soldiers to do his bidding had he cared to notice them, but those of better hearts looked quietly on and pitied the faithful old servant of his country. At the wharf he thanked General Clous and as he stepped into his launch that was to take him to his vessel he wept again while the docks were crowded with Spaniards, men and women, all dressed in black, weeping with him. Not a shout was raised, not a handkerchief was waved, but men and women wept together. It was almost I o'clock when the regiment was ordered forward. The review of the American troops by General 134 HISTORY OF THE Lee, General Brooke, General Ludlow with the staff of each, drawn up in front of the Ingleterra, was in prog- ress and the Indianians marched onto the Prado, ready to carry off the honors. The regiment was formed in pla- toons and there were a third more in the regiment than in any other organization that passed the stand. Cheers that were hearty before increased two-fold when the One Hun- dred and Sixty-first passed. Down the Prado they marched, every man a soldier. On to Reina street the column was directed and there it was halted for the noon-day lunch. The men fell out of ranks and for an hour and a half the neighborhood was filled with soldiers, visiting scenes they had read of, maybe, but had never seen. Then on home, back to a hot supper and cots and blankets that never seemed more comforting and more comfortable, and the great day was over. Cuba was out of the power of the Spanish. On the morning of January 2, the boys turned out of bed and discovered their legs were a little stiff from the previous day's hike; it was a day of well-deserved rest, for all drills were suspended and the men spent the day loung- ing about camp making "pipes" and "grape vines " on the next move. The month of January, apart from New Year's day and the 31st, was in one respect an uneventful one. There were no marches, no reviews and only one battle, on the 6th in which the r score was fourteen to three for the Cubans, seventy dollars gate receipts and that sore feeling for the boys. The panacea for all ills came next day when Major Havens visited the regiment with the good govern- ment's crisp paper and yellow gold. The boys were determined, however, to hold their good record at the drill and on the 9th began to drill twice a day, from 8:30 to 10 a. m. and from 3:30 to 4:30 p. m. 136 HISTORY OF THE This was immediately followed by regimental parade; it was quick time and if the first sergeant does not remember, the men do; it was "company dismissed" — get ready for parade " !! and as quick as it takes to tell it the men were on their way to " pass in review, take full distance, guide right, harsh." !!!! But there were some things which made even January an important month historically, and these are found in the camp improvements, the outcome of that spirit which has always by conceded opinion made the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana camp the model one. The ioth of the month saw the erection of the first company kitchen and for a week of time incessant ham- mering sounded an invitation for the company cooks to Soupee ! Soupee ! Soup ! Soup ! leave the sun and the wind and the dust and the tempora- rily erected ' ' flys " and come into a commodious shack ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 137 which sprung up along the regimental rear, one for each •company, in a line as straight as human science could make The Way Mother Used to Do. it. At the same time the headquarters went down one tent a day, and " Dude Allen " with his force constructed those elevated floors and tent skeletons which made that row look like the street of a deserted village when we had gone. As fast as lumber arrived, and God and the govern- ment knows it cams slow enough in spite of the fact that the quartermaster had receipted for sixty thousand feet in the states which went into government buildings and the regiment consequently had to wait, but it came by degrees, and as it did come was hurriedly worked up into floors for the company tents, but all tents however were not floored until the middle of March, when those of the home bound Maine artillery were brought to us for that purpose. In -the meantime the grounds throughout and in the imme- 138 HISTORY OF THE diate vicinity of the regiment were being thoroughly policed; every shrub and root grubbed up, and every loose and protruding stone removed till the whole place was as neat and clean as human hands and labor could make it. Then came the " ornamental period " when companies vied with each other in making their quarters attractive. Had there been any Spaniards to fight all this camp embel- lishment would have been unknown, but it is certainly a great credit to any regiment and indicative of an enter- prising spirit, the essence of which will make good soldiers under any circumstances, that a portion of the men's time was spent in an endeavor toward attractiveness. Great loads of sand were hauled from Playa beach and along headquarters, around battalion quarters, along the cap- tains' and the company streets sand walks were made and 140 HISTORY OF THE bounded by uniform stones covered over with whitewash. At the head of each company appropriate designs were made by scratching up the red soil, by lettering and designing upon it by small bits of white limestone blasted from the hard earth by our Cuban sink diggers, who from the first day startled the camp by their cannon-like explosions and filled the air with flying stones which came hailing down ofttimes all too near for comfort or appreciation. On a certain Saturday (21st) a prize of $5.00 offered by the officer of the day for the neatest interior and surroundings was awarded to Corporal Joseph L. Luse. privates Frank E. Oaks, B. S. Kellenberger, Robert E. Ketner, Ralph Mc- Callie and Elbert M. Blake, who occupied tent No. 10 in Company K. The band quarters, the hospital especially, and the First Battalion coral star, the product of Lieutenant-Colo- nel Backus' creative genius, all deserve mention, but the one work of note that made all the kodack fiends hurry to our camp, that made other regiments look our way with envious eyes and wonder why they " hadn't thought of it ' was, is and always will be the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry Monument. It stands there to-day in its lonely grandeur, growing more endurable with the passing ages; a monument to the enterprise of the regi- ment whose name it bears. It is the first monument ever erected on foreign soil to the memory of an American Soldier and the honor of its origination and general design belongs to the inimitable Backus, to whose inherent aptitude for such things and untiring energy the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana owes much of the credit bestowed upon it for the example it always set as the model camp of the Seventh Army Corps; and would it not be well to confess that some of us looked a little wise and doubted a little bit. the success of what seemed to be a hard task to make out m o w z > r o D H > r > H O n o r g; a 142 HISTORV OF THE of rough material a monument creditable to the reputation of the regiment; but the lieutenant-colonel simply re- marked '"Just let the old man alone " and when the work was finished every man in the regiment was proud of it. It was begun on the 21st day of January and completed the 5th day of February, and every stone was hauled, hewn, lifted and put in place by a soldier of the regiment. Its base is sixteen feet square and four feet high; sur- mounted by a second base twelve feet square and three feet high and rising from this is the shaft, sixteen feet high, being four feet square at its base and two and one half feet square at the top where rests a twelve-inch steel shell making in all a total height of twenty-four feet. The shells and cannon balls upon and around its base were se- cured from the landing place on Playa coast. The shaft is a heavy frame work covered with brain coral and set in cement. Imbedded in the four faces of the second base are huge limestone slabs bearing the four inscriptions " One Hundred and Sixty-first "" Indiana" "Volunteer" "In- fantry. ' Set in the north side of the lower base is a plate of limestone bearing the names of Colonel Durbin, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Backus and Captain George West as build- ers. In the front lower base is another limestone shield bearing the date 1899. In the upper left hand corner of the lower base immediately under the lower left hand cor- ner of the upper base is the corner stone concerning the laying of which and its contents the following is quoted from the "Times of Cuba. " " Yesterday morning the corner stone was laid, not with any formal ceremony but in a business-like way. The corner stone is one of great size, and after being chiseled out a tin box was placed inside. The box was about fif- teen inches on each side, and when filled contained a re- markable collection of papers, very different from any that m 144 HISTORY OF THE history records, and the man who will open this stone in centuries to come will marvel at the wonderful sight that will greet his eyes when he removes the cement that now so well protects the assortment of mementos that the In- diana men covered with a massive slab. A complete roster of the regiment was first placed in the stone. Then came a copy of the drill regulations and the manual of arms, fol- lowed by the photographs of a number of the officers of the regiment, all the newspapers published in Indiana which could be procured, a few small coins, a piece of rope from the lamented Maine, one cigar in a box, a brief history of the regiment, copies of the New York, Cincinnati and Chi- cago papers, and lastly a copy of the Times of Cuba, of Tuesday, January 23, which contained the first account of the unique memorial of the Indiana regiment." Captain West deserves great praise not only for his share in the monument's design but for the attention and assistance given to its erecton, and the men who worked so hard for so many days ought also to be remembered. It is not the only monument of its kind but it is and always will be the first one. It is told of a southern colonel: There were fourteen baptized in another regiment; he forth- with ordered the adjutant to make a detail of twenty men, to take them down to the creek and baptize them, for he ' ' wasn't agoin' to allow any regiment to get ahead of him ; ' and so there are other monuments, at least one, — a credit- able work, too, by the way. January also contained the "bloody period," a time when the patriots' fluid was drawn upon every man, a time out of which the future brought much intense suffering, a time when one thousand two hundred Hoosier soldiers bared their strong left arms to the surgeons' little bone slivers, with poison points like Oriental daggers, dipped in some mysterious concoction, that for effect might have ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 145 been, for all the soldiers knew, drawn from a cauldron mixed up by Macbeth's witches, and in plain vernacular beat a tarantula bite all hollow. There was smallpox in camp, of which later mention will be made, and every man was vaccinated, beginning with Company A, on the 16th of the month. The men were driven up to the dis- pensary like sheep to the slaughter-house — there was no getting out of it. There were more " Ohs! " and "damns!" and like emphatic exclamations in this month than in all others together, as those beautiful rose-colored sore arms hanging so carefully and tenderly down would run against the hand of some thoughtless fellow who wanted to tell him something on the confidential; but they were glad of it for it doubtless prevented what might otherwise have been a period of much and serious sickness, at least so medical science use to say. Many of these January days were wisely employed in visiting much of what there was of note on the island. On the 21st fourteen officers; including the Colonel, "saw the sights." They reported a time of great interest. They did Morro and Cabannas and the city thoroughly and were in the act of bringing the Maine from its wreck spot in the bay to camp but stopped suddenly after procuring enough to supply a few museums. On the following Saturday ten more under charge of Major Olds made a similar excursion. It was another pleasant and profitable day; Major Smith found a dollar on the tomb of Columbus in the old cathre- dal. The privates had their outings, too. Colonel Durbin who has always been considerate of his men, conceived the idea of sending each day, ten men from each company to the country in army wagons for a day of recreation and acquaintance with the country's beautiful appearance. Accordingly at 7 a. m. on January 29th the first excursion went out. They drove over a fine macadamized road past 10 w u < a w X ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 147 trotting ponies, dusty stage coaches, lumbering burrow carts, cane and pineapple fields and banana groves, past a thousand palms and cocoas and other tropical growths, through peculiar Cuban villages to the mountains sixteen miles away and back again at six o'clock in the evening. Nature certainly has a lavish way of doing things in Cuba and as one looks upon the luxuriant landscape he thinks of something that Emerson said, " Happy, I cried, whose home is here; Fair fortune to the Mountaineer; Dame nature round his humble bed Hath royal pleasure grounds outspread." Still appearances ofttimes deceive, and even the Cubans never raised enough as the import statistics on rice, flour, potatoes, salt, etc., plainly indicate; but the chief thing now is that nature does it all or nearly all, for the wooden plow ViSt 148 HISTORY OF THE and antiquated ox goad; show the rude and barbarous stage out of which their agriculture.has never emerged; but now while all over the island where once magnificent estates are in ruins and the country has gone to waste, the time has come for the replanting and rebuilding and under an American protectorate or at least the influence of her civilization which is bound to come, agriculture will become an Ameri- can science more in harmony with nature's demand that will usher in an era of prosperity such as the island never yet has known. Squads of ten, accompanied by a commissioned officer, from time to time also visited the city and surveyed its points of interest; there was grim old Morro with its walls hewn from the rocks in 1589; its famous O'Donnell light- house on the' seaward corner and its frowning batteries ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 49 crowned with sixty cannon and the famous "twelve apos- tles." And there is traditional and worthless old Cabana, dating from 1763, at a cost of fourteen million dollars. There is the unrivaled view encircling the bay, the tragic spot where rests the Maine, the old Catholic cathedral, and, best of all, the life with all its peculiar characteristics that flows through the city's narrow streets. The value of seeing the country, the city and the people, will always be to every man, from an educatioaal standpoint, a reason for rejoicing that the destinies of war took him to those shores. If January began with a significant event it was also to end with one. An order came to prepare for a corps review on the 31st. The reviewing officer was to be the inspector general of the United States Army, Brigadier- General Breckenridge. The general had inspected our camp the day before, the 30th, and on the 31st, the parade ground being next and nearest our regiment, every man who could shoulder a gun turned out. Beside the infantry of the Seventh Army Corps there were present the Seventh Cavalry and the Second United States Artillery. In all over thirteen hundred men passed in review at 3 p. m. before the distinguished visitor who was there for that pur- pose in company with General Fit/. Hugh Lee. The review was one that showed the results of hard training on the part of every regiment present; in fact it was remarkable the way those men did march. The Indiana boys were there. Said one fellow from another regiment, " Those d — d Hoosiers can have typhoid fever, smallpox and everything else and then turn out bigger com- panies and march better than any regiment in the whole d — d corps." That he was about right, forgetting the indelicacy of his expression is clearly proven by the follow- ing letter. 150 HISTORY OF THE Headquarters ist. Brig., 2D. Div., 7th A. C, ) Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba, Feb. i, 1899. ) The Commanding Officer, 161st Ind. Vol. Inf. Sir: — The brigadier-general commanding directs me to inform you in his opinion your regiment presented the finest appearance of any in the corps at the review before the inspector-general yesterday, and to express to you his gratification thereat. Aiso, that he considered the condi- tion of your camp as worthy of especial commendation, which he takes pleasure in transmitting to you. Very respectfully, R. G. Paxton, Assistant Adjutant-General. The men were proud of this deserved tribute; it was the result of intelligent and hard work and every future parade showed they meant to hold the distinction they had so honorably acquired. And thus the first month of 1899 came to an end. February was at hand and entered upon, every man wondering what its four short weeks would bring forth in the experience of the army to which he belonged. CHAPTER IX. CAMP COLUMBIA. February i, '99-March 31, '99. February came and brought with it twenty-eight days of atmospheric changes; for a day or a few the sun was at his best and then for an equal length of time or longer the clouds that hid the hot old orb poured their torrents down upon the thirsty ground; for a time we were warmly re- minded of our equatorial proximity and then with a gale that sprang up in the night the wind would turn and bring us chilly reminders of that for-years-unequalled winter they were having in our Hoosier home up north. It was not necessary to wait for the "rainy season" to discover that Cuban skies had fine raining facilities; they were too gen- erous to deal in "drops;" they poured it out in torrents and then some. The north wind that rose in the night and played those beautiful tunes with the flies, that blustered around the tent and blew an occasional one down, just to show what it could do, was a little reminder of what we might expect when the real time came for the wind to blow. But the night of the 13th was not so slow. At 2 a. m. on the morning of the 12th the wind began to rise; it had been blowing from the north for a day and all through the 13th it kept rising higher till it sent the ocean breakers in white dashing billows against the coast of Playa. By 8 p. m. there was a heavy wind growing hourly stronger and by 2 a. M.of the coming morning a regular hurricane was hav- ing its own way all over camp. The night was awful; the I52 HISTORY OF THE flies banged the tent with a vengeance, the frames creaked, the shrinking ropes pulled hard at the pegs and everywhere destruction was imminent. Many of the division hospital tents went down, all the assembly tents fell, and our own was irreparably ruined. The guard tents fell and from one to several tents in every company. The men were used to it, however, and when the wind got through they put them up again and were ready for drill. The month was full of history, though not all of it per- taining directly to the regiment; there was, however, the usual drill evolutions and the month's share of camp con- struction. All through the month there was in course of erection, in the rear of camp, a commodious and much needed, but, alas, never used bath house, a most convenient arrange- ment surpassing anything yet provided; a regular double decker. The upper story was provided with nine shower baths, the lower with one large tub for twenty-five men, besides which there were other complete toilet arrange- ments for twenty-four men. Other regiments were also provided, the work in this case being done not by the men of the regiment but by the corps of engineers, Second United States. They made a fine bath house, but were a mighty long time at it. That it was ready for use some- time after the regiment left is to be presumed. On the 5th Colonel Backus drew the plan for the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana band stand. It was to be octagon in shape, to be built of bamboo, and to sur- pass in uniqueness and beauty anything in the Seventh Army Corps. Would it be hard to substantially join the bamboo? Yes, but the colonel would do it. Forthwith wagons were sent into the country to procure the Cana Brava (bamboo), for the frame and the palm leaves for its characteristic thatched roof. It is not necessary to relate ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 53 the adjutant's war with the Cuban farmer whose bamboo he had innocently appropriated, nor how the chaplain's mules ran away while he was pulling a mahogany post four feet out of the road side, but the poles and leaves were brought and the work began. When nails would not hold the poles were wired together; each of the eight sides were ten feet wide, seats edged with bamboo were t. ut in place, the floor was made of famous Playa sand, the palm branches were strapped upon the roof and it was finished, a shining green Kiosque with accommodations for forty musicians. Of course the green faded out, the leaves were brown in a day as if to remind us that man is like the grass of the field; in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth; but when the band played we forgot all about that. The companies were yet without dining rooms and February saw their erection. Lieutenant Johnson, of Company A, had returned in time to complete the music stand, and Febru- ary 13, began work on the eating shacks. Ten feet in front of each kitchen was built a long narrow frame work and covered with paulines. Each was twenty-five feet long and fifteen feet wide, providing fifty men on either side with seating and table room. The drill was mostly battalion; for ten days it was battalion drill in the morning and dress parade. in the even- ing; then came a few days of company drill, and the lat- ter part of the month was devoted to battalion extended order drill and to " advance and rear guard work," in which latter the battalions marched into the enemy's country, threw out their skirmishers and advanced for points of attack; now toward some thatched hut, or some ravine or even God's holy house in Marianoa, but failing to find an enemy returned to camp and left the bewildered Cubans wondering what they had in mind to do. 154 HISTORY OF THE Major Havens paid us his accustomed visit on the 6th. The major was always welcome. On the 10th, at dress parade, the regimental photograph was taken on the hill- side, near the division hospital. Picture business paid better than a commission in the army. Among other events of peculiar interest to the army in general was the burial, on the nth, of the remains of General Calixto Garcia, an imposing ceremony, marred only by the childish action of the quick-tempered and pharisaical-dispositioned Cuban officials. The following is taken from La Lucha, of February 13: "The funeral of the Cuban general, Calixto Garcia, which took place on last Saturday afternoon, was altogether an imposing ceremony, not only on account of the divers elements which figured in it, but also on account of the immense number of people of all classes who literally covered the balconies and terraces of the houses and invaded the sidewalks and even the streets through which the mournful cortege was to pass. " Clubs to the number of eighty-three formed in the procession, in which were also to be seen four splendid hearses, respectively drawn by four, six and ten horses, the coaches laden with part of the Moral crowns dedicated to the memory of General Garcia, whose body had been placed on the caisson of an American cannon. "Incompliance with President McKinley's instructions, General Brooke ordered that the honors of a general who had died incampaign should be rendered to General Garcia; accordingly four companies of cavalry and four batteries of artillery of the United States formed in the funeral; Gen- eral Brooke with his staff and escort also attended. "The caisson with General Garcia's body was followed by three priests on foot; then came General Garcia's sons, in a carriage; Generals Brooke, Chaffee and Humphreys and Colonel Richards and the secretaries, in three car- riages; General Brooke's staff and Lee and his staff, mounted, a cavalry troop; General Ludlow in a carriage, his staff mounted. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 5 5. "The two corps of Havana firemen, that turned out in full at the end of the procession, greatly attracted atten- tion, on account of the fine look of their personnel, and brilliant uniforms. "It is really a pity that the misunderstanding occurred at the last hour, owing to which the delegates of the Cuban assembly, part of the members of the city council, all the Cuban generals and troops withdrew from the funeral, thus defrauding public expectation of seeing armed Cubans formed for the first time in this city; and a sentiment of uneasiness, as to the future consequences, became general." Four days more, and the 15th, bringing up the sad memory of a year ago, was at hand. It was the anniver- sary of the destruction of the Maine. The following order was received: Headquarters Seventh Army Corps, Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba. February 14, 1899. General Order No. 12. To-morrow being the anniversary of the loss of the United States battleship Maine, all duty in this command excepting the necessary guard and police, will be sus- pended. By command of Major-General Lee. R. E. L. Michie, Assistant Adjutant-General. It was the night of February 15, 1898; it was 9:40 o'clock. The sky was overcast, but now and then the soft rays of the clear moon would break through to kiss the placid waters of the bay as they gently washed the sides of the great vessel as if to say, "All is well." Taps had sounded and the boys had "turned in," and while they were sleeping and dreaming, perhaps, of home or per- chance of how they were bravely manning the guns in some ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 57 great and honorable naval conflict, listening with pride in their dream-bound imagination to the thundering of the big twelve-inch guns, there was consummated the fiendish perfidy of an enemy, who did not dare to meet the defend- ers of Old Glory in fair and honorable battle, and therefore chose the cover of darkness to touch the lives of innocent men. Two hundred and fifty-four men were lost that night. A few of the one hundred rescued died shortly after. Feb- ruary 17 nineteen bodies were interred in Colon cemetery; others followed, until more than a half hundred rest beneath that sacred mound. A year had passed since the tragic event, and a fitting memorial service was to be held in Colon cemetery. At 9:30 marines from the Brooklyn, the Resolute and the Lebanon, accompanied by a detail of sailors and their band, formed in front of the United States Club in the Prado, and with a troop from the Seventh Cavalry and a large procession of carriages and army ambulance contain- ing ladies with numberless wreaths of beautiful flowers, they started at 2 o'clock for Vedado. At the entrance to the cemetery they were joined by General Brooke and his staff. At the same hour a battalion from the First Maine Heavy Artillery, one battalion from each division, one troop cavalry and one battery of light artillery formed in the road leading .to Havana with the head of the column resting at Puentes Grandes bridge. When this escort with General Lee reached the cemetery part of the ceremony had been finished. The marines and sailors had drawn up, and as the Brooklyn band rendered a few selections they filed past the graves, each placing upon them some beauti- ful flowers. Then came the ladies with the other floral offerings. General Lee's party then came and rendered similar tribute; a national salute of twenty-one guns was. W > OS o w z < «£; W ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 59 fired and the crowd passed out under the colossal arch of Havana's holy field, leaving the dead heroes sleeping beneath a wilderness of flowers. It was impressive, solemn and pathetic; it was all that could be done to honor our country's dead, but the United States will have done its duty only when somewhere on the Prado or on some other suitable spot a beautiful and imposing monument rises to their memory. Since the narrative has entered the Havana cemetery it will be interesting to take the reader to one corner of this huge burying place, and there look upon one of the most shocking sights in Cuba— the "Human Bone Yard " a cut of which is given on the following page. This enclosure is over seventy feet square, and the depth of the bone pile is over forty feet, containing, to-day, the bones of many millions of people. The rich man is hauled to his grave with highly caparisoned livery; the poor man carried in a rude coffin on the shoulders of four young men; according to his wealth, he is buried in his coffin, or, as is more usually the case, taken out and lowered by a rope into his resting place in mother earth's bare bosom. The coffin- bearers each pick up a piece of dirt, kiss it, throw it upon the corpse, pick up their coffin and take it back to be used for the next poor man. A little lime is then thrown over the corpse and the grave-digger takes his hoe and scrapes in the soil to a depth of about eight inches above the poor fellow's remains, and the same grave is thep ready for another occupant, who is not long in coming. If this is shocking, what follows is more so: For centuries the established church of that island has imposed a yearly grave tax, an exorbitant sum which the poor, of course, cannot pay, and as the poor predominate in numbers the hideous bone pile is the result, and every cemetery has its ghastly corner into which the grave-digger is busy throwing the -r**h ♦* ■*." ^ ',7 •»• *»•*. L"" ,:, .^Jl! — m ' I M — t i Mi w z o PQ z ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. l6l bones while he empties the grave for another tenant. The day of this heathenish practice is over! Up to Washington has gone the cry of the Cuban people, asking the privilege for their dead to rest undisturbed, and the influence of the starry flag, the ideas of the American nation, will make it so. In the regiment a corps review had been ordered. The first order for this review, dated February 8, corps headquarters, called for a review of the corps on the nth inst., at 3 o'clock p. m., on the open ground in the vicinity of the camp of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry by the major-general com- manding, division of Cuba. The drill ground in our vicinity was the largest and best available; it was thoroughly pre- pared by Cuban labor, giving to the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana the best practice ground in the whole Seventh Army Corps. Many of the regiments were on their way to execute the above order when it was revoked because of rain, and the men, already drenched, went back. It was ours to wait in the dry. On the same day, from regimental head- quarters, general order No. 6 was promulgated, stating the review would be held Monday, the 13th. with battalions ready to move at 2:30 p. m. All men able to bear guns to be in line and no one excused except in writing by the major-surgeon. Again the men were on their way. Again it poured and again came the order of postponement until Friday, the 17th. This time the elements were threatening, but the review was on. The First Division was followed by the First Maine Heavy Artillery and then the Second Divis- ion, of which the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was the last regiment, passed in review, followed by the Light Artillery Battalion and the Cavalry Squadron, which last, 1 62 HISTORY OF THE for the satisfaction of the people, passed a second time, in running order. This was the first time in which General Lee himself, with his staff, passed the reviewing officer. In all, there were fifteen thousand soldiers in line. The troops were given a critical inspection, and a judgment that was favorable rendered for them all; the men were on their nerve that day and it would have been hard to find a better bodv of marching men. The spectacle was imposing and the impression was general that it would be the corps' last review. The 22d brought another anniversary and also an order for the suspension of all military duties. The men were al- lowed to go out in considerable numbers. Many officers were also absent, and it was a quiet camp all day. At 12 o'clock the national salute of twenty-one guns was fired, under the direction of the commanding officer of the Light Artillery Battalion, from the eminence on which the headquarters of the Second Division is located. At the same hour in the city of Havana occurred a review of the Regulars; the Cabanas guns fired a salute and the Seventh Cavalry Band played "America," which was the signal for beginning the march of three thousand men, who passed in review before Generals Brooke and Ludlow, who, with their staffs, had their reviewing positions in front of the " Inglaterra. " The order was: Seventh Cavalry, Second Artillery and Tenth Infantry; the Eighth Infantry and two compa- nies of engineers bringing up the rear. The review only lasted about twenty minutes, the men returning immediately to camp. Salutes from the Texas and Brooklyn were fired in response to that of Cabanas. t The next day brought Gomez to Marianao. The old chief had skulked in the woods long enough; he had made ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 63 terms with America for the payment of his army and was on the way to stand before the people whose cause he had espoused. The One Hundred and Sixty-first band had been asked to meet him and escort him through the city at I -.30 p. m., he was expected and the band was there, the popu- lace was there, hundred of soldiers in blue were there and the Cuban army was there, seven hundred infantry and five hundred cavalry, a strange mixture of color and age; we have remarked upon the color before; but there were young boys, children not over thirteen and some that were nearer twelve riding bony ponies small of stature, soldiers in the Cuban revolt. Every half hour brought a train, but not the general, and when the crowd had waited three hours and a half a special bearing the "stars and stripes" and the Cuban flag came rolling up from Quemados; every one knew it bore the expected chieftain and immediately a scene of greatest confusion reigned, the bands played and the multitude yelled. The mayor of Marianao had driven his handsome pony and carriage to the proper exit to receive the old hero, but some excited Cuban who knew it all persuaded him to quickly drive to the other entrance and about the time he got there Gomez came where the carriage first stood. What, no convey- ance to meet the old battle-scarred veteran ? and the crowd bearing down upon him! near the entrance stood an ante- deluvian shay with a skeleton between the shafts and an ebony faced driver on the seat. They jerked his old rattle- trap half way and the general the other half and would his posterity ever believe it the "peseta ' hack-driver was to drive the great Gomez through the streets of Marianao. Just then the mayor spun around the corner, and his angry passions rose; it was " carramba " with one hand and then "carramba" with the other, and then "carramba" with both and Mr. Know-it-all expostulated, and the mayor 164 HISTORY OF THE expostulated and said " carramba " again, and just then four drops of rain fell from the sky and the old warrior of many a storm was in his mackintosh before it could be told and the dusty buggy top dropped over him and he was off before a third of the crowd who had stretched their cervi- cal vertebra so hard had a chance to see him. The One Hundred and Sixty-first band went before him playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever," while his Cuban follow- ers came behind him and thus he was escorted to Cuban headquarters; in the evening a reception was given and later in the theatre a ball. The general wore a slouch hat and around his neck was tied a silken handkerchief; he was a trifle stooped and his face bore signs of the hardships he had suffered in his late campaign. The next day he entered Havana and received the ovations of a grateful populace while the political charlatans were whetting their knives to stab him in the hour of his triumph. This suffices for February, unless it be to mention the 26th, when the privates had an opportunity to watch and laugh while the line officers drilled, practicing sword salu- tation a la regulation ; or perchance to tell of how the boys of the Seveiath Army Corps changed the schedule on the ' ' Ferro-Carril de Marianao. " It is a simple story of asimple plan. The trains didn't stop where the boys wanted to get on, and they " soaped " the track. The train stopped and the boys got on, but it caused General Lee the trouble of writing General Order No. 18, and then, of course, the boys stopped. During the latter part of February officers and men were in daily expectation of an order from brigade head- quarters sending the brigade out for a ten days or a two weeks' practice march. The Second Brigade had just returned from such a march, and it was generally under- stood that the First Brigade was to proceed upon a similar ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 65 one, going, however, around the city through the Havana province, instead of the southwesterly direction taken by the Second Brigade. On February 27 (Sunday) Colonel Durbin, Major Smith and Major Olds made a prospecting tour, selecting suitable roadways and camping spots. In the meantime, however, the surgeon had, on Feb- ruary 25, sent up to division headquarters a protest against the plan. The protest received the approval of the acting chief surgeon of the division, but after going to the chief surgeon of the Havana province, was returned practically disapproving the protest, and recommending preparations for the march, which, though not yet ordered, had been set for March 1st, but the major's protest was too sensible and weighty, and word came on March 1st that the proposed practice march had been postponed, but the fact was that the idea was altogether abandoned. In the meantime the colonel had planned another march, that of a day's pleas- ure trip to Vento Springs. The adjutant, in company with Captain Fortune, picked the way on Wednesday, March 1st, and in the early morning of the 2d, with Compam A as advance guard, the regiment started on its way. When they came to the Second Division hospital the nurses and convalescents and all of Company M turned out to see them as they passed. The bugle corps did its best from the top of the hill till the railroad was crossed, when the band struck up "The Indiana State Band," and kept it up in a way that meant business till Real street was reached. The regiment marched out past the sugar factory to the main railroad, where the ambulances waited while they pushed on one and one-half miles to Vento. The band played a tune and the boys were turned loose. They took a swim, had lunch at 12, went down into the basin, went through the tunnel, and while some lounged others went over to visit the insane asylum, one-half mile away. 1 66 HISTORY OF THE At 3:30 the regiment took its way toward camp, arriving at 5:45- Before the construction of the Vento springs the city had been inadequately supplied with water from the Zanja and Ferdinand VII aqueducts; the magnificent aqueduct of Isable II, or of the Vento, was begun in 1859, deriving its supply from the pure and inexhaustable Vento springs on the edge of the Almandares river, nine miles from Havana. The aqueduct itself has already cost three million five hundred thousand dollars and is still incomplete, being temporarily connected with that of Ferdinand VII. It will cost three million dollars to complete it. The Vento spring is a wonderful construction, being a large stone basin open at the bottom, through which the spring bub- bles. The aqueduct is a tunnel of brick, eliptical in shape, placed under the ground and marked by turrets of stone placed along its course, carrying the water to two great res- ervoirs near Cerro and from thence to the city. An at- tempt was first made to pipe water for the camp from Ha- vana, but the elevation interfering, a big elevated tank was built near the Fourth Illinois by means of which the wa- ter was to be forced through the camps. On Sunday night, January 22, a tremendous crash was heard and as the men went flying toward the sound conjecture was running wild; it was generally conceded that a frightful wreck had oc- curred and Bruce of Company K declared he saw the train just go up and the head light just go out, but as they drew near they found the huge water tank smashed to splinters in a flood of water and mud. The water was afterwards piped from the reservoirs and every camp furnished with the clear, pure water of Vento. The asylum visited by the boys has a sad history; when war came its inmates were neglected; at General Lee's departure two thousand barrels of a wheat preparation, a x X CI 73 1 68 HISTORY OF THE portion of America's gift to the starving people of Cuba, was left in the sheds at the wharf. This the Spanish au- thorities seized and divided it equally between three insti- tutions of which the asylum referred to was one. There were then one thousand and seventy-five inmates and from then until the fortunes of war changed no other provision was made to sustain their life and less than two hundred lived through that awful period of starvation — starved to death! The surviving ones are all nearly dark skinned, showing their superiority of physique and consequent power of endurance. A week of usual camp routine followed next. There was drill and parade, an issue of clothing by the quarter- master and a sermon by the chaplain. At dress parade on the 6th General Lee was present and was stationed at Colo- nel Durbin's left, while Lieutenant-Colonel Backus passed the regiment in review. The general, in company with Admiral Sampson, passed through camp again the follow- ing day and again on the 9th, in company with Captain Sigsbee of the Texas, visited camp, witnessed the review and stopped for conference with the colonel. Among other things the disposition of the Maine artillery tent floors was a matter in question. The Maine boys had left on the 8th and many of our own tents were still without floors; that evening a few floors found their way over the hill by mistake; the mistake was a simple one. Our regi- ment had been asked to put a guard over the much coveted property; the instruction to the guard was to allow no one to carry away the floors, but when he gave the instruction to his relief he said " no one is allowed to carry these floors but the One Hundred and Sixty-first," and the floors began to move. However, the next day they were given us by proper authority and were accordingly moved and made up for the regiment what it lacked in floors for its men. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 169 Government Warehouse at Ouemados. On Friday, the 10th, at 2:15 p. m., the battleships New York, Brooklyn, Indiana and Texas passed, in order named, along the coast on their cruising expedition to Cienfuegos and Santiago. Thirteen guns were fired by the light artillery from the eminence near division headquarters and the salute returned by the guns of the New York. On the 10th the Exchange was moved out of its weedy corner and obscure surroundings and taken to the " Midway," so dubbed by the boys, for here was the band, the assembly tent, the post-office, and the exchange and here the officers sent for their men when they were wanted and couldn't be found, spending idle moments listening to band practice, playing games, writing letters, buying stamps and soft drinks at the Exchange. It was also on the 10th that cir- 170 HISTORY OF THE Midway. cular No. 5 was issued from corps headquarters authoriz- ing regimental commanders to replace the drill on Tues- days and Thursdays with athletic exercises. Instead of fours right and column left there was to be dashes and hurdles, pole vaults, hammer throwing, shot putting, wrestling, base ball and foot ball. The athletic fiends were in high delight — great things would be done to other regiments— but while all the men were glad for a change they were not looking for a change of this kind; it was a change of country and this announcement savored of a longer stay than the most satisfied had hoped for, but the time of departure was too near at hand and the author- ization of such a programme, which, had it come earlier, would have produced a most excellent and acceptable ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I/I Off for the Mail. change, was too untimely, for in less than two weeks prep- arations for " goin' home " were in progress. The next day, Saturday, March 11, brought Major Kenner, the paymaster, and also a new order of company inspection. Every tent was emptied and then taken down; it was the inspection order only, but it looked like some- thing else, and the yells sent up by the boys made the neighbor regiments believe we were; then the floors were raised, the soil underneath them scratched and everything left to ventilate, after which "as you were" was executed and inspection was over. Sunday was the 12th. The colonel and Major Smith had gone to Mantanzas; Chaplain Watts, of the First Texas, preached in the assembly tent; the officers at a meeting de- cided to give a reception, and on Wednesday the following 172 HISTORY OF THE : ~* 1 i ■ H| • ■r^'n' 1 "- ' I 4&-~ ~ -"^ "^^^iSSiSS aj^^fti '*. -v.hj | ~-£3 ^iE^J RSphp* " ' - ----- ■-■- ■■ invitation was sent to all the officers of the Seventh Army Corps: " The officers of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Reg- iment Indiana Volunteer Infantry request your presence on Monday evening, March the twentieth, at the headquarters of the Corps of Engineers. "At eight o'clock. " Dancing. " The rooms of the building were handsomely decorated with branches of the royal palm, and the affair, by all who were there, was pronounced the best kind of a success. Light refreshments were served, and in the court arbor a pe- culiar but excellent quality of lemonade was at the disposal of all throughout the evening; the officers did not stay late and showed fine consideration for their sleeping comrades by the quiet way in which they came into camp. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 73. On Monday, the 13th, Lieutenant John R. Ward, with a detail of six men, accompanied Paymaster Major Benja- min F. Havens on his pay trip among the regiments out- side Havana province. They visited regiments at Mantan- zas, Cardenas, La Union, Batabano and minor points, re- turning to the regiment the 26th. In January Lieutenant Durbin and in February Lieutenant Pitman, each with a detail of men, made similar trips with the major. It was an excellent opportunity to see the country and a privilege that every one coveted. The detail was selected from the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana each time, and caused a little concern on the outside, but our friend, Major Ha- vens, is a Hoosier and no other explanation is needed. Tuesday, 14th, Major Blow, of the Fourth Virginia, an officer of the regular army, came into camp for investi- gation and instruction concerning the condition of company books; the officers gathered in the band stand and with mustering out in view were carefully reminded of the exact- ness and completeness of all record necessary for accept- ance by the authority on that day. Nothing of serious consequence occurred during the next few days save Kim- mel's white collar at dress parade and the report that sev- eral men strained their optic nerves looking out to sea for transports. For Friday, 17th, a brigade review was on. It was a farewell review for Colonel Joseph F. Armfield, commander of the brigade and colonel of the First North Carolina. Colonel Moulton, of the Second Illinois passed the brigade in review, and Lieutenant-Colonel Backus was in com- mand of the One Hundred and Sixty-first. Colonel Arm- field and his regiment left the following day, a week, for Savannah, Georgia. On Monday, 20th, instead of the usual regimental parade the battalions were reviewed by their respective commanders. 174 HISTORY OF THE On the evening of this day there was organized "The Society of the Seventh Army Corps — Spanish-American War," of which Major-General Fitzhugh Lee was chosen president; Colonel Durbin was chosen as a member of the executive council. By article V of the constitution "all officers and soldiers who have served in the Seventh Army Corps in the war between the United States and Spain, possessing a good moral character and an honorable mili- tary record, shall be eligible to membership in the society." On Tuesday, 21st, at regimental parade, the regiment heard the following notification was read to them by the colonel: Commanding General, Havana, March 20, 1899. Buena Vista: Secretary of war directs the Second Illinois and the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana be prepared to go to States after regiments already ordered get away; you will be notified later when transport will be ready. Regiments should get their records complete. By command of Major-General Brooke. Signed Richards, Asst. Adjutant-General. The men heard these words in silence and marched back to quarters; they wanted to go home, of course, but neither at this time nor later when the information was definite as to time did there occur the joyful and noisy demonstration which characterized other regiments of men under the same circumstances. The esprit de corps, the pride of reputation, the excellent health and fine feeling of the men and the entire environment made them satisfied and the certainty of a recall before the extreme heat set in made them willing to await what the department thought the proper time; nevertheless twelve hundred glad hearts ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 175 beat under army blankets that night and twelve hundred imaginations were busy living through the scenes that were soon to occur in the homeland far away. Company G Street by Moonlight. Thursday was a day of picture taking; the chaplain was busy preparing a regimental history and Waterman's photographer was busy with his camera; it was turned upon the sergeants and corporals and other such groups as could be called together, and then from an elevated con- struction hauled about in a wagon photographs of the regi- ment and views of camp were taken. In the afternoon Lieutenant-Colonel Backus passed the regiment in review before Colonel Durbin, adjutant in command of the First Battalion. The next day morning drill was replaced by camp 176 HISTORY OF THE Next! cleaning, and at parade the men were told they might be in expectation of an order to move any day, and they were also given the pleasing information that small boxes con- taining their additional effects in the way of Cuban relics, etc., would be transported for them. In the evening the First North Carolina men, who were to leave the following day, paid us their parting respects by way of a noisy tin can serenade; the whole howling regiment, frantic because of home-going, came down upon us and made night hideous as they marched through the headquarters and battalion streets. It was indicative of the kindly feeling existing between the regi- ments of the brigade and made our boys glad to see the North Carolinians shout because they were going back to ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I J J the cotton and the pine trees of their native state. The next day, Saturday, 25th, Major Blow again met with the officers; in the afternoon Major-General Brooke sent to the commanding general at Buena Vista the following infor- mation which was forwarded to this regiment, in substance that on the 29th and 30th inst. the Second Illinois was to leave and that efforts were then being made to secure the Ward line to land the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indi- ana in Tampa, Florida, by 12 o'clock, March 31. On the same day all ammunition and extra ordnance stores were turned in and Quartermaster Brunt took them to the government ordnance store at Fort Principe. On this Saturday an execution occurred under the " hangman's tree," without an account of which and a pict- ure of the tree the history of the regiment would be incom- plete. The tree in question grew especially to hang people on; it has only one limb for the reason that so continuous has been the weight of bodies hanging from it that all the strength of the tree must be concentrated in this one limb to be able to bear the strain. The first use of this marvel- ous tree was when a band of bandits robbed a Spanish trading party and hung them all from the limb, tying the ropes about the trunk, and then not long thereafter the civil authorities having captured the bandits hung them all in turn, seventeen of them, from the self same limb; the Cubans hung many a Spaniard there and in the recent war the number of Cubans strung up to this noted limb varies ac- cording to report, some declaring fifty ; others seventy-three and still others one hundred and fifty, and no doubt Weyler the assassin and butcher, hung a whole town of reconcen- trados to the limb in question. The grass grows greener under the tree because the blood has fertilized the soil. At night a wise man always avoids passing it. Spooks and ghosts laugh at you with a fiendish laugh and apparition^ 12 i 7 3 HISTORY OF THE of hanging bodies dangling there knock against each other as they are blown about by wind that comes up from Playa beach. On the day in question a man was stood against the tree; ten rifles were leveled at him twenty feet away. The man could not be recognized from camp, one-quarter mile Hangman's Tree. away for his bandaged eyes disguised him, but it could be no other than the poor Louisiana soldier who in a drunken row had killed a comrade and was waiting death sentence in Marianao jail. Would they shoot before the men and offi- cers who saw them could get there? " After all do I want to see a poor fellow shot down?" " My! its awful." "Why ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I 79 couldn't they give him a life sentence?" " I tell you its sad, boys." " I don't know whether I want to go any farther or not, but if it's got to be done I guess I'll go on just to say I saw it." But before the men got more than half way the fatal moment came. There came a sharp metallic click and the awful deed was done, the rifles were lowered and the poor boy in blue threw up his hands and — took the bandage from his eyes — the photograph was taken. Under the circumstances it is not policy to mention every name, but if Captain Osborne and Captain Gwinn and Major Olds had caught Lieutenant Dority just then another man might have been hung from that famous tree. Monday forenoon, the 27th, an order came calling for a corps review, by the secretary of war, that day at 4:30 p. m. The arrival of the secretary of war in Havana and his conference with the heads of departments was an occa- sion of great moment for the military administration of affairs in the island. The corps review was held in his honor; it was the last review of the corps, and it was frag- mentary, there being only seven regiments, besides the artillery and cavalry, to participate. Seventeen guns, the proper salute for a member of the cabinet, was fired by the batteries as the secretary, with his escort, arrived upon the field. The Fourth Illinois, Ninth Illinois, Third Nebraska, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, Second Illinois, Forty- ninth Iowa and Sixth Missouri passed in review in the order named. The cavalry and artillery passed the review- ing stand twice, as usual; but this time, as if it were their last opportunity, showed the secretary and everybody else how fast they could go. It was a fine exhibition of mili- tary horsemanship, and a whole circus and hippodrome to see them dash by with just danger enough to make it real exciting. In view of who the reviewing officer was, the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana had a record to sus- 1 80 HISTORY OF THE tain. How eyes did open at the sight of those big compa- nies and straight lines! The secretary only said to the colonel, as he retired, " It beat Jacksonville " -three words big with meaning. In the evening General Brooke tendered the secretary a reception. Prominent officers of the army and navy and their wives and many leading citizens were present. The Seventh Cavalry band furnished music, and the occasion was one of the most pleasant social events held in the city since the evacuation. While Colonel Durbin was in attendance at this reception, Major Megrew being in com- mand of camp, a telegram was received stating that the command would leave camp at daybreak on Wednesday morning and embark on the steamship Logan for the United States. All next day the camp was a busy scene of men hurrying to and fro, packing boxes and getting things in readiness for the long looked for and hoped for event. The evening was one of preparation for the morning's departure. The chaplain was holding nightly services in the assembly tent, and that night was an unexpected fare- well service. Fires were consuming all combustible leav- ings, and the whole camp was lighted by the flames. There was not much sleep that night. The men's brains were busy, and they were restless for the coming of the morn- ing. One man mistook 2 o'clock for 5 and began to wander about beating upon a washpan in an attempt to raise the camp, until either the sight of the Third Bat- talion commander in his night shirt or his mighty voice commanding silence scared the fellow back to his cot. At 4 a. M. reveille sounded, a hasty but good breakfast taken, the wagons loaded, assembly call given at 5:45, and at 6 a. m., promptly, the colonel commanded: "Forward, march! ' The wagon train had gone before, and the regi- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 8 1 ment marched past Buena Vista Station and formed in line of masses before General Lee's headquarters, where the general was standing to see the One Hundred and Sixty- first Indiana march away. Colonel Durbin dismounted and, saluting, said: " I have the honor to report the departure of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry." The colonel had in mind to say other things, but the occasion was one of deep emotion and he could only grasp the old general's hand and say: ' ' Good bye, and God bless you! " and he turned away. The tear in General Lee's eye spoke for him as he watched the colonel mount and the regiment move away. The regiment then proceeded out on the road to the city, marching by way of Vedado, where they came to " port arms " in passing General Brooke and other officers before headquarters, arriving at San Jose wharf at 9:30, after a three and one-half hours' march, where the men piled themselves up in the shade to rest and wait for the order to move on board the transport. CHAPTER X. THE DEPARTURE, VOYAGE AND ARRIVAL. The wagon train had come in before them and the dock men were busy loading the effects upon small flat cars, pushing them out on the pier and preparing them for the hoist that carried them up and down into the two hatch- ways of the vessel; if the regiment and its effects could be on board by 4 o'clock or thereabouts, the transport was to make for Savannah, which port it could reach by noon of the 31st in time to avoid quarantine; otherwise we were to reach the states by way of Tampa, and be necessarily inconvenienced by a ten days quarantine. To be ready by any ways near 4 o'clock seemed impos- sible, according to the progress usually made in moving a regiment on board a vessel, but it is doubtful if ever a trans- port was loaded with greater rapidity than this, and the won- der is that more boxes and a few heads were not smashed. Boxes, trunks and barrels were piled together in the net or looped within a single rope, the cog wheel began to play and away they went with a swing and a bang and a chorus of Cuban ejaculations; they made new bundles while the one just sent up swung in the air above them. Now and then a bundle came back with a smash, but always missed a Cuban, or if it reached the hatchway hole beat the rope to the bottom with a bang and scat- tered their contents on the floor. The boys lounged under the wharf shed till 3 o'clock and then began to board the vessel. Lieutenant-Colonel Backus, executive officer of the vessel, superintended their embarkment. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 183 San Jose Espigon (wharf.) They came with guns and knapsacks and canteens, but they came with more. The beasts and the birds were there; this fellow had a dog and another one a rabbit and company F's snake charmer had his mammoth serpents; there were yellow breasted canaries and game roosters, green parrots in wire cages; one fellow had a cat with kittens; he had taken puss with him from Savannah and while on that productive soil she gave birth to nine kittens; each one was worth its weight in gold, for it was born in " Cuby," and mother and all should go back to Freedom's holy land; and there were canes and small portable boxes of this, that and the other thing, and what the men didn't have heaven knows they did have in their boxes among the heavy baggage. Company officers stood at the foot of the gang stairway and noted the men as they passed and quite a few failed to pass, not One Hundred and Sixty-first men, but discharged soldiers, fired teamsters and cooks and an 1 84 HISTORY OF THE A Few of Them. occasional speculator who had gone broke, all seeking passage back to a better land. They were a persevering lot of fellows and when turned down once would try again until some officer was charitable enough to disobey orders and allow an occasional one to slip along. A rope lad- der lowered for a couple of late passengers brought up the rest and all on board, at 5.05 p. m., the well loaded vessel, assisted by the tug Gladisfen, slowly turned its prow to the north and started for the harbor exit close by Morro's massive walls. The band played "The Stars and Stripes" and "A Hot Time;" the vessels that lay at anchor in the harbor filled the air with the shrill noise of steam whistles; the Paris' decks were filled with tourists who cheered us loudly as we passed; a steam launch ran out to cheer us on our ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. I8 5 I S* Going on Board the Logan. way, and the band of the Resolute played "Home, Sweet Home; " there was a moment's quiet and a piercing Indian yell came from behind that caused every man on board to turn toward the wharf; it was" Broncho John," the man with the record of the plains, a familiar figure in the Sev- enth Army Corps, who added a little romance to its his- tory; he was astride his horse at the end of the pier bidding us good-bye with his characteristic yell and a wave of his coat, and the boys returned it with fine imitation and a rousing spirit. Past the Maine, past Cabana, past Morro at 5:23 and out into the ocean the steamship went and we were " goin' home." Things were different than when we entered; Cabana's walls were not lined with Spanish sol- diers and Old Glory waved from Morro. Scenes that 1 86 HISTORY OF THE three and a half months before were strange were then fa- miliar, and a mission, the idea and purpose of which when we first came into such environments played upon the emo- tions of the American soldiers, no longer moved him as before, but left him alone with his musings of where he was going. The vessel was a government transport, formerly the Manitoba, but re-named the Logan. It was four hundred and fifty-seven feet long, several feet shorter than the Mo- . Logan. bile, and, although a comfortable and substantial vessel, it could hardly be called the Mobile's equal. It had, how- ever, more deck room for the men than had the Mobile, while the officer's quarters were smaller. In place of cots for the men, hammocks were provided, which arrangement ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 18/ allowed better ventilation. The vessel made sixteen knots an hour over the bottom, and thirteen and a half feet through the water, dropping anchor at the quarantine station in the Savannah harbor at 9:15 a. m. , Friday, the 31st — forty hours since 5:05 p. m., Wednesday, the 29th, when the line was cast off at San Jose pier. From Savannah to Havana and return, allowing eight hours for loading, it was the fastest record yet made' by a government transport. The sea was just a trifle rough the first morning out, and officers and men, who had voluntarily thrown up home J, Not Feeling So Well ! and friends and position for suffering Cuba's sake, began to throw up again simply because they couldn't help it for their feelings' sake. The sea grew calmer and the vessel grew steadier and the politicians, so long out of practice, realizing the early return to their profession, called a mock convention to determine by their knavery the political des- tiny of some of their comrades. 1 88 HISTORY OF THE Yick M. Backus imposed himself upon the convention as self-constituted chairman. Oratory was on tap and flowed like greased liquid. Much opposition was encoun- tered to " old man " Gwinn's nomination for sheriff of Rush county, but the gallant old veteran's record of daring bravery in the Mexican war was too deserving of recogni- tion, and at the end of a hot debate, was given the unani- mous nomination for said position. Percy Welsh, of Hoop- pole township, Posey county, was made a nominee for coroner of his township, but so far forgot himself as to in- sult the chairman, whereupon Ward, of White, arose and startled the convention by masterly eloquence, in which he repudiated the man Welsh, who quailed into speechless- ness under the scathing denunciation. The new discovered Demosthenes closed his phillipic by placing Congressman Brunt's protege, Sam Cahn, in nomination, who was thereupon chosen by the convention amidst wild acclama- tion. Messages of condolence were to invalid Hudgins and the convention adjourned to meet in the saloon at 7:30 p. m. Wickliff Smith was unanimously chosen chairman, but Backus intimidated the convention at the point of weapon and when Smith started for the chair he found himself star- into the depths of a pistol in the hand of the determined and now desperate Backus; Smith was afraid to take his seat, whereupon he was vehemently denounced as a traitor to his convictions a proceedings began with Backus in the chair. Harold Megrew and Albert D. Ogborn, by appointment of the previous sitting, reported a draft of resolutions denounc- ing all intoxicating liquor but whiskey, advocating all kinds of money as long as there was plenty of it, and granting the toiling millions leave to toil. The scene that followed was a stormy one. Waterlilly Kimmel led the race for con- gressman of the Sixth district, and Ivy, of police fame, was made the convention's choice for justice of the peace of ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 89 Clark county. Welsh was there with blood in his eye — the time for vengeance came when Ward, of White county, was made a nominee; he defamed his charac- ter and his well-known reputation for honesty and truthfulness carried the opinion of the representatives present, but when the man from White arose to acknowl- edge his defeat, he did'nt do a thing to the man from Posey, and the convention adjourned after firing Welsh from the salon. The next morning at 8 o'clock, the Logan was near- ing the muddy mouth. of the Savannah river. As she drew near her mooring place the indispensable tugs were there to help the big boat to her place. There was the " H. C. M. Smith," whoever that referred to, that brought the inspecting surgeon on board, and there was the "Daunt- less " of filibustering fame, that ran her twenty miles an hour and cost the governments of Spain and United States so much in vain endeavor to catch her; huge lighters were pushed alongside and the work of unloading began. At 12: 10 the Santee, a strange bulk of a boat came and took the First Battalion over to the dread fumigation plant ;what they would do to us was the supreme query all the way from Cuba. Strange stories of that mysterious place had been circulated; the men were to be stripped and steamed until all the Cuban brown would leave their skin and they were to go home as fair faced as a new-born child. Some of the men had come into possession of little pieces of hardened shapeless rubber purported to be fumigated but- tons — relics were to melt and run together and every par- rot, cat, canary, rooster and dog would be cleansed beyond recognition if he came out alive. The First Battalion returned at 3:15 and all the satisfaction they gave the rest was "what they'll do to you '11 be a plenty," and they were towed to the city along with the commissary goods 190 HISTORY OF THE that were not subject to fumigation. At 4 p. m. another load went over and passed us on their way to Savannah, with the message " they wont do a thing to you when they get you." Night fell over the Logan, a Company C man fell into the water, and in the morning the rest of the regiment started in two bodies to the place of torture. We were first subjected to a long wait, in which they let loose on us about sixty millions sand gnats, that bit and stung worse than Morro fleas; then the men marched in to an open space and prepared such baggage as they carried with them for the cauldron. It is only fair to say the fumigating authorities had their own way about it all; not the least concession of any character would they make unless some petty condition was complied with. If you only had one laundered shirt it must have all the starch steamed out of it in the fumigatory process, unless you wore it, in which case it didn't need fumigation. Blankets which were aired almost every day must be steamed into worthlessness, but clothes and overcoats that hung for months in the tents passed without it. At first men were stripped and dressed in pajamas to stand around like hospital convalescents, while their every piece of clothing went in the cylinder; but this got wearisome for the management and such care- fulness was afterward dispensed with, but such articles as were steamed got two hundred and twenty degrees for twenty minutes, and the most skeptical had but to lay the tip of his little finger on them as they emerged to be most thoroughly convinced that every flea, United States gray- back and every vermin of every kind, carrying concealed about his person any contagious microbes of smallpox or yellow fever, had suffered a most horrible death; but they deserved it all for what they did to us in Cuba. Any leather that went felt in awful little when it came out, as ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. IQI the accompanying cut will fully demonstrate to a careful observer. Most leather goods were dipped in a solution of water, bichloride of mercury and sodium chloride and dirt, while boxed articles were sprinkled with sawdust, moistened with a solution of formaldehyde or some such concoction of sim- ilar name; it was a big nuisance and a regular April fool but no doubt a great life saving station and all its attendants worthy a medal of honer from its superintendant to the small boy who slipped the officers red chalk to O. K. unfumigated goods, for if those terrible microbes who came with us, transportation free, from Cuba had ever got loose, the entire south would have been overwhelmed with an appalling loss of life. We might in return for courtesy received, suggest to its worthy proprietors an excellent motto "a thing worth doing is worth doing well." Per- I92 HISTORY OF THE sonal fumigation being over, at 2:40, with empty stomachs, we embarked on the Santee and, assisted by the Dauntless, made our way up to the city wharf. Wagons were ready to haul us to camp and at 6 p. m. we came up with the rest of the regiment gone on before, with a camp laid out on the ground formerly occupied by the Forty-ninth Iowa. The tents were old ones of every description, left' behind by the regiment that had previously gone to Cuba; at camp Columbia we had better tentage than any regiment in the Seventh Army Corps, besides the men, the officers also having each one a large (hospital) tent, but here we tum- bled into what ever was at hand and, unwashed and unkempt, froze around till our washpans and blankets were released from quarantine. The regiment came over with- out a sick man and this deprivation caused more sickness than the steaming of those imaginary bacterial microbes ever prevented, but a soldier must have a heart for any fate and so with hearts that were cheerful because the time was short and because the stiff winds that chilled them through and through were American and therefore better than the balmy breezes and warm sunshine of Cuba, the men began the last chapter of their experience in the war they had undertaken to assist. CHAPTER XI. MUSTERING OUT MONTH. Camp Homeward, April 2-30, 1899. The evening of April Fool's day found the regiment once more together and when Sunday, the 2d, dawned, a month of hard work stared everybody in the face; the guard played guard mount, and next day the regiment played parade, after which the colonel said a few words and business was on in earnest thereafter. There was plenty eating every where and the messes were never formed, but at a meeting of officers on the 5th it was announced that suitable arrangements could be made with the genial Holmes couple who had been in the restaurant business all the way to Cuba and back, and a decision reached which drew all the regimental officers around their well spread table three times a day for $5 a week. The same day the baggage came from the place of its retention by the fumigating authorities. The officers had gone frozen by night and unkempt by day, until the bedding and wash- pans arrived; the stuff came and every man had to hunt his own — it brought with it a smell that hasn't left it yet and which so infected the bedding that when a man tucked it under his nose for the night he expected to wake up in the morning axphixiated or chloroformed or in a condition that might be worse. But the rough part of it all was that many articles of value never came at all; one thing is evident, they were either lost or stolen — the reader may form his own opinion, but in either case the responsibility is not hard to fix. 13 194 HISTORY OF THE The first week was intensely chilly, especially at night for men fresh from Cuba, and all the rusty oil stoves of former Savannah days were started on the burn; a certain lieutenant of Company F, with honors fresh upon him, built his camp fire upon the floor of his tent, but the ma- jority of the officers spent the nights in town previous to the arrival of their blankets. Captain Beckert, of the Sixteenth United States, the mustering out officer for the regiment, had made his ap- pearance and was busy with the inspection of company books and records. While Surgeons Gerrish and Wilson were busy at medical inspection of the Fourth Virginia men the men of the One Hundred and Sixty-first were marching by companies to a building in the camp of the Two Hundred and Second New York, where aboard of medical examiners, con- sisting of Surgeons Pead and Old, of the Fourth Virginia, and Tetamore, of the One Hundred and Second New York, under direction of Surgeon Howard, of the United States Army, endeavored to find out how many of those who enlisted able bodied were crippled at the close of the war. The men who reported themselves as sound were passed with little or no examination, while those who re- ported unsound were tested as to the genuineness of their disability. The arrangement was a mutual protective con- cern; it began Friday, the 7th, with Company G, and ended Monday, the band and the staff being examined the last day. The day for turning in ordnance stores had been set for Wednesday, the 12th; accordingly, Tuesday was the last day with guns and good use was made of the time. At 9 A. m. the regiment marched to the Dale Avenue camp with the purpose of making a regimental call on the First North Carolina and the Second Louisiana; Colonel Durbin, in a neat speech, spoke of the good feeling entertained by ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 95 the Hoosiers for the men from Carolina, of the pain in breaking associations that had been so friendly and wishing Colonel Armfield and his men God-speed, he said good-bye for the regiment. There were cheers for the regiment, cheers for the brigade which Colonel Armfield commanded and cheers for the Seventh Army Corps. Arms were stacked, and while the men spent half an hour talking of Cuba and of home, the officers of the regiments mingled in social and farewell intercourse. On the return march a like scene occurred at the camp of the Second Louisiana, where the Indiana men were warmly welcomed by the "Tigers" from the south. Lieutenant-Colonel DuFour made a touching little speech which was warmly and loudly applauded by the men in ranks. He declared that he was glad to see that all sectional feeling had been wiped out and that the northern men had it in heart to thus visit the regiments from the south and wished that everything good might attend the Hoosier boys as they went back to their homes in the north. Wednesday was a picture taking day and in the midst of the greatest rush of business, for the order had come for the turning in of all ordnance stores; before the captains' tents the guns were stacked and the knapsacks, haversacks and canteens were placed in piles of five, and after Lieuten- ant Guignard, of the Fourth United States Artillery, had passed along to inspect them they were snugly packed away in boxes and Uncle Sam's wagons came along and took them away. Each company was in possession of ordnance stores to the amount of about three thousand dollars. Six companies completed this work on the 13th, and six on the 14th. On the 13th the first attempt since leaving was made to mount the guard without arms; it was not an easy thing to do and the men that gathered round to watch had a little fun at the guard's expense. During these days neither I96 HISTORY OF THE pen can describe nor words can tell the awful agony of toil through which the captains and their clerks were passing, burning the midnight oil out of their lamps and the energy out of their lives in preparing the muster rolls for the men to sign; there were only five of them for each company and the men pitched horse-shoes while the officers worked and when they were signed, every one of the five by every man in the company, they were subjected to a board of ex- aminers composed of the lieutenants, who labored through them and sent them back for needed correction. For the men the following week was one of monoto- nous waiting, going out perhaps at drill time for a little exercise and spending the rest of their time at the popular game of quoit pitching or in trying to borrow a dime to take them to town and back. In the forenoon of the 17th the officers of the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana paid their respects to the regiment by a visit to its officers. They called at the colonel's tent where it was suggested that Chaplain Vigus,.of the visiting regiment, excuse him- self in order to call on the chaplain of the One Hundred and Sixty-first, who was at that time in his own tent; the chaplain considerately did so. In the evening of this day the flag pole that was set up in front of Colonel Bryan's headquarters at Camp Cuba Libre in place of the one that was not set up met with a sad fate; other men have secured lumber for canes, but it was in the bright light of day, but this was done under the cover of night; it only goes to show what crimes are com- mitted in the name of politics; the said flagpole had come all the way from Jacksonville intact, but the Bryanitically inclined officers who, in army life generally, live pretty close to where the flag pole ought to go, could not resist the temptation to reduce it to walking-stick lengths which will now come into possession of Bryan disciples and 16 to 1 ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 1 97 will make them believe all the harder in his princi- ples because they have a cane made from his flag pole, and Major Smith is willing to leave it to all sound thinking people if that was not a greater crime than losing eighteen dollars on a bluff or smuggling mahogany posts out of a hospital tent. The next: 'day the colonel went to Washington; the men did not know exactly for what, but they knew all railroad agents had been forbidden to do business in the regiment and they were a little curious and anxious to know what the commanding officer would have to say when he returned; he came back on Sunday, the 33d, and after dinner the officers' call was blown and the Colonel told them in substance the purpose and result of his mission.. It had resulted in an invitation from the President of the United States for this regiment to return home by way of Washington, at which place he would take pleasure in reviewing it. The Secretary of War had also expressed a desire to see again the regiment whose splendid appearance and marching had called from him on previous occasions words of such high commendation. The trip was to cost the men no more than a ticket the shortest way home and would afford to them perhaps the opportunity of their life- time to see the capital city of the nation with its interest- mg and historical sights. The officers then gave an expres- sion, after which the men were called before the colonel, and he told them the same things requesting them to think the matter over and give their company commanders an expression at retreat and roll call. It was accordingly done and the answer came in an almost unanimous desire to accept the President's invitation. The next morning witnessed a new departure in the guard mount: Lieutenant-Colonel Backus was officer of day, Major McGrew mounted the guard. Adjutant Tichenor was 198 HISTORY OF THE acting sergeant major, and the captains accompanied each the detail of men from his company; the boys expected o have a laugh but the major fooled them; however, they had it the next morning when Colonel Durbin was made officer of the day and Lieutenant-Colonel Backus took his turn at mounting the guard; the boys meant no discourtesy to their superior officer, but they simply couldn't help but laugh. In the morning Lieutenant Johnson distinguished himself by championing the cause of the despised and abused colored woman. The Fourth Virginia men were engaged in the unmanly and shameful conduct of tossing a poor defenseless colored washerwoman in a blanket. For shame! Let it be a man, boys, even though he be white, ^t!&> v u*v & ■ -frPir ^i'*Wt! & : ^J Qroo but a woman is a woman, be her color what it may, and a good black woman is a thousand times better than a bad white one. The Savannah Morning News of the 27th, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 199 said: "It was reported last night that a woman who was in a delicate condition was tossed in the Fourth Virginia camp day before yesterday, and that yesterday she died." How true this report was we do not know, but apart from any serious consequence the act was a disreputable out- rage, indecent and disgusting, and the conduct of those men a disgrace to their own color; to a man of true senti- ment it was funny, but gratifying, to see the colored wash- woman run to the Indiana camp because she knew the Hoosiers would protect her. On April the 10th General Lee had issued his last General Order to that portion of the Seventh Army Corps still in Cuba. It was as follows: Headquarters Seventh Army Corps, \ Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba, April 10, 1899. ) General Orders No. 24. The order has been received which moves the last regi- ment of the Seventh Corps across the. sea to be mustered out of the service of the United States. The ranks of its organization are forever broken. The record made by the officers and men will be forever preserved. The pages of military history of their country will inscribe the deeds of no troops who won a greater reputation for discipline, drill, and manly discharge of duty, soldierly conduct and cheer- ful obedience to all orders. The President's assurance, had the war with Spain continued, that the Seventh Corps would have been selected to lead the assault upon the Havana lines, proves that the Corps possessed the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, a confidence shared by his fellow countrymen. It is gratifying to review the career, and remember the 200 HISTORY OF THE harmony which existed among the forty thousand soldiers who answered the roll-call at Tampa, Jacksonville, Savan- nah, and Cuba. Whether it were the "Volunteers" who afterwards at various times broke ranks, and resumed the duties of American citizenship, or the "Regulars," whose standards are still flying, and who are now the advance sentinels of American progress and civilization, — sol- diers of the North and South took the sunshine and storm of camp together, and marched side by side under one flag, in one cause, for one country. Their cordial support and unvarying kindness to the Corps Commander will be gratefully cherished, and though his military connection with comrades and soldiers be severed, the connection that binds him to what concerns their lives, their prosperity and success in days that are to come will never be broken. May health and happiness crown their days, and when their thoughts sometimes wander back to Camps Cuba Libre, Onward, and Columbia, may their hearts beat quicker as they remember they once marched under the banners of the Seventh Army Corps. Fitzhugh Lee, Major General U. S. Volunteers, Commanding. This order was communicated to the One Hundred and Sixty-First Indiana Volunteer Regiment by the Col- onel on the morning of the 22nd and with it came also his own last General Order: Headquarters 161 st Ind. Volunteer Infantry, In Camp Near Savannah, Georgia, April 22, 1899. General Order No. 8. In communicating to you General Order No. 247, Havana, Cuba, April 10, which is the farewell order of our ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 201 recent corps commander, General Fitzhugh Lee, your com- manding officer desires to add his personal testimony, and convey to you in order his parting words of commendation of your services to your country — leaving your homes and your civil pursuits with only one thought and ambition, and that to answer the call of our President to maintain the honor of our flag and punish the insult offered in the destruc- tion of the battleship Maine and the murder of part of her gallant officers and crew. You gave to the world that you were ready, willing and anxious to make any sacrifice re- quired of you, coming as you did unacquainted and unedu- cated in military affairs or training and attaining to a high degree of proficiency speaks more than words of mine can convey. Your services have been truly honest and faith- ful; by your intelligence, desire, devotion and hard work, you were quickly made acquainted with the details of drills and maneuverings necessary. By your conduct and sol- dierly deportment and bearing you attracted to your- selves favorable notice. In your camp conditions, in which none excelled you in neatness, tidiness and sanitary condi- tions, you received the favorable commendation of your su- eriors. In your drills, tactics, parades and reviews you have had the plaudits of men, the compliments and highest praise of officers of the highest grade, including the Honorable Sec- retary of War. These favorable expressions belong to you. They have been honestly and honorably earned and will be pleasant memories in years to come. You are not return- ing to your homes battle-scarred, and I believe I voice the feeling of each one of you when I say that our regret is that no opportunity was afforded to add to honors, bravery and gallantry under fire and in battle, and we must quit the service with the consolation that what was given us to do we did cheerfully and to the best of our ability. In part- ing as soldiers, let us always cherish the kindliest feeling 202 HISTORY OF THE and consideration for each other, that feeling of comrade- ship which in after years will link us together as brothers. In going to your homes in the pursuits of civil life carry with you the assurance of your colonel that you are en- shrined in his heart's affections and for each officer and man of the regiment he has the highest personal regard and his prayers and strong desire shall always be for your welfare, and wherever you may go may heaven's choicest blessings be yours. Thanking you for your willing obedience to orders and requirements, whatever their character, at all times. Your Colonel. On Wednesday evening the officers were the guests of Colonel Durbin at an elaborately spread banquet in the ban- quet hall of the DeSoto. Sergeant-Major Starr was the ranking officer in camp and between the hours of 7:30 p. m. and 1 a. m. wore his "blushing honors full upon him" in a manner becoming the only sergeant-major who ever commanded a regiment. The officers went to the city at 7:30 in two cars especially reserved for them at Liberty street, marched to the hotel and were soon gathered around tables formed in a hollow square and most beautifully dec- orated with potted flowers. It was a notable and joyous occasion, every man was happy, and yet every one was touched with a solemn feeling as they realized that the gathering was a farewell one and that the associations that had for the past ten months bound them together were about to be broken and the habiliment of the soldier laid aside for the dress of civil life. Between the servings there was jovial conversation and fun poked at everybody, and at the close of the repast the following toasts were responded to: ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 203 The American Soldiers — Lieutenant-Colonel Backus. The Volunteer Soldier — Captain Ogborn. Indiana and her Soldiers — Captain Fortune. The Indiana National Guard — Major Megrevv. Our War with Spain — Lieutenant Welsh. Phenastine, and why he fed us Quinine — Major Smith, followed by Lieutenants Gerrish and Wilson. The Old Army Mule — Quartermaster Brunt. Cuba and her Senoritas — Lieutenant Ward. The Value of a Pair of Deuces — Captain Scott. What we Should Think of Ourselves as Soldiers and Citizens — Chaplain Biedervvolf. How we Won a Home — Major Olds. The Lieutenant and How He Got There — Lieuteuant Comstock. How the Tenth Infantry made Good Soldiers — Lieu- tenant Owens. The Folks at Home — Captain Guthrie. The One Hundred and Sixty-first Volunteer Infantry — Col. Winfield T. Durbiti. It was one of those long-to-be-remembered events; everything was said that could be said and just those things that should have been said; and it is needless to here state the deep appreciation of every one present for the regard and courtesy shown to them by their com- manding officer. The hour hand was at the. smallest figure on the dial when the evening was over and the offi- cers returned to camp. The hard work had slowly come to an end and the few remaining days gave to every one a chance to make anv desirable purchases in the city and to pack everything in readiness for the coming of the great day. Arrange- ments had been made for the trip to Washington, the regi- mental horses were sent north over the shortest way, the 204 HISTORY OF THE officers had sworn before Captain Beckurts concerning their responsibility for government property and there was nothing more to do. The last regimental formation was held in the open space by the road. The battalions formed three sides of a hollow square and the colonel spoke to them. He first told them all about the arrangements for leaving; the mus- tering-out was to begin at 9 o'clock the following morning, after which the men would be paid and be at liberty, all reporting at 2 o'clock at the Plant System depot ready to start; he gave to the officers such instruction by which they were to effect with order and dispatch the business of the morrow. He then spoke a few words of parting to the regiment asking that all grievances be laid aside and that the spirit of manliness which had characterized them in their military career go with them into civil life. He wished them all God speed and asked that if in the future by reason of their changed uniform he should fail to rec- ognize them they should pull his coat tail and tell him who they were and he would — the chaplain standing near deterred him he said from saying what he would do. Lieutenant-Colonel Backus called the officers to the front and told Colonel Durbin of a meeting of the regimental officers at which two committees were appointed, one of which was then ready to report. The other committee appointed for the purpose of selecting a suitable remem- brance for the regimental commander was reported at a later date after muster-out, but Major Olds, chairman of the committee on resolutions, stepped out and addressed the colonel in the following appropriate remarks: Colonel Durbin: The meeting which brings us here this afternoon is indeed a sad one. We come here know- ing it is to be the last formation of an organization which has grown dear to the hearts of each and every one of us. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 20$ Friendships formed in the army are stronger than those formed under any other circumstances. This is doubly true of the friendships formed in this regiment. Ten months ago when we assembled in the city of Indian- apolis for the purpose of organization scarcely any of us had acquaintances in the regiment outside of those mem- bers who came from the immediate vicinities of our home towns. We go forth bearing friendships stronger than any we have ever formed. There are many circumstances which have brought this about, but we, the officers of this regiment, believe it mainly due to the untiring devotion and the efficient and honorable methods pursued by our regimental rommander. True we have put forth our best efforts and have tried to do our duty, but all that would have gone for naught had we not had an efficient and ca- pable leader, — but we had such a leader — a leader who by the strength of his personality, by the earnestness of his purpose and by the support which he was able to com- mand, could unify and strengthen our efforts. Moved by these sentiments, we, the officers of the regiment, offer you the following resolutions. The following resolutions were then read and handed to the colonel: Win ki as, The One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry has been brought to a high degree of efficiency through the energetic and telling efforts of Colonel Winfield T. Durbin. Therefore be it Resolved, ist, That we, the officers of the regiment, express to Colonel Durbin our friendship, loyalty and grati- tude for his untiring devotion to the welfare of his com- mand. 2d, That we are profoundly grateful to him for the sacrifices he has made in response to the dictates of patri- 206 HISTORY OF THE otism and for his many acts of kindness and consideration shown us. 3d, That in the muster out of the regiment, the Volunteer Army loses a faithful, energetic and able com- manding officer; the officers and men a true and noble friend. 4th, That though he is called upon to lay aside the habiliments of a soldier for duties of a citizen, we wish him unbounded success in civil pursuits, and that our hearts will ever be with him. Lee M. Olds, Richard W. Buchanan, John R. Ward, Oliver M. Tichenor, James W. Fortune, Committee on Resolutions. It was evident that these words had gone to the right spot and moved the colonel with deep feeling, and after a moment's pause he responded with words of thanks and ap- preciation for what, he said, he felt was more than he de- served. The men went back to their tents and after sup- per every one sat up long into the hours of night reluctant to retire because they knew it was the last night they would sleep as soldiers. The tension of strict discipline was of course relaxed and the first half of the night was made noisy with the songs of happy soldiers, and only when the repertoire of familiar songs was exhausted, the past ten months retrospected, and the future prospected, did the men roll into their blankets for the purpose of trying to sleep till morning. Early in the day that followed, the big affair began. Talk about hustling — the day saw it in all its fury. The place was turned into a scene much like a county fair. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 207 Peddlers of every description were on hand. Trunk selling was the chief paying business, and before the camp was up great piles of trunks had been hauled into the grounds and arranged by sizes ready for the men to take their pick. Waterman had a special tent in a conspucious place, and his big sign for Cuban photographs helped his business out and the side show appearance of the affair as well. On three of the headquarters tents were huge colored signs telling the boys where to get their tickets while the ticket wagon was ready to wait on all who were going direct home. Aunt Chloe was there with her melodious voice cry- ing "nice cool lemonade, two glasses for five," while another with huskier tones cried, ' ' hyar's de place whar you git your lemon pies; dey is as fresh as you make 'em an dey haint no joke 'bout dat neither." Other edibles were carried about mixed up with sand that filled the baskets because of a spanking wind that whizzed around the tents and peppered everything with Hying dust. At every tent door was a sable face inquiring if dey was any old thing de sol- dier wa'nt gwine to tote up north; and the old Confederate loon was there cackling for a nickle, and if he got it he God-blessed you and said you had a true soldier's heart for helping a poor old Confed., and if he didn't get it he said it the other way and said you had a stingy heart like every other d d Yankee in the army. The photograph man was there, the venders of relics and of parrots were there, and of canaries and dogs too, all warranted to have come from Cuba. Three paymasters were on the ground, one in each of the battalion commander's tents. Promptly at 9 o'clock the procession began. It was started by Company A. They lined up by the mustering- out office, the captain called the roll and each man cried "here" and stepped out at the sound of his name to fall in a new double rank forming at right angles to the first — this 208 HISTORY OF THE was all — he was mustered out. Then in line for his pay; then at the proper place for his railroad ticket and off to the city to await the starting of the train to Washington. It was i o'clock before the staff and band were paid; the camp was rapidly being deserted, hacks were in demand and the once private was as swell as the swellest in his transit to the city. One by one with a parting glance the soldiers left the place — camp life was over, a strange feeling filled the men — no one could say "do this" or "do that" and every one did what he chose to do. For an hour a great crowd of soldiers surged about the Plant System depot. Those unable to get tickets at camp after much trying of the patience, got them here. The fact is, the regiment had too much executive ability that worked too well for the railroads. They did not under- stand how it could be done and were not prepared to take their part as per agreed calculations. At 2:10 p. m. the first section moved. It carried Companies A, I, L and M; also Colonel Durbin, Majors Smith and Olds and Lieutenants Brunt and Tichenor. The second section started at 2:40 p. m., loaded with Companies F, G, H and C; Major Megrevv, Lieutenant Wilson and Chaplain Biederwolf accompanied this section. The third section left soon after, carrying Lieutenant- Colonel Backus, Lieutenant Gerrish and the remaining companies. Three trains full of happy soldiers — a few happy sol- diers full too, but in general an orderly set of fellows who did not steal silver spoons from railway restaurants and always paid for what they ate — three big crowds of happy Hoosiers on their way to Washington — alas so soon to be disappointed! It was very evident we had met our Water- loo simply because an honorable contract was made with a ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 209 concern that had no conscience. The railroad concern had no intention of carrying out their contract; it was a shameful robbery by an unprincipled management. The baggage car arrangement for preparing coffee was a decep- tion; water and other needful things could not be pro- cured half of the time, but all the inconveniences could have been endured with little complaint had any effort been made to get the train to its destination with any rea- sonable limit of the appointed time. The trains dragged along the rails at a freight train rate and side tracked for everything that had a whistle to it, and instead of arriving at Washington at 9 a. m., the first section pulled in at 4:30 P. m., the second two hours later, and the third corres- pondingly behind the second. Great preparations had been made for the reception; crowds had gathered around the White House long before noon and waited until long in the afternoon, and after waiting in vain they left the place where the reception was to occur — the regiment did not come. The Indianans at Washington were as disappointed as the regiment; they had taken much pains in the matter and were going to do the affair in a way worthy of Hoosiers, but the railroad had the soldiers' money and it was no con- cern of theirs when the soldiers got to the place they had paid to go. However, had the regiment arrived on time a disappointment would still have been in store for it. Every arrangement had been made as Colonel Durbin had announced, but unforeseen circumstances prevented Presi- dent McKinley from returning to the capital on the day appointed for the reveiw. The following telegrams will be of interest in this con- nection: 14 2 10 HISTORY OF THE "Washington, D. C,, April 29, 1899. " To Colonel Durbin, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, Savannah, Georgia. " Upon arrival of your regiment at Washington, Presi- dent will review it at portico of White House, and after- wards receive members in the east room of the executive mansion; please give early notification of time of depart- ure, route traveled and expected hour of arrival in Wash- ington. Acknowledge. " Heistand, Assistant Adjutant-General." On the train going to Washington the colonel received the following not far from Fredericksburg: "Washington, D. C., May 1, 1899. "Colonel Durbin: Your telegram stating you will arrive at 4 o'clock received. The President is unavoidably detained in New York and will not be home until to-mor- row. Secretary of War also absent from city. These facts are communicated to you to enable you to determiue upon your line of action. Acknowledge receipt. "Heistand, Assistant Adjutant-General." The pleasure and satisfaction of the review would thus have failed the regiment in any event of arrival, but the rest of an interesting program could have been car- ried out much to the satisfaction of all concerned. The first section was met by the marine band and escorted to the White House. Before entering the colonel told the men of his own bitter disappointment, which was perhaps greater than that of the men. The second section came in not long before the first was ready to depart, and later the third. The first section left about 7 o'clock. The men of the other sections spent some time about the city, and near midnight and morning started west, the trains breaking up at Cincinnati and ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 211 Louisville. Company M left the first section at Cin- cinnati and Companies I, L and A came on to Indianapolis with the colonel. Expected here in the evening as per scheduled time, again extensive preparations were made for the reception of these three companies. In the State House a stand trimmed with the colors had been erected for music and speakers, a supper had been prepared and waiting for the train that did not come was next in order. Early in the morning we awoke and found that the train had actually arrived in Indianapolis. At 6 a. m. the boys marched to the State House where the good ladies who had lost all the night's sleep waiting, had come at this early hour to give the boys their breakfast. The boys were ravenously hungry and after being assured that any one of them who choked to death would be given a pen- sion, they went at the table in a way that always pleases a woman when she has worked hard to prepare a good meal. Breakfast, over Governor Mount, who, with his good wife, had come so early to the State House to meet the boys, stood to address them. He told the men how proud the state was of the regiment to which they had belonged, and gave them in the name of the commonwealth a cor- dial welcome home. Colonel Durbin responded, first thanking the ladies for their goodness and then emphasizing the fact that the regiment had tried to do its duty well; he then presented to the state through the Governor the regi- mental colors and the flag. Governor Mount briefly responded, telling the men the flags would be kept in the State House where, when in the city, they could come and look upon them. Senator Fairbanks then spoke briefly and after the men made the marble corriders ring and echo with rousing cheers, they went slowly back to their train. From this time on the experience of one company was the experience of them all, and something like the experi- 2 12 HISTORY OF THE ence of Company Q, of the Two Hundredth Indiana, in which Si Klegg was a corporal. ' 'The Company Q boys received an overpowering welcome at home. The people from the village and the adjacent country turned out en masse to greet them as they alighted from the train. Farmer Klegg and his wife and Maria, proud and eager, were there; and joyful tears flowed unchecked as they twined their arms around son and brother and pressed him to their beating hearts. Annabel was there, with moist eyes and a flush upon her soft cheek. Si had grown brave now, and as soon as the family embrace relaxed he advanced and put his arms around her as unflinchingly as if she had been a rebel battery. Tumultuous cheers rent the air, the band played and banners waved in honor of the soldiers' return from the war. A sumptuous dinner was served to them in the town hall, and the village orators exhausted their eloquence in giving them welcome and glorifying their deeds of valor. By the time the speakers got through, the veterans were pretty well convinced that if it had not been for Company Q the war would have been a failure — on the Union side. Then the boys were taken in charge by their respect- ive friends. In anticipation of Si's return, his mother and sister had for days done little except cook, and he found himself in a land flowing with milk and honey. That night Si had the "best bed " in the house. As he threw himself upon it he sank down in a sea of feathers that almost covered him. Of course he could not sleep in such a bed, and in the morning when his mother went to call him to breakfast, she was amazed to find him lying on the floor. "Tell ye what 'tis mother," he said, "I didn't like ter go back on yer nice bed, but 'twa'n't no use. I swum 'round 'n them fethers purty much all night, but I couldn't ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 21 3 git to sleep t'll I bunked down on the floor. That's a leetle more like the beds I slep on 'n the army. I b'liev t'night I'll rig up a pup tent, put down some rails ter lie on, 'n take my old U. S. blanket 'n crawl in." This is all pretty much right, but the pup-tent and the rail racket — just put up a common A tent and put down some Florida pine and we guarantee the boys will sleep, though feather beds aint so bad to swim around in either. We wish every man who fell a victim to the connubial epidemic all the success that Si had and in the walks of civil life health, happiness and prosperity. The habiliment of a soldier has been laid aside for the apparel of a citizen; the thought of citizenship should come to every member of the One Hundred and Sixty-first with a profounder meaning because of this experience in the service. So glorious has been the past of the American Republic, so significant is its present, so grand is its prospect that to be a citizen of such a nation is a proud distinction. No time in all its history has the nation needed more men of sterling worth than in this present time; with the glory of victory adding fresh luster to its flag of stars and stripes there has come an added burden and consequent responsibility of government that shall strain every fiber and tax every energy of this nation we proudly call our own. Questions are about to arise involving the most enormous interests, and if the true force of manhood and right citizenship is not brought to bear upon them they will be solved by those with baser motives than ought to prompt a man of genuine patriotism, and in it all the honor of the nation is at stake; and as we have done our duty well wherever duty called, as the excellent esprit de corps that has moulded our experience as soldiers has brought to us the highest commendation that could rest 2 14 HISTORV 7 OF THE upon such a body of men, so let us follow the walks of civil life, giving to our nation and to our state our best thought, our best interest and unselfish endeavor, counting it always a high privilege to serve a flag the most beau- tiful, the most noble and the most powerful that ever kissed the sunshine of God, OLD GLORY, THE FLAG OF THE STARS AND STRIPES. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 21 5 COLONEL WINFIELD T. DURBIN. Winfield T. Durbin, of Anderson, was the man upon whom was placed the honor and the responsibility of com- manding the last regiment of men that went out from In- diana. The glory of what a thing becomes belongs sever- ally to those whose influence helps to shape it and the enviable reputation acquired by the One Hundred and Sixty- first Indiana belongs in a degree to every man, be he an officer or private, who took a pride in his regiment and tried to do his duty well for his regiment and for his coun- try's sake, but the man who occupies the place of greatest responsibility, the man upon whose mind depend the ideals toward which an institution shapes itself and upon whose ability to execute depends the final approach to those ideals is the man to whom the greatest honor must fall when he proves himself worthy of his position. A regiment is gen- erally and to a great degree always what its commanding officer makes it and the fact that the regiment whose supe- rior officer was Winfield T. Durbin stood so high in the estimation of the highest army officials, that it was worthy of such recognition as that given by the honorable secre- tary of war, when he declared concerning the cleanliness and condition of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana camp that "it was a revelation, "a "marvel, "and in a pub- lic manner declared on the reviewing field and twice after- ward that the regiment was the finest he had ever seen, — this fact certainly does reflect the greatest honor on the man who controlled its movements and accordingly made its name a reminder of all that a body of thirteen hundred soldiers ought to become. Colonel Durbin did not seek the position; the posi- tion was seeking for the man, and it found him puzzled over some needed repairs amid the noise and rattle of Q W I— t z w o o u ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 2 1/ machinery in the works of the Diamond Paper Company at Anderson. The call came quick and unexpected. His wife and son were on the Continent; without the possibility of consulting them or apprising them of his intention, he decided; he did not leave his plow standing in the field, but he did leave the old smashed up engine lying in the factory and started for the capital city of his state whence he had been called. The call was his marching orders. Colonel Durbin was born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, May 4, 1847, when he was but three years old his parents moved to New Philadelphia, and there he spent hisearly days, securing such educational advantages as were offered by the village schools of his boyhood home. He was fourteen years of age when the Civil war began; one by one he saw his five older brothers enlist to fight for the Union, and his young heart stirred him to offer himself. Accordingly in 1862 he endeavored to enlist in the Sixteenth Indiana, but owing to temporary disability was not accepted, but went with the regiment and participated with it through part of the Vicksburg campaign, rendering good service in the bat- tles of Vicksburg, Arkansas Post and elsewhere. He then enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana. This was in the following year, 1863, and at the close of war he remained for four years with his father who was at that time engaged in the tanning business. In 1869, a young man of twenty-two, he went to Indianapolis and entered upon a clerkship in one of the city's large jobbing dry goods establishments; he held position with the firm for ten years, and when at the expiration of this time he was prepared to leave, he had by his faithful industry and business ability become the head manager of the office force. On the 6th of October, 1875, he married Miss Bertha McCullough, of Anderson and went in 1879 to the city of 21 8 HISTORY OF THE his bride to engage in mercantile and banking pursuits. That he was a successful business man his present connec- tion with the business interests of that place fully attest. He is president of the Anderson Foundry and Machine Works, vice president of the J. W. Sefton Manufacturing Company, and general manager and treasurer of the Dia- mond Paper Company. For six years he was a school trustee of Anderson during which time he materially aided in the erection of several of the finest school buildings in the state. No figure has been more prominent in political circles during the past fifteen years than Colonel Durbin; his fine executive ability and sound judgment has placed him in constant demand of his party. He was a presidental elec- tor in 1888, a delegate to the National Republican conven- tion at Minnaepolis in 1892, and was chairman of the com- mittee that notified Whitelaw Reid of his nomination to the Vice Presidency. He was also a delegate to the same convention in St. Louis in 1896. He is now a member of the national Republican committee for Indiana and a member of the executive committee. Colonel Durbin always had a high ideal for his regi- ment and was solicitous for its interests in every particu- lar; he so placed this ideal before the men until every pri- vate had taken unusual pride in the appearance and repu- tation of his organization. The health of the men was always a subject of deep concern on the colonel's part; he used every precautionary means to keep the camp in the best possible sanitary condition, attending in person with the surgeon on his tours of camp inspection, and in Jack- sonville when malarial indisposition rendered so many of the men unfit for duty, scarce sick enough to be sent to the hospital, yet needing special nourishment and more com- fortable sleeping quarters, Colonel Durbin at his own ex- ONE HUNERED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 2 19 pense erected what might be called a recuperation hospital, a large and substantial frame building, into which the men were sent and where cots and milk diet, so far as the latter was procurable, were furnished them. Colonel Durbin did not know the men personally; and consequetly there was no partiality and no favors for special ones, but the humblest private was always welcome to his tent and men who may have hesitated to approach him always came away feeling they had been treated with all due kindness on the part of their regimental commander. He is versatile and a man of jovial disposition, but could be stern to severity when, in his judgment, it be- came necessary, and under such circumstances when he spoke every one knew that he meant what he said and he was obeyed. That the regiment has received its well- known recognition and its favors the men have always felt has been due to the influence of the man at its head. At the organization of the Society of the Seventh Army Corps March 25, 1899, Colonel Durbin was chosen a member of the executive council. 220 HISTORY OF THE OLIVER M. TICHENOR. Oliver M. Tichenor, first lieutenant and adjutant, was one of the regiment's busy men. No commission less than a captain's should ever be given an adjutant. This ener- Oliver M. Tichenor. getic young officer was born near Princeton, Indiana, April 21, 1864. He received the excellent training that is found in farm life, and entering Princeton's high school, graduated ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 221 in 1883. He was at once appointed deputy treasurer of Gibson county. From 1889 until 1894 he held the posi- tion of postmaster at Princeton, and then for four years traveled as freight and passenger agent of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville railroad, which position he resigned to accept the appointment of chief deputy collector of internal revenue, and July 12, 1898, he placed in the hands of his employer his resignation that he might accept the commission urged upon him in which he was made adju- tant of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Lieutenant Tichenor was journal clerk of the Indiana legislature in 1886-7, and but for his youth would doubt- less have been elected to the clerkship of the supreme court of Indiana, for which position he was a candidate in 1894. 222 HISTORY OF THE JOHN RICH BRUNT. First Lieutenant and Quartermaster John Rich Brunt is a man fitted for the responsible position he held by a life of varied business experiences. He was born in Madison John Rich Brunt. county, Indiana, July 29, 1845, and is consequently the oldest man in the regiment. His grandfather was Nathan Lee, of Virginia, and was killed in the war of 181 2 at ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INLIANA. 223 Sackett's Harbor. When twenty years old Lieutenant Brunt went into what was then the far west, where for five years he remained, leading the life of a hunter and scout. It was his intention to return for a collegiate course, but the fascination of frontier life changed that intention, and until 1870 he was a scout and guide. In this year he was united in marriage to Miss Lois C. Vanlandingham, daugh- ter of a cousin to Hon. Clement L. Vanlandingham. After his marriage he gave up the adventurous life he was lead- ing and became bookkeeper and manager for a railroad con- tractor at what afterwards became Chanute, Kansas, in which place Lieutenant Brunt built the first house ever erected. He then served four years as under sheriff at Osage Mission, Neosho county, Kansas, and followed this by a four years' term in office as sheriff. He then embarked in business at the same place, and a few years later bought the Neosho County Journal, which he successfully managed for eight years. During Cleveland's first administration Lieutenant Brunt was postmaster at Osage Mission. In December, 1889, after an absence of twenty-four years, he turned his face toward his native state, and made his home at Anderson, Indiana, which place, on the organ- ization of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, he left to accept a commission as quartermaster of the regiment. While at Anderson he was secretary and treasurer of the Anderson Iron & Bolt Company, and its receiver for two and a half years after its failure, and upon its reorganiza- tion was made secretary and manager, resigning this posi- tion in February, 1898. In 1886 Lieutenant Brunt was the Democratic nominee for congress from the Eighth Indiana district, and made an excellent race against over- whelming odds. Upon the organization of the regiment he was ap- 224 HISTORY OF THE pointed to the position of ordnance officer, which office he held in addition to his position as regimental quarter- master. On February 24, 1899, he was made acting regimental commissary officer during the illness of Lieuten- ant Freeman, and he accordingly was responsible for the work of three positions. He continued in this latter posi- tion one month. During the months of September and October, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre, he was acting brigade quartermaster of the First Brigade, Third Division. Quartermaster Brunt understood his place; he got for his regiment what others in a like position did, and usually a little more, and if the staff and line were in large tents as well as the men ; if, in fact, the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was the best tented regiment in the corps, it must be placed to his credit that it was so. He is a plain man, without boast, but what he does he does well. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 225 WILLIAM E. BIEDERWOLF. Captain William Edward Biederwolf, chaplain of the regiment, offered his resignation to the Broadway Presby- terian church, in Logansport, Indiana, that he might go to William E. Biederwolf. care for the spiritual needs of the boys of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana. He was born in the year of 1867, on September 29, at Monticello, Indiana. Graduating 15 226 HISTORY OF THE from ths high school of his native place, he taught school for one year, and then, in the fall of '86, entered Wabash College, Crawfordsville. After four years' work in this in- stitution, he entered Princeton University, at Princeton, New Jersey. Upon graduation here, he began his theolog- ical course in the seminary of the same place, receiving his degree in 1895. After a year's evangelistic work with Rev. B. Fay Mills, the evangelist, in April, 1896, he was married to Miss Ida Casad, of Monticello, Indiana. They went at once to Germany, where for eighteen months he enjoyed the privilege of study in New Testament Greek, as Fellow- ship scholar from Princeton Theological Seminary. After traveling to the Holy Land he returned and accepted the pastorate of the Broadway Presbyterian church, in Novem- ber, 1897. Captain Biederwolf, during his study at Prince- ton, devoted his vacations to rescue work in the slums of New York city. He is a lover of athletic sports, and was for four years a member of Princeton's athletic and gym- nastic teams, and in other ways connected with her ath- letic interests. Chaplain Biederwolf took delight in his work and the men called him their friend. Writing of a chaplain's work from an experimental and retrospective view point, one sees discouragements and .hindrances unthought of at the initial stage of that experi- ence, and which in spite of any further recognition of the man and his work which is justly due from the highest military authority must still depend for their alleviation upon circumstances of character with which the war department has nothing to do. The efficiency of the chap- lain's work depends upon other things besides " what the chaplain makes it," which nothing but the grace of God can remedy. Some men have written that army life is a character moulder. 'Tis false — the drift, or better still the current, of army life is anti-moral and anti-religious; neither ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 227 space nor appropriateness of place permit any defense of this statement, but experience proves it in spite of excep- tions. The chaplain of the One Hundred and Sixty-first is not elated over his work. He is, however, on the whole proud of the morale of the regiment it was his privilege to serve; it was as good as any and better than many, due more to the make-up of the men than to anything he was permitted to do. But he knows the ministrations inthe hos- pital among the sick and the dying, the friendships with the men, the words of counsel and the utterances from the place of worship were not in vain, and that even results unseen below eternity will reveal in rich fruition. And yet much of the chaplain's work does depend upon what he makes it and with this in mind early efforts were made to purchase a suitable tent for assembly purpose. Nearly all the towns from which the boys came donated liberally, a large 50x80 tent was purchased, and through help from the Christian Commission, furnished with an organ, with reading, games and writing material. At times peculiarly appropriate for letter writing, from six hundred to seven hundred letters a day were written from the tables of this tent. The first ten days in Jacksonville, nightly evan- gelistic services were held by Fred Schivera. Services were held every Sunday by the chaplain, usually morning and evening. An occasional concert given and such other meetings held as were legitimate for such a place. Elbert M. Blake, of Company K, was detailed to care for the tent and was a most valuable aid to the chaplain. After the severe storm the center piece was left out and the tent became circular with a fifty-foot diameter. At Savannah, Fred C. King, Company G, had charge of the work; in Cuba, Chas. Sheller, Company G, for one month, and John Coates, Company A, for a few weeks, when Mr. Blake was again put in charge. 228 HISTORY OF THE Some of the most precious moments and glorious hours were those spent by the cot side of sick in the wards of the hospital. There was much of this to do in Jacksonville and when the regiment left for Savannah, eighty-seven men were left behind in the tents of the Third Division Hos- pital. The chaplain was granted the privilege of staying with them, and the writing of letters for them, furnishing them with such delicacies as medical authority would allow, the moments of serious conversation and the bidding them good-bye as they were helped into the hospital trains bound for the north, were experiences for which one may well be grateful and feel that his ministry was worth its while. It was hard to sympathize with many of the men who took up their lodgings in the quarters shown in the following cut. It was all voluntary, the men didn't have to go there, that is, at a period considerably prior to their registration, but when once there resolutions were readily made that they would never go again nor recommend its accommoda- tions. These resolutions and promises, whose place if not the chaplain's to help the men to keep them, and as so many would have it that the building on opposite page and similar institutions belonged to the ecclesiastical depart- ment, its cut is appropriately and with pleasure inserted here. > H i 11 o > o > r w FIRST BATTALION K, XI, J±, EX 232 HISTORY OF THE VICTOR M. BACKUS. Lieutenant-Colonel Victor M. Backus is a born sol- dier. His grandfather was an officer on Napoleon's staff, his father was a soldier and Colonel Backus himself a hard Victor M. Backus. Union fighter in 'the war of Rebellion. He therefore brought with him into the recent service a large experience of army life and this with his peculiar genius and character- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 233 Istic earnestness made him an invaluable officer of the regiment in which he served. He was born at Williamsburg, New York, the 27th day of March, 1850. When six years of age his parents came to Franklin, Indiana, and six years later moved to Indianapolis. His school education was meagre, being interrupted by the war, where he felt, young as he was, that he was needed and therefore belonged. He was only eleven years old, he waited two years and then succeeded in gaining enlistment in the Seventeenth Indiana Regiment, then a part of the Army of the Cumberland. General Wilder commanded the brigade and General Gerrard, the division. He was a brave and daring soldier and although but a boy, bore well the part of the strongest man. He fought at Dalton, Resaca, Rome, Big Shanty, Noonday •Creek, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and many other battles. In all he was actively engaged in nineteen battles and fifty-one skirmishes. It will be remembered that it was Wilder' s brigade that made the famous charge against the breast works of Selma. Assault after assault had been made when Wilder hurled his men against the stubborn resistance and went over the works at a great •cost of life, but thereby making possible the almost com- plete destruction of General Forrest's command. At Macon, Georgia, Colonel Backus was made one of a picked detail of sixty men to effect the capture of Jeffer- son Davis, who it was learned was attempting to escape to the west. This detail came up with another within an •exceedingly close distance from where it had captured ' the fallen Confederacy's president, and together they brought him back to Macon and with him another prisoner •of distinction then, and of still greater fame to-day — .fighting Joe Wheeler, the hero of Santiago. At the close of the war the fifteen- vear-old soldier was 2 34 HISTORY OF THE mustered out at Macon, August 12, 1865, and taken to Indianapolis for final discharge. He had reason to be proud of his record. He never missed a battle in which his regiment was engaged and from beginning to end was never once in attendance at sick call. There was no more fighting to be done and the youth entered the Shaw Company Carriage works as an appren- tice at seven dollars per week; but in ten years after taking this position, he had by his constant diligence and earnest application acquired a one-half interest in the concern, and a few years later he had purchased Colonel Shaw's inter- est and the firm was known as V. M. Backus & Company. In 1890 the colonel was nominated by the democratic party for county and city treasurer of the county of Marion, and the city of Indianapolis. He was elected by a hand- some majority. At the expiration of his term of office he turned his attention wholly to the business of contracting, undertaking and satisfactorily completing some of the largest and most important systems of sewerage and other works in the country. When the war with Spain came on Victor M. Backus raised a regiment and offered it to Governor Mount two days before the president issued his first call for troops. The members of the state militia being already sufficient in numbers to furnish the state's required quota, the colonel's regiment could not be given place. Upon the second call for troops the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana was created and the position of lieutenant- colonel tendered him, which he accepted and which posi- tion he has filled with the greatest acceptability. His experience in contracting has made him an invalu- able part of the regiment. He cheerfully assumed that which properly was the duty of others; he was always busy and always had some scheme to keep others busy. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 23$ To him must be given much of the praise for the building and adornment of the camp. The seven-pointed cement star, the bamboo band stand, the monument and the Backus garbage burner, warranted to cremate anything from water to a stone, will always be connected with his name. He was commander of the First Battalion, but was often in command of the regiment while Colonel Durbin commanded the brigade. He made a capable officer, and a good disciplinarian; he was not hard to approach and his easy-going manner made for him friends throughout the whole regiment. COMPANY K. WILFRED T. STOTT. Captain Wilfred T. Stott, son of Dr. W. T. Stott, president of Franklin College, was born March 6, 1869, at Columbus, Indiana. He was graduated from Franklin Col- lege at the age of twenty-one and soon after became en- gaged in the newspaper business as a reporter. In this profession he continued until the outbreak of hostilities against Spain. His first work was done on the Indianapo- lis News. Later he entered the University of Chicago and took a three years literary course at that institution, sup- porting himself in the meantime by reportorial work on the Chicago Tribune. Afterward he was employed on that paper Tor a number of years. In 1897 he returned to his native city and purchased the Republican, a daily and weekly paper, which he published for a year. During the stay of the regiment at Savannah, Georgia, Captain Stott was detailed as recruiting officer for the regi- 236 HISTORY OF THE Captain Wilfred T. Stott. ment and was absent in Indiana on that duty for one month. He has served in the Indiana National Guards for five years and is a son of a veteran, his father being a captain in the Civil war. CHARLES C. SMITH. First Lieutenant Charles C. Smith was born Decem- ber 22, 1 87 1, at South Bethany, Indiana. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Columbus, Indiana, and soon after completing his education became engaged in the pen- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 237 First Lieutenant Charles C. Smith. sion business. He continued in this business until 1893,. when he formed a partnership with Samuel W. Daugherty under the firm name of'Daugherty & Smith, and purchased the business of his former employer, to which real estate and insurance business wasi added. Lieutenant Smith has served three years in the Indiana National Guards and is the son of a soldier. TEMPLE H. OWENS. Second Lieutenant Temple Hubert Owens was born in Noblesville, Indiana, July 14, 1876. He was educated! 2 3 8 HISTORY OF THE in Columbus, graduating from the high schools of that city in 1895. Since that time until entering the service he was engaged in newspaper work, being employed on the local papers of his home city, besides acting as corres- pondent for many of the metropolitan dailies. For three months during his service with the One Second Lieutenant Temple Hubert Owens. Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana he was detailed on duty with the Tenth United States Infantry at Havana and Mantanzas, serving as lieutenant in Company F, and also as adjutant of the Second Battalion. Lieutenant Owens also acted as adjutant of the First ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 239 Battalion, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana, at Camp Cuba Libre. His father was a veteran, having served dur- ing the entire Civil war. COMPANY HISTORY. Company K was organized at Columbus, Indiana, April 28, 1898. At the meeting at which the organization was perfected two hundred men were enrolled. W. T. Stott was elected captain and C. C. Smith, first lieutenant, and T. H. Owens, second lieutenant. A strenu- ous effort was made by the officers and men and citizens of Columbus to have the company ordered out on the first call for troops. Feeling confident, however, that it would later be called into service, the organization was main- tained, though a number of the members enlisted in the regular army and in the volunteer regiments already ac- cepted. The second call for troops found the company in readiness, the armory having been converted into tempo- rary barracks and daily drills having been conducted for several weeks. In accordance with orders from Governor Mount, the organization reported at Camp Mount July 4, 1898, after having undergone a preliminary physical examination at the home station. Company K, which designation was later given, arrived at Camp Mount with a greater number of men than any other company, there being one hundred and thirty-two in the ranks. It was also strongest in point of numbers when mustered in, July 13, 1898, entering the service with one hundred and five enlisted men. The company was assigned to the First Battalion, and at the time of muster-out was the ranking company of that ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 24 1 battalion. It has been fortunate in having a complement of good non-commissioned officers. The list of sergeants remained unchanged during the service of the company. This organization bore distinction for its many tall men and for its excellence at drill. COMPANY K ROSTER. Wilfred T. Stott, Captain, Columbus, Ind., Reporter. Charles C. Smith. 1st Lieutenant, Columbus, Ind., Insur- ance Agent. Temple H. Owens, :2nd Lieutenant, Columbus, Ind., Re- porter. SERGEANTS. Thompson. William A., 1st Serg't, Columbus, Ind., Civil Engineer, promoted to 1st Serg't Nov. 3, 1898. Bray, Charles, Q. M. Serg't, Columbus, Ind., Mechanic, promoted to Serg'1 Nov. 3, L898. McGovney, Charles S.. Columbus, Ind., Student. Voris, G. Ashley, Columbus. Ind.. Clerk. Carr, Frank, Columbus, Ind., Miller. Wynegar, Eugene, Columbus, Ind.* Stenographer. I 1 IRPI >RALS. Haislup, Harry 1 1., Columbus, Ind., Cabinetmaker. Oliphant, Wilfred II., Noblesville, Ind., Painter. Ghrist, Orlando P., Columbus, Ind., Tailor. Allison, Franklin E., Hope, Ind., Teacher. Day, Elmer C, Columbus, Ind., Mechanic. Cobb, Edwin A., Columbus, Ind., Student, discharged Feb. 4. 1809. Pruitt, Elmer T., Edinburg, Ind., Laborer, discharged March 13, 1899. McCoy, Harry, Columbus, Ind., Clerk, transferred to 3rd Div. Hosp. Corps Aug. 20, 1898. 16 z 'm-;\% #£ ■■$p, life'- i -■• ■ ;>.. H *k> N>*« . .'. % *" A% ' ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 265 Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, forming there, were received from the Governor the next day. The members of the company were duly notified of this fact and were all present with what scanty baggage they were to take with them at the appointed time; the Morton House in Hammond, which had been vacated, was reopened and occupied by them during the interval before leaving for Indianapolis. Transportation arrived on July 5th over the Monon and also an order to proceed at once to Indianapolis. The company were wildly enthusiastic when the orders were read to them, and at once got their belongings together preparatory to leaving; among the latter was the mascot, " Dewey," a large white sheep pre- sented to the company by Chief James Fallon, of the Ham- mond Packing Company. An early dinner was had and at 12 o'clock they marched to the station led by the G. A. R. drum and fife corps, and greeted with cheers on all sides by the citizens of Hammond who turned out en mass to see the departure of the company which was to represent them in the Spanish-American war. Wives and sweet- hearts, "mostly sweethearts," were at the station to see the company off, and the scene there presented is one that will always be fresh in the mind of everyone present. Two special cars were attached to the regular train, and at 12:30 p. m., July 5th, we left for Indianapolis. We were joined by the company from Monticello on our way, and arrived at Camp Mount, Indianapolis, at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Immediately upon our arrival we were assigned to one of the vacant sheds in the fair grounds, which, during fair time, was occupied by the sheep exhibit. Stoves, dishes and blankets were issued to us, and those who enlisted as carpenters were called upon to show their skill in converting a sheep shed into a comfortable habita- z < O U as W o O Q W z o M O U l z o z; ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 267 tion. Thus at last our purpose was accomplished and we became a part of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. COMPANY A ROSTER. Lee M. Olds, Captain — Promoted to Major Dec. 1, 1898. George M. Silverthorne, Captain — Promoted from 1st Lieut. Dec. 9. 1898. August H. W. Johnson, 1st Lieutenant — Promoted from 2nd Lieut. Fletcher Durbin, 2nd Lieutenant — Appointed Dec. 9, 1898. sergeants. Meehan, James E., Franklin Pa., Steam Fitter. Murray, Joseph E. D., Rochester X. Y. Reporter. Carr, Stephen, Ashley, Ind.. Railroad Employe. Ripley, Stephen, Hammond, Ind., Clerk. Schloen, Frank, Hammond, Ind., Clerk, appointed Serg't Dec. 8, 1898. Main, William E., Chicago, 111.. Student, appointed Serg't Jan. 4, 1899. CORPORALS. Mason, Charles J., Hammond, Ind., Clerk. Coates, John S., Chicago, 111., Machinist. Scheer, Robert, Milwaukee, Wis., Carpenn-r. Green, George W., Hammond, Ind., Laborer. Crandall, L. D., Chicago, 111., Steam Fitter. Ibsen, Frank. Chicago, 111., Artist. Hansen, Mike, Whiting, Ind., Machinist, appointed Corp. Aug. 27, 1898. Eggers, Peter, Saginaw, Mich. Cooper, appointed Corp. Nov. 12, 1898. Holzapfel, William, Chicago, Ills., Painter, appointed Corp. Jan. 4, 1899. 268 HISTORY OF THE Crandall, Elbert, Chicago, Ills., Clerk, appointed Corp. Jan. 4, 1899. ARTIFICER. Cole, James, Waterloo, Ind., Blacksmith. WAGONER. Frenck, Fred, Hammond, Ind., Liveryman. MUSICIAN. Brown, Theodore, Chicago, 111., Metal Polisher. PRIVATES. Adams, Elmer, East Chicago, Ind., Grocer. Anderson, Fred, Chicago, 111., Bricklayer. Boyd, Dayton, La Grange, Ind., Hostler. Brock, Joseph, Whiting, Ind., Fireman. Baum, Edward, Cincinnati, Ohio, Laborer. Ballog, Steve, East Chicago, Ind., Laborer. Berry, Fred A., Vincennes, Ind., Clerk. Bouchie, Louis, Vincennes, Ind., Laborer. Cabice, Thomas, Bridgeport, N. Y., Driver. Danielson, Daniel, East Chicago, Ind., Laborer. Doran, Mathis, South Chicago, 111., Laborer. Driscoll, Charles J., Vincennes, Ind., Barber. Eyerman, Max, San Francisco, Cal., Cook. Fortune, Walter, Evansville, Ind., Farmer. Faol, Edward, Hammond, Ind., Harnessmaker. Finlayson, Daniel W., Hammond, Ind., Steamfitter. Fleirman, Fred, Pullman, 111., care of Soldiers' Home, Painter. Fields, Alfred C, Kerney, N. J., Clerk. Freel, John H., Whiting, Ind., Clerk. Galloway, Joseph, East Chicago, Ind., Clerk. Genter, Ernest, Chicago, 111., Laborer. Grohnert, Max, Ada, Mich., Painter. Hanson, Louis, Chicago, 111., Clerk and Nurse. Hahlweg, Charles, Hammond, Ind., Law Student. Huhlweg, Emil, Hammond, Ind., Gold Essayist. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 269 Holtzkampf, August, Chicago, 111., Pressman. Hays, Frank J.. Chicago, 111., Teamster. Hornack, George, Hammond, Ind. , Machinist. Howe. Charles, Hope, Ind., Farmer. Handy, Algo, Terre Haute, Ind., Expert Bookkeeper. Haas, Henry, Terre Haute, Ind., Conk. Johnson, John, Brighton Park, Ind., Cook. Jones, Patrick, Cleveland, Ohio, Iron Moulder. Jones, Elmer, Garrett, Ind., Farmer. Kroucell, John, Hammond, Ind., Gunsmith. Koai, Frank, East Chicago, Ind., Laborer. Keitzer, Peter, Hammond, Ind., Barber. Kuchenberg, Fred, Jeance, Wis., Clerk. Keller, Fred, Chicago, 111., Electrician. Kitchen, Joseph A., Harvey. 111., Linguist. Koutz, Charles, Beanville, Ind., Clerk. Larson, Charles, Kane, Pa., Iron Worker. Levy, Abraham, Danerorf, Germany, Rabbi. Miller, Chris.. Chicago, 111., Farmer. Miller, John, Oxford Furnace, X. J., Steel Worker. Miller, Parley, Bloomington, Ind., Student. Malic, Albert, Chicago, 111., Ladies Tailor. Mathis, John, East Chicago, Ind., Druggist. McConnell, Fred, Clinton, Iowa, Law Student. McGrath, Patrick. Hammond, Ind.. Chef. Xelson, William E., Chicago, 111., Machinist. Nichols, Robert, Oswego, X. Y., Engineer. Xattress, Fred, Island Lake, X. I)., Comm. Expert. Xeff, William E., Lowell, Ind., Inventor. O'Connor, William, Put-in-Bay, Ohio, Malster. Pondak, Joseph, East Chicago, Ind., Coal Dealer. Peterson, John, Chicago, 111., Medical Student. Peto, Julis, East Chicago, Ind., Laborer. Polgat, Steve, East Chicago, Ind., Iron Roller. Poldar, John, East Chicago, Ind., Iron Puddler Parks, Albert, Stanley, Ind., Law Student, Pope, Chode. Hammond, Ind., R. R. Foreman. 2JO HISTORY OF THE Ryan, Thomas, Hammond, Ind., Iron Worker. Rogers, Jessie, St. Louis, Mo., Tailor. Sabo, John, East Chicago, Ind., Miner. Smith, Taylor, Lima, Pa., Butcher. St. John, Louis, Victoria, B. C, Photographer. Strabel, Henry, Crown Point, Ind., Cigarmaker. Strom, Gus., Chicago, 111., Silversmith. Strecker, Henry, Chicago, 111., Grocer. Trahan, Ben., Valparaiso, Ind., Farmer. Vacha, Joseph, Whiting, Ind., Grocer. Vermetle, Carl A., Hammond, Ind., Artist. Werner, John, Chicago, 111., Designer. Williams, John, Whiting, Ind., Fireman. Woodward, Frank, Whiting, Ind., Physician. TRANSFERRED. Hay, George C, Whiting, Ind., Telegraph Operator, to Band Aug. 23, 1898. Lunom, Martin, Effingham, 111., Dealer in Spring Water, to Band Sept. 21, 1898. Carr, Victor, Hartsville, Ind., Clerk, to Co. K Jan. 17, 1899. Lucas, Horace, Alexander, Ind., Nurse and Student, to U. S. Hospital Sept. 10, 1898. Kimball, Harry, Chicago, 111., Nurse, to U. S. Hospital Aug. 20, 1898. Byerley, Samuel, Bloomingdale, Ind., Railroader, to U. S. Hospital Sept. 10, 1898. Larson, Andrew C, Chicago, 111., Polisher, to U. S. Hospital Sept. 10, 1898. Crandall, Eugene, Chicago, 111., Student, to U. S. Hospital Aug. 20, 1898. DISCHARGED. Proulx, Louis, Hammond, Ind., Clerk, disability at Jackson- ville, Fla., Sept. 29, 1898. Wheeler, Burr O., Hammond, Ind., Printer, by order War Department, Feb. 13, 1899. Rhodes, Peter, Athens, 111., Clerk, by order Sec. of War, ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 27 1 Mar. 18, 1899. Craick. William, Hammond, Ind., Clerk, by order Sec. of War, March 13, 1899. Bowser, Corp. Emerson L., Valparaiso. Ind., Barber, by order War Department, March 18, 1899. Butler, Edwin V., Van Wert, Ohio, Brakeman R. R. dis- ability at Havana, Cuba, Dec. 22, 1898. DeFrees, Fred B., Indianapolis, Ind., Civil Engineer, by order War Department, Dec. 1, 1898. Larson, Carl A., Chicago. 111., Painter, by order War Depart- ment, Jan. 1(3, 1899. O'Connor, Thomas, Buffalo, X. Y., Butcher, by order War Department, Dec. 22, 1898. Woods, William, New York, N. Y., Painter, disability at Ft. McPherson, Ga., Jan. 4. 1899. DEATHS. Puhlman, Ernest, Pittsburg, Pa., Clerk, broke neck diving off pier into Trout Creek, at Jacksonville, Sept. 4, 1899; buried at Pittsburg, Pa. Schroeder, Fred, Hammond, Ind., Laborer, at Reg. Hospital, Jacksonville, Fla.. Oct. 14, 1898; buried at Ham- mond, Ind. COMPANY E. JAMES W. FORTUNE. Captain James W. Fortune was promoted from the rank of first lieutenant to that he now holds, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Captain L. C. Baird. He was born at Lexington, Indiana, February i, 1864. He attended Indiana University and graduated from the literary department in 1889, and from the depart- 272 HISTORY OF THE ment of law in 1894. Since that time he has been engaged in the practice of law at Jeffersonville, Indiana. For two months previous to his promotion Captain For- Captain James W. Fortune. tune was adjutant of the First Battalion. During a greater part of his service he has acted as regimental summary court officer and has officiated as judge advocate of several different court martials. WILLIAM W. CROOKER. First Lieutenant William W. Crooker is an old Indi- ana National Guard officer, having been in the service of ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 273 the state for a number of years. He was second lieutenant of the command called out to quell the rioting during the coal miners' strike in Sullivan county. Lieutenant Crooker was born, raised and educated at First Lieutenant William W. Crooker. Jeffersonville, Indiana. His business is that of an elec- trician. His great-grandfather served during the Revolu- tionary war, and his father was a captain during the'' Civil war. During the first two months' service of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Regiment Lieutenant Crooker acted as regimental commissary of subsistence. He entered the armv as a second lieutenant. 18 274 HISTORY OF THE EDWARD A. McCAULEY. Second Lieutenant Edward A. McCauley was born at Jeffersonville, Indiana, August 2, 1S73. He received his education in the public schools of this place. In 1893 he Second Lieutenant Edward A. McCauley. became a member of the Indiana National Guard, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. At the breaking out of the Spanish-American war he was associated with his father, John S. McCauley, in the furniture and picture-framing business. On the president's second call for volunteers he assisted Captain L. C. Baird in raising a company, enlisted ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 275 as first sergeant and was mustered in at Indianapolis with the company. On the resignation of Captain Baird Ser- geant McCauley was promoted to second lieutenant and commissioned January 6, 1899, at Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba. HISTORY OF COMPANY E. Jeffersonville, in common with all other Indiana towns of any importance, strove eagerly for the distinction of furn- ishing the state with a volunteer company on the first call for troops. Although unsuccessful in this she was destined to be one of the few Indiana cities whose organization saw service on foreign soil. Enrollment for Company E began to be taken early in May at the office of attorney (now captain) James W. Fortune in the Spieth block, Jeffersonville. Considerable confusion was caused for a time by the presence of a rival organization, which also aspired to the honor of being selected by Governor Mount to represent the city in the makeup of the new regiment about to be furnished by Indiana. The confusion was largely due to the eagerness of a number of the recruits to get into the service. In order to make assurance doubly sure these young patriots had themselves enrolled with both companies. Another factor which contributed to the parlous state of affairs was the uncertainty as to whether or not the governor would allot a company to Jeffersonville. Many of the recruits — in fact the cream of those enrolled — sought relief from this state of uncertainty by enlisting in the regular service. "All things come to him who waits," and the patience of Company E's promoters was finally rewarded by the welcome intelligence that the organization was one of the lucky twelve selected by the governor. This fact ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 277 being definitely assured, a mass meeting was held at the city hall on the evening of June 24, for the purpose of selecting the company officers and to enroll such additional recruits as might be necessary. The meeting was presided over by Colonel James Keigwin, of Louisville, Kentucky. The officers were chosen with especial regard to their fitness, and at no time during their term of service did the members of the company, as a whole, have occasion to regret their choice. Lewis C. Baird was elected captain, James W. Fortune, first lieutenant, and W. W. Crooker, second lieutenant. Captain Baird and Lieutenant Crooker were both members of the State Guard previous to the disbanding of famous Company G, First Indiana National Guard. Captain Baird also brought to his duties the high military efficiency obtained during a course at the United Naval Academy at Ananapolis. Lieutenant Fortune had no previous training in military matters, but his record as first lieutenant and later as captain of the company proved him a born soldier and justified the confidence shown by the company in his selection. Physical examinations of recruits were conducted daily at Jeffersonville and also at Scottsburg, Charlestown and Sellersburg, the last named three adjoining towns furnish- ing a number of recruits. These preliminary examinations were conducted by Dr. L. L. Williams, of Jeffersonville, and it is noteworthy that Company E had a smaller per- centage of rejections, during the final tests at Indianapolis, than any company in the regiment. On July 1, Company E went into camp at Indianapo- lis with one hundred and nine men. Although the exami- nations reduced this number slightly below the required maximum quota the gaps were speedily filled up. After the usual period of squad-drills, suspense and commisera- < o u H Z v. 296 HISTORY OF THE Hardwick at the Masonic hall. The examination was very thorough and many would-be warriors were disappointed by baing rejected. Winston Menzies in the meantime had secured his discharge from the One Hundred and Fifty- ninth to come home as captain of the Mt. Vernon company. At the election of officers, Winston Menzies was chosen captain; Asa Williams, first lieutenant, and Percy Welch, second lieutenant. Drills were held daily at the fair grounds and nightly in the court house yard. The evening of June 29, while drilling in the court yard, we received a dispatch calling our company to Indianapolis. The glad news was received by the company with great rejoicing. At noon the next day, while in company front awaiting the captain's order to leave Camp Hovey, the company sus- tained the only defeat in its history, being suddenly charged upon by a blind cow, which caused an instantaneous stam- pede in our ranks. Captain Menzies, after rallying the company, marched us to the court house, where we were presented with a beautiful silken flag by Mrs. Charles Brenkman, on behalf of the Women's Relief Corps. Im- mediately after the flag presentation we marched to the Evansville & Terre Haute depot and departed for Indian- apolis. Company B's first complement of arms was fur- nished by John Moeller, the patriotic cooper of Posey's capital; each man was armed with a mammoth Posey county hoop-pole and the company did valiant service with these arms on the guard line at Camp Mount. On the morning of July 1, Indianapolis was reached and we were quartered in barn " B." Company B has reason to be proud of its merited reputation in the regiment; always ready and cheerfully willing to perform its duty, always able to have out the largest number of men for drills or reviews; health record second to none, not a death while in the service. o I o o I— C/3 s m o O n W a y. o > 298 HISTORY OF THE COMPANY B ROSTER. Winston Minzies, Captain — Mt. Vernon, Ind. Asa E. Williams, First Lieutenant — Mt. Vernon, Ind. Percy Welch, Second Lieutenant — Mt. Vernon, Ind. SERGEANTS. Lowenhaupt, Mike, 1st Serg't, Mt. Vernon. Ind., Merchant. Jones, Frank, Q. M\ Serg't, Springfield, Ind., Farmer. Works, Edward, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Butcher. Stephens. Harold, New Harmony, Ind., Student, discharged Feb. 1, 1899. Fuhrer, William B., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Billposter. Schultz, Oscar T. , Mt. Vernon, Ind., Student, Serg't Maj. 2d Battalion. Hovey, Randolph J., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Student, promoted Serg't from Corp. Feb. 16, 1899. CORPORALS. Bennett, Charles A., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer, discharged Jan. 31, 1899. Nash, Flairance W., Poseyville, Ind., Tinner. Miller, Charles H., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Moulder. Kreutzinger, James H., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Moore, Noble, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Clerk. Tingle, George R., Princeton, Ind., Machinist. Welsh, Michael, Richmond, Ind., Laborer, promoted to Corp. July 27, 1898. Switzer, Harry T., Princeton, Ind., Machinist, promoted to Corp. Oct. 18, 1898. Harris, John M., Princeton, Ind., Butcher. Green, George, Jr., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Clerk, promoted to Corp. Dec' 1, 1898. Stewart, William, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Pilot, promoted toXorp. Feb. 9, 1899. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 299 Utley, James K., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Horse-shoer, promoted to Corp. Feb. 21, 1899. Bays, Harold C, Sullivan, Ind., Electrician, promoted to Corp. Feb. 21, 1899. ARTIFICER. King, Samuel W., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Blacksmith. WAGONER. Kahn, Samuel, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Insurance Agent. MUSICIANS. Lord, Harry M., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Musician, transferred to Regimental Band Aug. 2:}. 1898. Lance, Edward, New Harmony, Ind., Florist, transferred to Regimental Band Aug. 23, 1898. Wehr, Otto, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Machinist. Cravens, George YV., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Printer. PRIVATES. Allen, James K., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Brickmason. Alsop, Linwood X., New Harmony, Ind.. Plumber, discharged Feb. 4, 1899. Bayer, George. Ft. Branch, Ind., Farmer. Berlin, Charles T., New Harmony, Ind., Barber. Bieker, Frank, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer, discharged Feb. 2, L899. Boren, Ralph T.. New Harmony, Ind., Clerk. Brokaw, Arthur, Ft. Branch, Ind.. Farmer. Bruce, George M., Ft. Branch, Ind., Barber, discharged Mar 15, 1899. Cantrell, James, West End, 111., Farmer. Casey, Benjamin F.. Owensville, Ind., Farmer. Cawthone, Arthur, New Harmony, Ind., Clerk, discharged Feb. 7, 1899. Cooper, Levi, Ft. Branch, Ind., Farmer. Cox, Charles F., Princeton, Tnd., Laborer. 300 HISTORY OF THE Cox, George, Carmi, 111., Farmer. Crilley, James, Ft. Branch, Ind., Farmer. Cunningham, Isaac N., Hazelton, Ind., Farmer, discharged Sept. 27, 1898. Drear, Thomas, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Carpenter. Easmon, Jacob, Carmi, 111., Laborer. Frohman, Peter, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Grabert, Gustave W., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Miller. Hanks, Charlie, Princeton, Ind., Laborer. Harding, George F., Golden Gate, 111., Farmer. Hayes, William S., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Hill, Richard, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Holleman, Porter G., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Machinist. Edwards, Calie, Scalesville, Ind., Farmer. Estes, Samuel, New Harmony, Ind., Brickmason. Houchin, Otta D., Pikeville, Ind., Farmer. Jones, Lemuel P., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Grocerman. Kaedel, Andrew, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Kennedy, John, Dekoven, Ky., Coalminer. Koerner, Ferdinand, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Teacher. Kuykendall, Noah, Bufkin, Ind., Farmer. Lance, James, New Harmony, Ind., Farmer, discharged Jan. 25, 1899. Lance, John, New Harmony, Ind., Farmer. LeGrange, Oscar W., West Franklin, Ind., Carpenter. Maus, Charles G., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Males, John W., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Moulder. Marshall, David R., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Machinist. McAtee, George, Oatsville, Ind., Farmer, discharged, Jan. 27, 1899. Meadows, Floyd, Princeton, Ind., Farner, discharged Mar. 2, 1899. Miller, Charles A., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Murphy, George A., Fitzgerald, Ga., Farmer. Murphy Orval, Fitzgerald, Ga., Farmer. Newell, Frank, Joplin, Mo., Farmer. Nicholson, Arthur, Springerton, 111., Farmer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3OI Nuthmann, Charles, Princeton, Ind., Railroad Caller. Ott, Flovd, Princeton. Ind., Boilermaker. Parke, James, Spurgeon, Ind., Farmer. Parmer, Marion, Emma, 111., Farmer. Pearson, John F., Hazleton, Ind., Farmer. Pfeifer, August, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Tailor. Phifer, George B., Booneville, Ind., Engineer, dishonorably- discharged Feb. 25, 1899. Pirnat, Albert, Evansville, Ind., Druggist. Powers, William M., Madison ville, Kv., Farmer. Reavis, Fred G., Princeton, Ind., Stone Cutter. Redenour, Frank, Xew Harmony, Ind., Hostler. Reed, Robert R., Booneville, Ind., Shoemaker. Rose, Henry, Owensville, Ind., Laborer. Schaefer, August E., Mt. Vernon, Ind., Harnessmaker. Singleton, Perry F., Pikeville, Ind., Farmer. Sluder, Lafayette, Henderson, Ky., Farmer. Smith, Jay J., Hazleton, Ind., Farmer. Smith, Henry, Owensville, Ind., Lather. Switzer, Lyman, Princeton, Ind., Carpenter. Spencer, Samuel, Owensville, Ind., Farmer. Summers, John, Evansville, Ind., Butcher. Trapp, William, Carmi, 111., Poultry Dresser. Turner, Burl E., Owensville, Ind., Laborer, transferred to> Hospital Corps Aug. 28, 1898. Vint, Everett, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Wallace, Peter, Booneville, Ind., Farmer. Walter, Edward, Mt. Vernon, Cook, transferred to Hospital Corps Aug. 20, L898. Ward, Clarence E., Xew Harmony, Ind., Farmer. Wcissinger, Jesse, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Carpenter. West fall. Thomas A.. Hazleton, Ind., Farmer. Williams, Harry, Mt. Vernon, Inch. Farmer. Woerner, William, Evansville, Ind., Molder, Yeager, Harvey, Owensville, Ind., Farmer. Baldwin, Walter, Mt. Vernon, Ind., Carpenter, enlisted Aug. 5, 1898. 302 HISTORY OF THE Corkin, William L., Indianapolis, Ind., Barber, enlisted Dec. 9, 1898. Hoge, Smith, Delphi, Ind., Student, enlisted Aug. 10, 1898. Norton, Nelson, Sullivan, Ind., Farmer, transferred from 159th Ind. Inf., Nov. 19, 1898. Stalnaker, Morton, Terre Haute, Ind., Laborer, enlisted Dec. 10, 1898. COMPANY I. WILLIAM GUTHRIE. Captain William Guthrie was one of the ablest men in the regiment; he is a lawyer by profession, and although he came into the service without any previous military training, he made out of his raw recruits a company of most excellent regimental standing. Captain Guthrie is a native of Ohio, being born in Hamilton in the year 1852. When a child his parents moved to Indiana, settling in the county of White. It was in the common schools of this county the young man began his early educational training; entering the high school of Monticello, the county seat, he studied in that institution until a few years later he went to Logansport and finished his course in the Academy of that place. For eleven years after graduation he was a teacher in the schools of his county and in 1880 was elected to the position of county superintendent of public instruc- tion, when he was but twenty-eight years of age, which position he filled until the year 1884. While teaching he used his spare time in the study of law and was admitted to the bar of his adopted county in 1880, where he has since been practicing his profession in the law firm of Guthrie & Bushnell. He was a man of exemplary habits and took unusual interest in the morale of his company. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 303 Captain William Guthrie. ANTHONY A. ANHEIRE. First Lieutenant Anthony A. Anheire was born in the city Logansport, June 29, 1867, and received his early education in the German Catholic schools of that place, after which he entered Hall's Business College, also situated in Logansport. After completing his education he accepted a position with the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis railroad, which position he retained for eight years. In 1886 Mr. Anheire moved to Monticello, where for sev- 304 HISTORY OF THE eral years he engaged successfully in the cigarmaking busi- ness and where he served for two years as city marshal, which position he occupied when he enlisted as first lieutenant of the company that came out from that place. First Lieutenant Anthony A. Anheire. Lieutenant Anheire was the first officer of the regiment to place his foot upon Cuban soil, being of a detail that preceded the regiment on the Roumania, that carried the greater portion of the regimental livestock. Mr. Anheire was on detached service while in Cuba with the Tenth Infantry at Havana and Mantanzas, leaving the regiment on December 10, and returning a few days before its departure for America. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 305 JOHN R. WARD. Second Lieutenant John R. Ward was born in White county, Indiana, on the first day of April, 1872. He was educated in the city schools of Monticello, after which he spent one year in the State Normal schools of Valparaiso, Second Lieutenant John R. Ward. and then entered the State University at Bloomingtom in- 1893, where he graduated in the school of law in 1S93; in the same year he was admitted to the bar and was. appointed to the position of deputy prosecuting attorney in his native city, Monticello, in which place he was engaged in the: 306 HISTORY OF THE practice of his profession when he enlisted and came out as second lieutenant of Company I. HISTORY OF COMPANY I. "The Volunteers! the Volunteers! God send us peace, through all our years; But if the cloud of war appears We'll see them once again." William Haines Lytle. Yesterday shapes and colors to-day and history repeats itself. The example set by the fathers in 1 86 r was imitated by the sons in 1898. As soon as it was learned that war with Spain was imminent an enthusiastic public meeting, called by Tippecanoe Post, G. A. R., was held in the Court House at Monticello, April 21st, 1898, and after patriotic addresses and songs resolutions were read and adopted which concluded as follows: "Being actuated by that patriotic spirit that has sustained our flag on land and sea and carried it to final victory on all occasions of the past, we hereby declare our full confidence in our National and State authorities. And we most respectfully represent to the Governor of the State of Indiana that we are now ready to perform in behalf of our Government and State such services in the present conflict with Spain as may be in our power and in his judgment required by the occasion." A company was at once organized and the Governor of the State was notified that it was ready to be mustered into service at a moment's warning. This was before troops were called for, but the Governor assured Captain Guthrie and Lieutenants Anhier and Ward that the com- pany would surely be needed, and said for them to drill it o o 2 > Z 308 HISTORY OF THE and put it into condition for service, and on June 30th, 1898, he sent the following message: "Captain Wm. Guthrie: Your company will report at Indianapolis on next Monday, coming via "Monon." You will await further instructions from A. F. Houghton, Master of Transportation. James A. Mount, Gov." Upon receipt of this message the Captain wrote the Governor asking that the company be allowed to remain in camp at the Fair Grounds west of Monticello until Tuesday, July 5th, in order that the men might spend Sunday at home and celebrate "The Fourth" at Monti- cello. This request was granted and while some of the men spent Saturday and Sunday at home the parents of others visited them in camp. Monday, the Fourth, was spent at Monticello in celebrating and making final arrange- ments for departure. The ladies of the town served dinner to the compaAy in the Court House. Tuesday came and with it came friends from far and near to say good-bye and see the company take its depart- ure. The G. A. R. and different civic organizations of the town turned out and escorted the company to the train and at 2:34 p. M. , amid the boom of cannon, the waving of flags and handkerchiefs and tears of friends, the Company boarded the train for Indianapolis where on July 13th, 1898, it was mustered in as Company I, One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The company was constantly with the regiment and participated in all its movements until January 8, 1899, when it was detailed on provost duty at Marianao, Cuba, where it remained until January 24th, returning to the regiment on that day. The muster-out occurred on April 30, 1899, and on the same day the company took the train for home, returning 310 HISTORY OF THE by Washington, D. C. , and Indianapolis, Indiana. Arrangements had been made for a review of the whole regiment at Washington by the President, but owing to the unexpected delay of trains this was not fully carried out. However, as this company and three others arrived on the first section of the train on Monday evening, May ist, they were met by a committee of Indianians who escorted them to the White House where they were permitted to pass through the reception room. Each member of the company was presented with a silk badge bearing a cut of the Capitol building and these words: "Greeting: 161st Regiment Indiana Volunteers. By Indianians in Washing- ton, D. C, May ist, 1899." Elaborate arrangements had been made for the recep- tion of this and the Michigan City and Hammond com- panies on Tuesday evening, May 2, but the previous delay of the train made this impossible and in lieu of this an early breakfast was served on Wednesday morning. The generous and loyal hospitality of the ladies was greatly appreciated by the companies, and the greeting extended them by the Governor and his acceptance of the regi- mental flag and colors were most touching, eloquent and inspiring. The company reached Monticello at 12 m., May 3rd, and were received with that joy that resides only in the hearts of those who have been anxiously waiting for the return of departed and long absent children. The home greeting will ever be remembered. Again the cannon boomed, flags waved, and bands discoursed music, while excited crowds surged along the streets, keeping pace with the boys and clasping their hands as they marched to the room where a home-coming feast had been prepared by the ladies of the town. The rapture of the delighted populace, the bounteous dinner, and address of welcome left an ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3 1 I impress in the minds of the receiving as well as the return- ing never to be eradicated, and fully demonstrated the loy- alty that resides in the hearts of the American people. COMPANY I ROSTER. William Guthrie, Captain, Monticello. Lawyer. Anthony A. Anheir, 1st Lieut., Monticello, Cigar- maker. John R. Ward, 2d Lieut.. Monticello, Lawyer. SERGEANTS. Strubbe, Harry E., Goodland, Plumber, promoted 1st Sergt. Nov. 29. l^'.' s . from corporal, lines, Fred. S., Q. M. Sergt.. Monticello, Clerk, appointed Quartermaster Serg't from corporal Dec. 22. 189S. Best, William I)., Brookston, Laborer, mustered in as Serg't July 18. 1898. Cromer, Robert H., Logansport, Clerk, mustered in as Serg't July 13, 1898. Kassabaum, George \\\, Kentland, Lawyer, mustered in as Sei^t July 18, 1S98. Hubbard, Charles E., Francesville, Farmer, mustered in ;i-> Serg't July 13, L898. CORPORAL--. Thompson, Clinton 1 1., Monon, Student, mustered in as Corp. July. 13. L898. Hausman, William Earl, Rensselaer, Salesman. mu>tered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. Holdridge, Leroy L., Wolcott, Farmer, mustered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. Goodwin. Marion L., Battle Ground, Fanner, mustered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. 312 HISTORY OF THE Wallace, Lew, Battle Ground, Carpenter, mustered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. Burns, John, Logansport, Clerk, mustered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. Garrigues, John U., Francesville, Carpenter, mustered in as Corp. July 13, 1898. Gorman, Daniel V., Logansport, Express Agent, promoted Corp. from private Nov. 29, 1898. Graham, John W., Kirkland, Laborer, promoted Corp. from private Nov. 29, 1898. Gibson, Frank E., Remington, Telegrapher, promoted Corp. from private Nov. 29, 1898. Coen, Newel M., Monticello, Clerk, promoted Corp. from Artificer Dec. 22, 1898. Loughry, Howard, Monticello, Student, promoted to Corp. from private Dec. 21, 1898. COOK. Smock, Thomas W., Indianapolis, Cook, enlisted and enrolled as cook, Dec. 2, 1898. MUSICIANS. Conner, Charles A., Reynolds, Traveling Salesman. Comer, William E., Reynolds, Carpenter. PRIVATES. Arrick, K. Guy. Monticello, Tanner. Arnold, Charles E., Delphi, Machinist. Ballard, Samuel P., Motion, Ditcher. Bates, Wilbur F., Monticello, Harness Manufacturer. Benica. Louis C, Logansport, Cook. Best. Charles A., Brookston, Ditcher. Bowman, George, Battle Ground, Farmer. Boyles, Charles S., Battle Ground, Hunter. Boyles, Benton A., Battle Ground, Barber. Bugbee. George J., Remington, Teacher. Burden, John W., Monticello, Laborer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 313 Brown. Arthur H., Monticello. Student. Cooler, George. Brookston. Laborer. Cowger, Raymond, Monticello. Farmer. Crafton, Paul, Bedford, Ind.. Farmer. Crowell, Richard, Monticello. Clerk. Coombs. Edward, Brownstown, Laborer, transferred from Co. G, 159th Ind. to 101st Ind., Dec. 1. 1898. Dillman, William O., Battle Ground, Well Driller. Downs, William A., Battle Ground. Carpenter. Didlake. Roy P.. Monticello, Student. Diffy. John, Pickard, Laborer. Evans, Albert. Wheatfield, Laborer. Fehrle, John G., Goodland, Laborer. Fox, Stuart T., Monticello, .Student. Garwood, Corydon, Monon, Farmer. Goodrich, Guv. Wolcott, Carpenter. Guest, Frank A., Monticello, Laborer. I lager, Charles A. Logansport, Cigarmaker. Hartz, [ohn F., Logansport, Boilermaker. Hart, Joseph, Monticello. Farmer. Hawkina, William J., Rensselaer. Farmer. Hayward, Lorenzo. Monon, Farmer. Ileglin, William, Monon, Cook. Herron, Richard, Monticello, Cigarmaker. Hurst, William A., Battle Ground, Barber. Hollcraft. Charles II.. Hammond, Laborer. Horner, George W. , Knox, Ind.. Farmer. Karp, (ieorge A.. Monticello, Student. Lee, Claude |., Logansport. Railroader. Lefler, [srael J., Francesville, Hostler. Leslie, Albert, E., Monon, Railroader. Longwell. [ohn, Francesville, Farmer. Langner, Gustave A., Evansville, Laborer, transferred from Co. M. L59th Ind., to Co. I, 161st Ind., Dec. 4, 1598. Mahoney, Daniel. Bessemer, Mich., Brakeman. Mair, Albert, Monon, Baker. Meyer, Henry Gustave, Remington, Painter. 314 HISTORY OF THE Montrose, Jesse, Peru, Papermaker. McCloud, Edward E., Sheldon, 111., Clerk. McChristy, Enos A., Round Grove, Farmer. McNett, Walter, Wolcott, Farmer. Murphy, Charles L., Remington, Farmer. Myers, Oliver C, Brookston, Farmer. Maxey, William, Booneville, Farmer, transferred to Co. I, 161st Ind., from Co. M, 159th Ind., Dec. 1, 1898. McConnell, John F., Evansville, Clerk, transferred to Co. I, 161st Ind., from Co. M, 159th Ind., Dec. 1, 1898. Miller, Reverdy J., Bloomington, Laborer, transferred to Co. I. 161st Ind., from Co. H, 159th Ind., Dec. 4, 1898. Netzel, William, Medaryville, Laborer. Pettit, William, Monticello, Laborer. Reynolds, Elmer E., Monticello, Farmer. Rogers, Alva J., Monon, Farmer. Rinier, Edward L., Hopedale, Farmer. Sheets, Samuel II., Monon. Farmer. Shide, Frank, Remington, Farmer. Simons, Walter A., Monticello, Student. Smith, Bruce W., Goodland, Laborer. Sorrel, Perry H., Rensselaer, Harnessmaker. Stanley, Melvin, Monon, Farmer. Strebe, Edward, Brookston, Blacksmith. Tanguy, William E., Logansport, Printer. Tharpe, Walter C, Rensselaer, Farmer. Tharpe, Wilber, Rensselaer, Teacher. Th mpson, Wilber L., Monon, Railroader. Tice, Stephen E., Goodland, Farmer. Ward, James A., Monticello, Student. Whitted, Elmer, Francisville, Painter. Wood, Oliver H., Remington, Farmer. Young, Harrison, Roachdale, Farmer. DISCHARGED BY ORDER. Shaull, Henry A., private, Lochiel, Farmer, discharged per ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3 I 5 Special Order No. 6, War Department. Adjutant Gen- eral's Office. Jan. 6, 1899. Rourke. John P., private, Monon, Tailor, discharged per Special Order Xo. 16, War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Jan. 18, 1899, order dated Jan. 80. 1899. Henry, Hiram, private. Monticello, Farmer, discharged Jan. l'4. 1899, per Special Order 21, War Department, Adjutant General's Office. McDaniels, George A., wagoner, Battle Ground, Farmer, dis- charged per Special Order No. 26, War Department, Adjutant General's Office, dated Feb. 1. 1899. Newton. James B., private, LaFayette, Laborer, discharged Jan. 30, 1899, per Special Order dated Feb. 4, 1899. Brooks, Edward E, private, Logansport, Laborer, discharged, per Special Order 29, War Department, Adjutant Gen- eral's Office, Feb. 4, 1899. TRANSFERRED. Scott, Franklin G., Goodland, Carpenter, transferred to United States Volunteer Hospital Corps, per Special Order No. 10, dated August 20, L898. Dexter, Jacob W., Goodland. Carpenter, transferred to I'nited States Volunteer Hospital Corps, per Special Order No. 10, dated August 20, L898. Tharpe, Walter A., musician. Remington, Teacher, trans- ferred to United Stages Voluntser Signal Corps Dec. 10, per .Special Order 282, Adjutant General's Office, dated Nov. 30, 1898. Engle, Walter M . . Francisville, Electrician, transferred to United States Volunteer Signal Corps Dec. 31, 1898, per Special Order 291, Adjutant General's Office, dated Dec. 10, 1898. DIED OF DISEASE. Kuns, Clarence D.. Brookston, Barber, died Sept. 24, at Third Division Hospital o typhoid fever. Camp Cuba Libre, Fla. 3 1 6 HISTORY OF THE Stivers. Wallace D., Corp., Rensselaer, Farmer, died at Third Division Hospital, of typhoid fever, Camp Cuba Libre, Fla., Oct. 14, 1898. Kepperling, George, Chalmers, Farmer, died Oct. 23, at Chal- mers, Ind., while on furlough. Weaver, William G., Monticello, Farmer, died in Second Division Hospital, Camp Onward, Ga., Nov. 7, 1898, of stomach trouble. Turner, Joseph F., San Pierre, Blacksmith, died in Division Hospital, Camp Onward, Ga., Nov. 30, 1898, of pneu- monia. COMPANY F. PAUL COMSTOCK. Captain Paul Comstock is the son of Judge D. W. Comstock, of the Appellate Bench of Indiana. He was born at Richmond, Indiana, in the year 1873. After his early training he spent one year in the Oxford Military Naval Academy, at the close of which he entered the Rich- mond high school, graduating in 1 891 ; his education was then finished in the Earlham College and the Ohio Wes- leyan University. Mr. Comstock was then tendered a posi- tion in the general superintendent's office of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company at Columbus, and later in the engin- eering department at Indianapolis, in which position he con- tinued until April, 1898, when he was appointed claim agent for the same road, in which service he was engaged when he enlisted for the war. Mr. Comstock was elected first lieutenant of his company and was for several months adjutant of the Second Battalion and upon the resignation of Captain Smith was promoted to the position of captain, April 1. 1899. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 317 Captain Paul Comstock. ELMER E. KIMMEL. Second Lieutenant Elmer E. Kimmel, "Old Kim," as he was familiarly known, is the son of Charles F. and Cath- erine S. Kimmel, sturdy German stock. The father, a vet- eran of the Civil war, following the desires of his heart to give his first son a good name, remembered an illustrious officer who was among the first to give up his life for the union, Colonel E. Elmer Ellsworth, and called the son,. 3i8 HISTORY OF THE born to him, August 3, 1874, Elmer Ellsworth Kimmel. Educated in the public schools of his native city, Dayton, Ohio, at the early age of thirteen, he began the struggle of life. The start was made as a cash boy at one dollar and a half per week, but not having a liking for mercantile Second Lieutenant Elmer E. Kimmel. business finally drifted into book binding, at which trade he served a full apprenticeship. While following this trade he drifted into Richmond, Indiana, in June, 1894, adopting Hoosierdom as his chosen home; while here the desire came for a more complete education and having a favorable op- portunity of working his way through Earlham, a Quaker college, he spent two years at that institution, from which ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3'9 place he enlisted as a member of the Richmond company and was commissioned second lieutenant, which office he filled until the resignation of Captain Will M. Smith, when promoted to the first lieutenancy. It is the intention of Lieutenant Kimmel to enter Ann Arbor University, taking up medicine as a special study. WILLIAM H. DRAPIER. Second Lieutenant Drapier's life has been spent in the city of Indianapolis, in which place he was born in 1869, Second Lieutenant William H. Draiter. 320 HISTORY OF THE and in the public schools of which he received his educa- tion, graduating from the high school in 1887. After grad- uation Mr. Drapier embarked in the insurance business and there continued until the breaking out of the Spanish-Amer- ican war. He enlisted with Company F as a private and was rapidly advanced through the line of promotion to the position of second lieutenant of the company. Mr. Drap- ier's promotion was due to his efficient and excellent mili- tary training, having served several years in various capaci- ties in the Indiana National Guard. HISTORY OF COMPANY F. Richmond, the " Quaker City," is generally quiet, but when the news came of the blowing up of the Maine it woke up. Several enterprising young men, about four or five, who desired a captain's commission started a com- pany, but as the city did not have a military company, she must wait for the second call before being represented in the army of the United States. Interest waned until the company organized by Will M. Smith was alone in the field. This company was at first intended to be an artillery company, and besides drilling in infantry drill quite a num- ber of the men purchased old French bayonets, almost two feet long, and practiced the saber drill. We had free access to a large hall, and the gas company, with true patriotism, furnished the light gratis. The company met two nights each week, and after drilling a short time in the hall would drill around the court house square. In the meanwhile another company was organized, and for a time there was intense rivalry as to which company would be called upon after the second call came and it was known that Wayne county would have one company in the state quota. 21 322 HISTORY OF THE During the latter part of June it was daily expected that the call would come from the governor to come to Indianapolis. The signal agreed upon was for the large Captain Will M. Smith. manufacturing concerns to blow their whistles. Friday, June 24, the governor telegraphed who was to be the examining surgeon — Dr. Weist, a veteran of the Civil war, and at 4 p. m. the whistles gave the discordant alarm and the boys left their work benches, dropping their tools and hastened to the room in the Westcott hotel, where the news was read to them, telling them to be in readiness. Saturday and Sunday was spent in medical examinations, and Monday we expected to go to the state capitol; instead we were ordered to await further orders. Something must be done, as many had come in from the country and neigh- boring cities, expecting to leave Monday, and others having left their work would become impatient. Glen Mills, a natural park situated on the eastern side of Richmond, was decided would be a good place for a temporary camp, and cr. w > x O o > 324 HISTORY OF THE procuring permission from the city to use it we went into camp Monday afternoon of the 24th of June. The dancing pavilion was used for sleeping and eating quarters. The first thing done was, each man carried an arm load of hay to sleep on, it being our first experience of the kind. The good people of Richmond subscribed liberally to procure food, and we did live in those days. We had guard mount every day, besides about four hours' drill every afternoon. We had free use of the boats on the lake, and were allowed the especial privilege of bathing in the lake. Great crowds came to see us drill, and here we lived and in each one's memory there will ever live the jolly times of those fond days at Camp Ostrander, our first camp. Friday we marched through the city to the depot, where we bid our relatives and friends a sad farewell, for little did we know whether we would ever meet again or not, and three of our number returned not. At 10:40 Friday, July 1, we left for Camp Mount, being the fourth company to report for duty; from here our history became a part of the regimental history. COMPANY F ROSTER. Will M. Smith, Captain--Resigned March 31, 1899 ; Greens- burg, Ind., Electrical Engineer. Paul Comstock, Captain— Promoted from 1st Lieutenant. April 1, 1899; Richmond, Ind., Claim Agent. Elmer E. Kimmel, 1st Lieutenant — Promoted from 2d Lieu- tenant April 1, 1899; Richmond, Ind., Student. William H. Drapier, Jr., 2d Lieutenant— Promoted from Sergeant, April 1, 1899; Indianapolis, Ind., Broker. SERGEANTS. Martin, William, 1st Serg't, Richmond, Ind., Laborer, dis- charged Feb. 18, 1899. o *3 O w > r V. o o »— •TO > ^ 326 HISTORY OF THE Moss, Abraham T., Eaton, Ohio, Machinist, discharged March 3, 1899. Tawer, Oscar P., Jr., Richmond, Ind., Action Finisher, ap- pointed Q. M. Serg't Jan. 17, 1899. Edwards, Leroy, Richmond. Ind., Drayman. Weissgerber, John C, New Castle, Ind., Salesman, dis- charged Jan. 16, 1899. Keller, Frank, Richmond, Ind., Papermaker, appointed Cor- poral July 12, 1898 ; appointed Sergeant March 13, 1899. ' Tawer, Paul O., Richmond, Ind., Florist, appointed Corporal July 12, 1898; appointed Sergeant March 13, 1899. Sheppard, Henry W., Seymour, Ind., Florist, appointed Cor- poral July 12, 1898 ; appointed Sergeant March 13, 1899. CORPORALS. Bader, Charles O., Richmond, Ind., Student. Kuhlman, Charles O., Richmond, Ind., Plumber. Petry, Harvey C, Fountain City, Ind., Laborer. Arnett, Willis W., Richmond, Ind., Laborer. Steele, John J., Richmond, Ind., Printer, appointed Corp. Aug. 20, 1898. Handley, Albert E., College Corner, Ohio, Painter, appointed Corp. Aug. 20, 1898. Addleman, John F., Whitewater, Ind., Laborer, appointed Corp. Sept. 1, 1898. Weissgerber, Frank H., New Castle, Ind., Florist, appointed Corp. Oct. 18, 1898. Bode, Frederick, appointed Corp. March 13, 1898. Stratton, Roy O. MUSICIANS. Foard, William G., Richmond, Ind., Clerk. Muye, George, Richmond, Ind., Machinist. WAGONER. Hennigar, Gilbert S.. Richmond, Ind., Blacksmith, appointed Wagoner Jan. 18, 1899. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 327 ARTIFICER. 1 Hennigar, Harry, Richmond, Ind., discharged March 11, 1S99. COOK. Higgs, George, Richmond, Ind., Carpenter. PRIVATES. Addleman, Samuel C, White Water, Ind.. Butcher. Allen, Roy M., Liberty, Ind., Painter. Allinder, William, Richmond, Ind.. Machinist. Bader, Robert S., Richmond, Ind. Brown, Denver, W. Manchester, Ohio. Farmer, died in Jack- sonville, Fla., Oct. 1':;. 1-'.'-. Bucy, Charles E., Indianapolis, Ind., Polisher. Caseley, John E., Richmond. Ind., Machinist, discharged Feb. 1':;. 1899. Cassel, Walter II., Richmond, Ind.. Machinist. Clark, John W., Machinist. Connaughton, tt John F., Machinist, discharged March 1, 1899. Cook, Harry 1'., Richmond, Ind., Laborer, Cook, Joseph K.. Richmond, Ind.. Operator. Decker, BerttL E., Richmond, Ind., Painter. De Verse, Joseph E., Richmond. Ind., Papermaker, deserted Sept. 20, discharged without honors Nov. 3, 1898. Dickerson. Benjamin P., Clymers, Iml., Laborer. . Dickey. Marshall D., Richmond. Ind., Painter. Duke, James F., Richmond. Iml., Farmer. Duke. William II., Richmond, Ind.. Farmer. Edwards, John, Richmond, Ind., Painter. Elliott, Worley F., Richmond, Ind., Farmer. Estep, William C, Richmond, Ind.. Moulder. Francis, John S.. Metamora, Franklin Co., Ind., Printer. Fudge, Rufus, Richmond, Ind., Printer. Fossenkemper, Charles O., Glen Park, Richmond, Ind., Pa- borer. Francis, George B., Indianapolis, Ind., Carpenter. Granger, Herman E., DeMotte, Jasper Co., Ind., Carpenter. 328 HISTORY OF THE Graham, Stephen R., Litchfield, Ky., Farmer. Grice, Alonzo N., Richmond, Ind., Printer. Haley, Jerry, Indianapolis, Ind., Lather. Harmeyer, Harry, Richmond, Ind., Laborer. Hassard, Richard B., Richmond, Ind., Polisher. Henderson, Robert J., Lynn, Ind., Barber. Hamilton, John, Indianapolis, Ind.. discharged Feb. 7, 1899. Hieger, William E., Richmond, Ind., Machinist, discharged Dec. 31, 1898. Hites, John H., Richmond, Ind., Painter. Hoar, John, Centerville, Ind., Farmer, transferred to Band Aug. 23, 1898. Hollopeter, John, Richmond, Ind., Gr. Clerk. Hollowell, Charles A., Danville, 111., Actor. Holtcamp, Charlie, Richmond, Ind., Boilermaker. Horr, Argus O., Richmond, Ind., Machinist. Hurst, Addison C, Richmond, Ind., Messenger. Jarrett, Lilleton B., Cox Mills, Ind., Farmer. Judy, Lista B., Laborer. Kain, Harry F., Richmond, Intl., Laborer, died in Richmond, Indiana. Kelly, Harry E., Richmond, Ind., .Smith. Lanius, Charles W., Richmond, Ind., Painter. Loftus, Michael, Richmond, Ind., Coremaker. Lovin, George E., Richmond, Ind., Weaver, discharged Feb. 24, 1899. Morgan, Charles E., Buena Vista, Colo., Miner. Mull, Albert, Carpenter. Murray, Alden, Metamora, Ind., Printer. Nolan, William, Richmond. Ind.. Laborer, discharged Feb. 20, 1899. Nye, Edward L., Prestonville, Ky., Clerk. Pyle, John B. U., Mount Carmel, Ind., Saddler. Reese, William, Hammond, Ind., Farmer, discharged Sept. 28, 1898. Reckers, Henry J., Richmond, Ind., Laborer. Rusche, Frank, Richmond, Ind., Carriage Trimmer ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 329 Ryder, Harry, Richmond, Ind., Machinist. Stanley, Franklin B., Richmond, Ind., Gr. Clerk. Snyder, William, Columbus, Ind., Laborer. Sanders, John H., Richmond, Ind., Farmer. Simpson, Walter, Richmond, Ind., Clerk. Stegall, Everett E., Williamsburg, Ind., Blacksmith Thomas, Harry J., Richmond. Ind., Teamster. Thomas. Ira L., Richmond. Ind., Machinist. Thompson, Joseph H., Richmond, Ind., Laborer. Toler, George C, Richmond, Ind., Plumber. Trakowski, Fred \\\. Richmond, Ind.. Baker. Trimble, Charles F., Richmond, Ind.. Machinist, died at Camp Columbia, Cuba, Jan. 17, 1899. Triplett, Harry X.. Richmond. Ind., Farmer. Vanzant, Charles E., Richmond. Ind.. Laborer. Weaver, Samuel J., Richmond, Ind., Teamster. W'oesner, William, Metamora, Ind.. Farmer. Wright, Silvester E., Lynn, Ind., School Teacher, transferred to Regimental Band, Aug. 23, L898. Yedding, Ferdinand, Richmond, Ind., Painter. Zurwelle, George R., Cox Mills, Ind.. Laborer. Zurwelle, William S., Cox Mills. Ind.. Gardener. RECRUITED SINCE DAN OF MUSTER. Burgan, Burton E., Terre Haute, I ml.. Teamster, transferred from L59th I. V. I., Nov. i':?. 1898. Cline, Walter, Columbus, End., R . R. Fireman, appointed Corp. March IB, 1899. Hill, John, Green Castle, Ind., Laborer, transferred from the * L59th I. V. I.. Nov. 23, L898. Lucas, Charle>. Indianapolis, Ind., Masseuer. transferred from 159th I. V. I., Nov. 25, 1898. Levy, Carl, Evansville, Ind., Moulder. Metlin, Earl, Evansville, Ind., Bookkeeper, transferred from 1 -V.it li [. V. I.. Nov. i':;. L898. Maxwell, Clifford C, Indianapolis, Ind., Clerk. McCoy, Earl, Lawrence, Ind., Tile Moulder, appointed Corp. 330 HISTORY OF THE March 13, 1899. transferred from 159th I. V. I., Nov. 23, 1898. Shearer, Chester A., Terre Haute, Ind., Laundryman, trans- ferred from 159th I. V. I. Secrist, Leo, Terre Haute, Ind., Tinner, transferred from 159th I. V. I., Nov. 23, 1898. Singler, George, Evansville, Ind., Baker, transferred from 159th I. V. I., Nov. 23, 1898. COMPANY D. RICHARD W. BUCHANAN. Captain Richard W. Buchanan was one of the young- est officers of the regiment and was the youngest captain of the United States army in the recent Spanish war, born in Carrollton, Kentucky, June 28, 1879. His family moved to Madison, Indiana, when he was yet a child, where he was -reared and where he received his early education, graduating from the Madison high school in 1896. At the close of his studies he became the city editor of the Madison Daily Democrat and afterwards associate editor of the Madison Daily Herald. He also cor- responded for several metropolitan dailies and became well-known in newspaper circles. He so materially aided through his newspaper capacity in the organization of the Madison company that upon its acceptance he was elected to the position of second lieutenant. During the first days of camp life he acted as correspondent for the Indianapolis Journal, but finding it conflicting with his mili- tary duties he gave it up. Upon the resignation of Captain Cosby he was commisioned on the 8th of March as cap- tain of his company. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 331 Captain Richard W. Buchanan. CYRUS A. JACKSON. Prior to hostilities with Spain, Cyrus A. Jackson was the genial and obliging city superintendent of the Metro- politan Life Insurance Company, at Madison, Indiana. Mr. Jackson was elected first lieutenant of Company D, at the organization of that company. He assisted Chief McCul- lagh in the organization of the Metropolitan police force of the city of Havana, and distinguished himself by the capture of a burglar and desperado. Lieutenant Jackson 332 HISTORY OF THE First Lieutenant Cyrus A. Jackson. was born at Vincennes, Indiana, in 1865, educated in the public schools of his native city, and has spent the greater portion of his life in the far West. LAYTON M. PARKHURST. Second Lieutenant Layton M. Parkhurst entered Com- pany D as a private, and was rapidly advanced through the line of promotion to first sergeant and was appointed second lieutenant of his company March 11, 1899. Mr. Parkhurst was born at Franklin, Indiana, October 14, 1876. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 333 His parents dying when he was quite young, he made his home with his uncle at Lebanon, Indiana. After finishing Second Lieutenant Layton M. Parkhurst. the course of the schools of Lebanon Mr. Parkhurst engaged in the drug business at Lebanon until the outbreak of the war. HISTORY OF COMPANY D. Company D, of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indi- ana, reported at Camp Mount for examination and muster in, on the ist of July, 1898. But it must not be inferred that the Madison public nor the individual members of the op ■ m ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 335 company, were so tardy in the offer of life and service for the nation as the mustering date of the regiment would indicate. Immediately upon the declaration of war a com- pany was roughly organized in the " city neath the hills," but the claims of the rival leaders caused its partial dis- ruption, a considerable number of the organizations combin- ing with a similar faction from Roachdale to form a com- pany in the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth. Upon the second call of the president for volunteers the disorganized and disheartened members came together, under the lead- ership of Captain Charles E. Cosby, and through the force Captain Charles E. Cosby. and persistency of patriotic fervor, secured from Governor Mount the approval which made their calling and election sure. The company moved to Indianapolis more than one z < U c/T H Z w w en. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 337 hundred strong. Not to be selfish, contingents were admitted to its ranks from Seymour, North Vernon and Bedford. Through the ordeal of examination, a high stand- ard of physique and intelligence was maintained in the leadership of the body. Captain Cosby was sustained by Lieutenants Cyrus A. Jackson and Richard W. Buchanan. It fell to the lot of Company D to be quartered in one of the horse barns at the fair grounds; to the use of the commissioned officers was assigned the apartments once occupied by Star Pointer; the appointments, however, were too commodious for soldiers, so much so, that the boys were glad to be transferred to the canvas camp. The thousand and one laughable incidents which marked the apprentice period of Company L), in common with other companies, lose their point in telling. Out of the confusion of this period, organization and soldierly dis- cipline were gradually attained. At Jacksonville, the com- pany suffered considerably from the climate; uncertainty to the future, dread lest it might be their lot to go home without having seen service, lowered the spirits of the men. In camp at Savannah, the town was more cheerful, the prospect was definite. No man in the company will ever cease to prize his experience in setting foot on Cuban soil, and no man in the company can fail to be thankful that old "D" had not quite entered San Lazarus street in the city of Havana at the supreme moment when our flag went up over Morro Castle, for each man was thus permitted to witness the transfer of empire. Reviewing all its experiences while on the island, Company D feels that it was very fortunate, favored in health, in pleasant camp site and in privileges to see and enjoy. Soon after the promotion of Lieutenant Richard W. Buchanan to captaincy, Company D became the color company and guide of the regiment. 22 < o U < O o- K O U ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 339 COMPANY D ROSTER. Charles E. Cosby, Captain — Resignation tendered Feb. 8, 1899, accepted Feb. 25, 1899. Richard W. Buchanan, Captain — Promoted from 2d Lieut. March 9, 1899. Cyrus A. Jackson. 1st Lieutenant. Layton W. Parkhurst, 2d Lieutenant — Promoted from 1st Serg't March 10, 1899. SERGEANTS. Ferguson, W. Scott, 1st Serg't, Canaan, Ind., Engineer, ap- pointed 1st Serg't March 15, 1899. Taylor, John S.. Q_. M. Serg't, Hanover, Ind., Farmer, mus- tered as Q. M. Serg't. Huckleberry, Silas D., North Vernon, Ind., Student, mus- tered as Serg't. Carter, Everett, Seymour, Ind., Clerk, mustered as Serg't. Griffith, Ulysses J., Vevav, Ind., Law Student, promoted to Corp Sept. 11, 1898, promoted to Serg*t Dec. 9, 1898. Stoner, Henry, 1 5 right wood, Ind., Bookkeeper, promoted to Corp. Aug. 20, l x '.' s , promoted to Serg't March 15, 1899. CORPORALS. Jeffries, John, Madison, Ind., Miller, mustered as Corp. Rayborn, William E., Canaan, Ind., Farmer, mustered as Corp. Vawter, Charles I)., Madison, Ind., Traveling Salesman, pro- moted to Corp. Aug. 20, 1898. Oliver, Samuel, Madison, Ind., Laborer, promoted to Corp. Aug. 20, 1898. Sayers, Robert M., Madison, Ind., Stenographer, mustered as Corp. Wheeler, Cale K., Evansville, Ind., Patternmaker, transferred to Co. D from Co. E, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898, pro- moted to Corp. Dec. 9, 1898. 340 HISTORY OF THE Burroughs, Elmer, Mt. Sterling, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. Dec. 9, 1898. Miles, Gus E., North Vernon, Ind., Carpenter, promoted to Corp. March 15, 1899. Thorpe, Charles A., Cartersburg, Ind., Laborer, promoted to Corp. March 15, 1899. Xeal, DeCourcy, Brooksburg, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. March 15, 1899. Herring, William, Pleasant, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. March 15, 1899. .MUSICIANS. Harper, John E., Pleasant, Ind., Farmer, mustered as Musi- cian. , Brownscombe, Chas. W., Bedford, ltd., Paper Hanger, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. H, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898, appointed Musician Dec 7, 1898. ARTIFICER. Loyd, Joseph \V., Versailles, Ind., Carpenter, mustered as Artificer. WAGONER. Riedel, Ronald H., Zion, Ind., Farmer, mustered as Wagoner, COOK. Ivor, Charles N., Canaan, Ind., Cook, mustered as Cook Dec. 2, 1898. PRIVATES. Abbott, Harrison, Madison, Ind., Laborer. Adams, George W. , Guthrie, Ind., Laborer. Arnold, Edward, Vernon, Ind., Laborer. Ballard, Martin, Madison, Ind., Laborer. Bassett, Robert S., Versailles, Ind., Laborer. Blue, Arther, Seymour, Ind.. Tailor. Bucy, Leander, Brightwood, Ind., Railroader. Casey, Ashbv, Madison, Ind., Cook. Chambers, Clarence B., Kent, Ind., Farmer. Clarkson, Andrew J., Madison. Ind., Laborer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 34I Coryell, Charles, Hayden, Ind., Farmer. Crain, Gilbert D., Evansville, Ind., Student, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. E, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1S98. Davis, Chester, North Vernon, Ind., Student. Dowlen, Henry, Bedford, Ind., Clerk. Dugan, William M., Indianapolis, Ind., Tool Grinder. Evans, Harry O., North Vernon, Ind., Laborer, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. G, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Foster, Charles, North Vernon, Ind., Laborer. French, Emanuel, Indianapolis, Ind., Farmer. Frooks, James, Madison, Ind., Riverman. Gaussin, Clarence C, Bedford, Ind., Clerk. Gilligan, Joseph, Faulkner, Ind., Farmer. Griffin, Harvey, Canaan, Ind., Farmer. Grubbs, Wilkerson E., Madison, Ind., Cabinetmaker. Hagan, Robert E., Canaan, Ind., Salesman. Haukins, James, Madison, Ind., Laborer. Hargrove, Benjaman R., North Vernon, Ind., Clerk. Harper, Charles E., Pleasant, Ind., Farmer. Harrison, Thomas, Bee Camp, Ind., Farmer. Hatcher, John H., Vincennes, Ind., Cutter, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. L, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Henderson, Arthur. Seymour, Ind., Farmer. Henderson, Charles C, Seymour, Ind., Railroader. Hill, William, Seymour, Ind., Clerk. Hoskins, John W., Evansville, Ind., Clerk, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. E, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Hyatt, William, Madison, Ind., Steamboating. Jackson, Hiram, China, Ind., Farmer. Jenkins, William L., Madison, Ind., Ship Carpenter. King, Otto, North Vernon, Ind., Laborer, transferred to Co. I), L61st Ind., from Co. G, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Lawler, Roy, North Vernon, Ind., Laborer. Lostetter, George, Madison, Ind., Spoke Turner-. Lunger, Isaac, Madison, Ind., Laborer. 342 HISTORY OF THE Mathew, James, North Vernon, Ind., Laborer. Matthews, John H., Manville, Ind., Farmer. Matthews, Aubrey E., McGregor, Ind., Farmer. McGee, George, Madison, Ind., Laborer. Metz, Fred, Versailles, Ind., Laborer. Parsons, Elmore O., Madison, Ind., Laborer. Prather, John K., Seymour, Ind., Egg Packer. Ray, Wesley M., Bloomington, Ind., Farmer, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. H, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Rea, Harvey, Haney's Corner, Ind., Farmer. Redman, Roland E., Bedford, Ind., Baker. Reininga, William C, Ingelfield, Ind., Farmer, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. E, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Ricketts, Clarence, Vevay, Ind., Farmer. Riley, David, Reddington, Ind., Farmer. Robinson, Riley, Seymour, Ind., Clerk. Ruth, Andy, Lawrenceville, 111., Farmer, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind, from Co. A, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. Scanlan, Charles J., Seymour, Ind., Clerk. Schwab, Frank, North Madison, Ind., Laborer. Shepherd, Harry B., Dupont, Ind., Clerk. Skinner, William A., Indianapolis, Ind., Clerk. Spannagel, Joseph, North Vernon, Ind., Farmer. Sthiar, Harry, Gosport, Ind., Laborer, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. H, 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. St. John, Joseph, Hayden, Ind., Farmer. Strang, Morton O., North Vernon, Ind., Clerk. Strickland, Lafe, North Vernon, Ind., Teamster. Teepe, Ernest J., North Vernon, Ind., Student. Thompson, William E., Bedford, Ind., Railroader. Vandemore, Oris, North Vernon, Ind., Laborer. Vawter, John S., Madison, Ind., Laborer. Weed, Charles, Bedford, Ind., Laborer. Welch, Homer M., Seymour, Ind., Laborer. Whitaker, Albert L., Wilmore, Ky., Laborer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 343 Wilson, Charles S., Madison, Intl., Broommaker. Whitaker, James K., Cloverdale, Ind., Cutter, transferred to Co. D, 161st Ind., from Co. H, 159th Ind., Nov. 28, 1898. Wray, Millard, Clear Spring, Ind., Farmer. DISCHARGED. Gilbert, William B., Priv., Madison. Ind., Weaver, Aug. 21, 1898. Euler, Nelson C. B., Priv., North Vernon, Ind.. Painter, Sept. 13, 1898. Groub, John C, Corp. , Seymour, Ind., Clerk. Sept. 19, 1898. Barnes, Walter, Priv., Anderson, Ind., Tinsmith, Jan. 3,1899. Boeglin, Louis, Corp., Bryantsburg, Ind., Farmer, Jan. 12, 1899. Lostetter, Rudolph, Priv., Madison, Ind., Spoke Grader, Jan. 20, 1899. Ferris, William, Corp., Lancaster, Ind., Miller. Jan. 31, 1899. Hufford, Raymond II., Corp., Cartersburg, Ind., Farmer, March If). 1899. Jackson, Mathew, Priv., Seymour, Ind.. Clerk, March 7, 1899. Hawkins, John S., Priv.. Ghent, Ky.. Clerk, March 7, 1*99. Myres, William. Priv., Madison, Ind., Laborer, March 21, 1899. DEATHS. Sebree. John A.. Priv., Ghent, Ky.. Laborer, Oct. 14, 1898. Green, Frank M.. Priv., North Vernon, Ind.. Steelworker, Nov. 3, L898. Graham, Alonzo X., Priv., Lancaster, Ind., Farmer. Jan. 24, L899. TRANSFERRED. Logan. Michael M.. Corp., Bryantsburg, Ind., Iron Roller, Aug. 20, L898, Hospital Corps. Renfroe, Marcus I)., Corp., Canaan, Ind., Farmer, Aug. 20, 1898, Hospital Corps. 344 HISTORY OF THE Dale, Wesley, Priv., North Vernon, Ind., Farmer, Aug. 20, 1898, Hospital Corps. White, Harry K., 1st. Serg't, Dalton, X. Y., Traveling Salesman, Sept. 8, 1898, U. S. Vol. Signal Corps. THIRD BATTALION C G, H, L-" Major Lee M. Olds. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 347 LEE M. OLDS. Major Lee M. Olds, one of the youngest majors in the volunteer service, is the son of Judge Olds, of Chicago, a former chief justice of the supreme court of the state of Indiana, and who was a Union soldier in the Civil war. Major Olds boasts a remarkable ancestry of volunteer soldiers who did good service in the colonial wars, in the war of Revolution and of 1812, as well as the late rebellion. He was born at Columbia City, Indiana, October 2i, 1874. He spent a few years at Wabash College, and then entered the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, from which institution he graduated in 1893. I m_ mediately upon graduation he entered the Northwestern University, where he took a course in the classics, and later a thorough course in the law department of that university. He was president of the Chicago Law Students' Association, an organization of twenty-four hundred students of all law schools of the city. After completing his studies he practiced his profession simultaneously in Chicago and Hammond in the firm of Olds & Griffin, of which his father is senior partner. Major- Olds entered the service as captain of a com- pany from Hammond, and by his military aptitude and hard practice brought his men to the enviable position of Company A. On September 9, 1898, Colonel Durbin commanding the brigade, Captain Olds was in command for months of the First Battalion, and upon the resignation of Major Peterson was appointed by Governor Mount to the majorship of the Third Battalion. His commission was presented by Colonel Durbin at regimental parade December 1, 1898, and on the evening of the same day the young officer was mustered as major by Major Longstreet. 348 HISTORY OF THE Major Olds is a born soldier and commander; his appearance is commanding and his voice military to a finish. The young officer has borne his honors well. COMPANY C. THOMAS J. HUDGINS. Captain Thomas J. Hudgins was born in Franklin county, Tennessee, October 22, 1859. His parents moved to Indiana in 1867. He attended school at Morristown Seminary, Morristown, Indiana; accepted a position with C, H. & D. R. R. in 1878, then to P., C, C. & St. L. R. R. in 1880, remaining with the Pennsylvania Company until 1884, then accepting a position with Big Four Railroad at Indianapolis; accepted position as general agent of the Big Four at Shelbyville, Indiana, November 14, 1888, and at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war organized a company at Shelbyville, Indiana, and tried to get the com- pany accepted for first call for volunteers. The Big Four railroad granted Captain Hudgins two years' leave of absence and on his return his old position or a better one will be given him. Captain Hudgins, being the senior captain of the Third Battalion, was in command of the battalion the greater part of the time from August 14 to November 30, 1898. Captain Hudgins was married in 1882, and has one child, Leslie P. Hudgins. The Captain's parents live at Morristown, Indiana, and his only brother, Robert H. Hudgins, Jr., was quarter- master sergeant for Company C. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 349 Captain Thomas J. Hudgins. GEORGE E. GOODRICH. George E. Goodrich, first lieutenant, Company C, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was born in Brandywine township, Shelby county, Indiana, at the old family homestead. April 6, 1872. He moved to Shelbyville with his parents in 1880. His forefathers orig- inally came from Scotland, and knew the hardships of pio- neer days in the states. His grandfather, George Good- 350 HISTORY OF THE rich, for whom he was named, was a veteran of the Mexi- can war. Three uncles also served in the Union army in the Civil war, one being killed in the battle of Peach Tree Creek. The surviving two are now residents of Shel- byville and Shelby county. On graduating from school, First Lieutenant George E. Goodrich. Lieutenant Goodrich assumed the management of Bless- ing's opera house, the only theater in Shelbyville, but resigned from the management near the close of his second successful season, in January, 1894, to accept a position on the reportorial staff of the Shelbyville Daily Democrat, edited by the late W. Scott Ray, one of the best known Indiana editors of his day. The position had been vacated ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 35 I bv Edward A. Major, appointed postmaster of Shelbyville during President Cleveland's second tenure in office. Dur- ing Lieutenant Goodrich's connection with the Democrat he served three years in the Indiana National Guard as first sergeant of Company K, Second Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ross. He continued with the Democrat until the second call for volunteers to serve in the Spanish- American war was made by President McKinley, in May, 1898, when he secured a leave of absence from his duties the follovving month to enlist in the company then being recruited at Shelbyville, and departed with the company for Camp Mount, July 2. Having been previously elected first lieutenant by the members of the company, he was mustered into the service as such on July 11, 1898, and commissioned by Governor Mount on July 20, 1898, and appointed adjutant of the Third Battalion by a regimental order a few days later. Lieutenant Goodrich is a member of Kiowa Tribe, No. 199, I. O. R. M., of Shelbyville. IVY LESTER REYNOLDS. Second Lieutenant Ivy Lester Reynolds was born in Franklin, Johnson county, Indiana, September 18, 1876, and in 1881 removed to Shelbyville, Indiana, with his parents He was educated in the public schools of Shel- byville, at the age of fourteen entered the employment of the Shelby Printing Company as carrier and collector, and later attached himself to C. Steinhauser, watchmaker and jeweler, at Shelbyville, to learn the art of watchmaking. Serving three and a half years there, he went to Indianap- olis to complete his trade with Dyer & Matsumoto, manu- facturing jewelers, and later with Ikko Matsumoto, which position he filled much to the satisfaction of his employer, 352 HISTORY OF THE until in the fall of 1897, when he opened a shop at No. 49 Public Square, Shelbyville, and was favored with much success, closing up the business to enlist with the company under Captain Hudgins. Under direction of Captain Clayton, Ivy Lester Rey- Second Lieutenant Ivy Lester Reynolds. nolds captained a company of boys brigade at the Christian church of Shelbyville, a few years later enlisted in Com- pany K, of the Indiana National Guard, under Captain J. R. Clayton, serving two years of his enlistment, when, on going to Indianapolis, was transferred to Company A, Sec- ond Regiment Indiana National Guard' Captain H. C. Castor, in which company he rapidly received promotion from the rank of lance-corporal to second lieutenant in ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3 <$ 3 twenty-three months. During the service with Company A he participated in several prize drills at Indianapolis at the state fair gounds. Upon returning to Shelbyville, in 1897, he organized, drilled and uniformed the Rex Zouaves, a company which became very proficient in fancy military drills and was always a public favorite. He also commanded Company C a number of weeks at Jack- sonville and Savannah during the time when Captain Hud- gins commanded the Third Battalion in the absence of Major M. R. Peterson. Upon arriving in Cuba Mr. Reynolds, with St. C. A. Jackson, was called to General Ludlow's staff and assigned to the police department as military instructor and inspector of police of the city of Havana, they receiving many high compliments as a result of diligent work. HISTORY OF COMPANY C. The trials, tribulations and vicissitudes attendant upon the organization and acceptance of Company C into the service were many and varied. To begin with, Captain Hudgins, an ardent supporter of the project then actively engaged in the political affairs of Shelbyville, was compelled to meet the accusation of a local newspaper of opposite political proclivities to the effect that the project was a political intrigue to induce certain voters to accompany him (Captain Hudgins) to some point not yet decided upon, and by keeping them out of the city until after election day, thus occasion them the loss of their votes. Nothing daunted by the assertion thus made, the captain persisted in his work of recruiting the company; an interesting feature of the final organization, being that one of his accusers, then on the reportorial staff of the paper in question, was not only 23 354 HISTORY OF THE won over to the captain's way of thinking but afterwards became one of the active supporters of the project and eventually a commissioned officer in the company. The first meeting relative to the proposed organization was held in the city council chamber. Early in April, 1898, other meetings followed, with the result that when the first call for volunteers was made, later in the month, its services were offered in response. Not discouraged at its failure to be accepted, new quarters were sought in the armory of the old militia company, in the service of the Indiana National Guard, from April, 1894, to April, 1897, and drills' vigorously continued. Not until after the second call for volunteers was made by direction of President McKinley, during the latter part of May, were the officers of the company formally elected by the members of the organization, although it was generally understood who they were to be. Renewed interest was now taken in the drills, which occurred nightly. Then came the crushing information that no new regiments would be mustered into the service, but that the additional volunteers, designated in the call for seventy-five thousand troops, would be used to recruit the regiments already in the field up to the full war strength, one hundred and six enlisted men. For a time the fate of the company wab- bled in a balance, due to the " desertion " of a large num- ber of recruits of the company to the organizations of the various branches of the service then in the field. This but served to strengthen the determination of those who • ' stuck to the old ship." To recruit the organization to its former strength with the result that when another regiment became an assured fact and the preliminary examination of the men was begun by Dr. J. W. Bowlby, designated by the governor to perform the duties, the influx of recruits was so great that for a few days it was necessary to provide 356 HISTORY OF THE for their maintenance by going into camp at the fair grounds of the Shelby County Joint Stock Agricultural Association. To this project the citizens of Shelbyville responded most liberally in the donation of supplies, and a handsome cash balance was given the company, the net proceeds of a fes- tival and bazar given under the supervision of about thirty of Shelbyville's best known young ladies. This was fol- lowed by a reception tendered the company by the Epworth League of the First Methodist Episcopal church, of Shel- byville, in the parlors of that edifice. A deplorable acci- dent occurred just following the receipt of the information that the services of the company would be accepted. It having been agreed upon that Strong's Light Artillery, an organization within the Sons of Veteran's Encampment, of Shelbyville, should be the first to herald the information, on the day of its receipt they repaired to a spot just beyond the city limits, and while engaged in firing a speci- fied number of volleys a premature discharge of their piece, an old cannon used in the Civil war, resulted in the loss of an arm to Warren Haehl and a mutilated hand to Wilber Smith, members of the battery. The departure of the company for Camp Mount, on July 2, was the occasion of a demonstration witnessed only in times of war, when home ties are broken and the pride of a household takes his departure from home and friends, probably never to return. The scene with its attendant incidents are best portrayed in the following clipping from the Shelbyville Republican, of that date: 1 ' The company of which Thomas J. Hudgins is captain, George E. Goodrich, first lieutenant, and I. L. Reynolds, second lieutenant, finished its recruiting last evening and this morning marched in from the fair ground. Mechanic street was decorated from Vine to Harrison and as the boys marched along the people cheered them along. Harri- o c W c O o m o o > z o 358 HISTORY OF THE son street to the public square was decorated and the square and East Washington street to the station was almost a mass of flags. As the company neared the square they were met by the colored boys' "drum" corps. On the south side of the square the company was joined by the Grand Army of the Republic, the Strong Light Artillery and the Rex Zouaves, The column being formed with the Grand Army men at the post of honor, the Modern Wood- man band in the lead, the march was taken up to the sta- tion. Washington street was simply a mass of people, the boys being given an ovation they will never forget. War- ren Haehl, who lost his arm last week, was propped in bed and placed at the window so he could see the procession and as it passed it cheered and cheered and cheered. The recognition brought tears to the eyes of many. Two cars were on the side track in waiting, but the crush of people was so great that it was some minutes before the cars could be reached. When the doors were finally opened the soldier boys filed in and their friends after them. The jam was simply a crush. Women and strong men cried; mothers embraced their sons, sisters clung to their brothers and sweethearts made no attempt to check their tears. Hundreds and hundreds of people crowded along the cars to shake the hands of the boys and to give them a word of encouragement and advice. All this time the band was playing, the drums were beating and the Sons of Veterans were firing a salute. " As the train that was to carry the boys away entered the city, the factory whistles that had been blowing a perfect salvo during the morning, greeted the train with a welcome blast that was continued until the train was out of the city. After the usual stop at the station it required but a few minutes for the train to back down and take on the two extra cars. In another minute, the air being filled ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 359 with cheers, the waving of flags, handkerchiefs, the blasts of the whistles and the sound of musketry Shelbyville's first company in the war against Spain started for the front — a brave, gallant set of boys. " The company, together with its friend, Hon. Sidney Conger, arrived at Camp Mount shortly after ten o'clock, having been tendered an ovation at all the villages along the route, and were immediately quartered in barn H. In the physical examination that followed over one hundred and twenty men met the requirements, a sufficient number were retained to recruit the company to its full war strength, one hundred and six enlisted men; the remainder were transferred to other companies not having the required number of men. The company was mustered into the service on the eveniug of July 11, being among the first to be thus administered the oath of allegiance. A few days later the company was presented with a handsome flag by a delegation of ladies and gentlemen of the Ladies Relief Corps, an auxiliary of Dumont Post No. — , G. A. R., of Shelby ville, representing the citizens of that city. The presentation speech was made in the presence of the company by Mr. John Byers, a veteran of the Civil war, and was feelingly responded to by Captain Hudgins. The corp itself gave to each member of the company a comb, whisk broom, towels, etc. This was followed a few days later by the presentation of a copy of the New Testament to each of the officers and men by Rev. L. A. Gould, of the First Baptist church, representing the churches of Shel- byville. The company's departure for Jacksonville, Flor- ida, on August ii. was made the occasion of a monster demonstration in Shelbyville by reason of the fact that the special trains conveying the regiment passed through the city via the Big Four route. It is safe to assert that three-fourths of the citizens of 360 HISTORY OF THE Shelbyville, blocked the streets for squares in all directions, bands played, salutes were fired and other tokens of the high esteem in which the company is held were manifest. During the stay of the regiment at Camp Cuba Libre, Company C suffered considerably from the prevailing maladies, and many of the sick men were compelled to succumb and go to the hospital, a great many never to rejoin their command. Being left behind at the time of the removal of the regiment to Savannah, Georgia, they were scattered in the various hospitals throughout the country and recovering from their illness were mustered out of the service after the regiment was sent to Cuba. During the interval when the sickness at Camp Cuba Libre was most marked, the relatives and friends of the boys at home forwarded by express a large amount of palatable delicacies and nutritious food best suited for the use of the ailing. The removal of the troops to Camp Onward marked a gradual improvement in the health of the com- pany. This was also true of the period spent at Camp Columbia, Havana, when the general health was excellent. During its career in the service not a single death occurred in Company C, and during their entire stay in Cuba, with the exception of four or five days following their arrival, the company was on detached service as a special guard at General Lee's corps headquarters, and rejoined the regi- ment on its march to the docks to embark on the United States transport "Logan," homeward bound. COMPANY C ROSTER. Thomas J. Hudgins, Captain, Shelbyville, Ind. George E. Goodrich, 1st Lieut., Shelbyville, Ind. Ivy L. Reynolds, 2d Lieut., Shelbyville, Ind. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 36 1 SERGEANTS. Maddox, Robert C, 1st. Serg't, Shelby ville. Ind., Drug Clerk, discharged Nov. 19, 1898. Parkison, Moses A., Shelby ville, Ind., Cabinetmaker, promo- ted to 1st Serg't Nov. 19, 1898. Hudgins. Robt. H., Jr.. Q. M. Serg't. Shelbyville, Ind., Telegrapher. Hopkins, John S., Hariford, Maryland. Painter. Ballard. Walter B., Shelbyville. Ind., Clerk. Miles, Con L., Shelbyville. Ind.. Furnisher, discharged March 81, 1899. Dickman, Joseph, Shelbyville, Ind., Upholsterer, promoted from Corp. to Serg't Dec. ;i. 1898, discharged Janu- ary l>7, 1899. Alexander, Earl, Indianapolis, Ind., Pressman, promoted Serg't from Corp. Feb. 7. 1899. Wilson, Major, Shelbyville. Ind.. Clerk, promoted Serg't from Corp. April 5, 1899. CORPORA LS. Kuntz, Mathias, Shelbyville, Ind., Harnessmaker. Vanarsdall, Elmer, Shelbyville. Ind.. Farmer, promoted to Corp. Jan. 25, 1899. Davis, Edwin F., Workland, Ind., Stationary Engineer. Ray, John T., Hope, Ind.. Farmer. Matthews, James G., Shelbyville, Ind., Fanner, discharged Dec.*22, 1899. Vanpelt, Downey. Shelbyville. Ind.. Clerk. Dale, George II.. Jamestown. End., School Teacher, promoted to corporal Feb. 7. 1> ( .»'.». Goodrich, Charles, Shelbyville. Ind.. Painter, promoted to Corporal Feb. 12, 1899. King, William F., Shelbyville, Ind.. Cabinetmaker, ap- pointed Corporal October 31, 1898. Law, Eugene E., Shelbyville, Ind., Welldriller, promoted to Corp. Aug. I, II 362 HISTORY OF THE Leffler, Fay, Shelbyville, Ind., Upfitter, appointed Corp. Dec. 3, 1898. Oaks, Bert, Edinburg, Ind., Finisher, appointed Corp. Dec. 3, 1898. Roemerman, Chris., Shelbyville, Ind., Factory Hand, pro- moted to Corp. Aug. 8, 1898, Jan. 14, 1899. Wiles, Miller, Shelbyville, Ind., Varnisher, promoted to Corp. April 5, 1899. MUSICIANS. Michelsen, William A., Shelbyville, Ind., Barber. ARTIFICER. Moore, Wiley F., Shelbyville, Ind., Blacksmith, transferred from Artificer to Musician, Aug. 8, 1898. WAGONER. Cummins, Walter, Indianapolis, Ind., Fireman, discharged Nov. 4, 1898. PRIVATES. Beard, Otto, Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer, discharged Feb. 6, 1899. Bounsall, William H., Unionville, N. Y., Painter, dis- charged Jan. 30, 1899. Byers, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Polisher. Carson, Arthur, Shelbyville, Ind., Painter, assigned company cook Feb. 21 ; 1899, relieved as cook April 10, 1899. Chesser, Marshall, Winterowd, Ind., Carpenter, made artif- icer Aug. 8, 1898. Chueden, Albert, Shelbyville, Ind., Painter, reduced to ranks Aug. 8, 1898. Clark, Harry, Indianapolis, Ind., Barber. Collins, William, .Shelbyville, Ind., Machinist, discharged Jan. 26, 1899. Comstock, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Plasterer. Cooper, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Metalworker, assigned com- pany cook April 10, 1899. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 363 Cosier, Curtis, Shelbyville, Ind., Bicycle Polisher, discharged Feb. 6, 1899. Cutsinger, Henry, Shelbyville, Ind., Engineer. Dale, August M., Jamestown, Ind., Farmer. Davis, Larue, Shelbyville, Ind., Cabinetmaker. Dickman, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Clerk. Didlein, Herman A., Indianapolis, Ind., Bookkeeper. Ditsch, Frank, Indianapolis, Ind., Textile Worker. Ebner, Edward, Indianapolis, Ind., Varnishmaker. Ellis, Fred, Anderson, Ind., Lather, appointed Wagoner Oct. 31, 1898. Evans, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Painter, discharged Feb. 15, 1899. Feaster, Ora, Shelbyville, Ind., Bandsawyer. Feaster, Wilber, Shelbyville, Ind., Machine hand. George, Horace, Indianapolis, Ind., Plumber. Gregg, Charles E., Indianapolis. Ind., Waiter, deserted Sept. 10, 1898, discharged without honor Nov. 4, 1898. Hietand, John F., Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer. Hendrickson, True, Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer, discharged Feb. 27, 1899. Hilt, Henry, Shelbyville, Ind.. Farmer. Itce, John, Shelbyville, Ind., Gardener. Johnson, Camden A., Oakland, Ind., Farmer, discharged Jan. 11, 1899. Johnson, George S., Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer. Jolliff, Finley, Flatrock, Ind., Farmer. Kelly, Austin U., Indianapolis, Ind., Waiter. Lane, Harry, Shelbyville, Ind., Finisher. Law, George, Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer, discharged Jan. 14, 1899. Louden, Charles A., Shelbyville, Ind., Clerk. Ludwig, John M., Indianapolis, Ind., Laborer. Madden, Charles II., Indianapolis, Ind., Bookkeeper, dis- charged March 21, 1899. Mitchell, Charles, Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer. 364 HISTORY OF THE Mott, Charles G., Shelbyville, Ind., Laborer, deserted Oct. 16, 1898. Morris, Leroy, Shelbyville, Ind., Painter, discharged Jan. 25, 1899. Omsted, Edward, Edinburg, Ind., Laborer. Osborn, William, Mount Vernon, Ind., Wood Turner. Pariish, George W., Shelbyville, Ind., Hardwood Finisher. Perkins, Omer E., Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Perry, Andrew J., Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer, discharged Feb. 2, 1899. Perry, Howard, Lawrence, Ind., Teamster. Palmer, Marshall, Fairland, Ind., Farmer, discharged March 20, 1899. Prosser, Ora, Indianapolis. Ind., Laborer. Price, Ira J., Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer. Roberts, William, Shelbyville, Ind., Clerk, discharged May 4, 1899. Roth, Robert, Shelbyville, Ind., Clerk. Runyon, James, Shelbyville, Ind., Laborer. Rupert, Frank, Shelbyville, Ind., Farmer. Stittsworth, Ora, Louisville, Ind., Farmer. Schachertr, Louis, Shelbyville, Ind., Factory Hand. • Schumaker, William, Sunman, Ind., Merchant. Shipley, George, Indianapolis, Ind., Painter. Simms, Thomas, Shelbyville, Ind., Teamster. Sieg, John, Flatrock, Ind., Farmer, deesrted Dec. 10, 1898. Sims, Everet, Indianapolis, Ind., Tinner. Smith, John A., Shelbyville, Inch, Laborer. Spice, Arthur, Huntington, Ind., Glassworker. Southern, Harry J., Indianapolis, Ind., Moulder, deserted Sept. 8, 1898, discharged without honor Nov. 21, 1898. vSteely, John, Indianapolis, Ind., Machinist, discharged Aug. 19, 1898. Titus, Joseph R. , Winterowd, Ind., Carpenter, discharged at Winterowd, Ind., March 1, 1899. Towns, Arthur, Shelbyville, Ind., Mechanic. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 365. Vaught, Fred, Shelby vi lie, Ind., Mechanic, discharged Sept. 29, 1898. Wheeler, Jerry, Shelby ville, Ind.. Farmer. Westerfield, Commodore, Manilla, Ind., Engineer. Wiles. Robert, Jr., Shelbyville, Inch, Finisher. Wilson, William W.. Shelbyville, Inch, Cabinetmaker, dis- charged Feb. 17, 1899. Williams, James A., Shelbyville, Inch, Farmer, discharged March 16, 1899. Winterowd, Floyd, Indianapolis, Ind., Laborer. Woods, George, Smithland, Ind., Farmer. Worland, Frank. Shelbyville, Ind., Gardener. Worland, Maurice, Shelbyville, Ind., Plumber. YYycoff, Oscar, Edinburg, Inch, Laborer. Youngman, Leon E., Shelbyville, Inch, Carpenter. LATER ENLISTMENTS. Molder, William, Shelbyville, Ind., Furnituremaker, enlisted Aug. 9, 189s. Vanpelt, George W., Shelbyville. Inch, Clerk, enlisted Aug. 10, 1898. Kloer, Arthur, Terre Haute, Inch, Clerk, enlisted Dec.'.), 1898. TRANSFERRED. Hamm, Michael, Vincennes, Inch, Butcher, transferred from Co. A, 159th Ind. Vol. Inf., Dec. 1. L898. Kopp, John G., Evansville, Inch, Barber, transferred from Co. E, 159th Ind. Vol. Inf., Dec. 1, 1898. Burke, John, Vincennes, Inch, Student, transferred from Co. L, 159th Inch Vol. Inf., Dec. 1, 1898. McCrisaken, James, Vincennes, Inch, Butcher, transferred from Co. L, 159th Ind. Vol. Inf., Dec. 1, 1898. Soden, Charles, Vincennes, Ind., Laborer, transferred from Co. L, 159th Inch Vol. Inf., Dec. 1, 1898. Coats, William T., Shelbyville, Ind., Student, transferred from Co. K, 101st Ind. Vol. lid"., Jan. 26, 1899. 3 66 HISTORY OF THE COMPANY G. ALBERT D. OGBORN. Captain Albert D. Ogborn was born on a farm in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1864, and spent the first eight- een years of his life there. He was educated in the com- mon schools, graduating therefrom at thirteen. In Janu- ary, 1883, he removed to Newcastle and worked for a firm Captain Albert D. Ogborn. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 367 dealing in farm implements and later for a dealer in shoes. During this time he educated himself as a stenographer. In November, 1887, he was appointed storekeeper of the Northern Indiana Hospital for Insane at Logansport. He gave up this position in April, 1889, to accept that of offi- cial shorthand reporter for the judicial circuit in which he resides. While a court reporter he found time to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1894, and is now practicing law in connection with court reporting. He has been deeply interested in military affairs from boyhood, and for ten years before entering the army was an enthusiastic worker in the Uniform Rank Knights of Pythias. He is colonel of the Third Indiana Regiment in this organization, having been granted an unlimited leave of absence to enter the army. Captain Ogborn is unmarried. JAMES I. MEYERS. First Lieutenant James I. Meyers first saw light in Wells county, Indiana, in September, 1864. He was edu- cated at the schools of the city of Bluffton. He learned the baker's trade and followed it for several years. In 1887 he removed to Newcastle and was engaged in the res- taurant business there when he entered the army. He received the practical knowledge of things military pos- sessed by him when he enlisted, in the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias; and resigned the captaincy of Newcas- tle company in that organization when he became a sol- dier. He is married and has a fine family of three chil- dren. 3 68 HISTORY OF THE First Lieutenant James I. Meyers. CHARLES M. PITTMAN. Second Lieutenant Charles M. Pittman was born in Newcastle, in 1874, and was educated in the schools of that city, graduating from the high school in 1892. While in school he was agent for a city newspaper, the daily edi- tion of which he delivered to his patrons. For a time after leaving school he was engaged with his father in the farm machinery business. Later he began the study of civil engineering and was engaged in the practice of that profession when he entered the army. He lives with his parents and is unmarried. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 369 Si cond Lieutenant Charles M. Pittman. HISTORY OF COMPANY G. In the Civil war Henry county sent as many soldiers to the front as any count}' in Indiana in proportion to its pop- ulation; and one of them, the venerable William Grose, came back a major-general. The bravery and patriotism of these men, proven on a hundred battlefields, descended to their sons. When the Spanish students tore down the American flag in Barcelona in i895,f)Captain Ogborn sent the following message to Governor Matthews: " If Spain insists upon being whipped, I desire a commission to raise 24 o ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 3/1 a company in Henry county to. help to do it." When the Maine was destroyed he again tendered his services to Indi- ana's governor, believing that war was inevitable. Before the formal declaration of war and afterwards he begged the governor to accept his services in any capacity in which they might be thought useful. When the first call for volunteers was made many young men of Henry county went to Indianapolis and tried to get in the service, some of them succeeding; among them was Lieutenant Charles \Y. Pittman. Believing that a sec- ond call would be made, and that if it were, a company could get in from Henry county, Captain Ogborn and Lieutenant Myers began to organize a company in antici- pation thereof, and were afterward joined by Lieutenant Pittman. One hundred and thirty names were enrolled, a majority from Newcastle, the remainder all from Henry county; drilling was kept up in the face of long delay, and the quiet opposition of the " Peace at any price " ele- ment. Young men who drilled faithfully were sneered at by apron string slaves, too lazy and too cowardly to enlist or drill. The turning point was reached one night in June, when the ears of a small band of the faithful who were drilling in the street were greeted by the " Rogues March " whistled by some one in a barber shop; the squad was wheeled and lined up along the sidewalk, and a demand made for the offender. He finally admitted his identity; and was warned that it would not be safe for him or any other person to ridicule any one who had enlisted in the company. From that hour the tide was with the vol- unteers. When the company was finally ordered to appear for their preliminary examination, to their shame be it said, over thirty of the men enlisted showed the white feather; ten of the remainder, including some of the best fellows z < PL, o u en t- 1 z < w o s en ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 373 alive, were rejected, some other good men yielded to the entreaties of their families and withdrew. In this emer- gency the captain turned to Muncie, from where an eloquent appeal for opportunity to enlist had come from First Ser- geant Fred \V. Puckett. He and about thirty other Dela- ware county men, including as good soldiers as ever wore the blue, were finally accepted and have done much to make the fine record of the company what it is. When the examinations begun, committees of patriotic citizens arranged for the entertainment of the men, and during the four days which elapsed before the company started for Indianapolis did everything possible to make them com- fortable. The examinations began at 10 o'clock A. m. on June 27th, and ended at I p. m. on the 29th. The captain telephoned the governor that he had one hundred and nine men accepted by the local surgeon. On the morning of July 1st, every business house in the city was closed and a great crowd gathered in the pub- lic square where patriotic speeches were made by leading citizens and some of the orators in the company. Each man was given a slight token of the friendship of the citi- zens of New Castle. A great procession, headed by a band and composed of the G. A. R. Post, Uniform Rank Knights of Pythias and hundreds of citizens, escorted the company to the station, and the train bearing it left the city'followed by the cheers of five thousand people who had assembled there. The sincere goodwill of the citizens of New Castle toward the company was further shown by their presenta- tion to each of the three officers of a handsome sword. The company was the fourth to arrive at Indianapolis and the first one ready to be mustered. It was mustered in on July 1 2, 1898. z < 2 o U c/T o Cl, o u ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 375 COMPANY G ROSTER. Albert D. Ogborn, Captain, New Caslle. James I. Meyers, 1st Lieutenant, New Castle. Charles M. Pitman, 2nd Lieutenant, New Castle. SERGEANTS. Puckett, Fred \Y., 1st Serg't., Muncie, Ind., Medical Student, mustered as private July 27, 1898, appointed 1st Serg't Aug. 1, 1898. Owens, Charles B., Franklin, Ind., Grocer. Engle, T. William, Indianapolis, Ind., Printer, transferred to Hospital Corps U. S. A , Aug. 20, 1808. Welsbacher, John, Meadville, Pa., Glass Blower. Martin, Albert ()., Muncie, Ind., Dental Student, mustered as Corp. July 12, 1898, appointed Serg't Mar. 20. 1899. Eilar, Benjamin \\\, Newcastle, Ind., Bridge Builder, ap- pointed Corp. Dec. 20, 1898, appointed .Serg't Feb. 17, 1 899. Luther, E. Murray, Q. M. Serg't., Blountsville. Ind., Clerk, mustered as Corp. July 13, 1898, appointed C^. M. Serg't Dec. 22, 1899. CORPORALS. Keesling, Ray, Mechanicsberg, Ind., Clerk. McKimmey, Linley \V., Muncie, Ind., Engineer. Elliott, George II., Me hanicsburg. Ind., Well Driller. Fadely, Joseph II., Honey Creek, Ind., Farmer. Gontner, Charles R., Muncie, Ind., Salesman. Baldwin, Ellwood L., Spiceland, Ind., Farmer. Nugent, Harry S., Kennard, Ind., Editor. Allen, Alonzo, Muncie, Ind., Bartender, transferred to Hospi- tal Corps, U. S. Army, Aug. 20, L898. Goddard, Joseph, Middletown, Ind., Glass Blower, appointed Corp. Dec. 20, L898. Gaddis, Max P., New Castle, Ind., Cook, appointed Corp. Dec. 29. 1898. 376 HISTORY OF THE Shellenbarger, Charles, Muncie, Ind., Laborer, appointed Corp. Feb. 17, 1899. Robinson, Elmer, Franklin, Ind., Laborer, appointed Corp. Mar. 20, 1899. Baxley, Robert F., Princeton, Ind., Laborer, transferred from 159th I. V. I., Dec. 1, 1898, and appointed Corp. Dec. 29, 1898. MUSICIANS. VanDyke, Henry W., Lewisville, Ind., Blacksmith, discharged Mar. 17, 1899. Beeson, Edward, Dalton, Ind., Farmer. ARTIFICER. Hutchens, Huston, New Castle, Ind., Mechanic. WAGONER. Livezey, Oscar, Newcastle, Ind., Farmer. COOK. Snider, Daniel Vorhees, Muncie, Ind.. appointed Company Cook Oct. 10, 1898. PRIVATES. Akers, Joseph,Middletown, Ind. ,Glassblower, discharged Feb. 6, 1899. Barnett, Guy, Newcastle, Ind., Plasterer. Barnes, Henry, Muncie, Ind., Finisher. Bock, Claud, Newcastle, Ind., Laborer. Brown, Roy W., Newcastle, Ind., Drum Major, transferred to band Aug. 27, 1898. Buckley, Guy, Newcastle, Ind., Laborer. Canaday, James, Newcastle, Ind., Laborer. Cecil, Fred P., Muncie, Ind., Student. * Darling, Alva, Spiceland, Ind., Farmer. Darnell, Harry C, Indianapolis, Ind., Student. Davenport, Frank N., Newcastle, Ind., Painter. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 377 Detrich, George Carlos, Muncie, Ind , B >ttler, discharged Sept. 28, 1898. Dolan, John, Cambridge City, hid., Fireman, transferred to Hospital Corps, U. S. Army. Aug. 20. 1898. Faulkner, Henry, Muncie, Ind., Laborer, discharged Jan. 13, 1899. Filson, James Leroy, New Lisbon. Ind., Sawyer. Fisher, Frank \\\. Newcastle, Ind., Ball Player. Frazee, Walker, Byers, Ohio, School Teacher. Freeman, Perry, Muncie, Ind.. Laborer. Freeland, Thomas, Xew Lisbon, Ind., Farmer. Foster, Frank, Spiceland, Ind., Farmer. Goodman, Bud, Muncie. Ind., Laborer. Hale, Frank, Springport, Ind., Farmer. Hale, Thomas T., Dublin, Ind., Fanner. Halfaker, Edgar B., Franklin, Ind., Blacksmith, discharged Aug. 22, L898. Hamilton, Frank M.. Newcastle, Ind., Dentist. Hamilton, Benton F., Greensboro. Ind., Clerk. Hanna, John W., Ft. Worth, Texas, Laborer. Harper, Charles, Indianapolis, Ind., Ironworker. Hickman, Herbert II., Springport. Ind., Farmer, discharged Mar. 13, 1899. Holton, Hoyt A, Indianapolis. Ind., Printer, discharged Jan. 12, L899. Huddleston, Arthur A., Dublin. Ind., Tinner. Irwin, George, New York City, N. Y., Broommaker. [srael, William G., Franklin. Ind.. Farmer. Jackson, Solomon, Franklin. Ind., Laborer. Lamb, Okie F., Dalton, Ind., Blacksmith. Lane, Fred, Mooreland, Ind., Farmer. Leech, J. Morris, F., Muncie. Ind., Decorator, transferred to Ilosp. Corps Aug. 20, 1898. Leonard, John M., Muncie. Ind., Wheelworker. Leonard, Arthur, Muncie. Ind.. Rougher. Lykens, Sebastian. Spiceland. Ind., Laborer. McCoy, Charles, Muncie. Ind., Bricklayer. 378 HISTORY OF THE McCoy, Clarence, Muncie, Ind., Laborer, discharged Sept. 27, 1898. Martin, Henry C.~, Jr., Muncie, Ind., Laborer, discharged Feb. 17, 1899. Martindale, George, Hagerstown, Ind., Photographer. Miller, James W., New Castle, Ind., Clerk. Mitchell, Lemuel, Middletown, Tinplateworker. Morgan, Cliff, Greensburg, Ind., Farmer. Netz, Charles, Ashland., Ind., Farmer. Newby, Otis, Greensboro, Ind., Miller. Newby, George W., Greensboro, Ind., Farmer. Nichols, Noah A., Honey Creek, Ind., Jockey. Paul, John J., Muncie, Ind., Glass worker. Pierson, Joseph M., Muncie, Ind., Laborer, discharged Dec. 22, 1898. Prager, James M., Seattle, Wash., Prospector, transferred to Hosp. Corps, U. S. A , January 9, 1899. Rawlins, Winfield, Byers, Ohio, Mining. Reece, Benjamin F., Muncie, Ind., Wheelworker, Rogers, Paul, Muncie, Ind., Hatter, mustered as 1st Serg't July 12, 1898, by his own request was reduced to ranks July 31, 1898. Rothbaust, Jesse, Franklin, Ind., Laborer, discharged Feb. 8, 1899. Sears. Walton D., Spiceland, Ind., Laborer. Sherer, Albert, Muncie, Ind., Laborer. Shuee, Edward C, Muncie, Ind., Laborer. Swaim, Clarence T., Dublin, Ind., Clerk. Sweezy, John, Franklin, Ind.. Laborer. Wahl, John, Indianapolis, Ind., Laborer. Walden, Edgar Otis, Muncie, Ind., Glassworker. Wilmuth, Arthur, Kennard, Ind., Laborer. Wilson, John W., Muncie, Ind., Glassworker. Winnings, Mark, Ashland, Ind., Laborer. Winnings, Walter A., Ashland, Ind., Laborer. Wintersteen, Minor, New Castle, Ind., Farmer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 379 Wolfe, Edwin. Mooreland, Ind., Laborer, discharged Feb. 10, 1899. Woods, Harry, Dublin, Ind., Farmer. Yates. Ira O., Middletown, Ind., Laborer, discharged March 17. 1899. LATER ENLISTMENTS. Green, Oscar, Muncie, Ind., Machinist, mustered Aug. 8, 1898. King. Fred C.. Muncie, Ind., Carpenter, mustered Aug. 8, 1898. Reynolds, Clvde B., Hagerstown. Ind.. Farmer, mustered Aug. 8, 1898, discharged Jan. 19, 1899. Sheller, Charles, Muncie, Ind., Carpenter, mustered Aug. s . 1898. Sherman. William A.. Middletown, Ind., Laborer, mustered Aug. 8, 1898. Armstrong, John L., Princeton, Ind.. Farmer, transferred from 159th I. V. I., Dec. 1, 1898. Hogue, Edward II., Princeton, Ind., Laborer, transferred from 159th I. Y. I., Dec. 1, L898. Malone, Clarence A., Princeton. Ind., Butcher, transferred from 159th I. Y. I., Dec. 1, 1898. Robinson, Floyd W., Larwell, Ind., Machinist, transferred from 159th I. Y. L, Dec. 1, 1898. Newsum, Fred B., Patoka, Ind.. Miner, transferred from 159th I. Y. I. Dec. 1, 1S98. Turnnge, George W. , Princeton, Ind., Laborer^ transferred from 159th I. Y. L, Dec. 1, 1898; discharged Feb. 8, 1899. Warren, Benjamin F., Evansville, Ind., Farmer, transferred from 159th I. V. I. Dec. 1, 1898. Wolfe, Walter G. , Evansville, Ind., Blacksmith, transferred from 159th I. Y. I. Dec. 1, 1898. Taylor, Eugene B., Carmi, 111., Mechanic, transferred from Regimental Band Dec. 22, 1898. 38o HISTORY OF THE COMPANY H. JAMES M. GWINN. Captain James M. Gwinn was born at Burlington, Carroll county, Indiana, in 1847. He gave up completing his education to enter the Civil war, enlisting in July, 1863, Captain James M. Gwinn. as a private in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Indiana, from which he was discharged the March following. In December, 1864, he re-enlisted in the Forty-sixth Indiana, and was mustered out September 4, 1865. He partici- pated in five engagements during his term of service, the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 381 principal ones of which were Bull's Gap, Tazewell and Walker's Ford. After the war he farmed for a time, but for the last twenty years has been engaged in the livery business at Rushville. HENRY B. PATTON. Henry B. Patton, first lieutenant Company H, was born near Spring Hill, Decatur county, Indiana. His youth was spent on the farm. At an early age he removed with his parents to Rush county, where he has since First Lieutenant Henry B. Patton. 382 HISTORY OF THE resided. He attended the common schools near his home and afterward attended DePauw University, graduating with the class of '94. He served as deputy clerk of the Rush circuit court for three years, resigning his position to accept a commission as second lieutenant. When the regiment went to Camp Cuba Libre he was appointed aide-de-camp to General L. F. Hubbard, commanding Third Division, Seventh Army Corps, serving in that capacity until the division was abolished, pending General Hubbard's retirement, when he was returned to his com- pany. He was commissioned first lieutenant August 28, 1898, vice John F. Joyce, resigned. GEORGE H. CALDWELL. George H. Caldwell, second lieutenant Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, is a native of Rushville, Indiana. His boyhood and early manhood were spent on a farm near that city. He was educated in the common schools and at the age of seven- teen was licensed as a teacher, which pursuit he followed for two years. At the expiration of that time and for ten years following he was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store at Rushville. For a number of years since that time he has acted as a traveling salesman in the same line. He enlisted in Company H as a private, but was appointed first sergeant at the final organization at Indianapolis. On August 28th he was commissioned second lieutenant by the governor of Indiana to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Lieutenant Joyce. He is a Republican in politics and a member of Ivy Lodge No. 27, Knights of Pythias. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 383 Second Lieutenant, George H. Caldwell. COMPANY H HISTORY. Company H was organized at Kushville by Captain Gwinn and Lieutenant Joyce, who had each previously raised companies and tried to secure recognition on the first call for volunteers. Realizing that it would be neces- sary to combine their forces in order to secure recognition, the companies were united, Lieutenant Joyce agreeing to accept second place in consideration of Captain Gwinn's previous service. The company at once began drilling, and having been 1 1 •.iv;.- 1 " ■ .-■ - ?*? -.' . 'ft V- r*' ' '.'. " '.'* ■: < 2 O U ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 385 assured of a place in the new regiment to be organized, it went into camp at the fair grounds on June 20th, remain- ing there ten days until ordered to Camp Mount, being the first one to arrive there. It was mustered into the service on July 12, 1898. It is composed principally of Rush county men, although quite a number of other coun- ties throughout the state are represented, the principal one being Fayette. COMPANY H ROSTER. Gwixn, James M., Captain — Rushville, End., Liveryman. Joyce, John F., 1st Lieutenant — Rushville, Ind., Lawyer; resigned; resignation accepted Aug. 80, 1898, at Jacksonville, Fla. , ill health. Patton. Henry B., 1st Lieutenant — Richland, Ind., Clerk,. promoted from 2d Lieutenant Sept. 8, 1898. Caldwell, George II.. 2d Lieutenant, Rushville. Ind., Farmer, promoted from 1st Sergeant Sept. 10, 1898. SERGEANTS. Caldwell, Joseph J., Rushville, Ind., Watchman. Comstock, Charles E., Lyons, Iowa, Druggist. Hunt. Geston P., Orange P. ()., Clerk. Wolfe, Charles E., Rushville, Ind., Musician. Stiers, Edgar, Richland, Ind., School Teacher. Ailes, Jesse W., Stipps Hill, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. Aug. 23, L898, promoted to Serg't Dec. 31, 1898. Beale, Fred R.. Rushville, Ind., Tailor, promoted to Corp. Dec. 27, 1898, promoted to Serg't Jan. I, 1899. CORPORALS. Felts, Jacob I)., Rushville, Ind. , Cabinetmaker. Gross, Fred, Manilla, Ind., Clerk. Wertz, Harrison E., Arlington, Ind., Farmer. Johnson, Riley, Richland, Ind., Farmer. 25 < cm o U c/T H Z < W o OS w en ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 387 Innis, John W., Rushville, Ind., Aeronaut, transferred to U. S. Vol. Signal Corps Dec. 1, 1898, per order Adju- tant General's office Alexander, Fred., Rushville, Ind., Telegrapher, promoted to Corp. Dec. 27, 1898. Caldwell, Robert G., Rushville, Ind., Student, promoted to Corp. Jan. 26, 1899. Gardner, William E., Rushville, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. Aug. 16, 1898. Gilson, James, Rushville, Ind., Laborer, promoted to Corp. Jan. 26, 1899. Hall, Harry H., Connersville, Ind., Clothing Clerk, promoted to Corp. Oct. 1, 1898. Harry, Yernie, Richland, Ind., Farmer, promoted to Corp. Aug. 23, 1898. McCoy, Michael P., Rushville. Ind., Turner, promoted to "Corp. Dec. 27, L898 Pearsey, Chase, Rushville, Ind., Heading Worker, promoted to Corp. Dec. 27,' L898. Yieke, Edward C, Corporal, Yincennes, Ind., Cigarmaker, promoted to Corp. Dec. 27. 1898, transferrrd from L59th Ind. Vol. Inf.. Nov. 23, 1898. MUSICIANS. Huffman, Edward, Rushville, Ind.. Musician, transferred to to 161st Reg. Band Aug. 23, 1898. Middleton, Basil, Connersville, Ind., Cabinetmaker. lameson. Jesse K.. Rushville, Ind., Blacksmith. WAGONER. Miller, Charles, Rushville, Ind., Laborer. PRIVATES. Adams, James F., Rushville, Ind., Cook. Allenthorp, Ira, Arlington, Ind., Student, transferred to 161st Reg. Band Aug. 23, 1898, transferred back to Co. Dec. 22, 1898. z < CU S O u ►j <: « o c u ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 389 Armstrong, John H., Rushville, Ind., Artist. Armstrong, Joseph A., Jr. , Rushville, Inch, Telegrapher, transferred to U. S. Vol. Signal Corps Sept. 8. 1898, per order Adjutant General's office. Baylor. Frank C, Rushville, Ind., Clerk. Baker, Arthur, Rushville, Ind., Laborer. Ball, William H., Rushville, Ind., Machinist. Bartlett, Orville, Rushville, Ind., Tinner. Boling, George W.. Rushville, Ind., Printer. Bowne, Owen ().. Rushville, Ind., Table Waiter, discharged by order Maj.-Gen. Lee, Sept. 27. 1>'.' S . for disability. Brown, Leslie B., Richland, Ind., Farmer. Burdock, Harry. 7G Clarkson St., Xew York City, N. Y., Mechanic. Cassady, Rue. Rushville. Ind., Laborer. Cauley, Anthony B., Rushville, Ind.. Machinist. Davis, Harry W.. Rushville, Ind., Laborer. Devers, Bert L., Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Emmons, Harrie E., Rushville, Ind., Horseman. Fox, Bert, Arlington, Ind., Painter, discharged by order Maj.-Gen. Lee Feb. 10. 1899, for disability. Francis, Fred. C 68 Blaine ave., West Indianapolis, Ind., Tinner. Gable, Clyde C, Indianapolis, Ind., Bedmaker, died in Ft. McPherson, Ga., Hospital, Nov. 3, L898, of typhoid fever, body interred at Union City. Ind. Geiger, Ira E., Rushville, Ind., Printer. Glass, John, Rushville, End., Farmer. Glisson, Will, Connersville, Ind., Painter. Graves, Fred, Thorntown, Ind., Student. Greenlee, Earl, Rushville, Ind. Guire, Jesse W., Rushville, Ind., Drayman. Hambrock, Charles E., Manilla, Ind., Farmer. Hatfield, John W., Rushville, Ind., Laborer. Heaton, Clarence, Muncie, Ind., Laborer, transferred to 3rd Div. Hospital Corp, Aug. 2< >. 1898. Hilligoss, Oscar R.. Rushville, Ind.. Farmer. 390 HISTORY OF THE Hoffner, Charles S., Connersville, Ind., Painter. Holder, George, Connersville, Ind., Woodcarver. Jester, Cheniah F., Rushville, Ind., Sawyer. Jones, George B., Rushville, Ind., Physician, appointed Hos- pital Steward Sept. 10, 1898. Kenner, Ralph H., Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Kling worth, William, Rushville, Ind., Painter. Lindsay, Charles F., Price Hill, 8789 Warsaw ave., Cincin- nati, Ohio, Painter. Lohrman. Walter, Indianapolis, Ind., Cabinetmaker. Levi, Harry C, Rushville, Ind., Laborer. McClain, Clinton, Rushville, Ind., Laborer. McCrory, Fred, Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Marvin, Buford, Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Mathews, Charles M., Rushville, Ind., Laborer. Miller, Clint M., Arlington, Ind., Barber. Mitchell, William T., Rushville, Ind., Drop-forger. Moore, Thomas C, Rushville, Ind., Veneer Layer. Mootz, Fredric, 1517 S. Reisner St., West Indianapolis, Ind. , Baker. Morford, Irwin, Anderson, Ind., Farmer. Myers, Will, Connersville, Ind., Machinist. Newbor, Charles A., Clarksburg, Ind., Horseman. Newman, William G., Rushville, Ind., Poultry Dresser. Norris, Frank, Rushville, Ind., Farmer. O'Day, James, Rushville, Ind., Painter. Owsley, Carl W., Thorntown, Ind., Student. Palmes, Ira H., Rushville, Ind., Electrician. Parker, Ralph C, 830 Broadway, Indianapolis, Ind., Student, discharged Sept. 21, 1898, for disability, by order Sec- retary of War. Perkins, Greely, Rushville, Ind., Tinner. Perkins, Jesse F., Rushville, Ind., Laborer, discharged April 21, 1899. Phillips, Joseph, Rushville, Ind., Machinist. Plummer, George A., Connersville, Ind., Carriage Trimmer. Pollett, Edward, Arlington, Ind., Laborer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 39 1 Ragan, Ernest L., Connersville, Ind., Painter, discharged Sept. 27, 1898, for disability by order of Major-General Lc e. Robertson, William H., Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Rucker, Henry V. , Arlington, Ind., Farmer, transferred to Regimental Band Sept. 8, 1898. Runk, Jacob J., Rushville, Ind., Stone Cutter. Seibel, Henry, Hamburg, Ind., Farmer. Shields, Robert H., Rushville, Ind., Farmer. Smith, Chinonie R., New Salem, Laborer. Smith, Lewis, Williston, O., Miner. Stiers, WilliamM., Richland, Ind., Farmer. Stratton, Lemon M., Rushville, Ind., Timber Dealer. Vest, Charles, Rushville, Ind., Laborer. Wallace, Leven E., Rushville, Ind., Printer, transferred to 3rd Div. Hosp. Corps, Aug. 20, 1898, discharged Dec. 22, 1898, per order Adjutant General's office, at Josiah Simpson Gen'l Hospital. Wells, Dudley, Indianapolis, Ind., Machinist. Whalen, William T., Rushville, End., Teamster. Wilson, Harold E., Rushville, Ind., Student. Young, Monroe E., Richland, Ind., Farmer. TRANS! ERRED FROM L59TH IND. VOL. INF., NOV. 23, 1898. Cassell, Don II., Private, Indianapolis, Ind., Clerk. Dodd, Edward L., Private, Rusellville, 111., Fanner. Fedder, John II., Private, Bloomington, Ind., Filler. Lee, Harry, Private, Washington, Ind., Baker. Maher, William, Private, Washington, Ind., Hostler. McGahan, Claude, Private, Terre Haute, Ind., Cook, dis- charged April 22, 1899. Thompson, Charles K., Private. Terre Haute, Ind, Laborer. Trimble, John W., Private, Evansville, Ind., Potter. Talbott, Gerald, Private, Gosport, Ind., Laborer. Vaughn, William II., Private, Vincennes, Ind., Student. Vance, Arlyn T., Private, Irvington, Ind., Student, mustered in Dec. 22, 1898. 39 2 HISTORY OF THE Westfall, Walter, Private, Iona, Ind., Farmer. Harris, Isaac, Private, Washington, Ind., Farmer. LATER ENLISTMENTS AUGUST 9, 1898. Kendall, Robert, Private, Lewis Creek, Ind., Farmer. JBask, William, Private, New Castle, Ind., Laborer. COMPANY L. JAMES L. ANDERSON. James L. Anderson, captain of Company L, was born near Selma, Clark county, Ohio, July 2, 1850. He came with his parents to Warren county, Indiana, in 1853, where he resided until 1874. He took a business course in the Commercial College«at Oberlin, Ohio, and a course in the School of Pharmacy at the t University of Michigan, leaving there in 1877. He engaged in school teaching for several terms after returning to Indiana, and in 1879 went into the drug business in Montgomery county, Indiana. In Novem- ber, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Florence M. McClure, at^Wingate, Indiana. They have one child, Carl R. Anderson. In 1885 he sold out and went to Frank- fort, Indiana, and went on the road for a commercial firm for a year, but returned to the drug business in 1887. In 1890 he sold out his business to accept a position as travel- ing salesman, and in 1895 was appointed as guard at the Indiana State Prison North, where he was employed when war was declared with Spain, and resigned his position to enter the service as captain of Company L. Captain An- derson is of English descent, his father's family settling in eastern Maryland and his mother's in old Virginia, and ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 393 Captain James L. Anderson. though of Quaker descent had five brothers in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion, and is a distant relative of Major Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame. ELI W. PETERSON. First Lieutenant Eli W. Peterson was born near Decatur, Indiana, in 1873. His parents moved to Decatur while he was an infant, and as he grew up he was educated there. In 1SS5 he emigrated with them to Mead Center, 394 HISTORY OF THE Kansas, residing there three years. From there he went to Colorado, returning to Decatur in 1890. He entered the regular army in 1891, receiving an honorable discharge First Lieutenant Eli W. Peterson. three years later. Again returning to Decatur, he went into the printing business, which he gave up after two years to accept a position as guard at the Indiana State Prison North, and which he resigned in order to accept his com- mission as lieutenant. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 395 CHARLES E. DORITY. Second Lieutenant Charles E. Dority was born in Waterville, New York, in 1874, removing from there to Three Oaks, Michigan, in 1889. In 1896 he removed to Second Lieutenant, Charles E. Dority. Michigan City, Indiana, and entered the employ of Ford, Johnson & Co., wholesale furniture manufacturers, remain- ing with them until he enlisted. On the trip to Jacksonville he was appointed provost marshal of the Third Battalion. His work proving satis- factory, he was at once detailed as assistant to Major Har- 396 HISTORY OF THE rison, provost marshal of the Seventh Army Corps, which position he very creditably filled. HISTORY OF COMPANY L. Company z H n c s > z r 400 HISTORY OF THE Simpson, Washington W., Laporte, Ind., Laborer, promoted from ranks Dec. 21, 1898. Fiffer, Fred., New York City, Shoemaker, promoted from ranks April 10, 1899. MUSICIANS. Gorden, Albert. Michigan City, Ind., Laborer, appointed from ranks Aug. 1, 1898. Thomas Edward, Brook ville, Ind., Editor, transferred from 159th Ind., Nov. 23, 1898. COOK. Schott, John P., Buffalo, N. Y., Jeweler, enlisted as cook Dec. 6, 1898, at Savannah, Ga. ARTIFICER. Renfro, Lorenzo D., T ree Oaks, Mich., Brickmason, appointed from ranks Aug. 27, 1898. WAGONER. Chronister, Benjamin F., Laporte, Ind., Farmer, enlisted as wagoner. PRIVATES. Akers, ^Villiam H., Paoli, Ind.. Laborer. Babcock, Yirgil P., Porter, Ind., Farmer. Babcock, Daniel D., Babcock, Ind.. Farmer. Baldwin, Charles F., Michigan City, Ind., Blacksmith. Bays, George R.. Three Oaks, Mich., Laborer. Bauman, Irvin, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer, Bello, Antonio, Michigan City, Ind., Marble cutter. Bottume, Gurdon, Laporte, Ind., Laborer. Campbell, Herbert, Indianapolis, Ind., Laborer. Closser, Paul M., Laporte, Ind., Farmer. Cole, Frank L., Westville, Ind., Laborer. Creider, Oliver P., Bedford, Ind., Quarry man. Cromey, Henry A.. Valparaiso, Ind., Farmer. Cronin. Andrew, Westville, Ind.. Farmer. n o r •/. o o > 4 02 HISTORY OF THE Culbertson, Sunt, Westville, Ind., Printer. Denny, William S., Michigan City, Iud., Painter. Dreblow, Louis II., San Pierre, Ind., Painter. Drewer, Winfred F., Laporte, Ind., Fireman. Feistel, Gustave W., Michigan City, Ind , Cabinetmaker Flewellen, Fred., Battle Creek, Mich., Farmer. Gassow, Charles, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer. Graves, Edward, Winamac, Ind., Laborer, Harness, Jason, Stillwell, Ind., Farmer. Harris, Allen C, Westville, Ind., Farmer. Haskins, Ernest, Niles, Mich., Laborer. Hawkins, George F.. Westville. Ind., Farmer. Hixon, Warren H., Westville, Ind., Farmer. Hoff, Horace, Bedford, Ind., Mechanic. Hopkins, William, Michigan City, Ind., Fireman. Johnson, Edwin R., Bedford, Ind., Laborer. Kennedy, Joseph J., Michigan City, Inch, Laborer. Kernoodle, William, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer. Klingler, Emanuel G., Three Oaks, Mich., Farmer. Larson, August, Chesterton, Ind., Farmer. Lederer, Alexander, Evansville, Ind., Dentist. Lotridge, Henry G., Bloomington, Inch, Railroader. Low, Henry J., Three Oaks, Mich., Laborer. Lyons, Elza, Westville, Ind., Farmer. Mojensky, Joseph, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer. Mutch, Hubert, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer. McGinnis, Robert C, Westville, Inch, Laborer. Xoakes, Willard L., Michigan City, Ind. , Painter. Osborn, Gaylord, Wanatah, Ind., Farmer. Owens, Robert E., Bedford, Ind., Farmer. Pace, Frank, Bedford, Ind., Engineer. Palmateer, Wilber, Michigan City, Ind., Moulder. Rapp, Frank H., Otis, Ind., Laborer. Reynolds, Ray, Westville, Ind., Carpenter. Rittenour, William L., Union Mills, Ind., Farmer. Romepagle, Albert C, Laporte, Ind., Painter. Shaw, Charles F., Westville, Ind., Laborer. Sheffer, Charles E., Laporte, Ind., Laborer. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 403 Smith, Clarence, Seafield, Ind., Farmer. Smith, William F., Seafield, Ind., Farmer. Swan, Benjamin. Lake Station, Ind., Plasterer. Waggoner, George, Laporte, Ind., Laborer. Watkins. Edward W., Cra wfordsville, Ind., Laborer. Will. Ernest. Michigan City. Ind., Barber. Wirth. Herman T., Waterford, Ind., Laborer. Youngblooth, Edmund, Pittsburgh, Pa., Laborer. Zuelke, August, Michigan City, Ind., Laborer. LATER ENLISTMENTS. Browne, Roy W., New Castle, Ind.. Drum Major, transferred from band Jan. 1. 1899. Carter, Howard. Epsom, Ind., Student, transferred from 159th Ind., Nov. 23. L899. Duree, William C Br gton. Ind.. Paper hanger, transferred from 159th Ind., Nov. 28, IS98. Murphy. George II . Evansville, Ind., Potter, transferred from 159ih Ind.. Nov. 23, 1898. McClintock, Harrie C. Buffalo, N. V., Locomotive fireman, enlisted Dec. 6, 18'. ix . at Savannah, Ga. Schwann'. Robert T., Evansville. Ind., Clerk, transferred from 159th Ind.. Nov. 28, 1898. Willis. William G., Terre Haute, Ind., Paper Hanger, enlisted Dec. 10, L898, at Savannah. Ga. DISCHARGED FOR DISABILITY AND OTHER CAUSES. Bloomhuff, John L.. Union Mills, Ind., Carpenter, Aug. 22, 1898 Bonadore, Martin, Three Oaks, Mich., Farmer, January 3, 1899. Bowen, (Jorge, Stillvvell, Ind., Farmer, Mar h 20, 1899. Clark, Guy (>.. Union Mills, Ind., Tinner, March 10,1899. Durbin, Sheldon M., Michigan City, Ind., Laborer, Nov. 21, 1898. Faris, William A.. Fariston, Ky., Quarryman, Jan. 30, 1899. Felio, James E.. Michigan City, Ind.. Sailor, Nov. 3. 1898. Hamilton, Leroy, Westville, Ind., Laborer, April 4, 1899. 404 HISTORY OF THE Hittle, Benjamin F., Indianapolis, Ind., Decorator, Dec. 22, 1898. Hunt, fames I-:.. Rolling Prairie, Ind., Farmer, March 6, 1899. Lettan, Edward C, Michigan City, Ind. , Laborer, Feb. 14, L899. Long, William. Hobby ville, Ind., Quarryman, March 25, 1899. Madd .x. John A.. Bedford. Ind., Sonemason, Jan. 30, 1899. Massengill, James, Bedford, Ind., Laborer, Jan. 25, 1899. McMillan, George W., Union Mills, Ind., Farmer, March 6, L899. Parkhurst, Curtis, Hamilton, Mich., Farmer, Feb. 27, 1899. Robe, Daniel, Galien, Mich., Laborer, Jan. 31, 1899. Spitzmesser, Nicholas B., Greensburg, Ind., Bookkeeper, Sept. 23, 1898. Young, Jacob W., Bedford, Ind., Quarryman, Jan. 13, 1899. TRANSFERRED. Leland, Charles M., Serg t, Michigan City, Ind., Painter, to Regimental band as band sergeant Jan. 9, 1899. Johanm, Frank, Corp.. Union Center, Ind , Farmer, to Hos- pital Corps. Aug. 23, 189S. )ones, Tohn G. B., Laporte, Ind., Student, to Hospital Corps, Aug. 23. 1898. Meissner, August, Laporte, Ind., Druggist, to Regimental Band, Aug. 23, 189S. Paxton, George, Jr., Michigan City, Ind., Clerk, to Regi- mental Band, Aug. 23, 1898. Reinharr, Walter W., Laporte, Ind., Laborer, to Regimental Band, Aug. 23, 1898. DIED Leiter, Charles E., Gilboa, Ohio, Blacksmith. Oct. 17, 1898,. in hospital at Jacksonville, Fla. DESERTED. Jones, William D.. Three Oaks, Mich., Laborer, Oct. 16» 1898, at Jacksonville, Fla. MEDICAL DEPARTMENT X H I— I • j o I — 1 • • _i_ — . ■ ■ ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 4OJ WICKLIFF SMITH Major Wickliff Smith is a self-made man; the fine re- putation he has sustained as a physician and surgeon has been acquired by the greatest perseverance, under most adverse circumstances. He was born November 24, 185 1, in Marion county, among the hills of West Virginia. His parents were well-to do farmers and the young man began life's struggle with the grain of his makeup straight- ened and tempered by that training so peculiar to such environment. His early education was received in the country schools and later, in Jefferson College, Waynes- burg, Pennsylvania. After his literary course he returned once more to the farm and here in the midst of his work spent his spare time in the study of medicine. His father's estate had been lost during the war, sickness laid hold upon them and the young man was facing the future with an extra heavy burden to bear. He succeeded in entering the Cincinnati Medical College in 1871, graduating three years later. After a very brief practice in Calida, Ohio, he went to Delphi, Indiana, where he has since resided, with a practice that has steadily grown until the demand upon his time was greater than he could meet. He is held in high esteem by the people of his place, and considered an authority in medical science the state over. To his careful attention to details of camp cleanliness and other sanitary conditions is due much of the healthfulness which has attended the regiment in which he served as surgeon. No man v.as more popular in the regi ment than Major Smith, and his brave deportment in the threatened smallpox plague gained for him the admiration of every soldier that knew him. He will return to Delphi when mustered out. 4o8 HISTORY OF THE MILLARD F. GERRISH. First Lieutenant and Assistant Surgeon Millard F. Gerrish was born at Paris, Jennings county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 27, 1856. His father was a suigeon in the Sixty- First Lieutenant Millard r. Gerrish. seventh Indiana during the Civil war. After finishing his preparatory studies, he entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in and began the practice of his profession. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 409 He sacrificed a large practice to enter the volunteer service, and was commissioned first lieutenant and assist- ant surgeon, in June. Twice during the absence of the major-surgeon, October 5-15, he became acting surgeon in charge, and was found at all times faithful to his important commission, and to his untiring service must be credited much of the excellent health of his regiment. Lieutanents Gerrish and Wilson were appointed as medical examiners for the Fourth Virginia and Forty-ninth Iowa, on occasion of their preperation for muster out. JAMES WILSON. James Wilson, first lieutenant and assistant surgeon, was born at Wabash, Indiana, in 1865, November 15. He was educated in Greencastle, Indiana, at DePauw Univer- sity, after which he entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, from which institution he graduated in 1S88. He repaired at once to New York city and entered Belle- view Medical College, graduation from medical course in 1890. His professional studies being finished he engaged in practice of medicine in the city of his birth. Upon the second call for troops, he offered himself to the governor for service in the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in as assistant sur- , geon with the rank of first lieutenant in June. On August 26, he was detached from regiment and placed in charge of one of the wards of the Third Division hospital, at Jackson- ville, from which position he was reluctantly released on October 24, to rejoin his regiment, which was then start- ing for Savannah, Georgia. 4io HISTORY OF THE First Lieutenant James Wilson. HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. This department of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana as organized in the beginning consisted of Surgeon- Major Wicklirr Smith, of Delphi, Assistant Surgeon Lieu- tenants Millard F. Gerrish, of Seymour, and James Wilson, of Wabash, all eminent physicians of the state who were selected by the governor^on account of their high profes- ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 4II sional standing, and Hospital Stewards William H. Rath- ert, druggist and medical student of Indianapolis; Jas. G. Espey, druggist and medical student of Rising Sun, In- diana, and John I. Lewis, recent graduate physician of Bedford. A regiment could hardly have had a better equipment of men in the medical department. When the regiment was first mustered in at the state fair grounds it was thought unnecessary to organize a field hospital for the large healthy men then in camp and all cases were treated at their quarters for the first few weeks. But the surgeons had not much more than gotten through with their duties of finishing the mustering papers when they found a sick call of sufficient magnitude to preclude much idleness on their part and on the 6th of August a hospital was started in the^upper story of the administration build- ing. The quarters were very pleasant, being commodious and airy. Private Horace Lucas, of Company A, an ex- perienced nurse, and Doctor Jones, then a private of Com- pany H, were detailed to nurse and prepare the diet. Some cots, an old cook stove, tables and some other useful arti- cles, property of the state militia, were pressed into serv- ice, and these, with some cooking utensils purchased out of a fund placed at our disposal by Colonel Durbin and Major Smith, made up our first equipments. Out of this same fund a few delicacies and a daily supply of milk were pur- chased, but when once started the good ladies of Indianap- olis made donations of good things to eat and bed linen that had the regiment remained at this camp very much longer the hospital would have had a stock of provisions- sufficient to supply a dozen such institutions. Three patients were received on the afternoon of the 6th. Other cases soon followed until the records would show from ten to fifteen in the hospital each day. The morning reports would show about an average of forty or 412 HISTORY OF THE fiftv answering sick call. This did not include many who were taking medicine for minor causes and not going on the sick book. The sickness was due principally to ma- larial infection, being fever, diarrhea, etc., predisposed by the changes always incident to camp life. While camp life was new to the men, they failed to realize to any great extent that it was necessary to exer- cise some precautions in the care of their health; that a few mild chills in Indiana might be the cause for protracted malarial fever in the tropical country, or that a disordered stomach predisposed to a prolonged attack of camp diarrhoea. Thus it was that when we left Camp Mount, although considered a healthy regiment, the men really had not the physical stamina they had when they came into camp six weeks before. On breaking camp about half of the patients in the hospital were furloughed home, the balance taken along, as they were so desirous of staying with the regiment, that it was almost impossible to refuse to take them. Just before starting the first dis- charge in the regiment was granted to Corporal William Gilbert on the ground of disability. Not being of strong constitution, the six weeks of camp life had been too rough for him and the surgeons decided he was unfitted for further military service. On arrival at Panama Park, Florida, on the bright Sunday morning of August 14th, only three men were willing to be admitted to the hospital, the others being so benefited and buoyed up by the trip and changes manifest everywhere about them that, although some had fever, they were desirous of keeping out of the hospital. Each case had received close attention during the trip, there being a surgeon aboard each section of the train. When the regiment first went into camp here it was the order from corps headquarters to have a regimental hospi- tal to hold the patients for not longer than three days to ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 413 determine the gravity of the ailment, after which the pa- tient was to be sent' to the division hospital or returned to quarters as the seriousness of the case would indicate. This was not a very practical rule, to say the least, and was not followed closely by any of the regiments in the corps, possibly on account of the lack of the facilities at the di- vision hospital at the time for the care of the sick. As for our own regiment, Major Smith insisted that he preferred keeping the sick under the direct observation of himself and the assistant surgeons. However, a close supervision was kept of the cases and any one that bid fair to be pro- tracted for a length of time was transferred to the Division hospital. According to general order No. 58, of the war depart- ment, a limited number of enlisted men of the volunteer service were given an opportunity to be transferred to the hospital corps of the United States Army. The Third Division hospital at the time of arrival of the regiment at Panama Park had just been started, and the demands on the accommodations of the same by reason of a heavy per cent, of sickness in some of the other regiments, made it necessary for us to furnish our quota of men to act as nurses within a few days after our arrival. At their own request the following men were transferred: Company A, Horace Lucas, Jean Crandall, Andrew Larson, S. Byerly, Harry C. Kimball; Company B. Burle Turner and Edward Walter; Company D, Wesley Dall, Michael Logan, Marcus Renfrow; Company E, John Griffith, Jesse Dunhan; Com- pany F, Granville Williams, William Prifogle, Sylvester Wright; Company G, J. Morris Leech, John Dolan, Will- iam T. Engel. Alonzo Allen; Company H, Leven Wallace, Clarence Heaton; Company I, Jacob W. Dexter, Franklin G. Scott; Company K, John Romain, James Keith, Harry McCoy, Fred Rowell; Company L, J. G. B. Jones, T. 4H HISTORY OF THE Johanna; Company M, John Cox, Ernest Bales. These men when transferred would draw the increased pay of $21.60 per month. Lucas was soon made acting steward. Walters and Griffith were immediately detailed back to the regiment, Walters as orderly to Major Smith, and Griffith as hostler, which positions they held until exchanged, April 30, 1899. Not many good things can be said of the hos- pital at Camp Cuba Libre, nor are many pleasant memories stored away by those connected with it during the long dreadful siege of malaria that followed. The first hospital was erected on the second day after arrival, and consisted of a tent, 14 x 16, furnished with two bales of hay for beds, and for four weeks of rainy weather was without a floor, due (is it to be presumed) to the scarcity of lumber in that region of pine forests? No provisions were made for feed- ing the sick, other than from their regular rations, which had already become repulsive to their weak stomachs. Milk was hard to get in that barren country, as well as ice, another very desirable article for the sick; but it was not long until the Red Cross Society came to our assistance with ice each day. A short time afterward the society pre- sented the hospital with a large chest, which proved very useful. Getting the floor seemed to be a good starter, for in a few days Colonel Durbin ordered a lot of matresses dropped at the door; the hay was discarded and the patients put on real beds. Eighteen cots were next secured from the medical supply house. About this time a nice lot of bed linens, night shirts and towels were received from the ladies of Monticello, Indiana, and also jellies, canned fruit and fruit juices were received from the Woman's Relief Corps, of Indianapolis, which had been collected from different parts throughout the state. Soon after a very large box, containing new sheets, feather pil- lows, pillow cases and towels, was sent direct from the ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 4 1 5 Pettis Dry Goods Company, of Indianapolis, by these same Woman's Relief Corps ladies. These articles and the foods were doubly appreciated, on account of coming in a time when so sorely needed. The culinary department also began to receive some attention. A stove was found and a few dishes and the mess and food chest, drawn from the medical supplydepot, fitted up a very respectable kitchen. On the 14th of September, Louis C. Benica was detailed as cook, and remained with the kitchen as long as the hospital existed. For the first ten days after our arrival at Camp Cuba Libre the sick call was somewhat lighter than at Camp Mount, but the frequent showers and hot sun soon got in their work, and the line that filed up to the dispen- sary behind the sergeant in charge each morning became a little longer. The happy, enthusiastic boys of a fortnight before were becoming a listless and forlorn -looking crowd, their systems loaded down with malarial poison. It would be impossible for pen to describe the suffering these men passed through in getting acclimated to the sunny south. On September 4th the regiment was shocked by the first death, that of Earnest R. Pullman, of Company A, who dove off of a railroad trestle into the shallow water of Trout Creek striking his head on the bottom. After being rescued by his comrades and brought to camp it was found that he had broken his spine just below the shoulders. He lived only thirty hours after receiving the injury. Steward Lewis was admitted to the hospital the latter part of August with a temperature of 103". It was thought his illness was only temporary, but in a few days complications arose and he was sent to the division hospital, where it was hoped that better care and food would cause him to rally but he failed to improve and died the 8th of September. His loss was deeply regretted by his host of friends in the regiment and those at home. Dr. George B. Jones was chosen steward 4I 6 HISTORY OF THE in his place. Just about this time Steward Espey was taken sick and Geo. W. Twomey, of Company E, a med- ical student, was detailed to the hospital, where he remained until the regiment landed in Cuba. In September Ralph H. Kenner, of Company H, was detailed as drug clerk and with the exception of nine days that he was sick you would have found him at his post day and night. Kenner was a most faithful clerk and was kept very busy filling, while at Cuba Libre, two and three hundred prescriptions per day. Not all the boys had implicit faith in the remedies pre- scribed, partly perhaps because the drugs did not have the same effect they would have had under different surround- ings and in another climate, consequently quite an amount of malarial specific was disposed of in a way not intended by the prescriber. In one instance pills and powders enough to fill a quart cup were found under the bunk of a young man who had been furloughed home. He had been an- swering sick call for quite a while and had disposed of his medicine in this way instead of swallowing it. In the latter part of September, the service of a lady nurse, Miss Mollie Ward, was secured, which was a great advantage to the hospital and an improved appearance was most apparent after a few days in care of Miss Ward. She was a sister of Lieutenant Ward, of Company I, and a graduate of the Chicago Training School. About this time a new bath house was built and it was at this time that an effort was being put forth to secure the allowance of sixty cents per day granted by the government to each patient in the hospital. This was not secured, however, until a month later and the hospital had to depend on money secured from friends for means to pay the laundry bills and buy milk for the patients, there being ten gallons used daily. On October 1st, Hospital Steward Espey started for his home in Indiana, more dead than alive, where after a ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 417 lingering illness he recovered, but applied for his discharge, which was granted without returning to the regiment. On October 18th, Major Smith was taken sick and removed to James G. Espey, a hotel in Jacksonville, and three days later started for his home in Indiana on a thirty days' sick leave. Lieutenant Gerrish was now placed in charge of the medical depart- ment and Lieutenant Wilson, who had been detailed to the Third Division hospital, was returned to the regiment. It had required a detail of two men from the regiment all the time as nurses and although inexperienced these men were always faithful and did their duty as best they could; they received no extra pay but they will be most gratefully remembered by those who were recipients of their kindness. Those who were regularly detailed and remained for a length of time were: Marshall D. Dickey, Company F; Charles Best, Company I; Samuel J. Weaver, Company F, at Jacksonville, Savannah and in Cuba; John Myers, Company E; John W. Wilson, Company G; Charles Nash, 27 4 I 8 HISTORY OF THE Company G; Henry Spencer, Company M. On the night of October ist, began a rain which ended in a wind storm lasting all next day that will always be remembered. The hospital was only saved by being tied down and even as it was the bedding got soaked and a large quantity of the drugs destroyed. After this storm jaundice seemed to increase and the men began to look more like a race of Mongolians than Americans. Up to this time only one death had occurred in the regimental hospital, Fred Shrceder, of Company A, who died very suddenly on October 14 of a hemorrhage of the bowels during an attack of typhoid fever. On October 22 the patients remaining in the regimental hospital, some fifty or sixty in number, were removed to the Third Division hos- pital preparatory to our leaving for Savannah the next day. Some of these poor fellows never lived to join the regi- ment. Others were furloughed home and granted dis- charges. Few came back. Sixty-four was the highest number in the regimental hospital at one time, and when the regiment left for Savannah there was hardly a person who had not suffered from some form of malaria. On Oc- tober 16 a -large wooden building that would accommodate fifty or more patients was completed and ready for use. This came too late to be of much service. SAVANNAH. The camp at Savannah was quite a contrast to the one we had just left and the hospital was very poorly patron- ized. Some thirty cases of measles broke out, but these were sent to the division hospital, and deaths occurred as fol- lows: William G. Weaver, Company I, fever; Joseph F. Turner, Company I, measles. Just before leaving for Cuba the following privates from the hospital corps, United States Army, were transferred to this regiment for duty at regimental ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 419 hospital: Morris F. Leech, Jacob W. Dexter, Franklin Scott and John Cox, who were among those originally transferred from this regiment to United States hospital corps. These having had six months experience in the division hospital, and the hospital funds now being granted made the hospital able to take care of the sick much better than ever before. CUBA. When we arrived in Cuba there was but one ambu- lance load of sick. These were mostly measles and all able to sit up. The eight-mile march to Marianao, although hot and dusty, had no bad effect on the men, but rather served as a means of relief after having been penned up on board the transport for four days. After shifting the tents around from place to place for a few days, a location was at last found on a nice grassy spot about one, quarter of a mile from the regiment. The nurses had just gotten rid of all the cases of measles and were preparing to have an easy time when a worse woe overtook them. A case of smallpox broke out in the hospital, December 27, Fred Imes, of Company I, being the patient. None of the corps had ever had this disease and none were fool- hardy enough to run into it; but since it was their duty to take care of this case, and having been already exposed, no one even intimated that he was unwilling to do his duty. The hospital was immediately put under quarantine. It was necessary for some one to take the patient to an iso- lated tent, two hundred yards away, and live there the life of a hermit until the case terminated. Franklin Scott, a personal friend of Imes, volunteered to go and nurse him, as brave an act as a soldier ever did. The Imes case not being a bad one. he was back in his company at the end of nine weeks. The next two cases were Jacob Dexter, of ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 42 I Company I," aMPANY D. Private John A. Sebree, age 22, died of typhoid fever October 14, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre; he was born in Ghent, New York, to which place his remains were shipped for burial. WALLACE D. STIVERS, COMPANY I. Corporal Wallace D. Stivers, age 21, died of typhoid fever October 14, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre; his remains were sent to Rensselaer for burial. 44: HISTORY OF THE Wallace D. Stivers, Company I. FRED SHROEDER. Private Fred Schroeder, age 22, died in the regimental hospital, at Camp Cuba Libre, of typhoid fever, October 14, 1898; buried at Hammond, Indiana. * CHARLES E. LEITER, COMPANY L. Private Charles E. Leiter, age 28, died of typhoid fever October 17, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre. He was born atGilboa, Ohio, to which place the remains were sent. HENRY STILLE, COMPANY M. Private Henry Stille, born in July, 1878, at New Point, Indiana, died of typhoid fever October 17, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 443 Henry Stille, Company M. George Kepperling, Company I. 444 HISTORY OF THE GEORGE KEPPERLING, COMPANY I. Private George Kepperling, age 21, died of typhoid fever October 23, 1898, at Chalmsrs, Indiana, where he was at that time on sick furlough. DENVER BROWN, COMPANY F. Private Denver Brown, age 30. the color bearer, died of typhoid fever October 23, 1898, at Camp Cuba Libre. Denver Brown, Company F. He was born in West Manchester, Ohio, at which place the remains were buried. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 44 S CLYDE C. GABLE, COMPANY H. Private Clyde C. Gable, age 21, died of typhoid fever at Fort McPherson, November 3, 1898. * FRANK M. GREEN, COMPANY D. Private Frank M. Green, age 24, died of typhoid fever November 3, 1898, in the Third Division hospital at Camp Cuba Libre, after the regiment had left for Savannah. His remains were sent to North Vernon, Indiana. WILLIAM G. WEAVER, COMPANY I. Private William G. Weaver, age 31, died of typhoid fever at Camp Onward, Savannah, November 7, 1898. He William G. Weaver, Company I. was born near Monticello, Indiana, and was buried in the cemetery near his home, Chaplain Biederwolf, who was at that time home, having charge of the funeral services. 446 HISTORY OF THE JOSEPH F. TURNER, COMPANY I. Private Joseph F. Turner, age 25, died of pneumonia November 30, 1898, at Camp Onward. His remains were interred at Wheatneld, Indiana. Joseph F. Turner, Company I. (taken three days before death. JACOB W. DEXTER, COMPANY I. Private Jacob W. Dexter, age twenty-two, enlisted at Monticello, June 28, 1898. He was transferred to the hos- pital corps August 20, 1898, and by testimony of the chief surgeon was one of the most obedient and best nurses in the corps. Exposed to the smallpox while on duty, he stood at his post and cared for his comrades until the dread disease fastened upon him, and he died on January 17. He was buried in the United States military cemetery, side by side with his dead comrades. His grave is No. 16. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 447 > n o w x H W o o > Z 2- — > r w x *-— < w x o z n > z 448 HISTORY OF THE CHARLES EVERSON, COMPANY K. Private Charles Everson, age twenty-nine, died of typhoid fever December 2, 1898, at Camp Onward, and his remains were sent to his home at Columbus, Indiana. CHARLES TRIMBLE, COMPANY F. Private Charles Trimble, age nineteen, died of typhoid fever at Camp Columbia, Cuba, January 18, 1899, and was Charles Trimble, Company F. buried in the United States military cemetery, near Playa de Marianao, Cuba. His grave is No. 17. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST INDIANA. 449 ALONZO M. GRAHAM, COMPANY D. Private Alonzo M. Graham, age twenty-six, born at Lancaster, Indiana, and died of smallpox January 24, 1899, Alonzo M Graham, Company D. at Camp Columbia. His grave is No. 19 in the United States military cemetery, near Playa de Marianao. ANDREW GOULD, COMPANY M. Private Andrew Gould, born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and died of smallpox February 17, 1899, at Camp Colum- bia, Cuba. His grave is No. 26 in the United States mili- tary cemetery, near Playa de Marianao. 29 450 HISTORY OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIRST IND. Andrew Gould, Company M. * Photographs not obtainable. w v •Ni •* ' ft £ s ,4 o i » * \r / ,% \^ 1 * * ^ \V c o„ V * «s *v ^ c ^ % ^ >\ V w v 1