Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-25

| July "a. 1891.
II extend to you the twice double welcome
| to our hearthstones and our hearts" said Maj.
Alexander OF Winchester in his speech of well
come to the misunderstanding veterans of
cavalry troop A. Last night it had been the
! general impression that the troop would lie
| over at Charlestown. which had been reached
the evening before, and most Of the men had
been making arrangements to that purpose.
The night before the troop had had its first
experience in Indian fighting. Just across the
stream from the camp the Kickapoo Indians
had dourishing camp. The Kickapoo Indians
| are "A s. mysterious tribe Of barbarians.
with q decidedly Irish infection 20
| their voices anu large quantity OF
medicine with lovely wrappers sworn to be a
| sure cure for coughs, colds. sore throats.
| rheumatism, dyspepsia, Brights disease. con-
| sumption. all stomach troubles. corns. bald
| heads and death" The cavalry boys invaded
| this encampment and in short order the tight.
! merely enc of wit. however. was raging fiercclv.
The killed and wounded were numerous and
Corporal SWEET has his brain tied up for repairs.
The manner in which the news that camp would
be broken that evening and u night march at
tempted was received was n striking illustration
| of the good discipline which marks the troop.
SAID SOMETHING THAT BEGAN WITH d.
Scarcely a murmur was heard and only one
man was heard to say something commencing
| with ID, F" and he was known to have an ell
gagament with one of Charlestowns fair deni-
! zens. A parade through Charlestown Mt Z
O'Clock showed the troop off TO advantage. and
| then. without hating. the lire moved ont
toward Winchester. leaving, II Is believed, Il
! good impression. and certainly carrying away
| many pleasant remembrances of Charlestowu
and its hospitality.
Along the dark road went the troop. an adj
vance guard going ahead for the purpose of
laying out the road and leaving chalk arrow
marks to show the ronte. The baggage train
followed along in the rear and at one time lad
the misfortune tie get lost for little space
The troopers held out we'll under the strain of
n night march. and although some weary heads
nodded and several short maps were taken in
the saddle, the line Of march was steadily pur
sued.
A CAMP AT MIDNIGHT.
Midnight came and the steady walk of the
column was kept up. About 1 o'clock the
bugle sounded a halt and the tired troopers
rolled off their horses backs and tried to see
where they were. A clear stream was dimiy
outlined in the moonlight and a route keeper
Informed an anxious crowd that 1t was the
Opequon. Above, although they could not be
seen. were some rolling hills. which could tell
several interesting instances of Skirnishes DUR
ing the war. A fire was started i'll short order,
and In shorter order still horses had been I'M
saddled and tied and men had rolled them
selves in blankets and were dreaming of jacob
and his pillows of stone and wondering how
rocks compared with saddles as a resting place
for the head. The saddle. by the way
really makes good pillow. and last night, with
not even a tent over them a wisp of straw
underneath the troopers slept deeply and
well. One beauty of a march of this sort is
that the men rarely or never catch cold. Take
the same men and let them get caught out in a
shower without an umbrella and colds of large
sized magnitude would be the result Here
however. everything goes and nothing seems to
upset the ply steal condition of the mon. The
wagon train reached camp about two hours
after the troop were sound asleep. The wagons
were kept in the road, while the men lay in the
adjoining field In the morning the sight was
rather an unusual one, the long line of horses
tied to the fence. the men scattered here and
there. and completely wrapped, even to the
heads, in blankets.
IN MOTION AT $50 AM
At $50 the troopers were in active motion
again. The comrnissary department was able
even there to furnish a good breakfast.
Most Of the officers of the eating departing mt
had, by mistake, taken the wrong road and
found themselves in Winchester instead of Mt
the camp. Sergt. ]. II. McChesney, better
known Judge McChesney who is a veteran
regular soldier. has proved himself an invaluable
aid to the commissary. and Yesterday morning
hustled out the breakfast for the in great
shape. The camp In the morning was a lively
affair. The sleep out In the open air and the
unusual experience Of a night march had SEEM
ingly acted as tonic on the men. Break
fast had hardly been eaten be-
fore Moriarity, one Of the troops
buglers, was sailing up among the trees
with an agonized look and blanket manned
by about fifteen men as motive power. Sergt.
Shepherd also took flight. and the grace and
ease the sergeant displayed were something re-
markable. 1t takes u man with inherent grace
to be graceful when tossed in blanket. Pri-
yate lhroop also made desperate attempt to
catch at nothing, and, engineered by Private
Tickling of the New Workers. a council of war
closely resembling ghost dance was engaged in
with great dignity. Boots and Saddles inter-
rupted the fun and in short time the troopers
were on the road again, with Winchester only
few miles away.
HALT on HISTORIC GROUND.
For an hour or so the steady and character
istic cavalry gait was kept up and when within
a mile and a half of " inchester halt was made
on level-stretching field. The first thing lie
cavalry usually does when a halt is made is to
forage Tor milk, and the amount of this bever-
age consumed by the men is something really
remarkable. The troopers were resting at this
time especially historic ground. Here the
fighting around Winchester occurred. Sheri-
dan had remarked, The Lord could not hold
Harpers Ferry, and had moved his forces out
almost exactly to the point the cavalry were
occupying. The right OF the confederate forces
had been broken close by the field. Sheridan's
great ride occurred here and the confederate
batteries occupied the hills a short distance in
advance. After rest the troop drilled for
some time skirmishers and a full COMPANY
charge YVES made across the field. The cavalry
charge is, to say the least. remarkable affair
Away go the horses with wild rush men are
Yelling like mad and sabers are flashing A
long trail of broad-brimmed campaign hats
marks the progress of the charge.
THE CAVALRY ENTERS WINCHESTER
About noon Col. Milton of the second yir-
ginia regiment. with his staff met the TROOPERS
and In q few words welcomed them to Winches-
ter. Escorted by the colonel, the troop marched
to the fair grounds, on the outskirts of the town
where the cavalry will camp until either Sunday
| or Monday morning. The fair grounds form a
large Enclosure. with number OF buildings
plenty of stall room for horses and a race track
The tents are stretched along green stretch of
sward and the troopers are revslng in the uu-
usual luxury OF a mess hall, being one of the
| fair buildings. Altogether the troopers
certainly. SO far as camping ground Is
concerned, have fallen on their feet-on large
feet at that. AT o'clock n committee of citi-
zens. with Capt. Williams, a well-known con-
federate officer, AT their head, came out to the
grounds, and after again receiving the troop
invited the troopers 10 a lunch served in an
other of the buildings. The lunch was an ex-