The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-25
MlsSoURIANS IN THE CORPS.
THE SIXTH REPRESENTS THE CIV
ILIANS OF IT'S STATE.


a Great Relief From the Hard
Time Experienced During the
short While the Regiment Was at
Jacksonville.
A regiment that makes an admirable
showing and one that has been compI-
mented by general officers upon its APP
pearance on parade and the excellence of
its drills is the sixth Missouri. Officers
regard the record of the command as es-
pecially credbtable on account of its being
composed, for the greater part. of men
who had never had the slightest expert ,
ence in military before they were muster
ed into the service.
In speaking of the regiment and its per
sonnet. one of its officers sad that prob
ably two-thirds of the members of eight
of the companies had never had rifle in
their hands before they Joined the army.
They are from the smaller cities of Mis-
souri,, while the others of the regiment are
from St Louis and another of the larger
cities.
The Missouri Regiment is encamped on
Has
brouck's brigade The Second of the Sec
ond Division. The camp Is an admirable
one. and far superior to that the regi-
ment had at Jacksonville. The camp site.
itself, at Jacksonville, the officers say, was
not so bad, but there were two big swamps
bordering IL that were sources of sickness
and disorders. 1t Is thought that much of
the typhoid fever from which the men
suffered while they were there was due to
flaaa-aa gsuvsf,u Ire.,
There are only a very few sick in the
regiment now. AT Jacksonville there were
at one time 300 members of the command
in the division hospital. The men were
taken to the hospital at the rate of twenty
and thirty a day. This was during siege
of intensely hot weather. Until il set in
there had not been very much illness
among the men, only eight having been
sent to the division hospital This sreat
amount of sickness naturally made the
men all feel uneasy and dissatisfied end
they were glad when the order for the
movement of the troops from Jacksonville
to Savannah was received.
During this time of sickness every pre-
caution was taken against disease taking
hold upon the men. Many of them thought
these precautionary measures were OK
cessive but there is no telling, the officers
say, to what extent the trouble would have
sanitary measures adopted. In addition
to many other things that were done to
make the men as healthy BIS possible was
the sterilizing of the mess outfits of the
men before every meal. a tub of boiling
water was placed near the line that was
formed after mess call, and every man | ad
10 plunge his knife, fork, spoon, cup and
meatcan in as he passed by Many mem
bers of the regiment found rapid traasi-
To hp Qua foa
of the orders that were issued for the
preservation of the health of the command
The Sixth reached Jacksonville as late
as Aug. 10, but there were thirteen deaths
before IL got away from there. lone of
those who died was an officer
At the camp here there is a low place
that makes bad quarters for two of the
companies when there are heavy rains
This was aseertained during the hard
rains of last week, as big pond formed
and flooded the company streets. 1t was
readily seen, however, that the difficulty
could be easily removed, and a squad of
men was set 10 work to do a little drain
ing.
The Sixth Missouri was raised under the
second call for troops. Three of the COM
panies are from ST. Louis, and the others
are from neighboring places in the state
st. Louis furnished fifteen companies and
one light battery to make up its share
of the quota the Governor was called upon
TO furnish This battery andssix regiments
were the troops the state was called upon
to supply. OF all these only the battery
saw service. 1t was with the expedition
that went to Porto Rico. This battery
and the First, Third and Fifth Regiments
have been mustered out of the service.
All the others are still in, and are in
this country.
1t was at Jefferson Barracks that the
Sixth was mustered into the service.
There was no difficulty found In getting
up enough men to fill the ranks. They
were anxious to join, and four organized
companies that desired to be received had
to be refused. These were from ST. Louis
That city had already furnished so many
men that the Governor did not want to
gain the animosity of other districts by
allowing too many additional city troops
to enter the new regiment. July 20 was
the mustering-n day, and the regiment
remained at the barracks until Aug. 49,
when it left for Jacksonville
The Missourians are brigaded with the
Fourth Virginia and the Forty-ninth Iowa
Regiments. There is a strong bond unit
ing these regiments in friendship and the
men all feel on good terms as soon as
they recognize one another as being from
any one of the three. This friendship
prompted big sarenade that was given
the Missourians at jacksonville by the
members of the other regiments Just at
the time they were leaving to come to Sa-
vannah The Sixth was not TO leave as
soon as the other regiments, so those that
were going away decided il would be a
good plan to serenade those who were 10
stay behind. They. therefore, got their
bands together and visited the camps of
the Missourlans. A big time was had for
an hour and the next day the Virginians
and the Iowaians left the next day sorry
that their friends could not also be getting
away from Jacksonville with them.
The commander of the regiment is Col.
Letcher Hardeman He is an officer of
the regular army. being first lieutenant in
the Tenth Cavalry. Col Hardeman Is a
graduate of West Point and a thorough
military man. Ills officers and men speak
most highly Of his ability as a soldier and
of himself as an officer and gentleman.
With all he is popular, and his manage
ment of the regiment is satisfactory to ALL
Col. Hardeman IS an old Indian fighter,
having seen service on the plains. He has