The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-05-18

the regular army ofncers high in command
is the courteous democratic bearing of these
veterans The little gold letters ''U 81 on
the coat collars is found to be the emblem OF
gentleman in these particular instances.
Last night there stood in the lobby of the
principal hotel here an officer whose name
was prominently broached in connection
with the Indiana troops a few weeks ago.
This was Brigadier General Lawton. whose
promotion from a colonelcy, it was thought
meant the destruction of VIM. j. McKee's
chances for appointment as a brigadier
General Lawton was at all times the CEN
ter of an interested group. which changed
from time to time as new volunteer officers
came in and were introduced to him. Cap
tains James B. Curtis of Indianapolis, and
Ranke, of Fort Wayne. were among the
first of this class of officers to be presented
to the general, and after a half hours chat
they left, charmed with the personality Of
the man. General Lawton, it will be re-
membered was a volunteer during the civil
war and is a native of Indiana. He re-
called pleasantly his acQuaintances in
Hoosierdom. He stated that he had no in
formation as yet as to the brigade he is to
command at Chickamauga. Some of the
e-hundred- -fifty-seventh Indiana men,
after surveying General Lawton at a re-
spectful distance and observing his kindly
eye and gracious ways, hoped that their lot
might bring them under his command.
CHICKAMAUCSA PARK.
Chickamauga Park is seven miles from
Chattanooga and is five miles across the
Georgia line. A half dozen trains day roll
out to it from Chattanooga, and fine bicy-
Gle road, with a few hills, also leads to it,
The unloading station for troops and sup
plies is just outside the national reserva-
ton. A beautiful rolling tract of 1900 acres,
with no underbrush, but sufficient forestry
to relieve the monotony of open fields, it is
an admirable place for the encampment and
drill of huge army. Springs gush from
many parts of the vast park, and as the
salubrity of the climate in this locality is
so widely acknowledged, the Indiana men
are expected not only to perfect themselves
in the necessary movements and become
we'll disciplined, but to tone up their gen.
eral physical condition as we'll
The rush of troops to-day was enormous,
To give an idea OF the size of the mobiliza-
ton, it may be mentioned that eight thou
sand horses are to be provided for the army
to be organized here. At the park last
night were 1900 mules, all in one pen and
at feeding time it was rare sight to watch
these animals, not one with the sign of
leather about him, cavorting and braying in
one hideous din. These mules are for the
quartermasters department, a certain num-
Der being allowed each regiment.
70. r. Busby, representative of Nelson
Morris & Co.. who came here on a contract
closed yesterday, told your correspondent
that the contract, which was for fresh beef
was the largest of its kind ever made in the
world. 1t calls for 26S coo pounds of fresh
meat for every ten days rations for 10000
men. Shipping this enormous quantity of
meat to this warm climate presents prob
lem to the packers. A refrigerating plant
is to be constructed at the park, and near
it will be bakery with capacity of 20, 900
loaves of bread daily.
Colonel Sharpe. chief of the commissary
department. does not believe the Chick
amauga troops can be equipped and put in
service within from six to eight weeks
Last night the Twenty-seventh and. Twen-
ty-eighth Indiana Batteries slept in their
cars in the railroad yards, within sight of
the few twinkling lights on Lookout noun
tain The boys are behaving themselves ad-
mirably and acting like seasoned soldiers
The flow of liquor has not been the distin-
gushing feature of their trip, as it has been
with a few of the regiments pouring in here
from other States. One of the excellent
bits OF management in the affairs of old
Battery A CTwenty- Indiana) has
peen shown in the quartermaster's depart
ment, in charge of Sergeant Robert Oliver,
VINO. with his assistants, has looked after
the feeding of the 125 men.
INCIDENTS OF THE TRIP SOUTH.
10 the youthful Indiana soldiers the Jour
ney to Chickamauga, where these troops are
now pleasantly quartered, was not an un-
eventful one. Most of the boys were taking
their first trip across the imaginary line
which divided the foes Of thirty-seven wears
ago, and it was even proposed by some of
the enthusiastic artilerymen from Indian
apolis to wipe out that line forever" when
it was crossed, with ceremonies in some
such fashion as those observed by the sail.
ors in passing the equator But the COM
bined geographical knowledge of ten car
loads of soldiers failed to definitely fix the
northern boundary of Dixie, some insisting
that it ran through Louisville and others,
with equal vehemence maintaining that
NASHVILLE was really federal' territory in the
great struggle. Such a wide variance in
opinion led to but one logical consequence
as far as Battery was concerned. and
that was to celebrate the extirpation of
Mason and Dixon's line all the way from
absolutely sure the effectiveness of the
function proposed. After the breaking of
home ties at Indianapolis, with the hun
dred and one touches of tenderness and
pathos as good-byes were said, the boys
cheered up and made a merry night of it
with song and jest for no one wanted to
sleep in the excitement of moving to the
front
1t was at Nashville that the first impress
sive incident in the journey, after leaving
home, was noted. Entering the Tennessee
capital the train passed through a ceme-
terry where thousands of the little white
stones which mark soldiers graves were
arrayed as if in a wide battle line These
were SOLDERING reminders to the volunteers
of the intense seriousness and frightful cost
of war, and Confederate Rest" as the lit
tie city of the dead is known, received re-
spectful attention from the Indiana soldiers.
Even more SOLDERING in it's effect was the
delay for few minutes at Murfreesboro,
Tenn, where evidences of the famous bat
tie of Stone River were in sight on every
hand. The crumbling remains of fortifica-
tions stood out here and there against the
low hills and only a few hundred feet from
where the train stopped loomed up pile of
stone, quarried from nearby and dedicated
to the memory of an Indiana company
which was slaughtered in its entirety, one
eventful morning, while taken by surprise.
The men from the commands of Captains