Phoenix weekly herald. [volume] (Phoenix, Maricopa County, Ariz. Territory) 1896-1899, 1898-09-01
P OGN!X ROUGH RIDERS.
How 7 hey Find Themselves After
the campaign.
Walter 7. Gregory. Special War
Corresp ,u!eni of he Herald,
Ag:.il Establishes Cam
municaii0G.
New York. Aug .

most critical times the U. S. mail fail
ed me and the readers of the HER
AID were deprived of the news of The
boys in whom they were most inter
ested.
During the stay of the army on the
fSldnd tie ni:sil service was miserable
ana know of one instance when a ton
IF ol.tsoip% mail was destroyed. l on
V mention these facts to show that we
were Under many disadvantages.
VAS nj 50 arlHed with war correspond
,ut'S i'sss but it availed me nothing as
coT,l net pass the lines to Santiago
n a.ro,int of the fever.
y. ~ the formal surrender of San
ago which took place on the 18th of
fuly \ . rough riders were summoned
ircns ne trenches and ordered back in
o he hills to recuperate. The men
had been seventeen days in the rifle
pits, sleeping at night on the wet
ground and often times without food.
1t was no wonder that when the men
tai stress was removed there was
a-general = collapse. After moving into
the hills nearly every man in the reg
ment was taken i'll with malaria. It
was 4 pitiful sight indeed. to see strong
healthy men who stood day after day
in front of the enemys lines suffering
all the hardships incident thereto, drag
their emaciated bodies to the hoSpitai
tent for treatment
To add TO the misery the rain feil
in torrents every day and the sick and
dying in the hospital could not drag
themselves from their water soaked
coverings. As day succeeded day the
list of the sick increased with alarming
rapidity until there We're not in actual
numbers over twenty men who wera
able to do duty-Had the Spaniards al
tackled Us then the american army
would have been an easy prey.
The situation became so desperate
that Col. Roosevelt and the brigade
and division commanders sent in a |
round robin" to the Secretary of War
almost demanding that the army be re-
turned to the states. Col. Roosevelt
wrote to the war department in very
plain terms but nevertheless his argu- |
ments bore fruit and on the 9th of Aug |
ust the order came forthe rough riders |
TO pack up. There was nothing 10 |
packard each man had only his
blanket to cucumber him, but it is a |
fact that the men We're so weak that |
the blankets had to be carted to SANTA |
go in carts, the men being only encum-
bered with their weapons.
We sailed from Santiago on Sunday |
the Sth-there was no cheering, no en-
had no enthusiasm left
in them, only each haggard face betray
ed silent emotion. Not until we passed |
out of the harbOr, passed the Sunken
Merrimac and the CristobOl Colon, un-
der the frowning battlements of old
MorrO and beneath the guns of Socopa
battery did the spirits of the men re
vive. for they were sure then that the
vessel was homeward bound.
The voyage was a splendid one and
the weather could not have been more
but there was one time that
each soldier will remember with mingl
ed feelings of emotion and nausea.
namely, the canned roast beef and To-
matoes which constituted the bill of
fare meal after meal-eXcellent and nu
tricious food for sick men surely. i
was acting quartermaSter of the troop
and l will never forget THE looks of re
groach bestowed on me by my conrad
: at meal times. They intuftively felt
,hat 1 could have juggled with the
roast beef and produced such luXuries
Is mince pie and chicken fricasSee
They couldn't imagine that 1 starved
myself TO death in preference TO eating
the famous prize winner ''corned
horse.''
On the third day out Sergeant Walsh
If troop \ hailing from Prescott died
IF fever. He had been ailing for some
DAYS and yet he was marked in the
hospital report for duty" He was
buried at sea the next day We ar
lived off Point AIontauk, the northern
extremity of Long Island, Sunday
night, seven days out from Santiago.
We passed very creditable eXamiEa-
lion from the health officers and the
Mimi our transport, discharged ner
cargo of sick soldiers Monday morn
ne. Everything had been arranged
'or Us and we took possession OF our
amp and remained in quarantine until
he following Friday. During all this
line the men were still being taken to
he hospital so in order to facilitate the
of the soldiers who We're
lively we'll, ten-day furloughs
were granted to ten men from each
rOop.
VIII Pemberton, Jack Campbell, sew
,ras others and myself were included
II the first lot and we boarded the first
.rain for this city. Unfortunately we
)vereStimated our strength and shortly
lfter arriving here all save Pemberton
md myself were taken TO the hospital
a fine vacation indeed. l narrowly
escaped being sent also but have for
the most part been confined to my
,oom
Took in the grand naval parade last
Saturday and the men of Sampson
feet were given Il reception they will
never forget.
l had the pleasure of meeting VIII
Orme of Phoenix and called on his
brother Norman at Long Island hospi-
tai several times. He is improving
-apidly and is the pet of the nurses at
zhe institution. One could almost envy
his wound on account of the treatment
ne receives. Expect to call on Captain
on Staten Island in a day
Dr so.
To be a trough rider means to own
New York and everything in il. Since
arriving here it has been impossible
for me TO walk the streets without hav
ing Il small army of newSboys and
street gamins following in my wake.
Young ladies even stop me on the
street to ask for souvenirs or 10 shake
however. to my regret Of
fered to kiss me- Pemberton and
had to seek shelter several times from
the mob on the first day of our arrival
During our stay we have cultivated
m unconscious stare and the rabble
ceases to be so annoying
I will endeavor in my next letter
from camp at Montauk Point TO give
list of all the Arizona boys
who were killed or wounded or who
died from sickness. Until then
WALTER r. GREGORY.
2. S. I see by the morning papers
that the rough riders will be mustered
out of the service on September %
Nest ~elcorle news indeed. :