The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1898-10-06
An Interesting Resume
or Army Life at Camp Mead From the
Pen OF n Logan Boy.

OhiOt Jul X OOhS OihOt, Ouuip htuut,
Pa, Sept. 26th 1893:
My Dear Friend: Having a few
spare moments, 1 will try to give
you an idea of this the most beauti-
full camp in the United States.
Very few people have definite
idea as to the vast amount of work
involved in the conducting of an
army camp during time Of war. 1t
is tremendous task and only those
Unidentified with the army manage
ment have any conception of the
amount of labor required. In fact
the work is so great that the off,
GERS toll from early morn, to late at
night, even Sundays and holidays.
In the army every man depends
upon some one else, principally his
officer above him. Army affairs
are peculiarly those Of continuous
chain, with every link dependent
upon another. Soldiers are to their
officers some what like children to
their parents, particularly in the
matter of dependence; likewise is
the captain to his major, the major
to his colonel and so on. To ap-
preciate what this dependence
means is to partially realize what
n n ri n ~ LII -, fn
camp of over $4,000 men such as
this camp. To visit the camp of
army corps to see the thousands of
tents the hundreds of wagons, the
supply stores of commissaries and
quartermasters, the cooking and
baking arrangements; to see all of
this will serve to open the eyes of
the average citizen and fill him
with amazement. Camp Meade is
the headquarters of the second
army corps and is commanded by
Major General Graham an old re-
gular army officer, whose name
will 60 down in history after the
28th of this month, for on that date
he will be retired from the U. s. ".
This corps consists of two divisions,
comprising about eighteen regi-
ments, and over 25O00 men in all.
The location is an ideal one, 6 miles
from Harrisburg and one mile from
Middletown. The land l. rolling
and the scenery grand. The camp
is widely spread out and covers al
most 25 square miles. The teaming
features of military camp will
surprise most people. There are Ia
camp Meade over 175 army wagons
all new, 1000 mules, besides the
carriages, ambulances and signal
corps conveyances, they all resem
ole large circus without the gilt
ter, glare, glamor and spangles Of
the circus. Lieut.. Col. James N
Allison another old regular officer
is in charge of the commissary. He
watches each camp and sees to il
that all get their rations. The hos
pital dept. is under the skilled
hands of Lieut.. Col. A. G. Girard
Chief Surgeon of the End army
corps, and am right when 1 state
that Col. Girard has the credit o.
having the most healthful camp Of
them all. His work never ceases
it is early in the morning and late
at night. He has an Office force o
seven men, four orderlies, and has
charge of the 1st dis. hospital, 2nd
dis. hospital the Red Cross hospital
composed of 32 lady nurses from
Philadelphia and all of the regi
mental hospitals. All of the dis
charge papers and furlough paper
must bear his signature. L am il
this Office and know where of ]
speak. Of course there is plenty o
Q red tape, but then it all must b.
gone through with. An application
for discharge may come in and re
ceive as many as Is endorsement
then be sent to the adpt genera
for correction. L see some yer,
hard scenes at the hospitals. Tues
day night had to go over to tn
End dis. with an order and Will
, waiting captain of the 202nd NY
\ came In and informed Major Wea
2 yer the sargeon in charge that
f Mrs. Brown had come all the wa,
r from New York to see and surpris
: her only son, we'll after her arrivs
at the regiment she found out tina
u he had been taken sick and sent {
:, :, the hospital. He had died a fe,
= hours before his dear mother al
rived, we'll the captain could nc
4 break the news and he asked tn
r major to, which he did and I say
it all. I never will forget it as lon
r as live. Poor woman she ha
g fruit and clothing for him and I full
d expected to give him grand su
prise, but oh, what Il change from