The times., 1898-11-27
A TERRIBLE MARCH.
An Old Regular Relates an Incid. MT
of Twenty Years ago.

(From the New YORK SUM-
Talking of soldiers having a tough
time" said an ex-private of the o,d Tnird
United States Infantry. Il have my
doubts If any in the United States mi :.
| tary service ever had tougher time
than the Third Infantry had in the W n
ter of iSTs-unless ii might have been the
vas a member of lhe Third Infantry IN
1873 We had been stationed at New Cr-
| leans for several years. but during the
strike riots in Pennsylvania in the suEr-
mer of lS7T We were ordered to that State
Soon afterward we We're sent West to
assist in subduing Chief Joseph and his
band of Neg Perces hosti es. When tie
regiment arrived in Montana We were or
dered to Helena This required 4 tramp
! of more than 900 miles. BY reason of
| our long residence In the South we W re
| in no condition. either physically or by
| equipment. for winter in the Rocky
Mountains, and our sufferiugs were ter
| rfble.
During large portion of the long
march we were exposed to most violent
| snowstorms. with the Thermometer never
| less than Is degrees below zero. Not an
| officer private In the regiment was
provided with overshoes or gloves. Many
| of us were nearly barefoot and. ad Il d
| To Tue agony VI littSilS was lsls
additional torture OF being fo.ced to grip
| the cold steel of our muskets with naked
| hands day after day.
When the regiment left New Orleans
there was not s. in the possession of Of
| ficers and men. The women and children
belonging to the command, including the
wives and families of the officers. num-
| bered thirty-two, and transportation for
these, of course had to be secured at
individual expense. But for the timely
aid of friends. who understood the ut
terry impecunious condition of the rank
and file and advanced sufficient funds
these dependent and destitute followers
of the camp would have suffered aban-
donment in their time of greatest need
and peril. On the march north to Co.
rinne several of the women and children
fell sick under the terrible exposure and
how they ever managed to survive at all
is to me to this day something to marvel
at. The transportation outfit allowed to
the command was limited to three ambu-
lances. AS there was not a dollar in the
| regiment, the simplest wants of the suf-
ferers could not be gratified. as the iso-
| lated ranchmen and hunters in that then
desolate region would not part with any
thing when they found that cash for it
would not be forthcoming.
AZ iast, "heh the regiment was near
| ing the end of its march, a ragged. pen
niless. freezing, haf-starved body of men.
| some of the officers induced ranchmen to
| buy their pay-rolls at discount of 25
/ per cent on the dollar and used the pro-
ceeds in supplying the wants of the sick
and most needy. When we at last reach
| ed post quarters we would have been an
| easy mark for an enemy if one had con-
| fronted us. for dozen Indians could have
got away with the whole command, so
| utterly exhausted and physically incapac-
| itated was every man of us. Soldiers on
| the frontier have had some terrible ex-
periences but 1 doubt if any of them can
parallel that awful march of the Third
| Infantry through the wintry wilds of
| Montana"