Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-09-05
WANT TO COME HOME.
VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS ANXIOUS TO
BE MUSTERED OUT.
Those Who Failed to Get Chance to
Fight Have No Desire to DO Garrison
Duty-Last Letter to the Tribune from
the Chickamauga Camp.

Fight Have No Desire to DO Garrison
Duty-Last Letter to the Tribune from
the Chickamauga Camp.
Chickamauga, Ga, August 30, 1898.
EDITOR TRIBUNE.-Ths will be my
last letter to you from this place, as we
break camp here tonight for Knoxville,
Tennessee. The soldiers are all glad to
get away from this camp. for no one
knows better than themselves how they
have suffered from dust, thirst, heat and
hunger, and all will remember the 1O3
days we spent here. Nevertheless | do
think and know that most of the boys
will have some recollections of this big
camp, for in our three months staythere
we have had some varied experiences
experiences that have caused many
hearty laugh, and, again, experiences
that have taught the volunteers many
lesson they will never forget.
1t has at least taught most of the men
how to be economical. On the SIS. go
per month paid by the government,
and the very small amount of rations
served, with the exhorbitant prices
charged by the suttlers, men had to be
so to live in comfort.
Tho sickness of our camp has been
something awful and the citizens and
press -of Chattanooga have taken the
cudgel in their own hands and went for
proofs they hold are such as will make
the citizens of this country hold up
their hands in holy horror when they
learn the whole truth.
The neglect of the sick has been
criminal. |, being an enlisted man, |
have nothing further to say on this
point, but those who have been dis
charged will, when thoy reach their
homes, tell the people of their districts
what they have seen in Chickamauga,
and If the people of this country won't
make the heads of some departments
suffer then | am no judge of the Ameri-
can people.
There are great number of the
officers commissioned who have lost
the respect of their men by thor actions
tho past few weeks by wiring to Wash
ington to have their regiments do gar
rison duty in Cuba, telling the authori-
ties that this was the wish of the men.
That is not so, for 90 per cent of the
volunteer army that was in Chcka-
manga park when peace was declared
want to be mustered out and don't want
to do garrison duty in our new conquests
under the present officials.
The officers of the First Penna want
to do as the men wish them and that is
anxious to go to the front and tried
harder than the First Penna, but now
we think we should be mustered out of
the service. Should we, however, be
sent to do garrison duty, l think the
First will give as good account of itself
there as we did in camp.
The priyatcs of all the regiments have
requested to be mustered out, but volun-
teer officers think the privates are no
better than the mules Of the regiment
and should have no say; when, in
fact, the privates are far superior
human beings than the political pets
who command them. Our regiment
was lucky in having good officers to
command them and they have no kick
coming from that source or any other
whore their own officers are concerned,
but l speak of other regiments here
which have had trouble with their Off
GERS.
There is no better officer in tho army
then j. Lewis Good, our colonel He
has been very kind to his men and did
lots for the boys that no other colonel
did. He and Major Allen have been
like fathers to us moro than officers.
Major Allen is today the most popular
officer in the army and he can get more
from body OF men in the line of duty
than any other who was here. His
associates have been the privates, and
when he wanted a detail to work every
man wanted to go with him. Our own
captain, c. f. Hess, is the most popular
man in the regiment and the company