The National tribune., 1900-04-05

arrangel, we Lett Fonl du Lac for Madison.
the Capital of the State. We had decided
to Join the 1st Wis. Cav. and were duly
assigned by the authorities 10 that com
mamd.
With high hopes and lofty aspirations
each consecrated his life anew to the service
of his country in its time OF need. We
were at an age when the roSeate hucs of
life's morning tinged all our surroundings.
and the soft brush of fancy painted bright
and glorious pictures of the future.
AS now look back across the vista of
years so full of trouble and the constant
conflict with the wolf at our door, whose
lair was set up so closely to our dwelling
places, and its trail so badly worn in fire.
Quent visits, and made doubly venture
some through our handicap of absence ut
the front during the best years of our life,
i can but smile at our thoughts and actions,
our conception of the realities before us as
Union soldiers.
OUR WAR TOYS.
An idea had percolated to our brains
that the first duty Of a soldier was self
protection, and those thrifty tradesmen at
Madison stimulated that idea as the farmer
fertiliZeS his ground in anticipation Of
reaping an abundant harvest, and sold us
all manner of gimcracks thought to be
necessary to a complete outfit. We bought
little pocket-piStolS, knives and watches.
and got an eight-inch dagger and had its
sheath riveted on the inside of my right
bootleg. could walk much better then.
and strutted about with an added weight of
importance.
One dealer on the corner had new
thing. the greatest invention of the age.
something no well regulated soldier could
afford TO be without. This was Il steel
breastplatc fitted. into a vest. We -ha
been lavish in our purchase of war toys
and were sadly conscious of the fact that
our poke. books We're nearly empty AID
here was the real thing We most needed
q steel Observation-Disclosures funds too low
to buy one. The dealer suggested that
we pool our greenbaeks, buy one aud take
turns wearing it. This proposition struck
us favorably, but one of the squad sug-
gested that as we were unaccustomed TO
army rationS il might be best for us 10 save
our money and use it in the purchase of
something we could. eat If necessity de-
manded, and thus the stomach Won .a
victory over the chest, but our first sorrow
had oyertaken us, and We went TO our
first camp for the night.
In Camp Randall we had our first in
PRODUCTION 10 camp fare and camp life. and
there We learned another lesson: that we
could not come and go at will. In camp
there were many recruits for various rcgi.
mcnts in the field, and We found quite Il
number there assigned TO our regiment.
Muster being completed, we were ordered
aboard the cars the next morning and
started for the South, via Chicago and the
Illinois Central Railroad 10 st. Louis.
We wanted TO get acquainted with ali those
going TO our regiment, and made ourselves
agreeable. One of them, n German named
Schiller, We found had one of those patent
steel cheSt-prOtectorS, and our spirits rose
as We found we could borrow it when we
thought we needed it. He also had one OF
those nicely-turned drinking-cups that
slip one section into another and shuts down
fiat, made from Peruvian bark. Atleast
that is what the man he bought it from
told him. / remember how glad we were
10 get this cup 10 drink from when We
thought we needed quinine. Further along
you will hear Of Schiller's protector.
20 not get impatient over these details,
for in these days we hear so much Of heroic
deeds and bloody battles that am fearful
the veterans will forget the early struggle
10 put off the citizen and don the soldier
and lam foolish enough 10 think there were
as great ana momentouS conflicts passed
through Il en-, and victories won, as at many
oil those bloody angles. hornets nests,
craters. and other death-traps our com
rddes now Wranglc over.
We were unloaded during the night,
and strung along a sidewalk against a
large brick building. Soon il was whis-
pcred along the line that the penitentiary,
or something else. was about to he attacked
and We were expected 10 be in readiness 10
defend IL. There were 300 or more re-
cruits in the party, and Judge from my
self that every bosom was swelling with a
determination 10 do and die if necessary.
In recalling this incident | have often
wondered what we would have accom-.
plished if called upon 20 attack anything
more formidable than an appIe-wagon, foi
not a man Of us was armed with nything
but the gewgaws we bought in Madison;
but the dirk in my boot stimulated me for
any action demanded
Sometime before daylight we were all
coraled in Schofeld Barracks, as dingy
and dirty place, in the heart of the city. as
could probably be found, and strict re-
straint followed.
Details for guard and sentinel duty were
made up from the barracks, and these had
guns with bayonets on. Byron, Jim,
Tuck and l were fast getting seasoned to
the life of a soldier, yet the turbid water OF
the Missouri River coming trough the
mains OF the city for us to drink, the muddy
black coffee-without milk too, and several
other things not exactly as we used 10 get
them at home, interfered with our internal
arrangements, and threatened to put us
into hospital if kept there long.