The National tribune., 1901-02-14


before inspection came off, We would wasl
ourselves, change underclothes, fold III
bedticks, fold each blanket regulation style
leaving no ends or edges visible; pile then
neatly on top of ticks; shine our boots
scour up our brass buttons and brush oul
clothes.
Inspection came off just after "guarG
mount" Sunday forenoons. The command
ing officer, accompanied by his staff, woulC
pass through each block of quarters sue
cessively. AS he entered the door of the
| squaGroom some non-cOm. would sing out
| 'Atten-tiOsi' when each man would spring
to his feet, with hat off, and stand to at
tention" by the side of his bunk, while tht
commanding officer and suite walked
around the room, scrutinizing men, cloth
| ing, bedding, hunks, floors and everything
in sight. Ii everything was in ship-shape
well and good; but il anything was not ir
perfect order and regulation style, the com
manding officer would go for" the non,
| com. who was in charge of the room, and
the non-com. would even up by jumping
onto" the delinquent. After the quarters
| then the kitchen, dining-room, grounds and
sinks were looked into.
Reading the articles of war to recruits
was another Sunday entertainment, death
| or worse punishment"
About IL O'Clock a. m. Sundays church
| call" was sounded, when those who de-
sired went to the post chapel and listened
to dry-as-dust discourse from the Chap
lain, the Episcopal form of service being
the established religion for the army. The
Chaplain's congregation WAS usually sim.
Recruit life at the barracks was dun
and monotonouS-fa from attractive
and those of us who had left comfortable
homes for this sort of existence could not
prevent feelings of regret in comparing the
pleasures of the one with the discom1orts
of the other. Naturally, some of us got
very homesick. Very few, if any, of the
recruits had begun to realize their eXpecta-
tions in soldier life. We were all disap-
pointed. We found soldering was not
what we had imagined it would be. De
sertiOns were frequent. Still, the old SOL
dierS would tell us not to be discouraged; ;
that we had not begun TO soldier yet; that
our troubles would all be over when we
joined the regiment; that the hardships
were nothing when we got used to them.
COnsoled and encouraged thus | deter
mined to stick it out and see it through. /
could get out of the army Except by de
serting, which i would not think OF DOING
only i'll one way. and that was to appeal to
my guardian to take me out on the baby
act" as it is called as | was a minor ell
listed without the written consent of my
guardian. But, too spunky to do this,
resolved to grin and bear it like little
man.
The army being made up of ''all sorts
and conditions of men, a soldier often
finds himself, in the line of duty, rubbing
against fellows whose companionshlp he
would never seek in q social way; but
birds of feather flock together" as nat
urally here as elsewhere, and those of life
attinities soon find each other out. In Il
company of soldiers one can always find
few fine fellows that will do to tie to-
and although we We're all strangers to each
other at first, we were soon forming pleas
ant fraternal ties tnat grew stronger a.
the years passed on and the bond of com
was cemented by the dangers anu
privations that we subsequently shared TO
gether-ties that were severed with mu
tual regrets when, at the expiration of oul
terms of service, we separated, GENERALLY
never to meet again. But l am antlci-
pating.
As we cavalry recruits had not been
given our arms and accouterments yet, WE
were not required TO mount guard-the ar
tillery company and infantry detachment
had to do the guard duty for the post.
Ordinary manual labor is called fatigue
duty in military parlance. We got our full
share of this. The Idle hours between
drills and roll cnlls We passed variously-
killing time the best way we could. On
pleasant days we would ramble arounn
over the timbered hills, adjacent to the
post, or go boating on the riVer-sOme OF
the men for pastime having stolen few
skiffs from little town called CarOndelet,
between the barracks and St. Louis. We
were not permitted to leave the Govern
ment reserve, of several miles square, sur
the post, without Il written pas
from the commanding officer, and if absent
from a drill or roll call were liable to be
''chucked in the milP' GUARD house, on re
turn.
In bad weather we were driven more to
seek indoor amusements. On such occa-
sions in one part of the squadroOm might
be seen a crowd of recruits, with close at
tention, listening TO yarn from some Ole
veteran of thrilling adventures on the from
tier, or in the Mexico war; in another place
a party would be amusing themselves play
ing cards; here and there serious-faced
fellow might be seen bent over q sheet oI
paper, writing a letter to friends at home |
or the girl he left behind him. in anothe!
corner crowd would be gathered about |
some fellow saving on fiddle, or some on, |
would be singing songs toan admiring circlt |
Of eager listeners-and we had some gOOd |
singers among the recruits, who helped To- |
make life endurable and to while away tn, |
tedious time, and l am sorry TO have t. |
record that many of the men would often |
90 out to the Frenchman's," "doggery,
three miles west of the garrison, in the |
brush, just Off the reserve, where whisk! |
was sold, probably coming back to the |
quarters ''as drunk as billed owls" and bc |
Iuyged off to the guardhouse, there to sobei |
up and repent at leisure.
And thus we passed the time for two OF |
three months, being drilled and disciplined |
to joining the regiment. OuI
numbers were augmented from time to |
time by fresh arrivals of recruits.
OFF FOR FORT LEAvEEwoRTH.
In the latter part of February, when the
river had become clear Of ice, SO that nayi
CATION was resumed, we were ordered I,
pack up and go on board a couple of steam
boats chartered to take us 10 Fort Leayen
worth, Kansas Territory. | think ther,
We're about 800 recruits of US by this time.
The recruiting officers and Sergcants o.
the regiment had all been called in from
their respective stations, and we accord
ingly started up the river, and in due time
arrived at the Fort" which we found t.
be no more of a fort than jefferson Bar
racks, merely parade ground, inclosed on
three sides by disconnected blocks of sol
iiers' and officers quarters. Kansas City,
a little village of u dozen or SO houses,
stuck in among bills and hollOws, on the
bank of the river, some distance below
Fort Leayenworth, was pointed out to mt
as we passed it, else | would scarcely have
noticed the insignificant place. Leaven-
worth City was a small village, two and "a
half miles below the fort, also OH the wesl
bank of the Missouri. The PLANTER
Hotel' and a few business houses on the
levee constituted all there was of the bust
ness portion Of LeavenwOrth City, at that
time (the Spring of 90; back Of these d
few dwellings, houses, scattered among the
scrub oaks and brush, made up the resi-
dence quarter of the city. 1t was then