Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-06-25


before he enlisted. There were only
81 recruits, but As different trades and
professions We're named. Indeed, there
was but one business or calling which
more than one man designated. 1t was
Soldier" Hamilton. Cloyne and
We're three of the five who made this
statement. The others were two stall
wart Englishmen, almost middle aged.
l engaged these successfully in con-
versation and was almost paralyzed
| at learning that they were survivors
of the famous six Hundred" who
formed the Light Brigade" that
charged at Balaklaya and was immor-
talized by Tennyson in a poem which
l and every other boy in our school
had acclaimed on speech day"
1t was long before could tear my
self away from these fine fellows and
tell Hamilton and Cloyne what an &C.
QUESTION our regiment had made.
Hamilton was as much surprised and
delighted as |. but Cloyne twitched his
face, looked out the car window in an
absentminded sort of way and re-
marked:
"They'll make about 1900 survivors
of that Six Hundred whom have
personally met, yet haven't been a
great traveller"
Perhaps" said l, Lord Cardigan
didn't carefully count his men before
riding at the Russian guns, or perhaps
Tennyson took poetic license US to
number"
Cloyne laughed rs he tried pun.
Somebody somewhere has ventured
more lie than sense on the subject"
thought this was very cynical of
Cloyne. OF course there are impostors
everywhere, but splendid, straight,
manly looking fellows like our own
regiments share Of the six Hundred"
could not be suspected Of anything I'M
fair or pretentlous. They were superb
~ cool and composed, as great soldiers
always are, and neither of them SEEM
Ell to take ordinary interest in any
one around him until CHANGED to
mention one of them to the other. To
my great surprise, they were not even
acquaintances. This fact or some
other seemed to surprise the one 1
spoke to, and when brought them to-
gether and introduced them they did
not look and act ut all as 1 imagined
old comrades in historic battle would.
Thinking perhaps they preferred to re-
view old associations in private, left
them. after which they began to chat
quite freely, and when next met one
of them he told me they had identified
each other at last, and glad they were
to find they We're old friends. 1t was
Il long time before l could get Cloyne
to take the slightest interest in them,
but he finally eyed them, first careless
ly, then curiously. Later I saw him
In earnest conversation with one of
them, and when joked with him
about 1t he put on queer smile and
patted me on the shoulder in patron
izing manner that exasperated me.
Our reception at the camp Of the
Thirty was not what 1 had cx-
pected. The veterans Of the regiment
did not turn out to cheer the brave
youths who had come to help them
put down the rebellion. They did not
even offer us something to eat, al
though 1t was long after breakfast
time and our haversacks had been
empty since the night before. A few
sauntered over to the adjutant's tent,
to which we had been marched, and
looked at us as If in search of familiar
faces, but no one took special interest
In us except the orderly sergeants of
the various companies, whom the I'D
1utant had the sergeant major summon
by bugle call. The company in which
we had enlisted had not yet been
organized, SO we were allotted tenn
porarily among the older companies,
and the orderly sergeants swore fright
fully, as they marched us off, at the
trouble they would have to squeeze an
extra man or two into every tent Of