Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-09-10
Manassas, Va, Sept 8, 1904,
Maneuver Camp, No 1.

l fought and won, and victory will have | perched upon the banner of General Grants or General Lees forces. The
 weeks maneuvers will be practically
 finished and the boys in blue and the l boys in brown will be preparing to re
 turn to their homes. It has been a hard week for the
 military boys and they will undoubted- l ly be glad to hear the call of the l trumpet to break camp. Since they
 left their respective stafeA they have
 experienced many of the trials and sufferings and hardships of actual war
 fare. But to their credit 1t must be I said that the majority bore the brunt of the battle well. They realize, how ever. the truth of General Sherman's
 saying, 'FWar is he'll" and some of
 them feel like the Texan soldier Wfo, remarked with a peculiar southern ac-
 cent, ITO hell with war" &
 Tuesday and Wednesday are days
 which will long be remembered by the members of Company G and Company A. During these forty-eight hours they saw much of what war is. At tired In heavy marching order, they broke camp at 3 o'clock Tuesday morIi-1 ing and at o'clock started with the other Connecticut troops for a five mile march. Monumental field, known l otherwise as Mrs McDoogan's farm. was reached about 9:30, where the
 Connecticut troops were stationed for the remainder of the day. No dinner was served. The troops had to stand for considerable time in the open field under the blazing hot sun, but later were allowed to roam about at will Some of them succeeded in pur-- chasing food at nearby houses.
 It would not be amiss to state here that the southern farmers are very poor or are very unprogressfve, per- haps a combination of both. They had an opportunity of making mint of ] money, but did not grasp 1t. They were able to supply few men With food Some soI1therners still maintain little prejudice against northerners
 and southern troops were able to get food where the former were refused. About 4 o'clock shelter tents were pitched and the Connecticut troops prepared to spend the night on Monu- mental field, where one of the most stirring engagements of the Bull Run battle was fought. They were near the ravine which was once filled from top to bottom with the blue and gray soldiers Here "StonewalP Jackson once led the rebel, forces. The field was searched thoroughly for souvenirs and many bullets, parts of shells and few cannon balls, were found.
 Tents having been pitched, supper. consisting of a. sandwich and cup of coffee, was served. Some of tss soldiers increased this supply by buy ing pies. milk and ham sandwiches, all Of which were scarce. Pies which or dinarily cost cents were sold in hurry for 15 cents.
 9~J H. NH 40 %RaxA@ r&H and sleepy soldiers had retired for the night. At o'clock the bugle call sum- moned them again to arms. Having partaken of sumptuous breakfast, { consisting of a sandwich and q cup of coffee, they set out on another march at 2 o'clock. They were dressed in heavy marching order 1t was cold and dark and a person could not dis tinguish an object fifteen feet ahead of him. Over a road which led through a dense forest and was cov- cred with brush briars, stumps and stones, the troops marched, often in double quick time This was a harG march through the forest and many fell over stones and stumps and were cut and bruised. The march was con- ducted in silence. Here and there iA the woods an outpost of the blue army would be discovered, and now and then members of the signal corps would be seen at work. Several times the command tHaltr' was given and the troops secured relief by throwing the heavy rolls on the ground for few minutes. Onward and onward the march continued, now in an open road then through places where only a wagon road led, then across fields of waving grass, across brooks which fn hn ad, r places, including the old stone house were left behind as the boys marched on and on for miles; but they bore 1t well. After about ten miles had been covered reports of fighting could be heard. This nerved the boys to high pitch and though tired and hungry,
 they were eager to go ahead and face the enemy. No water fit to drink could
 be secured on the march, that in the
 different wells and springs being dirty and it had a peculiar taste, The ofti
 cers advised the men not to drink it.
 After a march of about fifteen miles,
 during which number of soldiers had
 dropped off on the roadside (not one of Company G's and but one of Con-
 pany As men fell out of the ranks,
 the Connecticut troops entered large open field where the different icompan- I iAs were sent out on Skirmish. Across lots the men marched through grass
 and brush which reached as high as their knees; over walls and under ]! barbed wire fences, through swamps
 ditches, marshes and forests, they went onward until they saw the enemy 1 in the distance. Then the Connecticut
 troops took up position on the right I flank of the enemy's forces and when
 the signal for attack was given they
 ran forward and then dropping on the
 ground poured a ''murderous" fire at
 the enemy.
 The Second regiment participated in
 three attacks. Company G was with
 in POO yards of the enemy once. The l fine work of the Connecticut troops
 did much toward securing victory for
 the blues. Lieutenant Hallinan was
 in charge of the Company c troops on
 the fighting line and did good work.
 Lieutenant Bangs had charge of the
 Company A forces. The men were
 eager to fight, though they had
 marched about fifteen miles and had | OuJu fhrno aupdypfobar aTdr thp.oo Oupa