Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-09-12
COMPANIES HOME AGAIN.
Work Was Hard But Soldier Boys
 Would Not Miss the Trip.

Would Not Miss the Trip.
 l After nine days of the hardest kip5 l of work during which they suffered from want of food, from want of drink and from want of sleep, the members Of Company and Company A arrived home last night about 10 o'clock from Manassas, Va, where they had been participating in maneuvers with the regular army. Considering the hard work which they had encountered dur ing the nine days, the men looked fresh, and as they fell into line in l front of the station their walk was brisk and alert and their ranks were formed in good order. The soldiers faces and hands had been tanned con- I slderably by the southern sun and were of color which bore striking re l semblance to that of their khaki uni. forms. Their uniforms, which were brand new when they left, showed the effects of the weeks work, and so did their tan shoes.
 A large crowd was at the station awaiting the arrival of the boys and as the train pulled in a mighty cheer arose. When the boys left the train they were surrounded by their friends, eager to clasp their hands, After. wards the companies formed in line and marched to the armory. The bows were undoubtedly tired and weary aIter an all night and all day journey,
 but they did not show any signs of II Tn their marching. The armory hay Ing been reached, the companies were dlsbanded and the members hastened to leave for their homes Never was crowd of men more delighted to reach home after a Journey than were
 the local soldiers. They had been
 Irayeling for nearly forty y-eight hours
 and were in need of food and sleep.
 After the final review of all the
 troops at Wellington on Saturday af.
 ternoon at o'clock, the Second regi, q ment marched back to the main camp,
 four miles away and then two miles
 more to Manassas On arriving there
 at 4 o'clock they stood or lay about
 Tor seven hours, with nothing to eat
 or drink except a sandwich and a cup
 of coffee. At Il o'clock, tired and dis
 gusted, they boarded train and the
 homeward journey was begun. Jersey tCity was reached at 10 o'clock and the boys were allowed three hours free
 dom in the city. They immediately ad-
 Journed to the nearest restaurant.
 where they got their first square meal
 of the week. At 1:15 o'clock the Sec
 ond regiment left Jersey City on board
 the steamer New Hampshire, which
 arrived in New Haven shortly after I o'clock. A special train carried the
 local companies and Company M of
 Torrington to this city.
 Considering what they had passed
 through during the nine days the boys
 were in good spirits. but bitter were Rtheir complaints against the treatment } which they received at Manassas
 Their loudest complaint was against the commissary department The
 boys became so angry at times that
 they swore that somebody was getting
 fine rake-off. Four sandwiches, con sisting of hard tack and canned corned z beef, composed the rations given in two days. And in these two days the , boys hiked about forty-five miles, : through forest, swamp and marshes and over roads on which there were
 about six inches of dust. At the end
 of the marches they looked like In-
 brown clay. The soldiers not only
 lacked food, but also water. The
 water supply at the camp was very
 poor. For many hours during the day , the water was turned off and the SOL
 diers could get nothing to drink. At
 times the cooks could not boil any po-
 tatoes on account of lack of water The boys also suffered from want of sleep. On Tuesday night they went to bed about or 10 o'clock and were , aroused at o'clock. The next night they went to bed about the same time 5 and had to get up about 12 o'clock
 There was too much marching under ' the boiling hot sun and even the regu- . lars complained of this. The officers were severely criticized for not giving
 the men a day of rest between the first and second engagements. If they could not give the boys day of rest
 they could have abandoned the review
 on Saturday. As it was over half the
 soldiers were too tired and exhausted 5 to take part and refused to do SO : They remained in their tents while f the others were hiking. The Connecti . cut militia made a fine showing and
 was far ahead of the majority of the . military organizations The New York : and Massachusetts militia also made r a good showing Tn the final review | on Saturday the Connecticut rankS r were filled and the men marched as il s it was the beginning of the maneuveTs : and not the end The review was wit ;. messed by only 1000 people.
 :, Itmay be safely stated that if there :, are any joint maneuvers next year be Y tween the regular army and the Nation : al Guards the Connecticut contingent
 will not participate unless they arg
 given assurances that there will bt
 less hardships. The men must bf : given more consideration there must e be less hiking and more rest and food I Raw and untrained troops should not . be expected to do work which ever a the regulars kick against. NiantiC : will probably be good enough for Con : necticut hereafter.
 Although it was a hard week thc , local soldiers state that they would : not have missed the trip, but would T not do it again for $1O0. They like t the experience, the novelty of the oc q casion; but enough is sufficient and tho j. soldiers think they had too much. No1 | one of the local soldiers returned homf
 seriously il, but one of the Company
 A men was suffering from tonsilitis.
 The train service was about as poor
 as the supply of commissaries.