The National tribune., 1906-06-28
PATRICK McGIIONE.
The Inevitable Irishman Kept the Com
pany Alive.

a
which l was present in actual service
in camp, on the march, and after bat
tie. One of the last roll-calls occurred
in the city of Baltimore, which poin
| the regiment had reached In its journe.
towards home, from Newbern, n. c.
having been transported by sloops anC
steamers to Newport News, Pamunks!
River to Whitehouse Landing, back t.
Fortress Monroe thence up Chesapeak,
Bay to Baltimore.
The boys time had been out fo
nearly two months, and they were glat
to feel that soon they would be citizens
again. and many desired to visit thu
pretty city so near their campground OF
Federal Hill. yet few passes were given
One day there seemed to be genera
stampede, and all but 10 or II of oul
company ran guard" or, rather, thu
guard inquired if their time was mp, and
If answered in the affirmative, turned
and walked in the opposite direction.
l was nalf sick, and stayed in camp
Patrick McGlche was among those wht
went to see the sights. The Lieutenant
Colonel went, too, but came back earl.
and found the camp almost deserted
and caused a muster and general roll.
call. When McGlone returned, rather
late, he inquired of me:
And did they have roll-call?"
Yes"
Was there many there that wasn't
Of course l could but smile at the
Hibernianism and said, That's a goot
Irish BULL Give me anotheri"
'Shure, you know what l name. Was
there many there that did not answer to
their names?,,
Our tert in Camp Rogers. Newbern
y. c., was next to his and one rainy
day we overheard him amusing his tent
.1F hi
Yer remember when we were raw
recruits in Readville, that whin the
ortherly called the name of a missing
man, somebody in the ranks would
spake out and give a rason for their
absince. And this is the way 1t would
go:
g 'Babbitt.' Detailed for Quarter
MASTER
Cheney Got Il furlough'
Coy The Captain sent for him.
Clifton He's on guard
Fuller Here.
" Guild Driving mule ambu-
lance
Tide Got wounded in the haver-
sack at Whitehall
Johnson Working on fortifica-
tons
Marcy. Caught spy the other
morning
Nichols He's a signal-man-got
good job
es in your beans Bijar.'
" Russell Gone to the spring after
pail of water. Been gone 10 days.
(He was bounty-jumper and never
came back
Gay He's bugler now, foine
one
'Shapleigh.' Arrested for picking
bIackberries'
Webb In the guard d-house.'
Stone Didn't have his shirt in
his knapsack on inspection
Thus he ran on with US all. doing
much with his ready wit to make the
life of his comrades more endurable,
who, perhaps, had been at work on
some hard and disagreeable duty; for,
not only is a private soldier called u:'on
to fight, to march, and to drili but Is
oftener detailed for fatigue duty, to cut
wood, or to handle spade.
Ne were detailed to build a big fort.
| threw four shovelfuls, when L noticed
that was doing more work than some
others, and, my chum being willing,
played 'Old soldier" and went down to
the river and watched Lizards. Some
others were more Industrious, however,
with, perhaps, the inducement of a ra-
tion of whisky (it was awful stIl) as
an incentive. 1t was allowable, IL q
soldier did not care to drink his On the
spot, for him to take it away in bottle
for use in emergencies. Pat saved his
for several days. and bought more from
his comrades. When he did come 20
imbibe it, the effects We're greater than
he anticipated, and he made a little too
much noise. Capt. Whytal called a
Corporal and file of men to care for him.
In every regiment there is always
some dissatisfaction with the officers.
and many private has threatened bodi-
ly punishment as soon as both were
civilians again, Capt Whytal was the
best officer in the regiment, and this
private. as well as the rest, respected
MIN; but, as he was being marched off
to the guard-house, he turned, and ex
claimed:
"Capt'n whytal, Captn whytal,
When yer git ter West Roxbury again,
yer'll kape as shtill as / do here, SORT"
To be on an outer picket post on a
dark night. or any night, is not a very
pleasant way to commune with nature;
but, until we tried It. we never knew
frow many voices of the night there
were, nor how much movement in still
things. There were more false alarms
than history relates We had three
on an outer post, two to
guard country road, and ours rail-
road, on which was an ironclad car with
a single cannon At the road there had
been erected a stockade. The two COM
panies had an alarm, after which there
was much firing from the "pen," as the
boys called stockade, and our monitor
on car sent a shell over. Our COM
pany hurried to their assistance After
lying low for awhile, 1t became evident
that what the boys took for rebels did
not respond, and Pat cried out: Think
of yer frinds in Massachusetts,, and rally
on the cow-pensr'
But our memory not only recalls the
fearful battles. the weary marches, the
picket duties, the tedious drills and the
fatigue duties, but also the transporta-
tions. From Newbern to Fortress Mon
roe we were conveyed In the sloop
America" towed by tug. The berths
were fitted to accommodate two. The
hold dimly lighted by Ianterns-dirty,
was full of .Odors-chloride of lime and
predominating. That day I
was just able to crawl, and was the last
man on board. I appropriated the first
berth to which / came-the lowest one.
and thought myself lucky-threw In my
haversack, with three days rations for
a pillow, my musket, and accouter-
ments, and then my head and kept il
there. All was right while the sloop
was still, but we passed Hatteras. and
when we landed the rations and one
half of me were soaked with bilge-water
and the musket red with rust That
which impressed me most on that trip
was hearing Pat McGlone above me.
drilling the hundreds of cockroaches
that were swarming on the bottom of
bprfh Ic