The National tribune., 1906-01-25


ing their merits and ehumerating the
remarkable cures wrought by them was
furnished, and accordingly two or three |
cases of Hostetter's Bitters were put on
the invoice.
Those bitters with, other goods |
reached Butte-a-la Rose, in safety, and
were sold to those who could pay for
them and given to those who were
without funds. But some of the men. |
who probably were more chilly than
the others, took overdoses. and in con-
sequence became staggering drunk.
'"The Adjutant, therefore, had the
modification of discovering that
though he was President of the Tenn
perance Society Of the regiment he had
furnished almost pure whisky to the
men under the label Hostetter's Bitters
But as no i'll had been intended he was
not depoSed from office.
I'VE not only were without sutlcr
at that time, but our Chaplain, in con-
sequence of sickness, had gone North
on leave of absence, and our Quarter
master was not with us, and most Of
the time during our stay at Butte-a-
la-Rose we were without Surgeon.
''Dr Campbell had died; DR.. Sanborn
was North on a furlough; DIR. Fisk, be-
sides being overworked, had been as
signed duty, IL we remember correctly.
at Brashear City, and DR.. Sleeper was
late I'm reporting. though, as we recall
part.
meanwhile our men were sickening
rapidly and dying almost daily. Had
it not been that occasionally negro
or poor white would come to the garri-
son with a row-boat load of fresh vege-
tables, together with few berries and
eggs and small quantity of poultry.
which We're exchanged for coffee and
tea, we must have famished, in our sick
and nauseated condition, on such ra
tions as the Government then supplied.
1.-THE atmosphere little after sun
fall and on through the night was al
inost lnsufferable, and our sick men
when breathing it were conscious that
every breath was so much more poison
added to their blood.
There must have been on our rolls
at one time or another while we were
at Butte-a-la Rose not fewer than 600
or 100 men. But under date of May
26 the regiment could muster only $50
for duty
1t should be borne in mind, too, that
many of our number in consequence
of previous exposures and hardships
we're sick and debiiitated when they
reached that place. As would be ex-
pected, more pitiful sight than our
regiment presented during the last two
weeks of our stay at Butte-a-la-R Rose
hardly can be imagined.
Wasted away by various forms OF
disease, men who had weighed 900
pounds or more were reduced to half
that weight. One OF our company OFF,
GERS. Capt. Sanborn, Co. e, whose ordi-
nary weight was considerably above
200 pounds. could not tip the scales
at 90.
Some Of our men we're covered with
burning and painful eruptions. others
were yellow as saffron, others were
shaking with ague. others were bloated
with dropsy, and all We're sallow and
emaciated."
The men and officers begged earnest
~ to be relieved and sent to some other
post of duty. but the place was so inn
portant and the need of men SO great
that this could not be done until Banks
decided to abandon the whole country
and bring UP every man TO Port Hud-
son. The 18th y. H. was of small value
as a reinforcement, because, as Col.
Irwin says, everyone was suffering from
some aggravated form of hepatic disor-
der. due to malarial poisoning. and even
the men that were called well were all
yellow, emaciated and restless. or SO
droWsy that the sentries would go to
sleep on their posts at midday. 1t was
decided therefore, to retire the regi-
ment from the fighting line, to which
il had been assigned, and assign it to
guard the general ammunition depot
by the 2Sth Conn, brought from Pen
sacola.
Organization of the Army.
The organization of the army, as CIV
en- May 81, was as follows:
First Division.
Maj. Gen. Christopher c. Augur
First Brigade-CoI. Chas. j. Paine
I'd La, Lieut.. Col Charles Everett: 2Ist
Me-. Col. Elijah d. Johnson; 4Sth Mass,
Col. Eben F. Stone; 49th Mass, Maj
Charles T. Plunkett; 116th n. Y, Capt.
john Higgins.
Second Brigade-Col. Stephen Thorn
as-12th Conn, Lieut.-Col Frank II.
Peck; 18TH n. Y, Col. Robert b. Mer-
160th n. Y, Lieut.-Col. John B. Van
Petten; Sth VT, Lieut.-Col. Charles Dill
lingham.
Third Brigade-Col. Nathan A. NJ
Dudley-30th Mass, Lieut.-Col. Will
liam w. Bullock: 50th Mass, Col. Car
T. Narrower; 174th n. Y, Maj. George
Heating.
Artillery-1st Ind. Heavy (seven
ccmpanies), Col John A. Keith; 1st Me. |
Battery. Lieut.. John f. Morton; 9Th
Mass. Battery, Lieut. John F. Phelps;
Edwin NJ. Chamberlin; 18th n. Y. Bat
terry, Capt. Albert g. Mack: 1st u. S.,
Battery A, Capt. Edmun G.. Bainbridge;
9Th y. S., Battery G, Lieut.. Jacob B. |
Rawles.
Miscellaneous-1st La Engineers. |
Corps d'Afrique, Col. Justin Hodge; 1st |
La. Native Guards, Leut.-Col. Chauncey
j. Bassett; Sd La. Native Guards, Col |
John A. Nelson; 4th La. Native Guards, |
Col. Charles w. Drew; 1st La Cav,
Maj. Harai Robinson: I'd r. /. Cav.
Lieut.. Col. Augustus w. Corliss.
Second Division.
Brighten. William Dwight
First Brigade-Coi. Thomas S. |
Clark-26th Conn.,. Leut.-Col. J. Sell
den; 9Th Mich, Lieut-Col. E. Bacon;
18th N. H., Col. John w. Kingman:
128th N. Y, Lieut.-Col. James Smith:
162d n. Y, Lieut-Col. Justus W.
Blanchard.
Third Brigade-Brigs-Gen. Frank S.
Me-. Col. Thomas w.
Porter. Gath Me-, Col George N. At
wood; 2Sth Me. (detachment), Col.
Ephraim w. Woodman: 165th N. Y,
Capt. Felix Agnus; 176th N. Y, Mai.
John Gray; 177th. N. Y, Col. Ira w.
Ainsworth.
ArtiIlery-capt. wIliam Roy-1st
Ind. Heavy Gone company. Capt. VIII
liam Roy; 21st N. Y Battery, Capt
James Barnes; lst VT. Battery, Capt.
George T. Hebard.
Third Division.