Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-08-02
C0L0RED CAVALRY
ON LONG MARCH
10th Regiment Camped on Valley
Fair Grounds Wednesday
General Inspection and Band Concert In
Evening-Hundreds Of Citizens Visited
the Camp.

States cavalry in command of Col. c.
IL. Grayson, arrived in town Weines-
day afternoon and encamped for the
night on the Valley fair grounds. They
are on a 600 mile hike" to New Haven
and return and will take part in the
military maneuvers in Connecticut that
are scheduled to take place this month
Eleven of the II troops of the 10th regi-
ment are taking part in the march, one
troop being left at Fort Ethan Allen
During the afternoon and evening the
fair grounds were visited by hundreds
of people
Shortly before II o'clock the advance
guard of the approaching regiment ar
rived here and from then until 1.35
o'clock, when the main body of the
regiment arrived, groups of mounted
soldiery drove into town. At 1.35 the
colored troops arrived in front of the
town hall building and marched through
Main street, up Canal street to the fair
grounds. There they pitched camp and
remained until about o'clock yester-
day morning, when they mounted their
horses and went to Greenfield. Today
they will arrive in Northampton.
large crowd gathered along both
sides of Main street as the regiment
passed, and the sight was one of un-
usual interest. The troops came two
abreast and as the IL troops, hospital
corps and machine gun platoon included
800 enlisted men, over $50 horses and 125
mules, the scene made a deep impress
sion upon the spectators. The cavalry
men were soldierly in their bearing,
making no remarks or comments as they
passed, and gave evidence of excellent
discipline.
Immediately upon their arrival at the
fair grounds the troopers dsmounted,
picketed their horses and pitched their
pup" tents. These were in perfect al
ignment and at the south end of the
company streets the horses were picket
ed in straight lines. The troopers have
| muster once month and Wednesday V
was the day for it. Word had been pass
ed along the line that Inspector General
Colonel H. c. Slocum was to be here
Tor a general inspection of the regiment
and hardly had the pups been pitched
before the colored men were at work
polishing up their guns and revolvers,
putting a shine on their swords and
getting ready for the coming ordeal.
Ihey were tired from their ride but
they had to make a good appearance
before the colonel
ABOUT o CLOCK the wagon train passed
along Main street and went to the fair
grounds. The wagons were hauled by
mules and driven by unenlisted men with
a trooper sitting beside him. Upon the
arrival of the wagons details were pick
and cooks tents and in a marvelously
short time every tent was set up and
the mules picketed. Standing upon the
grandstand and looking out over the
iield, one had an opportunity to see the
perfect detail in which it was laid out.
Shortly before Z o'clock the troops
were lined up along the company streets
and were ready for inspection. Many of
the men had been careless during the
past month about the condition of their
equipment, and they were in doubt as
TO what the results would be when the
inspecting officer discovered this AS he
arrived at a company they stood at "at-
tentlon' and then as he passed along
the line they presented arms He walked
swiftly along the lines and then along
the rear, glancing at their cartridge
belts which were hung from the shoul-
der. Again he went along the
front of the line and each man
held his revolver at an angle
before his face. Not man moved while
the inspecting officer was in sight. but
when he saluted the captain of the troop
and went to another troop grins over
spread the dusky faces. The much
dreaded ordeal was passed and it was
not nearly as bad as anticipated.
During the inspection the regiment
band of 2S men under the direction of
Leader Thomas gave a fine concert of
SIX or seven numbers. Almost every man
is equipped with a silver instrument and
the quality of the music rendered was
far above the average. At the close of
the inspection an impressive incident
occurred. The companies were lined up
along the streets, few men were at
work about the horses and the cook
tents and the whole place was a scene
OF great activity. Then from in front
of the officers tents came retreat" blown
perfect ,ha
first blast of the instruments the men
stood at attention" and remained until
the call was finished Then came the
music of the band playing THE Star
Spangled Banner" Before the first bar
had been finished the spirit of the great
song entered the spectators on the field
and heads were bared and stiffness
spread over the camp grounds. Every
trooper was standing at attention"
men who had been at work STONED
whatever they were doing and stood like
statues Except for the music of the
grand old song not a sound could be
heard. Then came the realization of
what the flag means to everyone on the
grounds and tears welled up in more
than one pair of eyes So quiet was II
that little girl standing with her
rather started to ask a question and
startled by the loudness of her own voice.
stopped short in the middle of a word
ana Walted with the rest for the finish
of the song. At its close the troopers
were dismissed.
Many or the men came down town in
the evening while others remained about
camp. Others quickly went to the hay"
as they call 1t. Most of the soldiers were
Jolly and answered the innumerable
questions fired at them with readiness
and good nature. They joked among
themselves, especially about the lack OF
money in the regiment The men have
not been paid for two months because
the governments appropriations have
run out, and although "Wednesday was
supposed to be payday not man re-
ceived cent. They expect to get paid
at the August muster
The men live well and the quality OF
the food is of the best. One company
had for supper Wednesday evening roast
beef mashed cream potatoes, baked
macaroni, bread and coffee. This COM
pany used 10 gallons of coffee. 80 pounds
of potatoes, 40 pounds of roast beef and
seven packages of macaroni. Multiply
this by II and one will get good idea
of how much food 1t takes to provide
the regiment with one meal.