Campaign of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry Part 3

Captain Groome arranged for an early breakfast of coffee and sandwiches for his men, and at 4.30 A. M. the next day the City Troopers were again ordered to the wharf. This time there was no disappointment. The transport "Ma.s.sachusetts" was there taking on a great load of men, horses and mules. All was bustle and confusion. Within a short time the Troopers went aboard, and almost at once the vessel made ready to sail.

Last words to the faithful friends ash.o.r.e were shouted, there was a waving of hands and handkerchiefs, and a little after midday the "Ma.s.sachusetts" began ploughing her way toward the southern isle, where General Brooke's army and the Spanish forces were reported to be already face to face.

CHAPTER VI.

LIFE ABOARD A TROOP SHIP.

Life aboard a troop ship is not a round of pleasure at the best. Long tales of woe, regarding the trials and hardships upon transports of various infantry commands, quickly found their way into print within a few weeks after active war operations commenced. Not one word, however, regarding the discomforts of the City Troop on the trip to Puerto Rico was written. Yet, if existence upon a transport ship, crowded with men is disagreeable, what would the complaining infantrymen have said had they found themselves in the Troop's plight, on a vessel containing more animals than men.

Truly discouraging was the situation in which the cavalrymen were placed. Their hammocks were swung between decks, and but eighteen inches were allowed between the hammock of each man and the hammocks above and on each side of him. Two feet is the regulation distance in the navy, but circ.u.mstances alter cases, and what might be a fair allowance on a carefully kept, well-ventilated war vessel, became a distinct hardship aboard the "Ma.s.sachusetts." Especially was this the case where several of the tall, broad-shouldered men found their hammocks adjoining one another--for the men's bodies touched at all times, and b.u.mped together vigorously at every lurch of the vessel.

The transport upon which the Troopers found themselves had been built to carry about four hundred horses and an ordinary crew, yet when pressed into government service seven hundred men and fourteen hundred horses and mules were considered about her proper capacity. When the Troopers first boarded the vessel their bundles of clothing and equipments were scattered about in great confusion, and a good part of the first day was spent by the men in collecting their belongings and bringing them into some sort of order.

The weather during the first day at sea was exceedingly hot, although fairly pleasant until toward evening, when the wind began to show itself and the sky became cloudy. A majority of the men prepared to sleep upon deck, but as the vessel came off Cape Hatteras about midnight she struck a regular squall. The air became cold, the "Ma.s.sachusetts" began to pitch about violently and then rain came rushing down in great volumes, driving the men below in a hurry. There they found many of their fellow pa.s.sengers with their dreams of glory swallowed up in seasickness. The horses, too, succ.u.mbed to the complaint in large numbers, and required much care.

Aboard the "Ma.s.sachusetts" there were, in all, seven hundred horses and a like number of mules. Hundreds of the mules were fastened just below the deck to which the Troopers had been driven by the squall, while above could be heard the constant stamping of horses. Between these two layers of animals the cavalrymen pa.s.sed a restless night. But if their first attempt at sleep was disturbed, the conditions prevailing the second night can better be imagined than described. Despite the best efforts to keep the quarters of the animals clean, the odor which arose from the hundreds of horses and mules was sickening, and a majority of the Philadelphia men found sleeping in the hammocks impossible.

Early the next morning Captain Groome took the matter in hand, and secured permission for his men to sleep upon the baled hay, which was piled high on the main deck. There, under the stars, swept by refreshing sea breezes, the Troopers slept well--if not comfortably--the remaining nights aboard. Special sentries were appointed to see that no tired Trooper rolled from his hay mattress into the sea.

But the greatest hardship of the voyage to Puerto

Rico was the lack of drinking water. Dirty, yellowish fluid was all that could be had. This would not have troubled the men a particle had it been cool enough to be refreshing. But the water was warm; sometimes it was positively hot, and always insipid and filthy looking. A skirmish by the commissary brought to light a case of beer, although there was no ice to make it palatable. The beer lasted but a day, and to keep alive the water had to be accepted and made the best of. Worse came to worst on Sunday. The pumps of the "Ma.s.sachusetts" broke down, and the Troopers were obliged to go into the hold of the offensively fragrant vessel and bring up water bucketful by bucketful for the animals under their charge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLIMPSE INTO A TROOP SHIP.]

Sergeant Martin and Corporal Wagner, stripped to the waist, were at the bottom of what looked like a deep well. The atmosphere was stifling, and in order to enable the men at the bottom to stand the heat, their comrades kept pouring water down upon their heads and bodies. As fast as pails could be filled from the bottom they were pa.s.sed up along a long line of men composed of details from the various commands aboard.

It was exhausting labor, but of all the men on board the City Troopers stood the work best. The water thus brought up was of a kind absolutely dangerous for a human being to drink, and all through the day's trying struggle the Troopers silently endured the added pangs of thirst. There was more real suffering for twenty-four hours than any man in the Troop will admit, but when the pumps resumed operations in the morning, the thankful air with which the formerly despised yellowish warm water was accepted spoke volumes.

The days pa.s.sed along slowly. No extremely rough weather was encountered, but on several occasions the old transport reeled sufficiently to send a few of the Troopers to their hammocks with slight attacks of _mal de mer_.

The motion of the vessel was sufficient, however, to completely disarrange each night the outfit of the Troopers, and it was their duty each morning to gather together their equipments for inspection, the same as though they were in camp. This constant readiness was in marked contrast with the arrangements among other commands aboard.

Many of the Troopers will never forget the first time the alarm of fire was given aboard the ship. It was the third morning out that a guard discovered smoke slowly curling from between the crevices of the baled hay piled high on deck. The guard was startled, and his call for the corporal and statement of the discovery of the fire was given in a loud tone, which instantly caused the alarm to spread throughout the ship. It was no pleasant thought for the men, who knew so well the inflammable nature of the cargo and the crowded condition aboard, and there was a rush for the point from which the alarm had come. Fortunately the blaze was a trivial affair easily extinguished, and the excitement was speedily at an end. Three other times, however, during the trip the same alarm was given, but the careful watch kept prevented the fire, in a single instance, from gaining any headway.

Although the "Ma.s.sachusetts" was supposed to be one of the fastest transports, she found the entire flotilla, which had left Newport News about the same time she did, awaiting her arrival off Guayama. A despatch boat came puffing down to meet her, flying the signal, "Follow me," and Troopers in the bow saw a man armed with a megaphone mount the bridge of the despatch boat and shout: "'The Ma.s.sachusetts' will lead the way, landing at Ponce."

These instructions as to the exact landing place were somewhat contrary to those before given Captain Pitcher, who was in charge of the transport, so he shouted back, "By whose authority do you give those orders?" and the reply promptly came, "By the authority of Major General Nelson A. Miles, commanding."

This was at three o'clock, and the "Ma.s.sachusetts" at once went ahead.

At 4.30 the harbor of Ponce was sighted, and several of the Philadelphia cavalrymen in the bow saw that the transport was steering directly into shoal water, at the bottom of which a coral reef could be plainly seen.

They shouted to the man at the wheel, but too late--the great transport drove bow on into the reef, and at last, on the afternoon of August 4th, the Troopers were upon hostile soil, hard and fast.

Instantly upon the stoppage of the "Ma.s.sachusetts," a period of suffering began for the Troopers, in comparison with which all former experiences went as nothing. Deprived of all breeze, exposed to a torrid sun, half stifled by the fumes from the hundreds of horses and mules aboard, without water, the situation was well nigh unbearable. Up to the moment of grounding not an animal aboard had died. Within two hours after the motion of the vessel had stopped three horses perished, and two more died before they could be taken off. Fortunately none of these belonged to City Troopers. This suffering among the animals shows slightly what the men had to contend with.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CATHEDRAL VIRGIN DEL CARMEN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BIVOUAC OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL VIRGIN DEL CARMEN.]

Captain Groome secured permission to send Lieutenant Browning ash.o.r.e to select a camp site, and report. He made quick work of it, choosing a spot beside the Cathedral de la Carmen, and returning with an order from General Miles that the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, should land at once. This order amazed the New York cavalrymen, who had been heard to boast frequently that they would surely be given the preference in all military arrangements.

The orders were received with great joy by the Philadelphians, who were ready to disbark in short order, owing to the constant readiness in which they had kept. A rope tied about their outfit was all that was necessary, and the men were only too eager to leave the grounded vessel and its disagreeable quarters.

The Troopers were rescued by the little lighter "Whitney," sent by General Miles to bring the Philadelphia men ash.o.r.e. As soon as the Troopers reached land themselves they set to work to bring their horses off the transport. The air was full of rumors that the cavalry were needed in a hurry for active service, and the men went at the task of unshipping horses with a will. Some amusing attempts at interference on the part of the men of C Troop, Brooklyn, were simply ignored.

At three o'clock the next morning sixty-one of the one hundred and seven horses belonging to the Troop had been landed. The men not on duty had gone into the camp selected by Lieutenant Browning the day before, on the flagstones outside of the little cathedral. All day rain came down in torrents, introducing the Troopers to the duckings which were to be their lot several times each day during their stay upon the island.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRINGING THE HORSES ASh.o.r.e AT PONCE.]

CHAPTER VII.

IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY.

The morning of August 5th broke clear, however, and the day was one of the few without rain that the Troopers enjoyed while in Puerto Rico. A fine breeze was blowing, and the cavalrymen's ideas of the country began to take on a roseate hue. Everywhere their eyes met deep green tropical foliage and the cute little yellow houses without windows; strange old churches and curious natives made the entire scene appear more like a theatrical setting than a reality.

In the morning before five o'clock the blaring of trumpets announced a hurry call. As soon as the men came to their senses they heard the non-commissioned officers shouting: "Fall in without arms." The Troop never appeared to better advantage. The guard, the fourth platoon, tumbled out fully armed, and were standing in place in two minutes, and one minute later the entire Troop, in column of fours, with the captain in command, was double-quicking toward the dock. When the men got there, ten or fifteen minutes ahead of anyone else except the regulars, who arrived shortly after the Troop, they found that a lighter loaded with five thousand rifles for the infantry was sinking close to sh.o.r.e.

No example of the discipline, which always prevails in the City Troop, could be more striking than the one then witnessed by a score of other commands, which came rushing, all disorganized, to the scene. While the men in other companies were hesitating and wondering what to do, the City Troop broke into regular squads, under the command of the non-commissioned officers, and began methodical relief work. Every rifle was saved. Regular army officers on the spot warmly complimented Captain Groome upon the showing made by his men.

That afternoon Captain Groome, with Major Flagler and Major McMichael, of General Wilson's staff, rode out from Ponce into the country looking for a suitable camp site. The heat was intense, the dust thick, and a place which would fulfill all requirements was not easily found. The officers kept at it, however, until satisfied; although they were in a state of complete exhaustion upon their return. Indeed, all the men's faces for the first few days in Puerto Rico showed plainly the enervating influence of the climate, to which they could not easily get accustomed. Their tasks done, the Troopers would throw themselves down upon bales of hay, piles of boards or even the pavements, too weary to care where they were or how they looked. Men famed for their strength and endurance at home, would sit by the hour with their heads in their hands, rendered listless and weak by the heat and moisture.

That night again the men spread their blankets on the stones outside the cathedral. A citizen placed his front porch at the disposal of the Troop as a guard house. This furnished protection for the sentries on duty from the heavy showers which invariably occurred about midnight.

On Sat.u.r.day morning more horses were unloaded, and in the afternoon all the men who had mounts rode out beyond Ponce, on the highway which leads to Barros, to the camp selected by Captain Groome. While riding along the Troopers excited great interest among the natives because of the size of the American horses. In Puerto Rico all the horses are small, mere ponies in fact, less than fourteen hands high, and the islanders never failed to stare with open mouth at the City Troops handsome greys.

The size of the Troopers themselves also caused many expressions of amazement, and as some of the broad-shouldered men in the second and third platoons pa.s.sed, the spectators would make admiring signs with their hands, indicating the men's height and breadth.

The first trial of the horses proved that the sea voyage had done them good in one respect. Many were suffering from distemper when they left Newport News, but there was not a case noticed after the animals landed.

They were thin, stiff and sore, however, so that they were led over most of the six miles leading to the new camp.

Those Troopers still without horses remained aboard the "Ma.s.sachusetts"

unloading the seemingly endless string of horses and mules, and their energetic efforts were crowned with success late Sat.u.r.day night, when the last of the animals were landed. Sunday morning was cool, but cloudy--and as the last detail of City Troopers were packing and saddling their horses, they heard the voice of a priest conducting early ma.s.s in the tiny cathedral close by. The cavalrymen walked with their horses' bridles over their arms. As they pa.s.sed through Ponce they encountered many scowling faces, but once in the country a majority of the natives shouted a welcome. By noon they reached the spot chosen for a camp; the Troopers were together again in a magnificent bit of country, blue mountains everywhere, and brilliant, luxurious foliage on all sides. "Hazel" manifested a striking fondness for all things Puerto Rican, and had to be tied in a rather barren spot to prevent overfeeding.

Reveille sounded at four o'clock Monday morning, and the packing of saddles began at once. At seven o'clock the order came to join with H Troop as escort to a train of one thousand mules, headquarter horses, signal and ambulance corps, and as quickly as possible to join General Brooke's command at Guayama. Mounted for the first time, off the Troop went, retracing its steps through a glorious stretch of country to Ponce, where on the main southern road the long supply train for General Brooke's army was overtaken. Thus hampered, the march became slow. It was terrifically hot, and the dust blew about in clouds. At one o'clock the cavalrymen pa.s.sed through Santa Isabella, where a half hours stop was made to bring up the stragglers of the mule train, and to take a turn at the hard tack and dried beef.

Then the march began through the enemy's country, the City Troop acting as advance guard, and H Troop, of the Sixth Regular Cavalry, acting as rear guard. Flankers were sent out, and the advance guard was frequently informed by natives that quite a large number of Spaniards were retreating a short distance ahead. The City Troopers came upon many signs of the enemy's presence along the road, and at four o'clock the Troops went into camp at the Hacienda Fortuna, a rich sugar plantation.

An outpost of City Troopers was immediately established, and all barns and outbuildings were thoroughly searched before night.

Just before midnight a hurry call sent six City Troopers and six H Troopers, under Captain Groome and Lieutenant Ryan, scouring a neighboring cane brake for Spaniards, spies having reported their presence there in force. No lurking Dons were found, however, and at four o'clock the next morning camp was broken and the march resumed in dead earnest. The City Troopers acted as rear guard to the train. No American troops had pa.s.sed through this part of the island before, and as it was said to be a Spanish stronghold, great watchfulness was observed. On both sides of the ragged road were cane breaks and great growths of underbrush, and it was a tiresome ride and no small task looking out for Spaniards, stubborn mules and foolish drivers.