Loe raamatut: «Springfield in the Spanish American War», lehekülg 11
CHAPTER XX
WHEREIN IS NARRATED THE ADVENTURES ON THE HIGH SEAS OF SPRINGFIELD'S SAILORS
WHILE the land soldiers which Springfield furnished the government were enjoying themselves in Florida and Cuba and toying with the canned roast beef and other incidentals of a campaign, the Springfield marine contingent was not having an altogether lovely time. On the monitor Lehigh and the auxiliary cruiser Prairie there was work and hard work too in plenty but on the whole the rations and the quarters were better than those enjoyed by the infantry contingent. But the boys of H company, naval brigade, pined for active service and those on the Lehigh were aggrieved at not getting it while their comrades on the Prairie were roaming the seas on a fast ship in chase of the enemy or doing blockade duty off the coasts of Cuba and Porto Rico. It was hard work for the Lehigh men to be cooped up on their old, "flat boat" in Boston harbor during the stirring times of the summer of 1898 but it is to their credit that although they grumbled at their lot as all good sailors do, yet they did their full duty and did it well.
The bringing of the Lehigh from the League Island navy yard to Boston Harbor was in itself something of an achievement for the tug which towed her broke down and the monitor was forced to proceed under her own steam, much to the surprise of those on the tug Clara Clorita. This happened at Vineyard Haven and from that point to Boston the Lehigh was cast off from the tug and was sailed the remainder of the way under her own steam and by her own crew. When the Lehigh left Philadelphia the navy yard officials were apprehensive of her behavior at sea as she was primarily a coast defence vessel but the naval brigade men in the monitor found no great trouble in sailing her.
The Lehigh reached Boston on May 5 and on the 9th the Springfield officers and men of the crew were given leaves of absence and furloughs to enable them to attend the presentation of "The Ensign" by Springfield amateurs at the Court Square theater for the benefit of the company fund. The crew included Lieut. J. K. Dexter, Lieut, (j. g.) W. O. Cohn, Ensign Walter S. Barr and Seamen W. A. Sabin, A. N. Luce, R. P. King, Paul H. Lathrop, L. E. Ladd, W. S. Johnson, W. F. Bright and R. H. B. Warburton. The presentation was a successful one in every way and netted quite a sum.
Meanwhile the Lehigh had been permanently detailed for duty in Boston harbor as a coast defence vessel and a disagreeable surprise was in store for some of the Springfield men when they returned from their furloughs. They were all anxious to re-enlist for service and had been assured by Capt. Weeks, commanding the naval brigade, that if they telegraphed to him their willingness to re-enlist before a certain hour on the 10th, places would be kept for them. But on their arrival on the ship on May 12th they found that there was only one vacancy left. Just how the mistake was made was never thoroughly explained, but it was suspected by the Springfield men that there was a scheme to shut as many of them as possible out in favor of some Boston naval militiamen. They felt it keenly and Lieut. Dexter succeeded in straightening out matters so that Coxswain Johnson and Seamen Bright and Warburton were re-enlisted. Sabin, Luce and King had already done so and this left only Lathrop and Ladd out in the cold. In spite of their efforts they could not get in.
The officers suffered also from the fact that there were not places enough for all of them in the Lehigh's complement as a coast defense ship. Lieut. Colin was offered the alternative of going on the waiting list or being reduced in rank to ensign. He chose the latter and remained with the ship but there was no place for Ensign Barr and he was placed on the waiting list and returned home to await orders. Later Lieut. Dexter was taken from the Lehigh and placed on the converted ferry boat "Governor Russell," the property of the City of Boston which had turned over to the government, as executive officer.
All this time the "Prairie dogs," as the crew of that vessel were dubbed by their less fortunate comrades, were having a fairly good time at the Brooklyn navy yard. Much time was spent there in fitting up the vessel as an auxiliary cruiser and until the work was well advanced the crew was lodged and fed in hotels and later in the navy yard barracks.
As it happened, Ralph H. Newcomb was the first of the Springfield men to reach the Prairie and report for duty. He was in Washington on a visit when orders were issued for H company to report at Brooklyn and when he was notified by Lieut. Crossman he lost no time in getting to that city and the navy yard, beating out his comrades by several hours.
Hammocks were "swung" on the Prairie for the first time on Saturday, May 7th, and from that time until muster-out in September hotel fare was a dream of the past to which the boys looked back with considerable regret. The Prairie, completely transformed into a war ship, left the navy yard and steamed down the harbor to Tompkinsville. This was on Friday, the 13th of May, but if there was any "hoodoo" it failed to work. The next day the Prairie steamed out to sea and had target practice, badly frightening some of the residents of the coast with the big guns. Late in the afternoon the Prairie gave chase to a suspicious craft which turned out to be an English tramp steamer.
The Prairie had been assigned to patrol duty on the North Atlantic coast with the San Francisco. The "Frisco" was sighted on the day following and both ships steamed into Provincetown and remained there for the next day, sailing out late in the afternoon. It is recorded that the sailors washed clothes during their stay in Provincetown and it is evident they were getting a taste of the life of a jolly tar. The regular patrol tour of the Prairie was from Provincetown north to some 40 miles above Boston, then south to Nantucket to Provincetown, meeting the San Francisco off the cape and obtaining mail.
These were not idle days by any means. What with battalion drills, inspection, target practice, painting ship and the regular routine of ship's work the long hours of duty passed quickly and the men were pretty well tired out as a rule when the time came to get into their hammocks. But the men of H company learned fast and soon accustomed themselves to life on one of Uncle Sam's war ships. The one thing they did not take to very kindly in the line of work was coaling ship and this came rather oftener than they had any relish for.
In the way of food there was little to complain of, although the fare was not Delmonico-like by any means. One of the mess cooks kept a diary of what he served up for every meal during the service of the Prairie and it shows that the menus, while probably simple enough to the men on board, would have been regarded as the acme of luxurious living by their brethren of the Second. A few samples are given: breakfast, June 10, Indian meal and coffee; dinner, soup, roast beef and potatoes; supper, hash and French toast. June 12th, breakfast, bacon and potatoes; dinner, sausages and potatoes; supper, beans, cold meat and sausages. The daily average was fully up to the samples given above.
Capt. Train of the Prairie was a disciplinarian and there were punishments meted out for various small offences. One man was deprived of shore liberty for three months for throwing swill out of a port hole. For smoking outside of "smoking hours" the customary punishment was 48 hours of extra duty, while for being late with hammocks the sentence was for the delinquents to parade the deck for an hour or two hours with the hammocks on their shoulders.
The Prairie sailed from Provincetown June 10th for a brief cruise southward, but returned on the 14th. The weather was very foggy during the cruise and on the 14th the ship came near running down an English tramp steamer passing within a boat's length of her.
On the 16th the Prairie sailed again from Provincetown for Delaware breakwater, arriving there on the 18th. The next day she sailed for New York, anchoring off Tompkinsville the 20th. Coaling ship was one of the innocent amusements of the day and the men stowed away 83 tons in the afternoon. Early next morning the sport was resumed and before breakfast 28 tons more had been put away in the bunkers, the record for the day being 182 tons. The next day the coal situation again took the attention of the crew but they finished the job. Shore liberty resulted in some of the men overstaying it and being shut off from any more during the stay. On Sunday, June 26th, the men got into blue dress for inspection but before the ceremony was over orders came to sail at once for Key West. Off came the blue suits and the men got into their "coal" suits again and finished coaling ship at 1.30 in the morning. The Prairie sailed for Key West on the 27th, arriving there June 1st. Her stay was short, for the same day she left with mail for the blockading squadron off Cuba and sighting the Amphitrite the next day transferred her mail to her. Later that day the Prairie gave the mail to the Newport, Montgomery, Vicksburg and Marietta. That afternoon the men on the Prairie saw the Marietta pick up a refugee from the shore and saw the guns from Morro Castle fire at her but fail to strike.
On July Fourth the men paraded in blue and fired the national salute. The Prairie for a day or two acted as flagship of the squadron during the absence of the Amphitrite at Key West.
On Tuesday, July 5th, the Hawk came alongside the Prairie with orders for the latter to proceed to Mariel, 23-1/2 miles from Havana, and assist in the capture of a liner supposed to have been trying to run the blockade. The liner proved to be the Spanish transport Alphonso XII, with a large number of soldiers on board. She had tried to run the blockade but had been discovered and chased so sharply by a couple of the converted yachts attached to the blockading squadron that she was run ashore and lay head on. The troops and her crew had managed to get ashore by the time the Prairie came up, but it was not certain that she was not manned and several shots were sent at her from the starboard six-inch guns. After the fourth or fifth shot there was an explosion, evidently her magazine, and as she did not return the fire the Prairie ceased firing. During the firing a saucy little Spanish gunboat stuck her nose out of the harbor but a couple of six-inch shells settled her fate and she was sunk in quick time. The firing at the Alphonso XII was first-rate target practice and at long range, too, all the shells hitting her, although the range was 6600 yards.
On July 7th the Tecumseh brought a lot of mail from Key West for the Prairie and a good share of the day was put in in reading it. On the 9th a small shark was caught and some of the boys secured teeth as souvenirs.
Monday, July 11th, the Prairie was relieved of blockade duty off Mariel and ordered to Gibara with the Topeka, Mayflower and Badger, the Prairie being made the flagship of the squadron. The trip to Gibara was without special incidents and the ships arrived there on the 13th. Just as the blockaders appeared a schooner and two fishing smacks which were just coming out made haste to get back into the port. Blockade duty was kept up for several days and occasionally the ship would go in so close to the town that the people could be seen in the streets. The search-lights were used about every night and this work was pleasing to the men detailed for it.
The San Francisco arrived on the 17th and took off a lot of mail for the United States. Since leaving Havana the crew of the Prairie had not received any mail and were eagerly expecting some. On the 18th the supply of sugar gave out and this was keenly felt until some was procured. On the 20th the Maple, which had joined the squadron, caught a small sloop with a crew of four men and laden with tobacco, making the first prize of the tour.
One of the marine detail on the Prairie was a Springfield man named John Fenton and on the 21st he was the victim of a severe accident caused by the slipping of a six-inch shell from his hands at gun practice. The shell landed on his foot, badly crushing it.
This same day a delegation of the prominent citizens of Gibara came out in a small boat and offered to surrender the town as the Spanish garrison was about to leave and the inhabitants were afraid of the negroes in the vicinity. On receiving the offer the Prairie steamed to Nipe bay where the Topeka was found engaged in shelling the town. The Dupont took a message to the Topeka and the Prairie returned to Gibara. From a Cuban who came out in a dory it was learned that the inhabitants had raised an American flag over the town and were anxious that a force be landed to take possession of the place. It was also learned that the town was short of provisions. The Cuban's heart was gladdened by the gift of hardtack, canned meat, corn and coffee. On the 25th the Mangrove brought orders to proceed to Guantanamo bay and coal up at once. At Guantanamo fresh meat and also newspapers a week or two old were received.
Wednesday, July 27th, marked the close of the third month of service of the Prairie's crew and as if to celebrate the event the Supply came in with a lot of provisions. The work of coaling ship was begun on the night of the 25th and did not cease until the 27th, the men standing their regular watches and doing their trick with the coal as if it was nothing unusual.
The Prairie sailed from Guantanamo bay on the evening of the 27th and reached San Juan, Porto Rico, on the 29th. Some ammunition brought from Guantanamo for the cruiser New Orleans was transferred to her in boats. The Prairie did not stay long at San Juan but sailed for Ponce on the other side of the island on the 31st, arriving there the next day. Troops were being landed at Ponce and the roadstead was filled with war ships and transports. One of the transports became stuck on a bar outside the light-house and the Prairie had hard work getting her off the bar. A lot of mangoes brought aboard resulted in a number of the men being made ill from indulging too freely in the fruit. The soldiers on the transport Massachusetts, the one which was stuck, were taken on board the Prairie and fed, being landed the next day.
News of the cessation of hostilities reached the ship August 5th and was received at first with incredulity. The night of Friday, August 12th, was made memorable by Burgess tumbling out of his hammock three times in rapid succession. "Rags," the canine mascot, had become subject to fits and was assisted to commit suicide one day while in the harbor.
The Prairie received orders to sail for the United States and on August 18th left for Santiago, arriving there the 20th. The ship left Santiago the 21st, with three companies of the Seventh infantry on board. All went well until the 25th, when a heavy fog came on and the Prairie ran aground near Amagansett Point, 15 miles from Montauk Point. There was considerable confusion, of course, but the Prairie was handled well. All the boats were lowered and two kedge anchors were put out, one from the starboard quarter and the other from the starboard forecastle. The boats were out all night and it was not until at high tide the next day that the Prairie was hauled off by the tug Brittania and a light-house tender. The soldiers were landed and taken to Montauk Point. After being hauled off the Prairie sailed for Montauk Point, arriving there early in the evening. At Montauk the Prairie was put into quarantine until the 28th. Hardly was she out of quarantine before she steamed to Newport and from there to Fall River, where a warm reception was given the Fall River men on board the ship. That evening the Fall River and New Bedford men went ashore but the Springfield contingent was kept on board, much to their disappointment. On the 30th the Prairie left Fall River and steamed down to Newport, the event of the evening being the playing of the "Fu-Fu" band. The next day the ship started for New York and remained there until the 19th, when she went to Delaware Breakwater. Rumors of discharge began to agitate the crew soon after arriving in New York and Capt. Train went to Washington to confer with the Navy Department concerning it but returned with no definite knowledge of the exact time the muster-out would take place. From Delaware Breakwater the Prairie steamed up to the League Island navy yard where some of the guns were taken off and transferred to the New York. During the stay in New York and at League Island the "Rough Riders" made several successful initiations.
Sunday, September 25, hammocks were lashed for the last time and after the dunnage had been loaded on a tug, the crew mustered and gave three cheers for Capt. Train and Lieuts. Stone and Stimpson. This done, the crew bade good bye to the Prairie and went ashore, going to Jersey City by train. After a brief trip on a ferry, the Fall River boat was boarded for the trip to that city and Boston. The latter place was reached about 10 o'clock Monday morning and after passing in review before the governor at the state house the Prairie men proceeded to the receiving ship Wabash, where they were furloughed until the following Wednesday. The boys enjoyed themselves hugely in Boston until Wednesday, when they were mustered out and given their discharges from the service of the United States.
At 9.15 that evening, the Springfield part of the crew arrived home and were given an enthusiastic welcome in which red fire and fireworks played a prominent part. At the armory the men were greeted by glad relatives and soon dispersed to their homes plain naval militiamen once more after doing their full duty to Uncle Sam and serving him well.
Lieut. H. S Crossman, who went out with the Prairie detail remained on the ship until she was ordered south, when he and some of the other officers were sent out on special duty. He was assigned to duty as recruiting officer on the Minnesota and remained there until a short time before the dismissal of the Prairie's crew from the service.
Lieut. J. K. Dexter was detailed from duty on the Lehigh to duty as navigator on the converted ferry boat, Gov. Russell, and ordered to take her to Key West. The trip was an eventful one, for the Gov. Russell as a war boat was a fearfully and wonderfully constructed piece of marine architecture, and there were times when it was a question whether she would ever reach a port or not. But finally she was navigated as far as Newport News, and after looking her carefully over, the naval authorities decided that it was not wise to expose her again to the high seas.
After muster-out of the Lehigh detail H company was once more at home and it was not long before the reorganization of the command as a part of the state militia was begun and successfully carried out, a good number of the officers and men who had seen service remaining. Today the company is once more in its old position of the best all-round company in the Massachusetts naval brigade.
On October 27th, a number of prominent citizens tendered H company a banquet at Hotel Worthy, and the occasion will long be remembered as a very pleasant one. During the evening the handsome silk American flag, purchased for the company by citizens, was presented by Rev. Dr. P. S. Moxom.
ROSTER
FIELD STAFF AND NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF
Colonel, Embury P. Clark. Major, Frederick G. Southmayd. Adjutant, First Lieut. Paul R. Hawkins. Quartermaster, First Lieut. Edward E. Sawtell. Major and Surgeon, Henry C. Bowen. Major and Surgeon, Ernest A. Gates.
Sergeant-Major, Robert N. Ingersol. Quartermaster-Sergeant, Ross L. Lusk. Hospital Steward, Edson P. Howes.
G. COMPANY
PRIVATES
B COMPANY
PRIVATES
K COMPANY
PRIVATES
H COMPANY NAVAL BRIGADE
SEAMEN
THE ROLL OF HONOR
Henry C. Bowen, Major and Surgeon, died in Second Division Hospital, Santiago, August 13, of malarial fever.
G COMPANY
Corporal Patrick J. Noone, died in Springfield, September 20, 1898, typhoid fever.
Private George A. Richmond, died in field hospital near El Caney, July 1, 1898, of wound in head.
Private Walter A. Packard, killed on field, El Caney, July 1, 1898.
Private Robert G. Kelly, died in division hospital of wound received in action July 2d, at San Juan.
Private Francis A. Burke, died at Springfield, October 24, 1898.
Private Andrew Little, died in second division hospital, Santiago, August 22, 1898.
Private Fred S. Stetson, died in second division hospital, Santiago, August 24, 1898.
B COMPANY
Second Lieutenant Harry J. Vesper, died on S. S. Mobile, August 17, 1898, of gastric enteritis.
Quartermaster Sergeant Richard H. Bearse, died in camp before Santiago, August 1, 1898, of malarial fever.
Wagoner Paul J. Kingston, died on S. S. Mobile, August 27, 1898, of malarial fever.
Private John J. Malone, died in field hospital, July 5, 1898, of wound received at El Caney, July 1.
Private Paul Vesper, died in camp before Santiago, August 10, 1898, of malarial fever.
K COMPANY
Corporal William C. Piper, died in second division hospital, August 5, 1898.
Corporal Thomas C. Boone, died in Springfield, March 19, 1899.
Musician Frank P. Jones, died at Montauk Point, L. I., August 27, 1898.
Private Frank E. Moody, killed on field, July 1, 1898, at El Caney.
Private Arthur M. Burnham, died in division hospital, Santiago, August 18, 1898, of typhoid fever.
Private Michael R. Lyons, died in Springfield, April 20, 1899.
Private George S. Creley, died in Springfield, June 28, 1899.
Private John L. Morehouse, died in Springfield, November 12, 1899.
Since the muster-out three more of Springfield's contingent, all K company men, have answered the final roll call. Corporal Thomas C. Boone died in Massachusetts general hospital at Boston, March 19, 1899, and Private Michael R. Lyons at Springfield, April 20. Private George C. Creley died June 25, at his home after a long illness. Private John L. Morehouse died in Springfield, November 12, 1889.
