"I, Panfilo de Narvaez, cause to be known to you how God created the world and charged St. Peter to be the Sovereign of all men in whatever country they might be born. God gave him the whole world for his inheritance. One of his successors made it a gift to the King and Queen of Spain so that the Indians are their subjects. You will be compelled to accept Christianity. If you refuse and delay agreeing to what I have proposed to you, I will march against you. I will subject you to obedience to the Church and his Majesty. I will obtain possession of your wives and children. I will reduce you to slavery, and the blood be upon your own head. Amen."
When Menendez landed, he took possession of the whole Western Hemisphere in the name of the King of Spain, and this present year has seen the grand finale of the act begun with great pomp in 1565.
One Sunday afternoon in the Y.M.C.A. tent General O.O. Howard made an address to the boys which was brimming with patriotism and recited a pathetic anecdote of a young lieutenant of artillery who at Gettysburg was wounded and bled to death. I was very proud to grasp the left hand of the old hero whose eyes had flashed fire in a dozen fierce and bloody battles of the civil war.
In due course of events the mess-house became a reality. It was 48 by 18, roofed over, the sides being open. It contained two long tables and seated about one hundred. Here the boys would congregate. The incoming mail was distributed here, and the assorting of the laundry also.
Brigade drills in battle formation took place now quite frequently. This formation consists of sending out scouts, flankers, firing line, supports and reserves. At 7.30 a.m. the companies were formed into battalions, the battalions into regiments, and the regiments into brigade while they marched towards the field. Our brigade (the First) consisted of the First North Carolina, Second New Jersey and Second Illinois. As we passed out of our camp we met the First North Carolina, which preceded us, and the Second Illinois followed as we passed their camp. Route step had been ordered, for it was hot and the order from General Burt was to make it as little burdensome as possible. It was a very picturesque march. The men rolled up their sleeves, loosened their gunslings, and thrust their arms between them and the barrels with the butts up, barrel pointing down across the thigh. Others carried their rifles reversed to the above, then again laid them across the top of both shoulders.
Imagine the picture those three thousand men made winding in columns over bridges, through defiles, over fields, and through pine groves. Here we see the head of the column going up that hill with General Burt and staff leading. The General is a small man, has a light grey moustache and keen eyes. He does not get excited,—always has a calm expression. His staff are around him, all men of superior build but inferior rank. Every once in a while one of these will receive an order and instantly scurry away. Now come the men of the First North Carolina in uniforms of dark navy; but suddenly our view is shut out, for we are passing through an unused railroad cut and we see only a short distance ahead of us.
But see! There goes the first battalion of our own Second across that high railroad bank, and then they disappear down its side. We look sharp now, for we are going over a corduroy road over a stream. This is made of tree trunks with their branches thrown between to fill up the angles. Then we go up a hill, and spread out before us in the fine groves, are the North Carolinians in battle array along a wire fence. The first and third battalions of our regiment move in behind them and form on their left, being a continuation of the firing line. Our battalion is the support of our regiment. Looking back, we see the Illinois boys trudging over the ground we have just left. We are getting thoroughly interested in the movements. The Second Illinois marches past, taking up a position to the left of our firing line. We now have two lines, firing line and supports. Then the positions are changed. The Illinois boys are sent chasing towards the St. Johns river, and their cheers can be heard. We advance our columns, and soon come up with the men from the Windy City. The General has seen enough and orders a rest. The bugle kindly sounds the retreat and we pass over again the same ground that made our advance so picturesque.
In the course of the first of these drills we had to get across a small stream by jumping on a board laid in the middle, and making another leap for safety. This process delayed our line so that the order was again given for double time to close up the gap. Double time under the best of conditions is bad enough, but at 9 a.m. on that morning the heat was fierce. We ran about one thousand yards and then felt as if a downy bed at home would just about fill the bill. However, we got over it all right and it has now become part of our stock of anecdotes.