At seven o'clock the first section pulled out of the station, Stable Sergeant Wagner and Troopers T. Cadwalader, Goodman, Pemberton and Rogers being detailed to accompany the horses. An hour later the remainder of the Troop was allowed to start.
The train arrangements were excellent, every man in the squadron having a full seat to himself. It was interesting to note the various ways in which the Troopers prepared for their night of travel. A trip through the train showed all sorts of games in progress—cards, checkers, dominoes and the like. The good story tellers of the various troops were the centre of laughing groups; many of the business men had their heads buried in the commercial page of the evening papers; some of the more stolid warriors attempted to go to sleep the moment the train started; in all it formed a picturesque grouping, and furnished rich material for the students of human nature among the troops.
The discussions of the men regarding the general campaign were interesting, as the war fever was then at its height. Four days before the Atlantic Squadron, under Sampson and Schley, had destroyed the fleet of Admiral Cervera during its attempt to escape from the harbor of Santiago. General Shafter's men were then pressing upon Santiago, and its surrender was hourly expected. Then it was believed that the word would come "On to Havana," and many of the Troopers believed that their command would surely have a part in this movement.
HAVING FUN WITH "HAZEL"
So far the war had been one of surprises, scarcely an engagement having taken place at a point where a few months before the military leaders would have deemed it possible to expect one. Spain's navy had proven no match for that of the United States, but her little army about Santiago had made a good showing, and hard fights seemed probable before the main army would be driven from Cuba.
The train first came to a stop in Harrisburg, in the midst of a mass of enthusiastic men and women, assembled to greet the members of the Governor's troop and Sheridan troop. The crowd rushed pell-mell through the cars containing the troopers of the other organizations, knocking down carbines and sabers, and upsetting things generally. But sentries had thoughtfully been placed by Lieutenant Browning at the doors of the City Troop cars, and this company's share in the demonstration was conducted through the windows. "Hazel," the goat presented to the Troop during its service at the time of the Hazelton riots, gravely surveyed the scene from her outlook, and came in for a lion's share of attention. Just as the train started an enthusiastic young woman, who had been fighting her way toward the train, thrust a white kitten into the hands of Corporal Wister, with instructions to be good to it. In all it was a pleasant break in the monotony of a long ride.
By midnight the State line was passed, and at Baltimore the first section of the train was overtaken. The Troopers, with the exception of the officers, were in day coaches, and made a picturesque sight, asleep in all conceivable attitudes. Enough were awake, however, to chat for a time with the members of the horse detail. By half-past four the men aroused, and thirty minutes later reached the station at Dunn Loring, Va. A breakfast of milk and sandwiches was eaten on the train, and then the unloading began. This work was speedily accomplished without a hitch or accident, and by nine o'clock the canvas of the three troops began to go up on the site of the camp formerly occupied by the Eighth Ohio Infantry, commonly known as "The President's Own."
All day long the cavalrymen worked upon the sun-baked slope, and by nightfall the grounds were in splendid order. In one regard the Troopers were fortunate, an artesian well being within fifty feet of their camp. This, however, supplied the wants of the men only, the horses, at first, having to be led more than a mile for water. Shade was abundant near the camp, the horses being better off in that respect than at Camp Hastings.
After a good night's sleep the men were called upon for disagreeable duty, which was at once cheerfully taken up. The "doughboys" who had occupied the grounds previously had left the woods in the rear in such a condition as to menace the health of the camp, and twenty men from each troop were detailed by Captain Groome to police the woods, and at the end of the second day the grounds were comparatively clean, and the men were then called upon for their first drill at Camp Alger. There was a great crowd around the parade grounds when the Troopers made their first appearance, and the repeated cheers and applause of the spectators came as an unexpected and pleasing surprise.