RETURN ALONG THE ROAD FROM GUAYAMA TO PONCE.
The second day began with a cool shower, which left the atmosphere in a splendid condition, and the advance was more rapid. While all the men had been supplied with Khaiki uniforms, it was noticeable that on this last day's march in the enemy's country a majority clung to the blue. A short rest was taken at midday. Late in the afternoon the heavens began to let loose a flood of rain, and streams sprang up beneath the feet of the cavalrymen. Twenty minutes after the Troopers passed the bridge leading to Playa de Ponce, the structure was swept away by a raging torrent one hundred feet wide. At nightfall the City Troopers had just put up their small tents and gone into camp for the night, when, at 9.30 p. m., the signal service sent word to Captain Groome that the tents would have to come up and the men get away quickly, as a river would soon be rolling over the spot where the Troopers were preparing to turn in. Indeed, by the time the warning came, trickling streams innumerable were sweeping through the field below the camp. Assembly was sounded, and in forty-five minutes tents were struck, bags packed, horses saddled, four wagons loaded, and the Troop moved out. When the tents were first pitched, it was the intention of the Troopers to name the camp after Hugh Craig, Jr., but this idea was given up after the message from the signal corps, and the name "Mala Aqua"—wicked water—substituted. Mr. Craig's name was afterward bestowed upon the last camp occupied by the Troopers on foreign soil.
No sheltered spot could be found that night after the retreat from the oncoming river, so the Troopers philosophically wrapped themselves in their blankets and lay down in the streets of Playa, unmindful of the beating rain. Despite the downpour there were soon a number of fires burning about the camp, for the Philadelphia men had become experts in the art of getting a cheery blaze out of wet wood, and damp matches no longer possessed any terrors.
While the men slept on the pavement, their horses were tied to logs along the curb. Some of the Troopers induced their mounts to lie down and be used as pillows. It was a strange sight, more picturesque than it was comfortable for the men who made up the tableau. If any one incident in the campaign could be said to illustrate better than another the clean grit which actuated every move of the Troopers, this night spent in the streets of Playa, amid drenching rain, would probably be selected by a historian.
In the morning Captain Groome marched the Troopers into "Dolorales" lumber yard, where the sheds, roofed over with galvanized iron, looked extremely inviting to the rain-soaked men. Blankets were spread on the top of lumber piles, under the roof, and perched up there the Troopers were sheltered from the alternate sun and showers.
For one week there was a hard struggle to kill time. There was nothing to do but look after the horses, and no place to go. Several times members of the Troop took carriage rides about the city, and had all the points of interest explained by guides. Hope was high in the hearts of officers and men alike that a start for Philadelphia could be made by September 1st, but the first came and still no orders. Relief was close at hand, however, for on Friday, September 2d, orders came to turn the Troop's horses and equipments over to the headquarter officers at Ponce, and to embark the Troopers upon the transport "Mississippi," which was lying a half mile out in the harbor.
Before turning over the horses to other hands, the old greys were given a careful rub down, and then a thorough cleaning was bestowed upon halters, bridles, carbines, scabbards, sabers, pistols and holsters. The Troopers were complimented upon the condition of their mounts, for they came out of the campaign much the best of any other horses, although admittedly they had been given the hardest work to do.
While there was naturally much regret expressed by the cavalrymen at parting with the horses and equipments, which had formed so close a part of their lives during the summer, yet there was a bright side to the matter, inasmuch as the Troopers on their homeward trip were saved most of their hard work. No longer were they obliged to feed and water their horses twice a day, and do stable duty each morning; they were also rid of all the tugging on and off of lighters, transports and trains of saddles and equipments, and they were through spending their spare moments polishing up the numerous small belongings of a Trooper. In the turning over of all these things there was a great relief.
All day Friday A and C Troops, of New York; the Governor's and Sheridan Troops, of Pennsylvania; and Pennsylvania A Battery, loaded the transport with their horses. Finally at six o'clock in the afternoon, the City Troop, their canvas and commissary having been lightered to the ship, fell in and marched to the dock. At eight o'clock Captain Groome ordered them on a big lighter, and drawn by the tug "Sarah," of Philadelphia, they went out in the harbor to the "Mississippi." There, with blanket rolls over one shoulder, and haversacks and saddlebags over the other, they tumbled up the ladder to the deck of the slow, but comparatively commodious transport. Not until midnight did General Wilson's headquarter horses get aboard, and the vessel was soon afterward steering for New York. No demonstration was made during the embarking of the troops. The cavalrymen were too tired to do any cheering themselves, even at the thought of home. The natives about the dock did some cheering, but as they were always ready to hurrah over anything, their yells did not particularly inspire the departing soldiers.
The City Troop had its quarters forward on the "Mississippi," with A Battery alongside and A Troop on the deck below. This was pleasant all around, as the New York and Philadelphia Troopers were the best of friends, and in addition the Troopers had many friends in the Philadelphia battery.