CHAPTER III.
DEPARTURE FOR CAMP ALGER.
June first found Captain Groome back again, with the information that if possible the horses for the City Troop would be grey. A large number of that color had been found and accepted by the Board, and as grey was the color best suited for service in tropical countries, the Captain had bespoken the greys for his troop. On June 4th the Captain rejoined the Horse Board, and the first animals purchased reached camp. The greys were tied to the picket line, which was extended in front of the Troop's long row of tents.
On the seventh of the month the City Troop received orders from Major-General Graham, commanding the Second Army Corps, to proceed at once to Camp Alger, and report as a part of that corps. To do this would be to leave the camp with but a part of the Troop's horses and equipments, so Captain Groome requested that the Troop be allowed to remain until fully equipped, if possible. However, all arrangements were made in compliance with the first order, and camp was broken on the afternoon of June 9th. Some of the officers' wives, who had taken cottages at Chautauqua, had dismissed their servants, and the Troopers were ready to march to the train, when an order came granting the Captain's request, and ordering the Troop to remain until fully equipped.
Recruiting officers were at once sent to Philadelphia, and two days later twelve new Troopers arrived, fully uniformed. Captain Groome was too busy to remain with the Horse Board any longer, and Lieutenant Browning went in his stead. The drills increased in length each day, and the new recruits as fast as they arrived were sent out in squads to learn the first principles, and then were given a turn with the entire Troop. The officers had a class in tactics daily, and the men took up the study of bugle calls. The recruits were given much guard duty to perform, and wherever they went they carried their books of regulations, learning the paragraphs by heart.
On June 24th, Samuel Chew arrived at camp, direct from the Klondike gold regions, and took up his duties as if he had done nothing unusual, yet he had made the long journey in record-breaking time simply to rejoin his comrades. Twenty new tents arrived that day, affording accommodations for the new men. On the 17th, the last of the regiments of infantry left, and the Troopers were monarchs of all they surveyed. While the infantrymen were good fellows, there were many reasons why the Troopers were glad when they had gone. Some time previously the Troopers had erected a rough shed in which they had placed shower baths, but now that they had undisputed possession of the lake, they enjoyed long daily swims.
Upon the departure of the last infantry regiment Captain Groome became the commanding officer at Camp Hastings, by virtue of seniority, he having been the first volunteer cavalry officer to be sworn into the United States service. He at once formed the three troops, Governor's, Sheridan and City Troop, into a squadron and assumed command. A change in the camp routine at once went into effect. Squadron drills were held daily, and other features of camp life, which interested all visitors, were squadron guard mount and evening parade.
The new horses were utterly unused to cavalry exercises, in fact many of them had never been ridden before, and the Troopers had lively times training their steeds. One of the sights which visitors to the camp were never tired of watching was the skill with which the Troopers "threw" their horses, to accustom them to the exercise in which the horses are supposed to lie down and afford forts for the riders. The throwing is exciting sport. The left fore leg of a horse is strapped up so that the animal stands upon three legs, a strap is attached to the other fore leg and grasped by the rider, who suddenly turns the horse's head way around to one side and pulls the other fore leg from the ground. The animal is obliged to fall to his knees and is then coaxed over. When once the horse realizes that the rider means him no harm, the work is more than half done.
A LESSON IN HORSE THROWING