Springfield in the Spanish American War

by Walter W. Ward

The state and the city co-operated well in making plans for the comfort of the returning soldiers. Gov. Wolcott was on hand when the special train rolled in and three members of his staff had been at work for several days previous assisting in the preparations for the reception of the men. Mayor Dickinson and the city officials had done everything in their power to aid the soldiers and with them at all times were the officers and members of the Volunteer Aid association and many private citizens, good men and women who labored zealously in the good cause. Others there were, too, not connected officially with state or city or with any society, but whose work was ably done and is never to be forgotten.

MONITOR LEHIGH IN ACTION

At 2.58 in the afternoon the train came in and the 10,000 people in waiting set up a cheer at the initiative of Gov. Wolcott. Then the people pressed hard against the ropes which marked the clear space on the platform through which the men were to go and the police officers had their hands full for a time in keeping them back. The north side waiting room had been cleared of occupants and outside were hundreds of public and private carriages waiting to carry the boys wherever they might wish. And in this one detail of carriages the thoughtfulness of the people of the city as well as their willingness to do all in their power for the boys of the Second were shown. Scores of them had volunteered the use of their carriages that day and their offers had been gladly accepted, for in the majority of cases the men were hardly able to walk any distance, and a ride on a jolting electric car would not have been the best thing in the world for them. But there were carriages in plenty and the men were quickly and carefully conveyed either to their homes or the hospitals.

When the train stopped the people detailed to look after the disembarkation of the men at once got to work and the boys were quickly but tenderly taken through the waiting room and placed in the carriages. There were many who were unable to walk even this short distance unassisted, but in the majority of cases the men were so glad to be once more at home that the excitement kept them up and some lingered about on the platform, exchanging greetings with their relatives or friends in the crowd. A number of physicians were on hand to look after any of the men who were in immediate need of their attention and in many other ways provision had been made for all. The majority of the men were driven directly to their homes. Others went to the House of Mercy or the Springfield hospital.

The 10,000 or more people which greeted the returned ones did so in sober but cordial fashion. There was no demonstrative welcome, for common sense told the people that it would have been the worst thing possible for the men whom the crowd wanted to honor. They were in no condition to endure such a welcome and what they wanted was to get to their homes or a resting place as quickly as possible. When the Second went away it was in the blue uniform of the militia of Massachusetts. The men in the ranks were all young and vigorous and looked a composite picture of youth and strength. When they came back it was in the faded yellow khaki uniforms issued to them in Cuba, although a few still wore the blue. The natty uniforms of the officers were worn and soiled and the faces of all were haggard and in many cases the beards of veterans had replaced the smooth cheeks and chins of the militiaman. On almost every face was the badge of the campaign against the pestilential fevers of Cuba and the sunken cheek-bones and emaciated forms bore eloquent witness to the hardships and sufferings that had been undergone. It had been no holiday excursion for the gallant Second.

For days and weeks after the return the greatest interest was shown in the welfare of the men. Physicians placed their services at the disposal of the Volunteer Aid association and that body kept actively at work in its efforts to care for the men. Some of the boys were able to be out on the streets and in public places immediately after their arrival but in the majority of cases the men were glad enough to stay at home. Others were too ill to make their appearance in public, but those who were had no reason to complain of any lack of interest in them or their doings in Cuba. Columns were published daily in the newspapers concerning the condition of the sick men and the experiences of the well ones and the sight of the worn campaign uniform on the street was the occasion for a gathering of interested people. But as time went on the interest slackened, as it is in the nature of things so to be, the men showed a marked preference for citizens' dress instead of the uniform, and settled down again to the ordinary ways of life while waiting for their furloughs to expire and their muster out of the service of Uncle Sam.

There had been much concern expressed over the orders instructing the Second to assemble at South Framingham for muster-out and there was much satisfaction when it was known that the orders had been changed and that Springfield had been selected as the place. It was felt that this was fitting and proper and both the local members of the regiment and the people of the city were well pleased at the decision of the war department.

Meanwhile the men who had been left behind in Cuba, at Montauk and in hospitals at other places continued to arrive home and some time before the expiration of their furlough nearly all the surviving members of the Second were at home. From Cuba came the men who were left behind too sick to be moved when the regiment left for home and with them the men who had volunteered or been detailed to remain care for them. But all of them did not come. Privates Little and Stetson of G company had succumbed to disease and Dr. H. C. Bowen, the surgeon of the Second, was also a victim. He was in the division hospital when the regiment sailed and his death soon followed.

The fate which befell Dr. Bowen was a hard one. Enthusiastic to volunteer at the outbreak of the war he was assigned to duty as the surgeon of the Second with the rank of major and he had high hopes of a useful career in the army as had his friends for him. But he was totally without experience in army medical life, his assistant surgeons, though young and enthusiastic in their profession, were also inexperienced in this line of work and at the very outset he and they were thwarted and discouraged by their incessant conflicts with army red tape and the consequent difficulty in obtaining needed medical supplies for the regiment. Time and time again Major Bowen sent in requisition after requisition but no supplies came in answer to them and had it not been for the finely appointed medical and surgical outfit furnished by the state of Massachusetts the equipment of the Second would have been meager indeed. With these on hand the lack of proper government supplies was not seriously felt until after the landing in Cuba and then with the brilliancy which marked so many other features of the campaign, the Second's medical chest was not brought ashore, but was left on board the Knickerbocker until some time after the surrender of Santiago. As a result the medical supplies were short and though he tried again and again Major Bowen could obtain no more. Soon after he landed he was attacked by the malarial fever and though at first it was in a mild form it combined with the discouragements to which he had been subjected to make him low-spirited and not altogether a genial minister to the sick men or a companion at the mess. Directly after the battle of El Caney Assistant Surgeon Gates was taken from the Second and attached temporarily to the Fourth infantry, which regiment had no surgeon and Assistant Surgeon Hitchcock became ill so that the entire work of caring for the Second was thrown upon Major Bowen. This added to his other troubles and his own illness resulted in making the latter extremely serious and though he struggled against it for many weeks he was at last forced to give up. Before this he had manfully stuck to his post and tried in every way to do his duty but results of his failing health and his heavy burden of work were mistaken by many of the officers and men for lack of sympathetic feeling and for this he was criticized. This criticism was a mistaken one, for at bottom Major Bowen was of a kindly and sympathetic nature but it was his misfortune to have his illness and troubles put a veneer of impatience upon his normal disposition and this conveyed the mistaken idea referred to above. In his service with the Second Major Bowen did all possible for a man to do and those who knew the heavy burden under which he toiled have always been willing to accord him the tribute he was justly entitled to. He died in the Second division hospital just outside of Santiago. Some months after his body was exhumed and sent to his family in Westfield. There was some mystery concerning the whereabouts of his watch and other effects but some time after his death they were accidentally discovered in New Orleans and restored to his parents.