For the greater part of the Camp Meade history of the battery, the organization lacked sufficient men to perform all the detail work. Thus days and days passed without any military instruction being imparted.
Instruction in army signalling by wigwag and semaphore was started whenever a squad or two could be spared from the routine of detail. Then followed instruction on folding horse blankets, of care of horses and harness, and lessons in equitation, carried out on barrels and logs.
Stables and corrals were in the course of construction. By the time snow made its appearance in November horses were received, also more detail.
First lessons in the duties of gun-crews and driving squads were also attempted. Matériel was a minus quantity for a long time, wooden imitations sufficing for guns until several 3.2's were procured for the regiment. Later on the regiment was furnished with five 3-inch U. S. field pieces. Training then assumed more definite form. For weeks and weeks the gun crews trained without any prospects of ever getting ammunition and firing actual salvos.
Learning to be a soldier also developed into a process of going to school. Men were assigned to attend specialty classes. Schools were established for gunners, schools for snipers, schools for non-commissioned officers. Here it might be stated that the first non-coms envied the buck-privates when it came to attending non-commissioned officers' school one night a week when all the bucks were down enjoying the show at the Y hut or the Liberty Theatre.
Schools were started for all kinds of special and mechanical duty men; schools to teach gas-defense; buzzer schools; telephone schools; smoke-bomb and hand-grenade courses; and map-reading and sketching schools. Sergeant Earl H. Schleppy, of Hazleton, Penna., who assisted in the battery office work before he was appointed supply-sergeant, developed extra lung capacity while the various schools were in progress. It became his duty to assemble the diverse classes prior to the start of instruction. He was kept busy yelling for the soldiers to assemble for class work.
It soon developed in the minds of the men that war-time military life was mostly drudgery with only the personal satisfaction of doing one's duty. Hardships and drudgery, however, did not mar the ambition of the soldier for recreation. Baltimore and Washington were nearby and passes were in order every Saturday to visit these cities.
Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, during the first few months of camp life, were off-periods for the soldiers, but later Wednesday afternoon developed as an afternoon of sport and the men took keen interest in the numerous athletic interests which were promoted.
On Tuesday, November 6th, a half-holiday was proclaimed and Election Day observed throughout the camp. The soldiers who availed themselves of the opportunity of marking the complicated soldier ballot that was provided, cast the last vote, in many instances, until after their official discharge.
Daily hikes were on the program in the beginning to develop a hardness of muscle in the new soldiers. Lieut. Robert Campbell was in charge of the majority of the daily hikes at the off-set. His hobby was to hike a mile then jaunt a mile. When it came to long distant running Lieut. Campbell was on the job. He made many a soldier sweat in the attempt to drag along the hob-nailed field shoes on a run. Hikes later were confined to Wednesday afternoon.