Arriving in St. Louis Sunday morning, May 22, we immediately alighted from the train, the battalion was formed, and marched to the “Fair” grounds, through the Olive Street entrance, to the site of our rendezvous; the colors were hoisted to the flagpole, and by 12 o’clock noon our camp had been pitched, each A wall tent towering uniformly over the chalk-marked square on the red shale, and with the precision of the Barnum and Bailey shows. Each tent had a well-fitting floor, and between each row of tents stretched a beautiful lawn of grass, on either side of which was a board-walk. The battalion commander’s headquarters,
as well as the tents of the other officers, faced the head of the company streets, and were separated by a unique road, over which vehicles were debarred. The camp was illuminated by large arc lights. In the rear of the last row of tents stood the sick quarters, canteen, guard-house, barber-shop, cobbler, tailor, and shower-baths.
The camp was typically a model military village, with all modern conveniences, even to an up-to-date restaurant which had been erected purposely for the accommodation of the battalion. This building was beautifully situated in a shady grove opposite the Kentucky building. In India the British are noted for their model camps and bungalow quarters; but an English officer, after seeing the marines in St. Louis, was heard to remark, that this American camp beggared description.
U.S. MARINES, WORLD’S FAIR, ST. LOUIS, 1904
The Plaza Orleans was the scene of daily exhibitions given by the West Point cadets, Philippine scouts, and United States marines. Thousands of spectators thronged the roped enclosure daily, and the applause from these was deafening. Strains of music from a dozen different bands filled the air, the most famous of these being the United States Marine Band, Sousa’s, Gilmore’s, Hawaiian, Mexican, Royal Grenadier of London, Philippines Constabulary, La Republic of France, Band De Espanol, Neapolitan of Italy, and the army bands,—the Second and Twenty-fourth Infantry, the latter colored. Besides these there were scores of others, including bagpipers and the insular band of the Tagalogs with bamboo instruments.
In addition to the exhibition drills and camp exhibit of the marines, they also had charge of the naval exhibits in the government building. Each man had to be thoroughly familiar with the mechanism or history, as the case might be, of the integral point of each exhibit, in order to explain and answer questions intelligently. The camp was garrisoned by a detail of marines, who patrolled on each side of the square, from the day of our arrival until the close of the “Fair.”
This style of soldiering was a rare treat to the boys; they were given free admittance
to every concession on the grounds, and the six months spent in the heart of this stupendous show of the earth will ever remain vivid in the memories of the men who comprised this battalion.