Infantry, and the
whole town turned out to bid us farewell. Never before were soldiers
more encouraged to go to war than we. Being the first regiment to
move, from the west, the papers had informed the people of our route.
At every station there was a throng of people who cheered as we
passed. Everywhere the Stars and Stripes could be seen. Everybody had
caught the war fever. We arrived at Chickamauga Park about April 15,
1898, being the first regiment to arrive at that place. We were
a curiosity. Thousands of people, both white and colored, from
Chattanooga, Tenn., visited us daily. Many of them had never seen a
colored soldier. The behavior of the men was such that even the
most prejudiced could find no fault. We underwent a short period of
acclimation at this place, then moved on to Tampa, Fla., where we
spent a month more of acclimation. All along the route from Missoula,
Montana, with the exception of one or two places in Georgia, we had
been received most cordially. But in Georgia, outside of the Park, it
mattered not if we were soldiers of the United States, and going to
fight for the honor of our country and the freedom of an oppressed and
starving people, we were "niggers," as they called us, and treated
us with contempt. There was no enthusiasm nor Stars and Stripes in
Georgia. That is the kind of "united country" we saw in the South. I
must pass over the events and incidents of camp life at Chickamauga
and Tampa. Up to this time our trip had seemed more like a
Sunday-school excursion than anything else. But when, on June 6th, we
were ordered to divest ourselves of all clothing and equipage, except
such as was necessary to campaigning in a tropical climate, for the
first time the ghost of real warfare arose before us.

ON BOARD THE TRANSPORT.

The regiment went aboard the Government transport, No.
14--Concho--June 7, 1898. On the same vessel were the 14th U.S.
Infantry, a battalion of the 2d Massachusetts Volunteers and Brigade
Headquarters, aggregating about 1,300 soldiers, exclusive of the
officers. This was the beginning of real hardship. The transport had
either been a common freighter or a cattle ship. Whatever had been its
employment before being converted into a transport, I am sure of
one thing, it was neither fit for man nor beast when soldiers were
transported in it to Cuba. The actual carrying capacity of the vessel
as a transport was, in my opinion, about 900 soldiers, exclusive of
the officers,