CHAPTER IBEFORE THE WAR
From the dash and romance of cavalry to the plodding machine-gunner of the Great War, from the gilt-bedecked uniforms of a parade organization to the grim olive drab of the American army, and from citizen soldiery who took drilling once each week as a recreation, to mud-spattered, cootie-infested veterans, was the path of evolution followed by Troop "A," Cavalry, Connecticut National Guard. It was brought into existence by act of the General Assembly of Connecticut on the second Thursday of October, 1808, which authorized the formation of a company of cavalry to be known as the "Second Company of the Governor's Horse Guards ... to attend upon and escort him in times of peace and war," and by accepting this obligation and supplying its own equipment and uniforms to be exempted "from every other kind of military duty."
As a social organization, the Company continued to enlist the élite of New Haven and the surrounding towns for nearly a hundred years, appearing in parades as escort for distinguished visitors and vieing with similar organizations in Connecticut and neighboring states in making the social seasons a round of gayety for its members and friends. During its early history, while the seat of the state government was located in New Haven, the occasions were numerous when it was called upon to perform its chosen duty of parading. However, with the advent of the day when men who formerly had fine saddle horses were provided with automobiles, and with the shifting of the state capitol to Hartford, interest in the Horse Guards relaxed slightly, and it was unkindly remarked by envious infantrymen that the mounts used by the Company had become so accustomed to making their daily rounds with the milk wagons they attempted to stop at familiar houses along the route of march.
An amendment to the original charter was passed by the General Assembly in 1861, increasing the strength of the Company from sixty to one hundred and twenty enlisted men, with onemajor, one captain, four lieutenants, eight sergeants and eight corporals completing the roster of officers and non-commissioned officers where there had been but one captain, two lieutenants, three sergeants and four corporals under the first charter.
While the company of Horse Guards took no active part as a unit in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War, men from the organization had left the Company to take important parts in all four conflicts.
A second amendment to the charter, approved June 17, 1901, provided that upon application "either or both companies of the Governor's Horse Guards" could be organized as a troop of cavalry in the Connecticut National Guard with a personnel of "one captain, one first lieutenant, one second lieutenant, one first sergeant, one quartermaster sergeant, six sergeants, six corporals, two farriers, one saddler, two trumpeters and not more than forty nor less than thirty-five privates." Seeing in this act an opportunity to become a military unit, the organization promptly presented a petition, and an order was issued by Adjutant General Cole July 5, 1901, authorizing the immediate formation of the troop, to be designated as Troop "A," Connecticut National Guard. This was followed by the election of Luzerne C. Ludington to the office of captain of the Troop. William J. Bradnack was chosen first lieutenant and Robert J. Woodruff second lieutenant, with John Hugo first sergeant and the following members:—
Shortly after receiving recognition as a militia unit, the Troop was called together and it was decided that the Second Regiment armory on Meadow Street was unfitted for cavalry drill, so a committee was appointed to obtain a site for a new armory. Generous contributions on the part of prominent citizens enabled the erection of a wooden structure on the lot at 839 Orange Street. This building was barely completed when, in January 1905, it was burned to the ground.
Undaunted by this reverse, it was immediately decided to rebuild, and plans were made to put up a fire-proof structure. Once more men interested in the success of the Troop aided the building project by purchasing bonds, and the armory as it now stands was opened with appropriate ceremony in the Spring of 1906.
When the State bought the armory from the Troop it was suggested to men who held bonds covering the indebtedness on the building that the Troop should own a certain number of horses. Release from the payment of many obligations allowed the purchase of twenty horses in the Fall of 1909, and these were installed in the stables in the rear of the armory.
Funds to furnish the club rooms and pay interest on the building bonds were obtained through the willingness of the men to turn into the treasury the pay they received for the time spent in camp each year with the other militia units. These were added to from time to time by receipts from very popular and successful horse shows held in the winters of 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910. These shows attracted exhibits from the best known fanciers in the East, and were famed as society events.Features of these shows were the crack drill exhibitions given by squads selected from the Troop's best riders. A military tournament, which included all competition that could be arranged for mounted men, followed when horse shows reached the point of exclusiveness they attained as the automobile came into common use.
During this period the men were being perfected in field work by road marches and manœuvers. In many of these they were placed under the command of regular army officers and rode beside troopers from the regular army, with due credit to their militia training.
In 1909 Sergeant Harry Denton was detailed by the War Department to instruct the Troop in the arts of war. The coming of this excellent soldier marked the advent of a new era for the unit. Riding classes were organized for ladies and large squads turned out every week for "monkey drill." Monkey drill taught the men the rudiments of trick riding and many of them became very well versed in handling their mounts and themselves in the difficult manœuvers. One of the best squads developed in the Troop included George Condren and John Paton, who later commanded the Company in France, Frank E. Wolf, who led the Company to its training area on the other side, George Wallace and Harold W. Herrick, who were commissioned officers during the great War, and others who were prominent in home activities during the period of hostilities.
Always ready for any action, the Troop was not called upon to aid the State authorities until June 4, 1911, when rioting in Middletown by striking employees of the Russell Brothers' mills resulted in a call received at the Troop armory at 1:30 in the afternoon on that date. The first platoon, comprised of two officers and thirty-two men, was loaded on a special train and arrived on the scene of the trouble three hours later, fully equipped and ready for any eventuality. However, the presence of the Troop and the businesslike deportment of the men proved sufficient to prevent further outbreaks, and after four days of duty the Troopers were ordered home.
For nearly nine years the original officers remained on the active roster. In 1910 Second Lieutenant Robert J. Woodruff found it necessary to resign because of his duties in the courts,and Frank E. Wolf was chosen by the men to take his place. The retirement of First Lieutenant William J. Bradnack three years later caused the advancement of Lieutenant Wolf to that rank and then to captain in 1915, when Captain Luzerne C. Ludington left the service after more than thirty years as an officer in the old Horse Guards and the Troop.
RememberingREMEMBER YOUR FIRST MOUNTED DRILL AT THE ARMORY?
REMEMBER YOUR FIRST MOUNTED DRILL AT THE ARMORY?
When Lieutenant Wolf became captain, his junior officers were First Lieutenant F. T. Maroney and Second Lieutenant William H. Welch. It was these three men who headed the remodeled Troop which left Niantic, Conn., their summer manœuvering grounds, for the Mexican border on June 29, 1916, when National Guard units of the different states were answering the call to mobilization in order to quell the vicious raids being made upon American lives and property along the Mexican border line.
Sergeant Harry Homers, who had relieved Sergeant Dentonas instructor to the Troop and afterward obtained his discharge from the regular army to enter business, was one of the men to appear for enlistment when word was sent out that a number were needed to bring the Troop up to its war strength of one hundred and five men. Men on reserve were called back, and within four days Sergeant Condren, in charge of the recruiting, announced that no more were needed. Called out June 19, the Troop remained at the Armory until June 25, when extra men and equipment were loaded onto a special train and sent to the state camp at Niantic, while those with riding experience rode the Troop mounts overland.
Physical examinations in camp reduced the number of men on the roster, but the required strength was ready for muster into the federal service and the subsequent trip to Nogales, Arizona. Troop trains carrying horses move slowly, and nine days passed before the men detrained at the little border town in the far southwest. The intense heat of the sun in that climate proved trying for men accustomed to the climate of the seacoast, so within a few weeks numerous discharges were granted following persistent examinations by the medical department.
Camped at the top of a hill not far from Nogales, the majority of the men had their first experience in soldiering and considered the treatment they received in the light of hardship until they looked back on this trip as a picnic from the battlefields of Europe. Here they learned to ride, shoot, mount guard and do kitchen police according to the steel-bound regulations of the army. They learned something of the value and meaning of discipline, learned how to care for themselves and their horses, and for the first time, as soldiers, carried loaded ammunition in their belts when they walked guard in the streets of the little border town, always in sight of the squalid, sneaky-looking Mexican sentries just across that narrow strip of neutral territory on the boundary line.
New horses were issued by the government so that each man had a mount to care for and call his own, and when, during the latter part of August, the Troop was called upon to take part in manœuvers, they rode like veterans, drawing commendation for both officers and men.
One of the most serious blows to the morale of the organizationwas felt by the Troop not long after it reached Nogales. The carefully selected cook, who enlisted for the tour of duty, proved better at handling cards than he did at conjuring food out of army rations. Instructor Sergeant Arthur J. Fisher, assigned to the Troop a couple of years previously when Sergeant Homers left the army, stepped into the breach, however, and gave the men the benefit of his years of experience in regular army kitchens. Under his direction Arthur Parmalee and Francis Foley gained expert knowledge and the Troop kitchen became as efficient as any in the district.
Assigned to relieve a troop of the regular cavalry doing patrol duty near the custom house at Lochiel, twenty-eight miles east of Nogales, the Troop spent a month there patrolling and perfecting the prescribed drills. The surroundings of the new camp were ideal for out-door life and the twenty miles that intervened between the men and the nearest army post tended to foster organization spirit. Card games, letter writing and rides over the hills occupied the spare time the men found on their hands at rare intervals. It was only the persistent rumors and chilly nights which came with fall weather that made the men anxious to leave for home.
There being no further necessity of maintaining such a large force of men at the border, the Troop was named as one of the units to start the homeward trip. Returning to Nogales September 30, Troop A occupied, as barracks, mess halls of the type they had built when they first arrived. There they worked on the problems of turning over horses and equipment to the authorities, only thirty-two horses and equipment for that number being allotted to the Troop by the War Department, and entrained, bound for home, October 10.
A long trip through the mountainous section of the southwest and the prairie region of the west with only short daily stops to water and feed the horses, found the Troopers willing to take the first chance that offered to relieve the monotony of the journey. When the train stopped at Kansas City for a short time many of the men visited the city. Supplies were purchased from the Troop fund to add to the issued rations of corned beef hash and beans and the train pulled out with a happy crowd of soldiers.
Mysterious bottles made their appearance from under coats and inside shirts to add their share to the celebration. There was no sleep in the Pullmans that night. Making friends with the guard at the door of the kitchen car was easy, for he was Irish and inclined to be friendly, so a case of fresh eggs was soon in the hands of the men nearest the door. These they used with great abandon to the discomfort of the porter and members of the guard. The next morning omelets were dripping from the lighting fixtures and walls and formed a thick film over hats and shoes exposed to the attack. The violent character of the barrage prevented investigation during the battle and when the affair had quieted down it was judged by First Sergeant Herrick that the entire car-load was at fault so all were pressed into service to police the car.
The rest of the trip home was long and tedious. Innumerable delays were experienced, for, with the emergency at an end, the railroads shifted troop trains aside at the least excuse. The journey was brightened, however, by a trip to Niagara Falls for the men who took advantage of a stop at Buffalo. New Haven people lined the streets in an unprecedented outpouring of welcome when the train pulled into the home station October 22.
Parades followed during the next week, with a city banquet for all returned men, and the Troop was mustered out of the federal service, November 4, 1916, after four months experience in the field. Early the following week the members of the organization were fêted by the hustling organization of Troop A veterans and prominent New Haven men paid tribute to the spirit the unit had shown in its first attempt at regular soldiering.
The winter which followed was filled with preparation for eventualities. The shadow of war spreading irresistibly from the European battlefields grew more ominous over the country until unrestricted submarine warfare brought to a focus the indignities the United States had suffered from Germany since the sinking of theLusitania. After the declaration of war April 6, 1917, an order was issued causing four troops of cavalry to be formed, from the two then in existence in the State, to make up the Third Separate Squadron of Militia Cavalry.
The nucleus for M Troop, formed in New Haven, was taken from among the non-commissioned officers and privates of TroopA. Lieutenant William H. Welch, who had been made first lieutenant upon the resignation of Lieutenant Maroney, became captain of the new troop. First Sergeant Herrick was made first lieutenant and Stable Sergeant George M. Wallace was advanced to the rank of second lieutenant. This change resulted in the appointment of Sergeant George D. Condren as first lieutenant of Troop A and Supply Sergeant John A. Paton was commissioned second lieutenant.