CHAPTER IIMOBILIZATION
Activity preparatory to the mobilization of national guard units began with Troop A early in April when the usual weekly drill was augmented by an extra session later in the week for the non-commissioned officers and ambitious privates who cared to attend. Hikes on Saturday afternoons and several trips to Montgomery's farm in Mt. Carmel were added to the training. This program was filled with interest by the proclamation of President Wilson in May calling all militiamen in the northeastern department into active service on July 25th. Then a period was given over to equipping the men and forming them into units of correct proportions during which there were endless amounts of paper-work to be handled and a large percentage of recruits to be trained.
As the 26th Division never saw a concentration camp, this early training was of such a nature as to physically fit the men for active duty, but at no time tended to increase their knowledge of the particular work they were to do. On responding to the call to report at the Troop A armory in Orange Street on the morning of July 25th the men found that their soldierly duties lay largely in packing equipment to be shipped to camp, a little kitchen police and cleaning out the armory. Considered as necessary evils, these tasks were cared for with good will. However, the departure of Lieutenant Condren with thirty-one men and the Troop's complement of horses on July 27 for Niantic was an appreciated move in the direction of desired activity, and the following day the remainder of the organization experienced the varied emotions of a leave-taking on the Green with Mayor Campner on hand to bid them good-bye in the name of the city, and a cheering crowd lining the streets to the station.
Soft muscles felt the strain of unloading the freight from the special train which bore the unit to Niantic, and with the camp erected, the kitchen operating and a guard posted, the rigors of the first night in camp for many of the men were softened byslumber which soon overcame any objection men from offices and factories might have taken to sleeping on cots long since past the stage of usefulness.
In the meantime the men under the command of Lieutenant Condren had arrived at camp, put up picket lines and cared for their horses. They had made the march from New Haven to Niantic by easy stages and had been extensively fêted in the village of Westbrook by one of the residents who had befriended the Troop on former occasions. Thus field conditions obtained for the first time for the new Troop A.
Sunday in camp was its usual delight with visitors from home and Monday was given over to perfecting the camp arrangements. Other units on the state reservation were Troops B, L and M, forming with Troop A the 3d Separate Squadron of Connecticut Cavalry, Troop A, Signal Corps, the 1st Ambulance Company, the Field Hospital, the 1st Separate Company (Infantry), and batteries E and F, 10th Field Artillery, all units of the Connecticut militia. All were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Shuttleworth, U. S. A., for training and organization.
The following week both mounted and dismounted drills were inaugurated and camp routine began with a formal guard mount on July 31, the first few attempts at this ceremony affording great amusement for all except those participating. Social lions in the ranks of the Company were establishing themselves in the hearts of the fair inhabitants of Pine Grove and carrying off the honors at the dance pavilion and under the energetic leadership of Sergeant Rogers a baseball team was being formed. In short, camp was being established with all the formalities attendant upon such an event.
On Saturday, August 3, all organizations were mustered into the Federal service by Lieutenant Colonel Shuttleworth. Thus the men were made soldiers of the United States Army, permitting the War Department to use the various militia units for duty outside the borders of Connecticut. Governor Marcus B. Holcomb reviewed the Squadron on the afternoon of August 7 in its first and last appearance before him as cavalry.
Baseball was taking its proper place on the schedule with games arranged for Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays, butTroop A fared not so well on the diamond in competition with the rest of the Battalion as it did later on the football field. The proper spirit to win games was never lacking, but talent was scarce until the recruiting drive of the latter part of the month brought several good players into the Company.
Summer's hottest and most sultry days were passed at Niantic with the minimum of discomfort because of the location of the camp almost on the shores of Long Island Sound, where breezes from the water tempered the efforts of the sun down to a point where comfort was possible and the proximity of bathing facilities allowed the men relief after drills.
Evidences of preparation for a prolonged stay and perhaps a lack of knowledge concerning the conditions in store for them created a certain restlessness among the men, whose hearts were all centered on the hope of getting to France.
Endeavors of the ladies of Niantic to promote community spirit and provide the men with the proper kinds of entertainment were ably seconded by Troop members, who were always well represented at social events and took a leading part in contributing excellent talent for all sorts of entertainments. From Scheffler's singing and Culver's type of vaudeville to Parmalee and Hine as boxers, there was an almost endless amount of artistic ability.
In preparation for the journey the men were to take, talks were delivered on hygiene and kindred topics by members of the medical department; and a Red Cross worker who had seen service with the French armies related some of his experiences to crowds which grasped each word with the avidity of a youngster listening to his first tales of achievement. The "Front" was a great mystery and one who had actually seen parts of that ever-changing line of opposing armies was looked up to as an individual upon whom the gods of fortune had smiled.
Another effect of this feeling of impending movements which was growing among the men was an increased desire to take advantage of the proximity to their homes, and many were the exits and entries through the fence while the unsuspecting guard "walking his post in a military manner" was going, according to schedule, in the opposite direction.
Falling as a mixed blessing came the announcement on August15 that the horses were to be taken from the Troop and the personnel used in the formation of a machine gun company. To the new men in the ranks it was a relief, but to those who were with the outfit when it enjoyed that happy little picnic on the Mexican Border during the summer of 1916 it meant the loss of their most valued friends. They wasted no time in mourning, however, but gathered up all the available information on machine-gun work and set their minds to become proficient in that branch of the service with the cheerful prospect of becoming members in what the British army called the "suicide club."