
August 24, 2015

The Company C Men
by Barbara Schock
In the
spring of 1898 the newspapers were full of war news from Cuba and Puerto
Rico, which were Spanish possessions. Depending on the political persuasion
of the editor, the newspaper either urged President William McKinley to
declare war against Spain or to negotiate. It had been thirty-three years
since the Civil War had ended and some people were ready for another
conflict.
The
president was not in favor of going to war. Nevertheless, on April 24th
Congress declared war on Spain. Passions had been inflamed by the news
stories about the atrocities committed by the Spanish army against the
native people. In addition, the blowing up of the United States battleship
Maine in Havana Harbor had created sufficient reason for declaring war.
Eighty-four
young men from Galesburg and the surrounding area were members of Company C.
About twenty of them were recruits, including Carl Sandburg. They had
enlisted for two years and completed the unit's roster. The company was part
of the Sixth Infantry, Illinois Militia (National Guard).
They
received a patriotic send-off from Galesburg's citizens at the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy Railroad depot. The first taste of army life occurred
in Springfield where they camped at the State Fairgrounds.
The men
were examined by a German doctor who seemed to be more interested in their
scrotums than any other part of their anatomy. They received woolen
uniforms, singularly inappropriate for the tropical climate of the
Caribbean.
Company C
traveled by train to Falls Church, Virginia, and established a camp two
miles outside the town. The men put up two-man tents and slept on the
ground. Pits were dug for open latrines a short distance from the camp site.
In the hot weather the odor was beyond belief. Many of the young soldiers
had dysentery. They ate field rations which consisted mostly of bean soup
and pork and beans.
The young
men were drilled through the months of May and June in military marching
commands and learned the bugle calls for the various routines of the day.
The evening parade was the most enjoyable part of the day. It was impressive
to see all the troops lined up for inspection by higher officers on
horseback..
On July 11th,
Company C and five other companies of the Sixth Illinois boarded the Rita, a
ship built for lumber hauling, captured from the Spanish. Six days later the
ship arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Santiago, a major city on the island,
had already been taken by United States troops. Therefore, the Rita then
sailed to the south coast of Puerto Rico and the Knox County men waded
ashore on July 25th. They marched up hill and down dale in the heat and
suffered from attacks of malaria and heat stroke. They battled more “gray
backs,” which was their name for lice, than the enemy. The natives were
friendly and the soldiers learned a few words of Spanish.
When the
Company C boys reached Ponce, they found a place to weigh themselves. Most
of the men had lost from twelve to sixteen pounds. Sandburg had lost
twenty-two pounds. Many had a yellow tint to their skin and their uniforms
were faded and tattered.
Carl
Sandburg made life-long friends during his army experience. From time to
time, biographical articles will be posted about the volunteers in Company
C, Sixth Illinois Regiment.
 |
Date |
Title |
August 24, 2015 |
The Company C Men |
August 17, 2015 |
Jacob A. Riis |
August 10, 2015 |
Mason Jars |
August 3, 2015 |
October 7, 1896 |
July 27, 2015 |
The Soldier's Monument |
July 20, 2015 |
Ice |
July 13, 2015 |
Moses O. Williamson |
July 6, 2015 |
Sweet Little Alix |
June 29, 2015 |
Sharlie's Shickens |
June 22, 2015 |
Anna Held & John Drew |
June 15, 2015 |
Hartel & Secker Meat Market |
June 8, 2015 |
Girls |
June 1, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part II |
May 25, 2015 |
Old First Church - Part I |
May 18, 2015 |
Marbles |
May 11, 2015 |
Pawnee County, Kansas |
May 4, 2015 |
Detective Stories and the
Real Thing |
April 27, 2015 |
Professor Isaac A. Parker |
April 20, 2015 |
Celluloid Collars |
April 13, 2015 |
Asparagus |
April 6, 2015 |
Mayor John C. Stewart |
March 30, 2015 |
Basket Ball |
March 23, 2015 |
The Courthouse of Knox
County, IL |
March 16, 2015 |
“Trifles make
perfection...”
|
March 9, 2015 |
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
March 2, 2015 |
Martha Sandburg Goldstone |
February 23, 2015 |
Devotion |
February 16,
2015 |
Gumbiner's
Pawn Shop |
February 9, 2015 |
White Bread |
February 2, 2015 |
The
Monarch Club |
January 26, 2015 |
The Silver Dollar |
January 19, 2015 |
The Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway |
January 12, 2015 |
The
Four Corners |
December 22, 2014 |
Swedish
Christmas |
December 8, 2014 |
Christmas 1878 |
December 1, 2014 |
Bunker
Boots & Shoes |
November 24, 2014 |
Galesburg,
Illinois |
November 17, 2014 |
It was Buffalo Bill's Day |
November 10, 2014 |
The Election of 1896 (A follow-up story) |
November 3, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 (continued) |
October 27, 2014 |
The Election
of 1896 |
October 24,
2014 |
The
Rissywarn |
October 20, 2014 |
The Parlor Stove |
October 13, 2014 |
Ashes to Ashes |
October 6, 2014 |
Jesse James |
Sept. 29, 2014 |
Lester T. Stone, Public Servant |
Sept. 22, 2014 |
It's Who You Know |
Sept 15, 2014 |
Mother of the Illinois Flag |
Sept 8, 2014 |
The Scissors
Grinder |
Sept 1, 2014 |
Baseball |
August 25, 2014 |
Howard K.
Knowles, Capitalist |
August 18,
2014 |
Alcoholic Beverages |
August 11, 2014 |
Soda
Water |
August 4, 2014 |
Sweet Corn |
July 28, 2014 |
Marching Through Georgia |
July 21, 2014 |
The Knox
County Fair |
July 14, 2014 |
The Panic of 1893 |
July 7, 2014 |
The Rev. T. N.
Hasselquist |
June 30, 2014 |
The Knox
County Courthouse |
June 23, 2014 |
The Family
Photograph Album |
June 16, 2014 |
Parades |
June 9, 2014 |
Lingonberries |
June 2, 2014 |
Where We Live |
May 26, 2014 |
Old Main |
May 19, 2014 |
Rhythms
of the Railroad |
May 12, 2014 |
Spring
Tonic |
May 5, 2014 |
The Milkmen |
April 28, 2014 |
Gray's
"Elegy..." |
April 21, 2014 |
Off to War |
April 14, 2014 |
Swedish Easter |
April 7, 2014 |
A Father's Face |
March 31, 2014 |
Secret Societies |
March 24, 2014 |
George A. Murdock, Merchant |
March 10, 2014 |
Trade
Cards |
March 3, 2014 |
The Demorest
Medal |
February 24, 2014 |
Rip
Van Winkle |
February 17, 2014 |
Cabbage
Soup |
February 10, 2014 |
Lincoln's Birthday |
February 3,
2014 4 |
The
Colonel |
January 27, 2014 |
The
Lincoln Penny - A Little History |
January 20, 2014 |
Walking to Work |
January 13,
2014 |
A Small Abode |
January 6, 2014 |
Birth of a Poet |
December 30, 2013 |
Christmas 1880 |
December 23, 2013 |
Swedish Christmas |
December 16, 2013 |
The Reporter
Sees Santa |
December 9, 2013 |
The Coming
of Christmas |
December 2, 2013 |
The Fire Boys Talk |
November 25, 2013 |
Galesburg Will Feast on Turkeys and Cranberries -
Thanksgiving 1893 |
November 18, 2013 |
Mary
Sandburg Johnson |
November 11, 2013 |
Carl
Sandburg's Bicycle |
November 4, 2013 |
Lace Curtains |
October 28, 2013 |
The
Front Room |
October 21, 2013 |
A Warm Breakfast |
October 14, 2013 |
Marion D.
Shutter |
October 7, 2013 |
Cigars and Consumption |
September 30, 2013 |
Forrest F. Cooke & August Sandburg |
September 16, 2013 |
Forrest F.
Cooke, Mayor |
September 9, 2013 |
Dusty
Streets |
September 2, 2013 |
Typhoid
Fever |
August 26, 2013 |
Coffee and Water |
August 19, 2013 |
A
Horse! A Horse! |
August 12, 2013 |
Gaddial Scott |
August 5, 2013 |
The
Racetrack |
July 29, 2013 |
John Peter
Algeld - Part II |
July 22, 2013 |
John Peter
Altgeld - Part I |
July
15, 2013 |
Tramps, Tramps, Tramps |
July 8, 2013 |
Lady
Liberty |
July 1, 2013 |
Galesburg's
Fourth |
June 24, 2013 |
John
H. Finley |
June 17, 2013 |
The
World's Columbian Exhibition |
June
10, 2013 |
Fruit
Short-Cake |
June 3, 2013 |
Horatio Alger,
Author |
May 27, 2013 |
Memorial Day,
1887 |
May 20, 2013 |
Professor
Jon W. Grubb |
May 13, 2013 |
Beginnings of Lombard University |
May 6, 2013 |
Young
Sandburg’s View of Lombard College |
April
29, 2013 |
Thinking |
April
22, 2013 |
Robert
Colville, Master Mechanic |
April 15,
2013 |
The Galesburg Opera House |
April 8, 2013 |
Grocery
Stores and Sample Rooms |
April 1, 2013 |
A
Hearty Breakfast |
March
25, 2013 |
The Lost
Wallpaper Legend |
March 18, 2013 |
Martin G. Sandburg |
March 4, 2013 |
The
Edison Talking Machine |
February 25, 2013 |
Joe Elser, Civil War
Veteran |
February 18, 2013 |
Remember
the Maine... |
February 11, 2013 |
Lincoln's
Birthday |
February 4, 2013 |
Curiosity |
|