There is a
first lieutenant with the company, but he is not married.
There is only one mail from here each week, so of course there will be
only one from Camp Supply, as that mail is brought here and then
carried up to the railroad with the Dodge mail. It is almost time for
the tents to be struck, and I must be getting ready for the march.
CAMP SUPPLY, INDIAN TERRITORY,
May, 1872.
THIS place is quite as dreadful as it has been represented to us.
There are more troops here than at Fort Lyon, and of course the post
is very much larger. There are two troops of colored cavalry, one of
white cavalry, and three companies of infantry. The infantry companies
that have been stationed here, and which our three companies have come
to relieve, will start in the morning for their new station, and will
use the transportation that brought us down. Consequently, it was
necessary to unload all the things from our wagons early this morning,
so they could be turned over to the outgoing troops. I am a little
curious to know if there is a second lieutenant who will be so
unfortunate as to be allowed only one half of a wagon in which to
carry his household goods.
Their going will leave vacant a number of officers' quarters,
therefore there will be no selection of quarters by our officers until
to-morrow. Faye is next to the junior, so there will be very little
left to select from by the time his turn comes. The quarters are
really nothing more than huts built of vertical logs plastered in
between with mud, and the roofs are of poles and mud! Many of the
rooms have only sand floors. We dined last evening with Captain and
Mrs. Vincent, of the cavalry, and were amazed to find that such
wretched buildings could be made so attractive inside. But of course
they have one of the very best houses on the line, and as company
commander, Captain Vincent can have done about what he wants. And
then, again, they are but recently married, and all their furnishings
are new and handsome. There is one advantage in being with colored
troops - one can always have good servants. Mrs. Vincent has an
excellent colored soldier cook, and her butler was thoroughly trained
as such before he enlisted. It did look so funny, however, to see such
a black man in a blue Uniform.
The march down from Fort Dodge was most uncomfortable the first two
days. It poured and poured rain, and then poured more rain, until
finally everybody and everything was soaked through. I felt so sorry
for the men who had to march in the sticky mud. Their shoes filled
fast with water, and they were compelled constantly to stop, take them
off, and pour out the water.
