USA > Maine > First Maine bugle, 1893 (history of 1st Maine Cavalry) > Part 23
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Riverside has also its share of large hotels, with all the mod- ern conveniences, and one does not wonder that they are well patronized by visitors from all over the country, so much is there to call people to the city. She has more than a dozen churches, and more than half as many school houses-all fine structures, all showing good taste and a care for something beside beauty and wealth. The high school had been completed but a short time when we were there, and the grounds had a new look, but in a very few years the building and its surroundings will be unexcelled by any in the country in cities of even twice the population of Riverside. The grounds are ample, and are well supplied with young shade trees as well as accommodations for games of various kinds, and it speaks well for the people of the city that they should give up so much land for school purposes where land is worth so much for raising fruit. She also has her share of handsome business blocks, a well appointed opera house, and all the comforts and conveniences of the older cities of the country, and yet is only twenty-one years from the desert.
Of the climate of Southern California, which is the climate of Riverside, a medical writer has said: "With a rise in the thermometer you have a double-discounting diminution in your humidity, and with a fall in your thermometer you have an
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equal double-discount of an increase in your humidity, which at once produces equability." This tells the whole story, and a good deal better than I can tell it, and I might leave the mat- ter right here, but I am trying to tell you something of my experience. We found the climate very agreeable during our ten days' stay, with the exception of the shower already spoken of, and even the shower did not disturb us as much as it did the residents. At no time was it so hot as on our visit in the mid- dle of May, still the thermometer was " way up" compared to New England thermometers. But though very warm, it was not uncomfortable -not to me, though the residents were inclined to talk about the heat. The air was dry, and to me very grateful, causing not so much discomfort as ten or fifteen degrees lower would do at home. The nights were always cool, ensuring a good night's sleep, and the air in the early evening was deliciously cool. Very often, as I went out to the piazza or under the trees for my evening smoke, my sister came out with a shawl or some sort of a wrap, which she urged me to throw around me lest I, not being acclimated, should take cold. But I think I could " become acclimated " very casily at Riverside.
It would be ungrateful to leave Riverside without saying something about the fruits grown there. We ate oranges to our hearts content, picking them from the trees -- and listened to the stories of the wonderful yield of this fruit. We watched my brother putting up his famous lemons-lemons which have a good name all over the State, due to the great care taken with them from the time the tree is budded until the fruit is in the market-and we sampled them in various pleasant ways. Wc were told of the large numbers of boxes of raisins sent to the markets of the world every year, and wondered thereat. But all this is a portion of the history of Riverside-of the labors and experiments and patience and successes of the pioneers, and is now a matter of well known history.
A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF RIVERSIDE.
Yes, the days spent in Riverside were glorious days, and their memory will ever abide with us. We would have stayed longer
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if we could, but we had been a long time from home and had a long journey before us to get home. So we accepted the inevitable, with much thankfulness that we had been allowed to remain there so long as we had -- that we had been able to make the visit at all-and prepared for our departure with min- gled feelings of regret and pleasure. With pleasure, for after all --- with all the delights of travel and of meeting with old time friends-there was a strong desire to get home again-to see kind friends at home who had not had any of this pleasure but who had missed us all these weeks. We wanted to see the old familiar faces and the old familiar places again. To illustrate : A week or two after we left home, as we saw city after city with wide, straight streets, we were in a sense enchanted, and thought it would make us feel "sick" to get home and see the little narrow, crooked streets again ; now we felt as though we would give a dollar and a half to see those same narrow, crooked streets. We had decided to start for home on Monday evening, June 13th, and made our preparations accordingly. The afternoon before, Ed and I climbed Rubidoux mountain to take a bird's eye view and a last look at the beautiful city of Riverside. This wasn't much of a mountain, compared with many that we saw, to be sure, but we found that it was consid- erable of a mountain to climb, after all. It was worth the effort, though, many times. Here we saw the city spread out before us, in all its beauty, like a fine engraving. And a beautiful sight it was -- beautiful. beautiful. We had been there long enough to become somewhat acquainted, and could easily pick out many localities from our elevated position. We could dis- tinguish the orange groves from the lemon groves by the differ- ent tint of green, and we could distinguish the raisin vineyards. and many of the beautiful shade and ornamental trees and tastefully trimmed hedges. We could see the business blocks, the hotels and the streets clearly defined, and we could see the dwellings nestled so cosily among the trees that they seemed to be of secondary importance in the view. We gazed on it long. nor seemed to tire, but found new beauty every moment. And I could not help, as I thus looked upon the whole city at once,
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and realized better than I had done before how much had been done in making the desert into this beautiful garden, thinking over again the early days of these pioneers. They went there on account of the climate, which they knew was good for them. Further than this they did not know. Yes, they knew the soil was good, but they did not know what it was good for. They hoped it was good for them. They knew that oranges could be raised to advantage at Los Angeles, about sixty miles away, and they had faith that oranges could be raised to advantage there. All was experiment, but they were willing to try the experiment. They did and succeeded, but it was only after years of work and of waiting, of doubt and of faith, of hope deferred and of trial, of deprivation of many of even the comforts of life to which they had been accustomed, of wide separation from friends, of separation from civilization, almost. But faith, hard work in wise directions, and perseverance won, and they deserve the success they have attained. They have a beautiful city now, of which they are proud, and they have a right to be proud. Beautiful, beautiful city. I could not help thinking, as I gazed upon it, that even work would be rest amid such sur- roundings, and that I would like to remain there forever. Who- ever visits Riverside and does not see the city from the top of Rubidoux mountain, makes a mistake, and does not really see Riverside at all.
GOOD BYE TO RIVERSIDE.
We left Riverside on the evening of June 13th, as we had planned. We bade my sister and her family good bye and walked to the train with as little sense of long separation as though we expected to be back next week or the day after the morrow. It was wonderful, and even till to-day I do not fully understand it. Here were Ed and I going to set out alone for a ride of more than three thousand miles, and with as little anxiety, as little worry about the trains, or accidents, or delays, or weariness, or anything unpleasant, as though we were merely going from Lewiston to Portland. It looks, especially to those who have not been over the route, like a long, tiresome ride,
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full of weariness and of vexations -- an ordcel to be dreaded. But we had no such feelings -- had none at all during the trip -- and really had no cause for any such dread. There was no weariness nor unpleasantness worthy to be called such in view of the pleasures to be enjoyed, so near perfection have the con- veniences of railroad travel been brought. I really believe Ed and I like to travel, and would delight in travel for a regular occupation. And yet, as I think it over to-day, it still seems strange that we could have set out for that long ride so entirely free from care or anxiety.
We bade my brother and a few new-found friends good bye at the car, and were on the way home. We were anxious to get home, yet did not care to hasten the locomotive, or to miss the visits to famous localities which we had planned. We set- tled into the car with a sense of real content which I do not think I ever experienced before. The next day we found our- selves riding through the same country through which we rode less than a month before-through the fertile San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys -- and yet we did not tire of the twice-seen towns and cities, or of the twice-admired scenery. It seemed ever new, or it had new beauty from the fact that we had seen it before. It was a fine ride that day, as it had been the first time, albeit we missed our friends of the former ride-the family of the Essex. But they were brought to our minds many times during that day's ride, always with pleasant recollections. That evening we had time for another stroll through the streets of Sacramento, which we did not fail to improve, paying another visit to the State House grounds-the last time our feet trod the soil of California. During the night we passed out of this great State, firm in the intention to visit it again for even a longer stay, at the first opportunity, and with the hope that we may have the opportunity.
GOOD BYE TO CALIFORNIA.
I had been in a state of wonder and amazement all the time I had been within the borders of California. It is a great State in more senses than one-great in territory, in population, in
FIRST MAINE BUGLE.
resources, in history even, though one of the younger States of the Union. Did you know, comrades, that the State of Cali- fornia is large enough to nestle within its borders the six New England States, with New York, Ohio, New Jersey and Dela- ware, and with these ten States have almost land enough for another Rhode Island? Such is the fact. Did you know that in the great State of California you can get an annual mean temper- ature of from thirty to forty-four degrees in the mountainous north, to from sixty to sixty-eight degrees in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and the southern portion of the State along the coast, and sixty-eight to seventy-two degrees in the southeastern portion of the State? Such is the fact, and it would seem that almost any one could find a climate .in that . State that would " just suit him." Did you know that in Cali- fornia there is an annual rain-fall varying from nine inches in the southeastern portion of the State and sixteen inches on the southern coast, to forty and even more inches in the extreme north? Such is the fact, in this great State. But this is not all. The resources of the State are wonderful -- from the south,
Where citrus groves in beauty stand, and limpid waters flow, While minarets of mountain land look down on plains below. Where deep green orange foliage seems to shroud with jealous care Great golden clusters of the fruit the bending branches bear,
To the north, where the carth yields of her richest treasures to those who seek in patience and in trust. Fruit groves in abun- dance and variety, grain fields that cannot be excelled, forests of redwood, of cedar, and of pine, mineral resources beyond those of any other State, with new discoveries almost daily, and with a climate in which one can take solid comfort every day in the year, truly Dame Nature has been good to California. Then there are her cities, proud as they have a right to be, and beau- tiful. As I looked at the substantial, handsome city of San Francisco, with all the evidences of prosperity, at the cities of Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Jose, with all their beauty of nature and of human taste and skill, at Stockton and Sacramento, with their touch of the olden time mingled with their more modern look; as I looked upon the fertile valleys,
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rich in their green fields of promise, at the acres and acres of fruit groves, and the miles and miles of vineyards; as I looked at the " forty-niners " in their old time occupation-as I looked at all these, the thought would ever come uppermost, " All this is the work of less than half a century." I am not older than many of you, comrades, and I can remember, as can many of you, when the rush to California for gold commenced-when California was an almost unknown, almost unexplored land, and it does not seem so very far away to look back to. California has grown, it may be said with truth, entirely since that time which we so well remember. These thoughts were my daily companions all through my stay there. It is wonderful, won- derful, and gives one a new idea at once of the resources of this our country-resources not even now fully understood or discovered --- and a new idea of the boundless capacity of American citizens and American citizenship. I verily believe a man is a better citizen, with a better idea of the greatness of this country, for a visit to the great and glorious State of California. Good bye, California, magnificent State, may you ever prosper and grow as you have done, and may I again be permitted to stand upon your fertile soil, to look upon your many beauties, and enjoy your countless comforts. Good byc. ( To be continued.)
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Little Washington Reconnoissance. BY ROSCOE R. BANGS, OF CO. L.
My company was next to the advance guard, so when we ran into A. P. Hills Corps and the command was given to fours right about it brought us nearly in the rear. The horse that I was riding that night had seen more service than was good for him, and I soon learned that he could not compete with the balance of the regiment on the gallop. I found myself rear guard without being detailed for that duty, but I kept punching the old campaigner with my spurs, till aided by a halt of the regiment I joined my company, but when that started again I was left in the rear. I urged and coaxed my horse along all night. Several times I was so far in the rear that I was out of hearing of the regiment but I let my horse take his own course and worked him for all he was worth, and he carried me to the regiment every time. When the regiment halted near Warren- ton I caught up with my company and did not stop there but went to the head of the column thinking I would gain that much, by being at the head instead of the rear when they started again, but soon found I had taken that trouble for noth- ing, and was in the rear again, but daylight the next morning found me with the regiment. I felt like hugging my old horse and would have given him an extra feed of grain if I could have found any to forage. Co. L lost two men that night, Silas G. Hovey, ( Hist. p. 638), and Orren K. Brown, (Hist. p. 635). Comrade Hovey was in prison about one year and died a few days after being exchanged. He was one of the finest men in the company and his death was deeply felt by all who knew him. Otis H. Barnard of Co. L was also wounded.
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SUNSHINE AND SHADES OF ARMY LIFE.
Sunshine and Shades of Army Life.
DY CHARLES W. SKILLINGS, CO. F.
I enlisted September 30th, 1861, in Co. F, First Regiment of Maine Cavalry; mustered October 19th as private; pro- moted corporal, '63 : was taken prisoner on the reconnaissance to Little Washington October 13th, '63 : was confined in vari- ous prisons in the South and was released April Ist, '65, from Vicksburg, Miss. Mustered out of service June 20th, '65, having served the country three years, eight months, twenty days, two years, three months, three days with the regiment, participating in all its battles, skirmishes, raids and reconnoissances with the exception of about six weeks' confinement in a hospital, the result of a gun- shot wound in the face, the ball having entered the right cheek and passed out at the back of the neck, just grazing the jugular vein. One year, five months, seventeen days were spent in rebel prisons.
Of the vicissitudes of army life I can only say as a member in active service of one of the most active regiments in the Army of the Potomac, I had my share of sunshine and shadow. The sunshine of army life is of occasional occurrence. In the bivouac, " where eternal vigilence is the price of liberty," the sun of happiness seldom if ever shines. But in the quiet of hostilities when the armies are at rest, and only picket and guard duty are required, considerable sunlight creeps into the
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life of a soldier through the chinks of social gatherings, forag. ing and visiting friends in other regiments camped near by, 1 had a brother, Franklin Skillings, who was about two year younger than I. and who enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth Maine Infantry. The sunshine of my army life was when ; could call to see him. The last time I saw him was when in camp near Bealton. A bright, manly young man, handsome in face and figure, tall and soldierly and brave to the extreme. He was wounded three times in different engagements and finally killed at the Wilderness. He was one of the many thou sands of the flower of American youth that spilled their lif. blood upon their country's altar that the nation might live Early in the morning of October 12th, '63, the First Regiment of Maine Cavalry was ordered on a reconnoissance in the direc- tion of Little Washington, Va. The regiment had camped the night before on its old grounds south of the Rappahannock: river, opposite White Sulphur Springs. The day was spent in: reconnoitering, and save only slight annoyance from bushwhack- ers, was pleasant and undisturbed. We had marched soms forty or fifty miles and had gained valuable information. We had heard heavy firing in our rear, but was little prepared to meet with the surprise that awaited us on our return. It seems Gen. Lee with his army had advanced in direct line, driven our forces across the river and completely cut us off from any com- munication with our army, and when we arrived at Amisvill late in the evening we learned, much to our consternation, our hazardous situation, having walked carelessly and recklessly int the jaws of Gen. A. P. Hill's army corps. Had they had a rear guard out and been alert they could have captured the whole regiment ; as it was they gave the alarm by firing into our ranks. Right about face, forward gallop ! was the order, and by four and by twos and by file we took to the woods to escape the enemy. It was about midnight when in the darkness of the woods near Warrenton, Va., my horse gave out, stumbled, three me over his head into the road where I soon found myself alone and unhorsed. I left my horse, as he was too weak to get to his feet, taking my haversack and canteen and blanket from the
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saddle and starting on my way as I thought towards our lines and in the direction the regiment was going. I journeyed for several hours till I became so tired and exhausted I lay beside the road and went to sleep. Awaking early in the morning I saw camp fires about a mile away and horses picketed. I imme- diately arose, and with a light heart, for a little sunshine had crept in. Thinking it was my regiment gone into camp, I made my way as rapidly as possibly towards what proved to be the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry. When I had gone but a short distance several confederates with carbines raised approached and de- manded my surrender. Then the clouds hung heavy over my head, and for seventeen months and seventeen days I know not a happy moment.
The sunshine had gone out of my life and I soon found my- self under the provost marshal's care. Herded with some three or four hundred prisoners upon a hill by the side of the road that leads into Warrenton, strongly guarded, I spent the day without food, a hot sun shining upon me, while the rebel army marched by, some sympathizing, others jeering, and a few curs- ing us and crying out "Why don't you kill the damn Yanks?" Late in the afternoon a small portion of corn bread and bacon was dealt out to us -- not quite enough to give a not very hungry man a small lunch. That night we marched to Sulphur Springs, some ten miles, where we remained till morning, when we marched to Culpepper, registered, and were sent to Richmond by rail. Arrived in Richmond, Va., about 3 o'clock p. m., Oct. 15, '63. Was confined in the Pemberton building, directly opposite Libby. We received no rations that day, and not till about midnight was any food given us; then not half enough to go round, and only those who were awake got any- thing to eat till the afternoon of the next day. I was one of the unfortunate ones obliged to keep a long fast. When our rations did come they were so poor in quality we could not eat them with any degree of relish. They consisted of a corn dodger and about one-half pint of thin soup. A corn dodger is a biscuit about the size of a good large apple, oval in shape and made of corn meal. Those issued to the prisoners were
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baked exceedingly bard. We sometimes thought the corn wa ground cob and all. I remember of seeing corn dodgers thrown into the street and the hogs that were at large would attempt to eat them but finally give it up as a bad job. The prisoner, would break and crumble their rations into a tin cup or half of a canteen, cover it with water and stew it, making a meal mush which was very palatable but would have been more so had they had salt to season it. Salt by the way, was one of the scarcest articles to be had in the prison. I paid 25 cents a teaspoonful for it, and $5 a peck for meal. * Well, after having been confined a few days and getting hungry and hungrier be- cause of the small quantity and poor quality of the ration: issued, I began to feel as though I was doomed and thought it only a question of a few weeks at the longest when I should with others of my comrades pass in my chips and answer for the last time to my name in the roll call. After about four week's stay in this what proved to be comfortable quarters- comfortable in so far as we were sheltered-because of the com- missioners of exchange-Gen. B. F. Butler on the part of the Union and Gen. Ould on the part of the confederacy-having disagreed as to terms of exchange, the cartel for exchange of prisoners was broken, and in retaliation, as I was informed, be- cause of some meanness on the part of the Union government toward confederates held as prisoners, Pemberton was vacated and four or five hundred sick and poorly clad Union soldiers were taken in the coldness of the winter to Belle Isle and con- fined upon a small low neck of land extending out into the James river. There were only a few tents pitched, not enough to shelter one-quarter of the prisoners, so the larger number was obliged to herd like cattle. I was extremely fortunate in meeting friends who had a tent and was permitted to lie in the doorway, thus affording me shelter from the night air, but found it cold nevertheless. One cold night in January Mr. Bosseau, the officer in charge, put in a requisition for forty cords of wood so as to build large fires throughout the enclosure, but instead he received only four cords, and with it made a great bonfire. But despite all, many of the prisoners were badly frozen and
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many died. I have seen bodies frozen hard and stiff as an icicle while waiting to be interred, being rooted about by hogs that were at large on the outside of the prison enclosure. All hope of an amicable adjustment of the exchange of prisoners gone, the South had in the winter of '63-'64 constructed two large prison pens -- one at Salisbury, N. C., and the other at Andersonville, Ga. It is of Andersonville, Ga., that I am fa- miliar, as there I spent nine months of my life. Taken from Belle Isle early in the spring of '64 to Andersonville in box cars, ninety to one hundred men in a car, packed like sardines as it were, and four or five days on the journey with small ra- tions doled out to us once a day, we arrived at Andersonville weakened and hungered.
I entered my new life with forlorn hopes. This prison pen was a double stockade, sixteen feet high and enclosing an area of twenty-six acres, five acres of which were an uninhabitable swamp. In June, July and August, 1864, thirty-three thousand Union prisoners were crowded on the remaining twenty-one acres.
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