Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life by a New England WomanSummerhayes, Martha
History
Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life by a New England Woman
Summerhayes, Martha
Arizona -- Biography; Arizona -- Description and travel; Summerhayes, Martha, 1844-1926; United States. Army -- Military life
But we took time to sort out our belongings, and the officers arranged
for transportation across the Territory. Some had bought, in San
Francisco, comfortable travelling-carriages for their families. They
were old campaigners; they knew a thing or two about Arizona; we
lieutenants did not know, we had never heard much about this part of our
country. But a comfortable large carriage, known as a Dougherty wagon,
or, in common army parlance, an ambulance, was secured for me to travel
in. This vehicle had a large body, with two seats facing each other, and
a seat outside for the driver. The inside of the wagon could be closed
if desired by canvas sides and back which rolled up and down, and by a
curtain which dropped behind the driver's seat. So I was enabled to have
some degree of privacy, if I wished.
We repacked our mess-chest, and bought from the Commissary at Mojave the
provisions necessary for the long journey to Fort Whipple, which was the
destination of one of the companies and the headquarters officers.
On the morning of September 10th everything in the post was astir with
preparations for the first march. It was now thirty-five days since we
left San Francisco, but the change from boat to land travelling offered
an agreeable diversion after the monotony of the river. I watched with
interest the loading of the great prairie-schooners, into which went the
soldiers' boxes and the camp equipage. Outside was lashed a good deal of
the lighter stuff; I noticed a barrel of china, which looked much like
our own, lashed directly over one wheel. Then there were the massive
blue army wagons, which were also heavily loaded; the laundresses with
their children and belongings were placed in these.
At last the command moved out. It was to me a novel sight. The wagons
and schooners were each drawn by teams of six heavy mules, while a team
of six lighter mules was put to each ambulance and carriage. These
were quite different from the draught animals I had always seen in the
Eastern States; these Government mules being sleek, well-fed and trained
to trot as fast as the average carriage-horse. The harnesses were quite
smart, being trimmed off with white ivory rings. Each mule was "Lize"
or "Fanny" or "Kate", and the soldiers who handled the lines were
accustomed to the work; for work, and arduous work, it proved to be, as
we advanced into the then unknown Territory of Arizona.
The main body of the troops marched in advance; then came the ambulances
and carriages, followed by the baggage-wagons and a small rear-guard.
When the troops were halted once an hour for rest, the officers, who
marched with the soldiers, would come to the ambulances and chat awhile,
until the bugle call for "Assembly" sounded, when they would join their
commands again, the men would fall in, the call "Forward" was sounded,
and the small-sized army train moved on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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