MY EXPERIENCE AS A SOLDIER. [caption title] DESCRIBING HIS ENLISTMENT WITH THE 16th U.S. INFANTRY DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR, JUNE 4, 1898 - JAN. 22, 1899, IN A MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL AS HE TRAVELED FROM ST. LOUIS TO SANTIAGO AND BACK

Wiener, Adolph (1872-1959)

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Nine pages in ink, in a neat hand, approx. 5000 words, rectos only. A bit of damping to the top left corner of the first page, and the top margin of the final page, slightly blurring the ink of a few words, but text still legible. In a signed note at the head of the manuscript Adolph Wiener introduces his text: "When I enlisted in St. Louis I intended keeping a diary all the way through my wanderings as a soldier, but somehow I never started and now at this late day I will, to the best of my recollection relate my career to this date which is December 16th, 1898. We are stationed at Huntsville Ala & at present my company is doing Provost Guard Duty." The first pages of recollections are followed, from Dec. 16 on, with near daily entries. He gives a highly personalized view of life as a raw recruit during the Spanish American War, describing the food, the heat, the illnesses the men experienced, and his ways around them. Responding to a circular he saw posted around St. Louis announcing that 500 men were wanted for the 16th U.S. Infantry to go to Cuba, Wiener enlisted on June 4, 1898. A Jewish immigrant from German [though some sources say Hungary] he had lived in Nashville for a number of years and worked in the mercantile trade before moving to Missouri. He was concerned his slight physical stature might prevent his acceptance as a soldier. By evening, however, he had passed the physician's exam and he and several other recruits were on a train bound for Atlanta. At Fort McPherson in Georgia they found about 75 other 16th Infantry recruits waiting to embark for Tampa and Cuba. Here they drilled in the heat of the day and drew their uniforms. Wiener's skill with numbers saved him from many other unappealing duties when they chose him to balance the invoices for clothing requisitions. He mentions the daily fare in the mess, "slum" three times a day, "something like hash only the meat was left out" plus hardtack and coffee. On June 11, they left Atlanta for Tampa: "Every little station was crowded with people of all classes, colors and ages, lots of pretty girls were always on hand to cheer us. The largest town we passed through was Jacksonville Fla. We only stopped there 30 minutes & didn t get a chance to see the town. We arrived at Tampa on the 14th about 8 o clock P.M. Talk about your hot weather and sandy streets, Tampa has both or had both last June. We marched from the depot to our camp & it was all we could do to get there." He was assigned to Company I and by June 18 he was a clerk in the adjutants office, once again escaping from drilling. By June 28 they received their orders to go to Port Tampa and take a transport to Cuba. Aboard the Hudson, the food was not much better but Wiener had a little money in his pocket which he gave to the cook. Thereafter he and his bunkmate had plenty to eat. The Hudson arrived in Key West, joining five other transports, two gunboats, and a tug as a convoy for the trip to Santiago. Once in Cuba, the recruits disembarked near Siboney on July 10. There they encountered a group of starving Cubans who had been driven out of Santiago by the Spanish. The Cubans were glad to trade their coconuts and mangos for the soldiers' hardtack and beef. On July 11, the men were ordered to the front. In waist deep water they forded the San Juan River on July 12, passing the spot where only days before, the Rough Riders were ambushed and members of the 16th Infantry had captured the blockhouse. On short rations, they began digging trenches on July 13, and Wiener was assigned the job of company clerk. By the next day, however, digging ceased. The Spanish had surrendered Santiago. In the relative calm that followed, the men began to get sick: "When we commenced to get plenty to eat, the men commenced to get sick & from about the 20th of July to the day we left Santiago I believe nearly everybody suffered with chills & fever." [This outbreak of yellow fever caused Pres. McKinley to order the troops home]. Wie.

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• Titre: MY EXPERIENCE AS A SOLDIER. [caption title] DESCRIBING HIS ENLISTMENT WITH THE 16th U.S. INFANTRY DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR, JUNE 4, 1898 - JAN. 22, 1899, IN A MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL AS HE TRAVELED FROM ST. LOUIS TO SANTIAGO AND BACK
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