‘TWENTY-TWO YEARS EARLIER’

After four weeks of basic training new enlistees of the 36th Iowa Infantry Regiment spent the night cleaning their uniforms with damp cloths, then rose at five a.m. with orders to fall in at the camp yard at 0-600. They marched in unison to the riverbank, where two steamboats had docked to take them downriver. Sergeant Cobb, one of the men who’d trained them, led them to the riverbank, and informed them he was ordered downriver with them.

As the steamboat traveled south, the men gathered at the siderail to watch the timberline pass by. Harrington stood with Sergeant Cobb and presented him with the ultimate question. “Sergeant, do you think we’ll ever see Iowa again?”

“Only God knows,” Cobb said. “All I know is the orders given to me.”

“Where’s home to you, Sergeant?”

“Ottumwa,” he said. “My father works for the railroad. I’m promised a job there if I make it home.”

“I guess there’s a lot of ‘ifs’ eh Sergeant?”

“Yes, private, there’s only the here and now.”

“You’ve done this journey before, though.”

“Yes, we will dock in St. Louis, gear up, then we’ll be assigned.”

“Better rifles, I hope,” Harrington said.

“Yes, you’ll all get a new Springfield musket.”

“And after that where do we go with our new rifles?”

“No orders yet. Colonel Kittredge mentioned that Company B will join the Army of Tennessee. You’ll meet the rest of your company when you get to Camp Benton. We’ll hole up there and continue training until they need us. And as many boys will be behind us as ahead of us. It’s quite a site seeing hundreds of bummer caps in one place.”

 

When the four men arrived at Camp Benton Harrington understood more clearly what Sergeant Cobb meant. It was a sea of Union blue, some men in proper formation, others wandering about to whatever duty they were assigned. After they were ordered to fall in, they marched to a parade ground and an area of long wooden barracks and a hospital. When they were at ease they found their assigned barracks, and three uniformed men were kneeling outside the entrance. Harrington noticed one wore sergeant stripes and the others were privates like the four of them.

As they approached Harrington thought it was best to salute and the others followed. The three men stood.

“At ease,” the sergeant said. “New recruits?”

“Yes, sir,” Harrington said. “Just down from Camp Lincoln, assigned to Company B. I’m Harrington, this is Stuffy, that’s Anderson, and Bushell. Came in from Appanoose County.”

“Good to meet you boys,” the sergeant said. “I’m Sergeant Downey, this long-haired biscuit eater is Ancell, and this lanky kid is Sarver. Best figure out a bunk mate now. It’s crowded in there.”

“Bunk mate, sir?” Harrinton said.

“Yes, private. Head to toe in one bunk,” Sergeant Downey said. “That’s how we do it. No complaints. Get used to it.”

Sergeant Downey nodded then walked away. The men watched him leave and Ancell stepped closer. “Where you boys from?”

“I’m from Numa,” Harrington said. “Bushell and Stuffy are from Centerville, and Anderson, well, he’s from the state line. Are you boys Appanoose?”

“Yeah, we are both Centerville,” Ancell said. “Sergeant Downey, he’s from Cincinnati.”

“I’ve never been outranked by a man from Cincinnati before,” Harrington said. “I guess I better get used to that, too. So, this head-to-toe stuff, that correct?”

“Yes sir,” Ancell said. “I smell Sarver’s feet all night. Can’t turn my head far enough”

The men laughed.

Sarver smacked the side of Ancell’s arm with the back of his hand. “My feet aren’t near as bad as sleeping all night in the same barracks with sixty men after a bean supper from the mess hall.”

The men guffawed.

“Yeah, we laugh now,” Ancell said. “But you get close enough to that hospital you will see something that ain’t funny. Men with crutches and legs cut off at the knee or shin, or nothing but a coat sleeve where an arm used to be. A lot of noise on the parade grounds now, but when it gets dark and things stop stirring out here, you’ll hear the screams from the hospital. That’s enough to make us realize that whatever awaits us out there ain’t pretty.”

* * * * *

‘Twenty-two Years Later”

Meng rode into Centerville on the chestnut mare, wearing his new suit of clothes, feeling like a new man. He knew that when he reached the tracks that he could follow them to the depot to find Tycoon Harrington in the depot office. Apparently, Tycoon Strickling had sent word to Harrington about Meng’s visit, because Harrington was expecting him.

Harrington invited Meng inside to a small depot office and they sat across from each other at a table and one of the depot workers brought each of them a cup of coffee.

“Strickling said that you have a wise business plan and that I should hear it,” Harrington said.

“I am working with Mr. Strickling on building a hotel near the depot in Mystic,” Meng said. “There is a shortage of hotel rooms in Mystic, and this fills a demand, plus it’s convenient. It’s the first building passengers see when they get off the train. Strickling mentioned that Centerville has a similar demand.”

“Yes,” Harrington said. “The city square is quite a ways from the depot here, and a hotel on these premises would be filled to capacity instantly. There have been people renting rooms nearby, and other ambitious investors who took a crack at it, but poor management led them to bankruptcy.”

“My secret is location,” Meng said. “Right near the depot. Strickling suggested that you had similar lots near the depot that would fit my plan.”

“I do,” Harrington said. “Though harvest is about to take over here, we’d have to make some adjustments for the cooperative, I am sure we could find something. What are your terms?”

“Though Strickling suggested you meet with him to verify our arrangement in Mystic, the idea is that we become partners. I have a design for the hotel, and that you would own it, I would run it. I ran a hotel in Chicago for many years that was lost in the Great Fire. I can do it again, I just need the opportunity. Strickling has made that happen in Mystic, and I am hoping that you are also interested in making it happen here in Centerville.”

“Your idea is very intriguing,” Harrington said. “I will meet with Strickling and get his thoughts on the matter, then we can meet back here next week. I will be busy with the harvest and hog shipments, but I can make the time.”

The two men stood from the table and shook hands. “Thank you, Mr. Harrington.” Meng said. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

* * * * *

On his way out of town Meng followed the tracks by the stockyard and there he saw a man working with a herd of horses. How much he desired to have his own horse again, and this looked like just the man to talk to.

* * * * *

In the next episode of Centerville 1884: Twenty-two years earlier, Company B of the 36th Iowa Infantry Regiment head down river to join the Army of Tennessee. Twenty-two years later, Meng works out a deal with T. Kauzlarich to buy his own horse. Harrington meets with Strickling to learn about Meng’s hotel plans. Harvest begins and the depots are busy with corn shipments and hog farmers bring their hogs to market.