Index of Images |
The Tenth
Regiment of Infantry |
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Photos to go with the stories. Headquarters Marching to Memorial Day Services. Photos from the 60's Headquarter's Hill - 1963 |
Arrival of 10th Infantry The Tenth Regiment of Infantry, U.S.A., arrived on the Canal Zone on Wednesday morning, having embarked at Galveston, Texas on September, from Fort Sam Houston. Temporary barracks have been provided in canal quarters at Las Cascadas. The regiment, as it arrive on the Zone, consists of 33 officers and 813 enlisted men. Col. Henry A.Green is in command. Conditions at Camp Otis The Tenth Regiment of Infantry, U.S.A., on November 4 completed its first month of service on the Isthmus. The temporary quarters in Camp E. S. Otis at Las Cascadas, require a great deal of crowding of men and officers and the grounds afford no space for even company formations; no authorization has been made for improvements and no one in the regiment knows whether it is to stay on the Isthmus or is resting over here before making another move. It is the expectation however, that a few, more quarters will be erected shortly, presumably Commission buildings removed from the Gatun Lake area. One of the new buildings will house the post exchange. This a combined general merchandise store and clubhouse for the men. The necessaries of wearing apparel, and sutler’s supplies are on sale, under a credit system which automatically extends the men’s spending period over the month. In the same building are rooms for reading and for cards, billiards and other amusements. None of the men are quartered in tents, though several of the company messes are under canvas. By direction of the War Department, the regiment obtains its commissary supplies from the Commissary Department of the Panama Railroad Company. Every morning by nine o’clock the mess sergeants give their lists of foodstuffs for a day’s provisioning to the regimental commissary, who combines them in a bulk order on the Cristobal store, from which they are delivered the next morning at 6:45 at the regimental store house. From this point detachments from the messes take their supplies away on their backs or in wheelbarrows, as the road through the camp is, for the most part, at present impassable for wagons. Some of the mess halls and tents are three quarters of a mile from the storehouse. The regulation Army ration costs here 31 cents per day. At Fort Sam Houston, where the regiment was stationed before its embarkation for the Canal Zone, the day’s ration cost 22 ½ cents per man. The cost of the ration is calculated from the prices prevailing in the vicinity and the mess allowances are made accordingly, the company commander spending as much extra on the mess as he deems wise, from the company fund. On November 4, there were 810 enlisted men present with the regiment, and the aggregate monthly expenditure on their rations is about $8,500. The sick of the regiment are treated at Ancon Hospital. The sanitation of the camp area is in charge of the regimental sanitary department, which also maintains a dispensary, The camp is well drained and the quarters are screened. The health of the soldiers has been excellent, the few cases of illness being die principally to maldigestion. Numerous permits are granted for visiting Panama and Colon and the Canal Zone villages. The members of the regiment and their families are given half-rates on the Panama Railroad, and avail themselves extensively of the opportunities of observing the Canal construction. At present, on account of restricted ground, there are no formations, except squad, in rank. Rolls are called in the quarters, the men standing at attention beside their bunks. "Fatigue" duty has provided exercise, and it is hoped shortly to have target practice and service marches. Band concerts are given on Monday and Thursday afternoons at three o’clock and on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at seven-thirty. At these, and at anytime during the day, the public is welcome. Of the thirty-five officers present, eighteen have their families with them. Family Quarters for Tenth Infantry Officers. The War Department has authorized an additional expenditure of $25,000 from the "barracks and quarters" appropriation, for the construction of suitable quarters on the Isthmus for the families of offices of the 10th infantry. At present the families of the officers are housed in very inadequate quarters at Camp Otis near Las Cascadas. Work has been begun on the removal of buildings from Tabernillia and San Pablo, and when they are re-erected at Camp Otis, there will be suitable quarters for 45 officers. The Commission hotel at San Pablo will be moved to the camp and run as a post exchange. In all $50,000 has been apportioned for the barracks and quarters at Camp Otis. Conditions at Camp Otis. The arrival of 102 recruits for the Tenth Infantry, U.S.A., at Las Cascadas, on November 15, from the Untied States, on the Cristobal, has filled the quarters at Camp Otis to full capacity. During the past year the barracks have been enlarged and altered in order to afford more room for the men, a post exchange has been built, and various small buildings have been acquired form the Isthmian Canal Commission to augment accommodations, but at all times the camp has been cramped. A quartermaster’s storehouse is under construction near the regimental headquarters. This constr4uctio, as well as the laying of concrete walks, which is advance continuously, is done by the men of the regiment, so that the only cost is for materials. For formations, the regiment is also restricted. Each company has cleared for itself, from relatively level stretches of nearby jungle, a space about 125 yards square, for company formations, and drills in close order. No regimental or battalion formations are held, except muster and line of march along the highway, for practice marches. The regimental detachment has been formed from members of the companies and given separate quarters. The regiment will take up marches, and reconnaissance after the close of the school season on November 30. The dry season will be welcomed, as the mustiness of clothes and quarters prevalent during the rainy season has been increased by the crowded quarters. The health of the command has been very good since its arrival on the Isthmus. During the past year there were four desertions. Two of the men were apprehended. A telephone system has been constructed at the camp, for the benefit of the garrison and those who desire to communicate with members of the regiment by telephone. Two trunk lines connect the local with the exchange at Empire, and all officers and men can now be reached by telephone. Memorial Day Observance The order of parade in the exercises to be held at Ancon on Thursday, May 30, in commemoration of Memorial Day, will be, as follows: Escort of mounted Panamanian police; Capt. Peter Johnson and mounted police; grand marshal, Capt. R.E. Wood, U.S. Army; aids, Lieutenant Fleming, U.S. Engineers, Joseph Lawrence, Third U. S. Calvary, Lieutenant Hohl, Tenth U. S. Infantry; battalion Tenth U. S. Infantry, Capt. F.S. Cocheu, commanding; Col. H.A. Greene, U. S. Army; Chief Justice, H.A. Gudger; Captain Ingram, U. S. Army; Captain Brekenridge, U. S. Army Sr. Don Gil Sanchez; Sr. Don Julio Quijano; Rev. C. O. Prudy; Rev. Father Collins; band of the U. S. Marine Corps; buglers, firing squad; sailors from the the U.S.S.S. Prairie; veterans of the Blue and the Gray; Garrison No. 106, Army and Navy Union. O. R. Lampson, commanding; Garrison No. 118, Army and Navy Union, A. B. Katz, commanding; Chagres Camp, U. S. W. V., John Abramson, commanding; Sibert Camp, U. S. W. V., W. D. Rodgers, commanding; Canal Zone Post No. 40 A. V. F. S., H. B. Furlong, commanding; schoolgirls, escorted by boy scouts; Red Cross ambulance, I. C. C. Band; Uniform Rank, K. Of P., C. R. Chisholm, commanding; Knights of Pythias; Red Men, Odd Fellows; Kangaroos; the Moose. The parade will be formed immediately after the arrival of the special train from Colon, and will march to Ancon Cemetery, where the following exercises will take place: Invocation, Rev. C. O. Purdy; selection, "Reverie - In .Silent Thought," by the I. C. C. Band; reading, President Lincoln’s Gettysburg address; selection, "Nearer My God To Thee," by all of the bands, in memory of the musicians of the Titanic who played "Bethany," as they went to their watery graves; address, Justice H. A. Gudger; singing of "Onward Christian Soldiers," by the assemblage, the bands leading; decoration of the graves of the American dead by the schoolgirls and boy scouts; singing of "America;" firing squad; taps; benediction, Rev. Father Collins. The above are excerpts submitted by George Chevalier and are from different sources pertaining to Camp Otis and the 10th Infantry:
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