Encampment of Fifty-Firstflowa Regiment at Red Oak
Hi.l' VAH
FIRST LIBl'TBNANT DON MACKAB,
COUNCIL HLPFFS K1KST ASSIST
ANT SI ROICON OK KIKTY-KIRST IOWA
UK.til.MBNT Photo by UoiiIh It. IIomI
Willi.
I IIC recent tiicaiiiinutit of lilt Klf
ty-lli'Ht regiment, Inwu Nh
I lima I Ouard, ut Red ()al, was
u momornhlo event In tliii his
tory of Unit organization. Not only
WIIH till) (llrllllllllll!llt II great HUCCeHH, llllt
It brought I K't lit'r for the llrHt tlino Hluro
t liny were mustered out of Undo Sum s
Hervlco Iii San Krnnclsco tlui veterans who
served In tho Klfty-llrHt Iowa volunteers
throughout the Philippine -a m pa lti It
wiih tho Hist tlnio tho twelve roinpanloH
IiihI been In camp since tho day thiy sepu
ra l'il in Council IIIuITh for tholr respective
home towns after receiving n royal wolromo
to Ihclr native Htato. Men who hail fought
Hlilo by Hide In tho far-olf Islands of tho
I'hlllpplncH met again, shook IiiiuiIh and
talked over tho old iluyH when the regiment
lay In camp In San KrnnelHco or wan realiz
ing the Htcrn necessities of war out on the
llrlug Hue In thu l'htMpplncH.
The camp, licautlfully Hltuatcd, wiih
nanicil after Walter Wagner of Company
A, the llrHl Iowa man killed III aelloii In
the Philippines. Wagner wiih on iletacheil
Hcrvlco with Hawthorne's battery ami, wiih
1; 11 lt'd In a HklriulHh at Zapote bridge on
June III, 1SD!. HIh home wiih In Dch
Moines.
The cltl.ciiH of lied Oak did all In their
power to make the week's encampment
pleasant for the soldier boys and numer
ous HOflal functions were held In their
honor, the week's gaieties being brought to
a clime with a public reception and ball.
The feature of the encampment, especially
to the "veteraiiH." was the reunion of the
members of the old Klfty-llrst Iowa voluu
teei-H. About 300 were In attendance ,.ml
took part In the review of the regiment
Colonel Loper was tumble to be present
mid the command fell on Major Moore of
Vllllscu, the ranking olllcer. The veterans
formed Into their former rcHpcctlve coin
panics, tho battalions being commanded as
follows: i'H t battalion, Captain Worth
lugton of Des Moines; Se.'oud battalion
Major Hume of Dch Mollies; Third hat
lallon, Captain Mount of Shenandoah.
On the evening of the day of the ro-
RBV1BW OF THU VBTKRAN KIKTY-KIRST RBOIMENT Photo by Louis It Ilostwb k.
T "if'TiimfiliT
BNCA.MPMBNT AT RBD OAK, la.-RBVIBW OF TUB NBW FIFTY-FIRST RB01MBNT-Photo by Louis R Hostwlck
union the Iowa Society of the Army of
the PhlllpplneH wiih organized with First
Lieutenant Don Macrae, Jr , of Council
IIIuITh iih president. This honor wiih ten
dered to Lieutenant Ma cm- in recognition
of bis services through the campaign iih
assistant surgeon of thu Klfty-llrHt regi
ment during which he endeared himself to
every member of the regiment by hlH un
tiring zeal and attention to their care.
IMmIoi-) nf Hie l'iri.v-1'li hI Itt-tilmriit.
The Klfty-llrst regiment of Iowa volun
teerH wiih the result of tho reorganization
of the Third regiment, Iowa National
(Jiiaril, hut its Identity was preserved al
most Intact. After being disbanded on re-
being uiiderstond that It would be sent to
the Philippine islands.
It spent two mouths In Camp Merrltt In
San Krnnclsco and on July 20 was removed
to the Presidio with ninety-two men on
the sick Ust owing to the unhealthy loca
tion and condition of Camp Merrltt. August
was spent at Camp Merrlnm and the sick
list liR'rciiM'd to Km men In ho:-pitai. The
month of September was alto spent in Camp
Merrlam with -- men sick. In July live
died, in August six. in Septtmbtr ten. My
this time the regiment bail almost despaired
of feting active service ami the mouth of
October was passed with it still In camp,
when, on the llr.st tiny of November came
the glad tidings to prepare to leave San
Francisco for the far-olf Philippine Islands.
At 11 o'clock on the morning of November
c.bnbkal jambs iiltsh Lincoln new
colon hl of fifty-fihst iowa
HLdlMICNT, NATIONAL OUAUD Photo
by Louis It. Hostwlck.
:i. iv.is, the Klfty-llrst Iowa volunteers, 1.0SO
vtruiig. left Camp Merriani for the San
FranclMo ilocks. That afternoon It sailed
on the transport Pennsylvania for Manila by t
way of Honolulu.
Un Hoard TriiiiNiiurt l-'iiur MoiiIIin.
From that time the history of the regi
ment was the most iinbiue of any which
entered the service. More than one-third
of the whole time the regiment was away
fiom tho United States was spent on hoard'
of a transport ninety-three days going out
on the Pennsylvania and thirty on the
Senator returning. The regiment arrived at
Honolulu November 1- and left on Novem
ber It!, thirty-three men remaining there In
the hospital. It arrived at Manila on De
cember 7, but It was not permitted to leave
the transport until Kebrtinry II, l&Ult, re
maining on the phlp for two months after
renchliig the Philippines, awaiting orders.
During this time the transport, with the
regiment on board, was ordered to Hollo,
anchoring within six miles of the town on
December !I0. The transport lay In tho
harbor of Hollo until January 2!t, arriving
off Cavlte January 31. On Kebrtinry II thu
regiment disembarked fiom the transport,
having been continuously afloat for three
months ami three days, during all of which
time theie wns not a single death.
At Cavlte the regiment went Into camp
ami Colonel I.oper was placed In command
of the district. Here the battalion forma
tions of the regiment began to come Into
play, the battalions being composed and
coiumiiiitled as follows: KIrst, commanded
(Continued on Fifth Pago.) ,
CMP OF THK FIFTY-FIHST HKfilMKNT AT
Ilostwlcl;
Ui:i) OAK la Photo by Louis It
K.NCAM I'M UNT AT KBU OAK, la,- TUB KITUHBN Photo by Louis U Hostwlck.
turning from the Philippines it was n few
mouths later reorganized as a regiment of
the Iowa National fiuard, retaining the
number It had been known by while serv
lug Uncle Sam. The twelve companies
were mustered in from tlu fame towns as
hud been represented In tho old regimen
anil a large per cent of the men who
served through the Philippine campaign
re-cnlhted.
As a regiment of the national guard,
previous to Its service In the Philippine,
the Fifty-first, then known as the Third
regiment, saw considerable service In
1SSI Companies A and II of Des Moines
were called out to quell miners' riots at
Angus. In ISSii these two companies
guarded prisoners In the Polk county Jail
for three weeks; In ISO! Companies II. C
B, (1. I. K, L anil M met Kelley's army
at the Missouri river nnd the same sum
mer Major Loper, with the Des Moines
companies, spent three weeks In tho Bvans
mining district.
The regiment was mustered Into Uncle
Sam's service In April, ISfiS. In Des Moines
where It remained In eainp until June !
when It started for Dch Moines. It then
BNCAMPMENT AT HBD OAK In WASH INO UP Photo by Louis It. Hostwlck.