Company I, 28th
Regiment, U.S. Volunteers
Capt. D. F. Allen. Comander
Spanish American War
In the Spanish-American
war, Clinton county surpassed its Civil war record for promptness.
While the trouble was brewing, preliminaries for the organization
of a company were made by David F. Allen, Harrold M.
Kramer and Harry Richeson, and
arrangements were made to get it into the Second regiment of the
National Guard, on the supposition that the National Guard would
be sent out before any volunteer regiments. The company
organization had the company to report at the State Fair Grounds
at Indianapolis; but, in anticipation of a sudden call, it had
been arranged that if word came, the fire bells would be rung to
call the men together.
On receipt of the telegram, the three
leaders mentioned were quickly out of bed, and the fire alarm was
sounded; also the "Clover Leaf Cannon" was
fired --- this was purely a home-made weapon, made of the axle of
an old Clover Leaf engine, which was bored out at the shops at
Frankfort. The men soon assembled, and at 6 a. m. took a
Monon train to Indianapolis, disembarking at the Fair Grounds at
7:30 There was nobody there, and the gates were locked; so the
company climbed the fence and took possession, and opened the war
- the first on the grounds. Later in the day Indianapolis and
Sheridan companies came in. The Clinton county company
organized there with Allen as captain; Kramer,
first lieutenant, and Richeson, second
lieutenant and was mustered in as Company C, Second regiment of
the National Guard, Harry B. Smith,
of Indianapolis, colonel.
On May 10th, the company was mustered
into the United States service as Company C, One Hundred and
Fifty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. At this time there was a
physical examination by United States surgeons, and Lieutenant
Richeson was rejected. W. F. Van Arsdel
was made second lieutenant in his place. The regiment left
on May 16, and arrived at Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, Ga., May
18th. It camped there until August 25, when it was sent to
Knoxville; and from there on, September 12, to Camp Mount,
Indianapolis. On September 17 the regiment was given a
thirty days' furlough; and on November 4 mustered out. It
was in the Division that had been picked for the Porto Rican
expedition, but General Poland, commanding the Division, took
sick, and died at Asheville, N. C., and another Division was then
selected.
But after the close of the Spanish war,
the Philippines remained to be cared for, and here was a chance
for military service. On September 11, 1899, Capt.
David F. Allen started on a special train, with 200 men
from Clinton and adjoining counties, for Jefferson Barracks, St.
Louis, to enlist for the Philippine service. The war
Department had changed the old system of neighborhood
organization, as not conducive to discipline; but Allen insisted
on having a company of the boys he had brought, and finally
succeeded in getting it. It went in as Company I,
Thirty-eighth United States Volunteers, and it was the
only company that event in on that basis. Most of its members
were Clinton county boys, but the two lieutenants, Morris
and Ellis, were not. Those of the Allen
party not included in this company mostly enlisted elsewhere, and
saw varied service. A number of Clinton county boys were
with the troops sent to China in the Boxer troubles.
The Thirty-eighth Volunteers left St.
Louis for San Francisco on October 21, and embarked for the
Philippines on November 21, on two ships. Company I went on
the steamship "Duke of Fife." Most of the regimental
officers went on the steamship "St. Paul." They arrived
at Manilla on December 26, and were actively engaged until they
started on the return trip to the United States, in May, 1901.
One member of the regiment, not on the rolls, was a fox terrier
named "Wink," which was taken along by Harvey Freas,
and became a sort of regimental mascot. It lived through
the campaign and came back with the company.
Source: History of Clinton County, Indiana by Hon. Joseph
Claybaugh. Published 1913 by A. W. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana
© Connie Rushing 2000