George Henry Kinbrough was a volunteer recruit that arrived in 1898. The Pages 640-656 describe what he experienced after the regulars went off to fight the war in Cuba and far off lands.
The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 70 No 4 Pages 633-656
Visiting Camp George H. Thomas in Chickamauga, Georgia/Chattanooga Tennessee
As the summer of 1898 wore on complaints of sickness in Camp Thomas grew. Sanitary conditions were extremely unfavorable. The soldiers lacked bathing facilities, and those sent to Crawfish Springs to get drinking water drove their teams into the creek, got out and bathed themselves, then filled their barrels. Animal corrals were left unclean. A shallow open pit was dug a few feet back of each of the crude company kitchens. All the refuse and waste from the man was dumped in these enclosed pits, which became literally open cesspools. The presence of so much litter attracted millions of flies, causing “great annoyance to men and beast,” and evidently contributed to the spread of typhoid fever. “The whole place reeks of foulness,” said one reporter in recommending its abandonment.
Typhoid fever, dysentery, and malaria were the prevalent diseases. Typhoid was severe and caused the majority of deaths at Camp Thomas. One examining Board stated that flooring in the tents would have prevented much sickness, and that the soil, as well as the water, was polluted. An Iowa private commented that the water his command had to drink was terrible. “We drank water as yellow as the thickest water in the Missouri,V he complained.
There was an inadequate supply of hospitals, doctors, and nurses. Consequently, care and treatment was woefully scarce and little could be done for most of the sick. There was what was called an “incurable ward,” in which it was said that it was nearly impossible to distinguish the living from the dead.” It almost made me sick to see the boys,” one man wrote. “Some were so weak that they could not brush their faces and their mouth, eyes and noses would be just filled with flies, and no one to brush them off.”
The former Park Hotel, a Chickamauga, which bought at $10,000 by Mrs. Mary T. Leiter of Chicago, and given to the government Vfor the comfort of the boys at Camp Thomas.” It became the Leiter Hospital. Although “well-managed,” the new Leiter General Hospital, too, was “sadly overcrowded” by August, with 255 beds in a space that should hold no more than 130. Tents were soon added to increase Leiter’s capacity, and the number of medical officers doubled. A second General Hospital, the Sternberg was opened near Wilder Tower at Camp Thomas in August with a 750 bed capacity and a staff more than double that of Leiter’s.
In August, Secretary of War Russell A. Alger ordered the camps to begin closing. Ill soldiers in the two camp hospitals, Sternberg Hospital and Leiter Hospital, were sent home on furlough to recover. Other troops were sent to other camps or discharged and sent home. During this time 425 soldiers died in Camp Thomas, more than were killed in combat during the four months’ war with Spain. Following the war investigation determined that over 750 soldiers died in Camp Thomas. Many others lived the rest of their lives with other complications caused by the typhoid fever.
In 1895, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park became the country’s first National Military Park. The following year, Congress passed legislation allowing the Military Park to be used as a training ground for the Army. As war with Spain looked inevitable, in early 1898 the Chickamauga Battlefield Park came under consideration is the place of troop training. The reason was the Chickamauga Park offered good railroad link’s to most parts of the country. Besides the adequate railroads, the climate was warm and would help acclimate many of the Northern troops to the Cuban weather conditions.
On April 14, 1898, the first regular army unit, the all Black 25th Infantry Regiment arrived at Chickamauga Park. On April 21, Maj. Gen. John R. Brooke arrived in camp and took command of the camp. He made his headquarters at Lytle Hill on April 25, the same day, war was declared on Spain. More regular Army units arrived, and their total strength grew to 7,300 men. On April 23, the site was named Camp George H. Thomas in honor of the Civil War General who had fought here. On May 14, all regular army units had left and volunteer state units started arriving. Their numbers would swell to at least 45,000 by the end of the month.
Camp Thomas involved intensive training. Reveille was 4:40 a.m. It was intense and grueling. There was also a dress parade every evening. The supply of tents available at Camp Thomas was in short supply, and the men crowded 7 to 9 men in a tent measured 7 feet by 9feet. The tents had no floors, there were no cots or beds, and the men had a single blanket each. There were no regular cooks or mess halls. Cooking was done over open fires and the soldiers had to find and cook their own meals. They then had to wash their own dishes, often without water, which was quite scarce at that time. Due to lack of sanitation, disease was rampant.
On August 8, largely due to the unhealthy conditions, secretary of war Russell A. Alger ordered the camp to begin closing. Sick soldiers in the two camp hospitals were sent home on furlough to recover. Other troops were sent to other camps were discharged and sent home.
By the middle of September most of the soldiers had departed. More than 72,000 troops had been in the camp. The park was in ruins, many trees had been destroyed, some being used for firewood, some cut for poles, while others were destroyed by Cavalry horses and other livestock that ate the bark. More than 3,000 latrines were disinfected and filled, buildings were dismantled, refuse burned. Resurfacing the roads and removing dead timber continued. Work by park laborers went to replace historical markers broken during the occupation. In all, more than $25,000 was spent refurbishing the battlefield after the Spanish-American war. The military presence continued with the opening of Fort Oglethorpe in December, 1904.
Camp Thomas 1898
