There was some building to be done, but the
duty was comparatively light, and we entered with considerable
zest into the social life of the Capital. We expected to remain
there for two years, at the end of which time Captain Summerhayes
would be retired and Washington would be our permanent home.
But alas! our anticipation was never to be realized, for, as we
all know, in May of 1898, the Spanish War broke out, and my
husband was ordered to New York City to take charge of the Army
Transport Service, under Colonel Kimball.
No delay was permitted to him, so I was left behind, to pack up
the household goods and to dispose of our horses and carriages as
best I could.
The battle of Manila Bay had changed the current of our lives,
and we were once more adrift.
The young Cavalry officers came in to say good-bye to Captain
Jack: every one was busy packing up his belongings for an
indefinite period and preparing for the field. We all felt the
undercurrent of sadness and uncertainty, but "a good health" and
"happy return" was drunk all around, and Jack departed at
midnight for his new station and new duties.
The next morning at daybreak we were awakened by the tramp, tramp
of the Cavalry, marching out of the post, en route for Cuba.
We peered out of the windows and watched the troops we loved so
well, until every man and horse had vanished from our sight.
Fort Myer was deserted and our hearts were sad.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
My sister Harriet, who was visiting us at that time, returned
from her morning walk, and as she stepped upon the porch, she
said: "Well! of all lonesome places I ever saw, this is the worst
yet. I am going to pack my trunk and leave. I came to visit an
army post, but not an old women's home or an orphan asylum: that
is about all this place is now. I simply cannot stay!"
Whereupon, she proceeded immediately to carry out her resolution,
and I was left behind with my young daughter, to finish and close
up our life at Fort Myer.
To describe the year which followed, that strenuous year in New
York, is beyond my power.
That summer gave Jack his promotion to a Major, but the anxiety
and the terrible strain of official work broke down his health
entirely, and in the following winter the doctors sent him to
Florida, to recuperate.
After six weeks in St. Augustine, we returned to New York. The
stress of the war was over; the Major was ordered to Governor's
Island as Chief Quartermaster, Department of the East, and in the
following year he was retired, by operation of the law, at the
age limit.
I was glad to rest from the incessant changing of stations; the
life had become irksome to me, in its perpetual unrest.
