Officers were not allowed to appear en civile, unless on
leave of absence.
I used to say, "Oh, Frau General, how fascinating it all is!"
"Hush, Martha," she would say; "life in the army is not always so
brilliant as it looks; in fact, we often call it, over here,
'glaenzendes Elend.' "
These bitter words made a great impression upon my mind, and in
after years, on the American frontier, I seemed to hear them over
and over again.
When I bade good-bye to the General and his family, I felt a
tightening about my throat and my heart, and I could not speak.
Life in Germany had become dear to me, and I had not known how
dear until I was leaving it forever.
CHAPTER II
I JOINED THE ARMY
I was put in charge of the captain of the North German Lloyd S.
S. "Donau," and after a most terrific cyclone in mid-ocean, in
which we nearly foundered, I landed in Hoboken, sixteen days from
Bremen.
My brother, Harry Dunham, met me on the pier, saying, as he took
me in his arms, "You do not need to tell me what sort of a trip
you have had; it is enough to look at the ship - that tells the
story."
As the vessel had been about given up for lost, her arrival was
somewhat of an agreeable surprise to all our friends, and to none
more so than my old friend Jack, a second lieutenant of the
United States army, who seemed so glad to have me back in
America, that I concluded the only thing to do was to join the
army myself.
A quiet wedding in the country soon followed my decision, and we
set out early in April of the year 1874 to join his regiment,
which was stationed at Fort Russell, Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory.
I had never been west of New York, and Cheyenne seemed to me, in
contrast with the finished civilization of Europe, which I had so
recently left, the wildest sort of a place.
Arriving in the morning, and alighting from the train, two
gallant officers, in the uniform of the United States infantry,
approached and gave us welcome; and to me, the bride, a special
"welcome to the regiment" was given by each of them with
outstretched hands.
Major Wilhelm said, "The ambulance is right here; you must come
to our house and stay until you get your quarters."
Such was my introduction to the army - and to the army ambulance,
in which I was destined to travel so many miles.
Four lively mules and a soldier driver brought us soon to the
post, and Mrs. Wilhelm welcomed us to her pleasant and
comfortable-looking quarters.
I had never seen an army post in America. I had always lived in
places which needed no garrison, and the army, except in Germany,
was an unknown quantity to me.
Fort Russell was a large post, and the garrison consisted of
many companies of cavalry and infantry. It was all new and
strange to me.
Soon after luncheon, Jack said to Major Wilhelm, "Well, now, I
must go and look for quarters: what's the prospect?"
"You will have to turn some one out," said the Major, as they
left the house together.
About an hour afterwards they returned, and Jack said, "Well, I
have turned out Lynch; but," he added, "as his wife and child are
away, I do not believe he'll care very much."
"Oh," said I, "I'm so sorry to have to turn anybody out!"
The Major and his wife smiled, and the former remarked, "You must
not have too much sympathy: it's the custom of the service - it's
always done - by virtue of rank. They'll hate you for doing it,
but if you don't do it they'll not respect you. After you've been
turned out once yourself, you will not mind turning others out."
The following morning I drove over to Cheyenne with Mrs. Wilhelm,
and as I passed Lieutenant Lynch's quarters and saw soldiers
removing Mrs. Lynch's lares and penates, in the shape of a sewing
machine, lamp-shades, and other home-like things, I turned away
in pity that such customs could exist in our service.
To me, who had lived my life in the house in which I was born,
moving was a thing to be dreaded.
But Mrs. Wilhelm comforted me, and assured me it was not such a
serious matter after all. Army women were accustomed to it, she
said.
CHAPTER III
ARMY HOUSE-KEEPING
Not knowing before I left home just what was needed for
house-keeping in the army, and being able to gather only vague
ideas on the subject from Jack, who declared that his quarters
were furnished admirably, I had taken out with me but few
articles in addition to the silver and linen-chests.
I began to have serious doubts on the subject of my menage, after
inspecting the bachelor furnishings which had seemed so ample to
my husband. But there was so much to be seen in the way of guard
mount, cavalry drill, and various military functions, besides the
drives to town and the concerts of the string orchestra, that I
had little time to think of the practical side of life.
Added to this, we were enjoying the delightful hospitality of the
Wilhelms, and the Major insisted upon making me acquainted with
the "real old-fashioned army toddy" several times a day, - a new
beverage to me, brought up in a blue-ribbon community, where
wine-bibbing and whiskey drinking were rated as belonging to only
the lowest classes.
