Edmund L. Wescott, a Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin native, speaks about his experiences as a sergeant in B Company of the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish American War. Wescott explains that he enlisted at age 17, in 1897, into Hoard's Rifles, which was started as a sort of social club and was later mustered into the National Guard. He reports that his training consisted of once-a-week close-order drills at Fort Atkinson, yearly inspections by an officer from the regular Army, and a week of training once a year at Camp Douglas, which included regimental drills, target practice, and dress parade. During training at Camp Douglas, he discusses being made a corporal after a competitive drill contest. Wescott explains the living conditions, including food, quarters, and uniforms. He recalls that when the USS Maine was blown up, he was working at a tobacco warehouse in Milton Junction (Wisconsin). Wescott explains that he feared something would happen and went home for a few weeks before the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiments were mobilized. After arriving in Milwaukee at the State Fairgrounds, then known as Camp Harvey, he describes getting a physical examination, spending a couple weeks on guard duty, being lined up for muster into the federal service, and stepping forward when his name was called. Mustered in at the rank of sergeant, Wescott recalls acting as a drill master, eating canned corn beef and hardtack on the train ride south, and assignment to Camp Cuba Libre in Jacksonville (Florida). He speaks of the poor sanitation and using oak barrels sawed in half as latrines. Wescott recounts eating breakfast on base and going off base to "Belvidere" for lunch, which usually consisted of soup, bread, and shrimp. He mentions only having one review, which happened during a downpour. Wescott talks about his work day, including cleaning up scrub palmetto along the Saint John's River to make way for parade grounds and showing off on dress parade. He touches on being issued an old Springfield rifle but not receiving any target practice. Wescott characterizes the recruits he was in charge of and mentions having problems with homesick men. He details the camp food and the typhoid outbreak that began in July, stating that the sick were housed in the 1st Division Hospital, which was a large tent. Wescott explains that Company B lost thirteen men out of a hundred, with fifty-five sick at one time. He mentions soldiers that went home often carried the infection to their families, and his own father caught typhoid even though Wescott hadn't been sick. Wescott remembers that the sick men were given castor oil and quinine and sent back to their quarters. He talks about not seeing any mosquito netting outside the hospital, living conditions during the outbreak, and not being able to get much done for lack of men. He explains that he returned to Milwaukee in September of 1898 and enlisted for another year at Camp Douglas, and he reflects on reenlistment numbers in his unit. At the end of 1899, Wescott says he became restless, went on the railroad, and couldn't be bothered with the National Guard. He relates that he was part of what was considered "Uncle Sam's 1-2-3 boys" because he served in three wars in one capacity or another. During World War I, he was put to work selling bonds and savings stamps, and for World War II he helped put out equipment for armament makers. Wescott speaks of being appointed as the National Historian of the Spanish American War.
