226 The Rough Riders 



a few light-hearted individuals, who were entirely 

 ready to fight in time of war, but in time of peace 

 felt that somebody ought to take care of them ; and 

 there were others who, never having seen any aggre- 

 gation of buildings larger than an ordinary cow- 

 town, fell a victim to the fascinations of New York. 

 But, as a whole, they scattered out to their homes on 

 the disbandment of the regiment ; gaunter than when 

 they had enlisted, sometimes weakened by fever or 

 wounds, but just as full as ever of sullen, sturdy ca- 

 pacity for self-help; scorning to ask for aid, save 

 what was entirely legitimate in the way of one com- 

 rade giving help to another. A number of the ex- 

 amining surgeons, at the muster-out, spoke to me 

 with admiration of the contrast offered by our regi- 

 ment to so many others, in the fact that our men al- 

 ways belittled their own bodily injuries and suffer- 

 ings; so that whereas the surgeons ordinarily had 

 to be on the lookout lest a man who was not really 

 disabled should claim to be so, in our case they had 

 to adopt exactly the opposite attitude and guard the 

 future interests of the men, by insisting upon putting 

 upon their certificates of discharge whatever disease 

 they had contracted or wound they had received in line 

 of duty. Major J. H. Calef, who had more than any 

 other one man to do with seeing to the proper dis- 

 charge papers of our men, and who took a most gen- 

 erous interest in them, wrote me as follows : "I also 



