one thing, it was neither fit for man nor beast when soldiers were
transported in it to Cuba. The actual carrying capacity of the vessel
as a transport was, in my opinion, about 900 soldiers, exclusive of
the officers, who, as a rule, surround themselves with every possible
comfort, even in actual warfare. A good many times, as on this
occasion, the desire and demand of the officers for comfort worked
serious hardships for the enlisted men. The lower decks had been
filled with bunks. Alas! the very thought of those things of torture
makes me shudder even now. They were arranged in rows, lengthwise the
ship, of course, with aisles only two feet wide between each row. The
dimensions of a man's bunk was 6 feet long, 2 feet wide and 2 feet
high, and they were arranged in tiers of four, with a four inch board
on either side to keep one from rolling out. The Government had
furnished no bedding at all. Our bedding consisted of one blanket as
mattress and haversack for pillow. The 25th Infantry was assigned to
the bottom deck, where there was no light, except the small port holes
when the gang-plank was closed. So dark was it that candles were
burned all day. There was no air except what came down the canvass air
shafts when they were turned to the breeze. The heat of that place was
almost unendurable. Still our Brigade Commander issued orders that no
one would be allowed to sleep on the main deck. That order was the
only one to my knowledge during the whole campaign that was not obeyed
by the colored soldiers. It is an unreported fact that a portion of
the deck upon which the 25th Infantry took passage to Cuba was flooded
with water during the entire journey.

Before leaving Port Tampa the Chief Surgeon of the expedition came
aboard and made an inspection, the result of which was the taking off
of the ship the volunteer battalion, leaving still on board about a
thousand men. Another noteworthy fact is that for seven days the boat