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| Belair in the summer of 1914, and the battalion exercises at Saunders' Range in the summer of 1915. Its work at Fro'stburg, in the fire of 1904 and in the Spanish-American war of 1898, has been detailed elsewhere, and needs but passing notice here. Its first camp as a grown-up regiment of 12 companies was at Frederick in the summer of 1896, during the administration of Governor Lloyd Lowndes. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, as the active head of the United States Army, visited the camp and reviewed the First Brigade, under the command of Brig.-Gen. Lawra-son Riggs. It was one of the most notable state encampments in the history of the Maryland National Guard, and the Fourth Regiment had a conspicuous part in it. A finer organization of state militia never marched in review before the head of the army. All eyes were on the Fourth, because it was really the first public appearance of the three new companies—"E," "L" and "M"—that gave the regiment its quota of 12 companies. They were mustered in shortly after the regiment moved into the old Newton Academy on Baltimore street, near Carrollton avenue, the first decent quarters the struggling organization had been given. With the band playing "Onward, Christian Soldiers," the Fourth marched out of its camp to take its position on the field in which the review was to be held under conditions that were inspiring, and that no doubt still linger in the memories of those who witnessed it. Officers and men wore white-duck trousers and blue coats, done up in immaculate fashion. Onward the regiment swept across the field, like a body of troops in a triumphal march, the crowds applauding and General Miles smiling. There was nothing very remarkable about the camp itself, for it was one of those old state affairs in which dress parade in the evening was the feature, with regimental, battalion and company drills and the mounting of the guard as the chief instruction in field work. But the camp had its social side, and in this the Fourth played an important part. It was awarded a handsome silk flag, offered by the people of Frederick to the most popular organization in camp. Miss May Gillespie Blaine, niece of James G. Blaine, was visiting in Frederick at the time, and figured prominently in the presentation ceremonies, at a hop and in other social events which won for the Fourth a lasting place in the hearts of the people. Two years later came the Spanish-American war period, which showed that the training the militia had received in the old state camps was not such as would fit the troops for service, and with this experience came a change in the method of conducting the camps. But not, however, until after the First Brigade had Page Forty-Jive |