Company L Freeport Soldier Boys Like Army Life They are Faring Very Well at Springfield and are Anxious to Have a Go at the Spaniards Camp Tanner, Springfield, Ill., April 29 - The boys of Company L are becoming somewhat used to army life and are now very comfortably situated. There is no sickness among the members of our company, although a good deal is reported in some of the other companies. Company L is made up largely of young men from the shops and factories of Freeport and they are used to hard work, so that they do not mind the drills which are no child's play. We are all waiting for our physical examinations and you can bet that there is not a boy in Company L who wants to be rejected and sent back to Freeport. The boys have all enlisted for the was and it would break the heart of any member of Company L to be sent home at this time. One young man who is not very strong physically, and who is afraid he may be sent home to Freeport, says that if they will only let him stay in the army long enough to participate in one battle he will go home more contented, but he wants one chance at the Spaniards. J. J. Stine, one of the new recruits of Company L, says that he has sworn to kill at least ten Spaniards and he will not return to Freeport until his mission is accomplished. "Mikado" McCoy is so warlike that he demands a cooked Spaniard for his breakfast every morning. He is not very familiar with a gun and thinks they are not of much account in a scrimmage. He says that he would prefer one of the big stakes from John Yordy's dray which he used to drive. With one of these in his brawny hands he would agree to mow down all the Spaniards in Cuba. We have boys in our company who never fired a gun in their lives and they are anxious for practice so that when they get into battle they can do effective work. Capt. Kling is giving the new recruits plenty of drill work, and will soon have them in good shape. Company L compares very favorable with the other companies in camp, and is much better than some. Our company contains some pretty husky boys and they will pass the medical test all right, but we have a few who are not very strong physically, although they do not lack in courage, and we have some who are quite young in years, so that it is very probable that some of the members of our company will not pass the medical examination which is very rigid. So many have enlisted that Uncle Sam can take his pick. Over 100 men in the First Regiment have failed to pass the physical examination, and have been sent home, so we rather expect that the Sixth Regiment, to which Company L belongs, will also loose some men. the surgeons are now at work examining the boys of the Sixth Regiment, and the members of Company L will soon know their fate. We have over 10,000 men in camp now and this place has a decidedly military appearance, and the regulations are becoming more strict every day. We were short on provisions and blankets at first, but now we have no cause for complaint on that score. In our regiment we have two cooks who were in the Franco-Prussian was, and they are all right, too, and know how to cook a meal that the boys can appreciate. We have two hour's drill duty morning and evening, and as the weather is pretty warm down here the boys find drilling no fun. Our boys are all anxious to go to the front, and while the Sixth Regiment may be among the first to go it is not probable that any of the state troops will be ordered away from here for some time. There are many raw recruits in every company and the officers in charge do not desire the troops to go into actual service until they become more perfect in the art of war. The boys of Company L get letters almost every day from home and home news is sought for very eagerly by every member of the company. Second Lieutenant Harry Yount has a home-sick look but he bears up bravely. He left his bride to go with the boys and Harry watches for letters very eagerly. He is a popular officer here too, and is one who will never shirk a duty. Paul Wheeler is the life of Company L and takes kindly to camp life. Paul was a famous member of the Freeport High school foot ball team and is anxious for a "center rush" at the Spaniards. If he fights with the same desperation that he played foot ball there are liable to be a good many dead Spaniards in his pathway. Our camp is visited by thousands of people every day and Sunday many excursion trains will be run into Springfield and the city will be filled with visitors anxious to see the "big show." We are a greater attraction than the State fair. G.H. Contributed by Karen Fyock - Freeport Daily Journal clipping - April 30, 1898

Springfield, Ill. May 9, 1898 - Freeport Journal Yesterday was a gala day in the history of Springfield. The crowd was probably the largest ever seen here. Immense train loads came in Saturday evening and all Sunday morning and a great many of the people were unable to visit the camp grounds at all. Mothers, wives and sweethearts had a bad effect on some of the boys. They caused a few pangs of homesickness when the trains rolled away from the depot. Before another Sunday passes we will, in all probability, be in Chickamauga on the historic battlefield, or in Washington. The examination of the Sixth regiment commenced today and we will be rushed through with all possible speed. We will probably be mustered in as the Third regiment of Illinois volunteers. One of our men, Richards by name, was taken sick last week and Sunday he was transferred to the city hospital. He is ill with pneumonia and I understand he is in a critical condition. All the rest of the boys are well and send their regards to all their Freeport friends. Springfield, Ill. May 10 Co L was examined yesterday and five men, Corporals Leslie and Wallace, and Privates Nodd, Sechrist and Leslie were rejected. Dr. Senn, surgeon, said COmpany L was the finest set of men, physically, that he had yet examined. Contributed by Karen Fyock - G.A.H. - Freeport Journal clipping May 1898 The company roster may be of interest to our readers: Captain, C. B. Kling; 1st Lieut., S. H. Ottenhausen; 2nd Lieut., H. A. Yount; 1st Sergt., W. W. Young; 2nd Sergt. J. Steffen; 3rd Sergt., Geo. A. Held; 4th Sergt,. T. D. Sankey; 5th Sergt., W. C. Shower; 1st corpl., J. C. Culvey, 2nd Corpl., C. L. Erwin; 3rd Corpl., Robert Opel; 4th Corpl., Ralph Leslie; 5th Corpl., E. M. Boyer; 6th Corpl., John S. Becker; 7th Corpl., Otto Fleming; 8th Corpl., Harry R. Wallace; musicians, Peter E. Bonn and Arthur Love. Privates - C. L. Adrit, Roy Brownlee, Roy Blosser, John G. Barth, M. Bohlson, Henry Buencley, Edward G. Barth, Alvin Becker, Chas. R. Bingman, Ebaldo Buonini, Emerson A. Cross, Chas. W. Cauzler, Guy Cronemiller, Howard H. Dow, Elberd DeBore, John G. Eberely, George E. Fulton, George Groshouse, Richard Gebhart, J. J. Houman, Bert Hollister, Hugh H. Hineline, Fred H. JOhn, John M. Keefe, Wm. F. Leslie, Morrice Linton, John M. Lieder, Wm. B. Lamb, Lewis P. Miller, John A. Meyer, James H. Melchor, Owen McCoy, Chas. E. McGilligan. Clarence E. Nodd, Fred Ottenhausen, Fred F. Russ, Allen E. Rogers, John E. Richards, Edward Raymer, Alexander H. Robertson, Robert M. Rynn, Fred Selke, Arthur Shrove, Martin H. Serf, Simon F. Seifert, Chas. L. Sweeney, Alfred C. Selle, Wm. Selb, Jacob Sechrist, Gustave Seiler, ALbert H. Snyder, Mack C. Skinner, Carl L. Schmidt, C. M. Snyder, Richard Vail, Wm. E. Wheelock, Wm. H. Walz, Joseph P. Wilson, Lewis V. Wallace, Paul A. Wheeler. The new recruits which left this morning are Geo. Seiffert, R. L. Thoman, Ralph Rossman, Joe Bunting, August E. Schmidt, W. A. Frank, C. Mogle, S. Sundburg, Chas. Lentz and Paul Burrell. Contributed by Karen Fyock - Freeport Journal clipping- May 9, 1898 Last evening there arrived from Springfield eight members of Company L who were rejected on the final medical examination, and one, young Love, who came home on account of sickness in his family. The boys who were rejected and had to come home were feeling very blue over the fact and were not at all anxious to leave their comrades in arms. The boys who came home last evening were William and Ralph Leslie, Charles Nodd, Sechrist, Skeel, Allen, Rogers and Richards. The latter was sick for some time at Springfield and came home from the hospital. The boys say that the Sixth regiment will probably get orders to proceed to mobile, Alabama, by Saturday night, and the members of company L will be glad to get to the front. The boys are well pleased with their officers, both company and regimental, and they think that the Sixth regiment will make a creditable record in the war. May 11 - We are now regular soldiers in Uncle Sam's army. Most of the boys are having their hair clipped short and we are called Captain Kling's Chinamen. We surely expect to go south to the gulf coast in a very short time. The 3rd and 5th Regiments and one battery of artillery will leave inside of twenty-four hours. The boys who showed the white feather are not having a very pleasant time of it, as they are roasted unmercifully. A sergeant from Company F was hooted out of the gate. Corporal Wallace, who was rejected in the final examination, felt so badly that the officers decided to five him another chance and re-examined him and they decided that his case was not so bad after all and he will go with us. He is the happiest man in Company L just now. May 12 - The Third and Fifth regiments have not left here yet and they may not go for a day or two, as arrangements for transportation have not been completed. Company L was vaccinated this afternoon and the boys are carrying bits of paper on their arms with the words "Keep off," "Hands off this arm," etc., written on them. This is done so the men will be careful about romping too much. The boys who were rejected left for home today and they carried the company flags with them. We could not carry them into action, as there is a color company in the regiment and they carry the regimental colors. G.A.H. Contributed by Karen Fyock - Freeport Journal clipping Capt. C. B. Kling, of Company L, has forwarded to his wife honorable discharges for the following members of Company L who were rejected by the medical examiners and the boys can get them at the residence of the captain on State street: Thomas Eberle, Geo. E. Fulton, Arthur C. Love, Allen E. Rogers, Wm. F. Leslie (Contributed by Karen Fyock dated May 18, 1898 clipping)

November 1898 Company L Home - The Boys Arrived Last Night on a Special Train The boys of Company L, who saw service in the war with Spain, arrived home from Springfield last night on a special train over the Illinois Central. They came back as private citizens, as they were mustered out of the service of Uncle Sam while at Springfield. The boys had a good deal of fun while at Springfield despite the cold weather. On Thanksgiving day they had a feast of turkey and other good things, and a game of foot ball was played. Paul Wheeler of this city, who has played many a good game, with the Freeport team, was captain of one of the teams, but his support was poor and his side lost. A Springfield dispatch has the following in regard to the mustering out of the Sixth Illinois: Springfield, Ill., Nov. 25 - The Sixth Illinois volunteer infantry was today finally mustered out of service and the men were given their discharges. Paymaster Thrift handed to the men of the Sixth regiment nearly $140,000 today, none of them receiving less than $100. It took the entire day and until late this evening to complete the work of paying. Tonight nearly all of the men of the Sixth have started back to their homes, none of them caring to sleep in machinery hall at the state fair grounds any longer than necessary. The merchants of Springfield did a land office business today. Hardly one man of the regiment left here for home without purchasing a new outfit from hear to foot. During the afternoon the enlisted men of the regiment presented Col. D. Jack Foster with a handsome gold watch, chain and masonic charm. The colonel was also presented with a beautiful badge by the officers. It is a handsomely enameled four-leaf clover, the emblem of the Second United States army corps, of which the Sixth is a part. Contributed by Karen Fyock - November 1898 clipping

Five young men enlisted in the regular army Tuesday. They left for Columbus Barracks, Columbus, Ohio. The names of the recruits are Manson R. Wise of Winslow, Charles O. Schudt and Fred E. Savage of Lena, Lawrence J. Sleer and Ira E. Holzman of Freeport- from the Freeport Democrat. (Lawrence J. Sleer son of Fanny Hittle and John Adam Sleer) Contributed by Elsie Harman - Rockford Republic, Wed. evening April 5, 1899