A Soldier's Day - Rigors of Military Life - Boston, MA - Massachusetts Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

In Boston's Readville neighborhood is Camp Meigs Park, which has this sign about the daily lives of the soldiers of the 54th and 55th Infantry and the 5th Cavalry.

Camp Meigs Park, owned and maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), is located in the center of a residential neighborhood off the Neponset River Parkway. From the parkway, turn southwest - away from the railroad bridge - onto Hyde Park Avenue, then drive southwest along this road to the park on the left. The sculpture is located along a path from the north corner to the center of the park, which was a portion of the parade grounds for Camp Meigs.

The sign has the following text on it:

"A Soldier's Day
Rigors of Military Life

Soldiers for the Massachusetts 54th and 55th Infantries and the 5th Cavalry were recruited carefully, as their performance was subject to public scrutiny. Men of all ages came from varied backgrounds and experiences, a few formerly slaves, with their training preparing them to fight as a military unit.

At Camp Meigs the day began with a bugle call at 6 am in winter months and 5 am in spring. Bathing from canteen cups, a breakfast of hardtack and coffee, and the answering of Roll Call was the traditional morning. A day of washing horses and mules, drills and training, and getting medical treatment if needed, readied the men for battle. Taps, sounded at 9pm, closed the day.

Days in the southern battlefields were long and hard. Miles of walking, hunger, exhaustion and at times sleeping without shelter was common. Yet, a feeling of camaraderie endured.

'We drank from the same canteen.'
Private Miles O'Reilly
54th Regiment"

In the center is a poem:

"We have shared our blankets and tents together,
And have marched and found in all kinds of weather,
And hungry and full we have been;
Had days of battle and days of rest;
But this memory I cling to, and love the best
We have drank from the same canteen.

For when wounded I lay on the outer slope,
With my blood flowing fast, and but little hope
Upon which my faint spirit could lean,
Oh, then I remember you crowded to my side,
And, bleedings fast it seemed both must have died,
We drank from the same canteen"
- Poem by Private Miles O-Reilly
Massachusetts 54th
printed in Hardtack and Coffee,
John D. Billings, 1887.

There are other pictures and bar of music on the sign, as well.

Agency Responsible for Placement: Other (Place below) Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Year Placed: 5/1/2017 County: Suffolk City/Town Name: Boston Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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