Guarding the Border: The Military Memoirs of the Ward Schrantz, 1912-1917

El Paso

arriving at Fort Bliss on the north edge of El Paso on Dec. 7, 1912, the detachment of recruits from Jefferson Barracks were lined up near the railway and counted off to go to various infantry units. Fort Bliss, Texas, lies on a high sandy plateau three miles northeast of El Paso and just around the shoulder of Mount Franklin. To the north and east is a rolling, sandy waste, covered with sagebrush, mesquite, Spanish bayonet and low growing cactus. To the west are grey, rugged mountains, a few houses climbing part way up the bare foot hills. South of the post the ground drops to the fertile valley of the Rio Grande, criss-crossed with irrigation ditches and dotted with low, adobe houses half concealed by tall cottonwood trees. Through the center of this valley flows the Rio Grande, marking the boundary between the United States and the turbulent republic to the south. Beyond the valley and on Mexican soil, the ground again rises, forming grey foothills, and merging finally into the barren mountains whose jagged, irregular peaks are silhouetted against the sky. Fort Bliss[,] at the time of which I am speaking, was more of a camp than a fort or barracks.1 The only barracks there consisted of quarters for four troops of cavalry while the garrison of the post consisted of a regiment of infantry, a regiment and one squadron of cavalry and several batteries of artillery. All of these were housed under canvas except several troops of cavalry, which, more fortunate than their comrades, occupied long sheds which offered more protection from the cold winds 4 El Paso El Paso 31 that sweep around the mountain than did the worn tents of the remainder of the soldiers. A number of soldiers lolling around some huge wood piles near the railway looked us over approvingly as we were divided off into two parties , one of which went to the first battalion of the 18th Infantry and the other to the 22d.2 We were marched up the sandy road between the tents until we reached the tent which served as headquarters and here we were assigned to our companies. To my delight I and two others were assigned to Company “F,” 22nd Infantry, which we were informed was not at Fort Bliss but was one of the organizations which were stationed along the border, enforcing the neutrality proclamation forbidden [sic] the taking of arms and ammunition across the line. The troops at Fort Bliss and in the El Paso vicinity at that time consisted of the 22d Infantry, commanded by Col. D. A. Frederick, the first battalion of the 18th Infantry, and the Second Cavalry. Col. (or Brig. Gen.) E. Z. Steever was in command of the whole.3 “Easy” Steever some of the soldiers good-naturedly called him, I learned later, because they thought he was too willing to accede to the request of El Paso for troops for parades. That Col. Steever might have had a sound military reason for making a display of his strength in El Paso whenever occasion offered in view of the disturbed conditions along the border did not seem to have occurred to anyone.4 But there were no parades while I was there, so far as I recall. Certainly my company participated in none. The infantry units had been sent to El Paso from their home posts at the time the Orozco revolt started. The 22d was guarding the international bridges and had outposts at other key points along the border, with headquarters at Fort Bliss.5 The battalion of the 18th, as I recall, was all at Fort Bliss, as was all of the Second Cavalry at that time. The reason for the cavalry being at the post instead of on patrol, I was told, was that it had recently returned from the Philippines and had been filled up with recruits, whom it was necessary to train before going on anything even approximating active duty. In the assignment of recruits I was in the group allotted to the 22d Infantry and the genial sergeant major of that regiment, an old soldier named Jans, detailed several men including myself to Company F.6 My friend Lang went to Company C of the 22d where he soon became a cook Brig. Gen. Edgar Z. Steever, from Fifty-first Annual Report of the Association of Graduates of the...