Sgt. Andrew Sproul, Cambridge Police

On Saturday, October 29, 1899 Andrew Sproul passed away. His obituary ran in the Nov. 4th edition of the Cambridge Chronicle. He was 76 years old. This not only made him the oldest man in the department but he was also the longest serving member, having joined on Jan. 30, 1861. When Sproul joined he was assigned to the section of North Cambridge known as "Dublin" because of its large Irish population. At this time the Cambridge police force consisted of about forty men. His shift started at sunset and lasted until the sun came back up. His beat was a tough neighborhood and he had to deal with a lot of drunken fist fights. His work on this beat started just before Camp Cameron opened. He remembered this time as "exciting days, at the opening of the war, and I had a good deal of trouble. In my section of the city rum was sold openly and without a license, and it made trouble for me."
"I had my experiences, but when I went onto the police force I was as able physically as any man in the city and rather liked a chance to use my muscle. I had a beat in a pretty tough community up there at Camp Cameron , in North Cambridge. For ten years I was in the district called "Dublin," but I got along pretty well. The soldiers would get drunk often and sometimes four or five would go in together and put out the owner of the saloons and then trouble followed. Fights between soldiers and citizens were frequent. I generally succeeded in making things quiet. I never felt afraid, but rather relished the work."
"As a matter of fact, in my thirty-six years of experience I have used the billy with effect only three times, and then to save myself. I always was careful not to hurt anybody if I could help it and when I struck with the billy it was invariably in self defense. I have been many times in a row, but would rather get hurt than hurt anybody."

Camp Cameron officers give product endorsements

I have found two different instances when an officer related to the camp publicly endorsed a commercial product.
The first was by Col. Robert Cowdin of the 1st Regiment. The ads I have found have been in the Lowell Daily Courier and ran after his regiment left the camp. The earliest is from Dec. 28, 1861 is for  Gardner's
Rhuumatic and Neuralgic COMPOUND and is reads as follows:

"After suffering several years with Rheumatism, one bottle of Compound cured me, and I heartly endorse all that has said in its favor."

The next is more involved. Not only was it an endorsement but also a product test. The Nov. 19, 1862 Boston Evening Transcript ran a letter from Capt. William Plummer of the first Sharpshooters to William Read & Sons of Boston, sellers of Smith's bullet proof vests. On their behalf he and his men tested on of these metal vests. They used a colt revolver from 12 and then 4 paces with no damage, they then used a telescopic rifle from a distance of 200 yards the vest suffered a slight fracture and dent. After adding a greater than normal amount of powder and hitting the vest in the same area three times they succeeded in cracking it but still the bullet did not penetrate the vest. They had similar result with different types of rifles. They also tried a bayonet.
Here is his endorsement for this product:
"I am perfectly convinced, from these experiments, that at any ordinary distance there is no musket or rifle used in service which can break this armor, unless repeatedly hitting in the same spot.... The above results should convince any soldier of the importance of providing himself with one of these bullet proof vests, which, nine times out of ten, will certainly save him harmless. Instead of the vest being an encumbrance on a march, I should judge it would be found a great support in equalizing the weight of the knapsack, and preventing the straps from compressing the chest. Under no circumstances would I or my men be willingly without them, and you will please fill immeadiatly an order for the following list." The order was not included but it is very interesting. The results of the target practice on the vest may very well true. It is hard to believe that an experienced soldier would give the last part of the endorsement though. These vest were purchased by raw recruits and discarded by the side of the road very quickly after they began to march. They simply were too heavy to be practicle.

DAN SULLIVAN

The Camp Cameron Menu

This is from an article in the Lowell (MA) Daily Courier, Thursday, July 18, 1861.

The Courier sent a correspondent to Camp Cameron, most likely because Companies D & H of the MA 16TH regiment were from Lowell. In the story the writer gives a detailed description of the food the recruits received each day.
He began with a brief description of the camp. "The locality is delightful, and everything seems to have been done to make the soldiers contented and as happy as can be expected to be in camp life." Some of the men busied themselves by cleaning their muskets, barracks or clothing in Tannery Brook. He mentions that the brook is behind their cooking tents. This is the first mention of tents, in addition to wooden structures, I have found, Though I have suspected that at least temporary tents were used at times. The camp is described a "Neat."
The men had more food available to them than they could eat in a day. The pork smelled sweet and was Extra Clear Brand, The bacon was first quality Boston cured, he described the potatoes as "sound." The bread was baked outside of the camp, but close enough that it was still warm when it was delivered each morning. Fixings for soup, tea and coffee was also made available.
As far as portion size goes, each man received 21 ounces of meat each day, a pint of coffee and three ounces of bread made up breakfast. Another 3 ounces of bread, or a third of a loaf, was added to the evening meal. No mention is given to the size of lunch or the size of the "extras", the soup, potatoes and tea etc. It is made clear that the food was both sizable and of high quality.


DAN SULLIVAN