The Harrisonburg
Guards (continued)
The following account found in the August
1879 issues of the Rockingham Register newspapers provided a glimpse of the
lighter side of Guard duty.
The Guards’ Encampment at Rawley Springs[i]
Coinciding
with the first load of watermelons in early August 1879, about thirty “boys” of
Harrisonburg went to Rawley Springs for a three-day encampment. The Rawley Springs, about 12 miles west of
the Courthouse, was a popular resort known medically for its fortifying and
curing iron water and recreationally for its many diversions. On Thursday, August 7, - a “delightfully cool
day, - the boys left Harrisonburg in good spirits” for their encampment. The newspaper reported that “the journey to
Rawley Springs was passed in joking and laughing, and repartee, it affording
the boys special amusement to observe the physiognomy of toll keepers [along
the Rawley Pike and they] would approach or drive through without either
ceremony or pay.” When they arrived at
the Dry River crossing at the entrance to the Resort, the Company was greeted
by the Rawley Springs brass band under the leadership of Prof. Schoff of the
U.S. Naval Military Academy Band. The Guards marched to the Springs to the
especially composed “Harrisonburg Guard Quickstep.” A multitude of fair ladies on the verandahs
of the Virginia, Baltimore, and Washington Houses greeted the “boys” with
applause. Major Pitman, the manager of
the Resort, and Mr. Carey and Mr. Lee, the clerks, welcomed them and showed
them to their accommodations at the Washington House. In the evening at the “customary dance” in
the large ballroom, the young men had a chance to obtain introductions to the
ladies.
