Allegheny County PA Archives- Military: A History of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Troops in the War By John V. Hanlon (Copyright 1919 by The Pittsburg Press) Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Lynn Beatty, , May 2011 This Page was Last Updated: 24 May 2011 Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/ ________________________________________________ http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/military/wpa-ww1.txt htm Web Page located at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/military/wpa-ww1/contents.htm A History of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Troops in the War TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction:- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -iv Untold Deeds of Heroism, One of the First Three, Burial of Pittsburg Hero, A War of Metal and Mettle, Many Local Men Commissioned, Arsenal of the World, Praise for Pittsburg Men, Unsurpassable Morale, A Glorious Contribution, The Eighteenth Ordered Out! The Volunteers Depart, The Engineers Depart, Eighteenth Camps Here, Guardsmen Go South, Cleaning Up the Village Chapter 1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 The Draftees Depart, Local Boys Good Fighters, Many Pittsburg Aviators, Terribly Gases Ready, 300,000 from Pennsylvania, At the Cantonments, Learning the Art of War, Scheme Causes Big Protest, The Old Eighteenth is Saved, Gen. Muir Takes Charge, Local Guard Regiments, The “Fighting Tenth” “Pittsburg’s Own”, The Sixteen Regiment, First Field Artillery, Off for France! Chapter II - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -18 What the Americans Did, Brigaded with the British, Units are Separated, At Montmirail, On the 4th of July, Chuckles Over ”False Alarm”, Americans Rout the Enemy, Fought Like Demons, Glory for the Old Eighteenth Chapter III - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 30 Dodging the German Shells, No Sleep for 48 Hours, The Bombardment Starts, The Battle of the Marne, Crouched in Trenches, A Slaughter of Prussians, What the “Green” Troops Did, The Keystone Holds!, Hand-to-Hand Fighting, Alone in the Battle Chapter IV - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -42 To the Rescue!, A Thrilling Experience, Capt. McLain Decorated, Made the Germans Run, Battle in Wheat Field, What a Pigeon Brought, Force Big Hun Retreat, Machine Gun Nests, How the Hun Fought, A Fatal Encounter, Turning Point of the War, The German Retreat Starts, Evening Active in Air Chapter V - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 55 How Two Towns Fell, Driving Out the Hun, Germans Try to Rally, Acts of Heroism, “The Spirit That Wins”, Approaching the Ourcq, Had to Move Rapidly Chapter VI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -67 German Warfare, Yankee Strategy Wins, Took Church, But No Prisoners, The Crossing of the Ourcq, Compared with Belleau, Into A Hell of Fire, Then They Fought Again, Sixth Attack Successful, The Dreaded Gas Mask, Fought to His Death Chapter VII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 77 Old Tenth Man Killed, Marvelous Endurance, Perilous Hours, Reasons Why Men “Fidgeted”, Work Under Terrific Fire, Signalmen Do Heroic Work, Get Hun on the Run At Last, Pass Roosevelt’s Grave, On the Way to Fismes, Patrols Close Together, Four Days in “No Man’s Land” Chapter VIII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -88 Goes Over the Top With Boys, Ministered to German Boy, Was Ticklish Work, Bad Day for Doughboy, German Major Gets Lesson, Fight Way into Fismes, Germans Sacrificed to Hold Town, Grenadier Meets Sudden End, Many Die at Fismette, Glorious Bravery Shown, Great Keystone Division Fights Chapter IX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -99 Fierce Bayonet Action, Psychology of War, Loses Sense of Danger, Became Supermen, Gallant Pittsburgers, Show Rare Initiative, Wounded Hero Mans Gun, Rescues Wounded, Show Splendid Heroism, Carried Ammunition, Wins Immortal Praise Chapter X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -109 All in the Game, What Football Did, Moral Side Shown, How Thompson Died, Inferno at Fismette, Prager is Cited, Wouldn’t Budge, How They Were Saved, Ambulances Cross Chapter XI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 119 Rush for the River, Cavanaugh’s Daring Work, Capt. Lynch Killed, Many Wade Stream, Heroic Deeds Mentioned, Runners Face Death, Capt. Cain Leads Charge, Pittsburgers Praised, Gunners Show Grit Chapter XII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -129 No Quarter Asked or Given, Officers are Wounded, Resistance in Vain, Towns Pounded to Dust, Col. Ham Wounded, Yanks Suffered Heavily, Blast Huns from Aisne, Shells Follow Officer, Named “Iron Division” Praised by Commander, Facing More Hard Work, Flyers Pledge Support Chapter XIII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 142 Eightieth Division, Infantry, Artillery, Engineers, Signal, Trains, Division Units, U.S. Gas Deadly, Timely Aid by Tanks, Barrage Visible, Infantry Advances, It Was Slow Work, Fought Hard for Gains, New Difficulty Overcome, The Bombardment Commences, Zero Hour for Infantry, Artillery Effective, In the Enemy Trenches Chapter XIV - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -155 Beyond Artillery Fire, Towns Captured, Varennes Entered, In Varennes, Team Work of Different Branches, Hospital Units Get Comment, “Iron Division” Goes Ahead, German Resistance Stiffens, Individual Bravery Shown,Wins Distinguished Service Cross, Chaplain Officers an Attack, Burn and Pillage in Retreat Chapter XV - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 170 Germans Attack First, Germans Launch Another Attack, Organized Fresh Attack, Pennsylvanian Cited for Bravery, Infantry Advances Beyond Apremont, Kremhilde Line Next, Warren Boy is Hero, Chatel-Chehery Falls, Stopped At Grand Pre, Artillery on Detached Service, Maj. Smathers Becomes First in Command, First Big Fight of the Eightieth, Used Exceptional Strategy Chapter XVI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -186 Shells Kill Many, Million Dollar Barrage, It Was Up-Hill Work, Into Their Own Barrage, In the Enemy’s Quarters, Saw Airplane Battle, Planes Attack Balloon, Rumors of Armistice, “Over The Top” Again, In the Rest Area Chapter XVII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 201 At Camp Meucon, Battery E Wins, Move to the Battle Front, Desolation Everywhere, Set Up Guns Before Fismes, Stench of Dead Bodies Annoying Chapter XVIII - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -209 The War Over, The Eightieth Division Chapter XIX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -217 Recruiting of Unit, Training Period, Camp at Southampton, Arrival at Angers, The First Patients, French Sympathetic, Personnel Increased, Lost First Man, Barracks Completed, Sought Commission, Many Men Wounded, Ready for Americans, Wounded Marines Arrive, Wounded from Pittsburg, Plans for Camp, Men Sent to Front, Clubhouse Erected Chapter XX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 242 Camp Near Oakmont, Off For France, Land in England, Greeted By French, Assigned to Duty, Gets Separate Task, Went Into Barracks, French Methods Slow, Breaks Camp Again, Winter at Jonchery, More Work in the S.O.S., At Sampigny, Hiking to the Argonne, Disappointed Troops, Go to Varennes, The Armistice, Orders to Sail, Important Work for Co. C, Passes to Bordeaux Chapter XXI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -259 Laboratory Finished, German Gas Effective, “Camouflage” Gas, Germany Equalled, American Strategy, Board of Strategy, How Projectors Were Used, Pittsburger Aids Service, American Chemistry Supreme Index of Photographs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 267 ********************************************************************** Introduction (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Dec. 29, 1918, pages 55-57) Names included in this chapter: Enright, Hay, Gresham, Scully, Brumbaugh, Jadwin This Dramatic Story of Splendid Achievement Starts Today – Written by John V. Hanlon From Official Records at Washington, from letters which are being send Exclusively to the Pittsburgh Press by Four Correspondents in France, Especially Assigned to this work. [Illustrations from Paintings by F. C. Yohn] Although properly called a “history,” this account of local boys’ exploits in the great war, is not a dry summary, but teems with thrilling incidents of personal heroism. Don’t miss a single instalment [sic]. The story gathers dramatic momentum as it proceeds. To chronicle all the activities and achievements of the sons and daughters of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania in the Great War would be to compile a complete history of the mighty struggle itself. Such a history would have its opening chapters dating from the day when he who was emperor of the Germans summoned his militaristic hordes and sent them forth on an orgy of murder, pillage and terrorism to satiate his unholy greed for power and to realize his ambition of a fettered world. Long before the United States entered the war and indeed from its very first days, adventurous sons of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania were bleeding and dying on the battlefields where the allies were striving to stop the ravages of the Hun. Turn where you would in Belgium and bleeding, torn France; in the plague-ridden Balkans; along the cold, barren wastes of Russia or on the hot sands of far-off Egypt, wherever the crimson tides of war surged back and forth in the struggle for humanity, they could be found performing acts of charity or mercy or of war itself. They pressed the cup of water to the fevered lips of Serb and Cossack and Poilu and Tommy. The men from India and Australia and Canada hailed them from beds of pain as administering angels and the sons of sunny Italy were familiar with their work. The [unreadable], too, had tasted of their prowess and hand of steel on land and sea, under the [unreadable]. When sudden death and [unreadable] pour from the [unreadable] enemy lines the steady skillful hand of a Pittsburg man was frequently at the helm of that battleship of the air. UNTOLD DEEDS OF HEROISM It is very likely that some of the most notable deeds performed in this war will never be set down to enrich the pages of the history of the advance civilization and the struggle of mankind towards that goal where shines the radiant lights of quality and justice. Many of these deeds were unobserved and those who performed them made the supreme sacrifice. Their lips are forever sealed in the silence of the grave. Perhaps had they lived the stories would have remained locked close in their hearts, for brave men are not prone to boast of valor. And although many of these sons of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania had fought and died, winning for themselves the deathless crown of victory under foreign flags, before Columbia unloosed the mighty hurricane of her wrath, nevertheless they contributed their all to the final determination of the great cause. And as the story of their deeds is cherished in the archives of other nations it is not possible at this time to include in this narrative more than acknowledgement of their contribution to humanity. Anything further would not be meet [sic] for it would not give them that measure of exact justice which is their due. For this reason this resume of the part played by Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers in the war must begin with the entry of the United States into the conflict and even then it is only possibly to follow the activities of certain designated unites in which the personnel was made up largely of men from this section. When the United States declared that a state of war existed with the Imperial German Government there were hundreds of men from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania serving in the regular army establishment. There was hardly a unit of any size which did not carry their names upon its roster of commissioned or enlisted personnel. ONE OF THE FIRST THREE One of the first three men to make the supreme sacrifice in the first actual clash between the soldiers of Uncle Sam and the enemy was a Pittsburg lad, Private Thomas Enright, of 6641 Premo St. He, together with Private James B. Gresham, of Evansville, Ind., and Merle D. Hay of Glidden, Ia., headed the first honor roll of casualties which came home to American from overseas. Private Enright had enlisted in the Regular army eight years before and had been assigned to Co. F, Sixteenth United States Infantry. He was therefore a trained and seasoned man and when he met his death he was in a training sector securing the actual combat knowledge necessary to effectively instruct his less experienced comrades back of the lines. It was on Saturday, Nov. 3, 1917, that the little band of about 40 Americans to which Private Enright was attached was cut off by artillery fire which literally ripped their trench to pieces. The Germans had learned, in some manner or other, that Americans were holding this salient, and desired to capture prisoners in order to ascertain, if possible, the strength of Pershing’s forces then in France. It is recorded in the data on that first fight that 210 Germans rushed the 40 Americans after the artillery preparation and in the hand-to-hand combat which followed the Americans gave a good account of themselves, fighting in a manner which would have delighted their revolutionary ancestors. It was a fight worthy of the best traditions of their country and their flag. The American casualties were three dead, five wounded and 12 missing. The German casualties are known to have been extremely heavy and although they secured prisoners the cost to them in lives was out of all proportion to the numbers they engaged or the information they secured. When the story of this first clash and the casualty list reached Washington and was made public it sent a thrill throughout the nation and the war department was besieged with inquiries from many anxious homes. The news brought to America the first distinct appreciation that her part in the great world struggle was not to be a bloodless one. BURIAL OF PITTSBURG HERO And this appreciation of the heartaches and suffering which war was to bring to many firesides was especially felt in Pittsburg, the home of one of those three patriots who went to their deaths on the bleak November day. They buried the three heroes close to the place where they fell; which the shells screeching overhead sang the only requiem. American troops and French veterans were massed in the form of a hollow square and the three caskets, draped in the flag of the country they had loved so well were carried upon the field by comrades. From the lines there stepped a soldier of France wearing the insignia of a general. He walked to the caskets. With tears streaming down his war-seamed face he removed his cap and bowing before each bier he called the names of Private Enright, Private Gresham, and Private Hay and then in a voice husky and choked with emotion said: “In the name of France I bid you farewell. In the name of France I thank you. May God receive your souls. Farewell.” Then he asked in the name of France that the mortal remains of these three young men be left with that nation forever and that upon their tombs would be the words: “Here Lie the First United States Soldiers to Fall on French Soil for Liberty and Justice.” As he finished there was a terrific roar, the salute for the dead, and it was not fired with blank cartridges, but by batteries of the French 75’s manned by American artillerymen who sent a salvo of shells hurling into the German lines and with every shell there went a prayer that it would find an avenging mark. And the names of Privates Enright, Gresham and Hay will have a special and distinguished niche in history. The French will see to that for they already have erected a monument to the memory of these brave soldiers where all the world and generations yet unborn may read of the day when the Hun first me the men of that nation which was destined to wreck his vain ambition. A WAR OF METAL AND METTLE And thus were Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania first brought to a true realization of the sacrifices necessary to the conduct of this was and truths brought home did no to unheeded. The story of Private Enright and his comrades but strengthened that grim determination to go on to a victorious end, let the cost in blood and treasure be what it might. As there was scarce a unit of any size in the regular army which did not carry the names of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania men upon its roster, even from the earliest days of the Republic, so it is today in the mighty and unconquered host which Uncle Sam has created, for Pittsburg brains and brawn and bravery were found necessary wherever the war or navy department carried on their activities. Thousands of the most skilled men in the military establishment were summoned from the industries of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania to do for the government what they had been doing for private employers. Pittsburg and the surrounding industrial districts furnished many of the very best mechanics and men trained in the various metal crafts and trades. This was a war of metal and where else in the world could men be found so eminently fitted for keeping the combatant branches supplied with the weapons they used so effectively against the Hun! And so to write the story of their achievements would be to write of the work of every unit and branch of the military service – ordnance, quartermaster, motor transport, tank, chemical warfare and many other and special and new sections necessary to the modern army. For instance, it was Pittsburg chemists who strove night and day in gas research work and contributed much towards making our gas defense and gas assault sections so effective that even the Germans with all their boasted expertness in chemical warfare were both outguessed and outgassed. MANY LOCAL MEN COMMISSIONED Through every ramification of the service, in every rank and station the men of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania toiled through all the weary months when our stupendous military establishment was building, to weld it into a solid whole and which even in its infancy turned the tide of battle and strewed the central empires with fear, internal dissensions and empty thrones. Hundreds of highly trained executives from this section of the country were commissioned and ordered to the nation’s capital to help direct the activities of the war. They were searched out and summoned to the most important tasks by both the military and civil authorities of the Federal government and although many were restless because they could not secure assignments overseas where the actual fighting was being done, nevertheless they did not flinch from their work and contributed much to the success of their brothers “over there.” But it was not alone in the military service of the nation that the sons of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania helped to make the world safe for democracy. It was necessary that many should remain at home to tend the mines, and mills, and factories. The Pittsburg district became the arsenal of America in many respects. To this great manufacturing section where steel is king the nation looked for the implements and machines of modern warfare. Here was planned the huge ordnance plant which was to have furnished the heavy engines of destruction with which our fighting men proposed to blast a way through the enemy lines, and then on to Berlin To those who served in the mines, and the mills, the furnace and the forge, acknowledgement of the part they played in the victorious outcome is justly due. They will never be accorded the place in history that will go to those who stood on the far-flung battle line, but, nevertheless, they wrought efficiently and effectively back of that line. ARSENAL OF THE WORLD And thus it came about that what was known as the “Workshop of the World” in times of peace turned in the passing of a day into an arsenal of the world. The thousand glares which light the skies of night marking the abode of a wealth of peaceful industry and a world a-building became the demon eyes of an outraged and determined people flashing ominous warnings of swift and terribly retribution for those who dared to taunt the Giant of the Occident. Then it was that Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania resolved to drain the blood of manhood to the dregs with the same determination with which the precious metal is drained from the melting pots in order to make sure the triumph of our arms. The lids of the treasure chests and strong boxes were thrown open and gold was literally poured into Columbia’s coffers. Then it was that the call went forth from Washington for men as well as munitions and money and our people saw those famous regiments from the western slopes of the Pennsylvania Alleghenies depart for their training stations to secure that military instruction which together with their traditional bravery later enabled them to throw back the Hun from the very gates to Paris; to confound and demoralize and annihilate the very flower of German soldiery; to breath the armies of the kaiser in twain at the Argonne, and thus to force the early ending of the Great War. Later came the selective service calls which summoned thousands more of the very cream of our manhood to take up the rigors of military training; a training which eventually made the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania draftees the superiors of any Hun who ever wore the uniform of his overlord. And the accomplishments of these selective service men who left the plow and forge, the store and the factory, to do battle on the blood-stained soil of Europe; who left peaceful homes for trenches reeking with all that chills the heart – demonstrates that they were of a type beyond compare. They were men with iron in their blood and the advance of their legions was irresistible. The German hordes fell back withered and palsied before those living walls of valor as if stricken with the most dreaded arrow in the quiver of the Grim Destroyer. PRAISE FOR PITTSBURG MEN It has always been the policy of the war department since Columbia threw down the gage of battle to refrain from making the public the standards of proficiency attained by the various army divisions. This policy, no doubt, is a commendable one, preventing, as it does, any feeling between the men from various sections of this country. Nevertheless, it has recently come to notice and from the highest authoritative sources, that the soldiers of Pennsylvania were among the very best taken overseas. A great military leader of a foreign power recently remarked in private conversation that they proved themselves to be among the foremost soldiers of the world. The Twenty-eighth Division (Pennsylvania National Guard) and the Eightieth Division (selective service men mostly from Western Pennsylvania) both became “Red” divisions – divisions designated as “shock troops” of the highest known type and only so honored after being thoroughly tested in actual combat with the enemy. The Twenty-eighth Division is known to have been the most proficient National Guard division in the United States. That is why this division was among the first to be sent to Europe and also why it was used so continuously and successfully, bringing upon itself the record of so many glorious achievements. The casualties of this division and especially of some of the Western Pennsylvania regiments which are a part of this unit demonstrated it was regarded so highly by the supreme command that is was always used in the most difficult places and where failure to hold or obtain objectives was not to be even thought of, regardless of the resistance offered. Likewise the Eightieth Division became one of the most proficient of the draft divisions because the records show that even before departing for overseas it was held in high regard by military leaders. But these facts will not surprise Western Pennsylvanians, for their section of the state has given to our armies of the past many skilled and notable men-at-arms. Although ordinarily following peaceful pursuits they are primarily of fighting stock and can readily be transformed into soldiers capable of successfully meeting the choicest of what William the Murderer was proud to boast of as his unconquerable and matchless legion. UNSURPASSABLE MORALE The spirit and moral of the Western Pennsylvania soldiery in this war was characterized by the military authorities as unsurpassable. The traditions of their state coupled with a free-born love of justice, together with a natural aptitude to face and solve the serious problems of life, made of these men antagonists to all tyranny. They were accustomed to laugh under the strain of the most arduous labors, for theirs was the life of the mines and the mills were only the fittest survive and thus they furnished some of the most desirable military material obtainable in America. They went to their training camps with a song and a smile upon their lips just as they later sang and laughed while a hurricane of German machine gun bullets was cutting wide swaths of death in their ranks. They knew no such word as fail and they also knew that no man from the Keystone state had ever turned his back upon his flag. In their creed to die was one thing and to die bravely was another and that is why they were always found with their faces toward the enemy. The folks at home already know how true they kept to these teachings for in the accounts of their battles cabled by the war correspondents it has been a matter of frequent comment that the men of Pennsylvania regiments always fell with their faces in the direction from which came the steel and leaden hail of the Hun. This statement does not mean, of course, that there were any Americans who refused to face the enemy and go forward where sudden death was stalking beside them at every step. It does show, however, that those from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania lived up to every cherished tradition of their home district; that they were men unafraid. In addition to the two divisions mentioned above Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania sent many men to other fighting organizations. The Marines claimed hundreds and everybody knows how the “Soldiers of the Sea” accounted for themselves when they met the enemy. The Navy and Merchant Marines claimed other hundreds while the dangers of the Tanks and Aviation tempted many more to forsake the ways of peace even before the draft calls were made. A GLORIOUS CONTRIBUTION And hundreds of men from this section flocked to the officers’ training camps very early in the war there to learn how to lead and train other men. Most of them passed their period of intensive military instruction successfully and they were scattered throughout every arm of the Army, Navy and Marines Corps. The Seventy-ninth Division which trained at Camp Meade, Maryland, carried the names of about 3,000 Pennsylvania men on its muster roll and the Eighty-third Division which trained at Camp Sherman, Ohio, also received men from the counties of Butler, Beaver, Lawrence, and Washington. The Fifth (now Fifteenth) Engineers which trained at Oakmont and which was one of the first units to go overseas was recruited from in and about Pittsburg and Pittsburg likewise contributed the University of Pittsburg Base Hospital, and the Allegheny General Hospital, known abroad as Unit L. Taken all in all it was a glorious contribution to the cause given by Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania in stalwart manhood and it is predicted that when it is possible to secure the final total of those who donned the uniform of Uncle Sam from this section the percentage of men directly serving the nation, either as soldiers or civilians, will be the highest of any section of the county. Many of the boys will never come home again, they will not participate in the last grand review and many a mother’s heart is aching because she will never see her son again. They sleep under the soil of a people who gave us Lafayette and freely shed their blood that our Republic might live. Their graves are tended by loving hands and will be kept green and flower-bedecked until such time as our government will bring the bodies home. The women of France do not forget. The hero dead will come home either to find eternal rest beside loved ones in some quiet country church-yard or mayhap in Arlington, that magnificent city of the Nation’s soldier and sailor dead where one may trace the history of Columbia’s greatness in the carven words upon the marble monuments pointing to the last abode of those whose memory our people delight to honor. Some have died in the very forefront of the battle while others were the victims of accident or disease, but one and all gave the last full measure of sacrifice and devotion. It matters not where they fell, nor under what soil they repose either now or in the years to come. They have builded [sic] for themselves tombs which are indestructible, which even the ever shifting hands of unrelentless time shall only serve to polish and make more brilliant the records of their deeds. Their names shall go ringing down the centuries alongside those heroes of the world who have gone before. Others will return maimed and torn by shot and shell – some to go through a living death of perpetual darkness or mad from the shock of the close-bursting bomb or crippled beyond human skill to repair. They want no charity and none will be offered for they belong to the nation and it is not likely that our people will allow the congress to forget. And those who return from the conflict well and hearty will have treasures beyond the wildest dream of their youth; treasures which they would not exchange for all the gold in the universe and for which many men would today give everything on earth which they hold dear. These treasures are the knowledge of having been “over there,” of having participated in the greatest military struggle in the history of the world, of having gained the victor’s wreath. They will have even before them the memory of what they did for mankind and wondrous stories to tell until their dying days. Then when the dark night comes and they pass over to the comrades who have been gathered to their fathers they will have a heritage to leave their offspring as lasting and substantial as the rock of ages. When on April 6, 1917, at 1:13 p.m., President Wilson signed the memorable joint resolution of the congress declaring the existence of a state of war and five minutes later issued a call for volunteers to fill up to war strength the regular military establishments, Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania commenced to change the habiliments of peace for the panoply of war. The transition was accomplished swiftly, smoothly and thoroughly. The great army of toilers in the mines and mills and factories only paused long enough to utter a defiance to the Hun, to clench their fists and set their jaws in determination. Then they turned to their work again and with increased production began literally to jam the avenues of transportation with the implements of war. They knew that they must gird Uncle Sam with armor against which the Hun might launch his thunderbolts in vain and that the requirements of our gallant allies must not be forgotten or neglected. Without the Pittsburg industrial district to turn to in the emergency there might have been a different story to tell. In Washington and London, Paris and Rome, the contribution of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania to the winning of the victory is well known by those who directed our civil and military enterprises. Foch and Pershing, Haig and Petain can tell, and so can the former German war lord and all his Prussian brook, for the enemy was unable to withstand those avalanches of steel which rolled out of Pittsburg, tagged for Berlin. And while every drop of energy was being expended to turn out those products so necessary to the prosecution of the war, Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania did not forget that men must also go forth to make effective the use of the material in the areas where despots sought to dispute with free men in the future conduct of the world. THE EIGHTEENTH ORDERED OUT! Even before congress had finally passed the law to determine whether the military policy of the nation should be voluntary or selective service, Pittsburg experienced an early realization of the cruel part of the war: that part which summons the sons and the husbands and the fathers from the firesides and company of their loved ones and sends them forth with the prospect that they may never return. Death is hard at any time but to go forth to face the end far away from kinfolk or even kindly neighbors offtimes [sic] makes even a brave man shudder. And when men are destined to days of suffering from disease or wounds there is something in the gently loving touch or mother or wife, daughter or sister, which seems to possess the magic of transmitting power to endure pain. This is the part of war which tears and rends the heart-strings, but it is a part of the toll civilization has even been forced to pay. The progress of the world is but an escalade of battles. So to many anxious homes in Pittsburg there came the first real stir of war’s alarms when on April 12, 1917, the old Eighteenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard was ordered to mobilize and proceed to patrol the great avenues of transportation which radiate from this city. The officials at the head of our government knew only too well that the country was enmeshed in a net work of enemy espionage directed by agents who would hesitate to order any crime which might retard the stupendous preparations Uncle Sam was making. There were few more likely places to commit such outrages than in the Pittsburg district. The railroad bridges spanning the rivers and valleys and the tunnels piercing the mountains offered especially excellent objectives. THE VOLUNTEERS DEPART The presence of the Eighteenth regiment on this important duty was first revealed May 18, but even before that date a Pittsburger at the head of a little band of intrepid Americans with the flag of their country above them was marching through Paris for the front and being acclaimed amid the greatest demonstration that city had witnessed in years. This event occurred on May 9, 1917, and the man was R. T. Scully, who was one of the officers in charge of this unit of 60 Americans clad in khaki and armed with rifles. They comprised the first detachment of the then newly created munitions transport branch of the American Ambulance corps. This was the first American armed force to pass through France. And while the Eighteenth continued to guard the strategic points along the railways leading out of Pittsburg thus assuring the speedy transportation of the material for war, martial events began quickly throughout this section. Soon the rhythmic tread of marching feed echoed through Pittsburg’s streets as the early squads of volunteers departed from recruiting offices of the army, navy and Marine corps for the various training stations. Tented cities began to appear in and about Pittsburg and armories were made ready for the mobilization of the units of the National Guard which had not been placed upon patrol duty. The order for the mobilization of the National Guard of Pennsylvania was sent from Washington to Governor Brumbaugh on the night of May 17, 1917 and was immediately transmitted by the adjutant general of the state to all commands. The mobilization was set for July 15 at the armories of the various units there to be mustered into the Federal service and await the order to proceed to the training camp. The guard was drafted into the army of the United States, Aug. 5, 1917, by proclamation of the President. Meanwhile Col. Edgar Jadwin, formerly in charge of the United States Engineers office in the Pittsburg district, had received permission from Washington to go ahead with his pet scheme of recruiting a regiment of engineers in Pittsburg. He worked fast and aroused such enthusiasm over the prospect of an early journey to France that he organized and trained a splendid body of men within a short time. At Oakmont Col. Jadwin established Camp Caillard and the regiment mobilized there for training May 23, 1917. Then came June 6, 1917, a day which will always be remembered for those who were to compose the principal part of the great draft army registered for service. Ten days later the first Liberty loan campaign was launched and Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania went into the business of beating the kaiser with renewed vim. THE ENGINEERS DEPART The first troop movement of consequence out of Pittsburg occurred on July 4, 1917, when the Fifth Engineers (now the Fifteenth Engineers) finally departed from this section for a port of embarkation to take ship for overseas, there to build railroads and wagon roads for the legions Uncle Sam was preparing to hurl against the Hun. From that time on until the signing of the armistice hardly a day passed in which men from Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania did not depart, either singly or in squads, companies or regiments, with their objective as the battlefields of France. The uniform became a familiar sight upon the streets for many officers and enlisted men were assigned to this district to supervise in the various industries performing war work and to inspect the finished products. Jul 15, 1917, the National Guard units not already on patrol duty mobilized. The Tenth and Sixteenth regiments of infantry assembled by companies at their home armories throughout Western Pennsylvania and the First Field artillery took up quarters in Motor Square Garden. Troop H, First Pennsylvania cavalry, camped in Bayard St., opposite the Schenley Riding academy and Duquesne Garden was used to house Truck companies No. 5 and 6. The First Field Battalion Signal corps, Hospital No. 1 Ambulance No. 1 were stationed at the Armory, Penn ave. and Station st. Ambulance No. 4 remained at its armory in Coraopolis and Field Hospital No. 4, departed for camp at Mt. Gretna. EIGHTEENTH CAMPS HERE The Eighteenth Regiment of infantry was relieved from patrol duty along the railroads and after a parade through the downtown section of Pittsburg went into camp at Schenley park. During all this the Guard units were busy recruiting up to war strength and close to 4,000 soldiers were stationed in Pittsburg with another 4,000 scattered throughout the cities and towns in Western Pennsylvania where the various companies maintained their headquarters. In the meantime the great draft lottery had been held at Washington and the various local and district draft boards in Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania were busy selecting the men who were desired by the Federal government to make up the personnel of the Eighteenth division of the new National Army to be organized at Camp Lee, near Petersburg, Va., and the Eighty-third division at Camp Sherman, near Chillicothe, O. The draftees from the counties of Beaver, Lawrence, Butler and Washington were sent to Sherman and those from all other sections of Western Pennsylvania to Lee. Aug. 24, 1917, witnessed the departure for Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., of 600 officer candidates who had assembled in Pittsburg from every section of Western Pennsylvania preparatory to entraining for the southern camp. They departed in three squads over the P. & L.E., Pennsylvania, and B.& O. and were cheered on their way by hundreds of friends and well wishers who had gathered at the depots. GUARDSMEN GO SOUTH The first of the guardsmen began to move towards Camp Hancock Aug. 17, 1917, when Field Hospital No 1 and Ambulance Co. No. 1 of the Eighteenth regiment entrained. Then on Aug. 30, the Western Pennsylvania [unreadable] of the First Field [unreadable] sanitary detachment and regiments numbering 622 men and 18 officers entrained at East Liberty station. Col. W. S. McKee was in command and the local units were joined later by Battery A, of South Bethlehem, Battery D, of Williamsport and Battery C., of Phoenixville. The units marched from their armory to the station in a steady downpour of rain but this did not deter thousands of relatives and friends together with city and county officials from braving the elements to give the men a rousing farewell. The same scenes were re-enacted when the Eighteenth regiment “pulled stakes” at its camp in Schenley oval and entrained for Camp Hancock Sept. 7, 1917. Sept. 11, 1917, the last guardsmen in this section departed for the south, Troop H, First cavalry of Pittsburgh, which was later joined by Troop F, First cavalry of New Castle. During this period of the guard movement the Tenth regiment and the Sixteenth regiment, both with companies scattered all over Western Pennsylvania entrained for Camp Hancock. CLEANING UP THE VILLAGE Americans driving the Germans out of a French farmyard. The enemy held these farmhouses and buildings until the last moment in order that his might harass the Allied troops. The fighting was hand-to-hand and company work. ********************************************************************** Chapter I (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Jan. 5, 1919, pages 61-63) Names included in this chapter: Miller, King, Collins, Cronkhite, Clements, Pershing, Kearns, Hulings, Rickards, Bliss, Brumbaugh, Muir, Hawkins, Coulter, Kem, Barnett, McKee, Shannon, Negley, Campbell, Gurthrie, McKibben, Smith, Rutledge, Logan, Bigger, Crookston, Wiley The night was Sept. 4, 1917. In Pittsburg and practically every city and village in this section of the state was given over to fetes and [unreadable] for the men who had received notice from their draft board to hold themselves in readiness to go to the war. The demonstrations of farewell were carried out [unreadable] …. THE DRAFTEES DEPART The large crowd gathered…[unreadable] giving up their lives, many of whom would never return home, while others would return scarred by the battle’s bloody strife. [They knew] only too well the terrible toll exacted by war, for they had received first-hand information from out nearby neighbors in Canada, where there remained hardly a home that had not been touched with sorrow for lost sons. Canada had paid her penalty, even in the early days of the conflict, by reason of the dash and daring of her unconquerable legions. But with all the sadness and the bitter thoughts of what the future might have in store for the boys who were going away, nevertheless there is a brave attempt at cheerfulness, and many a mother went through the ordeal with Spartan spirit as she gave her only son to Uncle Sam. No one will ever know the heartaches and the torture which the mothers suffered during the days when all these Western Pennsylvanians were leaving for armed camp, and then on through the long days and nights until the armistice was signed and the casualty lists finally were completed. First disease invaded the camps and death claimed many of the lads even before they had completed their training, and then when they were safely overseas the cable would commence to bring stirring accounts of battles and tell of the brilliant fighting of the Pennsylvanians. And after the news of the battles would always come those lists of sorrow for the homes. There would come a rap at the door and a messenger would quietly hand in a telegram from the War Department at Washington. That was all, and it was ofttimes the sudden end of the hope and joy of a lifetime. But there was always the consolation in knowing that he died with the bravest of the brave and for a cause in which millions of other men cheerfully gave up their lives. LOCAL BOYS GOOD FIGHTERS [unreadable] here it was necessary to use soldiers who would excel in the tasks assigned them, our boys were sent. And such work was usually found where the fighting was the thickest and hottest and the enemy offering desperate resistance with picked regiments. During September, 1917, the University of Pittsburg Base Hospital No. 27, the female personnel of which had been encamped at Ellis Island, embarked for France. The unit numbered about 300 persons and was in command of Lieut. Col. Robert Miller. This base hospital was recruited in Pittsburg and was originally financed by a contribution of $25,000 made by Mrs. Henry S. Collins from the funds of the Pittsburg Chapter, American Red Cross. The Allegheny Hospital Unit, known as Unit 1, was mobilized early in September and departed for France early in December, 1917, under the command of Major Victor King. In addition, there were hundreds of men leaving this section of the country almost daily under orders inducting them into certain special branches of the military establishment where their particular skill along mechanical and other lines made their service greatly desired. Some received commissions while others were inducted as privates or in various non-commissioned grades. It was this gradual filtration of the skilled men in and about the Pittsburg industrial district which eventually helped make the new army or the United States so proficient in almost every line of its endeavor. MANY PITTSBURG AVIATORS No matter where one would turn, either in this country or overseas, in aviation, quartermaster, ordnance, signal corps or any of the many different and exacting branches of the service, Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania men could be found performing the most difficult work and gaining lasting reputations for energy, close attention to duty and as master craftsmen. The aviation service, offering as it did exceptionally hazardous opportunities, was a favorite with many of the young men of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania and hundreds of them later won the right to wear on their uniforms the wings of the graduate flying man. Many thousands of other who offered were unable to get into the aviation camps because of the great popularity of this branch of the service and were forced to seek some other arm. But those who did gave a good account of themselves both in the air as pilots and observers or on the ground as engineers and mechanics. The tank service was another branch which was attractive for the men from this section and many hundreds were accepted and became highly proficient in manipulating these monsters of modern warfare. Chemical warfare, too, was attractive to many Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians, because in this section there were many men skilled in chemistry and Uncle Sam had crying need for these experts in order to make ineffective the avalanches of gas so frequently sent over by the Hun. TERRIBLE GASES READY If the war would have gone on much longer the Germans would have had occasion to learn even more of the work of these chemists from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, for they had devised gases so devilish and deadly that even the worst the enemy had to offer were mild in comparison. To enumerate all the special branches of the service in which men from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania were engaged both at home and abroad would require a book in itself. They were everywhere and doing every imaginable sort of work and in every rank and station in that great army. Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania physicians and nurses were at the front in large numbers administering to the soldier boys, and the work of men and women from this section of the country in connection with the various religious, athletic and other activities must not be forgotten. Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania furnished many men and women who voluntarily left peaceful and happy homes to undergo the hardships of life on the battlefield so that they might assist our fighting men. Many such were striving by night and day in connection with the Y.M.C.A., Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Board, Salvation Army and the other agencies and they helped materially to lighten the load of the soldier boy billeted on a foreign shore away from home and kinfolk. Gen. Pershing says: “The face that our soldiers, in a land of different customs and languages, have borne themselves in a manner in keeping with the cause for which they fought, is due not only to the efforts in their behalf, but much more to the other high ideals, their discipline and their innate sense of self-respect. It should be recorded, however, that the members of these welfare societies have been untiring in their desire to be of real service to our officers and men. The patriotic devotion of these representative men and women has given a new significance to the Golden Rule, and we owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.” 330,000 MEN FROM PENNSYLVANIA In the Red Cross, too, were many men and women from the western section of Pennsylvania, and wherever there were works of mercy or relief to be performed, either among the soldiers or the civilians of devastated towns and villages, their kindly ministrations will be long remembered. Pennsylvania furnished the stupendous total of 330.000 men to the world war, according to figures obtained from the draft headquarters at Harrisburg, and estimates made from the state totals indicate that Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania alone furnished almost half this number. Draft boards throughout the entire state furnished 195,203 men, and of this number 77,514 were supplied by this section of the commonwealth. The Harrisburg draft officials estimate that in reality the state supplied 250,000 men through the draft, because there were individual inductions amounting to 7,528 men sent to the student army training camps and 219 to the navy. The balance of the estimate is made up by adding delinquents and deserters and replacements for rejected men at camps. The State National Guard furnished approximately 30,000 men, and in the neighborhood of 50,000 men volunteered in the various branches of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Recruiting officers in charge of the Pittsburg stations of the Army, Navy, and Marines Corps, and who have charge of all enlistments that they received into the service more than 10,000 men. DEPARTURE OF ONE CONTINGENT OF PITTSBURG DRAFTEES Drafted men from the First, Third and Twelfth Wards at B. & O. Station, Pittsburg, on Sunday, Sept. 23, 1917 Of this number the Army had about 3,000, the Marine Corps 2,200 and the Navy approximately 5,500. Aviation and other special branches also obtained relatively large quotas here. Thus it is said to be safe to place the total of Pennsylvanians in the service at 330,000. If the same ratio would hold good in figuring the grand total for Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, as in the actual draft figures, this section can safely lay claim to at least 140,000 men in the war. Here are the draft figures for Pittsburg and the various counties of Western Pennsylvania: Pittsburg 18,467 Allegheny County 14,198 Beaver 2,850 Blair 1,261 Butler 1,827 Bedford 568 Clarion 830 Clearfield 2,239 Crawford 1,130 Cambria 4,726 Elk 981 Erie 3,207 Fayette 4,202 Forest 182 Greene 622 Huntingdon 701 Lawrence 1,648 Mercer 2,425 McKean 1,050 Somerset 1,372 Venango 2,381 Warren 806 Washington 4,565 Westmoreland 5,276 When the National Guardsmen from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania arrived at Camp Hancock and the drafted men at Camp Lee those who had never participated in military affairs before received their first taste of the hardships which often accompany army life. Especially was this so at Camp Lee, because there was a scarcity of bed clothing, no heat and the weather was anything but comfortable. The National Guardsmen had considerable equipment before they departed for the South and so were more fortunate in this respect than the selective service men, but even then there were other inconveniences with which the boys had to put up until such time as the camp was thoroughly organized and equipped. Many were the complaints of unnecessary hardships which filtered back from Camp Lee to the folks at home, and what was true of Lee was true of most every camp in the country. AT THE CANTONMENTS In undertaking to create so large an army Uncle Sam had many obstacles to meet and overcome, and it was no small task to provide the necessary equipment for so large a boy of men in so short a time between the declaration of a state of war and the calling of the men to camp. In addition to bedding, being scarce considerable time elapsed before all the men were equipped with uniforms and other articles of clothing required to withstand the rigors of an army camp in winter. There were instances of carelessness on the part of officers in exposing the new men to the elements, and no doubt much sickness was caused as a result. This carelessness most generally took the form of forcing men to stand in line in unheated buildings to await their turn for medical examination or for various inspections, but such conditions were soon corrected by the chief military authorities. There were also some cases of neglect in properly caring for men who were ill, but these, too, were incidents due to the inexperience of the officers in handling large bodies of troops and they did not happen after the camp became thoroughly organized and in smooth running order. But these experiences only served to give the men an idea of what might be expected in the way of hardships under war conditions, and on the whole they bore up bravely, accepted their lot with a highly commendable spirit of patience and prepared to acquire everything offered in the school of the soldier. They later gave ample and sufficient demonstration on the battlefield that, although they learned the arts of war quickly, nevertheless they had learned their lessons thoroughly and well. And some of the former kaiser’s best well knew the truth of this statement. At the two camps, Hancock and Lee, where the large majority of the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania boys were stationed, the usual courses of intensive training were commenced shortly after their arrival and continued without interruption until the divisions were declared fit to go overseas to complete their studies. LEARNING THE ART OF WAR Of course, the guardsmen were for the most part familiar with military discipline and the major field maneuvers, so that it was possible to start them in on the advanced studies of the most modern forms of warfare within a few weeks they went into camp. But the selected men at Camp Lee were, with few exceptions, entirely without any previous military experience, so it was necessary to teach them the very rudiments of the camp. From the start the men at Camp Lee had one of the most successful soldiers in the Regular Army as camp commander, Maj. Gen. Adelbert Cronkhite, and it was freely predicted in high army circles in Washington that if the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians had the stuff in them to make soldiers that he would turn out one of the best divisions in the new army. How well this prediction held out is known to the General Staff, for the Eightieth Division was noted as one of the most highly trained and proficient divisions of the National Army when it finally received orders to move to France. And while the selected men at Camp Lee were going along steadily and developing into first-class soldiers the guardsmen down at Camp Hancock were commencing to have troubles in the shape or an order for the entire reorganization of the Pennsylvania National Guard Division to conform to the new army standards. Gen. Pershing, after making a study of the British and French army organization standards, had worked out a plan taken from the best points of both, and the carrying into effect of this plan played havoc with the various guard units. SCHEME CAUSES BIG PROTEST The strength of an infantry regiment under the new standards called for many more men and officers than under the old scheme of organization. Thus some regiments were broken up to bring others up to the new strength, and it was at this time that the stir was caused when it became known that the Old Eighteenth, of Pittsburg, was to lose its identity entirely by being broken up, with part of the regiment to be used as a depot brigade. Maj. Gen. Charles M. Clements, then division commander, had arranged the scheme of reorganization and some ugly stories were circulated at the time relative to an attempt by Philadelphia politicians to save the identity of a Philadelphia regiment at the expense of the Pittsburg unit. The citizens of Pittsburg were indignant that the historic Duquesne Greys, upon which the regiment was founded, should be thus relegated into oblivion and a mighty protest went up. Delegations composed of the Pittsburg representatives in Congress, together with Col. E. L. Kearns, the commander of the regiment, hastily appealed in person to Secretary of War Baker and to Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, then chief of staff of the Army, to save the Eighteenth. The information was given that the reorganization was purely a matter for Maj. Gen. Clements to decide. Then Governor Martin G. Brumbaugh was asked to exert himself in behalf of the Eighteenth and he even made a trip to Washington to consult with the Secretary of War. The tide of dissatisfaction was running uncurbed for a time over this controversy. As the result of some alleged irregularities, including a telegram bearing the signature of the governor, which he declared he never signed, an investigation by the War Department into the whole affair was threatened. Congress also began to hear of the row and rumors of an investigation by the House Military Affairs Committee were rife. THE OLD EIGHTEENTH IS SAVED Later, however, and much to the relief of the citizens of Pittsburg and the men of the Eighteenth, the plans were changed so as to allow this regiment to retain its identity, but it had a narrow escape from not being able to add more glorious chapters to its long history. All fair men in or out of the Pennsylvania National Guard will admit that , although considered excellent as a state militia division, this organization had much to learn anent the brand of warfare being waged in Europe when it entered the camp. Politics, both internal and externals, had left imprints in spots, and such imprints were considered as retarding the efficiency of the men and the units. The General Staff at Washington was well aware of these conditions and did not hesitate to clean up these spots, although taking full cognizance of the fact that such renovation would undoubtedly cause much talk and dissatisfaction in the quarters attacked. Nevertheless, to have left matters as they were would have been to needlessly jeopardize the interests of the soldiers in the division both as regards training and leadership. The first and foremost consideration was capable officers throughout every branch of the organization, and today none know better than the men themselves how important and for their interests were the changes made at Camp Hancock. The weeding-out procedure removed many officers either for physical defects, age or for other reasons deemed in the interests of the service. Many of the officers so removed were patriotic, sincere men, who had given a lifetime of service to the guard and were loved and respected by the men of their commands, but in this war there was no room for sentiment and so some had to suffer. GEN. MUIR TAKES CHARGE Maj. Gen. Clements, the guard’s division commander when it went to camp, was early separated from direct contact with his command by being sent overseas on an observation trip and upon his return was retired and replaced by Maj. Gen. Charles E. Muir. Before being relieved of his command Maj. Gen Clements had also removed and shifted about a number of officers, including Col. E. L. Kearns, commander of the Eighteenth Regiment, of Pittsburg. And Maj. Gen. Muir did not hesitate to carry out this policy of swinging the ax whenever he became convinced the service could be benefited. A lifelong and thorough soldier, Maj. Gen. Muir had not been long in command of the division before improvement was noticeable in the discipline and morale of the troops. “Regulations” Muir they called him. He demanded promptness and efficiency on the part of officers and men and he did not hesitate to speak his mind when things were not to his liking. He won the admiration and confidence of the men by demanding respect for them on the part of officers as well as absolute obedience by the men. And from that time on there was a new spirit of service, a new atmosphere about the camp reflected in every activity. Thus was the Twenty-eighth Division made and thus was it brought up to the standard of proficiency where it stood first on the list of all the National Guard divisions of the United States. LOCAL GUARD REGIMENTS Before proceeding further with the story of the activities of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania units in the great war it will be well to examine somewhat the history of the guard regiments from this section of the state and also to set forth the results of the reorganization whereby these regiments may be identified in the Army of the United States. This history will deal chiefly with the Twenty-eighth and Eightieth Divisions, because it was in these divisions where a large majority of these men served. The Three Hundred and Nineteenth and Three Hundred and Twentieth Regiments of infantry, One Hundred and Sixtieth Brigade, Eightieth Division, were the units comprised for the most part of the selected men from Pittsburg and the western end of the state, although many were scattered throughout this organization in the various arms of the service. The guard regiments were the Tenth Infantry, now the One Hundred and Tenth Infantry. Fifth-fifth Brigade, Twenty-eighth Division; Eighteenth Infantry, and Sixteenth Infantry, now the One Hundred and Twelfth Infantry, Fifty-sixth Brigade, Twenty-eighth Division; First Artillery, now the One Hundred and Seventh Artillery, Fifty-third Artillery Brigade, Twenty-eighth Division; First Field Battalion, Signal Corps, now the One Hundred and Third Field Signal Battalion, Twenty-eighth Division; Ambulance Companies, now the One Hundred and Third Sanitary Train, and Field Hospitals to Field Hospitals Nos. 11 and 112, Twenty-eighth Division. Truck Companies nos. 5 and 6 became the One Hundred and Third Supply Train of the Twenty-eighth Division. THE “FIGHTING TENTH” The One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, formerly the Tenth Regiment of the National Guard, was mustered into the state service in December, 1873. Its military district comprises the counties of Westmoreland, Washington, Somerset, Blair, Fayette, Indiana, Beaver and Greene. The respective company headquarters are located at Greensburg, Latrobe, Mount Pleasant, Connellsville, Somerset, Hollidaysburg, Blairsville, Indiana, New Brighton, Monongahela, Washington and Waynesburg. Col. John A. Black, of Greensburg, was it first commanding officer and he was succeeded by Col. Alexander L. Hawkins, who had been captain of Co. H, at Washington. The regiment served during the Spanish-American war in the Philippines, where it obtained the sobriquet of the “Fighting Tenth.” Its tour of duty there was from July 17, 1898, until July 1, 1899, when it embarked for home. The regiment suffered casualties in the Philippines of: killed in action 6; wounded 70; died of wounds 9; died of disease 6; and missing l. The death of Col. Hawkins occurred on shipboard July 18, while on the journey home. The regiment was re-organized in 1900 with Col. James E. Barnett as Commander who served in that capacity until 1907. He was succeeded by Col. Richard Coulter Jr., of Greensburg. The regiment served on the Mexican border during the Mexican aggressions from July 8, 1916, until Oct. 4 of the same year. In August, 1917, Col. Coulter was promoted to be Brigadier General and he was succeeded in command of the regiment by Lieut. Col. Henry W. Coulter. In the reorganization for service overseas as part of the Twenty-eighth Division the table of organization called for 3,750 officers and men and to effect this change the Third Infantry was directed to transfer the enlisted personnel of that organization, less than 346 men to the Tenth (now the One Hundred and Tenth) Regiment. Orders also assigned some officers of the Third Regiment to the One Hundred and Tenth and Col. George E. Kemp was named as regimental commander, with Lieut. Col. Coulter the second in command. “PITTSBURG’S OWN” The Eighteenth regiment was Pittsburg’s own and perhaps the most historic military organization in the state and one of the oldest in the nation. It was known as the Duquesne Greys and was organized Aug. 5, 1831. In the Mexican was it served as Company K, First Pennsylvania volunteers, in the Civil War as Company B, Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteers and gave 69 officers to the Union army, including Maj. Gen. James S. Negley and seven colonels. The Duquesne Greys was organized as a regiment of the National Guard of Pennsylvania in September, 1869. The organization in the early days of its existence was given certain special privileges, vested rights and immunities and all military codes of the Commonwealth since 1832 have contained clauses recognizing these grants made by the legislature. During the Spanish American war the regiment became the Eighteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers. It was on the Mexican border service during the Mexican aggressions in 1916, was called to do patrol duty in the state April 12, 1917, and drafted into the Federal service Aug. 5, 1917, by proclamation of the President. Upon reorganization of the Twenty-eighth Division it became the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry, Fifty-sixth Brigade. Sufficient of the enlisted and commissioned personnel of the Sixth Infantry was transferred to the Eighteenth to bring it up to the new standards. Since the organization of the Duquesne Greys as a regiment in the National Guard of Pennsylvania it has been commanded by Col. David Campbell, 1869-1870; Col Presley N. Guthrie, 1870-1883; Col. Chambers McKibben, 1883-1884; Col. Norman M. Smith, 1884-1899; Col. Frank I. Rutledge, 1899-1909; Col. Albert J. Logan, 1909-1912; Col. James H. Bigger, 1912-1916. Col. Edward L. Kearns was in command of the regiment on the Mexican border and also when it went into training at Camp Hancock. THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT The Sixteenth Regiment, used as a nucleus around which to build the One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment, hails from the thriving oil and manufacturing cities and country of Western Pennsylvania north of Pittsburg. It was organized in 1878 with Gen. John A. Wiley, a veteran of the Civil War, as its first colonel. From the time of its organization until its entry into the service of the United States during the Great War it had but three colonels: Gen. Wiley, Gen. Willis J. Hulings and Col. George C. Rickards. During the Spanish American war the regiment saw active service in Porto Rico and frequently mentioned in official dispatches for its excellent work. At the close of the Spanish American was the regiment was reorganized by bringing in five companies of the old Fifteenth infantry which then went out of existence. The respective company headquarters are located at Oil City, Corry, Bradford, Kane, Franklin, Erie, Ridgway, Warren, Kittanning, Butler and Grove City. In the new reorganization at Camp Hancock sufficient commissioned and enlisted personnel to make up the new standard was drawn from the Eighth infantry which formerly had headquarters at Harrisburg and was recruited from the central portion of the state. FIRST FIELD ARTILLERY The First Field Artillery which became the One Hundred and Seventh Field Artillery of the new army dates back to Civil war days for it was formed around Battery B from the Allegheny Valley known as Hampton’s Battery. Hampton’s Battery was organized Oct. 8, 1861, and served in the Civil war from 1861 to 1865. It was in some of the greatest battles of the Rebellion including Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and others. As a regimental unit the First Artillery was officially organized Nov. 30, 1915. The headquarters are a Pittsburg, but the batteries are drawn from all sections of the state. Two of the batteries, B and [unreadable], the Headquarters Co., Supply Train, Sanitary Department, are from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania [unreadable] was in service during the Spanish American was but did not leave the country. During the Mexican aggression it was stationed on the Mexican border. [unreadable] William S. McKee was the commander at the time the regiment went into training at Camp Hancock. The First Field Battalion Signal C which became the One Hundred and Tenth Signal Battalion of the Twenty-eighth Division was recruited in and around Pittsburg a number of years ago and was composed of experts in all branches of signal work. The battalion was considered one of the very best in the United States by reason of its skilled enlisted and commissioner personnel. It saw service on the Mexican border during the Mexican aggressions. How well this battalion accounted for itself in the Great War will be apparent to all who read of its exploits in the chapters to follow. The battalion was in command of Maj. Frederick T. Miller when it went into training at Camp Hancock. OFF FOR FRANCE! The Truck companies which became the One Hundred and Third Supply train, the Ambulance companies which became part of the One Hundred and Third Sanitary Train and the Field Hospitals which took the numbers 110, 111 and 112 were all recruited for the most part in Allegheny county and had been part of the state guard organization with headquarters in Pittsburg. Late in April, 1918, the Twenty-eighth having complete its training and having been declared ready for preliminary work close to the scene of actual fighting, overseas orders were received by Gen. Muir. The division embarked May 3 and was in France by June 1, 1918. The Eightieth Division was transported to France during the latter part of June and the forepart of July, 1918. It was almost impossible to obtain any accurate record of the many shifts in the commissioned personnel of the Twenty-eighth Division during the time which elapsed between its arrival at Camp Hancock and departure for overseas. There were many changes and additions during the reorganization as well as in the case of officers who were found unfit physically and otherwise. The following officers were in command of the principal units from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania when the Twenty-eighth embarked for France: One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, Col. George E. Kemp One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry, Col. Edward C. Shannon One Hundred and Twelfth Infantry, Col. George C. Rickards One Hundred and Seventh Field Artillery, Lieut. Col. Albert C.Crookston One Hundred and Third Field Signal Battalion, Maj. Frederick G. Miller ********************************************************************** Chapter II (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Jan. 12, 1919, pages 60-61) Names in this chapter: Benz, Shenkel PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA SOLDIERS OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION IN FRANCE RECEIVE INTENSIVE ADVANCED TRAINING AND THEN MOVE TOWARDS THE MARNE WHERE GERMANS THREATEN TO BREAK THROUGH TO PARIS. TWO PLATOONS FROM THE OLD EIGHTEENTH FIRST SOLDIERS OF TWENTY-EIGHTH TO PARTICIPATE IN FIGHTING. PRAISED FOR WORK BY FRENCH COMMANDER. When the Twenty-eighth division arrived in France our allies were facing the most critical period of the way. All during the previous winter and early spring the Germans had prepared for a series of drives which they expected to break the backbone of the British and French armies before the Americans could arrive in force. The German expectations were heralded to the world, so confident was the enemy high command that nothing could go wrong with the carefully worked-out plans. The Russian fiasco had released to them many thousands of seasoned veterans and, with these added to the armies already on the west front, the order to advance was given March 21, 1918. Then on a 50-mile front, stretching from La Fere to Arras, the Germans went “over the top.” The French and British lines joined in and around St. Quentin and the objective was to force a break and separate the forces of the two allies. This plan did not succeed, but the enemy was able to drive a great wedge, and Amiens, the important British distributing point, was seriously menaced. The second phase of the German offensive was launched April 9 against the British in the Ypres section, and with such fury and persistence that Marshal Haig’s troops were thrown back for a considerable distance before they were able finally to stem the assault. But the British line did not break and the French sent reinforcements whereby it was possible to counter attack and regain a portion of the territory lost. Raids and local actions then constituted the principal activities for several weeks while the Germans were preparing for their third effort, which began May 27 when the Crown Prince’s army was hurled forth from Chemin des Dames, in Champagne. The allied armies were forced back until the enemy had reached the Marne at Chateau-Thierry by June 1 and thus Paris was directly threatened. It was at this juncture of the German offensive that American troops were rushed to the front and so successfully helped the French stem the oncoming hordes of the kaiser. Every American knows the story of Chateau-Thierry and Cantigny. Here are the words of the Commander in Chief, Gen. Pershing: WHAT THE AMERICANS DID “The allies faced a crisis equally as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. Again every available man was placed at Marshal Foch’s disposal, and the Third Division, which had just come from its preliminary training in the trenches, was hurried to the Marne. Its motorized machine-gun battalion preceded the other units and successfully held the bridgehead at the Marne, opposite Chateau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other available transport to check the progress of the enemy toward Paris. The division attacked and retook the town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily held its ground against the enemy’s best guard divisions. “In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, our men proved their superiority and gained a strong tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy than ourselves. On July 1, before the Second was relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most splendid precision.” Thus the enemy began to secure demonstration of the fighting ability of the Americans, and to meet lines of adamant that would neither bend nor break. The enemy was stopped at the Marne, but one week later another offensive between Montdidier and Novon in a new thrust for Paris. The allied supreme command had advance information and this blow was readily checked. This was the situation during the last days of June, the darkest hour of the allied cause when it was feared that Paris was doomed and such a catastrophe would literally take the heart out of the French. It was during these stirring times in June that the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania infantrymen were billeted within sight of Paris and hearing of the wonderful work of their countrymen who were privileged to be taking part in the mighty struggle. They heard of Chateau-Thierry, Bois de Belleau, Bouresches, Cantigny, those milestones already recorded in the history of the American arms and they fretted and strained at the leash which held them far from where there were deeds of valor to be performed and glory to be won. BRIGADED WITH THE BRITISH When the division arrived in France it was split up into small units and brigaded with the British troops to receive its final instruction before going to the front. At times the men became discouraged as the result of what they deemed an exceptionally long training period for they felt fit to meet any Boche that ever lived. Some of the men even began to wonder if they were to see any of the real fighting. The supreme command had worked out a special system for training new troops whereby they were gradually brought to the state of steadiness and perfection required for the line by a series of movements ever nearer the front and thus closer and closer to the sound of the guns. Then the men moved up within the actual zone of artillery fire where through experience gained at times as the result of casualties, their nerves were steeled to withstand the din of battle. Next there was a period in the front line under the watchful eye of experienced officers. But the Americans “made good.” During the course of training with the British the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania troops were stationed near Lumbres and later at the French training centers of Ge[unreadable} Maux and Rebais. The Division was partly reassembled a few miles northwest of Paris with headquarters at Gonesse. This town is about ten miles from the heart of the French capital. The four infantry regiments together with the engineers were scattered throughout the surrounding towns and countryside wherever billets were available. UNITS ARE SEPARATED At the time of arrival in France the artillery brigade of the division, which included the One Hundred and Seventh regiment, was separated from the other units and sent to an artillery training camp many miles away. Other units had been sent to other places for specialized training. The infantry and engineer regiments assembled first and then awaited the arrival of other units at the divisional center and it was during this wait that the Pennsylvania doughboys began to long for a nearer approach to that direction from which ever came the low rumbling sound like continuous thunder. To the southeast on clear days they could see the great Eiffel Tower in Paris. But the men did not get much time to ponder over the reasons for the delay in keeping them out of the conflict. They were busy those warm June days in going through that maze of work incidental to their final graduation from the school of the soldier. It was a trying period but it was soon forgotten in the days which followed. The Germans were preparing for another thrust at the Marne. The bald, naked truth is that the British and French were fearful that they did not have sufficient men to stop the Hun. Even during the last rush the lines were but thinly held and would probably have given away had not the few American troops which were ready been rushed up in the night in motor trucks and thrown into battle. An appeal had gone forth for more Americans and casting aside all thoughts of a distinct American Army for the time being Gen. Pershing offered all the troops available to be brigaded with the French and British armies in a supreme effort to save a world. The American Army at that time was merely an army on paper because it had not been assembled. Divisions were the largest units then working as a whole and by brigading these divisions with the British and French the gaps would be stopped up and their forces strengthened by all the available American forces. Their army units were functioning with the experience of the long years of war and it was an easy task to assimilate the American divisions. Time was short, too, in which to work effectively. It was at this juncture in the fortunes of our allies that the order came down the line for the Twenty-eighth Division to prepare for a journey. The artillery brigade had not yet come up to join the division so the infantry and engineers were to go away without it. When the time came to depart for their new destination the men noticed that long lines of motor trucks awaited them and there was much jubilation, for here indeed was evidence of a respite from the wearisome hikes. They were to ride in state for the motor trucks looked to them like the best to be had in the way of transportation. There was expectancy in the very air for to be accorded the luxury of a motor ride was unusual up to that time for the men of the Twenty-eighth. However, they were disappointed when the direction taken was not to the northeastward nor to the northward from whence came that rumbling sound, but eastward from Paris. They journeyed on through petty French villages where the townspeople greeted them as saviors when they discovered they were Americans. The Pennsylvanians sang and cheered until they were hoarse. Soon they came to a little river, the Petit Morin, and down along it beautiful winding valley the great trucks lumbered carrying their happy and cheerful burdens. Suddenly the men discovered that the distant thunder was gradually getting louder and they commenced to realize that they were approaching that zone where the guns were continuously belching forth their messengers of death. They knew, too, from the people along the way that they were nearer the battle lines and then finally they stopped in a little town beside the river. AT MONTMIRAIL This town was Montmirail and the distant guns could be heard distinctly. Part of the division passed through Montmirail and stopped at another town a few miles to the eastward. This town was Vauchamps. The rear of the column turned off and stopped at Verdelot, to the westward a few miles from Montmirail. The surrounding countryside was dotted with villages and in the three towns and these villages the local doughboys and engineers billeted. The pause here was but another step in the advanced training of the men so that they could become more familiar with the sound of the guns and it was only a few days before they ceased to notice that ever rising and falling rumble which made the earth tremble under foot even at that distance. Now the soldiers from Pitts burg and Western Pennsylvania began to glow serious and to buckle down to their training work with even more determination to approach nearer perfection for they realized that the day would soon come when they would have an opportunity to let the folks at home and the world knew that the men of the Twenty-eighth were not afraid of anything the Hun had to offer. Within a few days they commenced to grow restless, however, because they had not moved nearer to the guns so that they might at least obtain a distant view of more of the activities which were going on to the north of them; activities amongst the most important in the long was and Paris as the stake. They were not more than from 10 to 14 miles from the front lines along the Marne and could not understand why they were not up there helping the French to hold back the enemy from any further advances. This was the situation as it pertained to the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania regiments during these last days in June. Little did the men dream that before the end of another month they would have decisively demonstrated their mastery of the pick of the Prussian soldiery and had writ large on the pages of history that story of valor and achievement which sent a thrill throughout America and the kaiser reeling with disappointment and chagrin. And little did they realize that there were many there in those last days who would never be with them again; many who would be found, after the tide of battle passed, with cold set features and with the light gone from their eyes, the victims of the Hun; others cruelly shattered in mind and body and facing a lifetime of helplessness and misery. But even if these soldiers from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania could have known in advance the bloody days directly ahead of them they would not have been less keen for the carnage: to have known would have only whetted their desire to rise to even greater heights of bravery and daring if such were possible. There were folks at home who in other days had spoken of the guardsmen as “tin” soldiers. And there were officers of the regular military establishment who had scoffed at them and questioned their usefulness in a crisis. Both these insults were to be wiped out forever; wiped out in such a sea of blood by men who were to prove themselves the peers of any men-at-arms the world had ever known that a blush of shame would mount to the cheek of every person who ever uttered an unkind remark against the old N.P.G. ON THE FOURTH OF JULY Came July 1, 1917, and the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania boys were still billeted in and around the vicinity of Montmirail, from 10 to 14 miles from the front lines on the Marne. They were planning for some sort of celebration for the Fourth in order to help while away the tedious hours of waiting for a shot at a Boche. Something extra in the way of food was to be topped off with concerts, sports, etc., was on the program. There was some comfort in the prospect of getting away from the tiresome and heavy routine, too, because they expected to be allowed to rest at least part of Independence Day. Midnight, Wednesday, July 3, 1917, there was a stir in camp when the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, from Philadelphia and the eastern part of the state, was routed out and formed into companies in heavy marching order. Here at last was a prospect of action! Wild rumors flew up and down the line to the effect that the Hun had broken through and that the Pennsylvanians were going out to stop him. Some of the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians in the One Hundred and Tenth, One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Twelfth Regiments heard of the sudden movement and were wondering why it had not been their luck to be called. The night rang with the hastily snapped out commands as officers prepared the regiments to move forward. Then when the order to march at double time was given the men were sure that something was happening. It was a long weary hike with the sound of the guns ever getting closer and then just before dawn the head of the column was stopped by a staff officer who arrived in the sidecar of a motorcycle and Col. Millard D. Brown, of Philadelphia, in command of the regiment, was ordered to return to billets. This was disappointment indeed and when the order for a short rest was given the men just dropped down in their tracks, equipment and all. They were dead tired after that long hurried journey, but while there were prospects of real work to do they were willing to bear without flinching the rigors of that wearisome march in the dark. The night had been cool, but when they were ready to trudge back towards their billets the sun was well up and beating down in all its July fury upon their heads. They thought of the celebration they had missed back in camp and they wondered what the loved ones back in American were doing to while away the holiday. CHUCKLES OVER “FALSE ALARM” It was night before all the companies were finally back in camp and so all thought of any Fourth festivities was gone. They were mighty glad to crawl into bed. As to the celebration conducted by the other regiments, it is said by officers, that, when it became generally known that the One Hundred and Ninth had gone forward in the night, the men considered themselves so out of luck that they didn’t care whether they extracted any joy out of the Fourth’s festivities or not. However, the men of the other regiments surely did chuckle the next day when they learned of what the One Hundred and Ninth has been through. But during this period the Pennsylvanians were wondering as to the experiences of certain of their number who were on the front line receiving some advanced instruction under the French. Several platoons had been picked from the Division and sent in with the French just west of Chateau-Thierry. This sector was not a quiet one, neither was it real active just at that time. Two of these platoons were from the old Eighteenth and were under the command of Lieuts. Cedric H. Benz of Co. B and John H. Shenkel, of Co. A, both of Pittsburg. Then the sector in which they were stationed commenced to grow hotter as each hour passed and July 1 the French decided to launch attacks against the village of Vaux and Hill 204, nearby. The Americans carefully watched the French go about the preparations for this attack, with that skill which is only obtained after long and arduous campaigning. The Americans were invited to take positions where they could easily view the whole operation. The platoons from Pittsburg had made such an impression on the French that the French commander informed them they might participate in the attack if they so desired, but that such action would be entirely voluntary. Those who elected to go were invited to step out of the ranks and every man of the two platoons came forward with a snap that demonstrated how eager they were to get into some actual fighting. They went into the battle with the French and under French command and they were the first troops of this division to engage in important fighting. Here is the story of that attack told by the French general commanding: AMERICANS ROUT THE ENEMY “On the morning of July 1 a platoon of the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry in command of Lieut. Shenkel participated with several platoons of French infantry in the attack on Hill 204. The battle opened with sharp machine gun fire from the German forces, concealed in trees, underbrush and trenches. Immediately on gaining the heights of Hill 204, Lieut. Shenkel deployed his troops to the right and left of him for the purpose of making flank movements. “As the Pittsburgers and the French commences to close in on the German troops an avalanche of machine gun fire greeted them. The soldiers refused to give ground and continued their advance. Seeing that the machine gun fire could not check the advance, the German officer in command called for a barrage fire, but before this could be laid down the Americans had routed the enemy from his first line of trenches.” Lieut. Benz went in on the left of Hill 204 with his platoon and together with the French completely routed the German forces. He succeeded in bringing 38 prisoners back to his lines. The French general in his report on the work of Lieut. Benz said: “Lieut. Benz and his platoon of American and French soldiers, in spite of the firing of the enemy’s heavy and light machine guns, trench mortars, riflemen placed in trees, bravely threw themselves on the adversaries in a fierce hand-to-hand contest, in a thick and almost impregnable woods, not only routing the German forces but taking 38 prisoners back to his lines.” The sector where Lieut. Benz operated was of the utmost importance. The enemy had concentrated large forces and a menacing shrapnel fire was continually harassing our troops located at Vaux directly within the range. The lieutenant and his men started towards the crest of the hill. They soon gained its heights and were forcing their way through the heavy underbrush when a burst of machine gun bullets was sprayed on them. FOUGHT LIKE DEMONS Taking positions as skirmishers the men pressed forward even under this heavy fire while the enemy troops quickly retired to the second line trenches. The lieutenant saw a chance for a rush before the enemy could set up his machine guns in the new position and his men were quickly upon them, forcing them back to the third line and then finally out of the woods. It was then that a number of the Germans became panic-stricken and beat a hasty retreat, leaving Benz with his 38 prisoners. Lieut. Shenkel was also busy on the other side of the hill during all this, for by a flanking movement a detachment of German soldiers had succeeded in trapping Shenkel and a squad of his men, but this was quickly broken up by a counter-attack. The lieutenant and his seven men fought like veritable demons, cutting and hacking their way through the Germans with bayonets and the butts of their rifles. Lieut. Shenkel flirted with death more than once that day for three times he was [unreadable] by a German sniper who was concealed in a tree. Each time the bullet pierced part of his uniform. In commending Lieut. Shenkel for his part in this battle the French high command after telling of his ardor and bravery in the taking of the hill declared that “the American people should be proud of the wonderful soldiers that are now fighting with the allies.” “The odds were ten to one against you,” said the general, “but the great disadvantage did not dampen the ardor and bravery of your men. You troops today did what I thought was impossible. You have taken a position which is of the upmost importance.” Thus with the taking of Hill 204 one of the most important gains of the Marne sector was made. The Germans prior to the engagement with the French and Americans concentrated more that 1,000 soldiers and an exceptionally large amount of ammunition. They were preparing for an attack on Vaux which had been previously wrested from their grasp by the Marines. Had not the Pittsburgers taken Hill 204 the Germans would have had a commanding position whereby they could have readily shelled the Americans out of the town. The battle opened at 6 a.m., July 1, and raged all that day but before the dawn of the next day there was not a Boche remaining on Hill 204. AIRPLANES BOMBING GERMAN TRANSPORT WAGONS The work of airplanes in attacking, at low altitudes, the ammunition transport wagons of the enemy has been very successful in cutting off huge quantities of supplies for the front lines. GLORY FOR THE OLD EIGHTEENTH Both the Pittsburg lieutenants were cited by the French for their part in this glorious victory and both received the coveted croix de guerre. In speaking later of the work of the men who were in his platoon, Lieut. Shenkel said that the boys showed wonderful courage and ability and that the people of Pittsburg and Pennsylvania should be proud of every one of them. Lieut. Benz says that too much credit cannot be given boys of the old Eighteenth for the wonderful work they did in chasing the Boche from Hill 204. Before many hours had passed news of this action had filtered back to the regiment and also stories of the wonderful work of their comrades, with the result that each man pledge himself, in his own hand to live up to the standards established by the men of the two platoons from Pittsburg. Now more than ever before were the men chafing under the restraint which had them back from the front lines, for they were absolutely confident that they could outfight any Boche that ever lived. But the regiments kept up that deadly routine of drill, bayonet work and rifle practice, together with frequent hikes and all the other activities of intensive training. The men at times began to feel they were “going stale” from overtraining, but the real trouble was their anxiety to get into action. ********************************************************************** Chapter III (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Jan. 19, 1919, pages 66-67) Names in this chapter: Foch, Thompson, Kemp, Brown, Truxel, Fish, Cousart, Mackey, Smith, Hayman PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS MOVE CLOSER TO FRONT LINE IN SUPPORT OF FRENCH. TWO COMPANIES FROM OLD TENTH FILL GAP IN FRENCH FRONT LINE. THE OPENING OF THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE, WHERE PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENTS RECEIVE FIRST BAPTISM OF FIRE. During the first days of July, 1917, Marshal Foch had been gradually working the Germans into a position where there was only one loophole towards which to launch the forthcoming drive, and the supreme commander wanted the enemy to make just that move. The direction was straight south at the tip of the Soissons-Rheims salient and in the direction where the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania troops were stationed. Here Marshal Foch set a trap, for although the lines were only thinly held by the French, he had the Americans in reserve. He had already tested the valor of some of the Pennsylvanians and the other American forces assembled in that section and he was supremely confident that the great moment had arrived. The Germans would cross the Marne, but they wouldn’t go fat until they met those unyielding lines of doughboys. There would be a violent clash as the Americans unloosed their pent up energy, and then the Germans would find themselves on the defensive and making a hurried effort to get back on the other side of the Marne. That was the way Marshal Foch expected the affair to work out. He was banking on the Americans and the Americans did not fail him. Then it was that the German military leaders realized for the first time that the war was lost to them. Ger. Pershing said it was the turning point of the war, and the ex-crown prince has since admitted that he knew it was the beginning of the end for Germany. The Boche had never met an “iron” division. July 5, 1917, there was a noticeable stir at brigade headquarters. Then messengers began to hurry to the various regimental headquarters and soon the word was passed along that the regiments were to move up in closer support of the French lines. This was cheering news indeed. At last the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians were actually going up into the zone of fire where the great shells would go screeching overhead and even fall menacingly near at times. Early on the morning of July 6, 1917, the One Hundred and Tenth, One Hundred and Eleventh and the engineers shouldered their equipment and moved forward to the positions assigned them. The One Hundred and Twelfth was held in reserve. During the journey one of the soldiers was seen to reach up and pull a branch from a tree alongside the road. He struck a leaf-covered twig in his cap with the remark that “now I am camouflaged,” The flies were troublesome and his comrades soon perceived that the soldier with the “camouflage” was not bothered. Then there was a rush for head decorations until the regiments looked like the famous Italian Bersagleri. The Bersaglieri wear plumed hats. The One Hundred and Tenth, One Hundred and Eleventh and the engineers arrived at their positions without incident except an occasional reminder from the Boche in the shape of a shell which passed overhead and exploded in the distance. The cannonading also became ever louder and increased in volume as the troops advanced. DODGING THE GERMAN SHELLS The One Hundred and Ninth Regiment did not fare so well, for it encountered an area in its march northward which was being vigorously shelled by the Boche. The regiment had passed the little village of Artonges where the Dhuys creek joins the road and then follows along the valley towards Pargny-la-Dhuys. The latter town was almost in sight when a shell burst in a field a few hundred yards away. Then came an officer rushing from brigade headquarters with orders for the regiment immediately to seek cover in the woods nearby. The Germans were raking the countryside in an attempt to locate French batteries. The shelling kept the regiment in the woods until July 10, 1917. Then came orders to advance and after going through what was left of Pargny, after that terrific shelling, the regiment was ordered off the road into a long ravine. Then the bombardment started again and the men realized that it was much safer to have the protection of the ravine than to be caught on the shell-swept open road. Three days the enemy kept up the fire. July 13, 1917, when the hour for “taps” arrived and no orders for the night had been given, the men realized that something was going to happen. At midnight the regiment was formed in light marching order – no heavy packs, no heavy clothes, nothing but fighting equipment and two days’ rations. Then the column moved northward through the night; up toward the Marne while star shells shed a glow from the sky and shrapnel and high explosives were being showered in all directions. When the column reached the designated position to the left of the engineer regiment of the division the men were told to “dig in!” The next day was July 14, “Bastile [sic] Day,” France’s equivalent for our Independence Day, and from indications the Pennsylvanians believed it was to be a real celebration. Bastile Day, the Pennsylvania regiments spent in their hastily constructed trenches about two miles from the front line which was directly along the valley of the Marne. The accompanying map will convey some idea as to the location of the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania soldiers. Their line stretched out over quite a distance and with French regiments between each of the regiments of the Twenty-eighth Division. The engineers were operating as infantry. All day long the Pennsylvanians waited patiently for something to happen, but the only excitement was the screech of the shells overhead. Towards evening on Bastile Day runners arrived from brigade headquarters with orders for Col. Brown of the One Hundred and Ninth and Col. Kemp of the One Hundred and Tenth to dispatch two companies from each regiment to fill little gaps in the French lines on the front. Col. Kemp forwarded his message to Maj. Joseph H. Thompson, of Beaver Falls, commanding the first battalion of the One Hundred and Tenth. Maj. Thompson selected Companies B, of New Brighton and C, of Somerset. Company B was commanded by Capt. William Fish and Company C by Capt. William C. Truxel. Company L and Company M of the One Hundred and Ninth were selected and commanded by Capts. James B. Cousart, of Philadelphia and Edward P. Mackey, of Williamsport. The two companies of the old “Fighting Tenth” were placed in the line back of Fossey and Mezy, directly in the great bend of the river and with the One Hundred and Thirteenth French regiment. The two companies of the eastern Pennsylvania regiment were place near Passy-sur-Marne and Courtemont-Varennes. It is near this point that the Dhuys river flows into the Marne and the Dhuys separated the companies of the two regiments. Fossoy, the farthest west of the towns, is only four miles from Chateau-Thierry and Passy is about four miles farther east. The reasons for thus plugging the holes in the French lines were many. Marshal Foch had been giving the Germans a jolt here and there until he had them in such a position that the next outbreak was almost sure to occur directly southwest of Chateau-Thierry. The heavy concentration of French troops around Chateau-Thierry had weakened the French front line at this point. NO SLEEP FOR 48 HOURS Here it was expected that the Pennsylvania troops would receive their baptism of fire, for they would be directly in the zone of operation. French staff officers accompanied the Americans to the front line and so distributed them that there was alternately a French regiment and a Pennsylvania company. The Pennsylvanians were now operating directly with the French troops and under French higher command. Between the advanced companies and the Pennsylvania regiments there was an open country with many well-tilled fields stretching away in all directions. Towards the enemy there was a dense woods which extended to the Marne, and known as the Bois-de-Conde. This woods was to be the scene of some of the most strenuous fighting of the war. French liaison officers who came back from the front to consult with the officers of the Pennsylvania regiments declared that they had made it almost next to impossible for the Germans to get across the Marne. Acres of wire had been strung and machine guns had been massed at every possible point. Before midnight July 14, 1917, the Pennsylvania companies were in position and although not a man had been able to secure a minute’s sleep for over 48 hours nevertheless they were wide awake. They tried to pierce the gloom of No-Man’s-Land, for they were anxious to get a sight of the Hun lines. Occasionally a star shell would light up the countryside and they would catch a glimpse of the river but none of the enemy was in sight. The flash of a gun across the river, however, told them that the Hun was not sleeping. Two miles back in the trenches, where their comrades waited eagerly discussing the adventure which fell to the lost of the four companies, envious eyes were turned in the direction of the front and they say about in little groups talking of possibilities in the hours to come. THE BOMBARDMENT STARTS At 11:30 o’clock that night the very heavens were shaken with a roar which sounded as though all the cannon in the world had broken forth at once. The men looked up in amazement as the shells from the French batteries in the rear went screeching over into the enemy lines. This was something new for the Pennsylvanians for it was their first experience under intensive artillery fire. Later they learned that this activity was designed to break up enemy concentrations of men and munitions and to harass his artillery concentration. The Germans paid little attention to the French cannonade, for the German adheres to system and the “zero hour” had not yet arrived. Midnight came and went and the French artillery continued to hurl tons of shrapnel and high explosive shells, to the north of the Marne. But the hour was fast approaching when it was expected there would be some reaction from Fritz, for it was known that he had concentrated all his resources for a last stupendous effort. The German supreme command was staking everything on this attempt to break through to Paris. To the German mind such a success would mean victory and an early end to the war. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE At 12:30 o’clock the German front from a distance of 65 miles belched forth a stream of fire the like of which had never been witnessed before. It has since been described by the French as the most terrific bombardment of the war. It was the opening salvo announcing that the last German offensive was on and that it was to be the mightiest of many mighty efforts to force kultur upon the world. The second Battle of the Marne had opened and the allies waited nervously to learn of the result. All the free men of the earth knew that civilization was hanging in the balance. Documents taken from prisoners who were captured later show that the French did not exaggerate when they declared the bombardment to be the heaviest of the war. On one prisoner was found a copy of a general order to the troops assuring them of victory. It informed the Germans that this was the great offensive which was to force the Allies to make peace and that when the time came to advance they would find themselves unopposed. The reason for this, according to the order, was that the attack was to be preceded by artillery preparation that would destroy completely all troops for 20 miles in front of the German lines. It has since been learned that shells fell 25 miles back of the allied lines. It was the opening of this offensive that the kaiser witnessed and Karl Rosner, his favorite correspondent, wrote to the Berlin Lokan Anzeiger: “The Emperor listened to the terrible orchestra of our surprise fire attack and looked on the unparalleled picture of the projectiles raging toward the enemy’s positions.” Thus the lads from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania also had the privilege of sharing with the then Prussian war lord all the wonders of this “surprise fire attack.” CROUCHED IN TRENCHES But how were our lads in the very front line trenches faring under the terrific hail of steel? The emperor’s correspondent described the din as a “terrible orchestra” but most of the Western Pennsylvanians when writing home about their experience on that night gave to it the short four-lettered word that Sherman used. The soldiers crouched in their trenches powerless to do anything for themselves or each other. This most pretentious effort of the Hun was entirely different from the low rumbling sound like thunder to which they had become accustomed during the past few weeks. This was deafening, ear-splitting and the earth fairly rocked under their feet. It was one continuous roar and was heard in Paris, 50 miles away, where people resting after their day of celebrating were awakened from the sound sleep of exhaustion while windows cracked and pictures were jolted from the walls. And Paris heard and wondered and breathed a prayer for the boys out there who were charged with the mission of withstanding that avalanche of death and destruction. The nerves of some of the Pennsylvanians were apparently giving way under the terrible strain and there were men who had to be forcibly restrained from rushing madly out of the trenches – anywhere to get away from that awful noise and suspense. French and American officers went up and down the line encouraging the men and speaking a word here and there where needed. The other Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians back in the support trenches two miles away fared little better than did their comrades of the four companies in front. The Hun shells raked the back areas and the men had to clench their fists and bit their lips to withstand the tension on their nerves. Nevertheless, our boys fought grimly against the madness which often comes to green troops serving for the first time under such conditions and they were amazingly determined and courageous through it all. A SLAUGHTER OF PRUSSIANS The knowledge that eventually the Boche would come forth and that they must be in condition to meet and stop him helped to steady the nerves of many a doughboy during the seemingly long hours of that cannonade. The artillery preparation of the Germans was for a longer time than usual. This was because something had gone wrong with the German schedule. The Boche is methodical and has a schedule for everything and with this schedule goes the supreme confidence that it always will be carried out. His schedule was upset at the very start that night by the early bombardment of his lines and back areas. It was revealed later that after one solid hour of artillery preparation the Germans were to swing pontoon bridges across the Marne. This should have occurred at 1:30 o’clock. The anticipatory fire of the French had harassed the Germans in their preparations to such an extent that the bridges were not swung across the Marne until 3 o’clock. The original schedule also called for advance guards to be in Montmirail at 8:30 o’clock that morning. It will be remembered that it was in and around Montmirail that the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania men were billeted previous to moving to the northwards to support the French lines. The German infantry advance began immediately the pontoon bridges were across the Marne. The famous Prussian guards led. They literally swarmed upon the bridges. The French and four companies of Americans poured into this living mass such a rain of bullets that their rifles became hot and their arms tired from the repeated loading and firing. They worked fast and saw their concentrated fire tear great gaps in the oncoming hordes, but these gaps were quickly filled by Germans pushed forward from the rear. The Huns were herded onto these bridges like so many cattle being driven into slaughter pens, and slaughter pens they were for the river was soon choked with the bodies of the dead and it remained so for several days afterwards. Two companies of the “Fighting” Tenth boldly battle and refuse to give way before crack Prussian divisions. When the Hun launched his last offensive on the Marne July 15, 1917, Companies B of New Brighton and C of Somerset were caught in the center of the rush of the Hun hordes and although surrounded fought their way out of the gray clad masses. WHAT THE “GREEN” TROOPS DID Officers in describing the behavior of the Pennsylvania boys on this memorable occasion said that immediately the Hun appeared their nervousness and excitement dropped from them like the cloak from the body of a gladiator just stepping into the area. Their steadiness was magnificent and they gave assurances that they would live up to every tradition of their nation and their state. French officers afterwards said they were amazed at the way in which these Pennsylvanians met their baptism of fire. It had always been the custom to have the new troops going to France “blooded” gradually in minor engagements and in frequent contact with the enemy before being sent into major operations. It was the intention that the Pennsylvania troops should have this experience, but a change in the Boche plans and the necessity for haste decreed otherwise. It was thus that Pennsylvania troops were hurled into the greatest battle of the war without going through the usual easy stages of approach. The maximum German effort of the thrust was made along their front and it seemed almost as if the enemy knew he faced green troops and by pitting against them his crack regiments he counted on having an easy break-through. The Hun with his perfected military machine could not understand how it would be possible for “green” troops to withstand an attack by the Prussian guards. There was no known rule by which such an eventuality could be even suspected, much less given the most fleeting though or consideration. The Guards were expected to brush those new troops aside as a man brushes a fly from off his hand – and then Paris and victory! THE KEYSTONE HOLDS! Some idea of the tremendous feat accomplished by these Pennsylvanians may be gleaned from the fact that the Germans used no less than 14 divisions – approximately 170, 000 men – in the first line on this part of the battlefield. Behind these in support were probably 14 additional divisions. Some of these support divisions were used to fill gaps in the front lines so there were actually more than 170,000 Germans engaged. No figures are available as to the French, but their lines were so thinly held that Americans had to stop up the gaps and there were fewer than 15,000 Pennsylvanians all told in the four regiments. But the Keystone held. The German offensive smashed against those living, breathing walls which could not be swayed or moved. They were “green” troops, but the kaiser had none to withstand their withering fire nor the cold, sharp points of their bayonets. The Pennsylvanians wrote one of the most brilliant pages in the military annals of the world and the story of that stand will go down in history alongside that of the Old Guard at Waterloo, but the door to glory and to death swung wide for many a Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania lad that night. The terrible slaughter at the bridges which the Boche had thrown across the Marne failed to stop those green-gray waves and after sufficient of the Prussian Guards were on the south side of the river they charged up the wooded slope. The masses were so dense that the hurricane of machine gun and rifle bullets poured into them failed to make any appreciable impression. They swept onward and then over the first line of trenches in which were the companies of the old Tenth. HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING The Pennsylvanians, finding themselves surrounded on all sides, and split into little groups by the rush of the enemy, were determined to forfeit their lives as dearly as possible. It became hand-to-hand combat in which the Pennsylvanians were seen to rise to heroic heights. They forgot for the moment the lessons of warfare so carefully learned in the camps, and with bayonets and rifle butt and even with their bare hands they savagely attacked the Huns. Men were locked breast to breast, from which the only escape was death to one of them. There was one lad in the melee who had his rifle knocked from his hands and with blazing eyes and clenched fists he went at an antagonist. The American managed to get in a hard punch on the point of his opponent’s chin and just as he delivered the blow a bullet hit him in the back. The German staggering under the blow on his chin threw up his arms and this rifle dropped. The American grabbed it up and plunged the bayonet through the breast of his enemy at the same time not forgetting to gurgle out the ferocious “yah!” which he had learned at bayonet practice in the camps. Then he toppled over on the German. The little groups of Americans fought back to back and fired and hacked and hewed at the enemy masses. No group knew how the others were doing and many said afterwards that they felt certain that it was the end of all things for them and that it was only a question of accounting for as many Huns as possible before it came their turn to cross the Great Divide. It was then that there occurred the great tragedy for those valiant Pennsylvanians. One of their officers noticed that they were no longer supported by the French on their flanks. Something had failed or someone had blundered. Either the liaison service between the French and American had been broken or the runners had been killed or perhaps an officer who had received the orders to fall back had died before he could give the command. ALONE IN THE BATTLE Soon the officers and men of all four companies realized that they were alone on the field and that the French forces had moved backwards. It was the famous “yielding defense” of the French working, but for some reason the Americans had not been informed of the execution of this movement. The four companies of Pennsylvanians faced the army of the German crown prince, but even then they were undaunted and undefeated. No man of the four companies who went through the Gehenna of fighting has any clear idea fixed in his mind as to just what happened during these crucial moments. Thousands of Prussians were between them and the French by that time and there was only one thing to do. Either die where they were or take a chance at hacking their way through the Germans and thus regain the lines where the French were now making a stand. This was a difficult feat to attempt, especially when the companies were all split up into little groups, nevertheless, it was the only way out. To have stayed and died in their tracks would have been a useless sacrifice and civilization needed every man that day. The groups frequently formed fan-shaped circles and moved backward fighting the enemy from all sides. Then one group would meet up with another and the little forces thus combined were able to make more headway. Company B, of the One Hundred and Tenth was surrounded and split and after hours of fighting, during which it was necessary, time after time, to charge the Huns with bayonets and rally the group repeatedly to keep it from disintegrating. Capt. Fish, of New Brighton, with Lieut. Claud Smith, of New Castle, and Lieut. Gilmore Hayman, of Berwyn, fought their way back with 123 men. They brought with them several prisoners and carried 26 of their own wounded. The other member of Company B were surrounded in the woods. They made a running fight of it but were scattered badly and drifted back to the lines in little groups. They were forced to leave many comrades behind, dead, wounded and prisoners. ********************************************************************** Chapter IV (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Jan. 26, 1919, pages 62-63) Names in this chapter: Martz, Floto, Mullen, McLain, Kemp, LaViolette, McFadden, Bennet, Wolf SECOND PHASE OF BATTLE OF THE MARNE, IN WHICH PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA REGIMENTS DRIVE THE HUN BACK TO RIVER, STARTING HIM ON THE LONG RETREAT NORTHWARD. Company C of the One Hundred and Tenth had about the same experience as Company B of the same regiment when the four Pennsylvania companies were cut off and surrounded at the opening of the Battle of the Marne. Only about half the men returned to the regiment. Capt. Truxel and Lieuts. Wilbur Schell and Samuel C. Crouse were surrounded by greatly superior forces and taken prisoner with a little group of their men. But they did not give up until they were convinced that it was utterly impossible to fight their way out; that to continue their struggle meant death for all of them and nothing substantial to be gained by the sacrifice. Corp. Alva Martz, of Glencoe, was standing on the south band of the Marne in charge of a working part of five privates who were engaged in stringing wire entanglements when the German offense was launched. Martz quickly called to his men to take cover and they dropped into shell holes. The wire had not been broken by the German cannonade at that point where they were concealed and the kaiser’s hordes swept around and past them. Then they were completely cut off from their comrades. They carefully crept from shell hole to shell hole until they approached a woods. Then Martz ordered bayonets fixed and with a hearty yell the squad charged the Germans between them and the woods. The enemy believing they were attacked in force on their flank gave way and the little group was able to make the cover of the woods in safety. For more than two hours Martz and his companions worked their way through the forest. At times they had to fight desperately when they met groups of the enemy. They were hunting for the place where they believed their company had been stationed but the company was not there. Suddenly they glimpsed American uniforms through the foliage and they thought they had come up with the company. However, it was only Sergt. Robert Floto, of Meyersdale of their own company, with half a dozen men. Sergt. Floto assumed command of the entire group and they pressed on. They met up with another American and he was fighting mad and on the verge of tears because the six other lads who had been with him were suddenly cut off by a part of Boches and taken prisoner. He had seen his comrades led off towards the river by tow Hun officers. TO THE RESCUE! Martz thought they ought to try to do something to release the six prisoners, so with the permission of Sergt. Floto he selected John J. Mullen, of Philadelphia, to go along and set out on the dangerous mission. All of the men wanted to go but Martz insisted it was a job for only two men. Mullen was a former guardsman but was now a selected man and had been sent from Camp Meade several months before to help fill up the company. Corp. Martz and Mullen then set out to locate their comrades who were being marched to the rear by the Huns. Although surrounded by a goodly part of the crown prince’s crack troops they never faltered, being sustained in their undertaking by the firm conviction that they could turn the trick. They half crawled through the thick woods and finally came upon the party marching single file on a path between the trees. On German officer was in the lead of the convoy and another was bringing up the rear. Martz and Mullen decided the best plan would be to ambush the party and so they circled around until they were close to a point where the officers with their prisoners would have to pass. Martz told Mullen to take the officer in the lead while he would look after the one in the rear. Both Martz and Mullen were rated as marksmen. They took careful aim and at a nod from Martz their rifles cracked simultaneously. Both Hun officers dropped dead in their tracks. The little band of prisoners were almost stunned with surprise to find that they were no longer guarded and they peered anxiously into the foliage from whence came the shots. Martz and Mullen stepped forward and motioned for them to get under cover. There was no time for thanks or congratulations. A THRILLING EXPERIENCE Then the little party hurried back the way they had come, the rescued men arming themselves with rifles and ammunition from the dead lying in the woods. Martz and his men soon rejoined Sergt. Floto and the party now being of more formidable size started to march back towards the American and French lines. The Germans were broken up into little groups by this time so the Americans didn’t bother about trying to hide. They marched boldly as a belligerent force, not hunting fight, but moving not a step to avoid one. A few hours later the party met up with another group under the command of Capt. Charles L. McLain, of Indiana, who took command. Capt. McLain put a stop to the rush through the Hun-infested wood by daylight and ordered the men to hide until nightfall. Capt. McLain said that a rear guard was necessary and so Corp. Martz and Mullen promptly volunteered for this dangerous duty. After nightfall the party was able to make the regimental lines without further adventure. The men had been out for 36 hours in that caldron of gas and machine gun and artillery fire. The two companies from the eastern part of the state fared little better than the Western Pennsylvanians for they went through practically the same experiences. Separated into little groups by the sudden rush of the Germans and not having been apprised of the withdrawal of the French they were soon surrounded and began to battle their way back towards the new line of defense. Many of the officers of these two companies were either killed or taken prisoner as well as many of the enlisted men, and they endured all that their fellows in the two western companies did. CAPT. McLAIN DECORATED The easterners gradually drifted back to the regimental lines in small squads under the shadow of night and the four companies were so depleted that it was decided to form them into one company until replacements were received. Capt. McLain was later cited in official orders and decorated for his part in the affair. In awarding the distinguished service medal the official communication of the war department set forth: “Capt. Charles L. McLain, One Hundred and Tenth Infantry, for repeated acts of extraordinary heroism in action on the Marne river, France, July 15, 1918, and at Apremont, France, Sep. 29, 1918. Capt. McLain was an observer with the French when the enemy attack on the Marne river was started July 15, 1918. All the officers of an infantry company having been killed or wounded, he voluntarily reorganized the remainder of the company and successfully fought his way through the enemy, upon two occasions being badly gassed. At Apremont, Sept. 29, when his own company had reached its objective, Capt. McLain, finding that another company was without officers, voluntarily assumed command of it and lest the first wave. In so doing Capt. McLain was wounded, but he continued in action until the objective was reached.” During those long weary hours of carnage while the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians, belonging to the companies which were out in front, were bravely standing off the German hordes and fighting their way back to the lines, the Pennsylvania regiments continued to endure the storm of shells. The men were under a terrible nerve strain, and long for an opportunity to experience the excitement of combat in order to relieve the tension. Finally they saw they French come filtering through the woods before the m and they looked eagerly for sight of their comrades who were out there. As the French continued to pass and they did not see any of the members of the four companies it was realized that they must be having a hard time and it was at this stage of the battle that Col. Kemp, of the One Hundred and Tenth exclaimed: “I wonder what is happening to my poor boys out there.” Shortly before daybreak the vanguard of the Prussians reached the edge of the woods and when the men on watch saw the gray-clad figures slinking around among the trees they immediately opened fire. This was the first sight of the enemy for the most of the soldiers from Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Within a few hours sufficient of the enemy had assembled along the fringe of wood to form a line and presently the waves came forward in an effort to take our trenches. MADE THE GERMANS RUN But our boys poured into those advancing lines such a concentration of rifle, machine gun, and artillery fire that the first wave just seemed to wither away. No force could withstand that terrific storm of steel for long, The following waves slackened their pace, hesitated and finally broke and ran for the cover of the woods. It was then that the Pennsylvanians discovered that the Germans were not invincible; that despite the boasted perfection of his military machine the Hun could not stand the gaff if it were given to him with sufficient force. The breaking up of this attack gave to the men that degree of confidence and self-reliance which they later exemplified on many a bloody field. They knew they were unbeatable, for had not they broken up a charge by the Prussian guards. But the Germans returned to the assault and time and time again attempted to rush the trenches. Numbers of the enemy having gained the wheat fields out in front between the trenches and the wood, attempted to use the waving wheat as a protection whereby they could crawl up to the trenches. Our boys saw the move and whole platoons volunteered to meet them at their own game. BATTLE IN WHEAT FIELD The Pennsylvanians who were permitted to go crawled out into the wheat and then ensued a game of hide and seek with the Americans and Germans stalking each other much as big game is stalked, flat on their faces in the growing grain. It was just such fighting as the American loves for there is something he has inherited from his pioneer ancestors which gives him skill in such work. The Germans were no match for our boys at this game and scores of them remained behind after the tide of battle had passed with the spires of grain whispering and nodding a requiem over them. The crown prince’s forces kept up their attacks with characteristic stubbornness and officers could be seen here and there mingling with the German soldiers, beating and kicking them to force them forward in the face of the murderous fire. It was during this phase of the battle that some of our boys saw a mutiny take place in the German lines. Several of the German soldiers resenting this rough treatment turned on an officer and literally jabbed him full of holes with their bayonets. For their troubles they were pumped full of lead by other officers with automatics. It was evident then that the Germans were disappointed at not having attained their objectives and that as a result their morale was ebbing. During this almost continuous game of attack and repulse the old “Fighting Tenth” had been withstanding the brunt of the battle and the Germans had been gradually gnawing into its lines. Then occurred one of the most dramatic incidents of the conflict. WHAT A PIGEON BROUGHT The men had been in constant action for 24 hours without food or sleep and they were indeed on the verge of exhaustion. Workers attached to the various welfare societies brought the only relief in the shape of chocolates, cigarets and other bits of comfort. They had established a headquarters in a dugout in the side of a low bluff facing away from the enemy. Among these workers was the Rev. Francis A. LaViolette, of Seattle, Wash., attached to the Y.M.C.A. He was taking a few minutes rest in the dugout after his strenuous labors when he heard the flutter of wings at the entrance and found a tired and frightened pigeon. The bird had a little metal case attached to its leg in which was a message. It was written in German and the minister believing that it might contain important enemy information rushed it to headquarters. The message was translated and to the astonishment of the officers it was a cry of desperation from the Germans, to their reserve forces in the rear. It said that, unless reinforcements were sent at once, the German line at that point would be forced to retire. There were grave fears right at that time that the Germans would be able to break through to Paris and this was indeed cheering news. The pigeon had become lost in the murk and had delivered its message on the wrong side of the fighting front. Rapidly this news was sent down the line and in half an hour tanks, artillery and thousands of French troops were rushing to the point where the Germans were in distress. With this assistance and the knowledge contained in the message which the pigeon brought our boys advanced and hurled the enemy back. FORCE BIG HUN RETREAT On the right of our line Germans had been able to thrust forward strong local attacks reaching St. Agnan, and La Chapelle-Manthodon. St. Agnan, three miles south of the nearest spot on the Marne, was the farthest south the Germans ever advanced. Our boys almost immediately and with the assistance of French Chasseurs (Blue Devils) launched a counter attack which drove the enemy pell mell out of the villages and started him on his long retreat. From that time on the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians gave the Hun no respite. They followed him and hounded him and slaughtered him until they finally gave him the sleep-inducing blow at the Battle of the Meuse. During this fighting our boys learned that that their British instructors had told them was true – the Hun hates and fears the bayonet more than any other weapon of warfare. So they didn’t do any firing when they had a chance to use the cold steel. The Huns had already had several tastes of American fighting such as they never expected to experience and when they saw that long line of bristling bayonets backed up by grin determined faces they didn’t wait to be tickled with the points. It was very evident that the Germans had been shorn of their old time confidence and with many of their men fleeing in panic rather than come to grips with the Pennsylvanians there was little chance for their officers to stem our charge and so the enemy fell back rapidly to the Marne. In following up this retreat of the Germans our men also learned that the Hun will fight in masses, but split him up into little groups and he becomes the worst sort of a coward. If one happens to be left alone there is no fight in him. They learned, too, in this advance the truth of the oft repeated charge that Germans chain their men to machine guns so that they cannot escape and are thus forced to hinder the advance of the enemy and make his losses as heavy as possible. Here is the way Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians came forward when Columbia asked for men to carry forward the Starry Banner. Hundreds of men being sworn into service of the U.S at Memorial Hall. MACHINE GUN NESTS Frequently our men found it necessary to clean out these nests. They would sneak up on the Germans until close enough to make a sudden rush and then up would go the hands of the machine gunners and they would bleat out “American, kamerads! kamerads!” But whether the chained gunners were accorded any mercy depended on the individuals who happened to be in the group that captured them. Very often they were given the bayonet as a protest against such tactics, but occasionally they were released from their chains and sent to the rear as prisoners. Our men suffered numerous casualties by being too eager to keep at the heels of the retreating Hun. Some of the Germans would hide in the woods and after the Pennsylvanians had passed would suddenly pour in on them a murderous machine gun fire from the rear. Snipers concealed in trees were also very annoying. In scores of instances our men found machine guns and gunners both tied in trees, so that neither could fall. There were other instances of Huns playing dead until the Americans had passed and then rising up and firing at them from the rear. That is an old trick, but allied soldiers who tried it early in the war discovered the Germans countered it by having men come along after the advancing troops bayoneting everybody on the field to make sure all were dead. However, the Germans did not fear to attempt this trick when facing the Americans because they felt sure the soldiers of Uncle Sam would never bayonet wounded men or dead bodies. Sergt. Charles McFadden, of Philadelphia, had an experience with one of these Huns who was “playing possum.” The German was in a shell pit and apparently dead. He notice that the eyes were closed so tightly that the man was “squinting” from the effort and he became suspicious. McFadden gave the German a vicious jab in the leg with his bayonet with the result that the “possum” leaped to his feet with a yell. The German seized the rifle from the astonished American’s hand and threw it up to fire, but before he could pull the trigger McFadden’s companion shot him. HOW THE HUN FOUGHT At one point the One Hundred and Tenth not only forced the Germans back to the Marne, but across it. This was below Fossoy. However, the Germans were now under the protection of their artillery which layed down such an intense fire that our men were obliged to get back under cover. The men had tasted victory and were loath to go, but they fell back slowly, unpressed by the Germans, to their former positions. On this surge towards the Marne the Pennsylvanians began to get real first-hand evidence of Hun methods of fighting – the kind of thing that turned three-fourths of the world into active enemies of them and their way, and sickened the soul of all who learned what creatures in the image of man can do. In the advance between Messy, Mouline and Courtemont-Varennes they came on machine gun nests with their comrades who had been taken prisoners earlier in the day tied out in front so that they would fall first victims to their friend’s fire should an attack be made on the gunners. Men told with tears running down their cheeks how these brave lads seeing the advancing Americans shouted to them: “Shoot! Shoot! Don’t stop for us!” They say airplanes painted with the French colors fly low and drop bombs where they believed our batteries to be stationed and also pour machine gun fire into our infantry. The Germans mingled a quantity of gas shells with their explosive shells during the attempt to stop our advance and this caused no little inconvenience for our men because they were obliged to wear gas masks practically all the time. Any person who had ever donned one of these contrivances knows how unpleasant it is for although it protects against the deadly fumes nevertheless it is very difficult to see and breathe in and the air is impregnated with the chemicals used to remove the gas. The Germans also used flame on our men for many returned to the rear with burns upon their faces, hands and bodies. Some had their clothes burned entirely off and others reeled along like drunken men almost blind. As the Americans approached the Huns to give battle the latter would turn the valve in the nozzles of these contrivances and a spurt of flame, often 30 feet in length would leap forth. A FATAL ENCOUNTER During one part of the battle a part of the old Eighteenth of Pittsburg, confronted a small wood which the French believed masked a strong machine gun nest. A patrol of volunteers and some men selected by the officers and in command of a French lieutenant started out to ascertain just what was in the wood. There were 12 men and the lieutenant in the party. Private Joseph Bennet, of Gulph Mills, was one of the 12. Advancing with the greatest care and with their line to more than normal skirmish distance the approached the wood, but there was no sign of life. When closer they say the boy of an American soldier propped up against a tree. The French officer signaled for the men to close in toward this point. As they did so four machine guns concealed by the Hunnish ghouls behind the body of the American raked the line of approaching men with terrific fire. Every man in that party except Bennet was killed instantly. Bennet fired one shot and saw one of the boches plunge forward from his hiding place. Then a stream of machine gun bullets struck his rifle and destroyed it. Bennet quickly dropped to the ground and dragging himself to the body of the dead lieutenant secured a number of smoke bombs with which the lieutenant had intended to signal the result of his expedition. Bennet heaved them over in front of the nest and created such a dense cloud of smoke that he was able to stand up. Then he advanced and threw hand grenades into the position killing the remaining three Germans. For this deed Bennet was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He also had another experience of an unusual sort when in company with Private Joseph Wolf, of Pottstown, he spied a boche sniper in a tree. He was just drawing a bead on an American officer when Bennet picked him off. In falling the body dislodged a second German, Bennet was watching the little [unreadable] had not lowered his rifle. The live German fell directly on the point of his gun, impaling himself on the bayonet. The force of the blow almost dropped the big American, who tipped the scales at about 200 pounds. TURNING POINT OF THE WAR Our boys did not realize until later the importance of their success in driving the enemy back to the Marne, but the allied commanders knew. Gen. Pershing in an order to the troops declared that it was the turning point of the war. He said: “It fills me with pride to forward in general orders a tribute to the service achievements of the First and Third corps, comprising the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-second and Forty-second divisions. You came to the battlefield at a crucial hour for the allied cause. For almost four years the most formidable army the world has yet seen had pressed its invasion of France and stood threatening the capital. On July 15, it struck to destroy in one great battle the brave men opposed to it and to enforce its brutal will upon the world and civilization. Three days later, in conjunction with our allies, you counter-attacked. The allied armies gained a brilliant victory that marks the turning point of the war.” Our men also received copies of a great London daily newspaper containing a pleasing estimate of their prowess: “The feature of the battle on which the eyes of the world are fixed, and those of the enemy with particular intentness, is the conduct of the American troops. The magnificent counter-attacks in which the Americans flung back the Germans on the Marne, after they had crossed, was much more than the outstanding event of the fighting. It was one of the historical incidents of the whole war in its moral significance.” Other cheering news which was passed down through the various ranks from headquarters was to the effect that our intelligence officers had secured from the body of a dead German intelligence officer a report which he had prepared for German great headquarters on the fighting qualities of the Americans. He had written that their morale was not yet broken, that they were young and vigorous soldiers and nearly, if not quite, the caliber of shock troops, needing only more experience to make them so. THE GREAT RETREAT STARTS After the Germans had been pushed back to the Marne they made another attempt to move eastward along the banks of the river near Epernay. The checking of this move fell chiefly to the French troops. But all the time the enemy kept up a continuous, vindictive bombardment on the trenches occupied by the soldiers from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, without any apparent purpose but to shake that splendid morale of which their intelligence officer had written. The regiments marched off southward from the rest billets for a few miles and then turned sharply to the west, thus passing around a district which was still being shelled heavily by the German artillery. The enemy was attempting to hold back the Pennsylvanians until they could get their own materials out of the Chateau-Thierry salient. After again reaching the Marne, which turns sharply south at Chateau-Thierry the regiments made camp and received contingents of replacement troops to fill up the now depleted ranks. The four companies which had suffered so severely at the Marne battle July 15 and had later been formed into one company were again separated and brought up to their regular strength. They were practically new organizations after these replacements were completed. The new men were made welcome and proved to be excellent soldier material although very few of them were from Pennsylvania. July 24, the regiments resumed their march. Their course lay along the road paralleling the railroad line between Paris and Chateau-Thierry. It followed the river rather closely except for its numerous bends. Our boys had heard much of the Chateau-Thierry and were hoping to get a look at the town where the Marines and some other American troops had written history, but they were only able to get glimpses of it from the far side of the river. The night of July 24, the regiments camped in the woods along the Marne and the men had their first experience with enemy airplane night-raiders. Certain units of the Pennsylvania regiments had been sent out to guard bridges across the river and about 3 o’clock in the morning the Germans attempted to bomb and destroy these bridges in order further to retard the advance of our troops. However, the air defense was too quick for them and the boche fled before the air barrage put up by our big guns EVENING ACTIVE IN AIR The regiments remained in camp all the next day and the next night they were again visited by enemy airmen attempting to blow up the bridges. This time the boche flyers were able to get over the bridges and drop bombs and about all the men on guard could do was to seek cover hurriedly. However, the aim of the German was not good and they were only successful in slightly wrecking the bridge. Early on the morning of July 26 the regiments started in a northeasterly direction with orders to reach contact with the enemy as soon as possible and to drive on through the center of the Marne pocket. The One Hundred and Twelfth regiment had come up by this time and had engaged in some desperate fighting with German rear guards in the vicinity of Chateau-Thierry. When the Franco-American offensive from Soissons to Bussiares, on the western side of the pocket, began to compel a German retreat from the Marne the old Sixteenth N.P.G. was right on their heels. The One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Tenth regiments were close behind and soon all three came in contact with the enemy. The Germans were depending on machine gun nests to retard the progress of the Pennsylvanians and orders were issued to beware of every spot that might shelter a sniper or machine gun. To offset this danger the regiments deployed into skirmish lines with advanced patrols and every know precaution was taken to prevent the men from being surprised by parties of Germans left behind with these deadly weapons. The Germans were also using gas shells and much of the time the men were forced to suffer the inconveniences incident to wearing the gas masks. Enemy aircraft circled overhead, but were prevented from getting close enough to do damage by our own airmen who continually patrolled the areas over our troop. What bombs enemy placed were able to drop did no damage because of the fact that our men were scattered out in the skirmish formation. By night our men rested in the forests and secured what little sleep was possible. They managed to evade the vigilance of the enemy airmen and thus were not subjected to concentrated artillery fire, but the continual thunder of the guns and the bursting of an occasional shell in the woods didn’t allow them much chance to slumber, although they were grateful for the rest after the strenuous activities of the day. ********************************************************************** Chapter V (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Feb. 2, 1919, pages 66-67) Names in this chapter: Day, Martin, Price, Dunlap, Phelps, Allen, Davis, Lightner, Wickerham, Marchand, Fetzer, Alexander, Kemp When the Germans were retreating out of the Soissons-Rheims Salient after the Battle of the Marne they put up a stubborn resistance at many points. They were strongly organized in the villages and under orders to hold back the Americans as long as possible, but the lads from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania were relentless in their pursuit and cleaned out one town after another. PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION DRIVE THE GERMANS NORTH OF THE MARNE, CAPTURE SEVERAL TOWNS AFTER STRENUOUS BATTLES AND GRADUALLY FORCE THE HUNS OUT OF THE SOISSON-RHEIMS SALIENT. NOTHING COULD STOP THE PENNSYLVANIANS. The Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers were now in territory where the Germans had been long enough to establish themselves, where they had expected to stay, but had been driven out sullenly and reluctantly. Here it was that our boys had their first opportunity to learn what it means to a peaceful countryside to undergo a German invasion. The wonderful roads of France had been effaced in many places by shellfire. Towns and villages were reduced to heaps of broken masonry. Even the stone fences had been torn down. Not a wall was left standing and mansions centuries old suffered the same devastation. Priceless rugs and tapestries were scattered about and ground into the mud. Trees and grapevines were cut off at the roots and in instances where the Hun had been unable to cut down trees rings were hacked in the bark all around in order to kill them. They country was bare of everything and a Texas cyclone could not have accomplished nearly so much destruction as did these merciless and brutish Germans. To add to all this the Hun did not have time to bury his head and the stench was awful from the decomposed bodies lying about in heaps. At one place our boys came upon a machine gun position, with many dead boche scattered all around it. Close beside one of the guns, almost in a sitting posture, was an American lad. He had one arm thrown over the weapon as if in pride possession and his fine, youthful, clean-cut face was fixed in death with a glorified smile of triumph. As the Pennsylvanians came up to the spot scores of officers and men unconsciously clicked their heels together and came to the salute in silent tribute to this fair-haired boy who had not lived to enjoy his well-won laurels. How he ever got through to that nest is, and will probably always remain a mystery. He was not of our Pennsylvania troops, but he was buried tenderly and the identification tags were sent back to headquarters. He had evidently won through to the guns and had killed all the Germans, but in doing so had been so severely wounded that he was just able to reach the spot where our men found him. And it was near the gruesome spot that shortly afterwards our men were treated to another of the ever changing scenes of battle. The sight was picturesque because it brought to mind the warfare of the past and to Americans memories of pioneer days. Troop after troops of cavalry came into sight and passed our men, the gallant horsemen sitting their steeds with conscious pride, jingling accoutrements playing an accompaniment to their sharp canter. Some were French and some Americans and our Pennsylvanians cheered them lustily. They were on their way to further hurry the retreating foe. Cavalry was not a common sight in this war. It had seldom been seen on the battlefield since the Hun went mad in 1914. The three regiments from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, One Hundred and Tenth, One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Twelfth, were now in contact with the retreating enemy forces and drove steadily northeastward in the direction of the towns of Trugny and Epieds, where they met with stiff resistance. During this advance a part of the One Hundred and Tenth regiment sought shelter under an overhanging bank to escape a sudden spurt of enemy artillery fire. The men had not been there long and the officers were congratulating themselves because of the narrow escape from being caught in the open while this shelling was under way when a big shell burst over the edge of the bank directly above Co. A. Two men were killed outright and several were wounded. Lieut. George W. R. Martin, of Narberth, with several of his men rushed to give first aid to the wounded, and the first man he reached was Private Allanson R. Day, Jr., of Monongahela City – “Deacon” Day as the boys called him because of a mildness of manner and a religious turn of mind. As the lieutenant prepared to render first aid to Day, the youngster told the officer to attend to Paul Marshall, saying that Marshall was more severely wounded. “Dress him first,” said Day, “I can wait.” Even then the Monongahela lad was wounded to death as it developed later for he did not survive. It was during these days that our Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers began to work up a real and intensive hate for the Hun. They learned more of him and his ways after they crossed the Marne and they found their loudly-voiced threats and objurgations [sic] turning to a steely, silent, implacable wrath that boded no good for the Boche. It was a feeling of utter detestation and it is doubtful if their officers could have turned them back had word come through at that particular time that peace had been declared. Gradually the Pennsylvanians began to close in on Trugny and Epieds. The first named is about four miles from Chateau-Thierry and Epieds about one mile from Trugny. They lie almost in a straight line along the route where our troops were advancing. The Germans were having a strenuous time to get their army and war material our of the Soissons-Rheims pocket and they sent large numbers of fresh troops down to Trugney and Epieds in an effort to hold back the determined Americans. These two villages were utilized in their scheme of defense and were strongly held with machine guns and artillery. HOW TWO TOWNS FELL At times as our men moved up closer they were so eager that they frequently passed their stated objectives and ran into their own barrage fire with the result that their officers had to call off the barrage to save them from being destroyed by our own guns. The Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania doughboys were out to avenge some hurts and had forgotten that there was any such command as “Halt!” Trugny and Epieds were hard nuts to crack. The Germans were well prepared to withstand an attack and for 36 hours our men flirted around the outskirts in attempts to flank or penetrate the towns. Finally the allied guns were rushed up in numbers and they soon brought Trugny down about the ears of its defenders and although they retired to Epieds strong machine gun detachments were left behind to hamper as much as possible the American advance. Epieds was even more difficult than Trugny and our troops were in and out of the town three times before they were finally able to rid the place of the Boche. The artillery first treated the village to a heavy bombardment which made it grow smaller and smaller under the ceaseless pounding of the guns. The buildings just seemed to pulverize and go up in dust. It was a case of the Pennsylvanians getting into the village street and driving the Germans from house to house. The Germans would send new troops in to stiffen the resistance and drive our boys out, but they would immediately come back to the attack. Finally the Pennsylvania troops, learning that their heavy artillery support had come up, decided not to risk any more lives in this street fighting. The town was now swarming with Germans as heavy reinforcements had been thrown in with orders to hold the Americans. The German army retiring from the salient was apparently being hard pressed. Word was flashed to the batteries and the village was buried under a deluge of heavy explosive shells. Thousands of Germans perished and the others fled for their lives. When the bombardment was lifted there was great heaps of slain Boche and what was once Epieds was only a cloud of dust. There was not so much as a large pile of bricks left standing. The artillery did terrible execution that day. DRIVING OUT THE HUN When the artillery bombardment ceased the Germans prepared again to enter the site of the village in order to meet the expected American attack. The debris was soon alive with gray coats and with a yell the Pennsylvanians rushed out of the surrounding woods and were upon them before they could recover from the surprise. The Germans were thrown into a state of confusion and many were killed or taken prisoner before they could rally. Scattered remnants of the kaiser’s soldiery then hurried northward to get away as rapidly as possible from the cold steel of our doughboys. The Pennsylvanians then pressed on and there was much elation in the ranks when it was noised around that the Fifty-third Field Artillery brigade was rushing up to go into action in support of the infantry. This artillery brigade was the Twenty-eighth division’s own. It was under the command of Brig. Gen. W. G. Price, Jr., of Chester, and included the One Hundred and Seventh regiment. Word also came that still other organizations of the Twenty-eighth division were hastening to the front, including the ammunition and supply trains, and it was evident that the division was being reassembled in its entirety as an intact fighting unit for the first time since its departure from Camp Hancock. The One Hundred and Seventh Artillery was made up of many Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania lads, Batteries B, E and F, the Headquarters Company, Supply Company and Sanitary Detachment, being from this section of the state. The One Hundred and Eleventh and the One Hundred and Twelfth regiments of infantry were now leading the chase and they relentlessly drove northeastward and in many instances they kept the Boche moving so fast that many officers and men wrote home about having the enemy on the run and not being able to keep up with him. The Germans would attempt to make a stand and our doughboys would literally blast him out of the place and then move on. The chase became so fast and furious that at times our Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania men had to be restrained in their headlong drive in order to allow the artillery a chance to come up and silence the German guns by expert counter battery work. Our men were eager with excitement and none but the officers having access to maps, hundreds of the enlisted personnel believed they were heading straight for Germany and that it was only a question of a short time when they would be entering the kaiser’s domains. The fighting had been so strenuous and forward movement so fast and confusing that without maps they could only have hazy ideas as to the distances they had traveled. GERMANS TRY TO RALLY The Pennsylvanians were pictured as a set of rabbit hounds almost whining in their anxiety to get at the foe. Deluged by high explosives, shrapnel and gas shells, seeing their comrades mowed down by machine gun fire, bombed from the sky, alternately in pouring rain and burning sun, hungry half the time, their eyes sore and heavy from loss of sleep, half suffocated from long intervals in gas masks, undergoing all the hardships of a bitter campaign against a determined, vigorous and unscrupulous enemy, yet their only thought was to drive on – and on – and on. Beyond Epieds is the village of Courpoil and here the Germans made another stand with many machine gun nests. It was another case of street-to-street and hand-to-hand fighting with countless instances of individual bravery and heroism and many casualties. The main body of Germans was cleared out without so much trouble as was encountered at Epieds and our men passed on leaving small detachments behind to “mop up” any straggling Germans that might have been left behind. Courpoil is on the edge of the forest of Fere and into that magnificent wooded tract the Germans fled. Capt. W. R. Dunlap, of Pittsburg, commander of Company E, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, and Capt. Lucius M. Phelps of Oil City, commander of Company G, One Hundred and Twelfth infantry, with their troops, led the advance beyond Epieds and participated in the capture of Courpoil and the advance into the forest. Capt. Phelps for a time had the difficult task of leading an independent force making flank attacks on the enemy, to the left of the main battering ram. Both these officers so distinguished themselves in this difficult fighting that they were recommended for immediate advancement to the rank of majors. The Americans battled their way in little groups into the edge of the forest and were hanging on to this fringe of the wooded area when night fell. The forest seemed to be an almost impossible barrier and it was decided to be utterly hopeless to attempt to continue advancing in the darkness. It was while these widely scattered groups were holding the fringe of the forest after nightfall that Lieut. William Allen, Jr., of Company B, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, of Pittsburg, so distinguished himself as to be recommended for promotion and a medal. Owing to the groups being separated it was necessary that headquarters should know their approximate positions so as to be able to dispose of the forces for a renewal of the attack the next morning. Lieut. Allen took two privates along with a patrol of three men on either side and set out to traverse the forest along the line where our groups were supposed to be. The lieutenant and his men always kept within speaking distance of each other and throughout the night carefully threaded their way. They did not know what instant they might stumble on Germans or e fired on or thrust through by their comrades. ACTS OF HEROISM It was described as a hair-raising daredevil feat. When Lieut. Allen found himself near other men he remained silent until a muttered word or even such inconsequent things as the tinkle of a distinctly American piece of equipment, or the smell of American tobacco – entirely different from that in the European armies – let him know his neighbors were friends. Then a soft call to establish his identity and make it safe for him to approach and the lieutenant secured an idea as to the exact location and force of that particular group. Just as the first signs of the approaching dawn Lieut. Allen and his men crawled back to the main American lines where in a shell-hole which the general was using as headquarters he was able to sketch with the aid of a pocket flashlight a map which enabled his superiors to plan the attack. The plans thus made from the information gathered by Lieut. Allen worked with clock-like precision and resulted in the Boche being driven further into the woods. Corp. Alfred W. Davis, of Uniontown, Company D, One Hundred and Tenth infantry was moving forward through the woods in this fighting, close to a lieutenant when a bullet from a sniper hidden in a tree struck the corporal’s gun, was deflected and pierced the brain of the officer, killing him instantly. This aroused the ire of Davis and crawling Indian-like up a ravine he decided to make the Germans pay dearly for the death of the lieutenant. When he picked off his 18th German in succession it was nearly dark and so he called it a good day’s work and rejoined his company. In the woods the Germans fought desperately despite the fact that they were dazed by the intense artillery fire. They contested every foot of the way and used every conceivable contrivance including the camouflage to hinder the advance of those determined and unrelentless Pennsylvania doughboys. They hid in rocks and under old tree-trunks and in piles of brush and they camouflaged their steel helmets with brown, green and yellow and other shades of paint so that it was almost impossible at times for our boys to pick them out from the flicker of the shadows in the dense foliage. During the progress of our troops there was one time when touch had been lost with the forces on the right flank of the One Hundred and Tenth infantry and Sergt. Blake Lightner, of Altoona, a liaison scout from Company G, One Hundred and Tenth, started out to re-establish the connection. While engaged in the hunt for the separated forces Lightner ran into an enemy machine gun nest. He surprised and killed the crew and captured the guns single handed. He hurried back, secured a machine gun crew, and established the men in the former enemy nest and also re-established the communications. During the trip he had also located a line of enemy machine gun nests and when he returned to his command was able to furnish information to his officers whereby it was possibly to lay down a barrage on the enemy machine gun line. “THE SPIRIT THAT WINS” During one of these days of desperate fighting it was discovered that the ammunition supply of the first battalion of the One Hundred and Tenth regiment was running low due to the extra heavy shower of bullets with which our boys had been deluging the Boche. It was almost nightfall and the officers wanted to be sure that the supply on hand in the morning would be ample to meet all requirements. Corp. Harold F. Wickerham, Washington, Pa., and Private Boynton D. Marchand, Monongahela City, were sent back to brigade headquarters with a message. When they reached the spot where headquarters had been they found it had been moved. There was nothing for the two soldiers to do except attempt to seek out the new location of headquarters so they set off through the woods. After walking for miles in the darkness they came to a town where another regiment was stationed and were able to get into communication with their brigade headquarters over the military telephone and thus deliver their message. The two lads were tired and sleepy after their days of strenuous fighting and the long weary tramp through the pitch dark woods and they were invited to remain in the town the rest of the night and sleep. But the Pennsylvanians were fully aware of the need for ammunition, and they feared that their message [unreadable] through properly so they set out again and in the early dawn reached their ammunition dump and confirmed the message orally. Even then they rejected a [unreadable] to rest and started back to join the regiment and arrived just in time to participate in a battle in the afternoon. It was because the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania doughboys were one and all inbred with this wonderful spirit that they were able to write their names so high in the annals of this great world struggle. The next village from which our boys had to drive the foe was La Charmel, and it suffered about the same fate as Epieds. For two hours a violent battled raged for possession of this town and twice it changed hands during that time. Then our men retired to the outskirts and called for an artillery barrage which soon made the place untenable for the Huns. They hastily retreated and the Pennsylvanians entered and either killer or captured the Germans who were unable to get away in time. Here again heaps of the slain were found for the artillery had just about wiped the town off the map and many Boche were caught in that terrific hurricane of explosive shells and shrapnel. APPROACHING THE OURCQ The Pennsylvanians were now approaching the Ourcq river where the Germans had a second line of defense and they began to feel the stiffened resistance. Each succeeding hour the fighting became more bitter and determined, but nothing the Germans could offer was sufficient to retard the advance of our troops, although at times this advance slowed up materially. The dense forests were a maze of barbed wire stretched from tree to tree and the density of the woods prevented our airmen from locating the enemy and thus prevented our artillery from getting in its deadly work. A new system of attack on enemy posts was inaugurated at this time in order to prevent the large number of casualties which always ensued as a result of direct frontal attacks. The new scheme consisted of “pinching” off and surrounding these posts just as the British accomplished the capture of St. Quentin, Lille, Cambrai and other large cities. Beuvardes, a village in the line of our advance was strongly held by the Germans with masses of machine guns. The Germans had concentrated fresh forces in the town and it was doubtful if it could have been taken by direct assault without heavy loss of life to the Pennsylvanians. The British tactics were brought into play, however. Our doughboys infiltrated La Tournelle from the west and the Forest of Fere from the east, while French troops worked on the lest with the result that Beuvardes was soon encircled, became untenable for the Germans and many prisoners and machine guns were captured as the result of the speed with which the enterprise was carried out. It was this swift sure work of the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania doughboys that always caused their regiments to be in great demand for tackling the extra hard military problems. The Pennsylvanians and the Marines were always assigned to these important tasks and as a result their casualties were always extremely heavy. But our Keystone lads love the strenuous work and when they went up against a supposed heavy job and found it to be rather easy they were always disappointed. Despite the lessons they had learned on previous occasions about advancing beyond their objectives their officers continued to have to drag them back from the front [unreadable]. HAD TO MOVE RAPIDLY The rapid retreat of the Germans necessitated our troops going forward just as rapidly at times in order to keep [unreadable] and attempt to make the foe move even faster. At other times, when the Germans were strongly organized in villages and other places which offered a natural site for defense, our troops were slowed up in their advance. Then it was necessary to pause for a few hours and dispose of the enemy rearguards. It was reported that one Pennsylvania column advanced to fast that is was necessary to move the regimental headquarters three times in one day. And most of the time the regimental and even the brigade headquarters were under the artillery fire of the German’s big guns and it was from this cause that the first Pennsylvania officer of the rank of lieutenant colonel as killed July 28. He was Wallace W. Fetzer, of Milton, Pa., second in command of the One Hundred and Tenth regiment. Headquarters had been moved far forward and established in a brick house which was still in a fair state of preservation. Work was just getting well into swing again when a high explosive shell fell in the front yard and threw a geyser of earth over Col. Kemp, who was at the door and Lieut. Co. Fetzer, who was sitting on the steps. A moment later a second shell struck the building, killing three orderlies. Col. Kemp was now thoroughly satisfied that the Boche airmen had spotted his headquarters and he gave immediate orders to pack up and move. The German artillery was registering too accurately to be done by chance. Officers and men of the staff were packing up to move and Lieut. Stewart M. Alexander, of Altoona, regimental intelligence officer was questioning two Hun captains, taken prisoner a short time previously, when a big explosive shell scored a direct hit on the building. Seventeen men in the house including the two German captains were killed outright. Col. Kemp and Lieut. Col. Fetzer had left the house and were standing side by side in the yard. A small piece struck Col. Kemp on the jaw and left him speechless and suffering from shell-shock for some time. Lieut. Alexander, face to face with the two German officers, was blown clear out of the building into the middle of the roadway, but was uninjured except for shock. It was this almost uncanny facility of artillery fire for taking one man and leaving another when the two were standing close together that led to the fancy on the part of soldiers that it was useless to try to evade the big shells. This was predicated on the belief that if “your number” was on one it would get you no matter what you did, and if not it would pass harmlessly by. Thousands of men became absolute fatalists in this regard. After the death of Lieut. Col. Fetzer and the injury sustained by Col. Kemp, Maj. Martin took command of the regiment and won high commendation for his work during the next few days. ********************************************************************** Chapter VI (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Feb. 9, 1919, pages 70-71) Names in this chapter: Muir, Rickards, Miller, Shannon, Price, Martin, Kemp, Meighan, Coulter, Bullitt The rough and ready commander of the Twenty-eighth division, Maj. Gen. C. A. Muir – “Uncle Charlie” the boys called him – and some of the principal officers who led the Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania troops to glory in the great drive against the Germans in the Soissons-Rheims Salient. THE ADVANCE OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION NORTHWAS FROM CHATEU-THEIRRY WAS MARKED BY SOME STREUOUS FIGHTING, FOR THE GERMANS MADE A STRONG EFFORT TO HOLD BACK THE AMERICANS IN ORDER TO GET THEIR ARMY AND WAR MATERIAL OUT OF THE SOISSONS-RHEIMS POCKET. THE TAKING OF RONCHERES, WHICH FELL TO THE LOT OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH REGIMENT, WAS A PARTICULARLY HARD TAKS AND ITS CAPTURE LATER OF THE BOIS DE GRIMPETTE HAS BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS ONE OF THE BITTEREST AND BLOODIEST BATTLES OF THE WAR. Maj. Gen. C. A. Muir The taking of Roncheres fell to the lot of the One Hundred and Tenth Regiment. This town like all the others was strongly held by the Germans who had massed machine guns and fresh infantry for the sole purpose of making its capture as costly as possible for the Americans. Like every other village in this section the Boche had no intention of retaining it, but was concerned mostly in holding back our boys as long as possible in order to successfully get his armies and material out of the Soissons-Rheims salient. With their characteristic disregard for every finer instinct, the Germans had made the church the center of their resistance. This church stood in such position as to front on an open square in the center of town, and the enemy was thus able to command the roads which entered this square from different directions. Every building, every wall, tree or fence corner sheltered a sniper or machine gun and most of the enemy, at this point, kept up such a determined resistance that they died where they stood. In some instances, when an American was close enough to point the cold steel of his bayonet at a Boche up would go his hands with a cry of “kamerad.” There was always something the threat of the bayonet which the Hun could never withstand. However, it may as well be set down here as in the future that the men of the One Hundred and Tenth took few prisoners, for they did not trust the cry of “kamerad!” They usually disposed of the foe with scant ceremony. Col. George C. Rickards GERMAN WARFARE On previous occasions they had learned that the Hun was never to be trusted. They had lost comrades as the result of this treachery because a Boche might still have his hands in the air, pleading for mercy and at the same time have his foot on the lever of a machine gun. His hands in the air were frequently but a decoy to lure our men within close range of the deadly weapon which he could set going with this foot. So in Roncheres our men of the One Hundred and Tenth played the old game of hide and seek and they were always “it.” To be tagged meant death for the Hun. They moved steadily from building to building until they came in range of the village church. Then their progress was stayed for a time. On the roof of the church was a cross made from some kind of red stone. Behind it the Germans had planted guns. Three guns were hidden in the belfry from which the Huns had removed the bells and shipped them into Germany, and stationed in every nook and cranny of the magnificent gothic walls and balconies were snipers, machine gunners or artillerymen with small cannon. After much careful work sharpshooters of the One Hundred and Tenth finally picked off the Germans behind the cross, but the little fortress in the belfry still held out and was capable of doing considerable execution. Detachments set out to work their way around the outer edge of the town and thus surround the church. Our Pennsylvanians would dodge in and out from street corner to street corner and from building to building ever seeking to escape the quick eye of the enemy snipers. When they found a house with sufficiently strong walls to withstand the foe bullets, sharpshooters would be stationed there to keep the Hun fire down until some of the men could rush into the next house. It was fight every step of the way. YANKEE STRATEGY WINS When the Pennsylvanians came to the roads which radiated from the square to the four corners of the village they had to pause and work out a new plan of attack, for it was necessary to cross these roads in order to advance further and to attempt the feat would have been nothing less than suicidal in view of the hurricane of bullets with which they were continually swept. When sufficient detachments of our men had reached the various corners to provide enough strength for a sortie a barrage of rifle bullets was put on the Germans. Sharpshooters were stationed at every possible point where they could watch the Boche, and they commenced to pump lead into every place where they believed the German bullets were coming from. They did not give the foe a chance to show himself, but kept showering him with bullets. In this way the Hun fire was reduced to a minimum and the rush across the streets was made. Gaining the other side the Pennsylvanians worked closer to the church along another row of houses, cleaning up the enemy as they progressed. It was slow and dangerous work but our boys never flinched. During all this fighting the church remained the dominating figure, as it had been of the village landscape so many years. Its stout stone walls, gray with age and built to last for centuries, offered the ideal shelter for the vandals who were desecrating its sacred precincts. Before our men could do anything more it was imperative that the enemy therein must be cleaned out. In previous fighting in this territory a German shell had opened a convenient hole in the masonry at the rear of the church and groups of the Pennsylvanians worked their way as close to this spot as possible without exposing themselves to the Boche in the church. Then they put down another rifle barrage using the same tactics whereby they were able to get across the fire swept streets. A detachment of the One Hundred and Tenth rushed for this hole in the wall and rapidly filtered through into the interior which shortly became a charnel house for the Hun. They soon cleaned the foe out and then tackled the belfry where the little group of Boche still persisted in the defense. TOOK CHURCH, BUT NO PRISONERS. One man led the way up the winding stone stairway, fighting every step of the way, and strange to relate he was able to reach the top despite the fact that many below him were caught in the rain of missiles. Hurled down by the frantic Huns who thus sought to stay this implacable advance. When a few of our men had gained the top of the stairs one German junior officer, presumably in command of the group, leaped from the belfry to his death on the stones in the courtyard below. Then the three remaining Huns set up a loud plea for mercy, wildly waved their arms in the air, and yelled “kamerad!” Whether or not their pleas were granted will probably never be definitely ascertained as the Pennsylvanians who were there do not have any clear perception as to just what happened. However, the idea seems to prevail that no prisoners were taken in the church – at least some of the men say they didn’t see any brought out. After the capture of the church it was a comparatively easy matter to mop up the rest of the town, but even then our boys had only a brief breathing spell, for the regiment was soon on the march again, swinging over towards Courmont which was reached just in time to help the boys of the One Hundred and Ninth in wiping out the last machine gunners there. At Courmont our Pennsylvanians had almost reached the Ourcq river where the enemy had taken advantage of the natural defenses on the other side of the stream to make a determined stand. In fact here had been constructed a second line of defense. And here was fought one of the most stubborn and bloodiest battles of the war. THE CROSSING OF THE OURCQ Our men faced the Guardsmen, Jaegers and Bavarians with contingents of Saxon machine gunners – the whole making up the flower of the troops under command of the crown prince. They had orders not to give away even a foot of ground before the Americans. The enemy fought sullenly and with all the traditional vigor of the famed units engaged, but they could not hold against the irrisistable [sic] Pennsylvanians. Col. George E. Kemp The crossing of the Ourcq had been described as one of the finest feats accomplished by the Americans in the way. The Ourcq itself was negligible as an obstacle to the troops, for it is really on a little stream and the Americans called it a “creek.” At this point it is only about 20 feet wide and six inches deep. But what makes the Ourcq formidable is the heights beyond. The river being old, it has worn itself a deep bed with high banks on each side. Just north of Courmont and on the opposite side of the Ourcq is the Bois de Grimpette, a small wooded tracks, and here was staged the most ferocious fight of the entire line. This particular phase of the battle has been described as “the One Hundred and Tenth’s own show.” It was one of those feats which become regiments traditions, the tales of which are handed down for generations within regimental organizations and in later years become established as standards towards which future members may aspire with only small likelihood of attaining. COMPARED WITH BELLEAU The operation, in the opinion of many high officers who witnessed it, compared most favorably with the never-to-be-forgotten exploit of the Marines in the Bois de Belleau. There were these differences: First, the Belleau Wood fight occurred at a time when all the rest of the Western Front was more or less inactive, but the taking of Grimpettes Wood came in the midst of a general forward movement that was electrifying the world, a movement in which miles of other front bulked large in public attention; second the taking of Belleau was one of the very first real battle operations of Americans, and the Marines were watching by the critical eyes of a warring world to see how “those Americans” would compare with the seasoned soldiery of Europe; third, the Belleau fight was an outstanding operation, both by reason of the vital necessity of taking the wood in order to clear the way for what was to follow and because it was not directly connected with or part of other operations anywhere else. “The Germans have a strong position in Grimpette Woods,” the One Hundred and Tenth was told. “Take it.” The regiment by this time had learned something of German “strong positions,” and so the men prepare to tackle a stiff job. In the early days of their fighting they had gone about such jobs with an utter disregard of the enemy machine guns, but they were not more experienced and knew that such recklessness did them no good and was of no service to America because of the useless sacrifices such tactics entailed. Yet when they looked over the territory which they were expected to rid of the Hun they were convinced that they had no alternative but to do just that thing and face a well organized and strongly held enemy position. Grimpette Woods was fairly bristling with every sort of Hun weapon and gunners were chained to their weapons. The underbrush was laced through and through with barbed wire, concealed strong points checker-boarded the dense, second-growth woodland. When the Pennsylvanians took one next of machine guns they found themselves fired on from two others. This mace of machine guns and snipers was supplanted by countless mortars and one-pounder cannons. INTO A HELL OF FIRE The most difficult task in connection with the capture of this wood, the taking of the hilly section, was assigned to the One Hundred and Tenth, and the other regiment of the Fifty-fifth Infantry brigade, the One Hundred and Ninth, was ordered to clean out the lower part. It was a murderous undertaking, for the nearest “cover” from the edge of the wood was at Courmont, more than 700 years away. The men rushed out from the protection of the buildings in Courmont in the most perfect and approved wave formations and were immediately met by a hurricane of bullets. Some of the men later said that it seemed almost like a solid wall in places. There was not even as much as a leaf to protect them. The rattle of the hundreds of machine guns in the woods gradually increased in volume until they blended into one solid roar, and the one-pounder cannon played havoc with our troops, while German airmen, who had almost complete control of the air in that vicinity, soared as low as 100 feet from the ground and poured a stream of machine gun bullets into the ranks of those dauntless Pennsylvanians. The airmen also raked the ranks with high explosive bombs. Our men were forced to organize their own air defense and proceeded to use their rifles, but without much deterrent effect on the Hun flyers. How any man ever lived in that welter of fire is a mystery, but a few won to the edge of the wood, and, flinging themselves down on the ground, dug in. A few of the others who were nearer the wood than the town did not attempt to retrace their steps in that awful rain of lead and steel, but flung themselves into shell holes or an slight depression in the ground which offered even temporary safety. The high officers recalled the attack, realizing that the losses were beyond reason for the value of the objective. However, neither officers or men of the One Hundred and Tenth were satisfied, and they all pleaded for another chance. No matter what the cost this was Western Pennsylvania’s day against the Hun and the task had not been performed in accordance with all the traditions of that section of the great commonwealth. Furthermore, there were living and wounded comrades out there in the Gehena of fire who could not long be left unsupported. THEN THEY FOUGHT AGAIN The higher officers were impressed by this plea, and after the men had secured a breathing spell they were allowed to have another try. Then forming again they set their teeth and plunged into that storm of lead and steel. They didn’t even have adequate artillery support, for the guns were busy elsewhere and many batteries were still struggling over the ruined roads in an effort to get near the front. One the second attack another handful of men managed to filter through to the edge of the wood, but the main attacking force was driven back. It seemed almost as if noting could withstand that withering enemy blast of fire. For three more times our boys, undaunted, attempted to cross that bullet-swept stretch of ground, and each time they were forced back to the shelter of Courmont. After this fifth attack headquarters had received information, July 30, 1918, that the artillery had come up and would put a barrage on the wood. Maj. Martin, in command of the One Hundred and Tenth, when he heard this said: “Fine: we will clean the place up at 2:30 o’clock this afternoon.” And this is just what the regiment did. The artillery put down a terrific barrage on the wood and the Huns were driven to shelter, while holes were opened in the near side of the wood and the wire was cut in many places. The few Pennsylvanians who had won their way to the edge of the wood in the previous attacks had to dig in deeper and find whatever shelter they could, for they were forced to withstand the rigors of their own barrage. It was a terrible experience to have to undergo the bombardment of their own guns. SIXTH ATTACK SUCCESSFUL Then came the order to advance in the sixth assault on Grimpette Woods, and as the men rushed forward the barrage lifted. The big guns had given just the added weight to carry them across the open space, and they were well on their way when the Germans were able to come out of the dugouts and take position at their guns. The first wave of Americans, angry and yelling like Indians, was on them before they could do much damage. That was the beginning of the end for the Germans in the Bois de Grimpette, for our boys went through it in a hurry with man against man, using the bayonet unsparingly and unmercifully. Some prisoners were sent back, but this was the exception rather that the rule, and the burial squads laid away more than 400 German bodies in the Grimpette. The American loss in cleaning up the wood was hardly a tithe of that. It was truly a dashing and heroic bit of work, typical of the gallantry and spirit of our men. After the first attack on the wood had failed First Sergt. William G. Meighan, of Waynesburg, Co K, One Hundred and Tenth regiment, in the lead of his company, was left behind when the recall was sounded. He had flung himself into a shell hole in the bottom of which water had collected. The machine gun fire of the Germans was low enough to “cut the daisies,” as the men remarked. Therefore, there was no possibility of crawling back to the lines. The water in the hold in which he had sought shelter attracted all the gas in the vicinity, for Fritz was mixing gas shells with his shrapnel and high explosives. The German machine gunners had seen the few Americans who remained on the field, hiding in shell holes, and they kept their guns spraying over those refuges. Other men had to don their gas masks when the gas shells came over, but none seem to have undergone the experience Sergt. Meighan did. THE DREADED GAS MASK It is impossible to talk intelligently or to smoke inside a gas mask. A stiff clamp is fixed over the nose and every breath must be taken through the mouth. Soldiers adjust their masks only when certain that gas is about. They dreaded gas more than anything else the German had to offer, more than any other single thing in the dread category of horrors with which the Kaiser distinguished this war from all other wars in the world’s history. Yet the discomfort of the gas mask, improved as the present model is over the device that first intervened between England’s doughty men and a terrible death, is such that it is donned only in dire necessity. Soldiers hate the gas mask intolerably, but they hat gas even more. For 15 hours he was forced to crouch in the water in this shallow hole with his gas mask on, but despite the terrible ordeal he still had plenty of fight left in him. When in a later attack on the wood Co. K reached the point where Sergt. Meighan was concealed he discovered that the last officer of the first wave had fallen before his shelter was reached. Being next in rank he promptly signaled to the men that he would assume command, and led them in a gallant assault on the enemy position. FOUGHT TO HIS DEATH There were also many other men of the One Hundred and Tenth who displayed marked gallantry and that spirit of sacrifice which made our boys so successful in the various enterprises in which they engaged. Lieut. Richard Bullitt, of Torresdale, an officer of Co. K, was struck in the thigh by a machine bullet in one of the first attacks, and although unable to walk he crawled 100 yards to where there was a squad with an automatic rifle out of commission and which the men could not operate. The corporal in charge of the rifle squad seems to have been the only one of the men who could operate it. He had been killed and Lieut. Bullitt quickly had the gun throwing death into the German ranks. While he was operating the automatic five more bullets struck him but he kept on. He waved the stretcher bearers away who wanted to take him to the rear, but finally another bullet struck him in the forehead and killed him. After the wood was completely in our hands a little column was observed moving across the open space towards Courmont. When it go close enough it was seen to consist entirely of unarmed Germans. Staff officers were just beginning to fuss and fume about the ridiculousness of sending a party of prisoners back unguarded when they discovered a very dusty and a very disheveled American officer bringing up the rear with a rifle held at the “ready.” He was Lieut. Marshall S. Baron, Latrobe, of Co. M. There were 67 prisoners in his convoy and most of them he had taken personally. ********************************************************************** Chapter VII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Feb. 16, 1919, pages 66-67) Names in this chapter: Martin, Hitchman, Alexander, Baden, McLain, Coulter, Ham, Brown, Morse, Hyde, Roosevelt Here are a few of the brave leaders of units of the Twenty-eighth division from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania who led our unconquerably doughboys in many of their brilliant victories over the most famous regiments of the enemy. They won upon many a bloody field their right to a high place in the esteem of all mankind. Like the Conscript Fathers they wrote their names where time shall not destroy and brought honor to their nation and their state. THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION CONTINUE THEIR DRIVE AGAINST THE RETREATING HUNS NORTH OF THE MARNE RIVER. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH ARTILLERY COMES INTO FIGHTING ZONE FOR FIRST TIME. OTHER UNITS OF THE DIVISION ALSO ARRIVE. OUR BOYS PASS LIEUTENANT ROOSEVELT’S GRAVE WHILE ON MARCH TOWARD VESLE. The night of July 30, after the capture of Grimpelle’s wood, the regimental headquarters of the One Hundred and Tenth was moved up to Courmont, only 700 yards behind the wood. Maj. Martin summoned his staff about him to work out plans for the next day. They were bending over a big table, studying the maps when a six-inch shell struck the headquarters building squarely. Twenty-two enlisted men and several officers were injured. Maj. Martin; Capt. John D. Hitchman, Mt. Pleasant, the regimental adjutant; Lieut. Alexander, the intelligence officer, and Lieut. Albert G. Baden, of Washington, Pa., were knocked about somewhat, but not injured. For a second time within a few days Lieut. Alexander had flirted with death. The first time he was blown through an open doorway into the road by the explosion of a shell that killed two German officers who were facing him, men he was examining. This time, when the Courmont headquarters was blown up, he was examining a German captain and a sergeant, the other officers making use of the answers of the prisoners in studying the maps and trying to determine the disposition of the enemy forces. Almost exactly the same thing happened again to Lieut. Alexander. Both prisoners were killed and he was blown out of the building uninjured. “Getting to be a habit with you,” said Major Martin. “This if the life,” said the lieutenant. “Fritz hasn’t got a shell with Lieut. Alexander’s number on it,” said the men in the ranks. Capt. Lucius M. Phelps, Oil City OLD TENTH MAN KILLED The shell that demolished regimental headquarters was only one of thousands with which the Boche raked our lines and back areas. As soon as American occupancy of the wood had been established definitely, the Hun turned loose an artillery “hate” that made life miserable for the Pennsylvanians. In the One Hundred and Tenth alone there were 22 deaths and a total of 102 casualties. Capt. Charles L. McLain, Indiana, Pa. The village of Sergy, just north of Grimpette’s wood, threatened to be another severe test for our boys. Like some of the other villages, it was understood to be strongly organized by the Germans who were prepared to offer every possible resistance to the advancing Americans. The Pennsylvanians were sent into the direct assault in company with regiments from other divisions. The utter razing of Epieds and other towns by artillery fire in order the [sic] blast the Germans out of their stronghold led to a decision to avoid such destructive methods whenever possible, because it was French territory and too much of France had been destroyed already by the ravaging Huns. The taking of Sergy was almost entirely an infantry and machine gun battle. It was marked, as so many other of the Pennsylvanians’ fights were, by the “never-say-die” spirit that refused to know defeat. There was something unconquerable about the terrible persistence of the Americans that seemed to daunt the Germans. The American forces swept into the town and drove the enemy forces slowly and reluctantly out to the north. The usual groups of Huns were still in hiding in dugouts and cellars and other strong points, where they were able to keep up a sniping fire on our men. Before the positions could be moved up and organized the Germans were strengthened by fresh forces, and they reorganized and took the town again. Four times this contest of attack and counter-attack was carried out before our men established themselves in sufficient force to hold the place. Repeatedly the Germans strove to obtain a foothold again, but their hold on Sergy was gone forever. They realized this at last and then turned loose the customary sullen shelling and shrapnel, high explosives and gas. MARVELOUS ENDURANCE It was about this time that the Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians were suffering from lack of both food and sleep and officers marveled at the way the men marched and fought when they must have been almost at the end of their physical resources. There were innumerable instances of their going 48 hours without either food or water. The thirst was worse than the hunger and the longing for sleep was almost overpowering. The troops had been advancing so fast that it was almost impossible for the commissary to keep up with them and thus furnish the supplies regularly. Whenever opportunity offered, the [sic] got a substantial meal, but these were few and far between. The One Hundred and Ninth regiment had marched away to the west to flank the village and reached a position in the woods just northwest of Sergy. Scouts were sent forward to ascertain the position of the enemy, only to have them come back with word that the town already was in the hands of the One Hundred and Tenth. However, the One Hundred and Ninth was in for some trying hours. A wood just north of Sergy was selected as an abiding place for the night and, watching for a chance when Boche flyers were busy elsewhere, the regiment made its way into the shelter and prepared to get a night’s rest. They had escaped the eyes of the enemy airmen but, unknown to the officers of the regiment the wood lay close to an enemy ammunition dump, which the retiring Huns had not had time to destroy. Naturally the German artillery knew perfectly the location of this dump and set about to explode it by means of artillery fire. PERILOUS HOURS By the time the men of the One Hundred and Ninth, curious as to the marked attention they were receiving from the Hun guns, discovered the dump, it was too late to seek other shelter, so all they could do was to contrive such protection as was possible and hug the ground, expecting each succeeding shell to land in the midst of the dump and set off an explosion that probably would leave nothing of the regiment but its traditions. Probably half the shells intended for the ammunition pile landed in the woods. Terrible as such a bombardment always is, the men of the One Hundred and Ninth fairly gasped with relief when each screeching shell ended with a bang among the trees, for shells that landed there were in no danger of exploding that heap of ammunition. Strange as it may seem, the Boche gunners were unable to reach the dump despite the fact that they knew exactly where it was located and our boys began to have less respect for the accuracy of the enemy artillery. Lt. John H. Shenkel, Pittsburg Lt. Marshall L. Barron, Latrobe, Pa. In the night, a staff officer from brigade headquarters had found Col. Brown and informed him that he was to relinquish command of the regiment to become adjutant to the commanding officer of a port of debarkation. Lieut. Col. Henry W. Coulter of Greensburg, took command of the regiment. Col. Coulter is a brother of Brig. Gen Richard Coulter, one time commander of the old Tenth Pennsylvania, and who was at that time a commander of an American port in France. A few days later Col. Coulter was wounded in the foot and Col. Samuel V. Ham, a regular army officer, became commander. As an evidence of the vicissitudes of the Pennsylvania regiments, the One Hundred and Ninth had eight regimental commanders in two months. All except Col. Brown and Col. Coulter were regular army men. Maj. Allen Donnelly REASONS WHY MEN “FIDGETED” August 1 and 2, the Pennsylvanians were relieved and dropped back to rest for the two days. The men were nervous and “fidgety” to quote one of the officers, for the first time since their first “bath of steel,” south of the Marne. Both nights they were supposed to be resting they were shelled and bombed from the air continuously, and both days were put in at the “camions sanitaire,” or “delousing machines,” where each man got a hot bath and had his clothes thoroughly disinfected and cleaned. There was evidently “reasons” in large numbers why the men were “fidgety.” Thus neither night or day could be called restful although it was undoubtedly a great comfort for the men to be rid of their well-developed crops of cooties and to have their bodies and clothes clean for the first time in weeks. Anyway, the stop bolstered up the spirits of the men, and when the two-day period was ended they were on the march again towards the north. They were headed for the Vesle and worse things than they had ever endured before. It was about this time that the first of the Pennsylvania artillery, a battalion of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment, came into the fighting zone where the division was operating, and soon its big guns began to roar back at the Germans in company with the French and other American artillery. The gun crews had troubles of their own in forging to the front, although most of it was of a kind they could look back on later with a laugh, and not the soul-trying, mind-searing experiences of the infantry. The roads that had been so hard for the foot soldiers to traverse were many times worse for the big guns. One of the Pennsylvania artillery regiments of the Twenty-eighth division, for instance, at one time was 12 hours in covering eight miles of road. Lt. Cedric H. Benz, Pittsburg When it came to crossing the Marne, in order to speed up the crossing the regiment was divided, half being sent farther up the river. When night fell it was learned that the half that had crossed lower down had the field kitchen and no rations, and the other half had all the rations and no field kitchen to cook them. Other organizations came to the rescue in both instances. At 6 o’clock one evening, not yet having had evening mess, the regiment was ordered to move to another town, which it had reached at 9 o’clock. Men and horses had been settled down for the night by 10 o’clock and, as all was quiet, the officers went to the village. There they found an innkeeper bemoaning the fact that, just as he had gotten a substantial meal ready for the officers of another regiment, they had been ordered away, and the food was ready, with nobody to eat it. The hungry officers looked over the “spread.” There was soup, fried chicken, cold ham, string beans, peas, sweet potatoes, jam, bread and butter and wine. They assured the innkeeper he need worry no further about losing his food, and promptly took their places about the table. The first spoonsful [sic] of soup just were being lifted when an orderly entered, bearing orders for the regiment to move on at once. They were under way again, the officers still hungry, by 11:45 o’clock, and marched until 6:30 a.m., covering 30 kilometres, or more that 18 miles. WORK UNDER TERRIFIC FIRE The One Hundred and Third Ammunition train also had come up now, after experiences that prepared it somewhat for what was to come later. For instance, when delivering ammunition to a battery under heavy shellfire, a detachment of the train had to cross a small stream on a little flat bridge, without guard rails. A swing horse of one of the wagons became frightened when a shell fell close by. The horse shied and plunged over the edge, wedging itself between the bridge and a small footbridge alongside. The stream was in a small valley, quite open to enemy fire, and for the company to have waited while the horse was gotten out would have been suicidal. So the main body passed on and the caisson crew and drivers, 12 men in all, were left to pry the horse out. For three hours they worked, patiently and persistently, until the frantic animal was freed. They were under continuous and venomous fire all the while. Shrapnel cut the tops of trees a bare 10 feet away. Most of the time they and the horses were compelled to wear gas masks, as the Hun tossed over a gas shell every once in a while for variety – he was “mixing them.” The gas hung long in the valley, for it has “an affinity,” as the chemists say, for water, and will follow the course of a stream. High explosives “cr-r-rumped” in places within 200 feet, but the ammunition carriers never even glanced up from their work, nor hesitated a minute. Just before dawn they got the horse free and started back for their own lines. Fifteen minutes later a high explosive shell landed fairly on the little bridge and blew it to atoms. SIGNALMEN DO HEROIC WORK The One Hundred and Third Field Signal battalion, composed of companies chiefly from Pittsburg, but with members from many other parts of the state, performed valiant service in maintaining lines of communication. Repeatedly men of the battalion, commanded by Maj. Fred G. Miller, of Pittsburg, exposed themselves daringly in a welter of fire to extend telephone and telegraph lines, sometimes running them through trees and bushes, again laying them in hastily scooped out grooves in the earth. Frequently communication no sooner was established than a chance shell would sever the line, and the work was to do all over again. With cool disregard of danger, the signalmen went about their tasks, incurring all the danger to be found anywhere – but without the privilege and satisfaction of fighting back. Under sniping rifle fire, machine gun and big shell bombardment and frequently drenched with gas, the gallant signalmen carried their work forward. There was a little of the picturesque about it, but nothing in the service was more essential. Many of the men were wounded and gassed, a number killed, and several were cited and decorated for bravery. When the grip of the enemy along the Ourcq was torn loose there was no other stopping place short of the Vesle, and so he hurried back toward this point as fast as he could move his armies and equipment. Machine gun and sniping rear guards were left behind to protect the retreat and impede the pursuers as much as possible, but even these rear guards did not remain very long and it was difficult at times for the Americans to keep in contact with Jerry. The Thirty-second division, composed of Michigan and Wisconsin national guards, had slipped into the front lines and with regiments of the Rainbow division pressed the pursuit. The Pennsylvania regiments, with the One Hundred and Third engineers and the One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Twelfth infantries leading, followed by the One Hundred and Ninth and then the One Hundred and Tenth infantry, went forward in their rear, mopping up the few Huns the Thirty-second had left in its wake, and who still showed fight. GET HUN ON THE RUN AT LAST It had begun to rain – a heavy dispiriting downpour, such as Northern France is subjected to frequently. The fields became small lakes and the roads, cut up by heavy traffic, were turned to quagmires. The distorted remains of what had been wonderful old trees, stripped of their foliage and blackened and torn by the breaths of monster guns, dripped dismally. In all that ruined, tortured land of horror there was not one bright spot, and there was only one thing to keep up the spirits of the soldiers – the Hun was definitely on the run. Capt. W. R. Dunlap, Pittsburg The men were wading in mud up to their knees, amid the ruck and confusion of an army’s wake and always drenched to the skin. They trudged wearily but resolutely forward, seemingly inured to hardships and insensible to ordinary discomforts. They were possessed on only one great desire, ant that was to come to grips once more with the hateful foe and inflict all the punishment within their power in revenge for the gallant lads who had gone from their ranks. And during this march there was hardly a moment when they were not subjected to long-distance shelling for the Huns strafed the country to the southward in the hope of hampering transport facilities and breaking up marching columns. At all times Boche fliers passed overhead, sometimes sweeping low enough to slash at the columns with machine guns, and, at frequent intervals, releasing bombs. There were casualties daily, although not, of course, on the same scale as in actual battle. PASS ROOSEVELT’S GRAVE Through Coulonges, Cohan, Dragegny, Longeville, Mont-Sar-Courville and St. Gilles they plunged on relentlessly, and close by the hamlet of Chamery, near Cohan, our boys passed by the grave of that intrepid soldier of the air, Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt, gallant son of that great American, the late Col. Theodore Roosevelt. Lieut. Roosevelt had been brought down here by an enemy airman a few weeks before and was buried by the Germans. French troops, leading the allied pursuit, had come on the grave first and immediately established a military guard of honor over it. They also supplanted the rude cross and inscription over it which had been erected by the Germans, with a neater and more ornate marking. But it was always thus with both men and women of France. The grave of an American was always sacred to them and to care for it and do honor to the brace man who rested therein was a work dear to their hearts. When the Americans arrived the French guard was withdrawn and the comrades-in-arms from the dead lieutenant’s own country mounted guard over the last resting place of the son of a former president. Below Longeville the Pennsylvanians came into an area where the fire was intensified to the equal of anything they had passed through since leaving the Marne. All the varieties of projectiles the Hun had to offer were turned loose in their direction, high explosives, shrapnel and gas. Once more the misery and discomfort of the gas mask had to be undergone, but by this time the Pennsylvanians had learned well and truly the value of that little piece of equipment and had a thorough respect for the doctrine that, unpleasant as it might be, the mask was infinitely better than a whiff of that dread, sneaking, penetrating vapor with which the Hun poisoned the air. Lt. Wm. H. Allen, Pittsburg ON THE WAY TO FISMES The objective point on the Vesle river for the Pennsylvanians was Fismes. This was a town near the junction of the Vesle and Andre rivers, which before the war had a population of a little more than 3,000. It was on a railroad running through Rheims to the east. A few miles west of Fismes the railroad divides, one branch winding away southwestward towards Paris, the other running west through Soissons and Compiegne. The town was one of the largest German munition depots of the Soissons-Rheims sector and second only in importance to Soissons itself. The past tense is used, because in the process of breaking the Hun’s grip on the Vesle both Fismes and Fismette, which was just across the river, were virtually wiped off the map. Here was the Huns’ Vesle river barrier, and when he was shaken loose he had to move hastily northward towards the next barrier, the Aisne. The railroad in Fismes and its vicinity runs along the top of an embankment, raising it above the surrounding territory. There was a time, before the Americans were able to cross the railroad, that the embankment became virtually the barrier dividing redeemed France from the darkest Hunland along that front. At night patrols from both sides would move forward to the railroad, and burrowed in holes – the Germans in the north side and the Americans in the south – would watch and wait and listen for signs of an attack. PATROLS CLOSE TOGETHER Each knew the other was only a few feet away; at times, in fact, they could hear each other talking, and once in a while defiant bandiage would be exchanged in weird German from the south and in ragtime, vaudeville English from the north. Appearance of a head above the embankment on either side was a signal for a storm of lead and steel. The Americans had this advantage over the Germans: They knew the Huns were doomed to continue their retreat, and that the holdup along the railroad was only temporary, and the Germans now realized the same thing. Therefore, the Americans fought triumphantly, with vigor and dash; the Germans, sullenly and in desperation. One man of the One Hundred and Tenth went to sleep in a hole in the night and did not hear the withdrawal just before dawn. Obviously his name could not be made public. When he woke it was broad daylight, and he was only partly concealed by a little hole in the railroad bank. There was nothing he could do. If he had tried to run for his regimental lines he would have been drilled like a sieve before he had gone 50 yards. Soon the German batteries would begin shelling so he simply dug deeper into the embankment. “I just drove myself into that bank like a nail,” he told his comrades later. He got away the next night. FOUR DAYS IN “NO MAN’S LAND” Richard Morse, of the One Hundred and Tenth, whose home is in Harrisburg, went out with a raiding party. The Germans discovered the advance of the group and opened a concentrated fire, forcing them back. Morse was struck in the leg and fell. He was able to crawl, however, and crawling was all he could have done anyway, because the only line of retreat open to him was being swept by a hail of machine gun bullets. As he crawled he was hit by a second bullet. Then a third one creased the muscles of his back. A few feet farther and two more struck him, making five in all. Then he tumbled into a shell hole. He waited until the threshing fire veered from his vicinity and he had regained a little strength, then crawled to a better hole and flopped himself into that. Incredible as it may seem, he regained his own lines the fourth day and started back to the hospital with every prospect of a quick recovery. He had been given up for dead, and the men of his own and neighboring companies gave him a rousing welcome. He had nothing to eat during those four days, but had found an empty tin can, and when it rained caught enough water in that to assuage his thirst. Corp. George D. Hyde, of Mt. Pleasant, Co. E, One Hundred and Tenth, hid in a shell hole in the side of the railroad embankment for 36 hours on the chance of obtaining valuable information. When returning a piece of shrapnel struck the pouch in which he carried his grenades. Examining them, he found the cap of one driven well in. It was a miracle it had not exploded and torn a hole through him. “You ought to have seen me throw that grenade away,” he said. ********************************************************************** Chapter IX (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, March 2, 1919, pages 66-67) Names in this chapter: Martin, Rowbottom, Moore, Fielding, Peacock, Carson, Murphy, Stevenson, Riley, Otte, Davis, Gilham, Printz, McKenney, Vaughan, Gleason, Ettinger, Woodbury The Pennsylvania soldiers of the Twenty-eighth Division participated in the strenuous fighting north of the Marne when the Americans were engaged in driving the Boche out of the Soisson-Rheims salient. They belong to those famous Keystone units which proved more that a match for the most noted of the kaiser’s legions and distinguished themselves by their courage and fearlessness under the most intense fire. IN THE CAPTURE OF FISMETTE THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA DOUGHBOYS BATTLED WITH A COURAGE AND PERSISTANCE THAT OVERCAME ALMOST INSURMOUNTABLE OBSTACLES. MANY ACTS OF VALOR WERE PERFORMED AND THE OLD IEGHTEENTH OF PITTSBURG PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN THIS DEPAERATE ENTERPRISE. THE ENEMY HAD SET ABOUT TO HOLD THE TOWN AT ALL COSTS IN ORDER TO CHECK THE ADVANCING YANKS WHO WERE THREATENING THE ARMIES AND WAR MATERIALS OF THE CROWN PRINCE AND AS A RESULT FISMETTE WILL BE REMEMBERED AND TALKED ABOUT LONG AFTER MANY OTHER OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE GREAT WAR ARE FORGOTTEN. While the penetration of Fismette proceeded slowly, the indomitable courage of the Pennsylvanians shone with a luster not to be discounted even in the face of weather conditions which were anything but favorable for their task. Rain fell incessantly. From a downpour to a drizzle it varied and back again, but it never quite ceased. Friends and relatives at home learned later of the tremendous difficulties and disadvantages under which our brave boys labored at that time. That they dauntlessly and without fear faced and overcame not only the most destructive war weapons of the enemy but the most discouraging forces of the elements redounds to the credit and fame of the Keystone soldiers and would render their niche in the hall of fame more securely tenable if need be. At every point of contact between the attacking and defending forces the Germans displayed surprising morale and reacted viciously against the irresistible onslaught of the doughboys. Despite the stubborn resistance of the foe, many of whole soldiers were forced into battle and could have yielded to the Yankees only under penalty of death, the advance of the men under the Stars and Stripes was unhalted. True, it was slightly checked here and there at times, but always uppermost in the minds of the Keystoners was the thought of home and loved ones and the grim determination to win at all hazards and at the earliest possible moment. FIERCE BAYONET ACTION The action consisted, in the main, of a series of sharp local engagements. This was as true here as at every other point of contact along the entire front between Soissons and Rheims. American bayonets play an important role in the hand-to-hand fights, which were frequent. The Hun hated the “cold steel” of the bayonets, but he dreaded it still more. Unable to withstand the peppery rushes of the Americans, he preferred to stand off and shoot or attack with gas and artillery. Fortunately, the Hun was not given his choice. The Pennsylvanians knew full well what weapon was deadliest to use, having been informed as to that by the British and French veterans, and they used it to the limit. The flight of time is undistinguishable and unrecorded for the men who, amid the battle fever, know not what moment may prove their last. Friends of boyhood days, chums of later years, comrades of training camp and battlefield, disappear from human ken between sunrise and sunset, their lives snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye. Brace indeed is the man who can patiently and persistently “carry on” under circumstances like these. Yet that is exactly what those heroes of ours were called upon to do, and how magnificently they responded! What imperishable laurels of fame must be theirs down through all the future years to the dim, distant end of earthly things, “when time shall be no more.” Certainly no honor their government and their countrymen can bestow upon will prove adequate reward for their long suffering and valiant fight for the preservation of the principles of democracy. PSYCHOLOGY OF WAR Amid the peace and quiet of home life it is difficult to grasp the psychology of the men going through these terrible trials. In a single hour a dozen, perhaps half-hundred or more, comrades and close associates of weeks and months of work and recreation may be wiped out of existence – soldiers with whom the survivors have walked and talked daily and with whom, perhaps, they were conversing when death stepped in to interrupt all these relationships. Under such conditions men’s minds become abnormal and they are prone, sometimes more from motives of downright anger than from any acknowledged line of human reasoning, to perform deeds of prodigious bravery and endurance, the like of which they could not conceivably achieve in their saner moments. The best there is in a man – and the worst, to, must come out at such crises in his career. Loss of a relative, a friend or a close associate in the home life is apt to mean much to the civilian, far from the perils of the front line trenches, but it does not mean what the other thing does to the soldier. Man’s physical condition and his mental status both are affected. Too hungry to eat, too tired to rest, the soldier after vigils of from 24 to 36 hours without sleep, all the while being under a continuous mental and physical strain, is likely to act as though he were under the influence of an opiate or some other drug. Long internals elapse between meals and there is little to drink that is fit to drink. Reaction comes unfailingly and therein lies the reason that the soldier’s first day in “repose” usually is worse than the battle itself. The longer his relief is postponed the greater the reaction, when it does come, is likely to be. The sense of proportion with which men are gifted is lost and in its stead comes a feeling of bewilderment and perplexity as to the meaning of spoken or written words or other communications from the surrounding world. The physical being may support itself even without food, drink and rest over a considerable period of time, but the effect on one’s senses is most marked and seemingly a man’s reason totters to its downfall. As the sense of proportion vanishes, all things ordinarily of prime importance fade into the mental background, except, of course, the stern necessity of going on until at last the task in hand is accomplished and the time for rest has come. LOSES SENSE OF DANGER In the midst of such stirring events the warrior feels inevitable that his individual fate is a matter of slight importance. He knows that he may “go west” at any moment, so he comes to regard his surroundings with almost indifference, except as to that subtle sense which keeps him ever on the lookout, subconsciously, to thwart the designs of the enemy. Sublime forgetfulness of self, coupled with an ever increasing knowledge of how directly the welfare of his beloved homeland may rest upon his own faithfulness to his allotted task, keeps the fighter keyed up to a pitch the like of which it is difficult for civilians to conceive. Is it any wonder then that the officers and men returned from “over there,” even those who escaped being wounded, plainly tell us on their return home that one of their most difficult duties now is to “slow down,” to recover the physical and mental poise which was theirs before they personally entered the awful conflict? That is exactly what Lieut. Col. Edward Martin, commander of the One Hundred and Tenth infantry, told a little group of friends on a train en route via Pittsburg from New York to his home in Waynesburg, Pa., just after his return from overseas. Privates and officers of all ranks have said the same thing. Even the pleasant excitement of a baseball game causes a reaction which leaves it impress on mind and body for some time after the contest is over. Imagine then, if you can, what serious effects must follow the deadly physical and mental strain of days in the front line or the trenches with scant food and drink and perhaps no sleep at all, exposed often to the rain, sleet, wind, hail or snow. BECAME SUPERMEN As the Germans hurled fresh regiments into the inferno which their fiendishness had created, the Pennsylvania soldiers became almost supermen. Representing a democratic and free people, to whom the thought of human servitude or slavery is unthinkable, the Yankee soldier quickly displayed such prowess and such valor that their deed of personal heroism multiplied rapidly. Fear of death was abandoned and then came citations and decorations for bravery in action, though many of the most deserving deeds unavoidably were lost sight of in the heat of battle. It was enough for each man that he had seen his duty and had done it. All bounds of personal fear of death of injury were overstepped by the Yanks. Small wonder was it then that the determined efforts of the Germans to dislodge the Americans from Fismette were futile. Only a handful of Pennsylvanians had yet gained a foothold in the town, but they held on desperately. They refused to retire beyond the river’s edge. Fresh, vigorous forces hurled at the position five times by the German commanders were repulsed with heavy losses, despite the fact that all the time the Hun guns kept up an incessant cannonade both on Fismette and Fismes, the latter being the town across the river, and on the rear reaches of the Allied front, and that the attacking forces were strongly supported by their machine guns and airplanes. Back and forth across the river swayed the tide of battle. The Americans succeeded in crossing once or twice, but were hurled back by vastly superior, numerically, enemy forces, only to renew their advance against the foe with a dash and courage, a wonderful gallantry, that has never been surpassed. Lt. L. Howard Fielding GALLANT PITTSBURGERS The One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, formerly the old Eighteenth regiment, N.G.P., “Pittsburg’s Own,” fought gallantly in the days and nights that followed. As a constituent part of the Twenty-eighth division, the One Hundred and Eleventh came into its own in the first penetration of Fismette. Its officers and men took high rank in that heroic galaxy of fighters and, though the regiment’s total of casualties swelled rapidly in the fiercest of the fray, its morale held true to its traditions. Its record of grand merit in former conflicts remained unsullied and new achievements were added to its already magnificent record. Brave deeds without number were inscribed on official records to the credit of the old Eighteenth’s members. One of the most noteworthy acts of individual heroism unquestionably was that of Corp. Raymond E. Rowbottom, of Avalon, a supurb [sic] of Pittsburg, member of Co. E, and Corp. James D. Moore, of Erie, Pa., member of Co. G. In the house beyond the spinning mill on the western edge of Fismette, these two soldiers were on outpost duty together. With them were automatic rifle teams, defending the mill, which had been one of the most desperately contested strongholds of the Huns. The size of the mill and its thick stone walls made it valuable to either side. Had the firing post in the house beyond the mill been lost, a battalion which was coming under Lieut. L. Howard Fielding, of Lanerch, Pa., would have been left in deadly peril. Also the whole military operation which centered around that point would have been rendered much more difficult, if not indeed impossible. The mill was one of the keynote positions of a considerable area about the town, hence upon the bravery of the men in the house beyond it depended in great measure the success of the efforts then being made by the American commanders. SHOW RARE INITIATIVE On the night of Aug. 12, 1918, a flare thrown from a German post landed in the room where Moore and Rowbottom were. The whole room was ablaze in a moment and it seemed impossible to save the house from destruction. German snipers and machine gunners were thus given the chance they had been wanting to see, their target. The attention of the American outpost was distracted and they were threatened with being driven from their place of concealment. It was then that Rowbottom and Moore displayed that singular coolness and initiative which has come to be recognized as a marked characteristic of the Yank soldier in any crises, however unstable his nerves may appear to be in less dangerous moments. No water was in the house except the absurdly small quantity contained in the canteens of the men. Despite the inadequacy of this supply of the precious fluid, Moore and Rowbottom used it to such good effects and were so disdainful of the peril of burns on their hands and feet that they quickly put out the blaze. Then they calmly resumed their work with the automatic rifles. Considering that this bit of fire fighting was done in a room as bright as day and under concentrated machine gun and sniper fire, the feat may well be considered something more than merely remarkable. It was heroic, nothing less. Hours without water to drink passed then and the men suffered the agonies of thirst until their tongues swelled and their throats were parched. Both heroes were cited and decorated later for their brace defense of the house. WOUNDED HERO MANS GUN On Aug. 10 a detachment of men from the One Hundred and Eleventh captured some ammunition and enemy machine guns. The machine guns captured were of the Maxim type, which few of the American soldiers knew how to operate. Only one man of this squad, Corp. Raymond Peacock of Norristown, Pa., a member of Co. F, could operate the Maxims. Wounded so badly in the left shoulder just before that that his arm was practically useless, he nevertheless volunteered to operate the gun. Despite excruciating pain from his wound, he operated the gun in a spirited assault, firing the gun with his right hand until he was wounded again. For this heroic work he was given the distinguished service cross. Private Lester Carson of Clearfield, Pa., a member of Co. L, is another of the brave boys of the Pittsburg regiment who distinguished themselves at about this point in the war. When an officer of the One Hundred and Eleventh called for a runner to take a message from Fismette back to Fismes, across the river, the path that had to be covered was raked with shells and machine gun bullets. The man who volunteered was riddled with a score of bullets when he had gone only a short distance. Heedless of this sight and of the danger in which a second runner was sure to be, Private Carson volunteered and was sent out with a duplicate of the message. His luck held good and he managed to get through over the same route on which the other hero had failed. Private Carson later was decorated for this piece of bravery. RESCUES WOUNDED At a point in the fighting a detachment of the One Hundred and Eleventh was called back hurriedly from an advanced post, which it was seen could be held only with great sacrifice. Five wounded men were left behind unavoidably. Volunteering to go back after them, Private Albert R. Murphy of Philadelphia, a member of the sanitary detachment, exhibited great bravery. Murphy stuck to his task in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and the incessant and vicious fire from the enemy guns. Three days and three nights of untiring effort were required before the last man was brought back. Superlative valor was shown by the rescuers and for his part in this work, Private Murphy was cited and received the distinguished service cross. Lying in an exposes position was a sergeant of Co. C, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, who was shot and wounded Aug. 10. It remained for Sergt. Alfred Stevenson of Chester, Pa., a member of the same company, to volunteer to go to the rescue. Successfully making his way through fierce enemy fire to the side of his wounded comrade, he leaned over the man and was attempting to obtain a firmer grasp so he could carry him to safety. Just then a sharp-shooter’s bullet struck Stevenson, who raised himself partly to his feed and said to the wounded man: “Gee, they got me that time.” Another bullet struck him and he fell dead. SHOW SPLENDID HEROISM In a clump of bushes lay the wounded men and there was a considerable open space between him and our lines. Stevenson not reappearing, Corp. Robert R. Riley of Chester, a member of the same company, with two comrades, begged permission to go after the two men. On their first attempt, all three were wounded and compelled to go back. Corp. Riley’s wound was not severe and he insisted on another attempt. He went out again and found his old schoolmate, Stevenson, dead. The man for whom the effort was made, was able to crawl back to our lines after being given first aid treatment. Riley was unable to complete the return to the lines without collapsing. He was carried in by Private Edward Davis and taken to a hospital. There he recovered and was given the distinguished service cross for his conspicuous bravery under fire. Private Fred Otte of Fairmount City, Pa., a member of Co. A, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, during five days of the most intense fighting, from Aug. 9 to 13, acted as a courier between his battalion headquarters in Fismes and the troops in Fismette. After making several trips across the Vesle river under heavy shell and machine gun fire, Private Otte found that the bridge which he had been using had been destroyed. He then continued his trips to and from headquarters by swimming the Vesle despite the wire entanglements in the water. He received a distinguished service cross for this performance, which was one of the most notable individual stunts accredited to American soldiers “over there.” CARRIED AMMUNITION A Pittsburger who distinguished himself was Bugler Harold S. Gilham of Co. H, One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry. He and Private Charles A. Printz of Norristown, a member of Co. F, of the same regiment, not only volunteered as runners to carry messages to the read but on their return exhibited their contempt for the enemy by loading themselves with heavy boxes of ammunition. This ammunition was needed badly and it was largely due to the efforts of these brave men and their worthy comrades that the tide of battle did not turn against us in those critical days. On another occasion, during some of the most critical and trying engagements of the now famous One Hundred and Eleventh, Sergt. James R. McKenney of Pittsburg, a member of Co. E, took out a patrol to mop up a lot of snipers who had been making havoc with some of our best forces. Returning after a successful foray, he was exhausted and was ordered to rest but he begged for another patrol. It was just such spirit as this that enabled the Yankees to make such a splendid showing in the world war, even when pitted against the crack Prussian Guards and others of the kaiser’s supposedly invincible forces. Though gassed severely and wounded badly in the head by shrapnel, Sergt. Richard H. Vaughan of Royersford, Pa., a member of Co. A, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, refused to be evacuated and after having his wound dressed, continued to command his platoon until relieved four days later. Sergt. Vaughan died soon after that, from the effects of his wound and the gas. The distinguished service cross, which was awarded him, was sent to his father, Dr. E.M. Vaughan, together with the text of the official citation. The concluding paragraph of the citation was as follows: WINS IMMORTAL PRAISE “By his bravery and encouragement to his men he exemplified the highest qualities of leadership.” Another hero who deserved and won official recognition and reward was Corp. James W. Gleason of Pottstown, Pa., a member of Co. A, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry. He was commended publicly and given the distinguished service cross for his “great aid in restoring and holding control of the line in absolute disregard of personal danger and without food or rest for 72 hours.” Three sleepless days and nights, aiding and encouraging their men to hold a position, were spent by Lieut. Walter Ettinger of Phoenixville, and Lieut. Robert B. Woodbury of Pottstown, the former an officer of Co. D, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, the latter of Co. M , same regiment. Scarcely second to the physical hardihood and bravery shown by the Western Pennsylvania, as well as men from other parts of the state, was their moral courage. Far from home and loved ones, they waited often for the letter that did not come, the endearing message of encouragement that would have meant so much to the tired and battle-worn heroes. Patiently they endured the discomforts which are the fortunes of war. Complaint was seldom heard from the men while there was yet fighting to be done. Grimly, tenaciously, with a depth of purpose known only to those who have been tried in fire and have come out pure gold, these brave boys struggled on until their task was finished – and they wrote cheery letters home. The world owes them a debt it can never repay. ********************************************************************** Chapter VIII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, Feb. 23, 1919, pages 66-67) Names in this chapter: Barker, Floto, Crouse, Schell, Truxel, Hayman, Friedberg, Fox, Smith, Vail A few of the gallant sons of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania who went into that inferno of fighting north of the Marne with the Twenty-Eighth Division, which advanced so rapidly, despite desperate enemy resistance, that the crown prince had difficulty in getting his armies and war material out of the Soissons-Rheims salient. THOSE WERE TRYING DAYS FOR THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA DOUBOYS WHILE THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION WAS HOLDING THE ENEMY ALONG THE VESLE, IN FRON OF FISMES. THEY WERE OBLIGED TO LIVE IN CAVES AND HOLES DURING THE DAYTIME TO ESCAPE THE CONUAL HAIL OF SHELLS. THEN CAME THE ORDER TO TAKE FISMES. THE CAPTURE OF THIS TOWN WAS A STRENUOUS UNDERTAKING, BUT OUR MEN PERFORMED IT UNFLINCHINGLY AND WHEN THEY HAD GAINED A FOOTHOLD, HELD ON. AFTER FISMES WAS FISMETTE, AND OUR TROOPS SUFFERED HEAVILY IN ADVANCING ACROSS THE RIVER IN THE INITIAL ASSAULT. While the Twenty-eighth division was holding the enemy along the Vesle, in front of Fismes, and awaiting for the order to cross the river and start the Hun on another backward movement it was decided to clean up an enemy position that was thrust out beyond his general line. A battalion of the One Hundred and Tenth infantry was selected to do this work With the One Hundred and Tenth was the Rev. Mandeville J. Barker, of Uniontown, an Episcopal clergyman. Rev. Barker had won a place in the hearts of the boys by his sturdy Americanism, buoyant and gallant cheerfulness and his indifference to hardship or danger. His tender attention for the wounded had also helped win for him the distinction of being the most beloved man in the unit. GOES OVER THE TOP WITH BOYS The night the battalion attacked he went over the top, and although it was not his duty to do, and he would probably have been prevented had the higher officers known of his intention, nevertheless he believed he would be needed to assist with the wounded. The Hun machine gun nest was wiped out after a sharp attack and our men then retired to their own lines, as ordered. It was a pitch dark night and as a result some of our wounded were overlooked. Later the voices of the men who had been left behind on the battlefield could be heard out in No Man’s Land calling for help. It was then that Rev. Barker performed one of his many acts of heroism, for, taking some water and first aid equipment, he slipped out into the darkness, and with only the voices to guide him, he sought out the wounded lying between the two armies. He attended to the men’s wounds as best he could with the aid of a small pocket flash light which he had to carefully conceal from the enemy lookouts or there would have been short shrift for the wounded and likewise himself. One after another of the wounded the clergyman hunted out and did what he could to alleviate their sufferings. Those who could walk he started back towards their own lines. Some he assisted, while others there were who went out into the Great Beyond while he was ministering to their bodies and their souls. When he could hear no more voices and thought his work of mercy completed for the night he started for the regimental lines, when suddenly he heard some words in guttural German and the man was evidently pleading for help. Rev. Barker turned right around and started back groping in the dark for the sobbing man. He didn’t know but what it might be another of the fiendish tricks of the Hun to trap Americans, neither did he care. All he could hear was the stern call of duty. There was a stranger out on the “Jericho road’ wounded and bleeding and requiring care. MINISTERED TO GERMAN BOY He found a fair-haired German youth wounded so sorely that he could not walk, and he was in mortal terror, not of death, but of those “heartless Americans who torture their prisoners.” Like many other Germans, this one had been taught to loathe the Americans and had been well primed with harrowing stories of the cruelty of the men from the western world. The clergyman treated the wounds of the German and then carried him back to the American lines, although it required considerable explanation to convince the German that he would not be put to some form of lingering agony. When he was convinced he kissed Rev. Barker’s hand and insisted on turning over to him everything he would remove from his person, including pistol, helmet, bayonet, cartridges and other odds and ends. An American sergeant, later describing the incident, said the “parson was all hung over with loot.” “The fighting parson” the boys called Rev. Barker, although he did not fight. However, he came very close to the line at times, and one incident is related where snipers were bothering the men of the Tenth, when the clergyman grabbed up a pair of field glasses, and after a careful survey, located four Germans in a well-concealed position. They were responsible parties and he gave the location to the artillery. Then the big snout of a gun swung around slowly and barked a few times and the sniping from that direction was silenced. Two days later the regiment went over and captured that section of the German line and found what was left of the four snipers. The Pittsburgers and Western Pennsylvanians practically lived the lives of cave men during much of this period of waiting along the Vesle. The line was on the hills on the near side of the river’s valley and little shelter holed had been dug in the hillside. Along the little railroad which separated our lines from those of the enemy holes had been dug in the embankment, also, and at night, our men raced for these holes in an effort to listen for signs of German activity on the other side. These holes were just about big enough to allow a man to protect part of his body. They were no protection against a one-pounder, but helped to ward off shrapnel fragments. WAS TICKLISH WORK It was ticklish and dangerous work, this race to the railroad embankment every night, and it was a crawling operation with every chance that if the enemy got to his side first and discovered the Americans were not in position, our men would be shot as they wriggled through the cinders of the railroad ditch towards the embankment. The holes along the hillside on the heights were somewhat more comfortable than those in the railroad embankment, for the boys could crawl in them out of the weather and then with a blanket around them and some straw for a bed they could enjoy some real luxury in the way of sleep. But they were only rest holes. Our men crawled into them as daylight approached, because that was the time when the German flyers came over along our advanced lines and attempted to get information and hurl bombs on our troops. It was only in some of the large caverns in that territory where the men could move about at will day or night. Always in the day they kept well hid and out of sight of those prying eyes in the air. Most of the fighting took place along the railroad and at night. There were numerous raids, some large, some small. They did everything possible to annoy and worry the Germans and to keep them in fear of the doughboys. The raiding parties would suddenly race out and rush over the embankment and then on to the German dugouts. They would throw their hand grenades into these dugouts and then race back to their own territory. BAD DAY FOR DOUGHBOY One night a private went to sleep in one of the holes along the railroad embankment and did not hear the withdrawal in the morning. He was in a sorry predicament, for to try and run would have meant certain death. So he just wormed his way into the embankment until he was entirely covered and he was very careful not to make any noise. And there he remained all day while the sniping and bombing and artillery fire raged all around him. John Freidberg, of Mount Pleasant, held a conversation with one of the Germans on the other side of the railroad bank one night and finally induced the Boche to come over to be made prisoner. He convinced the fellow that the best bet for him was to come over the bank and thus get out of the war and also acquire some square meals in the allies’ prison pens. Frequently at night our men could hear the enemy calling: “American, American”, and there is no doubt that many prisoners could have been taken by merely inviting them to come over to our lines and assuring them that they would not be murdered. It was risky work, however, attempting to conduct these talks with the enemy, because the Hun was not to be trusted. Occasionally one would make a dive for our lines, but the chances were that he didn’t get through unless our men know [sic] he was coming. If they didn’t the German was likely to be under a cross fire before he took many steps, for he would be the target for our men, and also the nearest German officer, who was sure to try to drop him. An interesting story is told of how two of the men of the One Hundred and Tenth were lost in a cave for 48 hours. It so happened that Rev. Barker gave a movie entertainment in the mouth of this cavern and while the festivities were under way the two soldiers saw the lights and thus found their way out. They came blinking into the crowd, but they had not been missed and no one in the audience was aware of their experience. However, one of the lads asked for something to eat. Their interference with the performance was resented until it was ascertained that they really had been lost for two days in the cave and then there was a rush to provide them with food. GERMAN MAJOR GETS LESSON Other incidents are related of how the Germans who crouched on the other side of the railroad bank at night were surprised to hear the Americans speak to them in their own language. There were many Pennsylvanians who could speak German fluently. During one of the days a little group of ambulance men from the One Hundred and Eleventh were carrying back a wounded German major, who was groaning and complaining. He cursed the Americans roundly at nearly every step the stretcher bearers took, until finally Thomas G. Fox, of Hummelstown, one of the bearers, translated the tirade. Our men stood it for a while longer until the German made some particularly offensive remark, with the result that the litter was turned over and the irate officer deposited, not too gently, upon the ground. He continued to curse for a while, but when he learned that it did him no good he started to crawl back and the crawl relieved him of some of his insolence. Fismes was held by the Hun in considerable force, although he had moved his big guns across the Vesle, thus admitting that he did not expect to hold the south bank of the river. However, the strength left in the town indicated that there was to be the customary stubborn defense and that every possible obstacle was to be placed in the way of the Pennsylvanians. For two days our men kept to the woods and watched many French and American batteries coming up and taking position. It seemed as if they would never stop coming, for there was a large concentration of artillery preparatory to that attack. It seemed as if an attempt was to be made to literally sweep the country clean of the Boche with gas, high explosives and shrapnel before the infantry should be send forward. FIGHT WAY INTO FISMES Some French and American forces had crossed the river to the east and west of the town, and it was necessary that to straighten out the line Fismes must be captured, the river forced at this point, and Fismette, on the far side of the river, likewise removed from under enemy control. Numerous feelers had been put out to ascertain the strength of the Germans in Fismes and Saturday afternoon, Aug. 3, some of the men from the Rainbow division had succeeded in getting into the southern part of the town, where they hold on like grim death until the next afternoon. Then they were deluged with gas that it was inadvisable to remain. It was information they were after and they were successful to such extent that the material they furnished the general staff did much to assist in formulating the plan of attack. It was only a few hours after the return of these men of the Rainbow division to their lines that the massed French and American batteries turned loose a terrific hail of shells upon the enemy in Fismes. The fire was so intense that the German fire, which had been going on in spurts, since daylight, was stopped completely. The entire county back of the enemy lines for miles was raked with every sort of death-dealing shell and there was nothing for Fritz to do but seek cover. The Pennsylvanians had been brought right up in front for this attack and it fell to the lot of the One Hundred and Twelfth to lead the advance. After about an hour of artillery preparation the rolling barrage of shrapnel and gas was started and the One Hundred and Twelfth moved forward, supported by the other regiments. The regiment raced for the southern edge of the town, and although harassed somewhat by machine gun fire, the boys never hesitated. GERMANS SACRIFICED TO HOLD TOWN Reaching to town there was another session of street and house fighting. Scouts were sent forward to creep from corner to corner and work their way by any possibly means. They hid behind any object that offered the slightest protection until they saw a chance to proceed further. The streets were swept by machine gun fire, either our own or the Germans, and frequently some of our men and a squad of Germans would be in the same house and firing out of different windows. The progress was slow and it was soon evident to our men that the Germans were showing no disposition to retreat across the river. And later it became apparent that they were left behind as a sacrifice in order to delay the American advance. They had been ordered to die in their tracks rather than move, and thus they fought with all the stubbornness of wild animals cornered. It was a question of selling their lives as dearly as possible. They had no hope. This was not the first time the German command had left men in such a predicament. Most of them carried our orders and died, but a few threw down their rifles and squealed “kamerad” when convinced that their activities for the Kaiser were over. Officers and some wounded men forced their way into a house and there found two unwounded Americans who had preceded them. After making the wounded as comfortable as possibly the two officers and an unwounded man started out to explore the house and neighborhood. They crept out into a sort of walled garden, and, taking a peep through, they looked straight into the eyes of two Germans. One had a machine gun in his hand and the other had a grenade in each hand. Our boys called the grenades the Germans use “potato mashers”, for they are fitted with sticks for handles. On the end is the explosive container, which looks very much like a tomato can. GRENADIER MEETS SUDDEN END Both parties were startled and both paused to stare. Then the German with the grenades started to swing them, just like Indian clubs, but before he could let go two shots rang out and he sank slowly to the ground, still clutching his grenades and with a pair of bullets in his body. The other German beat a hasty retreat and ran yelling out into the street, where he became the target for some of our men. He didn’t go far before he crumpled up in a heap in the road. It was thus that our boys took Fismes, and although this sort of fighting is usually costly, nevertheless they rapidly cleaned out every Boche in the town and wiped out the last foothold of the enemy in the Soissons-Rheims salient. When the enemy on the other side of the river was certain that the Americans were in full possession of the town a hail of gas, shrapnel and high explosives was turned loose from the heights where he had planted much light artillery. The Germans from their positions were able to observe all the American movements in Fismes and the surrounding territory. Northward along the Aisne, where the Hun expected to make another stand, the heavy artillery had been placed in position, and as this was only about five miles away, our lines were well within range. The French and American batteries answered and night and day the duel raged as our gunners attempted to search out and silence enemy batteries. The firing became so violent Aug. 5 that observation was impossible for our forces, and maps had to be used in the attempt to destroy the Hun guns. The Germans were in much better position to inflict damage, for they had just been driven out of the country now occupied by our troops and therefore were perfectly familiar with the terrain. They deluged every place within our lines with shells of all sorts and sizes, and the crushing blows of the four and six-inch shells were especially severe. The Pennsylvanians held on like grim death and when the town was safely in their possession plans were formulated for the taking of Fismette, just across the river. MANY DIE AT FISMETTE Fismette will long be remembered as one of the bloodiest spots in all the great war, and in the taking of the town many a Pittsburger and Western Pennsylvanian went to his death. The Germans, although not expecting to make any serious stand short of the Chemin-des-Dames, had evidently been unable to move their army and vast quantity of war supplies northward fast enough to keep away from the unrelenting Yankees, who were ever at their heels and threatening to break through their rear guards. Thus the enemy was forces, in order to save himself, to attempt a check on our advance at Fismette and here was concentrated a major effort. The town was bristling with machine guns well supported by artillery and defended by fresh troops, the flower of the kaiser’s soldiery, for the Prussian guard was there. The plans for the assault called for units of the One Hundred and Eighth Machine Gun battalion to cross the river and attempt to establish a bridgehead on the north side. Maj. Robert M. Vail, of Scranton, in command, sent over two companies and they waded the river in a terrific hurricane of bullets. The water was up to their armpits and they were forced to hold their rifles, cartridges and other material which might be damaged by the water, above their heads. The Germans took heavy toll of the two companies during this crossing, but sufficient of the boys gained the opposite bank to put up a demon-like scrap while waiting for reinforcement. As the machine gunners waded, the One Hundred and Third Engineer regiment was sent down to the river to throw bridged across the stream, the engineers were also subjected to a death-dealing fire of machine guns and shrapnel, but they never wavered and kept at their tasks. In addition to the steel showered upon them some gas shells were mixed in, thus forcing them to undergo the added discomfort of wearing masks. GLORIOUS BRAVERY SHOWN It was indeed a spectacle to see those engineers working out in the open with comrades dropping on every hand, and expecting every minute to go down themselves. It was one of the grandest examples of bravery ever recorded in the history of the American arms. The boys worked like Trojans and when one would go down another would take his place. They had been told to get those bridges over the river and they proposed to do it, even until the last man should fall. It is a wonder that any of them escaped the hate which Fritz, from his vantage points on the other side of the river poured upon that Spartan band. Out in the water they worked with the shells churning up geysers all around them and when a man was hit the chances were that even in only wounded he would be carried away by the current and drowned. When the first bridge was almost completed the engineers suffered the disappointment of seeing it split into a mass of splinters in the twinkling of an eye, for a big shell made a direct hit. Such an occurrence would have discouraged many men. But not so those Pennsylvania engineers. They would build those bridges across the river if it took until the crack-o-doom. They calmly set about to rebuild the structure which had already cost so many lives. GREAT KEYSTONE DIVISION FIGHTS It was slow work to bridge the stream and frequently another shell would come and destroy parts of the work, so that the men had to do it all over again. Time and time again this happened. Before the bridges were completed officers decided to make an attempt to get infantry across the ford, as the machine gunners had been successful in their wading operations and needed support on the other side. Several detachments were sent over through the water and when the bridges were competed the process of getting troops on the other side was hastened considerably, although shells continued to hit them occasionally in places, necessitating almost constant repair by the engineers. Those who got across the ford or the bridges met a stone wall of resistance, for the enemy was fighting under orders to hold Fismette at all costs. The Germans made every possible effort to drive the Pennsylvanians back across the river, but attack after attack was met with a stubbornness which, each time, caused the Hun to fall back in dismay. The French and American artillery support on the heights south of the Vesle did much to assist our men in warding off these counter-attacks and they also had the satisfaction of knowing that their own artillery was in action at last and lending its aid to their efforts. Pennsylvania was now in the fight with a complete division, and such a division. Those doughboys proved themselves the peers of any fighting men the world has ever known. ********************************************************************** Chapter X (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, March 9, 1919, pages 70-71) Names in this chapter: Martin, Aiken, Thompson, Lamb, Davidson, Glendenning, Feiley, Kelley, Leonard, Williams, Prager, Boden, Kegler, Jordon, Hartung, Iland, McGinnish, Frosch, O’Neil, Gunn, Murray, Broadbent, Onyx, Maxwell, Smith, Falls, Baker, Biemuller, Curry The Yanks from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania performed many acts of gallantry and daring before Fismette which was one of the bitterest conflicts of the entire war. The Germans were determined not to budge from the town, but our boys were just as determined that they would have to move on northward and so it was a battle to the death. The Pennsylvanians suffered many casualties during the days while the fighting raged along the Vesle at this point. THE OLD EIGHTEENTH OF PITTSBURG WAS THE CHIEF BATTERING RAM WHICH KEPT HAMMERING AT FISMETTE DURING THOSE STRENUOUS DAYS WHEN THE YANKS WER TRYING TO DISLODGE THE BOCHE FROM THIS STRONGHOLD ALONG THE NESLE. THE BATTLE OF FISMETTE LASTED FOR DAYS AND WAS ONE OF THE MOST STUBBORN CONFLICTS OF THE WAR. THE GERMANS SOUGHT BY EVERY POSSIBLE MEANS TO STAY THE ADVANCE OF OUR DOUGHBOYS, AND THE BATTLE LINES SWAYED BACK AND FORTH FROM ONE SIDE OF THE RIVER TO THE OTHER. PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA SOLDIERS PERFORMED MANY HEROIC ACTS DURING THIS INFERNO OF FIGHTING AND A LARGE NUMBER OF OUR BOYS WERE EITHER WOUNDED OR KILLED DURING THE VARIOUS ACTIONS. Odds against them never seemed to count with the Pennsylvania soldiers. The heroes of the Twenty-eighth division seemed reckless at times in the manner of their advance against the foe, particularly when the latter was in superior force and in an apparently incontestable position. In this seemingly uncalled for daring, however, there was always a deep purpose, the like of which the Hun has always been incapable of comprehending and which the writer has not even a remote intention of trying to explain so that its intricate principles might penetrate the solid ivory dome of the Boche. When baseball becomes Germany’s national pastime and even the windows along the Wilhelmstrasse are endangered by the ambitious efforts of irrepressible sandlotters with visions of being future big league phenoms, when football demands the same autumnal attention in Prussia and Bavaria that it does in Pennsylvania and Georgia, then and not until then will the German intellect be capable of receiving impressions and reaching conclusions comparable with those of the doughboys. When the Wagners and Cobbs, the McLarens and Guyons of Germany, if there are any, are accorded in the Fatherland the homage which for half a century has been paid there to silly crown princes and strutting military officers, then only can the German mind hope to attain the viewpoint which swept the gallant old “Fighting Tenth”, the wonderful old Eighteenth of Pittsburg, the unyielding old Sixteenth, N.G.P., and other Western Pennsylvania regiments over the top and forward with a fury that no human defenses could withstand. ALL IN THE GAME At the risk of plagiarizing the famous remark of a certain British commander, it may be said that American’s part in the world war really was played during the past 20 years on more than 1,000 baseball and football fields throughout the United States. The initiative and skill, the never-say-die spirit and the inherent knowledge of strategy necessary to win were cultivated over here. When the boys went “over there,” they simply took those qualities with them. Being what they were, nothing less than what they did could have been expected of them. The quarterbacks among them knew “enough to aim their heaviest blows at the weakest spots in the enemy’s front” without waiting to be told by their officers to do so. Outguessing the enemy and outfighting him aggressively was exactly what their coaches had drilled into them for years. They knew that a hit in a pinch was worth 10 homers when their team was away out in front. Trench raiding wasn’t so much different from base stealing, when you look at it that way. The idea was to catch the opponent off his guard and go to it like a flash. German prisoners have admitted that they had become so accustomed to fighting French and English, with time out for meals, that they simply couldn’t adjust themselves to the American style of fighting. Of course they couldn’t. Nobody ever expected them to. When they had numerical superiority on their side, not to mention better position, they methodically calculated that the Yanks would let them along for the time being. They fooled themselves and lost the war. The Western Pennsylvania troops outgamed and outpointed the crack Prussian Guards at every point of contact, the dash and aggressiveness of the Keystoners seeming marvelous in the eyes of the British and French observers but really not so very wonderful in the eyes of the folks back home, who knew all along just what kind of men they had sent into the fray. Lieut. Col. Edward Martin of Waynesburg, commander of the old “Fighting Tenth,” who is authority for the statement that, in the battle of the Argonne forest, the Americans “took a gambler’s chance on ending the war in 1918,” and he ought to know, for he was in the thick of it, also had something to say about the athletics when he returned to his home town. WHAT FOOTBALL DID Commenting on the wonderful war work and fighting qualities of Capt. “Biddy” Aiken and Maj. Joe Thompson, two famous W. & J. college and Pitt university football stars of former years, Col. Martin declared emphatically that the football knowledge of these two men counted for a great deal on the battlefield. “I certainly wish that every officer and man in any regiment had played football at some time in his life,” Col. Martin told a little group of friends soon after his arrival home. From the tone of his comment, it was inferred that he agreed, to some extent at least, with the views set forth above. One of Western Pennsylvania’s great athletes who gave his live in France that freedom might not perish from the earth, was Lieut. Levi Lamb, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Lamb of California, Pa., a little state normal school town up the Monongahela river about 50 miles from Pittsburg. A few years ago he was a star tackle on the Pennsylvania State college football team and was the champion wrestler of that college. Previously he had played baseball and football at the Southwestern State Normal school, California, Pa., and at Grove City college. Being only six feet and six inches in height, he was affectionately knows 10 years ago in his home town as “Little Levi.” That he died bravely on the field of honor is attested by letters from his superior officers and that any Hun who grappled with him must have fared badly will be attested by hundreds of men who have opposed him in friendly athletic rivalry in Western Pennsylvania in the past decade. A gold star in his honor adorns the service flag of Penn State and his memory will never grow dim at that famous old school. Literally, thousands of high school and college athletes from Western Pennsylvania won imperishable renown “over there.” Hardened by intensive military training on this side of the Atlantic, under the tutelage of experienced French, Canadian, British and American army officers, they were fit for the fray. Is it a matter for wonder then, that Europe respects the American soldier and the humblest American citizen now as never before? MORAL SIDE SHOWN Aside from the purely military and economic or commercial advantages gained by winning the war, there is a moral side to it all. Never again will the Kaiser, or any other European monarch, delude himself and his subjects into the belief that “Americans won’t fight.” But that is not all. The doughboys took with them to France, Belgium and Germany the spirit of fair play which is the essence of all real American sportsmanship. Not only did they reverence womanhood and seek to protect children and old age, as they had been admonished (rather than ordered) by Pershing to do, but they accorded even the enemy whatever admiration they could when his acts justified it, which was seldom. When Col. Martin tells how a little group of American soldiers applauded the pluck of a German aviator attacking an allied observation balloon, when the odds were against the attacker, he tells what is at first blush incredible. But it really happened and, on second thought, it is not so remarkable. There have been times in America when a visiting outfielder has been given a hand by the home crowd for making a marvelous shoe-string catch or a visiting slugger has been given his due even though he clouted a circuit smash off of the home pitcher’s delivery. Probably it was that same send of giving honor where honor was due that led the Yanks to applaud the Hun flier, even though nine-tenths of the German fighters were rotten at heart and deserving of no comparison. In the second charge of the Americans during their attack on the town of Fismette, Sergt. Clarence Davidson of Tarentum was wounded. He was leading a platoon with great bravery at the time and, according to accounts of the occurrence given by some of his comrades, his coolness and courage under fire proved a remarkable inspiration to his men. Just before that, while talking to a commissioned officer, Sergt. Davidson witness the death of Lieut. Glendenning of Pittsburg. The Pittsburger, who was not far from where Sergt. Davidson and the officer were standing, was killed by the explosion of a German shell. HOW THOMPSON DIED Capt. Orville R. Thompson of Pittsburg, commander of Co. M, One Hundred and Eleventh, lost his life during these assaults on Fismette. Capt. Thompson had been ordered to take his company and advance on a German position just outside Fismette and the men with their commander in the lead went over the top at 6:30 a.m., Aug. 11. The enemy was in a well fortified and well wired place and capable of offering a strong defense. It was situated on the top of a little knoll and this made its capture doubly hard because the Boche would sweep the Americans with rifle and machine gun fire as they charged up the slope. Capt. Thompson was about 15 yards in front of his men, urging them on. He had declined to remove the marks which designated him as a commissioned officer, thus making himself a target for which the German sharpshooters always looked. He had reached the barbed wire when a sniper’s bullet hit him and he fell without a groan. Capt. Thompson was a commander very much loved by his men as he was always out in front whenever there was hazardous work to be done. He would never ask a man to take any chances he would not assume himself. He was a wonderful soldier, according to the testimony of the men of his command, and by his courage and daring he set an example that was emulated by the entire company. Private George Feiley of St. Mary’s and Private J. Kelly of Pittsburg, both of Co. M, performed distinguished service in this fight. Private Feiley was an automatic rifleman and he was right up in the thick of it when a bullet hit him in the neck. Although suffering terribly from the wound he refused to leave his gun and his comrades had to drag him away. Private Kelly then took over the automatic rifle position and hammered away at the Boche until the company got back to safety. He returned with several wounds and the gun. Aug. 12, the Germans put forth a mighty effort to drive out of Fismette the Americans who had managed to gain a foothold there and after putting an intense bombardment on the town, followed by a rolling barrage, they advanced in force. There were too many of the enemy for the small bank of doughboys to withstand the assault and so to save as many lives as possibly orders were issued for our men to retire. But it was a stubborn retirement and they caused the foe many casualties while being forced out of the town. INFERNO IN FISMETTE When the Americans were again across the river from Fismette and the town was in the hands of the Boche the Franco-American artillery was given an opportunity to make life unpleasant for the enemy. The artillery had been massed to protect the advance of the Pennsylvanians and when the guns unloosed their iron messengers of destruction, Fismette became a veritable inferno. It was not apparent that the Germans could not endure such a concentrated bombardment for long. Fismette proper was made untenable for the kaiser’s hordes and then the Americans set about planning for another attempt to capture the place. 2nd Lt. Harry E. Leonard The next advance of Fismette was led by men from Co. A, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, in charge of Capt. Archibald Williams and Lieut. H. E. Leonard, both of Pittsburg. This unit swam and waded the Vesle under terrific shell and machine gun fire, taking to the water rather than use the bridges for the reason that the enemy was centering his fire upon these structures. Our men were able to gain a foothold on the Fismette side, but they were in a precarious condition because they were unsupported on the flanks. In order to gain some protection from that hail of steel they plunged forward into a little ravine, only to find that they were in the midst of a gas cloud. It seems that much of the gas with which the Germans had been sending into the town had, for some reason or other, settled in this ravine. And it was a terribly mixture of all the deadly gasses which the Germans used. Mustard, sneeze, tear and chlorine gas made up one of the worst examples of Hun deviltry of this form which our boys had met. Thus they were forced to fight with gas masks, but they went forward on the run, cleaning out nest after nest of machine guns. The Germans would stand to their posts and fire until they caught the glitter of our bayonets and then they either attempted a quick retreat or uttered their usual plea for mercy. In many instances they neither escaped nor had their “kamerad” cries given heed. The Americans were too busy to bother much with prisoners and they still had many scores to settle. PRAGER IS CITED By this time a few more men of the One Hundred and Eleventh had managed to cross the river in support of Co. A, and it was during this hard fighting that Sergt. Benjamin Prager, Co. E, 240 Southern Ave., Mt. Washington, performed deeds of coolness and bravery under fire which won for him official citation and a recommendation for a commission. Lieut. James C. Boden, who made the recommendation set forth that “Sergt. Prager’s courage and leadership was unexcelled by any other soldier in command. As a leader he has been unexcelled by any other officer under my personal observation. He has never failed to carry out orders and in the absence of a superior officer had used his own initiative in commanding men, strengthening positions, etc.” The sergeant delivered his company under a heavy barrage to reinforce Co. G without a casualty and the same day at Chateau de Diable, near Fismette, he took charge of the left flank of Co. E which was under heavy machine gun fire, and established a sniper’s post in a building from where our riflemen picked off great numbers of the enemy and especially machine gunners. He was wounded while directing his men but gamely dressed his own wound and remained at his post until relieved. His wound sent him to the hospital for two months and it was Nov. 10 before he was able to rejoin his command. During the fighting on Aug. 12, Sergt. Arnold H. Kegler of Pittsburg, Co. M, One Hundred and Eleventh, was wounded severely while performing an act of bravery in attempting to rescue a wounded comrade who was in a shell crater in No Man’s Land. Sergt. Kegler notices a soldier in the crater and together with Corp. Frank Aiken and Corp. Jordon of Pittsburg decided to get him out. Crawling on hands and knees while machine gun bullets whizzed about their heads they finally reached the edge of the crater and dragged the wounded soldier back to the American Lines. Just as they reached the line a big German shell exploded in their midst, killing Corp. Aiken and wounded Corp. Jordon and Sergt. Kegler. Sergt. Kegler was blown up in a small hill, with several pieces of shrapnel in his leg, but was able to crawl to a nearby house. He remained there several hours before a patrol found him and removed him to a dressing station. WOULDN’T BUDGE The manner in which this small force managed to win its way into Fismette and stick there has been described “Like a policeman’s boot in the door of a wrongdoer’s house.” They refused to budge an inch, although treated to every form of diabolic, death-dealing device the Hun had to offer. High explosive shells, all sorts of gas, furious infantry counter-attacks, bombs, and machine gun bullets made the performance of the continuous variety, but the doughty Pennsylvanians did not have the slightest intention of being driven out. While all this battle for supremacy was under way, the foe had demolished every bridge across the river except on and that was so badly damaged as to be considered unsafe, and thus our men in the town were practically cut off from their comrades on the other side of the river. All the little force could do was to fight grimly until it was possible to get reinforcements across. Many of the men had been wounded and a group of 28 sorely in need of hospital attention had been gathered in the cellar of a building to await the arrival of ambulances from across the river. Their comrades realized that every man in the little group of wounded must be given hospital treatment as soon as possible, in order that their lives might be spared, and how to evacuate them was, indeed, a problem. It seemed almost impossible to get an ambulance across that lone bridge which was even then the target of the Boche artillerymen. And it was then that some of the Pennsylvania doughboys rose to the pinnacle of human daring; they became supermen, performing the most arduous and perilous tasks with no thought of fear and emblazoned their names at the very top of the scroll of fame. Maj. Edward M. Iland To the men of the Twenty-eighth division’s sanitary train came word of these wounded in the cellar over in Fismette. The house had been struck five times by shells and it was necessary time and again to clear the debris off the wounded. Capt. Charles Hendricks, of Blairsville, together with a few men, remained in the building to look after the wounded and frequently he and his men were buried under falling plaster and other materials. After digging themselves out they would do likewise for the 28 wounded lads. This went on for four days and during all this time it had been absolutely impossible to send assistance from across the Vesle. HOW THEY WERE SAVED Finally, the men of the ambulance companies attached to the sanitary train decided that no matter what the enemy had to offer in the way of destruction something had to be done to get those wounded men out of Fismette. The advance party of the rescuers set out from Fismes in a touring car which carried Maj. Frederick Hartung, Pittsburg; Maj. Edward M. Iland, Coraopolis; Capt. George E. McGinnis of Philadelphia and Privates Walter Frosch and Walter McGinnis, also of Philadelphia. All were members of the Medical corps. Frosch was driving the car and they made a wild dash down the road to the river in full view of many enemy gunners. Their only hope was that speed might get them through. Their car was soon the target for the enemy and how they ever escaped the rain of shells put upon that road is a mystery. The car was hit several times, but Frosch kept right ahead oblivious to the danger. Reaching the unsafe bridge they rushed across at top speed and luckily the structure held. Then through Fismette the car dashed and up to the building around which the big shells were falling thick and fast and in which the wounded men were awaiting removal. The ambulances on the other side of the river had been made ready for a like dash when the signal should be given by Capt. McGinnis. At this prearranged signal the ambulances were to dash from cover and attempt to rush across the bridge just as the officers who had gone over in the touring car. All these ambulances were marked conspicuously with the Red Cross, but that did not deter the Boche from shelling them, indeed, it seemed to spur him on to greater efforts to demolish these vehicles of mercy. The cars were manned mostly by men from Philadelphia and vicinity, namely, James T. O’Neil of Alden; James R. Gunn, Joseph M. Murray, Samuel Falls, Alfred Baker, Originnes Biemuller, John Curry, Harry Broadbent, Raymond Onyx, all of Philadelphia; John F. Maxwell of Williamsport and Albert Smith, of Frankford. AMBULANCES CROSS When the signal was given the ambulanciers rushed their cars down the road to the shaky pontoon bridge and thence across the river and although the Germans did their best to destroy the ambulances not one car was hit. Up through Fismette the train rumbled and it was not easy going through the little, narrow streets of the town half choked with debris at many points. The drivers pulled up beside the temporary refuge for the wounded and with the stretcher bearers leaped out and prepared to loan the men into cars and make another dash back across the Vesle to the hospitals. ********************************************************************** Chapter XI (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, March 16, 1919, pages 75-76) Names in this chapter: O’Neil, McGinnis, Herrman, Cavanaugh, Vaughan, Lynch, Fitzgerald, Fredenberg, Shearer, McCoy, Kraus, Harris, Miller, Phelps, Gehner, Ord, Otton Fisher, Ott, Epley, Duff, Wyko, Fletcher, Hargrave, Henderson, Kelly, Riley, Murphy, Amuer, Nixon, Matthews, Paris, Koch, Davis, Andrews, Carson, McKenney, Best, Reitf, Reisker, Cain, Earl, Dunmeyer, Middowar, Beck, Lauff, Siebert, McCune, Medder, Smith, Beach, Wilhard, Vail, Best, Lohr, Washabaugh, Schorts, Saplio The Fighting along the Vesle, in which our Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers of the Twenty-eighth division played a major part, called for many hazardous undertakings and as a result there were hundreds of instances of individual bravery and daring. Our boys frequently plead with their officers to be permitted to take these extremely dangerous assignments and it seemed as if they had banished from their minds all thought of their own welfare and only desired to carry forward the Starry Banner and make a finish to the Hun as quickly and thoroughly as possible. COUNTLESS DEEDS OF BRAVERY WERE PERFORMED BY THE PITTSBURG AND PENNSYLVANIA DOUGHBOYS IN THE ATTACK ON FISMETTE, IN FACT PRACTICALLY EVERY MEMBER OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS MEMORABLE BATTLE WAS CALLED UPON SOME TIME OR ANOTHER TO DO EXCEEDINGLY HAZARDOUS TASKS, BUT NO MAN FLINCHED NOR ATTEMPTED TO TRANSFER THE RISK TO THE SHOULDERS OF A COMRADE. IT WAS A CASE OF FIGHT EVERY MINUTE UNDER A VERITABLE DELUGE OF EVERY SORT OF DEATH-DEALING DEVICE THE HUN HAD TO OFFER, AND SOME OF THE CONTRIVANCES WERE AS DEVIL- [sic] While the ambulanciers were wailing in the shelter of the building in Fismett to load the wounded into ambulances the Huns continued to pour forth their hate on that brave band of Pennsylvanians, and it seemed as if they were determined to prevent the evacuation of those wounded men, if it took every shell in their possession to accomplish the nefarious task. But the doughboys kept at their posts with utter disregard for the death missiles falling all around them. Private O’Neil went back to the river to ascertain if the bridge was still standing, and while he was standing on the brow of the hill gazing down he happened to think of a cache of medical supplies in the side of the hill. He calmly walked to the spot, despite the fact that he was the target for many enemy gunners, secured the supplies and carried them back to the buildings where the wounded were being sheltered. Officers who witnessed the feat through field glasses from the far side of the Vesle have since declared that it was one of the most daring and fearless pieces of work of which they have knowledge. When O’Neil brought back the supplies he reported that the bridge was still standing, and at 3 o’clock in the morning they loaded the first ambulance and started on its perilous journey to the other side of the Vesle. Capt. McGinnis went along, Within a few minutes another ambulance was loaded and followed. At the same time O’Neil had been sent down to take another look at the bridge and he had just arrived and the first two ambulances were just safely across and leaving the bridge at its other end when a big shell landed right in the middle of the structure and broke it in two. O’Neil hurried back to his comrades to prevent any more ambulances from starting out until the bridge had been repairs. Just as he arrived, a big shell burst directly in front of the dressing station and several of the men were buried under an avalanche of earth at the entrance to the cellar. The story is told of how one doughboy in an ambulance, presumably too severely wounded to move, beat an unwounded man into the cellar after the shell burst. Several of the men were wounded by flying pieces of shrapnel and some of the wounded also received new wounds. One of the ambulances had all four tires punctured and its top punctured in hundreds of places. After this happened the patients who had been loaded into the ambulances were carried back into the cellar to await the time when the enemy should decide to take a breathing spell. By 7 o’clock the bridge had again been repairs, and two more ambulances got away, but when they reached the river front they found the bridge again a mass of ruins and had to return to the shelter. RUSH FOR THE RIVER Efforts to get the wounded men out of Fismette and across the bridge continued, but without success because of the heavy bombardment kept up by the enemy. The next day at 4 p.m., there was a lull in the fire and two more of the ambulances made a break for the river. They raced out of the town and across the bridge, but arrived on the other side just in the nick of time to escape being thrown into the river. A big shell made a direct hit on the structure and broke it in twain. This time the bridge was damaged beyond the hope of any quick repair so the ambulanciers prepared to ford the river on foot and carry the wounded on litters. This was dangerous work with the enemy fire sweeping the stream, but our boys never hesitated for a minute. There never seemed to be a task which they would not undertake in their determination to make an end to the Hun. The Fismette affair had become so desperate by this time and the fighting had been so severe that our boys were in a mood where they would have rushed into anything. They were not in the best of humor because of being held up by the staunch defense which the enemy was putting up. In order to get the wounded across the river by the wading it was necessary to organize some sort of defense to keep down as much as possible the enemy task while the ambulance men were engaged in their perilous work. In organizing this defense First Sergt. Thomas J. Cavanaugh, of Pittsburg, a member of Co. D, One Hundred and Eleventh infantry, distinguished himself in such a manner as to be cited in orders and likewise to receive the distinguished service cross. CAVANAUGH’S DARING WORK Sergt. Cavanaugh performed some wonderful work in this instance and by his courage and daring did much to assist in getting those wounded comrades back across the river to a hospital. He took a small force of his men and captured a small building on the outskirts of the village as a preliminary to the scheme of covering the evacuation of the wounded. Then taking a position on a street intersection, where, by stepping around the corner he was protected from the snipers and machine gun fire and by going around to the other side, he was a target for the machine gun fire sweeping the street down which the ambulance men had to rush with their cars to the river’s edge. Cavanaugh took awful chances that day, for when the ambulance men were ready to move he would step out into the street and if the Germans were not firing heavily at that moment he would beckon to the ambulanciers that it was time to make a dash. He was wounded by shrapnel but refused to go to the rear until he collapsed and was carried off a couple of hours later. The next day, after having his wounds dressed he insisted on resuming his post and acting as the human target for the benefit of the wounded and ambulance men. When the ambulance men got to the river they calmly unloaded the wounded and raising the litters above their heads they waded through the water to the other side and all this time the machine gun bullets and shrapnel were churning the waters about them. On the far side the ambulance men waiting to receive the wounded and rush them to field hospitals backed their cars almost to the water’s edge oblivious to the death-dealing missles [sic] falling like rain about them. They watched closely every move of their comrades in the water and called out advice as to the best way to proceed. In this way our wounded Pennsylvanians were removed to safety right under the noses of the enemy. CAPT. LYNCH KILLED But Sergt. Cavanaugh was not the only man who exposed himself to the Boche fire on corners to assist in this evacuation of the wounded and it is but right that mention should be made of Capt. Edmund W. Lynch, of Chester, commander of Co. B, One Hundred and Eleventh, and Lieut. Edward S. Fitzgerald of New York city. Capt. Lynch was killed a short time later. Both these officers took position on street corners during this period while the wounded were taken out and officiated as human targets. And all this time the fight for Fismette went on ceaselessly. Many were the acts of gallantry and daring performed but for the most part the work all called for exceptional daring and so every man shared in it. The unusual acts were noticed in certain instances but most of them will probably never be known as they were either unnoticed or forgotten during those strenuous days. The One Hundred and Eleventh was relieved about this time by the One Hundred and Ninth and then, on Aug. 17, the One Hundred and Twelfth went back into Fismette and rotating by battalions assisted them in holding the line. Lieut. Milton W. Fredenburg of Ridgway, an officer of Co. D, One Hundred and Twelfth, had some ticklish work to do for he was ordered to lead a party of machine gunners filtering through the German lines at night. They worked like Indians, a man slipping through here and another there. Then by an arrangement made previously they all assembled in a woods at the rear of the German line. Next day when the fighting became furious and the Boche commenced to waver, the lieutenant and his little band threw consternation into the enemy by sending a hail of machine gun bullets into his rear. The Germans in this section were sure they were being surrounded and broke and fled. The ground was strewn with dead Huns as the result of this bit of work as our boys were able to get them coming and going. MANY WADE STREAM The bridges were still down and in order to get more men across the river, Lieut. Ripley L. Shearer of Harrisburg, with men of Co. G, One Hundred and Twelfth, had to cross the river at a place where it was unusually deep. Some of the shorter men of his command were obliged to either swim or be supported by tall comrades in order to effect the crossing. They had the center of this advance and captured a building which had been a tannery and which had been transformed by the Germans into a stronghold. Lieut. Shearer and his men received high praise for this work as it was exceptionally hard and hazardous. It was likewise costly to our men in killed and wounded. Capt. Fred McCoy Co. M of the One Hundred and Twelfth, commanded by Capt. Fred L. McCoy of Grove City, forgot its way down the river bank in one of the assaults and captured an old stone mansion held as a defense point by the Germans and from its stout stone walls they had been able to pour an effective fire into the Americans. In capturing this stronghold our boys took about 30 machine guns, large quantities of supplies and many prisoners as the defenders were caught like rats in a trap. East of the tannery which had been captures by men from Co. G, was where Capt. Lucius M. Phelps of Erie, commander of Co. G, and Capt. Harry F. Miller of Meadville, commanding Co. B, led other detachments in a brilliant advance and were able to turn their guns on the enemy clinging desperately to the northern fringe of the town. Among the instances of individual heroism recorded around Fismette during these days of carnage and turmoil were the following: HEROIC DEEDS MENTIONED Sergt. Ralph E. Ord of Dravosburg, showed extraordinary bravery by his skill in handing [sic] his platoon, in addition to rescuing several wounded men and dragging them to places of safety away from the shot and shell swept area. Private Michael Fisher of Pittsburg was a runner who crossed the bridge many times under machine gun fire and while the structure was also under a deluge of three-inch shells. Another exploit of Fisher’s was to conduct 25 wounded men, one at a time across this fire-swept bridge. His comrades declared that he seemed to bear a charmed life. Private Fred Ott, another runner in the same outfit carried a message between Fismes and Fismette for five days and when the bridge was down, which was very frequently the case, he plunged into the river and either swan or waded across. He would appear at headquarters with his clothes dripping wet. Frank Prosta was another runner from this vicinity who performed many daring exploits. Our Pennsylvanians were using some French trained dogs as couriers at times but frequently the animals would fail to get through and as wire communications had been cut it was necessary to call for volunteers to carry the messages. It is needless to say that there were many more doughboys offering for this hazardous service than could be used. RUNNERS FACE DEATH William Duff of Pittsburg, as mechanic; Maurice J. Hargrave, Pittsburg and Private Paul E. Henderson of Sagertown, were on duty as runners from Aug. 9 to 13 carrying messages across the bridge to Fismette. On Aug. 13 Duff and Henderson were in Fismette when the Germans made a violent attack and it was reported that our men were surrounded. It was necessary to get a message across the river to our supports on the Fismes side and as it was absolutely necessary that the message should get through two copies were made and Duff and Henderson having begged for the opportunity were sent away. Both got through and in the afternoon Duff returned with a load of much needed ammunition. Maj. Harry J. Kelly says they saved the day for our boys were finally able to beat off the German attack. Hargrave made about 12 trips across the river and back. Privates Albert R. Murphy, William J. Nixon, Philadelphia; George B. Matthews, Ardmore; Albert A Paris, Pittsburg; James F. Koch, Conshocken, Albert A. Davis and Robert N. Andrews, Pittsburg, were first aid workers who distinguished themselves, making litters out of twigs. Private Lester Carson of Pittsburg, after a runner had been shot down volunteered to carry a duplicate message over the same route and got through. J.R. McKenney of Pittsburg, took out a patrol in the face of severe machine gun fire and snipers of the enemy. He was for 12 hours without food. Corp. Charles Reitf of Pittsburg showed ardor and leadership unexcelled for he was one of the first men to force his way into a stone house occupied by Germans with machine guns, which house dominated our flank. He afterwards took charge of the defense of this house from which seven German snipers were killed. Sergt. Raymond C. Reisker, of Lebanon, although not required to do so, dressed the wounds of 16 men, being constantly under fire at the time, below the slim protection of a wooden bridge. CAPT. CAIN LEADS CHARGE Capt. Robert S. Cain, of Pittsburg, armed himself with a rifle and led the men at one exposed ridge. In one place of the battle he once found his company faced by 1,000 Germans, the remnants of three enemy regiments. He defeated them and captured a half dozen German machine guns. Sergt. John W. Thompson, of Pittsburg, distinguished himself by conspicuous bravery, leading a patrol against the enemy machine gun nest of 10 guns in the face of a direct fire, they captured two of the guns, then taught the men to use them and turned them against the Germans. His patrol had much of its equipment shot off, his own rifle being shot through by one bullet. He killed numerous snipers and his constant aggressiveness inspired the entire regiment. Sergt. John Howard Earl, of Doylestown, not only took command and led a platoon to victory, but himself dressed a major portion of the wounded. Hospital men who showed conspicuous gallantry were Privates Carl J. Dunmeyer, of Johnstown, Gerald Middowar, of Waynesburg, Ray Beck, Philadelphia, and Emil M. Lauff, Philadelphia. Stretcher bearers who worked with special courage were Sergt. T. Siebert, J. McCune, Blairsville, Corp. Clair Medder, Zelienople, Privates Russel Smith, Pittsburgh, James Beach, Du Bois, Edward Wilharn, Edgewood Park, Walter Vail, Punxsutawney, George Best, Pittsburg, William Lohr, Ligonier, Raymond Washabaugh, Guy Schorts, Yathboro and Thomas Smith, Washington. Private Sam Saplio of Pittsburg, showed great heroism, being almost impossible to keep him from going alone into the German lines after the snipers and machine guns, so great was his enthusiasm, not withstanding that his canteen and part of his equipment had been shot off him. Sergt. Robert C. Herrman, of Pittsburg, took charge of the firing line when all the officers had been killed or wounded. Sergt. Richard Vaughan, Royersford, was conspicuous by his disregard of danger and leadership. PITTSBURGERS PRAISED Mechanic Robert A. Kraus, of Pittsburg, and Privates William L. Harris and Joseph A. Gehner, of Pittsburg, won the plaudits of their comrades for their work in carrying the wounded back from the firing line under a heavy fire, while Bugler Roy Epley of Jeannette, and Private Carl Otto of Fremont City, without sleep or food for 72 hours, carried messages that were always delivered. Others who showed extraordinary capacity and bravery near Fismette were Lieut. Lee G. Fletcher and Godfrey N. Wyko, Sergt. James Mastrovitch, Pittsburg; Sergt. Alfred Stevenson, Linwood; Sergt. Edwin McBeth, Pittsburg; Corp. R. R. Riley, Chester; Private P. Amuer, Dravosburg. During all the time this fighting was under way along the front lines the Pennsylvania artillery stationed in the hills south of Fismes had been undergoing a thorough drenching of gas and shell from the German batteries but our artillerymen gave two shells for every one the Boche sent over. At one time just as a battery was geared up to move into another position a big shell dropped right in front of the lead team of one of the guns. The horses commenced to prance and tremble and it was an ideal moment for a stampede but the doughboys sat their plunging steeds as if on parade. By their coolness they prevented any further damage and won high praise from their commanding officers. GUNNERS SHOW GRIT Two men were killed and three wounded severely. Two of the horses were blown to bits, but the battery went on to its position. The wheel driver hurried to a dressing station to seek aid for the wounded and then sought out the ammunition dump, obtained a supply of shells and went on the gallop to the battery position to deliver it. When he had completed his work he called to one of his comrades and asked him to help dress a wound in the leg. He had a bad gash from a shell fragment, but he had attended the other wounded and supplied his battery with ammunition before thinking of his own hurt. Such was the stuff of which our artillerymen were made. Members of the headquarters company of the artillery regiments were called upon to maintain communications constantly and they strung telephone and telegraph wires in the face of the deadliest enemy fire and in almost inaccessible places. They never even faltered in the work for it was imperative that these communications be kept working at all times. For them to fail might have endangered the lives of the infantry out in front seeking to drive the Boche from Fismette. Men would fall at times like wheat before the scythe but always there were others to promptly step into their places. The signal detachments were also continually busy at this work of maintaining communications and worked day and night, frequently without food or water for many hours. ********************************************************************** Chapter XII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, March 23, 1919, pages 102-103) Names in this chapter: Pollock, Williams, Thompson, Clarke, Brooks, Wainwright, Cain, Ham, Brown, Helsel, Whitaker, Pennypacker, Muckel, Nunner, Muir, Pershing THE ENEMY FINALLY WITHDREW FROM FISMETTE AND ALONG THE VESLE AND SOUGHT TO MAKE ANOTHER STAND AT THE AISNE. THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA TROOPS FOLLOWED CLOSE ON THE BOCHE’S HEELS AND HARRASSED HIM IN EVERY POSSIB LE MANNER. THE ARTILLERY, TOO, KEPT POUNDING AWAY AND MANY OF THE TOWNS WERE REDUCED TO PILES OF DUST. AT THE AISNE THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION WAS WITHDRAWN AND SENT TOWARDS THE ARGONNE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GREAT OFFENSIVE ON THAT FRONT. Capt. Robert Pollock Considering the hellish fury of the fighting which ensued in Fismes and Fismette, one cannot wonder or be astonished at statements made by Capt. Robert Pollock of Pittsburg’s own “old Eighteenth”, upon his return to Pittsburg from France. While still a convalescent at the Parkview hospital, Capt. Pollock one evening addressed an audience of men in the Grace Reformed church, Bayard and Dilbridge sts. Capt. John M. Clark “If I am shipped to hell,” said Capt Pollock, “I think I can stand what the devil has for me, after going through what the Germans had for us in Fismette. They used everything they had on us, from liquid fire down, and many of my best friends were killed or wounded there.” Capt. Pollock himself was wounded soon after Fismette was cleaned out and the Americans started for the Ourcq river in pursuit of the stubbornly resisting Germans. Here is the story of Fismette, as told by Capt. Pollock: It was in this scrap that Capt. Arch Williams was wounded and Capt. John Clarke of Wilkinsburg, and Capt. Orville R. Thompson of Pittsburg, killed. We were advancing on Fismette when they fell. When we got into Fismette the real fighting started. German Machine gunners occupied every window in every house in town. We had to clear those houses before we could clean out the town, and our men were dropping like flies. We had virtually no protection from that awful rain of fire from the machine guns. The doughboys, though, went forward, and they mopped up. They went into the first house in one block and you didn’t seem them again till they came out of the last house on the block. They dug through walls from one house to another, and every time they left a house the kaiser’s army was minus several more men. NO QUARTER ASKED OR GIVEN. They asked no mercy and they showed none. They dug through those walls, often with their bare hands, and they tore at those machine guns like tigers. No wonder the German defense cracked, no wonder it fled before those American doughboys. Many of our men went down, too, but they got a couple for every one that went down. There wasn’t a live German left in town when they got through. One incident which occurred there is mighty strange. We found only one inhabitant, aside from German soldiers, in the town. This was a woman, a woman aged about 50. She said she had stayed in town to protect her property. She started to tell some awful tales, but we hadn’t time to listed and send her back to regimental headquarters. Subsequently the property which she had been watching was destroyed, we destroyed it. That was when the Germans recaptured the town and we had to shell them out. OFFICERS ARE WOUNDED After we drove them out again, however, we went forward, moving toward our third objective: we had gained our first and second. The third was the plateau between Vesle and the Aisne, northeast of Fismette. We were well up on this place when I was hit. Lieut. Daniel W. Brooks of Swissvale was killed at the same time. He was one of those fine fellows every person likes. When I fell I didn’t be long. They came along, picked me up and started me for the hospital and the last I saw of my men when, led by Lieut. Edward Z. Wainwright, they were moving over the brow of the hill on to their objective. Among the many strange things about the battles that the old Eighteenth participated in was that it once faced the Eighteenth regiment of the German army. This sounded so “fishy” the captain said, that Capt. Robert Cain of Pittsburg, cut the shoulder straps from a captain of the regiment, who had been killed and send them to his wife. Reverting to the thread of our present narrative, the German guns from their hilltops still poured in a galling fire on the American positions. Still their snipers and machine gunners hung on in Fismette. To have attempted to cross the Vesle river under such bombardment would have been hazardous in the extreme. An attack in force was obviously impossible and it was at this point in the campaign that the American and allied commanders faced some of their most serious and perplexing problems. The Yanks were chafing for more and more action, although their efforts to this point had bordered on the superhuman. They were like raging tigers when they remembered how many of their brave comrades had fallen victims of foe bullets and other means of human destruction. All the streets of Fismette were filled with fighters. The combat continued with unabated fierceness and varying fortunes for either side until Aug. 28, when the Germans came down out of their hills in a raging tide of savage and brutal destroyers. Bouting into Fismette, they drove the little force of Americans back to the river, where an amazingly few men managed to held a bridgehead on the northern bank. RESISTANCE IN VAIN This desperate resistance, however, proved in vain, for the time being, and the town again fell into the hands of the German hordes. The American gunners then began systematically to level the town, for the Yankee commanders had been forced to abandon all hopes of taking it by infantry assault without an unjustifiable loss of brave, wonderfully brave, men. Elsewhere along the great battle line great events of vast importance in a military sense had been taking place while these developments at Fismette were in progress. In Flanders the British troops, supported by American brigades fighting shoulder to shoulder with them, had been driving the Germans eastward, while further south the French were keeping the Hun on the run and demonstrating to the Berlin warlords in no uncertain fashion that the boastful and ruthless warriors from the “Fatherland” were by no means invincible. American forces around Soissons were pounding away at the Germans in such fashion as to make the Teuton positions as long the Vesle river untenable. Even the stubborn defenders of these positions soon began to realize that they could not hold on there much longer without tremendous losses of man power and guns and ammunition. Among the brace Americans at Fismette, just at this time, little was known of the developments in the other sections. They fought on with bulldog courage, however. Even the junior officers of the Americans were greatly surprised when word came back Sept. 4 that the patrols north of the river had met almost no opposition from the enemy in their latest forward movements toward the Rhine, which still seemed very far away indeed. Next it was noticed that the foe’s artillery fire had fallen off to a little desultory shilling, so a general advance was ordered. Roads in the rear at once became alive with big motor trucks, big guns, wagon trains, columns of men and all the countless activities of an army on the march. It was a wonderful sight to see that main force crossing the river. Officers standing on the hills overlooking the scene declared later that it was one they never could forget. The long columns debouched from the wooded shelters, deployed into wide, thin lines and moved off down the slope into the narrow river valley. TOWNS POUNDED TO DUST The village and towns of the Vesle valley, pounded almost to dust by the thousands of shells which had fallen on them during the two weeks the armies contended for their possession, lay before the advancing Americans. Down the hill those brave Yanks went, moving just as they had done times without number in training camps in sham battles and war maneuvers. Occasionally there was a burst of black smoke and a spouting geyser of earth and stones to show that this was, after all, real warfare and that the lives of the advancing men were constantly “on the knees of the gods.” Even these incidents had been so well simulated in the mimic warfare of the training days that they seemed to make little impression to the observers, held spellbound as they were by the dramatic values of the momentous and history-making drama being unrolled before their eyes. The greatest ocular evidence that his indeed was real warfare came when now and then a man or two dropped and either lay still or got up and limped slowly back up the hill. Many of the officers who watched the whole performance compared to scenes they had witnessed sometimes safely in motion picture theaters. Occasional casualties served not at all to slacken or impede the advance of the defenders of right, truth, democracy and justice. When the live, moving steadily forward, reached the river, there was little effort to converge at the hastily constructed bridges but the men who were close enough walked over them, while the others plunged into the water and either waded or swan across, according to the depth where they happened to be and the individual’s ability to swim. On toward the Aisne river the column moved after reaching the northern side of the Vesle. Up the long slope the men went as p\imperturbably as they had come down the other side, although every man of them knew that when they reached the crest of the rise they would face the deadly German machine gun fire from the positions on the next ridge to the north. Never faltering even for an instant, the thin line of the Yanks went over the crest of the rise and disappeared from the view of the watchers behind. The German machine gunners resisted desperately retiring only foot by foot. The Americans, seemingly glad that the fight was on once more, refused to be checked in their great advance. Prediction had been freely made that the Germans would make their next stand on a high plateau between the Vesle and the Aisne. The pressure elsewhere on his libe [sic] made this impossible and the Huns plunged on northward, while ever after him came the inevitable, inscrutable, inescapable American doughboy. COL. HAM WOUNDED One of the American units which met real opposition at about this stage of the advance was the One Hundred and Ninth infantry, which crossed the river from Magneux some distance to the west of Fismette. Col. Samuel V. Ham, regular army officer commanding the regiment, led the firing line across the river and in its advance toward Muscourt. During a hot engagement, he was wounded so severely that he was unable to move, but he declined to be evacuated. For 10 hours after that he remained on the field, directing the attack and refusing to leave or receive medical or surgical attention until his men had seen every care and comfort which could be afforded them under the grim circumstances of such a battlefield. For his great showing of bravery and heroic conduct, Col. Ham was awarded the distinguished service cross. The citation which accompanied the awarding of the coveted cross declared that “Col. Ham exemplified the greatest heroism and truest leadership, instilling in his men confidence in the undertaking.” He was the third commander the regiment had since going to France. Col. Brown had been transferred and Col. Coulter had been wounded. All except these first two were regular army men and the regiment had eight commanders in two months. Fifteen miles away the towers of the cathedral at Laon could be seen by the Americans. From the high ground ahead, to which the Yank heroes advanced with all possible speed, the lowlands to the north spread out before them. Laon had been since 1914 the pivot of the German line. It was the bastion on which the tremendous front of the Hun armies turned from north and south to east and west. The lowlands represented defiled and invaded France in a very real sense and the sight of the cathedral towers, seen dimly in the misty distance, thrilled the tired fighters from across the Atlantic, even when much of their strength and their irrepressible enthusiasm had been spent in the terrible fighting of the past few days and weeks. The One Hundred and Ninth infantry covered itself with glory in the advance across the five miles of hill, valley and plateau between the Vesle and the Aisne. Co. C of the One Hundred and Ninth suffered heavy losses and on the Aisne plateau this company displayed amazing morale and the fighting ability and strength with tenacity of purpose so characteristic of all the American fighters in the world war for freedom. After the capture of a small wood below the village of Villers-en-Prayeres, which was described in an official communiqué as “a small but brilliant operation,” Co. G of the One Hundred and Ninth infantry ranked with Co. B and Co. C for their gallant stand and heavy losses south of the Marne. There were 125 casualties in the company of 260 men. YANKS SUFFERED HEAVILY At times during these extremely hazardous operations, following so soon after the taking of Fismes and Fismette from the Germans, the Americans were subjected to a heavy artillery fire, especially while crossing the plateau. During the advance over about the first two miles it was necessary for the doughboys to go forward in the open across high ground, plainly visible to the German gunners and constantly swept by their deadly and destructive fire. There was little cover and, thought it was very difficult later of obtain accurate reports of the losses, the Yanks [unreadable] are known to have suffered heavily through this part of their advance toward the homeland of the Hun. Private Paul Helsel came out of that period of the fighting with six bullet holes through his shirt. Two bullets had gone through his trousers, the bayonet of his rifle had been shot away and a bullet was embedded in the first-aid pack he carried [unreadable]. It was considered miraculous not only be himself but by his comrades and his superior officers, that he escaped without a wound of any kind. Light and heavy artillery swept the plateau across which the Americans were advancing. Their losses would undoubtedly have been much heavier had they advanced in the regular formations. Instead of doing so, they were filtered into and through the zone, never presenting a satisfactory artillery target for the foe gunners. On their stand on the Vesle, the Germans had been enabled to save the bulk of the supply they had accumulated there. Whatever they were unable to remove they burned, so it would not be of any material assistance to the advancing Americans. Great fires sent up dense clouds of smoke, marking in the distance the sports where large ammunition dumps and other stocks of supplies were being destroyed. During their progress forward from the Vesle the American soldiers had presented before their watchful eyes a different vista from that which they had seen between the Marne and the Vesle, where the way had been impeded to a great extent in some places by the almost unimaginable quantities of supplies of every conceivable kind which the Hun had abandoned when forced to hasty flight, for which he could not possibly have prepared adequately on such short notice as was allowed by the ever alert fighters for democracy and freedom. Sept. [unreadable] the pursuit had come to an end and the Americans and French were on the Aisne river. The enemy again was bristling in his de[unreadable] across a water barrier. BLAST HUNS FROM AISNE The infantry regiments were followed by artillery as far as the high ground between the rivers. There the artillery took positions from which they started to blast the Huns away from their hold on the Aisne and start them backward to their next line of defense, the vicinity of the ancient and historic Chemo-des-Dames, or Road of Women. Battery C, One Hundred and Seventh regiment, of Phoenixville, commanded by Capt. Samuel A. Whitaker of that town, a nephew of Samuel W. Pennypacker, one-time governor of Pennsylvania, was the first of the Pennsylvanians big gun units to cross the Vesle at that point. The night of Sept. 7, the One Hundred and Seventy was relieved by the Two Hundred and Twenty-first French Artillery regiment, near Blanzy-des Fismes [sic]. The French used the Americans’ horses. They discovered they had taken a wrong road in moving up and, just as they turned back, the Germans who had learned of the hour of the relief, laid down a heavy barrage. Lieut. John Muckel, of Battery C with a detail of men, had remained with the French regiment to show them the battery position and bring back the horses. When the barrage fell, he was thrown 25 feet by the explosion of a high-explosive shell, and landed plump in the mangled bodies of two horses. All about him were the moans and cries of the wounded and dying Frenchmen. He had been so shocked by the shell explosion close to him that he could only move with difficulty and extreme pain. He was barely conscious, alone in the dark and lost, for the regiments had gone on and his detachment of Americans scattered. SHELLS FOLLOW OFFICER Lieut. Muckel, realizing he must do something dragged himself until he came to the outskirts of a village, which he learned later was Villet. Half dazed he crawled to the wall of a building and pulled himself to his feet. He was leaning against the wall, trying to collect his scattered senses, when a shell struck the building and demobilized it. The lieutenant was half buried in the debris. As he lay there, fully expecting never again to rejoin his battery, Sergt. Nunner, of the battery, came along on horseback and heard the officer call. The sergeant wanted the lieutenant to take his horse and get away. The lieutenant refused, and ordered the sergeant to go on and save himself. The “noncom” then committed the militarily unpardonable sin or insubordination, by refusing to obey, and announcing that he would stay with the office if the latter would not get away on the horse. At last they affected a compromise whereby the sergeant rode the horse and the lieutenant helped himself along by holding to the horse’s tail. Thus they caught up with the battery. The Twenty-eighth division was relieved at the Aisne Sept. 8, 9 and ordered back to a rest camp, after about 60 days of unremitting day and night fighting by the infantry and approximately a month of stirring action by the artillery. NAMED “IRON DIVISION” The men were exhausted but were borne up and sustained by the knowledge that they had accomplished almost impossible tasks and had vanquished the most famed regiments of the kaiser’s soldiery. It was after the completion of this work and their withdrawal from the Aisne that the Twenty-eighth commenced to be spoken of as the “Iron Division.” Just who was responsible for this designation has not been definitely established although the remark: “You are not soldiers! You are men of iron,” has been attributed to Gen. Pershing. Anyhow the higher officers soon heard of it and it rapidly filtered down through the ranks and likewise through the entire American Expeditionary Force with the result that thereafter our old Pennsylvania guard unit was always spoken of as the “Iron Division.” And that it was a well earned title all will agree for it is written upon the [unreadable] of France in letters of blood and it is blasted so deep into the memory of the Huns that countless ages will not cause it to fade. From the time of entering the conflict a the Marne when the enemy was turned back from the gates of Paris and started on that long retreat northward from which he was never able to recover until the Vesle river was reached our Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers as well as all those of the Keystone state suffered terrible. The toll of death and injury was heavy and in some of the regiments as many as 1,200 replacements were necessary to bring them up to the required battle strength. They were praised in general orders by both our own and allied high commands and they had long since been recognized as “shock troops” the highest known type of soldiers. Citations brought to the division the designation of “Red” and the men were accorded the honor of wearing upon their coats the scarlet keystone. And when you see a scarlet keystone you know that the wearer has proven upon the field of battle that he is the peer or any fighting man in the world. After their days of strenuous work our boys were thinking of a well-earned rest from the rigors of the firing line for a few weeks at least but they were disappointed. The emergency which had caused Gen. Pershing to brigade the Americans with the French and British has [unreadable] and the first American army was in the forming when the Pennsylvanians turned back from the Vesle. While the Twenty-eighth had been battling against the Hun transports and had been rushing many thousands of Americans to France where they were given preliminary training and it was now proposed to have an entire army entirely American and responsible to only Gen. Pershing and the supreme commander Marshal Foch. PRAISED BY COMMANDER While the men were grumbling over the change in plans whereby they were ordered into another sector to become part of this new army they were cheered somewhat by the fact that their labors had not been unnoticed by those in high places. In a general order from division headquarters read to all the regiments the commanding officer Gen. Muir set forth: “The division commander is authorized to inform all, from the lowest to the highest, that their efforts are known and appreciated. A new division by force of circumstances, took its place in the front line in one of the greatest battles in the greatest war in history. “The division has acquitted itself in a creditable manner. It has stormed and taken points that were regarded as proof against assault. It has taken numerous prisoners from a vaunted guards division of the enemy. “It has inflicted on the enemy far more loss than it has suffered from him. In a single gas application it inflicted more damage than the enemy inflicted on us by gas since its entry into battle. “ It is desired that these facts be brought to the attention of all, in order that the tendency of new troops to allow their minds to dwell on their own losses to the exclusion of what they have done to the enemy, may be reduced to the minimum. “Let’s all be of good heart! We have inflicted more loss than we have suffered, we are better men individually than our enemies. A little more grit, a little more effort, a little more determination to keep our enemies down, and the division will have the right to look on itself as an organization of veterans.” So away they went to the southeast and came to a halt in the vicinity of Reviguy, just south of the Argonne Forest and about a mile and a half north of the Rhine-Marne canal. Here they found detachments awaiting them, and once more the sadly depleted ranks were filled. The division was under orders to put in 10 days at hard drilling there. This is the military idea of rest for soldiers, and experience has proved it a pretty good system, although it never will meet the approval of the man in the ranks. It has the advantage of keeping his mind occupied and maintaining his discipline and morale. The best troops will go stale through neglect of drill in a campaign – and drill and discipline are almost synonymous. As undisciplined troops are worse than useless in battle, the necessity of occasional periods of drill, distasteful through they may be to the soldier, is obvious. “A day in a rest camp is about as bad as a day in battle,” is not an uncommon expression from the men, although, as is always the case with soldiers, they appreciate a change of any kind. Thus rest camp and its drills were not destined to become monotonous, however, for instead of 10 days they had only one day. Orders came from “G.H.Q.” which is soldier parlance for general headquarters, for the division to proceed almost directly north into the Argonne. This meant more hard hiking and more rough traveling for horses and motor trucks until the units again were “bedded down” temporarily, with division headquarters at Les Islettes, 20 miles due north from Reviguy, and eight miles south of what was then, and had been for many months, the front line. FACING MORE HARD WORK The doughboys knew that something big was impending. They had come to believe that “Pershing wouldn’t have the Twenty-eighth division around unless he were going to pull off something big.” They felt more at home than they had since leaving America. All about them they saw nothing by American soldiers, and thousands on thousands of them. The country seemed teeming with them. Every branch of the service was in American hands, the first time the Pennsylvanians had seen such an organization of their very own – the first time anybody ever did, in fact. Infantry, artillery, engineers, the supply services, tanks, the air service, medical service, the high command and the staff, all were American. It was a proud day for the doughboys when showers of leaflets dropped from a squadron of airplanes flying over one day and they read on the printed pages a pledge from American airmen to co-operated with the American fighting men on the ground to the limit of their ability and asked similar co-operation from the foot soldiers. FLYERS PLEDGE SUPPORT “Your signals enables us to take the news of your location to the rear,” read the communication, “to report if the attack is successful to call for help if needed, to enable the artillery to put their shells over your head into the enemy. If you are out of ammunition and tell us, we will report and have it sent up. If you are surrounded we will deliver the ammunition by airplane. “We do not hike through the mud with you, but there are discomforts in our work as bad as mud, but we won’t let rain storms, Archies (anti-aircraft guns) nor boche planes prevent our getting there with the goods. Use us to the limit. After reading this, hand it to your buddies and remember to show your signals.” It was signed: “Your Aviators.” “You bet we will, all of that,” was the heartfelt comment of the soldiers. Such was the splendid spirit of co-operation built up by Gen. Pershing among the branches of the service. To this great American army was assigned the tremendous task of striking at the enemy’s vitals, striking where it was know he would defend himself most passionately. The Germans defensive lines converged toward a point in the east like the ribs of a fan, drawing close to protect the Mezieres-Longuyon railroad shuttle, which was the vital artery of Germany in occupied territory. If the Americans could force a break through in the Argonne, the whole [unreadable] German machine in France would collapse. Whether they broke through or not, the smallest possible result of an advance there would be the narrowing of a bottle neck of the German transport lines into Germany and a slow strangling of the invading forces. Of this first phase of the Argonne-Meuse offensive Gen. Pershing in his report to the secretary or war said: “On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel salient, much of our corps and army artillery which had operated at St. Mihiel, and our divisions in reserve at other points, were already on the move toward the area back of the lines between the Meuse river and the western edge of the Forest of Argonne. With the exception of St. Mihiel, the old German front line from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still intact. In the general attack planned all along the line, the operation assigned the American army as the hinge of this allied offensive was directed toward the important railroad communications of the German armies through Mesicres and Sedan. The enemy must hold fast to this part of his lines or the withdrawal of his forces with four years’ accumulation of plants and material would be dangerously imperiled. “The German army had as yet shown no demoralization, and, while the mass of its troops had suffered in morale, it first class divisions and notably its machine gun defense were exhibiting remarkable tactical efficiency as well as courage. The German general staff was fully aware of the consequences of a success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he would do everything in his power to oppose us, the action was planned with as much secrecy as possible, and was undertaken with the determination to use all our divisions in forcing a decision. We expected to draw the best German divisions to our front and consume them, while the enemy was held under grave apprehension lest our attack should break his line, which it was our firm purpose to do. “Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while or left embraced the Argonne Forest, where ravines, hills and elaborate defenses screened by dense thickets had been generally considered impregnable. Our order of battle from right to left was the Third corps, from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty-third, Eightieth and Fourth divisions in line and the Third division as corps reserve, the Fifth corps from Malacourt [sic] to Vauquois, with the Seventieth, Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first divisions in line and the Thirty-second division corps reserve and the First corps from Vauquois to Quienne-le-Chateau, with the Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth and Seventy-seventh divisions and the Ninety-second in corps reserve. The army reserve consisted of the First, Twenty-ninth and Eighty-second division. “On Sept. 25 our troops quietly took the place of the French and thinly held the line in this sector, which had long been inactive.” ********************************************************************** Chapter XIII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, March 30, 1919, pages 78-79) Names in this chapter: Chronkhite, Waldron, Jones, Goodwyn, Wright, Rhoads, Kerigan, Foreman, Stilwell, Doble, Harding, Keller, Jamerson, Warrilow, Wise, Brett, Buchan, Payton, Rothewell, Hawes, Ferris, Knowles, Welsh, Tidball, Barringer, Spalding, King, O’Mahoney, Edit, Whitaker, Schelssinger, Marvin, Foley, Baker, Hollis, Bundy THE GREAT ARGONNE-MEUSE OFFENSIVE BY THE FIRST AMERICAN ARMY WHICH EVENTUALLY BROKE THE BACK OF THE GERMAN MILITARY MACHING WAS THE CROWNING FEATURE OF THE WAR AND OUR BOYS FROM PITTSBURGH AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HAD A LARGE SHARE IN BOTH THE WORK AND THE GLORY. THE EIGHTIETH DIVISION WHICH TRAINED AT CAMP LEE AND WAS MADE UP LARELY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA LADS ENTERED THE CONFLICE AT THIS TIME ALONG WITH THE SEASONED TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION AND THE SELECTIVE SERVICE MEN SOON PROVED THAT THEY, TOO, WERE OF THAT FAMOUS OLD KEYSTONE FIGHTING STOCK. THE EIGHTIETH HAD RECEIVED SOME FRONT LINE EXPERIENXE WHILE IN TRAINING WITH THE BRITISH, BUT AT THE ARGONNE THE MEN RECEIVED THEIR FIRST REAL BAPTISM OF FIRE. Preparatory for the great Argonne-Meuse offensive by the First American army another division composed for the most part of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania selective service men was sent to join the First American army to battle along the Twenty-eighth division. This was the Eightieth division, which trained at Camp Lee, Virginia. The Three Hundred and Nineteenth and Three Hundred and Twentieth infantry regiments of this division were made up almost entirely of men from this section, although many more were scattered throughout every part of the unit. The division broke camp at Lee about midnight of May 23, 1918, and hiked down to the James river. Boats transported the division to Newport News. Troop transports were waiting and the troops put out to sea about 3 o’clock in the afternoon of Sunday, May 26. The crossing was uneventful and after 14 days at sea the Pennsylvanians landed in Bordeaux, France. Then the intensive finishing preparations for the battle front were begun and the boys were put through every conceivable form of tactics. It was train, train, train from that time until the division was declared ready to meet the Hun. After a week at Bordeaux the division entrained for Calais, where it encamped in an English rest camp. After four days there it was taken to Hesdeuel and billeted in barns at Hesdin l’ Abbe. After two days the men moved out into their tents. Almost three weeks were spent at Hesdin l’ Abbe. The place was close to Bolougne, and several night [sic] there we watched the Hun aviators bomb the town. After marching to Desores and Samre several times, and attending musketry school at Carle, the infantry entrained for Boquenaisan and hiked to Ivergny, where the regiments remained for three weeks. From Ivergny the boys hiked through Sas Lst. Leger to Saulty, from where they made several trips to the front line trenches in front of Blaiseville, just south of Arrus. Several trips were also made into the lines at Bausart, and at times they were kept busy dodging shells. The course of introduction on the Arras front was with the British and various platoons and companies sent into the front line trenches at times had considerable actual battle experience as the result of desultory raids and other clashes between the British and the enemy. In this way our boys were prepared to perform in the Argonne. The Eightieth was in line and ready to tackle anything the enemy had to offer when the word was given for the great Argonne-Meuse offensive. A list of the divisional units and the division and unit commanders follows: EIGHTIETH DIVISION. Maj. Gen. Adelbert Cronkhite, Commanding. Chief of staff Col. William H. Waldron Adjt. Gen Maj. Charles H. Jones Inspector Gen. Maj. Albert C. Goodwyn Judge Adv. Gen. Maj. Barry Wright Surg. Gen. Col. Thomas L. Rhoads Ordnance Officer Maj. Stephen E. Kerigan Div. Q.M. Lt. Col. Albert W. Foreman Intelligence Officer Maj. J. W. Stilwell Aid Capt. Armstead M. Doble Aid Second Lieut. Horace Harding INFANTRY One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Brigade of Infantry – Brig Gen. George H. Jamerson 317th Regt. – Charles Keller 318th Regt. – Col. Ulysses G. Warrilow 314th Mach. Gun Batt. – Maj. Jennings C. Wise One Hundred and Sixtieth Brigade of Infantry – Brig. Gen. Lloyd M. Brett 310th Regt. – Col. Fred Buchan 320th Regt. – Col. E.G. Payton 315th Mach. Gun Batt. – Lieut. Col. Thomas A. Rothwell Capt. Clinton T. Bundy ARTILLERY One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Brigade of Artillery – Lieut. Col. George B. Hawes, Jr. 313th Regt. – Col. Charles J. Ferris 314th Regt. – Col. Robert S. Welsh 315th Regt. – Lieut. Col. William Tidball 305th Trench Mortar Batt. – Capt. Paul B. Barringer, Jr. ENGINEERS 305th Regt. – Col. George R. Spalding SIGNAL 305th Field Signal Batt. – Maj. Thomas I. King TRAINS 305th Supply Train – Maj. Jeremiah W. O’Mahoney 305th Sanitary Train – Lieut. Col. Elliott B. Edie 305th Ammunition Train – Lieut. Col. Orlo C. Whitaker 305th Engineer Train – Capt. Jacob Schlessinger DIVISION UNITS Headquarters Troop – Capt. George Marvin 313 Mach. Gun Batt – Lieut. Col. Oscar Foley And thus, with the stage set for the offensive which was designed to break the backbone of the German military machine and force an early termination of the war, and with Pennsylvania’s two divisions ready, one a thoroughly tried and tested division of the highest type of shock troops, and the other trained to the minute and shortly to be designated as a “red” division, the zero hour arrived. But let an eye witness describe that wonderful scene wherein the Americans gained the victor’s wreath, Thomas M. Johnson, staff correspondent of THE PRESS, stood at a vantage point where he could view the great panorama of battle and he wrote: “In the great amphitheater of the Meuse heights, with the citadel and forts of Verdun looking down, the American First Army this morning struck its second blow at the enemy. “Before the blue gray mists of early morning had risen khaki clad lads swept beyond the famous battleground, over line after line of German trenches. They were beyond Varennes, Montfaucon and Dannevou, where the trenches were fewer and it is almost open country. They were writing new American history where ‘They shall not pass’ was born. Giving way before them are the troops of the crown prince. Thousands who could not escape are prisoners, while the American artillery has crossed the famous brook Forges, nor firing from the old German trenches. “Positions that the Germans have held since the big drive of 1916 have fallen before the Americans, at some places without the loss of a single man. “At the first onrush our troops stormed Malancourt, Bethincourt, and Forges of immortal memory. “The Americans captured the German first and second positions at Dannevou, Mont Faucon and Varennes. “Attacking the third position they overpowered with slight difficulty the German forces, which included Prussian guards, who gave resistance to screen the retirement northward which already commenced. “The way for the attack was blazed by a hurricane of shell fire which commenced at 11:30 last night and reached its climax at 2:30 this morning. Using liquid fire, a smoke screen and fleets of tanks manned by Americans, they captured prisoners and guns. U.S. GAS DEADLY “Gen. Pershing commanded the assault and Secretary Baker watched the battle from one of the Verdun fronts. Some of the finest fighting of all was done by Pennsylvania, Kansas and Missouri troops who smashed the Prussian guards and forced their way up the valley of the Aire, capturing Varennes and the fortress of Vauquois Height with its miles of subterranean galleries, where the Germans lay thick, overcome by our gas. “The infantry and tanks took Varennes, while the capture of Montfaucon, protected by deep trenches, was accomplished with the aid of these monsters driven by Americans, pushing through the mists that swathed the ground. The air was filled with the clamor of thousands of thousands of guns, great and small, and the Forest of Hesse was packed with American artillery when at 11:30 p.m. the first great flash and flickering fireflies’ light ushered in the concentrated bombardment that paved the way for the attack. From Fort De Marre, one of the famous Verdun fortifications, and later from the even more famous Morthomme Hill, THE PRESS correspondent saw the whole panorama of the Meuse heights and valleys filled with the smoke of our guns and on the horizon the taller columns of smoke from the German ammunition and supply dumps which were burning. “The infantry went forward, seemingly crawling yet actually moving rapidly, for our artillerymen nearby were already complaining that the infantry had got so far that it was unsafe for them to continue firing. A little earlier Secretary Baker, observing the battle from Fort De Marre, stood spellbound at the sight of the smoke of our shells boiling up from the valleys. “On the whole 20-mile front of the attack from the western edge of the Argonne forest to the west bank of Meuse river, the progress was rapid and our objectives were gained on schedule time or ahead of schedule. “The Germans made a wild resistance in many places, but in others only a machine gun screen was encountered. As I watched from the hill the drumming sound died out, and the infantry pushed on. “A little before noon the early, low-hanging mists lifted and the sky remained cloudless and blue throughout the day, giving a chance to the myriad American and French aeroplanes which drove through the air singly or in flocks, maintaining complete mastery despite the later attempts of the boche to wrest the supremacy from them. Within the first hours a score of the Hun aeroplanes had been brought down. “Besides their blindness in the air, the Germans seem to have worked in the dark for two other reasons, the first of which is that our St. Mihiel attack drew their attention towards Metz and the second that during the first two hours our artillery fire was concentrated on their positions east of the Meuse, so that they thought the attack was coming westward. Still, yesterday the Germans moved their artillery out of the sector before us. Some of the prisoners say they knew of the attack four days in advance and others are amazed to find Americans attacking them. TIMELY AID BY TANKS “There was some heavy fighting at the Fayel farm, near Mantfaucon, but the tanks came up in time and helped the infantry, who were aided also by flame throwers. “From all sections of the front comes the report that the German artillery fire was light while for every enemy shell which burst, we saw a hundred from the guns of the allies. Some divisions found German resistance not especially fierce. This is regarded as remarkable, for the Americans are attacking a country which is extremely difficult. The heights of the Meuse are a contract succession of valleys, hills and ravines, often heavily wooded and strongly entrenched. “All this ground now swarms with the greatest American army ever assembled – veterans of the Marne, the Ourcz, the Vesle and St. Mihiel, intermingled with the newer troops eager to win their first laurels. “They are all pressing forward, young in spirit. One of the wonders of Verdun is this road which is marked by signs worded in English ‘Keep to the right,’ and American policemen direct its traffic. It seems that the spirit of those weary older men, clad in faded light blue, who went down that road to die looks down upon these young Americans beneath. “There were two great places in Verdun from which to see the attack as it gradually emerged from the mist. The first of these was the fort De Arrme, which lies straight across the Meuse from the famous Vaux Donau Mont, and the second is Morthomme Hill, which means dead man’s hill and which is situated to the north of fort De Marres “To reach fort De Marres one ascends a hill that once was supposed to be the abode of cavemen and monsters. The fort itself is built firmly of masonry and concrete and is but little damaged from the shelling it received when the boche held Morthomme hill three miles away. It is held by a French garrison, but on the highest peak of its fortification were artillerymen from Buffalo who were acting as observers, watching for the bursts of American shells falling beyond the Brook of Forges which two years ago ran red. BARRAGE VISIBLE “From the observatory of Fort De Marres there is a broad view unfolded through the thick ground mist which filled the valleys with seemingly dark clouds. Seemingly on the horizon, but in reality only four or five miles away, dark smoke dimmed everything. It was the smoke of our shells mingled with the smoke or our barrage. In front and little to the left was Morthomme, and still further beyond was Hill 304. “As the mists lifted more, the burst of our shells became more plain and were striking the German positions on the east bank of the Meuse. Our observer pointed out a little knoll, known to be a German observation post. Our shells were bursting all about, but the few boche shells that came near us struck far down the slope. Thus were the German gunners smothered by the millions of shells and the gas that we sent wherever we knew that their batteries were place. “Off on the left, toward Montfaucon and Varennes, came the dread drumming of the machine guns which seems to bode ill for our men, but a brief message which came back reassured us that the score of machine-gunners were in the Melancourt wood, which was being pinched out by the converging advance upon Montfaucon. That large town itself stood out upon its hill like a lighthouse, with spurts of our shell bursts all about it. INFANTRY ADVANCES “The thick mists prevented our seeing the first waves of our advancing infantry, but beneath us we could see crawling across the valley some of the supports with the machine gun carts and the wagons. The whole scene of the war was curiously peaceful. Before noon, however, many of our guns had ceased firing because the infantrymen had gone beyond their range, while whatever firing the German artillery was doing seemed to be on the front line. The sausage balloons hung over head in bunches like clustering grapes. Never before were they so thick and undisturbed, our aeroplanes were everywhere, swooping low to drop messages. Not far away one saw that they were practically all marked with the white centered target of the American air service. “From the top of Morthomme Hill, the top of which is simply skinned leaving a spot miles in area on which nothing grows, a better view of the brooks and gorges was obtainable. Some distance beyond one could see Americans hurling guns across the brooks and a little later the heavy traffic followed. While at this time just entering from the mist which still clung, although it was thinner, could be seen the first wave of our infantry advancing along the bank of the Meuse. They were apparently as undisturbed as though they were on a drill ground.” IT WAS SLOW WORK After the first tempestuous rush there was no swift movement. The Yanks gnawed their way to the vaunted Kriemhielde line, hacked and howed their way through it, overcoming thousands of machine guns, beset by every form of Hun pestilence. Even conquered ground they found treacherous. The Germans had planted huge mines of which fuses were acid, timed to eat through a canister days after the Germans had gone and touch off the explosive to send scores of Americans to hospitals or to soldiers’ graves. To the Americans, not bursting fresh into battle, as they had done at Chateau-Thierry, but sated and seasoned by a long summer of continuous campaigning, fell the tough unspectacular problem of the whole western front. While the world hung spellbound on the France-British successes in the west and north, with their great bounds forward after the retreating Germans, relatively little attention was given to the action northwest of Verdun, and not until the close of hostilities did American begin to waken to the fact it was precisely this slow, solid pounding, this bulldog pertinacity of the Americans, that had made possible that startling withdrawal in the north. So vital was the action in the Argonne that the best divisions the German high command could muster were sent there, and, once there, were chewed to bits by the American machine, thus making possible the rapid advances of the allies on other parts of the long front. Capt. Samuel A. Hollis FOUGHT HARD FOR GAINS The Pennsylvania men looked back almost longingly to what they had regarded at the time as hard, rough days along the Marne, the Ourcq and the Vesle. In prospective, and from the midst of the Argonne fighting, it looked almost like child’s play. Back home over the cables came the simple announcement that a certain position had been taken. Followers of the war news got out their maps, and observed that this marked an advance of only a mile or so in three or four days, and more than one asked: “What is wrong with Pershing’s men?” It was difficult to understand why the men who leaped forward so magnificently from the Marne to the Aisne, traveling many miles in a day, should now be so slow, while their co-belligerents on others parts of the front were advancing steadily and rapidly. A very few minutes spent with any man who was in the Argonne ought to suffice as an answer. Soldiers who were in the St. Mihiel thrust and also in the Argonne, coined an epigram. It was “A meter in the Argonne is worth a mile at St. Mihiel.” The cable message of a few words nearly always covered many hours, sometimes days, of heroic endeavor, hard, back-breaking labor, heart-straining hardship and the lavish expenditure of boundless nervous energy to say nothing of what it means to the hospital forces behind the lines and to the burial details. Sept. 24, division headquarters of the Twenty-eighth moved up to a point less than two miles back of the front lines, occupying old, long-abandoned French dugouts. That evening Maj. Gen. Charles H. Muir, the division commander, appeared unexpectedly in the lines and walked about for some time, observing the disposition of the troops. With the Iron Division now completely assembled, and every part working with the smoothness of a clock, each performing its necessary and vital function to the other, the big unit moved with unusual celerity from the Aisne plateau forward into the western battle line, to engage in one of the greatest battles the world has ever known, during which the artillery brigade, of which the Iron Division boasted, laid down the so called “million dollar barrage,” for it is estimated by officers and men alike, that this barrage, the mightiest, and, considered from the standpoint of difficulty encountered, the most successful ever fired in the world war, cost at least this amount of money. The advance from the Aisne plateau was somewhat hampered by the presence of the artillery brigade, as the heavy guns could be moved only by night, and at day break had to be camouflaged to prevent discovery by the watchful eyes of enemy aviators. In the fight against time, the division impeded by its artillery, covered a distance of 30 miles in the space of one night, which is record time, especially when nothing but the solitary moon afforded light in the open lands, while travel through forests, was accomplished in almost total darkness. To have a light of any kind burning, meant a possible discovery, as the enemy aviators made frequent night forays. The lighting of a cigarette or pipe was strictly forbidden unless done with the utmost care and under cover. Daybreak always found the division carefully hidden. When it rained, soldiers and horses alike, felt gloomy, for they each knew that with the sinking of the sun, the task ahead would be harder. But their spirit never faltered. It was dogged determination that pulled the caissons with their full ammunition boxes through mud hub-deep, down a hill, through a valley, up a hill, across a level space, through a dense forest, over a stream and ever onward until day would again bring it s rest. Added to the rain would be the possibility of no moon, and the night would be blacker than ever. Patrols send ahead guided the artillery by means of the ghost-like, phosphorescent glow, from radium wrist watch dials. It was uncanny the way these tiny bits of mechanism could be seen in the dense atmosphere of darkness. They served their purpose well. At last, after many nights of this sort of travel, the artillery reached its destined point in the heavy forest, from which the first bombardment in the big offensive movement was to take place. The infantry was several miles ahead, placing full confidence in its artillery to lay down an effective barrage, beneath which it might advance against the enemy positions. NEW DIFFICULTY OVERCOME Concealment of the artillery positions in an engagement is regarded as one of the most vital points to be considered. To have cut down trees, and cleared spaces in the forest, in which to set the heavy guns, would have been utter foolishness, for enemy air observers were quick to see these openings, and immediately, before the batteries of the “Iron Division” could open fire, would have determined the range, and put them out of commission. To overcome this difficulty, engineers of the division found it necessary to say many trees partially through, and wire them rigidly together to prevent falling until the time came when the various batteries could open fire. In this manner the positions were so well concealed that not the keenest eye could detect their hiding place. A total of over a thousand trees were cut and wired together in this manner. Capt. Josiah L. Reese THE BOMBARDMENT COMMENCES Within easy range of our guns lay the ramparts of the enemy positions. At dusk on the night of Sept. 25, artillerymen cut the wires supporting the trees, and the monarchs of the earth, many of them centuries old, fell crashing to the ground, leaving the space cleared for the direct fire of the heavy guns. With everything in readiness, every man in his position, lanyards in hand, stocks of ammunition piled high in the rear of the pieces, the moments dragged. They were tense moments, the nerves of every man tingling with excitement, muscles itching for action. Hours passed. At last at 11:30 o’clock, farm down the line the signal rifle barked. It was only a faint report, yet it was heard distinctly. The echo was terrific. An instant of time did not elapse until the great guns roared forth and sent their messengers of death hurtling and whistling through the air overhead. Hundreds of guns were used, ranging in size from the light field artillery to the big naval guns which fired a shell sixteen inches in diameter. Along the 54 mile front there were 3,000 guns, of which the Twenty-eighth supplied its recognized number. The barrage beginning at 11 o’clock that night, lasted many hours. The cost of the shells hurled, far exceeded a million dollars, but because of the magnanimity of the expression it has become known as “the million dollar barrage.” The intensity of “drum fire” was exceeded. It was a continuous roar, and with the cannon muzzles belching flame and smoke, the area for miles about, took on the aspect of a huge forest conflagration. Shortly before morning a Trench Mortar Battery, consisting of 12, ugly, squat weapons, under Capt. Ralph W. Knowles, took up a position a little in advance of the artillery, and just to the rear of the infantry, which was patiently waiting. It was the purpose of the trench mortars to clear the ground of any obstacle that would be an impediment to the advancing foot soldiers. ZERO HOUR FOR INFANTRY As the gray dawn arrived, on the 26th, cold and damp, the artillery fire increased in intensity somewhat, and at 5:30 o’clock infantrymen emerged from their places of concealment and went over. The so-called “zero” hour is a dreaded moment to the soldier for it means that he is going out into the open to face the guns of the enemy. It is far from a pleasant task, but the fighting blood holds sway over the minds and nerves of the men. There are few who do not go over with a prayer on their lips. The waiting is nerve racking. Officers as well as privates feel a sort of nauseating sickness, for death or a serious wound appears inevitable. There can be no faltering, every man is a component part of the machine. It is duty that must be fulfilled. Hysteria prevails in many cases. Here and there along the line. Some soldier, with his thoughts of loved ones at home, will break forth with incoherent mutterings. More stable comrades comfort him. It is not cowardice, only a weakness found in all human beings when facing death. The clocks of officers who are to start the advance into the open are all carefully times together previous to the attack, so that when the zero hour arrives the action may be harmonious all along the line. All signs of fear disappear when the signal is given. Those who have experienced the weakness of fear are instilled with new strength. The fighting spirit comes out stronger, and with bull-dog determination to do or die, they go over the top. The old National Guard of Pennsylvania was only one of the many divisions that participated in the Argonne forest advance. The front extended for 54 miles from the Meuse clear over to the Champagne, and formed a connecting like with the rest of the flaming western front. The American army along covered 20 miles of the attacking front, while to the west was Gen. Gouraud’s French army, and beyond that the British forces. ARTILLERY EFFECTIVE The great effectiveness of the artillery fire preceding the advance became evident only after the soldiers had gone over the top. The route ahead was virtually clear of all obstructions, but six feet of level ground could not be found. The whole field of the forward movement was pitted with massive shell craters, making the advance more like mountain climbing. Observers in the rear could see the infantry, disappearing suddenly from view as they went into a hole, and then clambering up its other side. Often a pool of muddy water awaited the soldiers at the bottom of a shell hole, as well as mud knee deep, so that climbing out was no easy task, considering the weight of the heavy equipment each man carried. Over this same field a part of the battle of Verdun had been fought in 1919, and the holes scooped out by the artillery at that time, with those constantly added by the opposing forces in the meantime, could be distinguished from the newly made ones by grass which grew on their sides. Occasionally a few bleached bones could be seen, a grim reminder of the heroes who had died and were being avenged. Instead of disheartening the men, this sight, only added to their ferocity. The graves of dead comrades have always brought sorrow to the hearts of soldiers, but as well, a greater hate for the Hun. The early morning of the advance was gray and forbidding. The land was covered with a heavy mist which impaired the air observations. Overhead the sky was clear, and bore evidence of a warm sun which would soon dispel the mists and permit the work to go on unhampered. It was the season of the year when nights were cold and damp, and days fairly warm. Consequently, infantrymen wore slickers when they started out in the chill of the early morning. These soon became unbearable, and an impediment to the rapidity of the advance, hence hundreds of men, in the heat of battle, discarded them. When night came again, they bitterly cursed their actions, for they were wretched in the cold. IN THE ENEMY TRENCHES With machine gunners ahead and behind, the infantry advanced rapidly into the domain of the enemy. The first German trench seemed to have been obliterated by artillery fire. It was easily detected, however, but found to be practically deserted of German soldiers. The advance beyond the first German trench was not so easy. As soon as the barrage laid down by the artillery has passed, Germans appeared quickly from their dugouts. Many of these were of the pill box type, that is, covered with a rounded mound of concrete about a foot in thickness, beneath which the machine guns were mounted a few inches about the ground level, their muzzles protruding through small oblongated holes in the concrete. The oblongation permitted traversing of the guns and enabled a sweeping fire. These pill boxes were usually covered with leaves and foliage, and cleverly camouflaged. The machine gun was one of the most deadly weapons in the war, and one of them firing at the rate of 600 shots per minute has been known to cause havoc in the ranks of a whole brigade. Keystone soldiers had profited in dealing with these machine gun nests by previous experience. When they discovered one of them spitting fire and flame in such deadly volume that a direct frontal attack would prove too costly, they flanked it on either side by passing around it to the right and left. In case it could not be destroyed with grenades and rifles, it was left for the heavier guns advancing in the rear. Trench mortars usually had no difficulty in completely demolishing the pill box type. Consequently Capt. Knowles’ trench motor battery had considerable work to do in the American sector of the advance, for the pill boxes fairly dotted the surface of the territory. The capturing of a machine gun nest and its gunners was a hazardous attack. It usually cost many lives, but the sacrifice was imperative, else the general advance would be greatly impaired. ********************************************************************** Chapter XIV (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, April 6, 1919, pages 78-79) Names in this chapter: Thompson, Brown, Morgan, Sweeney, Hagerling, Price, Corry, Shoup, Dubb, Ryan, Muir, Boal, Hoopes, McDonald, Mader, Conatry, Strickler, Johnson, Meletis, Walter, Mirahan, Kieth, Frederick THE ARGONNE-MEUSE OFFENSIVE, SOMETIMES CALLED THE BATTLE OF THE MEUSE IN WHICH BOTH THE TWENTY-EIGHTH AND EIGHTIETH DIVISIONS PARTICIPATED, WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST DRIVES OF THE ENTIRE WAR AND IT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT, FOR UPON ITS SUCCESS HINGED THE QUESTION OF FORCING THE ENEMY TO SUE FOR PEACE AT AN EARLY DATE. THE WORK OF THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIANS WAS MAGNIFICENT AND OF SUCH A CHARACTER AS TO BRAND THEM AS SUPERMEN. THEY RESTED NEITHER DAY NOR NIGHT, FOR WHEN THE INFANTRY WAS NOT ADVANCING THE ARTILLERY WAS SHOWERING A HURRICANE OF STEEL INTO THE GERMAN DEFENCES AND THEIR PERSISTENCE AND VALOR DID MUCH TO CARRY THE AMERICAN FIRST ARMY TOWARDS THE FINAL GOAL OF VICTORY. The Argonne battle is noted for the large number of “clean” wounds sustained by the allied forces. A “clean” wound is one in which the bullet goes clear through the body. Such wounds are usually not vitally serious. A “clean” wound closes rapidly, and external as well as internal hemorrhage ceases in a very short time. This fact in the Argonne battle is attributed to the ineffectiveness of the enemy artillery fire. It is the shrapnel and big shells that tear men to pieces. This weakness of the enemy artillery was a surprise to the American doughboys, and in view of the great number of men struck during this campaign, it is extremely fortunate, for had the German fire been as effective as it had been in previous battles, the American casualty lists would have been appalling. When the infantry came to the second line trenches, a great number of Germans appeared from their dugouts, yelling “Kamerad” and offering absolutely no resistance. Some of them inquired the way back to American prison cages in the rear, stating that they were tired of war, and wanted to quit. They testified to the havoc wrought by the artillery brigade. What few Germans offered resistance in the second line trench, were quickly killed off by the “wipers” up, with hand grenades and rifle fire. BEYOND ARTILLERY FIRE Across the second line trenches which were just south of Grand Boureuilles and Petite Boureuilles flanking the Aire river, German resistance began to stiffen. Our own infantry had now passed beyond the area in which the artillery and trench mortars had wiped out all barbed wire, and hence encountered much trouble from this sort of defensive preparation, which was woven around and between trees. The wire is a maze, laced through the forest from tree to tree, and interwoven so thickly that many hours were consumed in making a distance, that otherwise would have been accomplished in a few minutes. The doughboys had to literally cut and hack their way through yard by yard. Their clothing was torn to shreds. It was a common boast of the Germans that the Argonne forest was such a great wooded fortress that it could never be taken. The Pennsylvania soldiers who participated in the fight are proud they had a share in displaying the vanity of this boast. But they went through an inferno to do it, and lost hundreds of men. TOWNS CAPTURED The Pennsylvania infantry was advancing in two columns. The Fifty-fifth brigade, including the One Hundred and Ninth and One Hundred and Tenth infantry regiments was pushing along the Aire river, and the Fifty-sixth brigade made up of the One Hundred and Eleventh and One Hundred and Twelfth regiments advanced through the forest on the west of the river. On the right of the Twenty-eighth division was the Thirty-fifth division, while on the left was the Seventy-seventh division consisting of selected New York state troops. The towns of Boureuilles, great and small, were taken and cleaned up, after severe fighting, and the advance was continued up the valley of the river in the direction of Varennes, which stands in a bowl-shaped valley and is rich in historic significance, for it was here that Louis XVI was captured when fleeing from France. When our troops entered it, it was gorgeous in autumnal coloring. The “Iron Division” coming up from the south in the enveloping movement on Varennes forged ahead faster than the troops in the forest could advance. This fact became noticeable to the Pennsylvania commander when the enemy began pouring in a hot fire from pill boxes on the flanks of the advancing men. Liason [sic] men discovered this movement too late to apprise the marching division of its predicament. Ordinarily it would have been held up until the other section of the army had caught up, but under the circumstances it was allowed to continue onward, while an effort was made to hurry up the lagging divisions. Maj. Thompson was dispatched to the east with a battalion from the One Hundred and Tenth regiment to quell the flanking fire of the enemy. Shortly after he entered the woods with four companies of troops, increase in the sound of gun firing indicated they were hard at work. In a little over an hour the troops returned after silencing the enemy machine gunners. The division then had easier going. The battalion discovered that German pill boxes were like a great many other German contrivances of the war – largely bluff. In instance after instance, where intensity of the fire from these places had led the Pennsylvania troops to believe that a small garrison of men was manning the pill box, a single solitary soldier was found in charge. The German commanders, however, had placed at his disposal several guns so it would appear there were many men in the pill box. Soldiers captured when a number of these pill boxes were taken, stated their instructions had been to fire as rapidly and as long as possible, without thought of surrender. VARENNES ENTERED At length the Pennsylvanians forced their way to the ridge at the south of Varennes, from which they could see the village spread out below them. A number of officers of the division stepped out into the open to determine the next movement of the division. Among the officers was Gen. Muir, in command of the division. German snipers still lined the edge of the Argonne on the right, and shortly after the officers had stepped into the open, got busy. Several bullets zipped overhead and a number struck the ground in close proximity to the general. Gen. Muir remained in the open until he had finished his calculations, and then turned to two of his aides, Lieut. Raymond A. Brown, Meadville, Pa., and Capt. William A. Morgan, Beverly, Mass., said: “Get me an idea of what is over in that wood.” It was a risky mission. Lieut. Brown borrowed a rifle and a cartridge belt from a private soldier, and the two out on their mission. Three hours elapsed before their return, but they brought important information, which changed the course of action somewhat, from that Gen. Muir had at first decided upon. They told nothing of their experiences, but Lieut. Brown had added a German wrist watch to his possessions, while Capt. Morgan displayed a German shoulder strap, showing the Germans in the forest were Brandenburgers. The troops were switched slightly to the south, well spread out, and the advance down the hill into Varennes was begun. Very little difficulty was encountered. The painstaking efforts of the Germans to make their dugouts and trenches as attractive as possible were seen. The entire slope was terraced off with great care, and the dugouts were arranged in tiers. Officer’s shelters were fitted out with porticos and arbors. German trenches were evacuated quickly as the Americans advanced. The Huns had not dreamed the Americans could advance so fast through the wooded fortress of Argonne. As evidence, members of the Twenty-eighth found a luncheon set out on a table in the officer’s dugout. It had not been touched and the coffee substitute was still warm. In another dugout a piano was found. It had evidently been looted from the town below, and moved up the hill at the expense of much labor. It was in perfect playing condition. American soldiers who took the dugout gasped in astonishment when they saw real American ragtime sheet music on the piano. Peculiar enough, this music was published long after America entered the war, as shown by the publishers name and date on each copy. How the music got into the German hands was a puzzle to men and officers alike. No definite information concerning its presence could be secured. A number of crates of live rabbits and a few chickens were left behind by the retreating Germans. These were all collected and when mess call was blown that evening, an officer’s mess was laden with fried chicken and rabbit a la Varennes, for the table was set in the open square of the little town, in the shadow of the gaping sides of its ruined church. Only a few of the buildings of Varennes were intact. The terrific cross artillery, fire which was so hot that the Germans evacuated the town long before the infantry arrived, had cut off most of the structures near the second story. An electric light plant, which the fleeing Germans had attempted to wreck before leaving was one of the few buildings left intact. Its machinery was repaired by mechanics and engineers and while the Pennsylvania boys were in the old town, electric light was enjoyed. German occupants of the village had planted a large number of pretty little gardens, in which vegetables of different varieties were plentiful. Cabbage, radishes, turnips, cauliflower, potatoes, and other vegetables were added to the daily mess menu for quite a few days. As dusk fell on the evening of the memorable 26th of September, the Iron Division rested safely in and around the once beautiful village of Varennes. Now it is ruined. Time nor modern industry will never be able to wholly blot out its mark of war. IN VARENNES Despite its dilapidated appearance, the Pennsylvanians during their brief stay in Varennes, found the shelter of the half ruined houses of much advantage. Of course, the town was not large enough to shelter all of the boys of the “Iron Division,” and those who were within the confines of the little city were envied by those who had had to pitch their “pup” tents in the surrounding fields, amid shell craters and greater desolation. But they were all happy, and although tired, elated over their success in the big drive. They were commended by their officers. The first day of the campaign did not have Varennes for its objective. The boys of the Twenty-eighth had exceeded the expectations of the commander-in-chief, and gone far in advance of the designated point, at which they were supposed to have stopped. This was permitted for the infantry was going ahead in such orderly shape, that to have stopped them, in all doubt, would have injured the morale of the division. The feelings of the infantrymen when they went over the top in waves, on the morning of that first day of the advance, were now forgotten. The heat of battle, and the encouragement of success had strengthened them. They were hopeful, bright, and happy, over the prospect of the engagements to follow. As one of them expressed it, “I was scared to death when we first started but now I can hardly wait until the next attack. You know the sooner we reach Berlin, the sooner this d____ thing will be over, and the sooner I’ll get back home to the wife and kids.” Quite a number of amusing incidents occurred while the Pennsylvania troops were in Varennes, even if their stay was brief. During the night, enemy airmen dropped a number of bombs on Varennes. A few of the members of a squad which had found shelter in an old kitchen, got badly frightened. An old stove that was still intact was roaring with a healthy fire when the raid broke. Two of them jumped from beneath their blankets on the floor, and lost no time in crawling under the stove, feeling that the steel above them would aid in protection. Whether they considered the heat of the stove previous to the act is not known. They stuck it out until the raid was over, but for some time following, cronies noted that they rarely sat or lay down unless they could find a soft spot. On another occasion, shortly after the boys had entered Varennes, and to be exact on the evening of the first day, just following mess, a big car rolled along the main road of the village, dodging debris here and there and finally came to a stop where a number of soldiers were lying about in a group upon the ground. No sooner had the car stopped, than they were all on their feet standing at the most rigid “attention.” “What town is this” said a tall, handsome looking man, as he returned the salutes of the soldiers. “Varennes, sir,” remarked a private after a short silence in which all of them had tried to say something, but couldn’t because the words got mixed up. They were grateful to their comrade for the reply. With a wave of his hand, and another salute, the big car rolled on while the parting words of Gen. Jack Pershing, for it was he, rang in their ears, “You boys of the Twenty-eighth are fortunate. I’d like to lunch with your division today and enjoy your enviable reputation.” He left a bunch of red-faced privates behind. TEAM WORK OF DIFFERENT BRANCHES A great deal of credit is due the One Hundred and Third ammunition train which kept all the men supplied, without a break with the necessary powder, hand grenades, cartridges and shells. The One Hundred and Third engineers again covered themselves with glory in the Argonne battles. Many times they were sent out to repair those roads which existed after the heavy shell fire, and build new ones. Often times they worked right under the heels of the advancing infantry. It was only after they had performed their work that supplies could be brought up to the fighting troops, and the artillery maintain their changing positions to continue the barrage ahead of the advancing soldiers. To the machine gun battalion supporting the infantry considerable praise is due. While their work is more dangerous when a division is retreating, it is one of the greatest factors in the advance. To some of them falls the duty of advancing immediately behind the infantry and throwing a time barrage just a few feet ahead of the first wave of advancing troops. Great care must be exercised to time these barrages accurately, lest the men run into the barrage and be subject to the direct fire of their own guns. To others of the machine gun companies, fall the privilege of advancing in the first line with the troops. A group of the enemy, which otherwise might sorely harass the troops from one of the sides, can easily be put out of action by one of these guns correctly manned. The One Hundred and Third supply train creditably maintained its work in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties. Doughboys rarely thought to give a word of praise to the men who handled the big camions and motor lorries. More often they said “You fellows have a soft job riding around, while we have to walk in the mud.” But these men were continually subject to trying night drives over perilous roads, very often under enemy shell fire. Some times the roads were almost indistinguishable, so pitted were they with shell craters. Many times these drivers were subject to long and continued work without thought of food, drink or sleep for themselves. Their duty was to bring food to the hungry soldiers, who were fighting, and they did it in a manner well deserving of praise. If the doughboys didn’t get their “chow” when they were enjoying a breathing spell, then the supply train came in for no end of knocks. HOSPITAL UNITS GET COMMENT Men of the four field hospitals supporting the Twenty-eighth, oftentimes found themselves nearer the front than they were required to go. So well had the opening attack been planned that is was realized the hospitals would have to be close to the front, in order to prevent too long a carry for the wounded after the first rush had been made, and the men beyond the “jumping off place.” The hospitals took their positions in the night, so they would not be subject to air bombing before the attack commenced, and so they would not betray the place of concentration of forces. French officers who passed along the front previous to the opening of the assault were greatly amazed to see the hospitals so far in advance. The hospital men themselves were amazed, for when the bombardment started, they discovered they had been squeezed in between the first line of infantry and the support. They were far ahead of the big guns, with whom they were usually stationed. The position was well, for after the advance was started it went forward so rapidly, that a great number of wounded men would never have reached the hospitals had they been at their regular station in the rear. Throughout the Argonne campaign they performed their duties in a well deserving manner, and found their chief source of recompense in the gratitude expressed by wounded and suffering men who passed through them, on their way to permanent hospitals in the rear, and who had been given the best of first aid treatment. “IRON DIVISION” GOES AHEAD After a short time in Varennes and its immediate vicinity, the Pennsylvanians again started forward. A double liason [sic] service was maintained between the two divisions, by means of patrols of men, and also by telephonic communication, which was established by the engineers. The liason service was under the direct supervision of Col. Walter c. Sweeney, chief of the divisional staff, formerly of Philadelphia. The circuit of communication was not broken once, largely due to the efforts of the One Hundred and Third field signal battalion, and Lieut. Col. Sydney A. Hagerling of Pittsburg, divisional signal officer, who was untiring in his efforts. Lieut. Col. Hagerling has said that many times the communication threatened to break, due to the stiff fight the Germans were making, but that is maintenance was the result of constant vigilance and work. He has been officially commended for his good work. Each brigade commander, was always kept informed how far the other had advanced. Both of these were regular army men, and they united in giving credit for the remarkably successful advance of the troops to the “unexcelled” team work of officers and men, and to Brigadier-General Price of the artillery, for the superb handling of his men. GERMAN RESISTANCE STIFFENS Beyond Varennes the infantry found advancing a tougher proposition than they had experienced of the first day of the attack. The Germans had their backs to the famous Brunhilde line, and fought with desperation to hold off the American troops, until the vast Hun armies in the North would have time to extricate themselves from the cunning trap which Marshal Foch had devised. The great jaws of the pincer-like movement were threatening to close rapidly on the retreating armies, and if the Americans in the center could not be held, the retreat would be cut off, the jaws closed, and the Hun divisions surrounded and either captured or annihilated by enfilade or criss-cross fire. The advance now law in the direction of Apremont. Flushed with victory the troops easily took Baulny and Montblaineville, two towns situated on the route to their objective. Apremont was located on the Brunhilde line, and it was here that the Yanks, with hard work, and after they had been partially checked by heavy opposition, broke through the line, and played an important part, in the second great German retreat to the northward which ended with the armistice. When the artillery reached Varennes, they encountered a severe shelling from the enemy positions on the hills to the south. The artillery had previously cut a path in the Argonne forest advance two miles wide. Through it they gradually advanced right into Varennes. The effect of their fire upon the green fields beyond the forest was noticed only when they came close enough to use powerful field glasses, when it could be seen that practically every few feet, a great hole had been torn in the earth’s surface. There were blackened mounds of dirt, beside each shell hole, covered with bits of burned foliage and brush torn from the trees as the heavy shells mowed through the forest. The ground appeared as if it had been visited by a forest fire. In the course of the advance the artillery went forward in echelons, that is, batteries from the rear kept moving up and taking position in advance of the other batteries, which in turn moved up in advance when the farthest battery had taken up the fire. This method of artillery advance was greatly effective during the war, mainly for the reason that at no time was the firing ceased. The German armies had no relapse from the deadly fire of the Pennsylvania gunners, for it was incessant day and night, the men working in shifts. INDIVIDUAL BRAVERY SHOWN Not only were the various separate units of the Keystone division officially cited for their work in the great Argonne campaign, but many individuals received official decorations for valor and bravery on the fields of action. The courage manifested by officers and men of the ranks alike, was of the sterling quality. A few of the instances are of not and are herewith recorded. Among the heroes are several from Pittsburg and Allegheny county. Thomas Corry of Pittsburg, has a string of Hun prisoners tied to his record. A German sniper shot and killed his “Bunkie,” and Private Corry, being of a revengeful nature, started out to get the man who did the deed. He was gone all day. In the evening he came back with six German snipers. He had killed 10 others who would not submit to capture. He has every reason to believe that he got the one who shot his pal, for he covered much territory and battled with every German sniper in the immediate vicinity. Color Sergeant Miles Shoup of Braddock, had a reputation of being a “remarkable soldier.” He was extremely fortunate on a number of occasions, and anything dare-devilish was in his line. One day Col. Dubb of his regiment, the One Hundred and Twelfth infantry, became lost from the company. Shoup volunteered to look for him. He passed through terrible artillery and machine gun fire, located the colonel, and directed him back to the company. An officer of the One Hundred and Twelfth noticed that every time he called for a runner, from any one of the three companies under his command, it was always the same man who responded and performed the difficult and dangerous duty. He made an investigation and discovered that Private Charles J. Ryan of Warren, a member of Co. I, had requested that the other runners permit him to do all of the work. Those assigned to the duty from each company, should have taken turns in fulfilling the dangerous task. Ryan, himself, confirmed the information the officer gleaned from the other runners. He put a stop to the agreement. Ryan said “he wanted to do it all, because he liked it.” As an example of the remarkable spirit within the division Maj. Gen. Muir, head of the division, appeared in the trenches on day, just as the first wave of infantry was going over the top to take a machine gun nest. Three companies were to participate in the capture, and after standing around for a few minutes, talking to the commander of the engagement and acting in a rather fidgety manner, the general said, “I guess I’ll command one of these companies myself.” And to the utter amazement of his men and officers alike, he did, the commander of the chosen company, becoming second in command. He leaped out over the parapet with the men of the company, and despite the fusillade of shells kept right on. Several shells fell near him, and grave doubts were entertained concerning his safety. One shell alighted about 25 feet from him but fortunately it was a “dud” and did not explode. The machine gun fire from the nest under assault, as well as the surrounding nests was terrific. In a few minutes the general’s company played an important part in the short battle with the enemy machine gunners. The guns were captured and brought back to the trenches amid the cheers of those remaining. The general was a little more flushed of face on his return, but he remarked in glee, that “it took him back to old days in the Phillipines.” [sic] A few days later the general was out again among the troops accompanied by Col. Sweeney, Capt. Theodore D. Boal of Boalsburg, Pa., Lieut. Edward Hoopes of West Chester and Corp. Olin McDonald of Sunbury, members of his staff. A group of German airplanes were hovering over the neighborhood, one of which suddenly swerved from its course and swooped down to within a hundred feet of the little group, and began to spit machine gun bullets at them. Several of them landed close by. A rifle leaning against a nearby tree, served the purpose of Gen. Muir. He picked it up, and placing it to his shoulder, fired several shots at the German aviator. Whether he scored a hit is not known, at any rate the flyer, fled after the second shot. WINS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS When the artillery was at Varennes Sergt. T. O. Mader, of Audenreid, Luzerne Co., a member of Battery A of the One Hundred and Ninth artillery, performed the feats that won for him official citation for bravery and the distinguished service cross. A section of the battery was making its way over a shell torn road, under shell fire. Eight men of the section and ten horses had been killed. One of the horses was being ridden by the sergeant himself when it dropped under him. A swing team was unruly under fire, and Sergt. Mader dismissed the driver and took charge himself. In the course of the procedure he was so badly wounded that he was no longer able to control the fractious team. After refusing to have his wounds treated, he continued to direct the gun carriages to place of safety. The, disregarding his own injuries he directed medical officers to take care of the wounds of his comrades first. The official citation stated that “the sergeant’s conduct was an inspiration to men of his battery.” One night the Germans suddenly and unexpectedly opened up on the One Hundred and Twelfth infantry with a sharp barrage. In the excitement of seeking cover the men became separated. Lieut. Smith got them together after considerable effort, and affected their complete reorganization. On another occasion, Lieut. Smith was repairing a line of communication, with a detail of Headquarters company men. He ran out of telephone wire, but so persistent was he that he crawled though the German lines and cut sufficient wire from one of their lines to complete his own job. The men including Lieut. Smith were working with gas masks on, for the boche was mixing up the shells and occasionally sent over one filled with mustard gas. Most of the men who distinguished themselves of the second day of the Argonne fight were those who had performed good work during the opening attack along the Vesle, Ourcq, Marne, and Aisne, but they were emulated by many men, inspired by their deeds, whose names previously had not figured in the “Iron Division’s” record of honor. Men of the Trench Mortar platoons vied with the members of the Trench Mortar brigade. They carried their heavy weapons through almost fathomless depts. [sic] of mud, in and out of shell craters. Throughout the heat of the day, and the chill of night, the Trench Mortar platoons, despite their heavy burdens were always at hand, when the infantry became stalled by an entanglement of barbed wire or embankment of brush, and called for the men to open the way with shells from their short, stocky guns. These shells were called “flying pigs,” because they were cumbersome in their flight, and looked for all the world like a huge pig, waddling through the air. They seldom failed to do the work. Some of them were of the contact variety, and when their nose pushed into the wire, they exploded with a loud retort, completely destroying the entanglement, and making a path through which the infantry could push forward. CHAPLAIN OFFICERS AN ATTACK In the United States army, men of the cloth are exempt from actual military duty, but they are offered an opportunity to serve their country and humanity, as well as their calling, by acting as chaplains to the fighting men. France puts her clergy in the field as fighting men, on the same basis as other fighting men. On the second day of the Argonne drive, all the officers of the One Hundred and Eleventh infantry were incapacitated. Lieut. Charles G. Conaty of Boston, a Catholic chaplain, was the only commissioned officer remaining with the battalion. Although he had recently been gassed in the Marne-Vesle drive, and had not fully recovered he immediately jumped to the breech, assumed temporary command, and led the men in a victorious charge. An incident worthy of note befell Capt. Burke Strickler of Colombia, Pa., when he and a handful of men separated from his battalion. They were acting as runners, and had been sent out from the One Hundred and Eleventh infantry to ask for aid from the One Hundred and Ninth Machine Gun battalion. A guide was sent with them. They followed the guide over one hill and saw no signs of the enemy. Capt. Strickler then asked the guide if the machine gun battalion was far away, and he replied not more than 100 years, and started up the hill alone to make sure, but was riddled by machine gun bullets from the enemy, a nest of which opened fire from a masked position a short distance away on the left. The guide had not traveled more than 20 feet. Capt. Strickler immediately realizing the danger he and his men were in, ascertained the location of the infantry line from a wounded soldier who happened along on his way to the rear, and started for them. In the meantime the infantry which had been having a tough time, had ceased fighting for a short period while the artillery was permitted to lay down a barrage fire. Unaware of this Capt. Strickler led his men up the hill toward the infantry line, and ran into the edge of our own barrage. He immediately returned to his former position and waited until the barrage had advanced, when he finally reached the infantry lines. Fortunately none of his command was injured or killed. BURN AND PILLAGE IN RETREAT While advancing around Apremont, the One Hundred and Eleventh ran into difficulties and was delayed. Runners carried the word to the Fifty-fifth brigade and Capt. Meehan with a battalion of the One Hundred and Ninth, was sent over to assist. They cleaned out the Bois de la T’Aibbe, which was garrisoned so strongly that it offered an almost impregnable front. Many men were lost in the capture of this woods, but it enabled the One Hundred and Eleventh to move up in line with the rest of the regiments which were likewise engaged in the enveloping movement of Apremont, the fall of which was pre-eminent. The effect of the American pressure was now being felt far behind the German lines of defense, back of the Brunhilde line, this was evidenced by great sheets of flame by night, and heavy clouds of smoke by day. It signaled the burning of large heaps of stores, and the explosion of ammunition dumps far to the north, as well as the application of the torch to little French towns which they were evacuating. The knowledge of this only increased the ardor of the Pennsylvanians. They realized that they were breaking the backs of the German resistance, and it had a heartening effect upon them. Romer Johnson Pittsburg, 111th Sgt. Christ A. Meletis Pittsburgh, 111th Leslie H. Walter Braddock, 111th Daniel L. Mirahan Pittsburgh, 111th 1st Lt. Michael Kieth Chaplain, 111th Sgt. William B. Frederick Sharpsburg, 111th ********************************************************************** Chapter XV (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, April 13, 1919, pages 78-79) Names in this chapter: Allan, Jarrett, Heimann, McHenry, Austen, Davis, Jeffery, Lynch, McLain, Mackey, Miner, Summerton, Dickson, White, Hay, Muir, Smathers, Henderson, Shannon, Weigle, Rickards, Bubb, Cronkhite, Sturgis, Brett The Old Eighteenth of Pittsburg, now the One Hundred and Eleventh Infantry of the Twenty-eighth Division, participated in some of the bloodiest battles in France and did much towards tolling the knell of the parting days of Germany’s ambitions for the world conquest and Dominion. The Eighteenth was one of the strongest links in the invincible “Iron Division.” IN THE MEUSE-ARGONNNE OFFENSIVE THE PENNSYLVANIA DOUGHBOYS HAD SOME HARD NUTS TO CRACK AND THE TAKING OF APREMONT PROVED TO BE ONE OF THE ESPECIALLY SEVERE INSTANCES OF BITTER FIGHTING. THE TOWN WAS AN IMPORTANT STRONGHOLD FOR THE ENEMY AND WAS HELD IN FORCE MUCH THE SAME AS FISMES AND FISMETTE. THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION SUFFERED HEAVILY THERE AND OFFICERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE HAVE TESTIFIED THAT THE GUTTERS IN THE STREETS OF THE TOWN RAN RED WITH BLOOD. FOR FOURTEEN DAYS THE TWENTY-EIGHTH POUNDED UP THROUGH THE ARGONNE AND WAS JUST PREPARING TO ASSAULT GRANT PRE WHEN RELIEVED AND SENT BACK TO REST BILLETS AND LATER TO JOIN THE NEW AMERICAN ARMY THEN PREPARING FOR A DRIVE ON THE GREAT FORTRESS OF METZ. THE ARTILLERY DIVISION WAS DETACHED AND SENT INTO BELGIUM TO ASSIST IN HARRASSING THE THEN FLEEING GERMANS. In taking the Apremont, the “Iron Division” had the attack all planned, and the men were ready and eager to strike, when the Huns broke things up in general with a bungling attack of their own. The assault on Apremont has been recorded as one of the bloodiest in the history of the war. The Boche was not only the one to suffer, for the “Iron Division” lost hundreds of men, while thousands were wounded. Officers who participated in the battle have, under solemn oath, testified that the gutters in the streets of Apremont actually ran red with blood. The enemy had brought up strong reinforcements of comparatively fresh troops, and had apparently decided to make a stand. The importance of Apremont was great to them for it was on the Brunhilde line and constituted the first defense. On it, to a considerable extent, hinged the success or defeat and rout of the German armies to the north. The town was held in force, much as were Fismes and Fismette, and presented the same problem to the Pennsylvania commanders. Every approach to the town was held by a concentration of forces manning machine guns, while snipers were in every vantage post possible. Previously the Germans had left one man in charge of a machine gun nest, but now they were manned by small garrisons. The bombardment of the town was terrific, and hand-to-hand fighting raged for many hours which finally stretched into days, before the town was actually occupied by the Pennsylvanians. It was the last big battle that they participated in before the signing of the armistice, although they continued the advance and fought a number of successive minor engagements later. Not until compelled to do so, did the Germans relinquish their hold on Apremont, and when they finally did fall back, it was only to gather strength again, reinforce themselves with fresh troops and launch counter attack after counter attack. None of them were of any avail for the Keystone boys, once inside the town, could not be shaken, and their heroism has never been equaled. GERMANS ATTACK FIRST A few hours before the Americans were to make their attack the Germans broke loose with their attack. This was a surprise to the Pennsylvanians, and the result of it was more than the Keystone men had planned to receive in their own attack. Although reinforced strongly by machine gunners, the slaughter of Germans was terrible. The first wave ran right past our own machine guns into the hands of the infantry, and when those who survived saw the plight of their advancing comrades, but too late to escape, they made a half-hearted attempt to return to their own lines. In so doing they again ran past our machine gunners who were secreted in shell craters and they were mowed down almost en masse. The few who survived were lucky. The American losses were not heavy. It was a blundering attack, and nothing was gained by it. It was planned to have a demoralizing effect upon the advancing allies, but instead, like some of the previous German attempts to break up the offensive, had a heartening effect. The attack caused some little confusion in the American lines, and the assault that had been planned for 5:30 that morning had to be re-organized, but it went on just the same and the Yanks entered the village of Apremont, just as they had intended. GERMANS LAUNCH ANOTHER ATTACK After the Americans had entered the village the Germans, after extensive preparations, launched one great attack, by which they evidently had proposed to unseat the holders of the village and drive them back beyond its limits and the surrounding positions. They came on confidently and with undeniable courage like gallant veterans, never flinching nor giving an inch, the Pennsylvanians stood up to them, while wave after wave swept forward, and was mowed down in pitiable slaughter. The fighting was desperate. In many instances it resulted in hand-to-hand grapples, as dogged and determined as the primitive struggles of man in the dark ages, and brutality reigned supreme. It was not for our men to fight this way, and they didn’t like it, but orders were orders – and hold they would regardless of life or the methods that had to be resorted to in order to keep back the tides of enemy infantrymen that threatened to overwhelm them and sweep onward. There was no time nor inclination either, to take prisoners or surrender, and the only one eventuality under such circumstances was resorted to. They killed as swiftly and as mercifully as was possible. There were a few places where the Germans gained slight advantage. Many instances of personal and individual bravery worthy of note, took place during the desperate fighting that raged around Apremont and in its streets. ORGANIZED FRESH ATTACK It was at this time that Corp. Robert E. Jeffery of Sagamore, Pa., and Sergt. Andrew B. Lynch of Philadelphia distinguished themselves. As members of headquarters company of the One Hundred and Tenth infantry, they were in charge of a one-pounder trench mortar battery, located at a position slightly north of the village. Receiving orders to move their position to the rear, they did so, and shortly afterward learned that their commanding officer, Lieut. Myer S. Jacobs had been taken prisoner. Immediately the two men organized a rescue party consisting of a total number of five and moved forward, attacking a machine gun nest manned by 36 Germans, who it was known, had Lieut. Jacobs in their custody. The little party killed 15 of the Germans, took three prisoners and released the lieutenant uninjured. Immediately after his return to the American frontlines Sergt. Lynch took 75 fresh men, and with revolvers drawn, led them against the enemy in a fresh attack, in which they penetrated the German line to a depth of two-thirds of a mile and established a new position in a ravine north of Apremont. Sergt. Lynch was officially cited for bravery. PENNSYLVANIAN CITED FOR BRAVERY Although he had formerly distinguished himself at the Marne, Capt. Charles L. McLain, of Indiana, Pa., again gained prominence in the Apremont fight. While engaged in fighting with his own company, he was informed that Co. C of the One Hundred and Tenth infantry was unofficered [sic]. His own company was part of the reserves and he had a number of junior officers under him. Without a moment’s hesitancy, Capt. McLain turned the company over to one of these and went to the aid of Co. C. He personally led the first wave that this company made in a hot attack and was wounded himself. But his wound did not stop him. He went right along with his men hobbling with a cane until the objective was reached. Then he permitted them to send him to a hospital. He later recovered from his wounds and rejoined his company. The One Hundred and Ninth infantry bore the brunt of the second German assault on the American lines while they were in Apremont. Maj. Mackey, who, as Capt. Mackey distinguished himself at the Marne, had established his headquarters in the basement of an old building, the top of which had been destroyed by shell fire. With him were the battalion adjutant and a chaplain, members of his staff. When telephonic communication was severed from his headquarters and runners which had been giving him information from different points along the battle line ceased to come, he instantly knew that the Germans had gained some ground and were advancing. This would mean he would be captured unless the post was removed further to the rear of the fighting troops. While meditating, he and his men suddenly heard the cracking of a machine gun, which had been set up on the floor over their heads. It blazed away merrily for a time, with its regular “rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat” which sounds for all the world like a pneumatic riveter at work sealing together heavy cordons of steel. Simultaneously he heard the bawling of commands in a hoarse German voice. This was sufficient to make the major aware that the machine gun above their subterranean post was manned by a crew of Germans. Officers of the One Hundred and Ninth infantry, as well as men, saw what was taking place. The sight of the machine gun over the post command, aroused their anger to a greater pitch and with a wild howl and grim determination, they made for it. It didn’t take long to mop ‘em up, and in a short time the Germans were on the retreat again in that particular section, and fighting to the northward. INFANTRY ADVANCES BEYOND APREMONT With the German assaults successfully stemmed, the American division forged ahead once more and advanced beyond Apremont. The fighting was sever however and the advance was made over ground that was contested every rod. Directly in the way of the advance was Pleinchamp farm, which was cleared up only after considerable effort and some very brisk fighting. The farm was a group of small buildings, as is usually the case when the term “farm” is used in France, and was so arranged that a body of men making an attack on one of the buildings would be subject to the whole fire of the Boches from the others. The buildings afforded excellent places for the secretion of machine guns, automatic rifles, one pound mortars and snipers. The walls of the structures were usually of stone, very thick, and an excellent protection from invasion. The Germans were finally cleared out of Pleinchamp farm, and the objective, Chatel-Chehery, now lay straight ahead. Undaunted, the heroes kept right on going. There were a number of cases where companies emerged from combat under the command of a corporal, or some other non-commissioned officer, because all of the commissioned men had either been killed or wounded so badly that they could not direct the fight. The Apremont fight was a costly one but through it name of the Keystone division has been written in the records of time. From Apremont, the course of battle veered slightly to the west although it still followed the course of the river. They artillery now came into the Apremont and there ran into severe shelling, the same circumstances that was met when it entered Varennes. One battery of the One Hundred and Ninth artillery was almost completely knocked to pieces by the heavy shells. Guns were torn from their carriages, caissons destroyed and men injured. Col. Asher Miner of Wilkesbarre, Pa., seeing the plight of the battery went out in person and supervised the work of reorganization of the battery and its reconstruction. For his personal care, and the attitude show he was commended very highly by Brigadier General Price – in the following words: “Col. Miner has shown bravery on many occasions, but it is when men do what they do not have to do that they are lifted to the special class of heroes. Miner is one of these.” Col. Miner was constantly looking after his men, and their equipment, and his general efficiency and ability are not questioned. It was shortly after the above quoted commendation that he was injured so severely that his foot had to be amputated. A piece of shell struck him in the ankle. KREMHILDE LINE NEXT The One Hundred and Twelfth infantry took Hills 223 and 224, which lay directly in the path of Chatel-Chehery. These two hills presented formidable obstacles and were of considerable military value to the enemy. They were strongly garrisoned, but despite this fact the Americans never hesitated. Because of their vantage point at the top of the hills the Germans were only able to postpone the advance for it took four days to capture both hills, in conjunction with Chene Tondu Ridge. The Americans were careful, for it was a situation in which much might be lost and where much might be gained. The methods employed were of the nature of a siege. The Pennsylvanians were familiar with this method of fighting. While some of the forces spotted the German firing positions and turned their guns upon them, keeping up a steady and non-intermittent fire, others crept forward to selected posts. These in turn set up a peppery fusilade [sic], while others would advance up the side of the hills in the same manner. For four days this kept up, and finally when the doughboys were near enough to the tops they dashed over. For their faithful work that night, they were permitted to remain on the crest and sleep until morning. More of France’s territory was redeemed. WARREN BOY IS HERO On the night before the capture of Hills 223 and 224, afflicted with Spanish influenza and suffering from a number of wounds in his shoulder and legs, Sergt. Ralph N. Summerton of Warren, Pa., sat in the kitchen of his company, feeling mighty miserably. The wounds were the result of a German “potato masher” as the German trench bomb is familiarly known, which went off close to him. Sergt. Summerton, despite his wounds, refused to go back to the hospital, but had been treated at a field hospital. He had a couple of metal tags with him to show for this. Hence he was not made to go to the rear hospital. While nursing his troubles, Lieut. Dickson, battalion adjutant, and Benjamin F. White, Jr., a surgeon, entered the kitchen, and Sergt. Summerton asked how the regiment was getting along, He was informed there was no one to lead Co. I into the attack. Summerton immediately applied for the job. He was admonished to rest up by the surgeon, but Summerton refused to listed and started for the company, assumed its command, and was a the head of the first troops to go against. Hill 24. He actually was the first person of the attacking forces to reach the top of the hill. The brigade commander saw him do the deed and realized his courage, knowing that he was almost reeling from his illness and his wounds. Even after the soldiers reached the top he continued to lead the attack until a bullet in the shoulder forced him to retire. CHATEL-CHEHERY FALLS With the principal defense out of the way, the “Iron Division” steadily marched up the valley of the river on Chatel –Chehery. In the course of progress the men captured a German railroad that had been a part of their communication system, with 268 cars and seven locomotives. The locomotives and cars were camouflages cleverly to blend with the trees, ferns and bushes of the forest. The locomotives were of a peculiar design, having a large boiler, small drive wheels, and a large fly wheel located centrally on top of the broiler. Four of them had been partially destroyed before capture, but the One Hundred and Third engineers soon had them in order and they were running full tilt and performing valuable service. Two other valuable captures were made by the “Iron Division” at the time of the fall of Chatel-Chehery. One of these was a saw mill and 1,000,000 feet of sawed lumber. The saw mill was an electrically operated one and with it were several electric stations all of which were immediately repaired and set to work for the conquering division. The other capture was perhaps of greater benefit. It was a complete field hospital, consisting of 15 cottages, built in an attractive spot on the side of a hill. The buildings were all connected with picturesque walks made of brick and red painted concrete. A large building in the center, used as the operating headquarters was modernly constructed and equipped completely with a modern operating room. A ghastly sight greeted some of the doughboys of the Twenty-eighth, when they entered this room. So hasty had been the German retreat that a patient upon whom they had been working was left on the operating table. He had one leg cut off, and was dead. Instruments being used in the operation were laying on the table, and it was evident that the patient had been left to die, at the moment of operating. Chatel-Chehery proved easier than had been anticipated. There was severe fighting which could end only in one way – the way the Pennsylvanians intended it to end. They entered the town on the same day of the opening attack. STOPPED AT GRAND PRE Freville lay in the path of the fighting division, and it was captured. The outskirts of Grand Pre, a formidable German stronghold, lay just ahead. The American division under its able commanders immediately commenced to surround the city and capture it, where official orders were received, checking them in their preparations and returning the entire division back into billets for rest, as it was stated 14 days of continuous fighting was enough for any division. Another division took its place before Grand Pre, and in one of the severest fights of the way, succeeded in capturing it just before the armistice was signed. In the meantime the “Iron Division” was moved southward across the Aire, and finally came to rest in positions at Thiacourt, about four miles back of the front lines and 16 miles from the German fortress of Metz. Following the capture of the St. Mihiel salient by the Americans and French, a general assault on Metz was being planned, but again the armistice save a bloody combat for the assault did not materialize. The allied armies were ready however, and in all probability would have captured this fortress that hundreds of military men have pronounced invulnerable. ARTILLERY ON DETACHED SERVICE While the units of the Keystone army were resting at Thiacourt, the artillery was detached and sent to harass the fleeing Hun on the roaring, blazing battle line in the north. The German arms were now rapidly nearing a complete collapse, and the part the Pennsylvanians played in the achievement is one to be proud of. Traveling to the northward for many miles, the artillery finally found itself in Belgium, that shell torn, scarred, black waste, over which armies had fought for four years. Here they were attached to the army of pursuit, which was intended to hound the fleeing Huns to the last stand. The artillery of the “Iron Division” however did not see action, for the armistice interrupted. To see the devastation, black ruin and bleak barreness [sic] of Belgium incensed the gunners with an increased abomination of the Hun, and they are sorry they did not get to do the work that had been mapped out for them. Unexpectedly orders were received while the Fifty-sixth brigade was at rest near Thiacourt, two days after the arrival of the division at that rest camp, ordering them into the line extending from Haumont, Xammes, to Jaulny, evidently in preparation for an assault on Metz. This was shortly after the middle of October, and the men were looking forward to some more severe fighting. They had now become a part of the Second American Army. The Fifty-fifth brigade was to have been relieved in 10 days, but this order was countermanded, and the brigade moved up in line with the Fifty-sixth instead. A number of sharp engagements were fought, which however, lost their importance and received very little publicity due to the rapid collapse of the German arms, which was not inevitable. Therefore it was apparently in these positions that the armistice stopped the Pennsylvanians. Six months overseas fighting, during which an enviable reputation was made, won for the Keystone men, the right to wear the gold chevron on the right sleeve. After the signing of the armistice the whole division was moved back to a position near Heudicourt, where it enjoyed a fine rest with very little hard work attached to it. Daily drilling took the place of fighting. The men were kept in good condition by this process ready for any emergency. Finally when the Army of Occupation was well up to its positions on the Rhine, the Twenty-eighth was chosen as one of several divisions to make up a line of support to the troops entering Germany and were assigned a base in Lorraine. By being assigned as part of the army of support, the division was given a direct share in the final triumph, and the honor came as recognition of the excellent service and sacrifice it had made during the last months of the great World War. Maj. Gen. William H. Hay succeeded Gen. Muir in command of the division after the armistice was signed, and Gen. Muir was given the command of the Fourth Army corps. He left the Twenty-eighth with deep regret. Before leaving he took occasion to once more commend the division in its entirety for its part in the war, and directed that special orders commending each unit, and mentioning some of the special feats it accomplished, be drafted and distributed to every man in the division. This was done. The communication in part read: “The Division Commander desires to express his appreciation to all the officers and soldiers of the Twenty-eighth division and to its attached units who at all times during the advance in the Valley of the Aire and in the Argonne forest, in spite of their many hardships and constant personal danger, gave their best efforts to further the success of the division. “As a result of this operation, which extended from 5:30 o’clock on the morning of Sept. 26 until the night of Oct.8, with almost continuous fighting, the enemy was forced back more than 10 kilometers. “In spite of the most stubborn and at times desperate resistance, the enemy was driven out of Grand Boureuilles, Petite Bouruilles, Varennes, Montblainville, Apremont, Pleinchamp Farm, Le Forge and Chatel-Chehery, and the strongholds on Hills 223 and 224 and La Chene Tondu were captured in the face of strong machine gun and artillery fire. “As a new division on the Vesle river, north of Chateau-Thierry, the Twenty-eighth was cited in orders from General Headquarters for its excellent service, and the splendid work it has just complete assures it a place in the very front ranks of fighting American divisions. “With such a position to maintain, it is expected that every man will devote his best efforts to the work at hand to hasten that final victory which is now so near.” Although the One Hundred and Ninth, One Hundred and Tenth, and One Hundred and Eleventh infantries, distinguished themselves throughout the Argonne-Meuse campaign, the One Hundred and Twelfth displayed no less valor, and took its share of the severe fighting with equanimity of feeling, fulfilling each task with a thoroughness that only true Pennsylvanians can accomplish. Maj. C. Blaine Smathers of the University of Pittsburg, who resides in Oakmont, during a portion of the offensive was second in command of the regiment and later became its commander when officers ahead of him received promotions. Maj. Smathers was gassed and was forced to undergo treatment at a hospital. Maj. Smathers tells many incidents that occurred to the One Hundred and Twelfth infantry which are interesting. He tells of how previous to the opening of the Argonne-Meuse offensive the Fifty-sixth brigade, composed of the One Hundred and Eleventh and the One Hundred and Twelfth infantries was stationed near Epieds, just north of the Marne river. A battalion of the One Hundred and Eleventh was in a woods nearby and apparently lost. The exact location of the battalion could not be learned and the predicament was exasperating for the brigade artillery could not let go at the Boche for fear of shelling the lost battalion of the One Hundred and Eleventh. The one thing that had to be done was to locate the lost battalion which was in command of Col. Shannon, also commander of the One Hundred and Eleventh infantry. Accordingly on the morning of July 28, 1918, the first battalion of the One Hundred and Twelfth under command of Maj. Smathers went forward to locate the lost battalion. During the advance through the woods the searching battalion was heavily shelled. It stopped to reconnoiter at a vantage place in the forest and Capt. James Henderson of Oil City, Pa., with a patrol of men was sent out to locate Col. Shannon. He went several hundred yards, succeeded in locating the missing battalion and Col. Shannon, but when returning with his command was struck by a Boche high explosive shell and killed instantly. Location of the battalion, however, proved of decided advantage for it permitted the brigade artillery to open fire on the Boche positions, and removed the danger of striking the lost battalion. MAJ. SMATHERS BECOMES FIRST IN COMMAND During the second Marne offensive, Brig. Gen. Weigle, in command of the Fifty-sixth brigade was promoted to major general and was sent to the north to command a division. Col. George C. Rickards assumed command of the Fifty-sixth and Maj. Smathers was promoted to first in command of the One Hundred and Twelfth infantry regiment. Just before the Twenty-eighth was relieved at the Aisne, Maj. Smathers was gassed. He was leading an attack and going forward under difficulties. The day was a hot one, and the Boche persisted in sending over a gas shell every so often. “Mixing them up” the doughboys called it. Maj. Smathers had trouble with his gas mask. The air was sultry and with the poorly functioning mask the major could not get his breath. Accordingly he removed it from his face for a minute or two and tried to adjust it. In so doing he inhaled a slight quantity of gas which later necessitated his removal to the hospital. He was confined there for three weeks but rejoined his command on Aug. 19. After a short rest the Fifty-sixth brigade moved again up into the front lines. On the night of Sept. 5, the One Hundred and Twelfth was located in a small woods near the Vesle river. The divisional artillery was in the same woods with a large number of artillery horses. During the afternoon of the following day a Boche place flew overhead at an unexpected moment, located the small concentration of troops and flew back again to his own lines. That night, and it was not unexpected, bombing planes flew overhead and dropped several huge bombs in the midst of the troops. Many were killed and injured and 50 artillery horses were killed. On the night of Sept. 19 the One Hundred and Twelfth infantry relieved a French regiment in the front lines of the Argonne sector. For several days there was little action by either the Americans or the Germans in the trenches opposite them. On Sept. 23, Lieut. Col. Bubb took command of the regiment, and then on the 25th the entire division was moved up into a position for attacking. The Argonne forest lay just ahead of the attacking armies and the offensive was carefully planned. Zero hour was set for 5 a.m. on the 2th [sic]. The One Hundred and Eleventh infantry was in support of the One Hundred and Twelfth which bore the brunt of the first attack. The Pennsylvanians went over the top after an all night bombardment with the One Hundred and Eleventh following closely. Throughout the entire day the fighting was severe. About evening the regiment drew an intense machine gun fire from the enemy, which resulted in heavy losses. The fighting regiment, however, kept on, and Co. M, of the One Hundred and Twelfth, made up almost entirely of Grove City boys, saved the day. Reconnoitering through the woods the company captured 49 Boche artillerymen who were amount to[sic] man two German 77 m. guns. They had been placed in the edge of the woods and commanded a considerable portion of the valley up which the conquering armies were marching. With their tremendous capacity, the German gunners could have swept the invading forces with such an intense fire that further progress would have been almost impossible. Fortunately Co. M located them before they got into action. Parallel with the conquests of the Twenty-eighth or “Iron Division” are the deeds and fighting valor of the Eightieth division, which was made up of men from Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The Eightieth division has been named the Blue Ridge division, its members being recognized by a shield insignia of olive drab cloth upon which is superimposed in the center three blue hills, representing the Blue Ridge mountains, all outlined in white. This insignia is worn on the left shoulder of the uniform. The greatest number of Pennsylvanians grouped together in separate unites of the Eightieth were in the Three Hundred and Nineteenth, Three Hundred and Twentieth infantries and Three Hundred and Fifteenth machine gun battalion. The Blue Ridge division encountered its severest fighting in the Argonne Meuse offensive from Sept. 26 on until the armistice. It advanced to positions farther to the north than did the “Iron Division,” which had a more strongly defended sector to fight against and was materially checked by the concentration of troops around Varennes and Apremont. The part the two divisions played in the Argonne fight was intended to be different. It was the severe defeat of the Germans at Apremont and Varennes that permitted the American armies to pursue the fleeing Hun so far to the north. Unlike the Twenty-eighth division the Eightieth had no set battle front during the Argonne fight, once the offensive was under way, but was shifted from one place to another in the battle line. This shifting about subjected the Eightieth to many long, wearisome marches. FIRST BIG FIGHT OF THE EIGHTIETH On Sept. 25, after having marched two nights from a rest camp in the St. Mihiel sector, the Blue Ridge division reached the Bethincourt sector of the Argonne Meuse offensive, which place they had been accorded by the higher command. From the morning of Sept. 26 until the 29th they advanced into the Argonne. From Oct. 4 to 12 they were in the Nantillois sector of the Argonne-Meuse battle, and were moved forward on Nov. 1 to the St. Juvin sector where they fought until the 6th. The Blue Ridge fighters in their big drive of 17 days from Sept. 26 until Oct.12, and in their last days of the offensive, of Nov. 1, to Nov. 8, reflected the great manhood of the three Blue Ridge states, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. Recognition of the division’s great work was exemplified in the promotion of its commander, Maj. Gen. Cronkhite who was placed in command of an American army corps. The honor would probably have carried a three star decoration had it not been for a war department order prohibiting promotion under certain conditions. Maj. Gen. Sturgis, whose father held the same rank in the Civil war, was placed in command of the Eightieth after the promotion of Maj. Gen. Cronkhite and continued to command until the armistice was signed. The One Hundred and Sixtieth brigade made up largely of scrappers from Pittsburg and vicinity was fortunate in having for its commander Brig. Gen. Lloyd M. Brett, who has been in active command of troops for 40 years. Gen. Brett was rated among the A.E.F. leaders as one of the very best. His military genius was tempered so generously with fatherly action that he soon became dear to the hearts of the 7,000 troops who made up his command. USED EXCEPTIONAL STRATEGY General Brett was exceptional in his methods of fighting. H used military strategy that has not been surpassed and in very few instanced did he adhere to the set forms that were commonly known by the allied and German forces. Peculiar enough his many schemes resulted in decided successes. In the capture of machine gun positions, for example, Gen. Brett employed a brad ne method when it was found impracticable to use a flanking movement. Gen. Brett’s orders were to have the men seek cover and re-form. Meanwhile the artillery would be instructed to lay down a barrage over the positions infested by enemy machine gunners, which would be so severe that the Boches would be compelled to seek shelter in their dugouts. The order would be given for the barrage to cease and suddenly before the Germans would get back to their guns, Gen. Brett’s men would sweep down upon them and capture the Hun crews in their shelters. Another method employed by Gen. Brett to combat the deadly machine gun was to resort to tactics which required the enemy gunners to maintain a continuous fire. Machine guns are capable of keeping up a sustained fire for a period of 20 minutes when they become too hot to be efficiently handled. After the enemy would be kept busy firing for this period an advance would be made upon them and their capture would be made possible at a minimum cost. It was not an infrequent occurrence, it is claimed, to see Gen. Brett out in front in the thick of the fighting with the men of the units in his command. He was where his men were, and he was often seen giving water and aid to a fallen soldier. While at Camp Lee and during the fighting in France he was fairly idolized by his soldiers and the men declare that he was more of a father to them than an officer, as he always had their welfare at heart. He was in touch with the men in the ranks and it was not an uncommon sight to see him chatting with them. ********************************************************************** Chapter XVI (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, April 20, 1919, pages 82-83) Names in this chapter: Pollock, Dove, Earls, Brain, Halsey, Brosius, Hewitt, Shafer, Books, Gray, Herdman, Smith, Bienna, Townsend, Gilham, Timmor, Thompson, Caster, Cope, Strong, Kellerman, Bax, Maag, Herrig, Schedemantel, Semanchuch, Hanley, Scheidmantel, Rollins, Scheider, Killinger No person who was not there and participated in the battles can have anything but a hazy idea of the dangers and privations which the American doughboys faced almost daily when engaged in breaking the German military machine. And our Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania soldiers were always found to be in the thick of the most severe fighting for the high officers knew they could be depended upon to thoroughly and effectually perform whatever tasks they were assigned. THE EIGHTEITH DIVISION PERFORMED WONDERFUL WORK IN THE GREAT ARGONNE-MEUSE OFFENSIVE AS PART OF THE FIRST AMERICAN ARMY. MANY OF OUR BOYS WERE KILLED AND WONDED BY BOCHE SHELLS EVEN BEFORE THEY REACHED THE FRONT LINE TRENCHES BECAUSE THE BACK AREAS WERE ALMOST CONTINUALLY UNDER A RAIN OF GAS, SHRAPNEL AND HIGH EXPLOSIVE SHELLS. THE MEN OF THE EIGHTIETH PERFORMED NOBLY THROUGHOUT THAT TERRIBLE DRIVE AND BY THEIR DARING AND BRAVERY WON A HIGH PLACE IN THE LIST OF THE FOREMOST AMERICAN DIVISIONS OF THE WAR. In presenting this story of the activities of the Eightieth division The Press has been fortunate in securing a copy of the diary of Corp. Arthur Nelan Pollock, Co. F, Three Hundred and Twentieth infantry, whose home address is 614 Wallace ave., Wilkinsburg, and who carefully jotted down the events from day to day in the great Argonne-Meuse offensive. Perhaps no more faithful record of this great battle and the work of the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania men who made up a large part of this division could have been obtained, for it comes from a man in the ranks who was actively engaged out on the very brink of that far-flung battlefront and who was gifted with the facility of observing and recording the swiftly moving panorama of that stupendous occasion. It is a wonderful, gripping story simply, and intelligently, and thoroughly told, and it is intimate, for it concerns our boys. Future histories of that wonderful drive by the First American army through a German stronghold reputed to be impregnable will no doubt give more detail in dealing with the operation from a military viewpoint, but they will not tell of the daily grind of the sons whom the fathers and mothers of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania sent into that contest for the freedom of the world, and of their achievements. Corp. Pollock’s diary covers the work of our soldiers from day to day; of their dangers and their privations and even amidst that awful carnage with death stalking on every hand; with throats parched with thirst; with stomachs crying out because of the gnawing pains of hunger; with their bodies weakened from incessant strife in the daylight hours and slumberless nights they still found time for humor and to laugh, and best of all, to “carry on.” Corp. Pollock and these lads of whom he speaks were one of the big factors in breaking the backs of the German military machine; that mighty mechanism which had almost crashed its way through to Paris, the sea, and victory before America answered with her unconquerable legions; those wonderful legions whose glittering steel withered the most famous of the kaiser’s regiments and cut them down like wheat before the reaper’s blade. Here is Corp. Pollock’s story as he set it down whenever he had a moment’s respite and while the events were fresh and indelibly stamped in his memory: “On September 24 about 5 p.m., near Lampere, we rolled full packs and in addition to the Chant Chat automatic rifle I had two bombs, one hundred rounds of ammunition in my belt and two bandoliers of 60 rounds each. At 6 o’clock we had our supper of beef stew, bread, jam, Karo and coffee. On this date we received semi-automatic pistols of 45 caliber. Our iron rations or emergency rations consisted of four boxes of crackers known as hard bread and one can of corned beef. At 7 p.m. we started on a 12 kilometer march toward the front. On this march we passed the great Verdun cemetery where two millions soldiers are buried of which over one million are German, the balance soldiers of the allies. When near Germanville the Hun started to shell the road we were marching on and we put on our helmets. We marched through Germanville and up a long hill to the trenches and dugouts in the woods northeast of the village. Here we were about six kilometers from the front line with French heavy artillery all around us, some of it capable of firing 18 kilometers. We arrived here shortly after midnight. F. Kirks Earls and I did not pitch tents but just rolled up in our blankets and shelter halves. For the first and only time in my life I slept with a pistol under my head. All night the Huns were firing shells over our heads into the town we had come through earlier in the evening, and how we hoped they would not shorten their range.” SHELLS KILL MANY “On Sept. 25 we got up at 6 a.m. It was a very pretty morning and the weather was fine. We had breakfast at 8 a.m. and Earls and I cleaned our automatic pistols and rifles, pitched our tent, and visited dugout No. 6 which had been assigned to “F” company in case of an emergency. The main stairway down was 50 feet deep. One room at the foot of the stairs was fitted up with bunks and there was also on this floor a fully equipped power plant for lighting the whole series of dugouts. About halfway down the stairs there was also another large room equipped with bunks. Electric lights were used throughout. “At 2 P.M. we had dinner – beef stew, potatoes, bread and coffee. At 3 p.m. Capt. Maag gave us a lecture on the use and care of the pistol. At 5:30 p.m. we had supper, then the company was assembled and a bulletin was read telling of the good behavior of the men while in training and their determination to do their bit, and that now as the time had come to fight they were to show the same determination to win and fight to the end. Later, we put our rations and toilet articles in one small pack and fixed up all our other belongings in a roll and at 9 p.m. lined up at the kitchen wagon for another meal, this time – beans, bread, syrup and coffee. “I had just left the wagon with my mess kit full when Jerry dropped a shell not 50 feet from me. It hit our lumber or supply wagon for the kitchen, smashing it all to pieces and throwing our eats everywhere. He dropped quite a few shells there among us in the next few minutes, killing and wounding many of our regiment. We ran to dugouts and stayed there until things quieted down a little, then formed on the road preparatory to leaving the woods. “While forming the shelling continued. One struck a tree by the road a glancing blow and the shell came rolling down the road not three feet from me, but it was a ‘dud’ and did not explode. It was an awful sensation to lie there (I was in a ditch or gutter beside the road), and hear the boom of the shell as it left the German gun, then the whistling as it came toward us (more like a who-o-oo-oo-oop) and the bang as it burst around us, then the pitiful cries in the dark for help and first aid. Later we heard there were 11 killed and 31 injured while we were in this position. MILLION DOLLAR BARRAGE “We left about 11 p.m. on a six kilometer march for Bethicourt. As we left the greatest barrage the world has even known started. ‘The million dollar barrage’ it is called and it lasted for 12 hours. Had all the cannon used in this barrage been placed in line hub to hub, the length of the line thus formed would have been longer that the entire battle front in Europe. It was about 4 a.m. when we were deployed and ready for the word ‘Forward’ over the top in ‘No Man’s Land.’ We rested until 5:03 a.m. The Fourth division regular army was on our left and the Three Hundred and Nineteenth infantry on our right. ‘G’ and ‘H’ companies were in the first wave and ‘F’ and ‘E’ companies were ‘moppers up.’ The Three Hundred and Fifth engineers were with us carrying rifles on one shoulder and sections of bridges on the other. The Second battalion was covering a two kilometer front. The First and Third battalions were in support and the Three Hundred and Seventeenth infantry was in reserve for the Three Hundred and Twentieth and Three Hundred and Eighteenth was in reserve for the Three Hundred and Nineteenth infantry. The great barrage was put over for our division by the Thirty-third and Eighty-second division artilleries. There were about 600,000 Americans and 300,000 French soldiers engaged in this drive. (Private Killinger was killed in the woods at Germanville.) “At 5:030a.m. on Sept. 26, was the ‘zero hour.’ The noise made by the cannon and machine guns behind us was terrific. You couldn’t hear the man next to you, but then he was about 15 feet away in this combat formation. The fog and smoke was so dense, too, that one could hardly see the next man although the sun was slowly coming up. Soon after we started Sergt. Halsey was shot in the neck and spit the bullet out of his mouth, dying later. In the confusion the smell of smoke and powder was mistaken for gas and gas masks were put on. “As we charged down the hill through the smoke, fog, and barbed wire entanglements with our masks on, we soon found ourselves in the cellars and ruins of buildings which the retreating Huns had left burning. Our squad had become detached from the rest of the company. After removing our masks we attempted to locate our company. Hearing familiar whistles to our right and ahead of us we double-times it in that direction and attached ourselves to Co. C of the Three Hundred and Nineteenth infantry which was in the front line of assault. So far our progress had all be down hill, and now as we charged up hill the fog lifted and we could see the work our artillery was doing. The whole side of the hill was filled with shell holes, some 15 feet in diameter and nearly as deep. Barbed wire entanglements had been torn all to pieces and trenches and dug-outs blown up. IT WAS UP-HILL WORK “In spite of the great noise made by our artillery in the rear we could hear the German machine guns in front of us, and advanced up the hill by jumping from shell-hole to shell-hole. Sometimes the shells would destroy the home of a jack rabbit, and how he would go jumping across No Man’s Land. Pretty soon a German popped up out of a trench ahead of us with his hands up and yelled ‘Kamerad.’ As no one fired at him he came toward us asking which way to go. Someone behind me told him New York was back in the rear, and away he went in that direction on the double, hands up all of the time. “I wasn’t advancing very fast, for the Jerries must have seen my automatic. Anyway when I wasn’t in a shell-hole they were making it pretty warm for me and the bullets were singing around my helmet at a great rate. Finally I made a dash the rest of the way up the hill and into their trench. There they were, two youngsters, one looked a lot like Frank Brosius and neither one looked a bit older. Both were crying ‘Kamerad.” The German machine gun is a water cooled affair and we had come upon them so swiftly, they hadn’t had time to connect it up but had fired it until it was so hot it wouldn’t fire anymore. “I searched my prisoners and as they had no arms I destroyed their machine gun and showed them the way back to the cage. You can understand why a guard is not sent back with two or three men when I tell you that about ever three or four hundred yards there were lines of soldiers following the front line. Over on my right there was a great deal of cheering and yelling. The boys had captured a dug-out in the same trench and 27 ‘square-heads’ as we called them. They were filing out to be searched and started to the rear; some old men, some boys, but all appearing to be well-fed. A lot of ammunition and some German grub were captured in the trench. I might say right here that later reports showed that 1,500 prisoners had been captured in the first half hour of the battle. This is a pretty good record considering that we occupied only two kilometers of the one hundred kilometer front. “Then we went ‘over the top’ again and forward to the next German trench, leaving the ‘moppers-up’ to get all the Germans out of the dug-outs and take captured material back. The machine guns continued to fire on us and quite a few of our comrades were being wounded, but there were a great many of dead and wounded Germans lying around also. Before we reached the next trench a long string of Jerries came out toward us with hands up; some were laughing and seemed to think the war over as far as their fighting was concerned. They handed our boys their watches, knives, money, cigarets, etc., as they filled up to be searched. A daschund dog came with them answering the name of ‘kaiser’ and followed the ‘squareheads’ back to the prison camp. Here is where we got the name of ‘not knowing when to stop.’ INTO THEIR OWN BARRAGE “In the excitement of taking prisoners we had charged forward too fast and were ahead of our own barrage, in other words ‘between two fires.’ Quite a few of our own men were badly mangled here. Not being with my own company, I didn’t know any of the wounded, and it was hard to leave them, but for our own safety we were ordered to the right into some trenches. The doctors, first-aid men, and Red Cross, followed right up and took care of the wounded. Rocket signals were sent up and our airplanes which were flying overhead, hurried back to the artillery and soon the shells were tearing great holes in the earth ahead of us again. I was now with Co. A, Three Hundred and Nineteenth infantry. “As we advance again we came to a swap where the engineers were putting up a pontoon bridge. After crossing this we ran into a machine gun fire from a woods. Locating a machine gun and attempting to flank it, I found myself with Co. G of the Three Hundred and Nineteenth (Karl Hewitt’s company.) I connected myself to the company and was assigned to Corp. Shafer’s automatic squad. We soon captured the machine gun and advanced into the woods, and to dugouts where we spent the early part of the night. On our left 25 or 30 Germans started toward us across an open field with their hands up. Some of the foreigners in the company opened fire on them and they fell back and gave us an awful battle. Later in the evening the German artillery got our rand and airplanes dropped bombs on us. Al told we spent a very uncomfortable night to say the least. (Corp. Shafer is a Wilkinsburg boy, and worked at Hall’s roundhouse on the Union railroad.) “Soldiers killed or dying from being hit by shrapnel turned a horrible yellow color, but those hit by machine gun bullets turned blue. “On this afternoon when Jerry was making things warm for us our artillerymen sent over some liquid fire shells which set fire to the woods which the Huns were holding, and with the officer’s field glasses, we were able to see them retreating over the hills. “On Sept. 27, at 4 a.m. (before daylight) we combed the woods which seemed to be a lumber camp or source of wood supply for the German army. Without a barrage we conducted a raid on a little town which the Germans had used as a hospital, and which as they retreated they left burning. Passing through the town we went up a hill through another woods, then down the other side of the hill to the edge of the woods overlooking the Meuse river. The city of Dunn sur Meuse could be seen in the distance. In the last woods we met several machine guns and captured them. We had reached our objective at about 10 a.m. but the Three Hundred and Twentieth infantry on our left had med with stiff resistance and had not advanced as far as we were. IN THE ENEMY’S QUARTERS “We dug bivrys [sic] big enough to shelter us from machine gun fire and Company headquarters were established in what had been a German officer’s quarters. Her there was glass in the windows, lace curtains, a desk, a table, a big leather Morris chair, and a ‘regular’ bed in another room. The rooms were wired for electric lights. While here we were shelled quite a little. They used gas on us in the woods. This little bungalow occupied by Company headquarters had also been a first aid station. We spent the night here, another company relieving us in the morning and at 6 a.m. we moved back to support trenches on top of the hill. “On Sept. 28, the Three Hundred and Twentieth on our left, had still not reached their objective and we were in a pocket and being shelled from three sides, getting quite a lot of gas. German airplanes fired on us with machine guns but our planes drove them off. Towards night to make matters wore [sic] it started to rain and rained all night. We were in a shallow trench and had to stay down on account of the flying shrapnel and machine gun bullets. The trench was soon a creek and we were soaked. German planes flew over us again, not a hundred feet above, firing their machine guns directly at us. “On Sunday morning, Sept. 29, about 5 o’clock we were relieved and started on our march back. Having no water in my canteen, it was on this march that I got so thirsty and drank from a shell-hole. I had given nearly all of the water in my canteen to wounded men. It was very risky business to drink water out of a shell-hole, as the rain might have filled the hole made by a gas shell which poisons the water. “On our way back we saw great quantities of ammunition and rifles and even heavy artillery that had been captured from the enemy. Some of this artillery had already been turned around and our gunners were firing German ammunition from German guns. Our wounded had been taken care of and the dead were being buried. In some places there were great heaps of dead Germans. A great number of horses were dead along the roadside, most of them having been gasses – some of them even had gas masks on, probably put on too late. The boys called these horses and mules ‘more bully beef.’ We passed several German airplanes that had been brought down and saw lots of terribly mangled soldiers when we passed a field hospital. Further back we met some of the little French whippet tanks, going like the dickens to the front. They were probably making 15 miles per hour and are about the size of a Woods Mobilette with two men in each. We also me auto trucks of ammunition and rations, and artillery was being brought up closer to the front. “About noon we stopped in a woods and the kitchen wagons came up, but before we could get started to eat ‘Jerry’ commences shelling the woods. About the same time we received word (by airplane, I believe) that the Seventy-ninth division in front of where we were, was being driven back. There certainly were a lot of wounded soldiers being brought back. Without waiting for dinner and as tire as we were we turned around and started forward to help our comrades. We had progressed only a short distance when another plane flew over us and dropped a message telling us the Seventy-ninth division had overcome the resistance and was again advancing. Then we had our dinner by the roadside, the first warm meal for four days. “We marched by reserve trenches at Cuisy, where Corp. Shafer, Private Books and myself dug a bivry and tried to sleep. We had just finished our little dugout when it commenced to rain. All night long the army mule rent the air with his unearthly braying. (The warm dinner consisted of stew, tomatoes, coffee, bread, jam and sugar.) “On Sept. 30 we were moved to another part of the trench and made a new bivry and a fire. For dinner we warmed up some canned roast beef and bacon and made coffee. In the afternoon I cleaned up my equipment and rifle and at 6 p.m. supper was served from the kitchen, which was now located in the trench. We had roast beef, beans coffee, doughnuts, bread, syrup and sugar. “Oct. 1 – At 2 p.m. the men who had been lost came back to the company. Breakfast at 8 a.m., consisting of bread, bacon and coffee. In the forenoon I cleaned up for inspection, also washed my feet and we had foot inspection. For dinner at 2 p.m. we had fresh beef stew, bread, jam, coffee and sugar. In the afternoon the first mail came since Sept. 22, via ‘G’ company. After supper at 6 p.m. Shafer and I had a long talk about Wilkinsburg. “Oct. 2 – I was on gas guard from 1 to 2:30 a.m. The Germans were throwing shells over our heads at artillery trenches on the hill behind us. Breakfast. Was placed again on gas guard from 8:30 to 10 a.m. We could see and hear the great shells going over our heads and see them tearing great holes on the other hill. Dinner was good. Steak, gravy, potatoes, bread, Karo, coffee. About 3 p.m. I located my own outfit (Co. F, Three Hundred and Twentieth infantry) in the same reserve trenches about two kilos to the right. The boys made quite a fuss over me and seemed glad to see me again. Corp. Cast and Corp. Scheidor in particular seemed glad that I hadn’t been wounded or taken prisoner. “I did not know until now that Kirk Earls had been killed and Lewis Gray wounded. I received three letters from him, two from brother Earl, nine from Florence, one from Cousin Pearl, one from Frank Gibson and one from Johnny Weyer, also two ‘Sentinels.’ This mail we were told was delivered by airplane. One of the letters from Florence had also made the trip from Washington to New York via airplane. I returned to’G’company for my equipment and Capt. Smith gave me a very nice note to my own captain which I was permitted to keep. About 6 p.m. Joseph Herdman of ‘D’ company came to see me and told me Corp. Townsend of ‘C’ company had been wounded. Bienna and I made a bivry together. My roll had been opened and I lost many of my personal belongings. (I was wearing my heavy sweater, but a light one and my camera were among the missing articles.) SAW AIRPLANE BATTLE “October 3 – Finished reading my letters this morning after breakfast. Cleaned my equipment for inspection in the afternoon. Had a long talk with Worley Gilham in the afternoon and saw some American planes engage a German aviator. The German machine was brought crashing to the earth not far from where we were located. After supper I visited the Three Hundred and Thirteenth Machine Gun battalion and learned that Coyle Carothers of Wilkinsburg had undergone a successful operation for appendicitis at base hospital No. 38 at Chatalon, but would not be back to his outfit. The artillery’s captive elephant balloon (observation) had to be taken down several times this afternoon on account of German airplane attacks. “Jerry sent over a good bit of gas at night and we had to put on our gas masks no less than a half dozen times. Some of us went to sleep with them on. “We got up at 5:45 a.m. on October 4th and rolled our packs. This was done so that we could always be ready for the emergency. Corp. Martin came back from gas school today and joined the company. A jack rabbit running across the hill attempted to jump over our trench and fill into Corp. Timmor’s arms and he had rabbit for dinner. During the afternoon three Boche planes were brought down by American aviators within a very few minutes. It was rumored that the Three Hundred and Eighteenth had reached their objective and the Three Hundred and Nineteenth had gone forward to help the Three Hundred and Seventeenth. After supper we unrolled our packs and tried to sleep. We were gassed all night but had no casualties. “On Oct. 5th, after breakfast we rolled our packs, then cleaned up for inspection and wrote letters. After dinner we signed the pay roll. First Sergt. Thompson was sent to the Officer’s Training School for good work done in the line. German planes again attacked the elephant balloon a number of times, the operator dropping in a parachute each time, and the balloon being pulled down in time to save it. Unrolled our packs and slept in the trenches again. PLANES ATTACK BALLOON “Oct. 6 – Up at 5:30 a.m. In the forenoon I took a walk over the battlefields at Cuisy. In the afternoon German planes made four attacks on the artillery observation balloon, the operator getting away safely each time. Finally a Jerry plane dropped from a great height, firing white hot bullets which set fire to the balloon and in come down in smoke. The operator landed safely with his parachute. All the machine guns, automatic rifles and anti-aircraft guns fired at the enemy plane but it got away. Slept in the trenches again tonight. Back of our trenches the heavy artillery was throwing shells into the enemy lines a distance of about 15 kilometers. Corp. Caster was made sergeant for his exceptionally good work in the line. “Oct 7. – Was treated to butter this morning at breakfast. I worked in the kitchen all morning carrying water, shining pans, etc. – regular kitchen police work. At 3 p.m. we rolled our packs and after a light supper at 7 p.m. marched two miles to our left in a heavy rain to trenches back of Montfaucon. Here our coast artillery reserve guns were throwing eight-inch shells 22 kilometers into Anereville at the rate of 30 a minute, every other one being gas. It rained all night, and on the hike I tripped over barbed wire a number of times and fell into shell holes. Cope slipped and broke his leg on this hike, I was on gas guard two turns of one hour each in these trenches. “On Oct. 8, we again rolled our packs and marched to our left to some other trenches. This march was not long and we reached our destination before noon. While cleaning my equipment in the afternoon rumors came in, supposedly by wireless, that peace had been signed by Turkey, and Germany was asking for an armistice. The dispatch was received by the artillery. The Three Hundred and Eighth engineers of Ohio, formerly trained at Camp Sherman, were working on a road nearby. Airplanes flew low and dropped copies of newspapers. RUMORS OF ARMISTICE “On our left we could see the ruins of a castle on top of a high hill where it is reported the kaiser watched the slaughter of his legions before Verdun in the first Verdun offensive, through a million dollar telescope. The telescope could not be removed in time and was destroyed. The high hill was near Montfaucon. Went to bed shortly after supper. “On Oct. 9, we were up at 6 a.m., rolled our packs but did not move out until 5 p.m. There were rumors that officers were betting five thousand francs (one thousand dollars) that no guns would be fired after the following Monday, October 14. As we moved forward from the reserve trenches to the support trenches, Dan Strang of Wilkinsburg walked along beside of me for quite a distance through the woods before we said good-bye and he returned to his company. We stopped near the top of a hill and dug in. Later we left again and went to trenches near Nantalois, about five kilos from Cuisy. On this march we met a long string of German prisoners being taken back. As they passed we heard on German say in pretty good English: ‘The American soldier is not very big, but he knows how to handle the bayonet.’ They may have met some of the little Italian boys of our division, who certainly were adept in the use of the bayonet. “One prisoner had been shot in the knee. He told us that he and four other Germans had started over to give themselves up. The others got scared and started back and were killed, but he came on and was wounded. He said they hadn’t eaten for 10 days. Someone gave him half a loaf of bread and he devoured it quickly, in a manner supporting his statement. He told us there were not many Germans ahead of us and that they had no soldiers in support or reserve and practically no ammunition. He also told us the people back home (in Germany) were starving and he was glad to be in the hands of the Americans. He was well advised for he knew that nearly three million Americans had reached France, that Turkey was suing for a separate peace, and that Austria was liable to break with Germany at any minute. After a rest until 2 a.m. we carried rations up to the men in the front line. “Oct 10. – At 11 a.m. we were ordered from the support trenches with full packs to follow up the advancing front line. On the way up we unstrapped our blanket rolls from our haversacks and left them by the roadside. A Jerry plane or observation balloon must have seen us, for soon after we started again the Huns shelled the road and blew our rolls to pieces. I lost everything I had except my razor, shaving brush, soap and towel, which I was carrying in my haversack on my back. Corp. Kellerman, Bax and I found a trench, removed a dead soldier from it, and dug a bivry which we covered with a piece of tin we had torn from a destroyed German billet. The sheet-iron probably saved us from some painful scratches for shrapnel was continually raining on it all night and set up a merry patter. All night we took turns on gas guard. “Moving up to these trenches it was not an uncommon thing to stumble over a shoe with a foot in it, or a glove with a hand in it, and at one place I saw a helmet with brains in it. “OVER THE TOP” AGAIN “Oct 11. – Up at 6 a.m. and at 8 a.m. we marched about one kilo to other trenches at the front and went over the top at 2:30 p.m. into the woods. Here Capt. Maag was wounded on the chin by a rifle grenade, Corp. Herrig was killed and Corp. Kellerman was wounded by machine gun bullets. Joseph Herdman was gassed here. About dark Vogel, Semanchuch and I were ordered back into the woods by Corp. Schedemantel. We were met by Three Hundred and Fifteenth Machine Gun men who told us our division had been relieved and we went back with them to battalion headquarters, then to the bivry Bax and I made the day before, where we ate our canned salmon, beans and crackers and took turns on gas guard all night. About 3 a.m. Jerry sent over quite a bit of gas with his high explosive shells. I was very tired and slept with my gas mask on. Gas shells burst with a puff instead of a band, throwing liquid which turns into gas when it evaporates. The Germans have a habit of sending gas over early in the morning along with high explosive shells. The liquid scattered by gas shells of the particular variety over bushes and grass doesn’t evaporated until the sun comes up, and one may be unsuspecting of gas until it is too late. Wm. M. Scheider, Bellevue, Co. I, 111th “Anybody lying on the grass or passing through bushes were the mustard liquid gas has been scattered usually gets terrible burns. German machine gunners have been wearing bands on their arms with a red cross on them. They are sometimes mistaken for our own first aid men. In these woods we found some trees which had two and three platforms built between the limbs upon which machine guns were operated, also a large box buried in the ground under bushes at the foot of a tree, where another machine gun had been placed. Worley Gilliam was gassed today. “Having been relieved by the Sixtieth and Sixty-first infantries on Oct. 12, we moved back to support trenches near Nantalois where we washed up, shaved and slept in the morning. While eating supper about 4 p.m. the Huns shelled the area, one shell knocking a horse from under a military policeman and blowing it all to pieces. An American soldier was bringing back six German prisoners when a shell killed all the prisoners but only shook the guard up a bit. Stretcher bearers were bringing back quite a few wounded men, and many prisoners were being marched to the rear. At 5 p.m. we started on an 18 kilo hike over very rough roads to a woods near Avocourt, where the whole battalion was resting. We arrived here at 11:45 p.m. and as I had no shelter-half and no blanket, I slept with Semanchuch. We used our slickers for a mattress and threw his blanket over us. IN THE REST AREA “Oct. 13. – Bread, coffee and bacon for breakfast at 8 a.m. Then Martin and I walked five kilos for water and missed our dinner. We had a band concert in the afternoon. Also got two blankets and new clothes. The Y.M.C.A. issued each man one and one-half cakes and two square inches of chocolate. After supper I visited with ‘C’ company. Learned that Hanley had been killed, also about Herdman’s wound. Artillerymen here tell of finding a German chained to his cannon, but who when released turned his gun around and made a direct hit on a German ammunition dump 10 kilos back. “Oct. 14 – Got up at 4 a.m. today, breakfast at 5 a.m. and then hiked four kilos to Brizeaux. We were taken past the town about one kilo and had to walk back. Here we billeted in barns and old buildings. I was located in an old barn No. 26 and was under Corp. Sheidmantel. I soon found the remains of a cot which I repaired and had quite a comfortable bed. Here we were able to buy milk and Dutch cheese sandwiches. The kitchen did not arrive until the next day, and so we ate the iron rations we were carrying with us. “Oct. 15. – No reveille today. We got up and got our own breakfast at 7 a.m. We were issued more new clothes in the morning and in the afternoon we had a hot shower. Our underclothes being full of ‘cooties’ had to be thrown away and I had none for a few days. Kitchen came in the afternoon. It rained all evening. Three sick soldiers who hadn’t been able to keep up with their outfit stayed with us for supper and slept in our billet.” Lt. Z. E. Wainwright, Machine Gun Co., 111th Sgt. Russell Rollins, 111th Sgt. Thomas L. Dove, 111th ********************************************************************** Chapter XVII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, April 27, 1919, page 82) THE ARTILLERYMEN OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION FROM PITTSBURG AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA MADE UP A LARGE PART OF THE PERSONNEL OF THE 107TH REGIMENT OF THE FIFTY-THIRD ARTILLERY BRIGADE, AND THEY DID SOME WONDERFUL WORK IN ASSISTING THE INFANTRYMEN IN THE BIG DRIVES. THIS SECTION OF THE HISTORY HAS TO DO WITH THIS REGIMENT AND TELLS OF ITS EXPERIENCES AND ACHIEVEMENTS ON THE BATTLEFIELDS OF FRANCE AND BELGIUM The Fifty-third artillery brigade of the Twenty-eighth division of which the famous One Hundred and Seventh artillery regiment, comprised mostly of men from Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania, was a part, is the only unit of the American overseas forces that went directly into the thick of battle after receiving the necessary training. Other units were usually permitted to visit some quiet sector of the line for a few weeks until they became accustomed to occasional shelling and the horrible sights before being transferred to a section of the line where the heat of battle was at its height. The Fifty-third brigade, however, made such rapid strides during the training period that no hesitancy was exercised when the time came for them to see action. They were sent into the battles of Fismes and Fismettes which were two of the fiercest and bloodiest engagements of the war. The artillery brigade, after the splendid work it performed during the Argonne fighting, was detached from the Twenty-eighth division as a part of the army that went into Belgium and was called the “army of liberation.” This was an honor and a recognition of its former good service, for the Belgian liberation army needed confidence to go forward and with the best American artillery unit behind them giving support and protection their advance was rapid and their success all that could be desired. AT CAMP MEUCON When the One Hundred and Seventh regiment arrived in France it went into training at Camp Meucon, situated near the west coast of France, which is admirably adapted for artillery practice on account of its magnificent range. It is said that it is the finest artillery range in the world. In Meucon intensive training was begun. In the United States the Pennsylvanians in training had used the American three-inch guns of the light field artillery. In France now, the famous French 75s were assigned. This made it necessary for the gunners of the Fifty-third brigade to learn how to operate the new guns. The French 75 milimeter [sic] gun is regarded by military experts as the most accurate firing piece ever invented, and its great work in the late war upholds their opinions. The American three-inch gun which was used in training by the Fifty-third brigade at Camp Hancock, Ga., is a close second to the French 75 millimeter, although not as rapid nor accurate. Its barrel is slightly shorter than that of the French gun. The Pennsylvania men learned how to operate the French weapons in an incredibly short time. Every man in each of the regiments got personal training in handling the guns, and each battery was organized into four distinct squads of gun crews which became efficient firing units. Besides the actual gunners and as significant in importance were the men who specialized in signal, telephone and instrument work, mechanics who mastered the intricate mechanism of the guns, and the drivers who drove the teams that brought the firing pieces up to the battle front. The latter found it necessary to learn part of the French language to make the French horses understand what they wanted them to do. The unit trained for one week at Camp Meucon learning the fundamentals and then went to the artillery range and here it went through conditions which were found later in actual combat. While at the range Battery “E” had the distinction of laying down the first successful barrage fired by the brigade. The fine range permitted the gunners to see where the fired shells struck, and the results of their firing was evident by the straight line of bursts and upheaval of earth. It would have been impossible for a single living thing to have emerged from the barrage, and the men of the Fifty-third received a vivid impression of what these mighty little guns would do, and what power lay within their command. A few weeks of this sort of training went by and then it was announced that the One Hundred and Seventh regiment would engage in a firing contest with other regiments of the brigade. This place new zest in the training and the gun crews immediately got busy with all the determination possible to win, perfected their already skillful manipulation of the guns, and worked early and late. This diligence by the One Hundred and Seventh won for them the regimental championship honors when the contest was held. To further stimulate the boys to good work, another contest was held – this time to ascertain the most efficient battery. BATTERY E WINS It was staged one Saturday morning in the rear of the Fifty-third Field Artillery headquarters, and consisted of all such conditions as would later be found existing on the front line including the methods of fire, such as sweeping, progressive sweeping, barrage, and actual handling of the guns while wearing the gas masks. As the contest progressed it was clearly evident that Battery E of the One Hundred and Seventh was leading in practically all of the events. About three thousand spectators viewed the contest, but were barred from making any demonstrations whatsoever, and it was with difficulty they restrained themselves. The competition was keen, and when the outcome of the contest at times became in doubt, members of the different regiments which were participating found it hard to keep from encouraging their favorite gun crews. At last the contest came to an end, and after a conference by the judges, who were selected from the French Field Artillery, the commanders of the various batteries and regiments were called to the center of the field and it was announced that Battery E of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment had won by a safe majority of points. Then the great crowd broke loose and cheered. Capt. Weaver was warmly congratulated by Brig. Gen. Price for the excellent work of his men, and was informed that Battery E would have the first opportunity to fire a shot into the German lines when actual combat was begun. It was by hard, honest, consistent and diligent work that the boys of the battery carried away the honor. Every man in the battery showed a personal pride in being among its numbers, and at all times tried to acquit themselves worthy of the great city in which the battery was organized – Pittsburg. MOVE TO THE BATTLE FRONT The training at Meucon lasted six weeks during which Battery E became known as “the pride of the Fifty-third.” It was in August that the brigade bade farewell to the comfortable quarters found at Camp Meucon and set forth for the battle lines after 12 months of careful training and “make believe” fighting. The men boarded a train riding in the famous French “Hommes 40 Cheveaux 8” box cars, which could not be praised to any great extent for their easy riding qualities nor comfortability, and rode for 36 hours, finally arriving at Mezy at 3 a.m. on Aug. 12. The brigade detrained and at daybreak crossed the Marne and marched forward on ground that had been recently won. The sight of newly made graves and the sound of distantly rumbling guns, were sufficient to tell the men as they trudged silently along, each absorbed in his own thoughts, that war was really a serious thing, and that a great task lay before them. It would be impossible to describe the thoughts of these men as they went forward beside the rattling guns and caissons. Back in the training camps they had heard of the stories of the battlefields. To a certain extent they were nerved to expect the worst horrors of the war and if, in the gray dawn, the courage or confidence of any of the men of the Fifty-third was shaken it was not known. Later deeds prove that the grim determination they had so carefully fostered never faltered for an instant. DESOLATION EVERYWHERE War’s desolation could be seen on every side. A number of hopelessly wrecked villages were sights that brought home the truly gigantic destruction possible with artillery guns. Sometimes only a all would be left standing, or a corner of a once beautiful chateau or church. The course lay through a dense woods about six kilometers from Mezy. Upon entering the little forest, the stench of dead bodies, human and animal, became so oppressive that it was almost unbearable. This odor from decayed bodies was one of the most reproachable things of the way. Finally the troops reached the villages of Roncheres where they were billeted in old barns and buildings, occupied by the Germans four weeks earlier. They remained here all night and the following day. While at Roncheres the troops witnessed their first air battle. The Germans succeeded in destroying an allied army observation balloon. After the little rest the batteries moved forward again on the evening of Aug. 13 in the direction of Fismes, where they were told they would take up their first gun position. As they marched along they enjoyed the hellish fireworks of man’s ingenuity. Flares and star shells lit up the heavens. It was hard to associate their beauty and magnificence with the brutality they were intended to aid. A German bombing plane flew over head and dropped two large bombs about 50 meters in advance of the marching column. Protecting allied planes immediately swooped down from the heavens and gave chase to the Hun aviator. A running fight ensued and finally the merry spat of the machine guns died away in the distance. Apparently the German aviator had escaped behind his own lines. SET UP GUNS BEFORE FISMES Twice during the march the French guide who was leading the column got of the right road and delayed the marching men. Finally at 2:30 in the morning they reached St. Martin and were met by Capt. Weaver and other officers who had gone in advance to locate a gun position. The position selected was finally reached just a few minutes before daybreak, but the men, working with considerable rapidity, succeeded in getting the guns in position and camouflaged. The dawn found the cannoneers exhausted but “sitting pretty” in the little sector of the Western front. Forty-eight hours had elapsed since leaving Mezy. The first day was quiet, and it was well for it permitted the new soldiers to rest and become accustomed to the front. However, the German airman who had observed the marching column probably delivered his information and that night, Aug. 14, the “Fritzies” let loose with a terrific shelling and wound up with a five-hour gas-barrage, the fumes from the bursting shells filling the valley with their deadly poison. After the barrage ceased it was necessary for the men to wear their gas masks for an addition two hours. The valley mentioned was known as “Death Valley” and the Pennsylvanians were located in it. The “Jerry’ seemed to have a particular spite against the place and was continually gassing the area. Almost every night he would open up about 12 o’clock with hundreds of gas shells, and in an incredibly short time the poisonous vapor would fill the entire valley and because of the pocket formed by the valley, would hang close to the ground, creating a dangerous situation. The gas used was mostly of the mustard variety, and caused a number of casualties in the Fifty-third brigade during its stay in Death Valley. On the second day after arriving at Fismes the gunners of the One Hundred and Seventh regiment region laid their guns and that night got busy on the Hun. The French guns worked like charms, and it was only a short time after firing had begun when information was received by aeroplane that the gunners were doing good work in annoying enemy supply trains that were going to the German front line trenches, and that they had succeeded in registering a direct hit on an ammunition dump. This sort of work spoke well for the Pennsylvanians. These was little variance in the daily routine to break the oppressing monotony of the cave-dwellers’ life which fell to the lot of a soldier in this strange war of wars. The days were more or less quiet and were spent in fighting the flies and yellow jackets which annoyed them almost as much as the enemy shells, while the nights had plenty of work for everyone as practically all of the fighting was carried on after nightfall. As a rule it was possible to obtain a few hours of sleep in the early morning, but occasionally this sleep was interrupted by one of the enemy’s gas barrages, in which case the soldiers were “outa luck,” since the extremely torrid weather and the flies rendered it quite impossible to sleep during the day. STENCH OF DEAD BODIES ANNOYING The Jerries almost hourly shelled a small clump of trees about 500 meters from the position of the One Hundred and Seventh which contained a large number of dead “Heinies” and a larger number of dead horses. The enemy evidently believed that a battery was located in the woods, which accounted for their frequent shelling. The dead bodies thus uncovered and stirred up created a terrible stench, which the wind carried down the valley to the Pennsylvania soldiers. It was so offensive that at times it became almost maddening, and invariably the shelling would take place about mess time, making eating an impossibility. The infantry ahead of the artillery was going great work. While the artillery laid down barrages and received the enemy’s barrages, they slowly and surely pushed the German hordes back to the Vesle river where a short pause was made, during which the German forces were greatly strengthened by reinforcements. But it was to no avail, for on Sept. 4, the American doughboys crossed the river under a terrific shell fire and completely routed the enemy, but suffered greatly in the effort, for company after company was almost completely wiped out. It was a great effort, and a successful one. (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, May 18, 1919, page 76) Chapter XVII (cont.) THE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH ARTILLERY KEPT RIGHT AT THE HEELS OF THE RETREATING ENEMY IN BELGIUM UNTIL THE WAR WAS OVER. CORPORAL POLLICK, IN CONTINUING HIS DIARY OF THE ACTIVITES OF THE PITTS BURG AND WESTERN PENNSVYLANIA BOYS OF THE EIGHTIETH DIVISION TELLS OF THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE ARGONNE-MEUSE DRIVE AND OF THE ARMISTICE. The effect of the hatred of the Americans was realized by the Germans. They started to retreat so fast that the artillery almost killed their horses trying to keep in touch with them. Occasionally the German rear guard would resist long enough to prevent a wholesale slaughter of the whole army. The batteries of the One Hundred and Seventh were on their heels at all times and fired at every opportunity. Upon reaching the Lys valley, the Germans had flooded the surrounding lowlands and further advance was delayed for a short time. The batteries of the Pennsylvania regiment took position of the west bank of the valley and set their gun sights toward Audenarde on the other side. The sights were then elevated so that the shells would not strike the town, and for two days they shelled the area outside of the city doing effective work. Their only target was over eight kilometers away. While in this position the armistice negotiations were begun. THE WAR OVER When the armistice was signed the Pennsylvania artillery moved across the Lys river and stayed in the old war zone for about a month, billeting from time to time in small villages and farm houses. A stall in a cow stable was regarded as a “good” place to sleep, the floor of the house “excellent” and to get a bed, “heaven.” The artillery brigade from Pennsylvania finally moved back to Proven, Belgian, near the French border and occupied a little camp which had previously been built up a regiment of Canadians. This was almost a month after the armistice was signed. Christmas was fast approaching and the boys had nothing to do that day, but to “exist.” On Monday evening before Christmas, Battery E planned an entertainment at the suggestion of Capt. Weaver. Sergt. Walcamp was appointed to arrange the program. No one had time to prepare anything and the acts put on by the men were entirely impromptu. The engineers found an old barn, which with a little fixing soon developed a stage and a few seats. At 7 o’clock Christmas eve the show was on, and from first to last it seemed like a show staged by professional artists. Chaplain Peters, Capt. Bundy, Capt. Reese, Lieut. McGovern and several English officers who were present responded to the call of the footlights. There may have been better shows given by the soldiers in France but none were appreciated more than this one. On Christmas day the cooks using only the field kitchens and their accompanying utensils prepared a dinner which was a pleasure and a joy to all of the men. The menu consisted of roast beef, rich brown gravy, Brussell’s [sic] sprouts, home baked beans, corn starch, home baked cake, tea or coffee, oranges and apples. Sergt. Phillips took special pains to see that each man was filled up to the neck. No one applied for seconds, according to authentic information except Horseshoer Hedrick of the Northside, Pittburg, and that was due to force of habit. Every man pronounced it an enjoyable Christmas. Shortly after Christmas, the brigade moved to France and was stationed at LeMans in a “homeward bound” zone. ********************************************************************** Chapter XVIII (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, May 18, 1919, page 76) Names in this chapter: Pollock, Bundy, Weaver, Walcamp, Reese, McGovern, Peters, Phillips, Hedrick, Cronkhite THE EIGHTIETH DIVISION The diary of Corp. Nelan Pollock, of Wilkinsburg, which appeared in THE PRESS of Sunday, April 20, in connection with this history of the Pennsylvania troops in the war, revealed the activities of the Eightieth division up to and including Oct. 15, 1918, and only the first phase of the Argonne Meuse offensive was set forth. The troops of the Eightieth had been relieved at the front and sent back to Cuisy to rest. They had successfully captured Bethancourt, Montfaucon, crossed the Meuse and at the time relieved were pursuing the rapidly retreating Hun to the northward. The Eightieth was not through with fighting, however. They fought many important engagements before the armistice was signed. In this instalment [sic] the diary of Corp. Pollock is again taken up where it was left off on Oct. 15, and vividly portrays the final battles of the Eightieth and the soldier life after the armistice was signed. “After resting four days at Cuisy, the Three Hundred and Twentieth and Three Hundred and Nineteenth infantries went back into the front lines, this time on the Metz sector, to relieve the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth brigade of our own division. The enemy had just rushed up four fresh divisions from Metz, and in this encounter the Pennsylvanians were put to their first real test. Many airplanes dashed down from the clouds turning their machine guns on us, and giving the enemy artillery our range. Whizz-bangs, mustard gas shells, and shrapnel tore the earth around us, while hundreds of machine guns poured a deadly fire into our troops. Yet the Pittsburg brigade kept on and on, gaining yard after yard, until we wrested almost four kilometers from the enemy despite the fact we were outnumbered four to one. Our brigade was later relieved by the Fifth division but I regret to say not all of our boys went back into the rest camp. Beneath the moss, grass and forest ruins of the Argonne lay many of Pittsburg’s best and bravest sons. “After resting for two weeks in reserve quarters, the Eightieth division with the Marines corps at its side attacked the German lines on Nov. 1 at St. George, and in company with its worthy companions captured the town, and went on to Ommecourt, Buzancy, and several other small towns which fell after the severest of fighting. Many wooden crosses in this sector today tell the story of the men who gained the victories. A wounded Marine at Fleuville on Nov. 3, spoke these words to me, ‘God bless the boys of the One Hundred and Sixtieth brigade who fought with us today. America never produced better.’ A general order issued while the battles from the 1st of November until the 5th were in progress, and signed by Maj. Gen. Cronkhite commended the One Hundred and Sixtieth brigade and stated that it had borne the brunt of the burden. Maj. Gen. Cronkhite was in command of the division and he further said that the brigade during the five days of continuous fighting had advanced a total distance of 153 kilometers and captured two Huns for every man wounded, one camion for every 10 wounded, besides large quantities of munitions and other stores and accomplished these results with a far less percentage of casualties than any other division. on.” “Our last push is over it seems. I am writing this by candle light on Nov. 12, the day following the signing of the armistice. There was general rejoicing at the signing of the armistice but most of the boys wanted to go on. From the dope we have now we will never have to go up front again. I was in it all right to the finish and I wouldn’t trade my experience for any others in the world. “No doubt the papers have been telling you about our last push. It was more like a ‘run’ and quite a success. I have been getting copies of THE PRESS they have been sending and when I came out of the trenches the last time, I got the box from Horne’s. I am feeling fine and getting plenty to eat. How’s this for a breakfast on the battlefield – pancakes, syrup, rice, bread and cocoa, chewing gum and cigarets? Sometimes we have doughnuts. We haven’t had the flu here but some of the men had it before they arrived here. It seems great to have bonfires and candle lights, lights on autos and trucks, and funnier still to have everything so quiet and no planes overhead. From THE PRESS clippings you have sent me, I judge the papers must be getting the right dope about our fighting. Pittsburg people must not be ashamed of her soldiers over here. They have made a good [unreadable] we went over the top [unreadable] call us the last time when we couldn’t [unreadable] with the enemy in motor trucks. “We have lots to be thankful for at Thanksgiving day. Just two months [?] spent the worst and most awful times of my whole life. How thankful I am that those days and nights are over for me and for everybody. “Dec. 4 – I am writing this in an old French woman’s kitchen. She keeps talking away to me all the time in broken English, but mostly French and the interpreter informed me she was telling me to be sure and write to my papa and mama, so I am doing that very thing. We are still at Nicey, south of Paris and [unreadable]. We receive the Paris edition of New York papers here [unreadable] and knew almost as soon as you did that the Fourth Liberty loan was a success. We were glad to hear it, too, for we [unreadable] as the loan that would bring us home. “Dec. 20 – It looks very much as though we will spend Christmas this year in Nicey, but I am hoping New Years’ will find us a little closer to home. We spend the evenings here gathering around our table talking over our experiences. This is a ‘Y’ and a canteen with services every Wednesday p.m. and Sunday. The boys all thing President Wilson is the greatest man in the world. A few days ago we were issued new clothing and we get a hot shower twice a week, so that cooties have almost become a thing of the past. “Dec. 26 – Christmas day has passed. It was unlike all of my other Christmas days, but we all had a good time under the circumstances. The cooks fairly outdid themselves for us, and the French women of the town lent their efforts. They helped bake 65 pies for our company alone, In the afternoon I have my first ride on a French passenger train. Soldiers do not have to pay. The coaches look something like the Pittsburg summer street cars. Give me the U.S.A. “Dec. 29 – We have been here now almost a month and indications are we will remain until we see how things come up on the Rhine. There are rumors that we will get to sail for home soon, but we don’t put much credence in them.” Corp. Pollock’s story of the Three Hundred and Twentieth infantry regiment ends here. The Three Hundred and Twentieth regiment was never separated from the Eightieth division throughout the fighting and the account therefore can be taken as an authentic one of this famous division’s activities in the war. ********************************************************************** Chapter XIX (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, May 25, 1919, page 82) Names in this chapter: Rodman, ZurHorst, Candler, Broido, Herring, Huff, Moseley, Doyle, Webber, McKahan, Lovitz, Hays, Perritt, Ford, Sherrard, Williamson, Bayard, Barger, Dickey, Fryor , Lynch, Nicholls, Baker, Walley, Wright, Younkins, DeHart, Morren, Hastings, Miller, Collins, Metz, Neal, Colwell, Wagner, Jacobs, D’Zmura, Snowden, Maits, Frodey, Fredette, Cashman, Fisk, Robinson, Permar, Sieber, Simpson, Ray, McCague, Schleiter, Heard, Council, McConnell, Baier, Fly, Atkinson, Apinter, Wilcox, Kelly, Bulon, Aaron, Reynolds, Chandler, Arbuthnot, De Lozier, Bennett, Strasser, Mulherron, Rowland, Wilcox, Lawton, Dowland BASE HOSPITAL UNIT NO. 27, WHICH PERFORMED SUCH EXCELLENT WORK IN FRANCE IN CARING FOR OUR WOUNDED TROOPS, WAS A PITTSBURG ORGANIZATION. THE STORY OF THE HOSPITAL AND ITS ACTIVITIES FORMS ONE OF THE INTERESTING PARTS OF THIS HISTORY, AND IT IS TOLD BY ONE WHO WAS WITH THE UNIT. Note: The following history of Base Hospital No. 27 was written by Max. E. Hannum, sergeant first class, who was attached to the unit and who is a member of the staff of THE PRESS. The University of Pittsburg Base Hospital Unit 27 was organized in response to Surgeon General Gorgas’ request that large medical schools and hospitals throughout the country prepare to supply commissioned and enlisted personnel for the medical service. The medical department of the army evidently anticipated the actual declaration of war by some time and thereby avoided considerable confusion in the quick mobilization of medical units. When war broke out those medical schools which were connected with universities were urged not only to supply the necessary commissioned personnel of surgeons and physicians, but to also recruit enlisted men from the university students and graduate nurses from the neighboring hospitals. The American Red Cross was to furnish the original equipment for these units and to keep in close touch with their needs throughout the way. A gift of $25,000 by Mrs. H.L. Collins, of Sewickley, was the foundation upon which the Pitt unit was built. Realizing that the University of Pittsburg provided a rich field in which to recruit a splendid organization, the government offered reserve medical corps commissions to 25 professors and instructors in the medical school of the university. Dr. Robert T. Miller, professor of surgery at the university and surgeon for the Mercy hospital, was made director of the unit with the rank of major. Dean Thomas S. Arbuthnot, of the university medical school, also accepted a major’s commission. The names of the other officer, with their original ranks, follows: Majors J. D. Heard and H. G. Schleiter, Captains. S.S. Smith, E.J. McCague, W.B.G. Ray, J.R. Simpson, P.R. Sieber, H.H. Permar and E. W Zurhorst, First Lieutenants J. W. Robinson, L.A. Fisk, B.Z Cashman, J. W Fredette, R.J. Frodey, C.B. Maits, R. R. Snowden, A.P. D’Zmura, F. M. Jacobs, J. H. Wagner, A. H. Colwell, Max Neal and H. C. Metz. Lt. Col. T. S. Arbuthnot RECRUITING OF UNIT With all the commissions accepted, the recruiting of enlisted personnel began early in May, 1917. The unit was originally organized to care for a 500-bed hospital, which, according to the army tables of organization, required 153 enlisted men. Appeals were made to the university students and men from all departments flocked to the recruiting stations, with headquarters at the university and the Eighteenth regiment armory. Contrary to general expectations, the physical requirement were rigid, and, many university men being rejected, the ranks were filled up by non-university and other college men from the Pittsburg district, lured by the prospect of getting overseas soon. Enlisted up to its full strength, the hospital was distinctly a Pittsburg district organization. Pittsburg and its immediate suburbs furnished the larger proportion of the men. Jeannette, Greensburg, Punxsutawney, DuBois, Beaver, Youngstown, Butler and other towns were represented. Men who through athletic and other ability had become not only famous at the university, but also well known in Pittsburg, were numerous in the enlisted ranks. Such men as “Andy” Hastings, “Jim” Morrow, “Jimmie” De Hart, the Younkins brothers, who helped to make the football history at W. & J.; Heister Painter, a former Penn State center; Orson Wilcox, later fatally stabbed by an Apache in France; Leon Kelly, and others whose names and faces are known to many people around Pittsburg, were among the first to sign their enlistment papers. The nurses, headed by Miss Blanche Rulon, of the Pittsburg Eye and Ear hospital, were drawn from practically every Pittsburgh hospital, those trained at the Mercy hospital being in a majority. The complement of nurses was 65, and many more responded to the call. Maj. Royal Reynolds, an officer of the Regular Army Medical corps, was designated as commanding officer by the war department and ordered to Pittsburg. He arrived in the middle of summer, and establishing his headquarters with the Red Cross in the Chamber of Commerce building, supervised the purchase of equipment and final preparations for mobilization. Capt. W. D. Chandler, of Washington, D.C., was ordered to Pittsburg as quartermaster. The entire personnel was enlisted and ready for instant call by the middle of June. However, it was not until Aug. 18 that the government was ready and able to order the unit to active service and assemble it in a mobilization and training camp. It was then instructed to proceed to Allentown, Pa., where the training camp for medical units was located, and to arrive there Aug. 22, 1917. Members of the unit were apprised of the orders by telephone and telegraph and ordered to report to Red Cross headquarters. Departure plans were outlined and the men received their first army orders when they were told to be at Red Cross headquarters on Monday, Aug. 21, at 6:30 p.m. Base Hospital 27 was now in active service, governed entirely by army staff orders. Capt. T. L. Boots A special train carried the officers and men to the concentration camp, but the nurses were sent directly to Ellis Island, New York, to be held there until the officers and men should be ordered to embark for foreign service. Arriving at Allentown early in the morning of Aug. 22, the men, after drawing clothing and equipment, began their work of preparation. The commanding officer and the top sergeant were the only men of previous military experience, and it must have been discouraging to them to have to whip into shape this rather motley band in a few short weeks. A remark of Sergt. Ross D. Strock’s at this time to the commanding officer: “Sir, the damned college boys will never make soldier,” was afterward referred to one private by another during the Argonne offensive after 60 sleepless hours of unloading trains and carrying stretchers. “No.” said he., “they didn’t make soldiers of us, but we haven’t rivaled Rip Van Winkle that last month, either.” TRAINING PERIOD Drills, hikes, daily instruction in first aid and general hospital work, and working details gradually hardened the civilian muscles, browned the pale faces and educated the minds and hands for future work. The principles of discipline which were as necessary in the medical corps as in any line company were also inculcated in them. Six weeks were spent in the vicinity of Allentown before embarkation orders were received. They arrived while the men were encamped near Easton, Pa., training, under field conditions, for the contingency of being split up into several field hospitals, which was the prevalent rumor at that time. The orders directed Base Hospital 27 to move to Hoboken, N.J., and to report to the embarkation officer, Aug. 27. Camp was broken in half an hour and the unit moved back to Allentown. At midnight, Aug. 26, the unit marched out of camp, through the quiet streets of Allentown, and boarded a special train. As the sound of 175 pairs of feet striking the pavement in rhythm reached the people in the houses lining the streets, windows were thrown open, lights flashed, and the retiring townsfolk called out “Goodbye and good luck.” Few troops had moved out of camp, and there was little doubt in the minds of the residents of Allentown as to the final destination of these men. By 10 a.m., Aug. 27, officers, nurses and men were aboard the English Black Star liner, “Lapland,” with the One Hundred and Third infantry regiment and other units of the Twenty-sixth division. At 2 p.m. of the same day, the liner put out of New York harbor, all soldiers being ordered below decks. The anxiety of the men that they would not reach Europe before the war was finished had now disappeared. Maj. T. R. Simson At this time, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a congregating point for vessels making the transatlantic trip, and the “Lapland” met the 10 vessels which were to accompany her there Aug. 29. The trip across the Atlantic consisted of the zig-zagging and back-sailing tactics which characterized navigation after the increased activity of the submarines. Convoyed the entire journey by the British cruiser, “Columbella,” the fleet was met 600 miles from the English coast by 8 destroyers, 4 of them flying the American flag. The same evening, in the heart of the danger zone, the fleet experienced its first difficulties. The mine sweeper of the “Lapland” became disengaged, necessitating a stop of several hours, and a small freighter, unable to equal the increased speed of the convoy in the submarine zone, fell far behind. The fleet stopped. The limping and unprotected freighter had been torpedoed and sunk. The destroyers were too late. Consequently only 10 instead of 11 steamers docked at Liverpool on the morning of Sept. 10. The trip across had taken 13 days. CAMP AT SOUTHAMPTON On the evening of Sept. 10, Base Hospital 27 and the One Hundred and Third and One Hundred and Fourth infantry regiments were in camp at Southampton, England, awaiting their turn to slip across the channel into France. For a week they remained at Southampton in the rain and mud, which are the only memories the men of the corps have of their stay in England. They voyage across the English channel was made without mishap, and on the morning of Sept. 17, the organization was located in Rest Camp 1, Le Havre, France. After a day in this camp, the unit entrained for its final destination, which became generally known at this time as Angers, in the Department of Maine -et-Loire. The picturesque cities of Rouen Alencon, LeMans and La Fleche through which the train passed in succession attracted great attention, both for the historical anecdotes connected with them and the quaint style of the architecture and lay-out. Arriving in Angers the afternoon of Sept. 19, the nurses were detrained and taken to the hospital site in cabs and the men and officers marched there, the first body of American soldiers to parade in the town. The French, always a curious people, flock quickly to the streets along the line of march. ARRIVAL AT ANGERS It could easily be seen that Angers was a city of some size and consequence. By inquiry, it was learned that the pre-war population was 60,000, increased since the war to over 100,000 by the influx of refugees. The streets were well laid out, but narrow and closely crowded to the sidewalks by plain, stone buildings. There were trolley lines, and the sight of the first trolley car, smaller by far than the ordinary American summer car, brought an involuntary laugh from the men. The people were decently clothed and seemed to be well-fed. There was an extreme death of young men among the crowds lining the curbs, and those who were in sight were evidently wounded and discharged soldiers, many of them with empty coat sleeves or wooden legs. Lt. T. O. Heald Great interest was evidenced upon approaching the hospital site, the future home of the men for, they knew not how many, months or years. A large stone and concrete building surrounded on all sided by high stone walls and sitting in the center of a spacious plot of ground could be seen as the column passed two sailors guarding the great gates. Naval Base Hospital 1 was stationed temporarily at Angers. The building was an old French monasterial school, but since the way, had been used for various purposes by the French, serving as French Hospital 57 just before being turned over to the American government. The officers eagerly planning the future, remarked that there was sufficient land around the main building upon which to construct many frame annexes. Extension and enlargement was in the mind of each of them before they were settled in the quarters. After almost a month of steady traveling, covering over 3,000 miles, the men were anxious to get settled down and to begin the work of constructing, repairing a modern American facility. But an immediate [unreadable] was not to be the home of all the men for not two weeks after the arrival at Angers, orders for 30 men to proceed to Base Hospital 101, a regular army hospital, stationed at St. Nazaire, one of the ports or debarkation, were received. Medical work in connection with debarkation of troops was becoming so heavy that assistance was necessary at 101. Thirty men were chosen, rolled up their packs and left Angers Nov. 10, not to return for eight months. The men were sorry to see the unit breaking up and realized that the departure of the 30 meant more work for those who remained. However they knew the cases which forced the separation and appreciated the difficulties of the then small A.E.F medical corps. They also envied the departing men their opportunity of gaining valuable experience. Settled down in a location which offered great possibilities for the construction and operation of a great hospital, the other men immediately set themselves to the preparatory work of construction. In the unit were men of practically every profession and trade. An enlisted man of Base Hospital 27 had the plans of all the additional wards and annexes completed by the time the construction detachment of engineers was on hand. An expert electrical engineer arranged and installed all the complicated lighting and electrical appliances. With the arrival of a detachment of the Five Hundred and Third engineers, the real work of construction began and the work progressed so rapidly and the facilities were so excellent, that notification was received from the office of the chief surgeon that henceforth Base Hospital 27 would be constructed and operated on a thousand bed capacity basis. Within a month this capacity was increased to 1,500. The original equipment of the hospital was inadequate by far to provide for these increases, so carload after carload of additional medical supplied, beds, instruments and appliances of all kinds, were rushed to Angers. THE FIRST PATIENTS Long before the additions were complete, patients began to arrive at the hospital in the main building, which had been equipped immediately upon arrival of the unit and stood ready for just such eventualities. Men suffering from mumps, measles, pneumonia and minor injuries, to the number of several hundred, were soon congregated in the hospital. With the first trench raids, minor engagements or gas attacks sustained by the then small American Expeditionary Forces, victims of actual fighting came in in small numbers and were viewed with great interest by the Pittsburgers who several months before were several thousand miles from the battle front. Chapter XIX (cont.) (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 1, 1919, page 86) BASE HOSPITAL UNIT, NO. 27, RECEIVED ITS FIRST PATIENTS WHEN THE TWENTY-SIXTH DIVISION SUSTAINED THE FIRST GERMAN ATTACK IN FORCE IN THE TOUL SECTOR. THE HOSPITAL RAPIDLY GREW IN SIZE AND THE PITTSBURGERS PERFORMED THE WORK OF TWO UNITS MOST OF THE TIME. SOME OF THE PERSONNEL WAS DETACHED AND SENT TO THE FRONT, WHERE THERE WAS A CRYING NEED FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. A French railway system passed within half a mile of the hospital and a spur of track was laid from it into the hospital grounds, thus assuring rail communications between the receiving ward of Base Hospital 27 and any part of the front. Supplies were brought in on this branch by the car-load, thus doing away with the necessity of truckage from the French terminal in the center of the town to the hospital. When the Twenty-sixth division sustained the first German attack in force at Seichprey and Xivray in the Toul sector, the men of the hospital received first inklings as to what their future work would be like. One day the news of the heroic stance of the New England regiments reached Angers and the next the human wreckage of the battlefield began to arrive at the hospital. The casualties of these first engagements were light compared to later ones and those apportioned to Base Hospital 27 were easily accommodated. The first stretcher case to be carried in was recognized as a fellow passenger on the Lapland. Men who bore the brunt of the attack had crossed the Atlantic with the Pittsburgers. Many acquaintances made on the boat were renewed at bedsides in the hospital. By this time the hospital grounds resembled a small city. Orders were received the import of which were to increase the capacity indefinitely. As soon as one frame structure was complete, work was commenced on another. Accommodations for more than 3,000 patients were soon to be ready. A plea was made to headquarters for additional enlisted personnel, but medical corps men were scarce and additions to the Angers hospital were not made for some time. FRENCH SYMPATHETIC When the great German offensive started in March, 1918, and Gen. Pershing place the entire A.E.F. at the disposal of the allies, Base Hospital 27 was ready to do its part in caring for the wounded. As allied hospitals overflowed and meager forces of Americans were placed at vital points in the straining lines, French, British, Belgian, Portugese [sic] and Italian, in addition to American soldiers, arrived for care in increasing numbers. Six nations might be represented in one ward. As the hospital filled up, trips to the little cemetery reserved for Americans at Angers, were almost daily. These military funerals gave a keen insight into the character of the French people. As a band playing a dirge proceeded the slowly moving ambulance, bearing an American who had made the supreme sacrifice, and passed along the street to the cemetery, people of all ranks and stations crowded the sidewalks and paid their last respects to the dead. French generals stood at rigid salute and drivers of rubbish carts halted their teams and doffed their hats. During some 300 military funerals no Base Hospital ever say a Frenchman standing covered. Of a very sympathetic temperament, French women often wept. On Sundays the American cemetery was crowded with French people who came to place flowers on the graves of the dead American heroes. When the American First division attacked and took Cantigny, almost all the enlisted hospital corps men were in wards with influenza. With about 90 of them incapacitated, the force was badly crippled. Consequently the unloading of the first hospital train, which arrived about this time, proceeded with great difficulty. Fortunately only slightly more than a hundred men were on this train. The train pulled into the hospital grounds on the spur track and stopped beside the receiving ward. Stretcher squads assisted the train personnel in getting the men off. Each car of the train had 20 to 30 beds which could be detached from the sides. If a wounded man was unable to be removed from his bed to a stretcher, the entire bed was taken out. The men were placed, on the stretcher or beds, on the floor of the receiving ward. Those whose clothing had not been removed were undressed. Physicians passed rapidly down the line, diagnosing each case. The men were then tagged and carried to a clerk who assigned them to wards. As each man was assigned to a bed, the clerk checked it off, thus preventing any overflow in a certain ward. Patients who could walk, entered the receiving station through a separate entrance, removed their own clothing, tossed it into a place provided for that purpose, passed rapidly through a bath, were escorted to the assigning clerk, diagnosed and placed in a ward. By this system, a trainload of patients could be unloaded and gotten to bed in incredibly swift time. The discarded clothing was sorted. The serviceable was renovated, pressed and placed in the quartermaster’s clothing room for re-issue. Clothing was scarce in France at this time. The unserviceable was carefully bundled and shipped to the American salvage depot. Despite the scarcity of help the officers all expressed their satisfaction with the detraining and subsequent activities, and were confident that in the future Base Hospital 27 would be able to take care speedily of all the men shipped in. PERSONNEL INCREASED About this time relief for the over-taxed personnel seemed to be at hand, for a field hospital known as Unit K was ordered to Angers and arrived late in February. The unit was composed of about 40 enlisted men in addition to about a dozen medical officers. There was a sufficiency of work and they were all put to tasks in the hospital. Their period of usefulness to Base 27 was not long however, for on March 5 they departed for another station under orders from headquarters. The town of Angers began to fill up with Americans. A western engineer organization, the One Hundred and Sixteenth, established a replacement depot in town, and soon as many Americans as Frenchmen could be seen on the streets. With caring for wounded from the front and sick from the surrounding areas, the hospital was taxed to its capacity at this time. Angers was becoming almost an American center with railroad yards, a large hospital, a replacement depot and camp and truck trains passing through daily. At this the time Pittsburg boys had their first opportunity to participate in a review. Late in March decorations were bestowed on the French heroes in the town. In company with a French regiment of infantry, the engineers and the hospital men were formed in a large square in the town as the guard of honor at the ceremony. Being their first affair of this kind, the Americans attended the ceremony with great interest. Some 30 Frenchmen were decorated with the Croix de guerre, the Military medal and the Medal of the Legion of Honor. During all this time, the great German offensive was proceeding with dispatch and signal success. The rapidly increasing American expeditionary forces was being drawn more and more into action. With each additional sector taken over by the United States troops, the demands upon the medical corps became heavier. There were not enough medical men with the line troops, there was an insufficiency of field dressing stations and the field hospitals were greatly over-worked. Drafts upon the personnel of base hospitals had to made in order that the front line work might be carried on. Base Hospital 27, like other organization of its type, was called upon to prepare to furnish surgical teams for duty at the front. Several of the surgeons received immediate departure orders and left for the front. Their work, under the most trying conditions, reflected great credit on the University of Pittsburg organization. A little incident connected with the service at the front of one of the first groups of surgeons to be dispatched shows that the nerve of the Pittsburg surgeons was not only confined to the operating room and the dressing station. Allied planes combating German planes behind the allied lines had forced one to make a descent. Believing that he would be forced to alight, and knowing that he was well behind the lines, the allied aviators did not follow the stricken German to the ground. He alighted near a dressing station where the Pitt doctors were working. As it happened, no body of armed troops was in that immediate vicinity. The aviator stepped from his damaged place uninjured and armed. Lieut. Col., then Maj. T. S. Arbuthnot, in peace times Dean of the University medical school, though without arms, made the German his prisoner, thus making the combat record of Base Hospital 27 up to this time the following: Kilometers advanced under enemy fire: none; munition dumps destroyed, none; heavy guns captured, none; small arms captured, one; prisoners captured, one; planes captured, one. Shortly afterward several more officers received orders to depart for various field hospitals and field dressing stations. Some of these men served long and arduously at the front, bringing great credit to their organization, their city and their university. The officers were not alone in actual front line service, for as soon as orders came in, nurses and enlisted me joined them. Maj. R.T. Miller, the director of Base Hospital 27, with Lieut. B. Z. Cashman, Capt. J.W. Robinson, Capt. W.B. Ray, Nurses Mary DeLozier and Marjorie Aaron, Sergt. First Class Ross D. Strock and Sergts. P. R. Bennett and H. I. Strasser left for the front about this time, and it was many months before the rest of the unit at Angers had the opportunity of welcoming them back again. They were attached to Mobile Hospital Unit No. 1. Their experiences while on this duty were varied and, at times, exciting. Working at high speed constantly, their services to the wounded doughboys and officers cannot be overestimated. They were attached to the French forces, but soldiers of all the allies passed through their hands. In such high regard were their services held by the French, that four of the team were decorated with the French order of the Service de Sante, “for tireless work and valiant service under shell fire.” Those decorated were Capt. Cashman, Nurses Mary De Lozier and Marjorie Aaron and Sergt. Strock. Calls for service in evacuation and field hospitals and front-line dressing stations were always liable to come at unexpected times, so 10 teams of two surgeons, two nurses and two men each were always held in readiness for these emergencies. While some of their comrades were experiencing life under actual fighting conditions, the rest of the unit was busy rushing the Hospital construction work to completion and organizing the departmental system for the rapidly approaching time when Base Hospital 27 would be crowded and over-crowded with wounded from the first big American action. The motor transportation department in charge of Sergt. William J. Mulherron, Pittsburg, resembled a modern garage in any American city. Many men had to be assigned to Sergt. Mulherron in order to keep this department in a constant state of high efficiency. Many more men had to be assigned to the quartermaster and the medical supply department. It took many men to do the necessary work in the general and registrar’s office. There had to be men on the various cleaning and working details around the hospital. Most of the men were needed in the wards with ward-masters and orderlies. The work was increasing and the hospital was short-handed. Relief in a short time was promised by the Chief Surgeon. LOST FIRST MAN About this time Base Hospital 27 lost its first man. Never a large unit during the months that elapsed since its call to service, its period of training, its trip across and its preliminary work at Angers, the 153 men composing it had every opportunity of getting well acquainted and of becoming very much attached to each other. Consequently the first death in its ranks was quite a shock, Harold Rowland, a sophomore at the university before his enlistment, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, popular alike in civil life and the army, contracted spinal meningitis and in a few week was dead. He was given a military funeral and laid to rest in the little Angers cemetery beside some of the pioneers of the first American engagements. The death of one of the happy-go-lucky “gang” caused a void which it seemed could not be filled. More deaths and separations came to the unit, but the shock of the first one always lingered. By this time the grounds of the former Petite Seminaire de Mongazon d’Angers were completely filled with buildings constructed by the Americans. The rise of the great hospital can be compared to the mushroom growth of some Western towns. The buildings were constructed in sections at a French factory in town, loaded onto trucks, brought to the hospital and assembled on the foundations which the engineers had already prepared. With all construction work nearing completion, the capacity of the hospital was close to 4,000. It would have been manifestly impossibly for 25 surgeons, 65 nurses and 153 enlisted men to run a hospital of this size. Other hospitals in France were in the same predicament, actual construction and adaption to present conditions far exceeding original plans and specifications. Men for the medical service began to arrive in France about this time, and as soon as they could be collected in a central place, were sent out to assist the over-burdened original personnel of the various hospitals. In due time Base Hospital 27 got its proportion of these men, but it was not until the armistice was signed and the work slackened slightly that the personnel was ever entirely adequate for the tasks at hand. BARRACKS COMPLETED New officers’, nurses’ and enlisted men’s quarters had been completed by this time and were now occupied. The unit had previously been living in empty wards. Situated in an isolated corner of the grounds they were well-constructed and fairly comfortable. Chapter XIX (cont.) (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 8, 1919, page 82) MANY OF THE MEN ATTACHED TO BASE HOSPITAL NO. 27 APPLIED FOR AND RECEIVED COMMISSIONS. THE HOSPITAL BUILDINGS WERE COMPLETED IN TIME TO RECEIVE THE HUNDREDS OF WOUNDE DOUGHBOYS WHO COMMENCED TO COME IN FOLLOWING BELLEAU WOOD AND THE FAMOU CHATEAU THIERRY. THEIR BROKEN AND TWISTED BODIES WERE CAREFULLY CARRIED FROM THE HOSPITAL TRAIN TO THE WARDS AND ALL THAT MEDICAL SCIENCE AND EXPERT NURSING COULD DO WAS DONE FOR THEM. Storage sheds had been built for the supply department. A Y.M.C.A. building had been constructed for patients and corps men. A Red Cross hut for the nurse was in process of construction. Plans for a large Red Cross amusement hall and auditorium were ready. Technical and office organization was rapidly shaping up. The main department of the hospital was divided into two branches, surgical and medical service. Under these headings came all the surgeons, physicians, nurses and enlisted men doing ward duty. There were three groups of offices, the general office, the registrar’s office and the office of the supply department. The general office presided over by the Adjutant, Lieut. S. S. Rodman, who enlisted with the unit and received his commission before leaving the United States. All general hospital business and all details relating to the personnel were handles through this office. Capt. E.W. ZurHorst held the position of Registrar. He was the commanding officer of all patients in Base Hospital 27. Patients were admitted through the registrar, kept track of by the registrar and discharged by the registrar. The work connected with admission slips, card indexes, reports and discharge formalities were enormous and a large office force was required to dispose of it. Accurate records and histories of every patient in Base Hospital 27 were accessible in his office. Capt. W. D. Candler was the quartermaster. His duties were to feed, clothe and accumulate and dispense medical and general supplies for the entire hospital and everyone connected with it. His office took care of maintenance and repair work, purchased supplies, paid all the troops in town, transacted business with the French, looked after any other odds and ends of business which were not handled by another department and, until the advent of the hastily organized motor transportation corps, had charge of all the transportation. The work of his office also required a large force. Convalescent Patients Passing Time on the Recreation Court. SOUGHT COMMISSIONS With the preliminary work of construction and organization nearing its completion, the monotony began to pall on the enlisted men of Base Hospital 27 who had not been detached for service in other parts of France. The novelty of the town and its inhabitants had passed away, and with so much occurring in others parts of the country, it was not at all surprising that the men should find their positions a little irksome. The greater part of the enlisted personnel was made up of college men whose training and experience made them good commission material. Consequently, it was not surprising that at this time, many of the men should get out copies of army regulations and general orders and circulars to learn how to apply for commissions in the various branches of the A.E.F. The first men to actually receive commissions were Sergt. Louis Broido, of Pittsburg, and Sergt. Charles P. Herring, of Derry. They were commissioned second lieutenant in the Quartermaster corps after several months of study and rigid examination at the service of supply headquarters in Tours. Sergt. Burrell Huff, who afterwards died in the service, was detached to do liaison work in Paris. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Sanitary corps shortly afterward, and was placed in charge of evacuation of sick and wounded men at a large regulating station in St. Dizier. His work here won him commendation from his superior officers. In a responsible and nerve-racking position, the constant strain of his work seriously undermined his constitution, and when he was attacked with acute heart trouble, followed by influenza complicated with pneumonia, he was unable to resist the diseases and died Jan. 12, 1919, after months of faithful and brilliant service. Many high army officers of the allies subsequently paid tribute to the character of Lieut. Huff’s work. He was the son of the late Representative George F. Huff of Greensburg. He was awarded a medal of honor by the French government for services rendered sick and wounded French soldiers. Although he did not live to receive the medal, it and the certificate accompanying it were sent to his mother, who treasures them among remembrances of her son. Brig. Gen. George V. Moseley, assistant chief of staff of the American Expeditionary Forces, said of Lieut. Huff: “During the St. Mihiel and Argonne offensives he was largely responsible for the evacuation of our sick and wounded by rail, and due primarily to his conscientious efforts and devotion to duty, nearly 200,000 sick and wounded were safely transported from the front to the hospitals in the rear without mishap. During times of stress this often entailed day and night duty, and never did he fail to meet the demands the service made upon him. Words can do little to lessen the pain and sense of loss to his relatives, but the knowledge of the great and important work he accomplished for his country will be a source of comfort and great pride to them.” Maj. L. C. Doyle, writing of Lieut. Huff, said: “It was through his conscientious application to his work that his health was undermined and his resistance so weakened that his short illness proved fatal.” He was buried with full military honors Jan. 15, 1919, and lies with 60 other Americans in a small military cemetery on the banks of the Marne river. The Base Hospital No. 27 Band. All Pittsburgers led by Chaplain J. R. Cox MANY MEN PROMOTED The success of these men encouraged the others. The A.E.F. artillery officers’ training school was but 18 miles northeast of Angers and had long been the goal of ambitious would-be second lieutenants in that branch. The first Angers hospital man to receive an appointment to the school was Private Ray Huff. The course was of three months’ duration and in the duly allotted time, Huff returned to Angers on a short leave, wearing the gold bars of a second lieutenant in artillery. Private George R. Sherrerd, who had been in charge of the work of installing the complicated electrical system in the hospital was next to have the satisfaction of knowing that his work had been noticed and was appreciated. He was examined for a commission in the corps of engineers, passes, and was granted a second lieutenant’s rating. However his success did not stop there for subsequently he was made a captain. One of his colleagues in the hospital construction work. James Hays, Sewickley, was shortly afterward made a second lieutenant of engineers. Meanwhile Privates George Perritt, Beaver Falls, and Willard Ford, Homestead, the latter of whom was among the men detached to St. Nazaire, were appointed to the Artillery Training school, graduated and added two more to the list of ex-hospital commissioned men in the artillery service. At this time there was a pressing need for more commissioned men for duty at the hospital. Consequently, the applications of Sergts. Bertram S. Webber, Roger B. McKahan, And Edward I. Lovitz went in for commissions in the Sanitary corps. Sergt. Webber was the first to receive his commission, a first lieutenancy in the Sanitary corps. Eventually he became adjutant of Base Hospital 27. Soon afterwards Sergt. McKahan’s commission arrived, and he was made mess officer of the hospital, a position of no less importance and responsibility. Sergt. Lovitz’s commission came next and he was made medical supply officer, his duties being to collect, store, keep a record of, and dispense medical supplies. The responsible positions relating to the business activities of the hospital, as well as its medical work, were being handled by Pitt unit men, rather than by imported outsiders. There was general satisfaction because of this. Subsequently Sergts. Arleigh B. Williamson and John Garber and Civilian Employee Clifford A. Bayard received commissions as second lieutenants in the Sanitary corps and were added to this hospital staff of commissioned officers. Sergts. George R. Dickey and John C. Fryor received second lieutenants commissions in the Quartermasters corps. The signing of the armistice kept the following men from receiving their commissions: Sergt. Thomas Lynch, Corp. Richard P. Nicholls, Privates Donald J. Baker and William C. Walley, candidates at the Artillery Officers’ Training school; Sergts. Archibald W. Wright and Ralph Lynch, candidates at the Infantry Officers’ Training school; Sergt James M. Miller, candidate for the Quartermaster corps; Sergts. Oliver A. Atkinson, Gerald B. Fly, Albert E. Baier, William [unreadable], Paul C. McConnell, candidates at the Sanitary corps: Sergt [unreadable] and Charles C. Council, candidates for the army service corps. It was a tribute to the standard and ability of the men composing the Pitt unit that so many of them should receive commissions and that so many more should have the ambition to try to better their positions in the army. When the armistice was signed there were very few men of the original unit who were not making some attempt to obtain commissions in the various branches of the army. We have now come to the time when the construction work of Base Hospital 27 was entirely finished: when everything was in readiness for the vital part it was to play in the efficient handling of our wounded soldiers. With its stately main building surrounded by row upon row of wooden wards hastily but strongly flung together by American engineers, its many storage buildings, its little railroad system, its intricate layout of roads and passageways, it could be likened to a small city; when it was filled to capacity, it was a small city, with 5,000 inhabitants. The speed of its construction and the neatness and orderliness of its appearance were a constant source of wonderment to the local French people who were almost as proud of it as the American army medical officers. As the hospital stood there were more than 80 wards at an average capacity of about 60 beds. There was a series of isolation wards for the care of contagious diseases. There was a spacious “E” shaped receiving ward. There were two barracks for the officers, two for the enlisted men and one for the nurses. There was an evacuation ward for patients about to be discharged. There was one large Red Cross hut for the nurses and another for the men. Panorama View of Base Hospital No. 27 as it Appeared When completed. Chapter XIX (cont.) (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 15, 1919, page 86) THE WORK OF THE PERSONNEL BASE HOSPITAL NO. 27 WAS ESPECIALLY STRENUOUS FOLLOWING CHATEAU-THIERRY AND THE BATTLES WHICH RESULTED FROM THE DRIVE IN THE SOISSONS-RHEIMS SALIENT. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT WOUNDED FROM PITTSBURG BEGAN TO COME INTO THE HOSPITAL AND IT WAS A CASE OF WORK DAY AND NIGHT WITH VERY LITTLE TIME FOR REST. There was a roomy and will-equipped garage. There were separate kitchens and mess halls for the nurses, the officers and the enlisted men. There were other kitchens and mess halls for the patients. In the main building, besides many large wards, there were the administration offices, the operating rooms, the pharmacy and a large dining hall. About this time, one of the enlisted men of the unit, Private Robert Titzell, became very ill and suffered some temporary mental derangement. It was decided by the authorities to send him back to the United States, as it was not possible to give him proper care and attention in France. Consequently he was started for home. Some weeks later the members of the unit were greatly shocked to hear that he had fallen overboard on his homeward trip, and had not been picked up. He was the second man Base Hospital 27 lost by death. When the building work had been completed, the men were also trained to take care of their respective cogs in the hospital machine. There was not a man who did not understand what was required of him, and not one who would not be able to do his individual part when the time came. Base Hospital 27 was ready to back up the line troops when the Americans electrified the world at Chateau-Thierry, Vaux, Belleau Wood, Soissons, Fismes and Fismette. READY FOR AMERICANS The Germans had made their great attack on the French position along the Chemin des Dames. Outnumbered, the French had retreated over ground the Germans had not trodden since 1914 until their backs were before the historic Marne. Excitement ran high and despair was in the hearts of all the French people. The men at Base Hospital 27 knew that American soldiers were on their way to assist the hard-pressed French. Base Hospital 27 was prepared to receive a great influx of patients. The equipment of the wards and the operating room was carefully inspected and placed in the best possible order. All sick and wounded men who were on a fair road to convalescence were sent out to replacement depots. The First and Second divisions went into action around Chateau Thierry. A dash of cold water on the spirit of a nation! Excitement did not run higher in the French city of Angers on armistice day. Crowds thronged about the bulletin boards of the newspapers. The one thought in the public mind of France was: “We are saved. Have they not proven they can fight?” The famous remark of the commander of the First division when his men were forced back on Jaulgonne: “Retreat? Sir, the American flag has been forced to retire, and my men would not understand did I not give the instructions which would tend to reverse conditions. We shall attack immediately,” thrilled Angers days before it was featured in American newspapers. Americans can realize the effect of such dramatic events on the temperamental French. When the marines wrested Belleau Wood from a greatly superior force of Germans and held their positions against odds never equaled since Thermopylae; when they carved a pathway through Vaux; when their comrades entered Chateau-Thierry, it would be useless to attempt to describe the joy of the French nation. In their minds there was no doubt as to the final outcome of the war, for were not 300,000 big, strapping Americans landing on their shores every month? WOUNDED MARINES ARRIVE There was a peculiar contract between the wild abandon of the celebrating French and the grim preparations that were going forward in the hospital. Those who had paid the supreme sacrifice would never know that hundreds of millions of tongues were shouting “heroes,” but there were other broken and twisted bodies to which life still clung. For them such institutions as Base Hospital 27 existed. When the news came that the first train load of wounded marines was approaching the hospital, a great crown gathered around the receiving ward. As it pulled slowly down the track with its suffering cargo, there was no hat throwing nor cheering. These battered bodies were the ones that had barred the road to Paris. Their work for the present was finished. The hospital men’s was just beginning. You hear the phrase “Our cheerful wounded” until it means nothing to you. Could you have seen the first train load of marines pulling into Base Hospital 27, you would never again pass over that phrase casually. Not all the men on the train were so badly hurt that they had to recline constantly. Here and there a grinning head was thrust through a window, answering questions and dispensing information without its being solicited. “Yes, most of us are marines. No these are not all the wounded from the Chateau-Thierry action. We left some more at another hospital up the road. Say, this is only the advance guard. You will have the whole Fifth and Sixth marine corps down here in a few more days.” Then the actual work of detraining began. It was almost a repetition of the detraining at Cantigny. There were several hundred of wounded on the train, many of them badly injured. Under such unfavorable conditions had the fighting been pushed, that most of the men had received no previous medical attention. With the clothing town, their bodies dirty, blood clotted on their faces, and here and there a crude home-made bandage showing, they fully looked the part of battle-strained heroes. The stretcher cases were placed in bed immediately. The walking cases went through the showers first. Many were carried directly from the train to the operating room. The surgeons and their assistants prepared for a series of operations and dressing. The work of salvaging the most precious waste of a modern battlefield was begun. WOUNDED FROM PITTSBURG Base Hospital 27 slipped into its new era smoothly. The surgeons worked day and night as if they had done it always. Men who a few months before had been getting to school or working in offices dressed wounds and assisted the surgeons and nurses like experienced hospital apprentices. Eager for first-hand information of the battle of Chateau-Thierry and other tales of the front, all the men made friends with the wounded, visiting them, supplying them with reading material and chatting with them by the hour when they were off duty. Not a few of the wounded were from Pittsburg and vicinity, and more than once it happened that a hospital man unawares carried in an old friend of his, only to place him tenderly in a bed and hear him say, “Thanks, Ed,” or “How are you, Joe?” The world knows the story of the reduction of the Chateau-Thierry, Rheims, Soissons salient, but in measuring the glory of the achievement and in praising the prowess of the American arms, that part of the world which never saw a hospital train picking its way carefully along the hastily constructed tracks in the forward areas, with its lights extinguished as a precaution against hostile planes, then gathering speed as it reaches a more solid roadbed in a less dangerous zone, thread its way quickly and quietly to a hospital with its load of patient, suffering ones – that part of the world can never realize the aftermath of a great victory. Day after day the Americans and French pushed on the sides and center of the sharp point in the lines, and day after day more trains of wounded were rushed back to the hospitals. The Twenty-eighth division went into action and soon many Western Pennsylvania men were pouring into Angers, members of the old Eighteenth and the “Fighting Tenth.” When the Vesle was finally reached and the last sharp struggles took place around Fismes and Fismette the hospital was crowded and the personnel thoroughly exhausted. Men had worked as they never had in their lives before. Called out to unload trains or to leave for duty at the front at all hours of the night, and keeping the hospital running in the day, taxed the woefully small unit to its utmost. Not only was the personnel inadequate in numbers to care for the patients properly, but bed space was becoming very scarce. So authority was requested and received to open an annex to Base Hospital 27. After some search and deliberation a building several miles distant and on the opposite of the Maine river, known as the “Seminaire,” was chosen. This building had formerly been occupied by a French school. Work to put it in order for hospital purposes was immediately begun. Partitions had to be town out and beds and appliances installed. Lieut. S. S. Rodman, adjutant of Base Hospital 27, as designated as commanding officer of the annex and some men and nurses from the main hospital were detached for service there. As the annex was intended primarily to house convalescent patients, a large part of the necessary work could be done by them. Lieut. Bertram S. Webber became adjutant of Base Hospital 27, succeeding Lieut. Rodman. PLANS FOR CAMP Plans were also gotten under way for a convalescent camp to be constructed near the Seminaire. The three organizations were to be known and operated as Hospital Centre, Angers. Maj. Reynolds, now promoted to be a lieutenant colonel, commanding officer of Base Hospital 27, was to command the group. Work at the annex progressed rapidly and soon it was ready to receive patients. The convalescent camp sprang up rapidly also, It was composed entirely of tents – 100 of them. Capt. A. A. Lawton was assigned to command the “Con Camp,” as it was known to all, and it was necessary to furnish him with more of the fast dwindling unit. Just when it seemed that the men could no longer keep the hospitals running small additions of medical men would arrive and the crisis for the present would be averted. The unit was also further relieved about this time by the return of the 30 men who had been detached to St. Nazaire. They had seen eight months of interesting service at the base port and brought back much encouraging news concerning the rapid arrival of Americans in France. Orson Wilcox At the end of August probably the saddest event connected with the service of Base Hospital 27 in France occurred. Leaves had been granted to many of the men, the work had slackened perceptibly and everyone was in good spirits. Things looked bright for an early ending to the war and Base Hospital 27 was anticipating getting back to the States soon , perhaps by the 1st of January. Breaking into the comparatively smooth life at the hospital at this time came the untimely death of Orson Wilcox, one of the most promising athletes ever matriculated at Pitt and one of the most popular men in the unit. Returning to the hospital one evening he was waylaid by three French boys, who demanded cigarets. Being a non-smoker, Wilcox was unable to comply with their demands. They then attacked him with knives. Sergt. Elmer E. Rawdon, passing by at this time, rushed to his assistance, but was immediately stabbed in the neck by one of the boys. Meanwhile several other members of the unit came up and removed Rawdon to the hospital. Just as more Base Hospital 27 men came up Wilcox was seen to collapse on the ground. The boys got up and ran away. Wilcox was hurried into the hospital, where it was ascertained that his death had been almost instant. A search for the murderers was immediately instituted and one of the boys was captured. He confessed, implicated the others, and they were apprehended the following day. Just as Base Hospital 27 was leaving France sentence was passed upon these boys. One of them was sentenced to hard labor for life, another to hard labor for several years and the other was released. The French system of hard labor is a very severe type of punishment. The boys never recovered from the shock of “Willie’s” death. At Pitt he was captain of the freshman football team, besides playing on the freshman basketball and baseball teams. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. A splendid type of clean young American manhood, with a happy disposition and an even temper, a smile and a good work for every one and a willing, conscientious worker, his memory will linger with the boys with whom he was associated as long as they live. MEN SENT TO FRONT In the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient the first all-American engagement, the casualties of the first American army were only around the 7,000 mark. Consequently the strain upon the hospitals was not so great. The wounded were distributed equally among the hospitals of the A.E.F and as the medical service was reaching a high state of efficiency at this time, no trouble was experienced in handling all the injured men. During the drive several surgical teams from the hospital were at the front continuing their service there throughout the Argonne offensive. During the lull between the battles of St. Mihiel and the Argonne the activities of the enlisted men of Base Hospital 27 while not on duty can be described. Despite the fact that the men were forced to tie themselves down to their work pretty closely there were many opportunities for amusement and relaxation. Celebrations were in order upon the slightest provocation. They celebrated the anniversary of the call to selective service, the anniversary of the departure from the United States, the anniversary of the arrival in France, and sundry birthday and other occasions. French restaurant and café keepers in the near vicinity of the hospital became moderately wealthy through the tendency of the Americans to celebrate. Each group of men had its favorite restaurant. None of the men will forget “Mama’s,” “Lizzie’s,” or Gasmantle.” To celebrate the close of the first year in this place the men had a picnic in the country. Through the kindness of the hospital several trucks were placed at the disposal of the men to convey them and the refreshments to the scene of the festivities. CLUBHOUSE ERECTED Through the efforts of Capt. P.R. Barley, Red Cross representative at Base Hospital 27, a clubhouse was erected for the enlisted personnel. This was tastily fitted out, and when work was finished the men would gather around a log fire for a half hour’s chat before turning in. The hospital had a crack baseball team, which met and defeated many other American teams in the district. But the climax of the amusement activities came with a farce football game staged after the armistice was signed. Two teams had been chosen and, togged in ludicrous outfits, they staged a side-splitting contest in the rain and mud of a typical French fall day. The game was preceded by an orthodox parade, led by the Base Hospital 27 band. Stretcher and ambulance squads were loud in their praise of this event, which was gotten up mainly in the effort at diversion and amusement for them. Harold Rowland – Died of spinal meningitis To return to the work, the hardest ordeal for all branches of the A.E.F. came with the Battle of the Argonne. It is not necessary to tell how the doughboys fought their way through almost impenetrable obstacles until they broke the back of the German defense system and poured into Sedan just before the armistice was signed. As a result of the stubborn fighting, hospital trains were worked between the front and the hospitals night and day, and a steady stream of wounded men, dirty, disheveled and suffering, thronged all the wards, corridors, tents – in fact every place where a bed could be located. Except for redoubled energy and many sleepless nights, there was nothing new in the activities of Base Hospital 27 during the Argonne drive. With the signing of the armistice, time began to drag for the Pittsburgers. But it was not until early January, 1919, that word was received that the unit had been ordered relieved. In a few weeks Base Hospital 85, previously located in Paris, arrived in Angers, and took over the work of the hospital center. In a month, Base Hospital 27 left Angers on its way to a base port and eventually the United States. Tied up for a month at St. Nazaire awaiting transportation, it was not until March 24 that the men saw America again after an absence of 18 months, during which they had cared for over 20,000 wounded soldiers and made an enviable record among A.E.F. medical units. April 10, the men were mustered out of the service, and the Base Hospital 27 existed only in history. ********************************************************************** Chapter XX (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 22, 1919, page 82) Names in this chapter: Jadwin, Faust, Israel THE FIFTEENTH ENGINEERS WAS RECRUITED IN PITTSBURG AND MADE UP FOR THE MOST PART OF THE VERY FLOWER OF OUR MANHOOD. IT WAS A JUSTLY FAMOUS UNIT AND WAS AMONG THE FIRST OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES TO BE SENT OVERSEAS. To the famous Fifteenth engineers, A.E.F., organized in Pittsburg early in 917 and then known as the Fifth engineers, U.S.A., goes the glory of being the first complete regiment to leave the Steel City for that then mystically far away place, “Over There.” This may be said without in the least detracting from credit due other units that went later, or due the individual men by the dozens who rushed coincidentally with the embryo engineers to the local recruiting offices, but entered the regular army, the signal corps, the navy or the marines – marched away with only a couple of non-coms or boatswain’s mates to see them safely aboard a train at the Pennsylvania station. It was only natural that the Fifteenth engineers, after nearly two years’ of service and with a glorious record should have been widely acclaimed and sent away by the Pittsburg populace with a might ovation. They were the very flower of Western Pennsylvania’s young manhood, most of them college or university men and all imbued with the spirit that made them first to respond when “war’s wild alarm” sounded. During their brief training period at Oakmont, the engineers’ camp was visited each Sunday by monster throngs of loving friends and relatives, who were amazed even by the first stage of the transition which was to turn their boys from care-free laughing youths into disciplined, dependable veterans, fit to challenge the admiration of Europe. Col. Edgar Jadwin, long before Uncle Sam entered the world war, had conceived the notion that Pittsburg would be an ideal city in which to recruit a regiment of engineers. When he was told by Washington to “go ahead,” he wasted no time, but recruited several hundred more than enough men to fill the regimental roster, then selected the best of what material he had and started with it for France. That was characteristic of the way Col. Jadwin, then and for some years previous in charge of the United States engineers’ office in Pittsburg, did things. He has since been promoted to be a brigadier general. He and several other officers of the regiment had served in the Spanish-American war. Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio were well represented in the Fifteenth. Thousands of young men from towns near Pittsburg swamped Col. Jadwin’s office. Little was said about it a the time, nothing at all for publication, but it is an open secret not that the surplus problem left behind by Col. Jadwin caused regular army recruiting officers and others to cudgel their grey matter and tear their hair. Some of the things they said, at first, were unprintable, anyway. The boys who had “joined the engineers,” but had been left behind, couldn’t be taken into any other branch of the service until a lot of red tape had been cut. Eventually, this was done. Meanwhile, they chafed because some of them thought their friends regarded them as slackers. CAMP NEAR OAKMONT From the Pyle farm, near Oakmont, where they pitched their camp May 22, 1917, and where they were augmented by other companies up to June 6, the engineers came into Pittsburg July 4, and joined in a parade which was one of the greatest pageants ever seen here. Knowing that these brave lads were soon to go overseas, the Pittsburg stay-a-homes, those who could not enlist and those who intended to enlist or be drafted later, spared no effort to make this farewell review all than any event of its kind possibly could be. Enthusiasm was boundless and it is scarcely too much to say that at this juncture came the first real thrill that brought home to the common people with unmistakable force that fact that the country was at war. Jarred a little in their peaceful pursuits, the people had not yet comprehended the enormity of the task Uncle Sam had undertaken. As George Ade says, the war in Europe seemed too much like a close finish in the Pacific coast league, “interesting, but too far away to arouse local excitement.” The example set by the engineers, as they prepared, under Col. Jadwin’s orders, for action, was powerful. It was a great stimulus to recruiting. The more local boys joined the colors, the better the Red Cross and other like agencies were supported. The engineers and the old National Guard units led the way. Thousands of brave boys enlisted and opposition to the selective draft died away to a whisper. Pro-German sensed the change in public opinion and changed their laud clamor to a subtle and cringing propaganda, and even that became hazardous when the fighting spirit of the Workshop of the World was fully aroused. From the time the regiment broke camp at Oakmont, July 6, 1917, until it returned to Pittsburg for a welcome-home parade on May 7, 1919, the interval was filled with activity of many kinds. Disconnected reports of its work have been gathered from many sources and every word printed concerning it has been read with interest. OFF FOR FRANCE On the morning of July 6, Col. Jadwin issued orders that the regiment would entrain that night for an Atlantic port of embarkation. The destination of the engineers was not announced, but it was understood they soon would be “going over.” Special trains were sent over the Pennsylvania railroad to Oakmont. Camp was broken and the camp site was so thoroughly “policed” that scarcely a trace of the big military maneuver ground remained visible. Several hours’ wait in the stuffy coaches ensued and quite naturally the men became inpatient to be on their way. Suddenly notice came from the war department at Washington to delay the start from here for 48 hours. A strike by stevedores in the New York harbor was given as the reason for the delay. The men of the regiment were enjoined to secrecy about it, but they knew then that Gotham was to be the embarkation point from which they would jump off for the great adventure. Not wishing to have the razed camp rebuilt, Col Jadwin took the troop trains to the Pennsylvania railroad yards at Verona and the men were told to remain aboard the trains. These coaches were their only homes for 48 hours and the discomfort was great, but the spirit of the men showed they had understood from the beginning that they were not out for a pleasure jaunt. In the early part of Sunday, July 8, orders came for the regiment to move east. Trains bearing the heroes, for they were already that, left the Verona station at 6:15 a.m., amid the cheers of hundreds of spectators. Few events of importance transpired during the long rail journey to New York. There was a prisoner in one of the baggage coaches, closely guarded by Corp. Gordon Faust of Co. F, son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Faust of Monaca. The identity of the prisoner has since been kept secret “for the good of the regiment.” It also came out, after the armistice was signed, that an attempt to bomb the engineers’ coaches and kill all on board was made while the regiment was enroute from Verona to New York. Details of the alleged plot are scarce, except such as might be gleaned from the more or less fevered imagination of a hectic and excited “correspondent.” After their arrival at Hoboken, M.J., the engineers were held for several hours and there was another delay at Jersey City, where the regiment arrived July 9 at 5: 45 a.m. On the Pennsylvania railroad ferryboat, the Washington, the engineers’ train next transferred to the White Star line pier on the New York side of the Hudson river. About 3 p.m., the men boarded the White Star liner Baltic, from whose broad decks they obtained their first glimpses of New York’s skyline before they entered the awful conflict in which great nations and millions of men were struggling for existence. Sea sickness was one of the terrors encountered by the brace Pittsburg district lads on the voyage across the ocean to France. July 10, at 6:45 a.m., most of the boys were on deck. The Baltic was then 200 miles from New York and a school of whales attracted the attention of the soldiers aboard shortly before time for luncheon. Life boat drills started at 2 p.m. that day and were continued throughout the remainder of the ocean trip. The Baltic took a northerly course about 30 miles off shore and maintained it until the waters in the vicinity of Newfoundland were reached. The boys studied the manual of arms while the Baltic headed directly for the English coast. Cheerfulness and good humor marked the demeanor of the engineers, who endured the rigors of seasickness with a fortitude which caused Col. Jadwin to say he was proud to be in command of such a capable and uncomplaining outfit. The ship’s hold contained a cargo of copper wire, wine, etc., valued at about $50,000,000. Guarding against U-boar surprise attacks was one of the most constant activities of the gunners aboard the Baltic. Talks and sermons to the men were given daily by Bishop Israel of Erie, Pa. Timed when the boys were not studying, drilling or at target practice they spent as ease on the decks, and being plentifully supplied with books and magazines, they read a great deal. The engineers were compelled to scurry for cover when a heavy rain storm came up on July 14 but there was an abundance of entertainment during the afternoon. Boxing matches were hastily arranged and the engineers took great delight in watching the leather slingers. When a great ship bound for New York, passed the Baltic, about four miles away, the boys of the Fifteenth watched it until it disappeared below the western horizon, it being regarded by them as a connecting link with the beloved land left behind. Warning was given that night by the ship’s officers that the Baltic was approaching the submarine zone and there was great danger. The boys spent a wakeful and anxious night, but nothing happened out of the ordinary. Communion service was administered by Bishop Israel, after which the engineers retired to their berths below, being driven from the decks by rain following a dense fog. LAND IN ENGLAND A coast patrol boat, which turned back on the first morning out from New York, escorted the Baltic at the start. Late in the afternoon of July 18 the coast of Ireland was in view, according to the Baltic’s lookouts. The engineers first set foot in England, July 20, 1917, after which they were entrained at the docks and transferred to Camp Borden, in the southern part of England. After a review by a British general, while thousands of Canadians, Australians and other British soldiers looked on, the engineers listened to a brief address by the reviewing general. He expressed his pleasure at welcoming the first armed forced of the American Expeditionary Forces and the first armed legionary forces of a foreign power to land on Great Britain’s shores, since the Norman conqueror, William I, landed at Hastings while defying Harold’s lances. The engineers a short time later boarded the channel steamer Viper and crossed the English channel without mishap. They landed in the port of Le Havre, France, July 27, 1917. Strange sights met their gaze on every hand, but they were soon too busy to take much notice of the outlandish aspect of their surroundings. GREETED BY FRENCH As the boys reached the docks of Le Havre, they let go a real American yell and were cheered loudly in response by thousands of peasants, French soldiers and British Tommies, gathered there to welcome them. Equipment was hurriedly packed and at 9 a.m. the march to the railroad station was begun. The engineers hiked 10 miles, from 10 a.m. until 12:10 p.m. In the camp where they had rested at the end of the hike the engineers met and mingled with about 1,000 British soldiers. The camp overlooked the bay of Le Havre, and although it was 210 miles from the firing line, it had a warlike aspect because of the presence of so many soldiers and the almost daily arrival of more troops. Rising at 5:45 a.m. the next day, the boys of the Fifteenth packed up and left the Le Havre camp, hiking three miles to station where they entrained about noon on the Etate railroad for “somewhere.” Forty-four coaches were in the train, which was first class and well equipped. It traveled slowly, owing to the railroad congestion, and passed through Yootot,Rouen and Roudon. Rouen was a big railroad center and the Pittsburg boys witnessed many sights similar to those enacted daily in the Conemaugh or other yards of the Pennsylvania railroad. Much of the work then in progress there consisted of repairing many engines and cars that had been damaged while in use near the battle front. When the train stopped at Mantos and the Pittsburgers were enjoying their mess, they also had their first glimpse of the strange troops Great Britain had called under her banner from the far outlands. More than 1,000 Hindustanese, on a train enroute to the front, passed the Fifteenth engineers and waved a cheery greeting. The remarkable chalk hills of France, really mountains and in many places as high as the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania, formed the next scene which confronted the eager gaze of the engineers. These were a short distance from Mantos. The boys passed within eight miles of Paris when they went through Versailles, which they reached at 1 a.m. while most of the boys were asleep in their train berth. More than 350 miles the engineers traveled and then a bugle sounded at 5 a.m., July 28. The boys next gazed upon the city of Vierzon, which afterwards was frequently referred to in many official dispatches, being at various times the site of a dozen different division headquarters. After spending 19 hours aboard the train, the engineers were indeed glad to hear an order to detrain, even though that meant that there was more work to be done. Inspection followed , then the boys marched to the camp outside Vierzon, which they reached about 10 a.m. and where they found 160 new tents pitched and awaiting occupancy. Co. F was assigned to pitch other tents in the camp. The day was very hot and the men suffered from the effects of the heat. The camp was in a pink and white clover field. When the mess time came each man was served with two potatoes, plenty of green corn, some tomato soup, the usual hard bread and good coffee. The French peasants brought light red wine from their vineyards and the boys enjoyed this, besides feasting on plums in a nearby orchard. Everyone was granted leave at 11 a.m. and until 9 p.m. the engineers spent their time getting acquainted with the neighborhood and the natives, although the latter was a difficult task because the boys could not speak French and the natives could not understand much English. A fifth inoculation against disease was administered to the men of the regiment on July 30. Co. D was withdrawn from the camp and sent to another camp, “somewhere.” From this time forward there was no time when the regiment was together intact again until after the armistice was signed and the boys were ordered to assemble at Bordeaux. ASSIGNED TO DUTY Early on July 31, Co. E was summoned and assigned for duty elsewhere. Co. F was placed on guard duty. On Aug. 1, Co. F was doing detail and Co. C was on guard duty. Twenty-four members of Co. F went to Vierzon, catching rides on army trucks toward town. They were set to work in Vierzon, loading and unloading vegetables in cars. Fifty German prisoners, minus the arrogant air they formerly had assumed, were sweeping the platform and doing other menial work. Some of them, talking with the Pittsburgers, said they had been forced into the kaiser’s army and that they never had wanted to fight. Rain fell that day and the air was cool but, after finishing their labors about the depot, the engineers doffed their uniforms at a stream close by and enjoyed a refreshing swim. Co. F had 14 hours’ leave the nest day, while Cos. A, B, C, and Headquarters were very busy with routine work. The boys of Co. F went to Vierzon, where they demonstrated their expertness as wielders of billiard cues. On Aug. 3 it was rainy and cold and all the men of the regiment were off duty part of the day. They were then supplied with books treating on the construction of railroads, barracks and docks. Most of the day was spent in studying these. Chapter XX (cont.) (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 29, 1919, page 98) SHORTLY AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIFTEENTH ENGINEERS IN FRANCE THE REGIMENT WAS BROKEN UP AND THE VARIOUS COMPANIES SENT OFF TO DIFFERENT SECTIONS WHEREVER THERE WAS THE MOST PRESSING NEED OF THEIR HELP. COMPANY B EXPERIENCED CONSIDERABLE TRAVELING AND PERFORMED MANY DUTIES IN THE SERVICE OF SUPPLY. As previously stated, at no time after the arrival of the Fifteenth engineers in France were the companies all together. Some were assigned one task, others were sent to different supply centers and depots and still others to railroad centers, hence a continuous narrative of the adventures of the famous regiment on the battlefields of France is impossible. However, by taking up the activities of the companies separately a slight conception of the great work it wrought can be obtained. Mention of various companies will be made throughout this account and efforts exerted to correlate the work and adventures of the entire regiment. The work of a regiment of engineers is vastly different from the work of the combating forces. However, it must not be concluded that the Pennsylvania engineers saw a service that was devoid of thrills and the wildest of adventures, for even if they were not supplied with the combating equipment, oftentimes their work was ahead of the infantry in the very thick of the fighting, and upon hundreds of occasions they were menaced by airplane bombs and shells from enemy guns. It was a particular delight, and, of course, one of the stratagems of war, for the German airmen to pick out the regiment of engineers and harass them continually. The work of the engineers was to remove the obstacles of advance by building bridges, repairing roads, constructing dugouts for shelter, erecting hospitals, supply centers, laying railroads and repairing those destroyed by shellfire. Within the regiments were men fit to do every kind of engineering work, from the repairing of a broken motor lorry to the digging of trenches. Without the aid of the engineers war would be an almost impossible thing. The same can be said of all other units of an organized fighting force, for each has separate tasks, which, when timely performed, connected and organized, make war a business. A mail order concern would be useless without a shipping department. An army would be useless without its regiments of engineers. Realizing the part they were to play in the greatest of all war dramas, the Fifteenth engineers vigorously entered upon their duties and performed them in a commendable manner under the careful guidance and control of Col. Jadwin. GETS SEPARATE TASK Like a huge family the Fifteenth regiment lived for a few days at Vierzon, absorbing the conduct of the war from various experienced teachers, when suddenly of Aug. 15 Co. B received orders to pack up and entrain. Whither they were going was not known to them. They were placed under sealed orders. The men of Co. B, while not unwilling to meet their task, disliked the idea of separation from their comrades, but bravely packed up without a murmur of objection, marched into Vierzon and entrained for their unknown destination. Co. B was one of the busiest companies of the regiment throughout the war, and its work was of a highly varied nature. It was transferred from one place to another, and during the whole period in France was in more than a dozen different places. Sometimes it would be just starting a project when it would be ordered to leave. In its path other companies of engineers followed and completed the job it had begun. Sometimes it completed a task before moving on, but more often it was used as an advance company. Occasionally, however, it took up a bit of work that had been left by other companies and completed it. Before boarding the train under their sealed orders, members of the company solemnly took leave of their pals who had been with them ever since the training period at Oakmont. Wishes of good luck and safety went with Co. B, which, after two days of hot, sultry traveling in a French train, detrained at Laneuville, where over a month was spent in arduous work. WENT INTO BARRAKCS At Laneuville the men went into barracks, much more comfortable than the tents they had occupied at Vierzon. Military authorities of the United States had selected Laneuville as one of the base supply centers and Co. B was given work in which is familiarly known in army circles as the S.O.S., or service of supply. New men from the states were arriving here almost daily. Huge ships were arriving at distant ports laden with supplies of every description assigned to Laneuville. Warehouses had to be built, additional barracks must be erected, new roads made, old roads repaired – and these tasks fell to Co. B of Pittsburg’s pioneer Fifteenth regiment. In a comparatively short time new barracks took form, but the work that mostly engaged the Pittsburg lads was the repairing of the roads about Laneuville. These were in an almost impassable condition. They were not fit for travel, nor the arteries over which men and supplies for the conflict raging in the north must pass. It was labor that the men of Co. B indulged in while preparing these roads, and as day after day passed the existence became monotonous. The heat was grueling, but the rain was worse. At times it rained torrents, which swept along the roads, making work on them impossible. But every shower that came and went wasn’t a signal to halt. The men kept at it, sometimes in mud almost knee deep, toiling away like veterans. There were a few occasions when they studied books in regard to war engineering, but for the most part their days were filled with labor. Whatever the feeling in the men’s hearts as they worked, none showed an unwillingness to continue their task until completion. From romping boys they were suddenly transformed into hardened men, who worked with a seriousness and a determination that was insurpassable [sic]. Had mothers and fathers from Pittsburg chanced upon their sons while engaged in this work they would have noticed and been amazed at the wonderful transformation wrought by the realization of duty which gripped every man of them and impelled them to do their best. French poilus [sic] watched the work of the Americans in amazement. Their methods were new, and the rapidity with which they completed one thing and went to another was to them startling. They were the first engineering unit from America to actually engage in work in France. Hampered by a lack of material, the French methods were slow, and when they did materialize the transformation had been so slow that nothing out of the ordinary was thought of it. Even the hardened British Tommies took notice of the work the Americans were doing, and through the part Co. B was playing came to realize most suddenly that American had entered the war in earnest. FRENCH METHODS SLOW Members of the Fifteenth who have returned to this country scoff at the methods of engineering used in France and England. Although these countries contain words bearing the admiration of the whole world, they employed antiquated tactics in hasty work of the war nature and did not seem to work with the same zeal and determination as did the Americans. London, it is asserted by the returning boys, is 100 years behind the times. America is the new world, and industry has advanced in rapid stride here. It should be realized that the old cities of the world are much harder to transform into places with all modern conveniences such as are had here. The railroad system in France and England has been severely criticized. No great moguls hauled all-steel coaches over the roads in France until American’s engineers reached there. It was an ever source of wonder to the French peasantry and villagers to see the Americans lay the great steel rails and operate huge trains over them. All of the material necessary for building these roads, of course, was brought from America. So it is not a matter for much consideration that the French were astounded when they saw the power America meant to expend in their behalf. There wasn’t any lolling around in the American camp at Laneuville. The Americans were absorbed with two thoughts: First, to make it possible for the combating forces to wager a winning war, and, second, to get the thing over with and get back to the U.S.A. The men had long since become aware that war was no play. It was serious business and far from pleasant. The desire to get back to their homes was a natural one and sufficient to stimulate them to their greatest efforts. Occasionally passes for a few hours’ leave of absence were granted the boys by their commanding officers. On such occasions the fortunate recipients of the slip of paper that gained them admittance through the lines went to Laneuville and took part in what amusements the little city afforded. And Laneuville always know when a bunch of Americans was in the city. BREAKS CAMP AGAIN And so the days at Laneuville passed until finally on the night of Sept. 19, after repeated rumors had been received concerning another move, orders came to break camp and move elsewhere. This time they went to Neufchateau, accompanied by what seemed to them the whole French army. Laneuville had profited much by their little visit and they left it in a far better condition that they found it. The stay at Neufchateau was short, lasting only one day, during which the company rested. On Sep. 22 they again moved, and after an all-day trip arrived at Certilleaux, which is situated in the mountainous country of France. Here the pretty green hills met their gaze for the first time and for seven days they enjoyed the relief from the chalk country they had been in for almost a month and a half. The mud was of a different variety and this, too, was a source of delight to the Pittsburg troopers. The seven days was replete with work for the service of supply. Every day found them busy repairing roads and building a new small structures for the housing of supplies. Again orders came to move. The destination was Jonchery. Early on the morning of Sept. 30 the company set out on one of the most tiresome hikes it ever experienced. By nightfall it reached Liffol-le-Grand. The next morning it commenced a hike to Rimacourt, which was in the Haus-Marne sector. Arriving in Rimancourt after nightfall, the company enjoyed a real night of rest, but was hiking again at daybreak on the following morning. Bologne was reached that day, and then it was hike for another day until Jonchery was reached on Oct. 2 at noon. The hikes were tiresome to the Pittsburgers, but they did much to condition them for the work that lay ahead. Separated from their comrades, but a family within themselves, the men made Jonchery their home for eight long, wearisome months. They were only one unit of a great heterogeneous mass of engineers which had been brought to Jonchery to convert it into one of the greatest center of military supplies in France. Although far from the battlefields, the city was the scene of intense activities. Great barracks were constructed, huge warehouses arose rapidly and were filled with stores and supplies of all sorts; military railroads in the vicinity were given attention and new roads were built, over which passed horses, wagons, huge guns, ammunitions, ford and every article needed by the men who were stemming the advancing German tide to the northward in its desperate effort to reach Paris. The same determination in which Company B had worked was in evidence throughout the long winter in Jonchery. The deep significance of the important work they were performing had penetrated the hearts of the heroic Pennsylvania men and they worked from morning until night, desperate in their purposes to do everything within their power for the brave fighters facing death on the firing lines. WINTER AT JONCHERY It was in Jonchery that Co. B saw the summer die, winter come on with its bleak coldness, spring dawn with the effulgence of youth and the hills and valleys again take on their new dress of verdure. They declared it was the longest and worst winter they had ever spent. The long stay at Jonchery and the noble work they had done won warm admiration in the hearts of the French residents of the city, who did everything possible to make the visit of Co. B a pleasurable one, but not withstanding their generosity the hearts of the men rejoiced when on March 5, 1918, they received orders to break camp and move to Villers-le-Sec. The order was carried out the same day it was received. Villers-le-Sec was only a few kilometers from Jonchery, but the little change was what the boys needed, and they were tired of the grueling work at Jonchery amid the same surroundings week after week. Already the men had begun to itch for real action. The feeling was just commencing to gain a foothold, although it was not until after they had been at Villers-le-Sec for a few weeks that the fever broke out in such earnestness that officers, influenced by the storm of requests, attempted, through appeal to higher authorities, to have the boys assigned to duty near the front lines. All the appeals they made, however, were refused, and the men of Co. B being denied what they wanted, resigned themselves to their fate. MORE WORK IN THE S. O. S. From May 5 until Aug. 6 Co. B working at Villers-le-Sec, but here they were engaged more generally in the service of supply. Every day news from the front line trenches filtered back to them and fired their veins with the fierce desire to win themselves more glory. But they never reached the front line until Nov. 11, the day on which the armistice was signed, and many times the brave lads cursed their luck. On Aug. 7 the company moved out of Villers-le-Sec and went to Is-Sur-Tille and Lux, where it worked until Aug. 27, and then began a series of trips from one place to another, which kept the lads for the most part on the hike, the trains, or in motor transports. They called themselves the “traveling engineers.” August 30 they arrived at Sorcy; Sept. 6 they went to Menil-la-Tour, then came back again to Sorcy, and from there on Sept. 7, went to Ansauville. The latter trip was made in huge army transports and was described later as being one of the roughest rides the boys had ever had. At Ansauville the company commenced work on some barracks. They had hardly started them when they moved again on Sept. 11 to Sampigny. AT SAMPIGNY During the trip from Ansauville to Sampigny some of the members of the company were forced to walk, while others rode in motor trucks. This was necessitated by a lack of a sufficient number of trucks. While en route to Sampigny a short stop was made at Vadonville, where some little work was done. Sampigny was reached on Sept. 15. Here the boys were enthused over the smell of powder, which floated back to them on the winds of sunny France. They were a good deal closer to the front lines now, and they believed they would get to see some real action. On Sept. 18, orders came to prepare for a trip to the Argonne. Secretly exhilarating, the men prepared to leave with considerable feverishness. It was in the Argonne that the infantry and artillery regiments of the Eightieth were spilling their life’s blood for the cause, and Co. B was eager to help. The long hike was commenced of the following morning and despite weariness from the weight of the heavy packs the men carried they were light of heart and whistled as they trudged along. The big drive was to start on Sept. 26, but none of the boys of Co. B knew it, or their hearts would have been lighter than ever. HIKING TO THE ARGONNE The proximity of the battle line, and the danger of being seen by enemy aviators now necessitated that all marching be done at night and the sleeping during the day, under cover of a friendly clump of trees. On and on the company hiked, through Rupt, Beauzee, Rarecourt, Clermont, and finally it reached the Beauchamp woods on Sept. 22. In the Beauchamp woods the lads of Co. B worked until Sept. 27, repairing the roads over which hundreds of wagons of ammunitions, heavy artillery, supplies of all nature, and men were passing almost continuously. In the meantime the great battle to the north had begun. The allies launched the famous Argonne-Meuse drive, the death-blow of German autocracy, on Sept. 26. Co. B itched for a chance to go on . On Sept. 27 orders came to move again. DISAPPOINTED TROOPS They felt certain this march was to take them far into the front, but it only lasted a half day, and the company came to a stop again, this time at Neuvilly. And here it remained until Oct. 8, while the conquering comrades from Pittburg, who to them were fortunate enough to get in the real fighting forces, kept in hot pursuit of the fleeing Hun. It was a glum bunch of lads that remained at Neuvilly. According to them they had reason to be glum, but their work was just as important to the success of the great drive as was the work of the men who faced the bullets of the Germans at bay. GO TO VARENNES On Oct. 8 the company quit Neuvilly and marched to Varennes. Here they were on recently conquered territory. All around them were the marks of a terribly conflict. The little town of Varennes had been one of the big points in the battle line, and it was here that the combating organizations of the Eightieth had wrested meter after meter of territory from the Germans. Co. B was wide awake, but as one member put it, “it seemed like mockery to arrive after all the fighting there was over, and see the place where many of their pals had bled and died.” At Varennes all sorts of rumors reached their ears. They heard the Kaiser had abdicated, that Hindenburg would have to surrender in a few days, that the war wouldn’t last a week longer, but as they worked they hoped and prayed it would last long enough for them to at least see one gun shoot. But it didn’t. The company worked at Varennes repairing roads, packing supplies in motor lorries for the front, and doing a hundred other jobs until Nov. 11, when it was ordered to Verdun. THE ARMISTICE “Verdun” – that was the work they had waited for. They hurried preparations for the march, but it was folly, for on that very day the armistice was signed and the great guns of the allies ceased firing. The beginning of the end of the war had come. The cheer that burst from the throats of the boys of Co. B, when the order to proceed to Verdun was received, died out in almost the same breath, for simultaneously news of the armistice reached them. The company, however, proceeded to Verdun, where it found everything in a dilapidated state and needing repairs. It was assigned to the task of rebuilding the railroads in and about the famous sector which the Crown Prince’s armies couldn’t take. Day after day, even if the war was over, the men of the company stuck to their tasks of repairing the railroads. The rapidity of which they worked was marvelous to the French. The Army of Occupation was moving rapidly forward over the roads the company was repairing. It was at Verdun that Co. B and other engineering companies from American regiments won the reputation of being real railroad builders. But at the work neared completion thoughts of home permeated the minds of the soldiers and they gradually developed a longing that materialized Jan. 18. At Verdun practically the whole Fifteenth regiment had been brought together. On the day news they were really going to sail for home reached them they were working on the Verdun-Sedan railway. ORDERS TO SAIL The orders to sail first leaked out when the men were commanded to police up the entire neighborhood in which they were stationed. News that they were to sail reached America before it reached the boys, but finally the engineers were ordered to entrain for Saulmory. Next the regiment arrived at Camblanes, where it was billeted. Anxiety to get back home died here, for the men waited until March 15 before more orders came to move. The speculation concerning when they would reach America at first was hot and heavy, but it soon died out as they saw regiment after regiment reach Camblanes and march on to embarkation camps. To make the waiting a little easier officers were lenient in the matter of granting passes and furloughs to the men, but they didn’t help the boys much, because most of them didn’t have enough money to go anywhere, even if they did get a furlough. Finally, on March 15, the regiment moved up to Embarkation Point No. 1 at Geincart. On March 16 it moved to Embarkation Point No. 2, and was given an examination which, in the words of the soldiers, “consisted largely of red tape.” It took until March 19 to complete this episode, and then orders were received to move. The regiment went to Bassens, on the coast, boarded the boats and was taken to Paullac, the sailing point. Day after day passed here, and almost hourly the Pittsburgers saw huge transports dock and pull out again for the States with their cargoes of human freight. Bordeaux was near, and considerable time was spent there during the waiting days. It was on Saturday, April 12, that the boys got word they were really to sail. On the following day at 10 a.m., after all preparations had been made, the regiment boarded the huge transport Santa Clara, and with a last farewell wave at the land wherein many days of hard work had been spent, it sailed for “God’s country.” IMPORTANT WORK FOR CO. C Co. C was another company of the Fifteenth engineers which saw an unusual amount of activity. Shortly after its arrival at Vierzon, like Co. B it was detached from the regiment and sent out on separate tasks in conjunction with engineering units from other American and French regiments, although it was sometimes detailed to a job alone. It worked throughout the war on many important projects, and like Co. B, won singular praise from the French and English for its splendid efforts. A few days after the regiment arrived at Vierzon, orders were issued to Co. C to move out on Aug. 7, and proceed toward the coast. During the company’s stay at Vierzon it made numerous visits to the city, which boasted of a population of 30,000 and consequently when the order came for it to leave the people of the village turned out to bid them farewell. The Americans were more or less idolized by the French, and the Fifteenth engineers especially, for their work kept them back of the lines for the greater part, and thus they were almost daily thrown in contact with the French people. The fact that the Fifteenth engineers were the first American soldiers to be seen by thousands of French people had much to do with the great and hearty manner in which the French received them. At times they even seemed to be regarded with awe. So it was when Co. C took leave of Vierzon on Aug. 7. Carrying their packs, they boarded a train early in the morning, amid the plaudits of thousands of the townspeople, and set off. None of the members of the company knew their destination. As the train rolled through the beautiful valleys, magnificent in the summer grandeur, French people in many places were lined up along the tracks to gain a fleeting glimpse of the Americans. Occasionally the train stopped at small villages through which it passed. The French, especially the girls at work in vineyards, would gather about the windows of the long, low coaches and hand the boys fruits and sweetmeats, for which they disdained to accept remuneration of any sort. Their generosity was greatly appreciated. Finally, on Aug. 8 at noon, the company arrived at Bassen, a few miles from Bordeaux, where it detrained, pitched tents and prepared for a stay. Orders for duty came on Aug. 9, when the company was detailed to assist in constructing a railroad along the river to Bordeaux, over which supplies could be hauled for the construction of the great docks which had to be built there to take care of the enormous amount of materials and supplies which was arriving daily from America, across the seas. Bassens at first was only a small bunch of houses in a huge field of clover. Shortly after Co. C arrived it took on an entirely different appearance. Barracks sprang into existence like magic and soon Co. C was well quartered. In the meantime work on the railroad was begun and the soldiers received their first real taste of what being a member of the engineers was like. They worked in the hot sun throughout the long days keeping to their task like well-trained veterans of the railroad building industry. But it was new work to the most of them, and there were many complaints from lame backs and calloused hands brought on by the work with the pick and shovel. The construction of a railroad bed is not the easiest thing in the world. This face became impressed upon their minds very quickly. But the realization that the war was a serious thing, and they had been picked out for this individual task, predominated in their minds and spirits, and it was with dauntless morale and determination that they stuck to their laborious tasks day after day. PASSES TO BORDEAUX Occasionally the soldiers would be given passes to Bordeaux. Here great numbers of French wounded were seen, and the sight of legless and armless men, horribly disfigured faces, and blind soldiers sent the boys of Co. C back to their road building tasks with new vigor, for they wanted such outrages to humanity stopped forever. [Transcriber’s Note: The conclusion of this chapter in the July 6, 1919 issued is not available. The issue of July 13, 1919, the beginning of chapter XXI is also not available.] ********************************************************************** Chapter XXI (cont.) (The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, July 20, 1919, page 78) [Transcriber’s note: The beginning of Chapter XXI was printed in the July 13, 1919 issued of the Pittsburg Press which is not available.] Names in this chapter: Bacon, Cobb, Mathewson, Alderdice, Hornbostel, Haughton MEN FROM THIS SECTION OF THE STATE WERE AT THE HEAD OF MANY OF THE IMPORTANT TASKS ALLOTED TO THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE OF THE ARMY. MANY USEFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES FOR COMBATING THE ENEMY WERE INVENTED AND MANUFACTURED AND PROGRESS WAS MADE TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT THIS ARM ALONE WOULD SOON HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EITHER FORCE THE ENEMY TO SURRENDER OR BE ANNIHILATED. While the Germans were enjoying their little game of “kriegspiel” things were happening. Col. Bacon, in France, needed at once a first class laboratory. For a time it appeared as if the success of the United States gas and flame effort depended upon getting a laboratory, a good laboratory, in a marvelously short time at the test field of Chaumont, where headquarters was located. “You want too much all at once,” Bacon heard on one side, and on the other, “It can’t be done, y’know.” Bacon didn’t pretend to be an Alladin [sic], nor would he have rubbed a lamp if there had been one available. But he took the alternative of rubbing C. G. Fisher, president of the Scientific Materials co., of Pittsburg. With the first suggestion, almost the first “rub” one might say, the idea appealed to Mr. Fisher. “How soon do you want it?” was his query. “It is needed at once, has been needed for some time, but we would like to have it in any reasonable time – say two months,” as the reply. LABORATORY FINISHED In one month the best equipped laboratory in France of England was humming along under full steam at Chaumont. The first thing Fisher did was to list every conceivable piece of necessary apparatus. And then his own company and every company and laboratory in the United States which held any especial instrument or piece needed, shipped it to France. Col. Bacon himself termed it “not the best equipped WAR laboratory, but the BEST EQUIPPED LABORATORY in all France of England.” The Chaumont experimental field is 20 square miles in extent. On the field are physiological and pathological laboratories. Trench systems and artillery batteries are laid out. All ideas are tested on a full battle scale. Following are a few of the results: In the Argonne forest our troops encountered a great system of machine gun nests. The Germans had developed the machine gun to a tremendous efficiency. Recourse was made to the chemical division to solve the problem. It was a big problem but the Division couldn’t afford to fall down on a solution to it. Besides every day of delay meant that the nests were being set upon by good old doughboys who perished by the score for every gun that was captured. The special “gas and flame” troops set up machine gun nests at Chaumont and experimented. Before a week had elapsed the doughboys were welcoming gas and flame units equipped to throw thermite bombs and liquid fire over the nests. “It solved that problem,” laconically commented Col. Bacon. GERMAN GAS EFFECTIVE The heaviest utilization of gas, however, came with the German March offensive. While the British claimed to be aware of both the time and the place of attack they were apparently surprised by the enemy, who “walked all over them” – for a little while. The first army suffered tremendously, the fifth army was obliterated. Why? It was a surprise tactic in gas warfare. The Britons held like heroes, to their glory, as they had held before at the second battle of Ypres in 1915 when the gas first struck them. Both times the German army could have gone on through – but, with all their preparation, they committed the fatal error or not having enough gas to “carry on.” “This fault,” says Col. Bacon, “was the only thing that saved the allied armies from defeat.” The British system of defense up until March, 1918, consisted of a lightly-held advance trench line with heavy groups of artillery and machine guns immediately behind the lines, entrenched on enimences controlling certain fields of fire by a crisscross zone of action. All spots of the field could be fired upon and drenched with barrages. The theory was that the German troops might possibly come over and take a portion of the lines, but they, if it happened to be a mere trench raid, would be immediately ejected by a drench of artillery fire. If it were a general attack, the front lines would fall, but the artillery from their secure eminences, which would have to be captured one by one, would place a double barrage in conjunction with heavier guns further to the rear, and the infantry in support trenches would move up and counter attack after the guns had cut off the enemy mass from retreat. In the March offensive the Germans developed a mustard gas shell, threw it in great numbers upon the buttressed eminences and silenced the big guns to a great extent. They then placed gas shells over the support trenches and fired gas so heavily that in the Montdidier sector alone, on a five-mile front, 300,000 shells of six-inch caliber and larger were sent over in the space of 24 hours. The support troops, due to casualties and incapacitated by being compelled to wear their masks for 24 hours before when the attack came, couldn’t go into action. The enemy attack infiltrated between the fortresses. There was no active infantry to meet it and what appeared to be a great German triumph was about to be enacted. That the war was not won then and there, according to the gas and flame men, was only due to the magnificent willingness of British troops to stand until whole brigades were wiped out and to the fact that the German gas was not so plentiful at the finale of the action. In that action 80 percent of all shells fired were gas shells. During the first two days of the attack, practically all the enemy fire was gas. Sneeze gas would first be thrown to force the men to take off their masks, then they would be dosed with deadlier gases. So the war had evolved into one of gas into which the Chemical Warfare Division of the United States army entered with a zest and won out over all. “CAMOUFLAGE” GAS The first use of “camouflage gas,” or innocuous gas used to force the enemy to fight with masks on, while your own troops, being aware of its harmlessness fought without masks, was used by the British, who originated it. They began to build up huge stores of it along the front for a great surprise attack. But German agents became possessed of the secret and the enemy “beat us to it,” as one officer expressed himself. It was largely used by both sides. In the latter months of the war the department under Col. Bacon had felt that German chemists were becoming scarce. It is a custom for the chemists of one side to analyze the “duds” or shells which fail to explode, of the enemy. So the Americans, in order to keep the German chemists busy, too busy to have the time to make researches and evolve new admixtures, began to fill hundreds of shells with a mixture of all kinds of strange solutions, anything, in fact, that the wags among them happened to think of. Those they threw over to Fritz with sufficient charges to explode, whereupon he recovered them assiduously and sent them back to his chemists. This is how the report was born in Germany in the later days, that the Americans couldn’t make good shells. The Boche was too dumb to see the joke – until it was too late. GERMANY EQUALLED When the mustard gas shells were first issued to the German batteries, their infantry was informed of the dread properties of the new invention – which by its mistral blight would win the war. This enhanced their morale very greatly – until the Allied batteries began to throw the same stuff at them. Then they had much cause for introspection. Upon finding they were being handed a thing that their own government had told them was so very dreadful, it detracted from their morale. AMERICAN STRATEGY It was about August, 1918, that Quartermaster-General Ludendorff began to issue his “advice to the troops,” dealing with the idiosyncrasies of American gas. Berlin was beginning to realize that, after all they had judged the United States correctly. Another little game that Fritz usually used to fall for was played like this: The infantry of a sector of trench line would be withdrawn and their trenches filled with mustard gas. Then Jerry would find out about the withdrawal and get his orders to “go over” and occupy the trench. When he reached our line, a “box” barrage would be laid down on both sides and behind him. The barrage would be moved gradually in and Jerry would wander into the gas. It was a nasty trick, but the doughboys couldn’t be convinced that it wasn’t a good one. In July, 1918, the United States Chemical Warfare Service organized a “Board of Strategy.” The principal consideration in gas warfare, next to discovering deadlier mixtures than those in use, is the strategy utilized in applying the gases already possessed. The enemy doesn’t come up and plead to be gasses. Means to lure him into gas traps must be devised. BOARD OF STRATEGY Nobody ever heard of such a board of strategy before, but this one “brought home the bacon.” The German may be a slow thinker but at the same time he is wily. Someone conceived the idea of taking natural quick thinkers and forming a “strategy board” to “think up” new methods of coercing Jerry out into the open for American gas displays. So Tyrus Cobb and Christy Mathewson, baseball artists, and Percy Haughton, football coach, and Henry Hornbostel, architect, were formed into a board “to wander up and down the lines doping out strategy.” The architects, for instance, would be expected to incline toward art and beauty in his suggestions. Here was a good one. At his suggestion an aeroplane rose over the German trenches and commenced to fire off a lot of beautiful fireworks. This happened in the evening, about “retreat” call, when mess was being served. Then, for three evenings in succession the plane arose and fired it pyrotechnical display – with no bombs or intent to injure Jerry in the least. The one concern of the Americans was to show him a good time. On the fourth evening Jerry was out of his dugouts taking in the show of fireworks when a couple tons of gas were drenched over him. When the Americans arrived in his trench he wouldn’t or couldn’t welcome them. Each German fell where he stood rubber-necking. HOW PROJECTORS WERE USED Another little stunt Col. Bacon’s men cooked up to reduce the German molar movement into molecular movement concerns a tactic with the Levins projector, a tube placed in the ground outside the trench system and connected by pipe line with the trench. These were always handled by the special gas and flame men. Needless to say the infantry always had very definite misgivings when these men appeared, for they would set up their gas apparatus, open the cocks, and “let ‘er fly.” They would then get out of the vicinity while the German artillery, in an effort to “kill” the gas, pounded the sector – the doughboys taking the punishment. Always the German artillery retaliated for these displays. So, as it was becoming apparent that the enemy was in the throes of a lack of heavy caliber ammunition, these Levins projectors would be installed and opened up. The doughboys would [unreadable] the trench – and Jerry would bombard the field until he got his fill of it. Thousands of these little flourishes along the lines by Col. Bacon’s jesters caused the German command to indite [sic] various “protests” to neutral powers against Yankeedom for its little pleasantries. They reasoned that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to stop playing with the A.E.F. Also it might be noted that when the German artillery would concentrate on the Levins projectors the Yankee guns would take full advantage of the event by noting the placement and ranges of the German opponent – and then force him to move his guns or have them destroyed one by one. And then, adding insult to injury, Yankee infantry usually chose that time to attack when German heavy guns were not in a position to rake them. PITTSBURGER AIDS SERVICE A cablegram sent by Gen. Pershing in August, 1918, reads: “Unless Levins projectors arrive offensive must stop.” It doesn’t make so much difference who that cablegram was addressed to, but it is interesting that it was here again that a Pittsburg firm saved the day. Through the efforts of Mr. Taylor Alderdice, in three days the National Tube Co. was turning out Levins projectors in capacity production. They arrived on time! AMERICAN CHEMISTRY SUPREME The close liaison of United States chemists with the chemists of France and England has been productive of many lessons to all concerned. But to those who fear for the future of American chemistry, or that United States chemists can not hold their own with Europeans in peace times, Col. Now Dr. Bacon, for he’s back at his old post as director of Mellon Institute, has to say that he has found United States factories infinitely superior to their European competitors. Not only is their equipment better but he assets that with the multifarious labor saving devices in American plants we can compete on equal terms with Europe despite the cheaper labor abroad. An interest problem will have to be met in France in the next few months, the destruction of the millions of tons of stored deadly gases which were to have been used in the February offensive. As it would be extremely dangerous to the public to release it under any conditions imaginable, the probability is that it will be burned with crude oil. Filling of shells with phosgene. These men work under battle discipline and suffer casualties, too. Phosgene in drums ready for overseas shipment. Each drum holds 1,630 pounds. Edgewood Arsenal, Edgewood. W. D. shell filling plant. ********************************************************************** INDEX OF PHOTOGRAPHS ALLEN, Earl E 183 KIETH, 1st Lt. Michael 168 ALLEN, Lt. Wm. H. 85 LEONARD, 2nd Lt. Harry E. 114 ARBUTHNOT, Lt. Col. T. S. 218 MacKENNEY, Sgt. James R. 105, 125 AUSTEN, John F. 183 MARTIN, Maj. Edward 71 BARRON, Lt. Marshall L. 80 McCOY, Capt. Fred 123 BENZ, Lt. Cedric H. 81 McLAIN, Capt. Charles L. 78 BEST, Corp. George 125 MELETIS, Sgt. Christ A. 167 BOOTS, Capt. T. L. 219 MIRAHAN, Daniel L. 168 BRAUN, Lt. Austin L. 188 MUIR, Gen. C. A. 67 BRAY, Maj. W. R. 218 MILLER, Maj. Fred G. 69 BROOKS, Lt. Daniel W. 131 ORD, Corp. Ralph E. 123 BUNDY, Capt. Clinton T. 144 OTTE, Pvt. Fred 106 CAIN, Capt. Robert S. 125 PEACOCK, Corp. Raymond 105 CAVANAUGH, Sgt. Thomas 121 PEARSON, Pvt. Lester 104 CLARK, Capt. John M. 129 PHELPS, Capt. Lucius M. 78 COULTER, Lt. Col. H. W. 75 POLLOCK, Corp. Arthur 187 CROUSE, Lt. Samuel S. 90 POLLOCK, Capt. Robert 129 DAVIS, John A. 184 PRICE, Brig. Gen. Wm. G., Jr. 70 DONNELLY, Maj. Allen 80 REESE, Capt. Josiah L. 151 DOVE, Sgt. Thomas L. 200 RICKARDS, Col. George C. 68 DUMEYER, Carl J. 126 ROLLINS, Sgt. Russell 200 DUNLAP, Capt. W. R. 84 ROWBOTTOM, Raymond E. 103 FEILEY, Pvt. George 113 ROWLAND, Harold 240 FIELDING, Lt. Howard L. 103 SCHEIDER, Wm. M. 198 FISHER, Michael 124 SCHELL, Lt. Wilbur E. 91 FLOTO, Sgt. Robert A. 89 SHANNON, Col. Edward C. 69 FREDERICK, Sgt. William B. 168 SHENKEL, Lt. John H. 80 GILLIAM, Bugler Harold S. 107 SIMSON, Maj. T. R. 220 HARGRAVE, Maurice 124 SMITH, 2nd Lt. Claude W. 92 HAYMAN, Lt. Gilmore L. 91 THOMPSON, 1st Sgt. John W. 126 HEALD, Lt. J. O. 222 THOMPSON, Capt. Orville R. 113 HOLLIS, Capt. Samuel D. 149 TRUXAL, Capt. William 91 ILAND, Maj. Edward M. 116 WAINWRIGHT, Lt. E. Z. 199 JARRETT, Sgt. Thomas M. 184 WALTER, Leslie H. 167 JOHNSON, Romer 167 WHITAKER, Samuel A. 136 KELLEY, Pvt. John E. 113 WILCOX, Orson 238 KEMP, Col. George E. 71 WILLIAMS, Capt. James A. 117