FORGING THE SWORD Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Boston Library Consortium IVIember Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/forgingswordstor1920robi Fhoto Copyright by A. M. Galaid. Boston CAMP DEVENS, FROM OVER THE BASE HOSPITAL FORGING THE SWORD THE STORY OF CAMP DEVENS New England's Army Cantonment By William J. Robinson Author of "Fourteen Months at the Front " and Boston Globe Correspondent at Camp Devens Price ^3.00 Copyright, 1920 BY William J. Robinson THE RUMFORD PRESS CONCORD, N. H. -> -->■ cj o / TO THE AMERICAN LEGION AMONG WHOSE MEMBERS ARE THOUSANDS WHO FIRST DONNED THE UNIFORM AT CAMP DEVENS, AND WHO, WHETHER THEY "got across" OR NOT, PLAYED THE GAME LIKE TWO-FISTED FIGHTING MEN, THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH ADMIRATION AND RESPECT. FOREWORD By Major General Henry P. McCain, U. S. A. Commander of the Plymouth {12th) Division and later cantonment commander at Camp Devens Camp Devens is the only national encampment in New England. The work done there in preparation for the World War measured fully up to the country's expectations. Every New Englander and every man who served at Camp Devens will be interested in an account of its activities. "Forging the Sword" gives in chronological order, from the arrival of the first man at Camp Devens to the demobilization of the 26th Division, a full account of how New England's man- power was assembled, equipped, trained, and thousands sent across to fight. The author, Mr. William J. Robinson, corre- spondent of the Boston Globe, is equipped by nature and by experience to undertake this important work. He lived in the cantonment for more than a year. He did not simply exist there. He was always on the job regardless of weather or other conditions. He had access to all places and to all formations, and he saw the troops being equipped, he saw them in training, and he saw them during the distressing epidemic of influenza. He knew the officers and thousands of the enlisted men, and associated daily and freely with them, on and off duty. He was liked by them and had their confidence. What he has written can be relied upon as the true story of Camp Devens. I am pleased to comm.end his story of how the sword of New England was forged to all who are interested in Camp Devens and to all who are justly proud of the part played by New England in the great war. H. P. McCain, „ . Major-General, U. S. A. December i, 1919. PREFACE A SUGGESTION IS really a germ. A request might be called a germ grown up. And an order — ^well, everybody who has been in the army knows what an order is! Now there are without doubt many better qualified to turn out a history of Camp Devens than the writer of this volume, and for that among other reasons it is hoped that this book will not be considered a history by prospective readers of its pages. If they start with the idea of reading a history, they will be disillusioned before they get very far. But the idea of a "story" of Devens has been suggested, requested and "or- dered" — all three, and the compliance of the writer will be found on the pages following. As a story containing most of the high lights of the activities at Camp Devens it is the honest belief of the writer that it will be found sufficiently accurate. That many, many details have been necessarily omitted is granted. It pretends to be a gen- eral story of what happened at New England's cantonment during the World War, garnished with lighter details here and there to give courage to any disinterested reader into whose hands it may fall; that and nothing more. As such it is offered to those who are interested. If any credit is to be given for the publication of the story here described, the major share of it belongs to the Boston Globe. That newspaper published more news of New England troops during the World War than any other Boston daily, and carried in its columns nearly three quarters of a million words of news regarding the troops at Camp Devens alone. The Globe was also the only New England newspaper to have a staff correspondent accredited to the first New England division overseas. A Globe staff correspondent was kept at Camp Devens from the time the first National Army recruit X PREFACE arrived there on September 5, 1917, until July 5, 1919, when practically all of the New England men returning to civilian life through Camp Devens had been discharged. Much credit is also due Mr. Laurence L. Winship of the Globe staff, who was the first representative of that paper to be stationed at Camp Devens, and who "covered" the 76th Division during the major part of its training there. The greater portion of the facts pertaining to the 76th Division contained in this volume were gathered by Mr. Winship. Thanks are due the military authorities at Camp Devens for their extreme kindness and great assistance in providing ofBcial data of varied nature, and to Major-General Henry P. McCain, Captain R. G. Sherman, Camp Adjutant, and other members of the Headquarters Stafif in particular, for their en- couragement and help. To George H. Davis, Jr., Leonard Small and Arnold Belcher, Globe stafT photographers; to the Globe itself and to Captain Livingston Swentzel, U. S. Signal Corps, are due credit for the great majority of the illustrations. The writer only asks that this story be accepted as an honest effort to record, for the benefit of those interested, some of the most important facts and events concerning New England's greatest war camp. W.J.R. CONTENTS Foreword by Major General H. P. McCain vii Preface ix CHAPTER PAGE I. The Campsite in the Wilderness i II. Astonishing Construction and First Arrivals . . 7 III. How the Draft Worked 15 IV. The 76TH Division Is Organized 24 V. "In the Army Now" 32 VI. The First Forty Per Cent 45 VII. Training Begins 54 VIII. The Secretary of War Comes to Camp .... 63 IX. Off Duty and On 72 X. The 76TH Stands Inspection 80 XI. Christmas and Progress 90 XII. Finishing Touches 99 XIII. Bon Voyage 108 XIV. General McCain and the i2th Division . . . . 115 XV. In the Grip of the Flu 128 XVI. The i2TH Division Breaks Some Records .... 139 XVII. The Beginning of the End 147 XVIII. "Mopping Up" 154 XIX. The Arrival of the Y-D 160 XX. "Apres la Guerre" 165 FORGING THE SWORD Chapter I THE CAMPSITE IN THE WILDERNESS One spring day in 191 7, a group of army officers, together with a few civihans, drove by automobile from the headquar- ters of the Northeastern Department in Boston to the little railroad town of Ayer, Massachusetts. Their cars continued through the town almost to the Shirley line where the Mohawk Trail crosses the Nashua River. There the cars stopped and the party alighted. They climbed to the brow of a steep hill just off the main road, at the top of which was located a dancing pavilion. Evidently it was the spot they were seeking, for there they stood for some time, pointing off into the distance, asking questions of some of the civilians and making notes. One of the officers seemed to command the respect and deference of the other officers in the party. He was Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, recently come to New England to take command of the Northeastern Department. For some time these people tramped about a trackless waste of sandy land, profusely covered with scrubby trees and bushes. Finally they entered their automobiles again and drove away. Shortly after he returned to Boston General Edwards sent a lengthy and detailed report with recommendations to the War Department in Washington, and soon there came an announce- ment from Washington to the effect that a military cantonment for the district of New England would be built at Ayer, and in that cantonment would be trained the men of New England and northern New York State who were selected by the Gov- 2 FORGING THE SWORD ernment to serve in the army we were about to raise to throw into the World War. Thus was the site for New England's National Army can- tonment selected, quickly, quietly and without any pomp or ceremony. For speed was a vital factor in the raising of our armies, and the more quietly it was done the more quickly would results be realized. New England didn't pay a great deal of attention to Camp Devens at first. Afterwards the camp became the hub of our own particular little universe. Scarce a family in the six New England States that didn't have some relative or friend at Devens. It would be difficult to find a person in these Northeastern States who was not in some way interested in it. We flocked to the camp in person on Sundays and holidays, by the thousands and hundreds of thousands. We looked longingly for letters from Devens. Every time the telephone rang there was the possibility that it might be Devens on the line, and every telegraph boy might bear a message from this city which grew up almost over night. But just at the very first our thoughts were elsewhere. Things were happening so fast, event following event with such rapidity, and each stirring us so deeply that a mere feat of building construction passed almost unnoticed. Our hearts were pretty full during those summer days of 191 7. Registra- tion day, June 5, when 10,000,000 of our young men were listed for service in the military forces of the United States, brought the war up to our front doorstep, but with our boys still at home and no date set as to when they would be called away, our eyes were still fixed on the shores of Europe. Perhaps it would be safe to say that the war really began for us when "Black Jack" Pershing landed in Europe. Then it was that we began to realize that our sons were soon to go forth to battle. Pershing was to be their commander-in-chief, and he was at last "over there." Then came July 4. No single event during our first six months of participation in the war so stirred us as did the re- FORGING THE SWORD 3 ception accorded the first of our troops to reach Paris. There was but a single battalion of them, slightly more than 1,000 Yankee soldiers. But when we read of their arrival and of how thousands of little war orphans bent their chubby knees and bowed their little heads as our Star Spangled Banner was carried through the Paris streets by this little band of Yankees, our hearts began to burn with that pride of country which proved to be one of our greatest assets during the conflict. Our sons began to talk of "when we get over there," and we knew that the time was approaching. Every country in the world, especially those which were allied against Germany, marveled at the manner in which we decided to raise our armies. France, of course, had compul- sory military service before the war, but she was amazed that America should start immediately with a form of conscription. England didn't resort to conscription until she had been fight- ing nearly two years. And here was a vast country of more than 100,000,000 people whose historical associations and political traditions emphasized the liberty of individual choice even in war, adopting at the outset a form of compulsory military service. It was astonishing! They were at a loss to understand it — then. And right here the writer desires to take issue with those who term our manner in raising our armies "conscription." Per- haps it was just that in the strict grammatical sense of the word, but it was not so in spirit. It was "Selective Service, " the fairest and most sensible manner of raising an army. And while the service demanded was compulsory in a manner, the men who were selected for service in the National Army were not "conscripts" in the popular sense of the word. For no men ever made better soldiers than did these sons of ours who were content to present themselves to Uncle Sam and say: "Here I am; you know where I can best be of service. Put me there. Teach me what you want me to do, and I'll do it as best I can. ' ' These men came willingly and gladly. Our 4 FORGING THE SWORD Government declared that this was the most effective way of raising a vast fighting machine, and the men who went into the service under the Selective Service Act were obeying the best judgment of the powers in Washington. The soldier who stands up today and throws out his chest and voice in the boast that he was a volunteer makes a fool of himself, and it will be noticed that few of our New England soldiers do it. Those who went across with the 26th Division and were consequently in France months ahead of the New England National Army men were fortunate indeed, but there were hundreds of other National Guard men — (many of the 1st Maine Heavies, for instance) — who were left behind and did not get across until after the National Army men. They were the unfortunate ones. And it will be noticed that the American Legion, that magnificent organization of the men who fought their country's battles and returned home safely, does not dis- criminate between the National Army man and the National Guard man and the Regular. Each did his best according to his qualifications and the orders of our Government, and it was because of this that the War Department eliminated all dis- tinction between the three classes. New England really had the war brought home to her on July 9, when President Wilson issued a proclamation calling the entire National Guard of the United States to the colors. That meant separation from some of our own, but after all it was only a comparative few. Those people who had dear ones in the National Guard felt the cold clutch of War's hand on their hearts, but for the rest of New England there was still nothing but uncertainty. It was not until July 13, when official announcement was made from Washington that the War Department wanted 687,000 men in the first draft from the 10,000,000 between 21 and 31 years of age who registered under the Selective Service Act on June 5, and that as many men as was necessary to pro- duce this 687,000 would be called, that New Englanders gen- erally felt the first horror of the war upon them. FORGING THE SWORD 5 For no family with a man between 21 and 31 in it knew whether they would be called upon to send one of their dear ones or not. It was the element of uncertainty that made it so hard. But the men themselves were ready. They had given their local draft boards the necessary data from which to reach a decision as to who should go first, and they waited, calm, confident, ready and willing if called. Massachusetts, having the greatest population of any of the New England States, was called upon to supply the greatest number of men for the first draft. In all. New England was asked to provide 37,438 men as its first contingent. The New England States were called upon for the following numbers : Massachusetts 20,586 Connecticut I0)977 Maine 1,821 Rhode Island i ,801 New Hampshire i ,204 Vermont i ,049 Total 37.438 It was stated that these men would be sent to Camp Devens for training, and then, and not until then, did the public inter- est really turn toward the cantonment, which had been under process of construction only about two weeks, and of which we knew very little, as never before in the history of our country had such an undertaking been even thought of. Forty thousand men (for there were some 2,000 odd coming to Devens from northern New York State also) from every walk and condition of life, herded together into one camp like so many cattle! The idea was revolting, not to say terrifying, and the more timid conjured up pictures of disease-infested holes, miscalled camps, such as were found during the Civil and Spanish Wars, where men died by the thousands of disease. That a modern city, even though it was constructed of wood, 6 FORGING THE SWORD could be provided for this vast number of men in two short months staggered the imagination, and some of us actually scouted the idea as preposterous. Just two days after the announcement that we would be called on for these thousands came the word from abroad that the American Army in France had moved up close to the fight- ing front and that trench training "was begun without an hour's delay." Our men were in it — almost. They were at the front at least. We must back them up. The Yanks were ready, will- ing, eager. The big camp might not "come through, " but our men would, anyway. And so we decided that we were willing to be shown. Chapter II ASTONISHING CONSTRUCTION AND FIRST ARRIVALS Nine weeks from the day on which the newspapers an- nounced that work had actually been started on New England's own military cantonment, the Fred T.Ley Company of Spring- field, Massachusetts, inserted a huge advertisement in all the Boston dailies announcing that Camp Devens — which had been named in honor of General Charles Devens, one of New England's general officers in the Civil War — ^was ready for the New England soldiers. But that camp was vastly different from the one that stands outside the village of Ayer today. In fact it was only about one sixth of the present camp. To New England then, however, it was a truly wonderful place. Our conception of a military camp had heretofore been a long grassy field gleaming white with tents, where at night the camp-fires shone brightly and the men clustered around the blaze and lifted their voices in song. It had been a mental picture of weary soldiers sleeping on the ground, while sentries paced around the cluster of tents in the darkness. The newspapers announced that Camp Devens was a city of comfortable buildings, two miles long by one and one-half miles wide, covering an area of 10,000 acres. Just before the "first five per cent" of New England's contribution to the army that was to turn the tide of battle against the Huns left their homes to begin their training, we began to realize that the seemingly impossible had been accomplished. A city of barrack homes for 43,000 men had sprung up on sandy hillsides and fields which nine weeks before were covered with scrub growth and trees, untenanted and unbroken by roads. They switched on the lights on the night of August 30. Not 7 8 FORGING THE SWORD the fire light, but electric lights, thousands and thousands of them. And out of the darkness flashed a dream city, man- made magic, thousands of windows blinking brightly, a daz- zling vision rolling back into the hills like a dozen terraced Great White Ways. New England had beaten the rest of the country. Her cantonment was finished first, ready to receive its thousands of potential soldiers and house them comfortably. It had taken a civilian army to build this home for the sol- dier army. It was a triumph for American brains, American business organization, American labor organization, American mechanical devices, American materials from American forests and American factories, American transportation and, greatest of all, for American push. There were some 9,000 men in this civilian army, working under a mere youngster, Frank B. Rogers, who superintended the job for the Fred T. Ley Company. Rogers was so young that he had to register for the draft himself. The civilian army started to move out on August 28, their work completed. They had worked every day for nine weeks; Sundays, holidays, every day. For America was at war, and every moment counted. It was, indeed, as mixed a group of laborers as could be found anywhere, yet there was never a hint of labor trouble. For most of them knew what patriotism is, and as they sat down to every meal they ate on the camp site they were con- fronted by a little sign which read : ONLY A FEW OF US CAN FIGHT FOR THE FLAG, BUT ALL OF US CAN WORK FOR THE FLAG. HELP WIN THE WAR BY AVOIDING ACCIDENTS. DO YOUR BIT. And so, several days before the first men were due to arrive, this civilian army had erected more than 600 buildings, laid w OS w ^ >< w w M H H P 7, w H ^ iz; H ^ w Z z w c; K H rn O ■z a ►J ^ m w FORGING THE SWORD 9 more than 25 miles of sewer and water pipe — all of it buried under ground — had laid more than 400 miles of electric wiring — both light and telephone — had built nearly 20 miles of fine granolithic road, had dug a well of some 3,000,000 gallons capacity and had installed some 2,200 shower baths. They had used up 34,000,000 square feet of lumber, and tons of nails and other building material, and the camp was ready for New England's first contingent of recruits. When 1,000 officers, graduates of the Officers' Training Camp at Plattsburg, New York, arrived at Camp Devens one week ahead of the first five per cent of men to be called, they were so amazed at the vastness of the place that they didn't get over it for days. They found, to be exact, 199 company barracks, 74 officers' barracks, 300 large and small lavatories, ten regimental headquarters buildings, a large double divisional headquarters building, ten quartermaster storehouses, 15 med- ical buildings, three light and one heavy artillery buildings, 41 company storehouses, a refrigerating plant; post-office build- ings, bakery, hospital buildings, fire stations, garages, stables, guardhouses, religious and recreational buildings and other de- tached structures enough to fill several pages. As soon as the buildings mentioned above had been com- pleted, many of the civilian army that had built them began to depart. But for months afterwards laborers and carpenters and steam fitters and engineers were still there, working in- cessantly, even while troops were training all around them. And they built and built until today Camp Devens is composed of more than 4,000 buildings and more than 50,000 men can be accommodated within its confines. The speed of these workmen caused even Captain Edward A. Canfield, construction quartermaster for the Government, to marvel. Eight weeks before the first men arrived at the camp there seemed to be just a little doubt in the mind of the captain as to the feasibility of the undertaking in so short a time. And this was only natural, inasmuch as it had never 10 FORGING THE SWORD been done or even attempted before. Just before the first re- cruits arrived Captain Canfield cited to newspaper men, as an example of the speed with which the buildings were erected, the case of the hospital buildings, which were built at the rate of one every 40 minutes. The hospital was planned to ac- commodate 1,600 bed patients. When the thousand Plattsburg graduates, who were to com- mand the first of New England's National Army, arrived they were lost almost as soon as they entered the cantonment. Be- sides themselves and the 9,000 odd workmen and a few hundred other troops on duty at the cantonment there were about 12,000 people on the grounds, but it seemed as though there was a man only here and there. But while New England people were interested in the size of the camp and all the wonderful details concerning its construc- tion, what they were more interested in were the conditions under which their sons and husbands and brothers and sweet- hearts and friends were going to live. They were gratified when they found out. The enlisted men found two-story wooden, sheathed buildings waiting for them. The upper story was a large dormitory room, without partitions, in which the iron cots for the whole company were ranged side by side in long rows. Each man was given a certain amount of floor space as well as air space for his own, and inspectors saw to it that each man had all that was coming to him. There were to be no congested sleeping quarters. The lower floor, they found, was divided into two long rooms, one a mess hall with long tables and benches and a big serving counter at the far end, and the other a living or assembly room, suitable for gatherings of different sorts, for lectures or study or recreation. Altogether they were by far the most comfort- able army quarters any one had ever seen provided for men who were going into field service. Outside of each barrack building was a lavatory building, containing modern shower baths and toilet arrangements, with FORGING THE SWORD ii running hot and cold water. The floor was of cement, and in the center of each building was a big boiler which provided the hot water and also kept the place warm, making a comfortable bath possible. The officers' quarters were one-story buildings, long and narrow, with kitchen and mess hall at one end. Along each side of the center hall running through the buildings were the bedrooms, about eight feet by twelve, one for each officer. When the camp was first opened the heating arrangements had not been installed, but they were not yet necessary. Later, however, and before the real cold weather came, more than 20 central heating plants were built to provide steam heat for every building in the camp. Instead of running the steam pipes under ground they were run over head, each pipe having an outer covering, with an air space between. There was some question in the minds of many as to whether this scheme would work. But it did work perfectly, and on the coldest days in winter the barracks were warm enough to satisfy the most delicate. And there were electric lights in abundance. Alas for the blazing camp-fires of our imaginations, around which tired soldiers huddled and scrawled letters to us at home! Each building was as brilliantly lighted as almost any public building to be found in a large city. The transforming station, located just across the state road from the cantonment, received 66,000 volts from the Connecticut Valley Power and Light- ing Company and then "stepped it down" to the required voltage. The water for the cantonment came from the largest dug well in New England, some 50 feet in circumference and 45 feet deep. It was sunk on the side of a hill of water-bearing gravel, a mile and a half from the center of the cantonment. From the well the water was pumped into huge tanks and from the tanks it was run through California redwood pipes — a new thing in New England — used because it could be secured more 12 FORGING THE SWORD quickly than metal pipes. It was said to ^ive perfectly satis- factory use up to ten years. Through the underground maze of pipes, gridironed all over the cantonment, the water was pumped to four tanks of 100,000 gallons capacity each, located on a hill at the other end of the cantonment, so that with these tanks full at one end and the pumping station at the other end of the water system there was good pressure all the time. And three fire-fighting companies were organized almost as soon as the buildings began to spring up. Lookouts were stationed on several hills around the camp, continually scan- ning the horizon through field glasses. It was not proposed to have this cantonment destroyed by fire, either through accident or enemy design, if precautions could prevent it. The first companies were officered by Chief Arthur H. Strong of Spring- field, Massachusetts, and Lieutenant W. H. Kirk, for thirty years in the fire department at Worcester, Massachusetts. The hospital was erected on a hill at the northwest corner of the cantonment area, a mile and a half from the infantry section, near the old Shirley turnpike and overlooking the Nashua River. Major G. I. Jones was the first officer in charge. Here were placed 1,600 beds scattered through 59 ward buildings. And there was an isolation ward, an ortho- pedic ward, a neuro-psychiatric ward, operating rooms, labora- tories, and pretty nearly every kind of modern convenience and luxury to be found in any large city hospital, with this besides — a glorious pine grove with the best view of the can- tonment, where convalescents could spend their time while they were recovering their strength. Scientific sanitation was insisted upon by the Government officers from the very beginning. They condemned number- less springs, ordered change after change in the living arrange- ments for the workmen, and observed every possible precau- tion against disease and infection. The cantonment seemed a flyless, mosquitoless, insectless expanse. Everyone spoke of FORGING THE SWORD 13 the healthy, natural conditions, with the dry, sandy location, and what nature didn't look after the sanitary workers did. A Sanitary Detachment from the Regular Army — three hundred officers and men from Fort Benjamin Harrison — worked day and night making the New England cantonment the healthiest spot in New England. Another advance guard that arrived before the hosts of New England's fighting men descended on the camp was the school for cooks and bakers, for from the outset Uncle Sam decided to have his the best-fed army in the world. Three hundred men with some experience in hotel and restaurant cooking, who joined the Regular Army, were sent to camp for instruction under Sergeant R. W. McAuley and J. Henry Ham, a former Boston hotel chef. They, too, were ready when the men began to arrive. In the lines of quartermaster storehouses, beside the miles of railroad tracks built for the cantonment, were tons and tons of provisions for both the inner and outer man. There was clothing enough for an army and food enough for several armies. Everything was in readiness, even to the officers. And how New England rejoiced when announcement was made that a New England officer was to head this modern division that we were called upon to provide! He was Major- General Harry Foote Hodges, Boston born, of an old and brilliant New England family, the "map maker of the Panama Canal"; he was considered by those in the service one of the brainiest engineering officers in the entire army, quiet, reserved and attending to just one thing all the time — his job. General Hodges' staff was of the same caliber. Lieutenant- Colonel Merch B. Stewart was Chief of Staff, Major Jonathan M. Wainwright, Assistant Chief of Staff; Captain Arthur F. Brown, Intelligence Officer; Major Harry L. Hodges (no rela- tion to the general), Adjutant; Captain Theodore E. Burleigh, Assistant Adjutant; Lieutenant-Colonel H. F. Dalton, Quar- termaster; Major Austin M. Pardee, Inspector; Lieutenant- 14 FORGING THE SWORD Colonel E. K. Massee, Judge Advocate; Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Hanner, Surgeon; Major J. L. Siner, Sanitary Inspector; Major George M. Peek, Ordnance Officer, and Major Charles A. Lewis, Signal Officer. This was the brilliant Headquarters Staff of what became the 76th Division, National Army, U. S. A. Other officers, including four brigadier-generals were also there, temporarily attached to Headquarters. But they were merely awaiting the arrival of the men who were to make up New England's first National Army Division. Later they organized and commanded brigades. Chapter III HOW THE DRAFT WORKED Bright and clear dawned the morning of September 5, 191 7 — that historic day on which the first of New England's fighting hosts left their homes for the great adventure. They had been preceded, of course, by the National Guard men, but these did not go to Camp Devens, and besides, they were more than half soldiers before Uncle Sam ever entered the World War. It would be futile to attempt a description of the feelings of the people of New England on that day. It marked the be- ginning of many partings, of many heartaches and of much sorrow and care and anxiety, but also of unbounded pride and patriotism and joy of service. Not a city, town nor village in the six New England States but what gave up at least one of its sons on that day. And they were all headed in one direc- tion — Camp Devens. In the larger places thousands turned out and gave these lads a rousing send-off, lasting in most cases from the head- quarters of the draft board to the railroad tracks at the station. Of course there were tears, but for the most part the Yankee spirit — that indomitable fighting quality that was to strike blind terror to the heart of the Hun — predominated, and our mothers and sisters and sweethearts sent their loved ones away with a smile. To Maine — the Pine Tree State — belongs the credit of hav- ing the first man report for duty in the National Army at Camp Devens. Ernest Glenwood of Perry, Maine, was the first man to have his name recorded by the receiving officers, and he was followed by Hazen Hoar of Calais. There were but 91 men in all from Maine to report as the "first five per cent, " and they started for Devens on the night 15 i6 FORGING THE SWORD of September 4. They came the farthest and they reached camp first, Maine thereby beating the rest of New England and northern New York State in getting men into the service. The contingent arrived at Ayer before dayhght on September 5, having come in on the Bar Harbor Express to New York. They occupied two special cars, which were dropped from the train at Ayer and the men were allowed to sleep until 7 o'clock, when they "turned out" and started their two-mile hike to the cantonment. And so it was that, very early in the morning, just three months after it had started with the registration on June 5, the draft machinery produced at Camp Devens the first recruits of New England's Division of the National Army. As faithfully as they had walked into the polling places on registration day to give their names to the Government, and with no more dis- play of feeling, the New England boys walked into the canton- ment and gave theipselves to the Government. It all went on so smoothly, so easily, so quietly, the arrival of these first few hundred, that it was hard to realize that only the night before had President Wilson said "Come," and that this morning the boys had walked out of their homes and said "Here." "Who met you at the station when you arrived? " some one asked these young huskies. "Jack Frost," came the grave reply. It was impossible to miss a guess as to what part of New England that cheerful, hearty drawl was raised in. Soon a lieutenant, looking bright and dapper in his new uniform, appeared at the station and took the "rookies" in hand. He was the first representative of the force that was to control their military destinies that they had seen, and they regarded him gravely and with interest. At his direction they fell quickly into line, two by two, and headed for the canton- ment, led by the officer and a mounted orderly. "You're in the army now," called an old-fashioned New Major-General Harry F. Hodges Commander of the 76th Division ^ .Sf 2 m Q ji o 3 nl (IJ a J rt (.; -n) — " (U n ^ T3 1^ "5 >> B 1-1 Oh 03 o u ^1 0) 03 OJ -3 'c3 CQ 03 0) a si: 'C Q 'o 0) o Oh 'c? a u w U "o! _g H - c o 'c3 vO Ja _o ji; r-. u a _M o U CD o3 ta Ui U ii< » O .S '3 U m "So G i-< "3 c o G <: S "o X "cS D U g d. Q < c l-H 03 ■3 a. 03 U W c7) 03 .— T E l-H o U bZ c 'b 'So u d en" _o OJ .s bo _bp Q '3 CQ ^ c 03 u. tn 03 G OJ U _o bjO ■s -a -M G cti o 3 ^ X s ;g -u u ,;_) _b« 43 S 'H O 'C c o >^ +-> Ci -M 'c3 jj o -{_) o Si a 03 U 'g o! 43 C/) o s oT -M G 03 +-1 o G 0) +-> m FORGING THE SWORD 17 England housewife from her doorstep, and she waved her broom at these lads marching by. "Yes ma'am," answered Maine cheerfully, and continued on his way whistling. Not twenty persons saw this long thin line of men plough its way through a mile of dust and sand to the cantonment entrance, but there they were greeted with three ringing cheers from the First Massachusetts Engineers, formerly the First Corps of Cadets and later the loist Engineers of the famous Yankee Division. That was the only organized greeting they got, and they weren't quite certain whether "rookies" should cheer back, so they didn't. They just smiled instead, and their spirits leaped even higher. Brigadier-General F. D. Evans and Major Rhinelander Waldo, ex-police commissioner of New York, were in charge of some 200 officers who handled the registration of the first recruits. And these were recruits to delight the heart of any officer with an eye for promising material. For all their travel -worn, unshaved faces, their unmilitary garb, their glorious mixture of old suits and old hats, old suit cases and paper bundles and boxes, there was strength in their bodies and spirit in their eyes that showed through everything. Little wooden "box offices"— one for each of the six New England States and New York State — were set up just inside the cantonment entrance. Each man bore a card he had brought with him from his draft board at home. One by one they gave these cards to an officer and then waited until groups of eight were ready to be marched away to other buildings inside the camp. The Massachusetts quota followed the Maine men early in the forenoon. Few contingents in this first day's arrivals were of more than 10 or 12 men. Off to the barracks they went to be assigned to companies, to see the surgeons, to get their uniforms and to spend their first day in the ranks of the new National Army. i8 FORGING THE SWORD Shortly following the arrival of the first small detachment of Massachusetts men came about loo men from Connecticut. These were followed by iii men from Rhode Island, nicely squaded together under the command of an ex-service man who had decided to get in again with the National Army lads. New Hampshire men were in before dark and they were followed by the contingent from Vermont, which didn't get in until after lo o'clock in the evening. There was one feature connected with the entry into the service of these men that didn't prove popular. It was the tag they wore in their buttonholes. Only about half the men who came in on the first day arrived with their tags hanging from their coats. Others had taken them off and either carried them in their hands or had them tied to their bundles. The idea of being "tagged like so many prize oxen" didn't set well on the stomachs of these young huskies and they didn't hesitate to let it be known. Much to their gratification these men found that the officer- enlisted man barrier wasn't anything like what they had imagined it would be. There were a number of cases during the first day when "rookies," just arrived, recognized friends and former classmates among the officers at the receiving booths. And the officers made the first advances — an out- stretched hand and hearty smile and greeting. The "rookies " hadn't learned to salute yet, so they just showed their glad- ness in a manly, friendly way, and the officers were just as friendly. For that's the kind of an army it was. The West Pointers may have warned the Plattsburgers against fraternization with the men or they may not. At any rate the Plattsburgers just used horse sense, and by so doing they got better results than many of the ' ' Pointers. " It certainly looked like a democratic army that first day. And when you start the story of what the first arrivals did during their first day in camp it is almost necessary to start FORGING THE SWORD 19 telling the description of the cantonment all over again. It seemed as though every person in New England wanted to see it. If they didn't have a friend or a loved one already there they wanted at least to see how completely American emer- gency speed measures had tamed more than 10,000 acres of rough countryside into a military city. Besides being interested in the cantonment itself, all New England — and most of all the men who expected to be sent to Camp Devens — were interested in what was happening to the recruits who were among the first to go into the service. For, with very few exceptions, the military life was as so much Greek to Yankee folks. In general here is what happened to every one of the 40,000 men who were sent to Camp Devens in the first draft. This was the program outlined by Colonel Arthur S, Conklin, commander of the 303d Field Artillery, who acted as com- mander of the 151st Field Artillery Brigade during the early days of the cantonment. The day of his arrival the recruit was met at the Ayer station by a detail of officers from the camp. It didn't make any difference whether he came alone or in a large party, the officers were always there, and it was simple enough to make known the fact that the cantonment was the destination sought. ' ' What state do you come from? ' ' was the first question asked a man by the United States Army. Then, on foot or by motor truck, the recruit was taken to the cantonment gate. There he found seven little wooden booths. On each of the first six was a big sign bearing the name of one of the New England States and the seventh was labeled New York State. The recruit picked out his home state box office and presented his draft card to the officer on duty inside. Immediately the officer stated which regiment or separate unit the recruit would be assigned to, and another officer or non-commissioned officer took the recruit in hand and conducted him to his barracks. Before he was sent into his barrack building he was shunted 20 FORGING THE SWORD off to a field ambulance, which was set up in a field nearby, where a detail of army doctors examined him for evidences of pink eye, diphtheria, and other things that were not popular with the army authorities. Following this superficial examination the recruit entered the barrack building, which was to be his temporary home, at least. He proceeded through a room in which half a dozen or more ofificers were seated at tables covered with papers. It was much like going through a large tailoring establishment, for the recruit was passed from one group to another, each group taking measurements of his body. This was to find out what size uniform would be required for the particular recruit in question, and the ordeal, if such it may be called, took about ten minutes. After the measuring process the recruit was guided to a room upstairs. Here it seemed as though the captain in charge tried to see how many questions he could ask. This was to determine just what each man's education, trade or pro- fessional experience, natural adaptabilities and prowess in half a hundred different lines fitted him for in army life. All the answers "personal history, " so called — were carefully recorded for reference. Then, if it wasn't time for "chow," as the recruits soon learned to call their meals, came the business of getting a strong iron and wire cot and placing it beside the others in the com- pany dormitory to which the recruit had been assigned. After that the recruit went to more army doctors in the regimental infirmary, where a thorough physical examination, inside and out, was made. Meanwhile the officers in the "measuring room" had made out their lists of the uniforms needed right away and big motor trucks had roared off in the direction of the quartermaster storehouses, returning very shortly with everything in the line of clothing that a soldier could possibly require. The few hundred uniforms and kits drawn the first day didn't even FORGING THE SWORD 21 amount to a nibble at the vast store Uncle Sam had laid in for these New England men. Then came the actual transformation, for which almost every man had been waiting from the moment he entered the can- tonment gates. The recruit was handed his uniform, his underclothing, shoes, socks — everything — and repaired with his fellows to the latrine at the rear of the barracks. Off came the old "civies," and every man went under the shower bath, for bathing was a popular pastime in that National Army of ours. After the shower the uniform, and these new-made soldiers stood regarding each other with grins — sometimes embarrassed, but more often rather proud. With the donning of the uniform there seemed to come some- thing more than a physical transformation. Was there a straightening of those already straight shoulders? Was there a new brightness in the eye, a squaring of the jaw? There was. And that was the mental, or, if you prefer it, the spiritual transformation. For these men the war had begun, and they were in it; in it up to their eyes and with all the ardor of their high young spirits and the strength of their vigorous young bodies. That was about all for the first day. They had supper. Then they hung around the barrack rooms, in some cases re- ceiving talks from men scarce older than themselves, but men who had gone through the training mill and were now army officers. Then to their beds: clean sacks filled with plenty of fresh, clean straw, and warm army blankets. At midnight of September 5, 1917, there were 510 New Eng- land men in the National Army cantonment at Ayer, the first five per cent of New England's first contribution to the war- time armies of America. And before they slept that night most of them had obeyed the first order that was issued from that mysterious place known as Division Headquarters, up on the hill at the far end of the camp. That order was a brief one. Its wording was, "Write home," 22 FORGING THE SWORD It is of interest to note some of the first men to reach Camp Devens and report for dut\'. As has already been written Ernest Glenwood of Perr\', ]Maine, was the first of all the New Englanders to report. Hazen Hoar of Calais was the second Maine man. John B. Murphy of Fitchburg was the first ^Massachusetts man to come in, and Herbert G. Frolander of Providence was the first man to report from "Little Rhody. " The records do not show who came first from Connecticut, New Hampshire or Vermont. These lads were not thrown into camp on one day and then taken out the next, given a gun and ordered to "dig into it." Speed was essential, but the militan.- authorities well knew that a short time was necessar\" in order for the men to get acclimated, so it was ordered that the actual training should not begin until the sixth day. But while they did not receive any actual military instruc- tion, many of the things that ever>' good soldier must know were taught them on their second day in camp. After break- fast, which was at 6 : 30 — and there were many of those first men to arrive in camp who would have hooted the idea of even getting up at that hour before they jumped into the army — they were shown how to "police up " their quarters, to arrange their effects neatly and in a uniform manner. Then they started tidying up the area surrounding their barracks. From 9: 30 until II : 30 they were taken on walking tours around the cantonment, and after a few of these the most of them felt that they were beginning to know something about the physical characteristics of the place. At noon they had dinner and then, until 3 o'clock, they spent their time fixing up their equipment. From 3 to 4 they took another walk for exercise and instruction. These walks did much to "harden them up, " though many of the "rookies" only realized it later. At 4 in the afternoon they were advised to become ac- quainted with the shower baths again, for — and it was im- pressed upon them again — bathing was to be a habit as well FORGING THE SWORD 23 at a sanitary dut>'. At 5: 30 they had supper, and in the evening more letters home, more talks by officers and more "getting acquainted" with their "buddies." Taps and bed time came at 10 o'clock. The program for the next few days differed from this but slightly, and by that time the men were " jes' r'arin' t' go, " and real military drill and the school of the soldier looked mighty desirable. Chapter IV THE 76TH DIVISION IS ORGANIZED Friday morning, the day after the first New Englanders arrived in camp, came an announcement from Division Head- quarters that tickled these new soldiers as nothing had since they got into the army. And it pleased the home folks just as much. Men from the same localities throughout New Eng- land were to be placed in the same outfits, insofar as it was possible, and on the heels of this information came the table of organization for the 76th National Army Division. As the table of organization was announced, the name of each unit was followed by the names of the places from which the men making up each outfit would be selected. The table read as follows : 301st Infantry — which later became known as Boston's Own Regiment: Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Winthrop. 302d Infantry — also an all-Massachusetts outfit: Milton, Rockland, East Bridgewater, Plymouth, North Attleboro, Braintree, North Easton, Fairhaven, Sagamore, New Bed- ford, Fall River, Taunton, Norwood, Franklin, Framingham, Quincy, Newton. 303d Infantry: Eastern New York State. 304th Infantry: Connecticut. 301st Field Artillery — another all-Massachusetts unit: Ar- lington, Belmont, Concord, Melrose, Stoneham, Peabody, Waltham, Somerville, Maiden, Medford, Lynn, Salem, Marble- head, Beverly. Batteries A, B and C, 302d Field Artillery: Vermont. Batteries D, E and F, 302d Field Artillery: Connecticut. Batteries A, B and C, 303d (Heavy) Field Artillery: Maine. 24 Colonel Frank Tompkins 301st Infantry Colonel Charles C. Smith 302d Infantry Colonel J. F. Preston 303 d Infantry Colonel J. S. Herron 304th Infantry Colonel G. M. Brooke 301st Field Artillery Photo by Bachrach, Boston Colonel A. S. Conklin 303d Field Artillery Colonel F. A. Pope 301st Engineers Colonel H. P. Perry Depot Brigade Lt.-Col. Merch Stewart Lt.-Col. Massee Lt.-Col. Croft Maj. Wainwright Chap. Geo. O'Conor Maj. Hodges AIaj. Musgeave Maj. Weiscopf Capt. Harrower FORGING THE SWORD 25 Batteries D, E and F, 303d (Heavy) Field Artillery: New Hampshire, 301st Trench Mortar Battery: Connecticut. 301st Machine Gun Battalion: Connecticut. 302d Machine Gun Battalion — all-Massachusetts outfit: Gloucester, Ipswich, Newburyport, Tewksbury, Haverhill. 303d Machine Gun Battalion: Connecticut. 301st Engineers: Rhode Island. 301st Field Signal Battalion: Largely from Lawrence, Massachusetts, with some college men placed in certain com- panies. 301st Supply Train: Brockton and Fitchburg, Massachu- setts. 301st Engineer Train: Uxbridge, Massachusetts. 301st Ammunition Train: Worcester, Maynard, Hudson, Milford (all Massachusetts). Headquarters Train and Military Police: Gardner, South- bridge, Leominster (all Massachusetts). Headquarters Troop : Lowell, Massachusetts. 1st Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade: New York State. 2d and 3d Battalions, 151st Depot Brigade: Connecticut. 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions, 151st Depot Brigade: North Adams, Adams, Lee, Deerfield, Northampton, Westfield, Wil- braham, Northfield, Ware, Brookfield, Winchendon, Spring- field, Chicopee, Pittsfield, Holyoke (all Massachusetts). Later it was necessary to make a few changes in this table, but for the most part that is how the first outfit to be trained at Camp Devens lined up as regards localities. And this ar- rangement added much to the spirit of the men. They were, for the most part, among their own folks — the boys they knew and had grown up with. It helped a lot. Commanding Infantry Brigades of this new Division were Brigadier-General F. H. Allbright, commander of the 151st Infantry Brigade, which was composed of the 301st and 302d Regiments of Infantry and the 302d Machine Gun Battalion, 26 FORGING THE SWORD and Brigadier-General F. D. Evans, commander of the I52d Infantry Brigade, which included the 303d and 304th Regi- ments of Infantry and the 303d Machine Gun Battalion. Colonel Frank Tompkins, who was wounded while chasing Villa into Mexico, and who prior to that had been military in- structor at Norwich University, was given command of the Boston Regiment, the 301st Infantry. He had as second in command Lieutenant-Colonel Percy W. Arnold, who was later killed in France. The 302d Infantry was commanded by Colonel C. C. Smith, and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles A. Romeyn was second in command. Colonel J. F. Preston was given command of the 303d Infantry, and Lieutenant-Colonel G. W. Stuart was his second. Colonel J. S. Herron commanded the Connecticut Regiment — the 304th Infantry — and as his lieutenant-colonel he had W. G. Doane. The 151st Artillery Brigade was given to Brigadier-General William S. McNair, who was later to become a major-general when he got to France. In his brigade he had the 301st Field Artillery, commanded by Colonel George M. Brooke, with Lieutenant-Colonel N. B. Rehkopf next in command; the 302d Field Artillery, commanded by Colonel Daniel F. Craig, with Lieutenant-Colonel Robert M. Danford as second, and the 303d Field Artillery — the "heavies" — commanded by Colonel Arthur S. Conklin, with Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. Stopford second. The 301st Engineers were commanded by Colonel F. A. Pope and F. B. Downing was lieutenant-colonel. Colonel George H. Estes commanded the Headquarters Train and Military Police. The 151st Depot Brigade, which was something new for most of us, and as to the duties of which we were not very clear, was commanded by Brigadier-General William Weigel, who also became a major-general after reaching France, where he com^ FORGING THE SWORD 27 manded a division of his own. We found out soon after the Depot Brigade was organized that its function was to train men and have them in readiness to fill up the ranks of the divi- sion when those ranks became depleted in battle. This put as much enthusiasm into the men assigned to the Depot Brigade as to the men of the division proper, and strangely enough many of the Depot Brigade men got to France weeks ahead of the men in the division. From September 5 on, men continued to arrive almost every day. On the night of September 6 there were about i ,000 New England men in camp. The state of Maine men, who were the first to arrive, had learned how to salute; just about everybody had attended a free movie show in the Y. M. C. A. building, and many of the messes had made the acquaintance of the army baked bean. So things were apparently running smoothly. Day by day this army continued to grow. On Saturday night, September 8, it was stated that there were 2,018 men safely in camp, and the first reports of the doctors who gave these men their real physical examinations showed that, for the most part, the men selected by the local draft boards for active service were a husky, healthy lot. There were some cases of colossal stupidity or laziness or ignorance, but they were the exceptions. From some of the Boston draft boards came men who were actually cripples. One man had only one hand and some of the fingers were missing on that. Another man had only one eye, and one chap was so near death from heart disease that the doctors ordered that he be rushed back to his home as quickly as possible. When one draft board responsible for sending these men away from their jobs and their homes was asked for an explana- tion they stated that they "thought we wanted an army and surely something could be found for these men to do. " It was explained to them that we wanted an army, but it must be an army of fighting men, not of invalids, and so after a while the boards found that they were only making more work for 28 FORGING THE SWORD themselves by sending such men, as others had to be sent afterward to replace those found unfit. These men who were unfit did not begin to show up until larger portions of the quota were called, for out of the first 1,500 men to be sent to camp only six were found unfit for service. But any one who saw the crowd of visitors at Devens that first Sunday would have thought that at least an Army Corps must have been in camp there. Though there were only a little more than 2,000 men in camp it was estimated that the visitors exceeded 60,000. There was no way of telling just how many people came, of course, but the guards at the main entrance declared that over 20,000 automobiles passed through the gates and then passed out again. New England had turned out in force to see her sons. Among the vast throng were many who had dear ones at the camp already, but there were thousands more who didn't know a soul in the whole vast expanse of the cantonment, though many expected to have men of their own blood there before long. From early morning until late afternoon they came, from every corner of New England and eastern New York State; they came by train, by automobile and by trolley. Even the advance guard of this multitude, however, missed one of the most impressive sights New England had ever seen. It happened just after dawn. Several hundred American doughboys — for such our men became as soon as they donned Uncle Sam's uniform — knelt reverently in the dew and listened to early Mass by Reverend Father Thomas McGinn of St. Mary's Church in Ayer. Father McGinn later became post chaplain of the camp, but on that Sunday morning he was just a priest without any army connection. And from this came a "first message" that echoed the true spirit of New England, for he told them that they should have but one thought in their hearts and souls : to do their duty to their country. FORGING THE SWORD 29 " No matter how hard the orders of the officers may seem, " said this gentle clergyman, "gaze upon the Cross and gaze upon the flag, and carry the orders out. You have given up the avocations of peace; you have left them for the service of a soldier. Let your constant thought be of 'My Jesus and my country.' And besides seeing the camp, the thousands of visitors who came there that first Sunday wanted to find out just what the "rookies" thought of the army. They didn't know whether the men's mail was subject to the critical eye of a censor before it left the cantonment or not. We were very green about military matters during those first days. And it was quite droll to see a serious-looking civilian edge cautiously up to an obviously green recruit and ask, "What do you really think of it all?" Of course there were some complaints, but those who had been agreeably surprised more than offset the number who would not have been satisfied with anything. "I wouldn't leave this blinkety-blanked, cross-dashed army for money now," declared one healthy-looking specimen from New Haven, Connecticut. It was hard to make some people believe that anybody actually said that, but he truly did, and furthermore he appeared to mean it. His enthusiasm was one extreme, of course, just as the reply of a Dorchester, Massachusetts, boy showed the other extreme: "How is it going?" "Well, you know how it is; I don't have to say anything." The remarks betwixt and between were the ones that told the true temper of these new soldiers. Like this one from a Providence, Rhode Island, youngster, v/ho was still clad in blue serge trousers, though the remainder of his apparel was regulation. A newspaper man shot the usual, "How is it going?" athim. He turned and smiled, "Going! It'scoming — fast!" and he went chasing away after it, happy as a fresh- man dazed with new surroundings. 30 FORGING THE SWORD And it was on this busy Sunday that a detachment of men from New Hampshire, headed by F. N. Beckwith, mayor of the city of Dover, arrived. The fact that this mayor had scorned to accept the exemption from service he might easily have had indicates pretty accurately the spirit of these men. With Mayor Beckwith were five other New Hampshire men — Maurice E. Hale, J. E. McCarthy and H. V. Clark, all of Dover also; H. W. Robbins of Somersworth, and Alfred E. Lemire of Rochester, were the other two. Many of the men from Boston and other cities and towns near the cantonment, who had already spent two and three days in the army, were granted their first army "leave," and went to their homes for the day, and with what these men told the home folks about the big camp at Ayer and what the thousands of visitors saw for themselves, Devens became pretty well known to us almost in a flash, and we began to appreciate something of what was going on almost at our doorsteps. The plan announced when the first recruits began to arrive, to the effect that actual military instruction would not be begun until the sixth day, was not rigidly adhered to, as much because the men themselves "wouldn't stand for the delay" as for any other reason. On the Monday following the first visitors' day (September 9), the New England men started their military education. Calisthenic exercises in the early morning, exercises that sent the blood leaping through those fine young bodies, got them all on edge, and that very morning they asked to be taught "some- thing about this game as long as we're here." So, beginning at the very bottom, they did start. It was only marching, in platoons and squads, for there weren't enough in each company barracks to allow for even a skeletonized company formation, but it was a start, and the men appreciated it. On Monday, too, 24 instructors arrived from the School of Artillery Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and they started right in FORGING THE SWORD 31 with the men who had been assigned to the artillery regiments. These instructors made the men feel that they were really get- ting down to business. And so it looked to those who were only observing what was going on. For, though the thought of France was far away from the minds of most of the new men, up at Division Head- quarters there were indications that officers were looking into the future. Lieutenant W. W. Cowgill, aide-de-camp to General Hodges, the division commander, was given a very significant duty to perform in addition to his others. He had huge maps of the many and various European war theaters, marked with every last detail of the country along the front. The positions of the various armies were also indicated minutely with colored pins. And each day the changes in the positions, as reported officially from the War Department, were marked out again and these changes studied long and carefully. Some day, perhaps, this skeleton of a big fighting machine would be "grown up," and would be holding a posi- tion on one of those fronts. And when that day came the machine was going to be ready. Chapter V "IN THE ARMY NOW!" September ii, just six days after the first of these new sol- diers had arrived at camp, is a day which none of them will ever forget. They had received farewells and many admonitions from their own folks at home. They had read of how Presi- dent Wilson marched at the head of the first detachment of National Army men to leave the city of Washington for the training camps, and they had likewise read the President's message to the men of our Nation, when they started out for this new adventure. But, on September ii, the New England men in Camp Devens saw for the first time officially and most of them for the first time actually, the man who commanded them and under whose command they were to go to France. He was Major-General Harry F. Hodges. And with General Hodges, on this occasion, was Governor Samuel W. McCall of Massachusetts. The governor of the Bay State had come to Devens to say a few words, not only to Massachusetts men, but to the men of all the New England States, and to give them personally the greetings of that Commonwealth. The occasion of Governor McCall's visit was also the first for the gathering together of the New England men who had come into the cantonment, and, while there were only about 2,200 of them in all, to the amateur it seemed men enough for a whole army. Semicircled in a little slice of what was later the main parade field, ankle and knee deep in stubble and bushes, with the workmen's rough shacks for a foreground and the barren barracks rising on Infantry Hill as a background, these lads stood for more than an hour, before the little line of 32 FORGING THE SWORD 33 automobiles bearing the governor and the general and their respective staffs arrived at 5: 15. Standing there in the fading dayHght, scarce more than half of them fully clad in the uniform of the country for which they were offering their all, these men heard the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tell them that they represented "the physical prime of the normal American, the hopes and the aspirations and the ideals of America," phrasing just what their own officers and the visitors to the camp had been thinking ever since the magnitude of the task before the country hit them full in the heart with its beginning the week before. Almost before the line of motor vehicles had stopped, how- ever, Major-General Hodges, who was riding with Governor McCall, was on his feet in the tonneau of their machine. His first verbal greeting to his men was brief. Looking at this little group with pride he said : Men of the 76th Division, you are having the first military experience in your history on the soil of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Old Bay State. You are honored today by the presence of the Chief Executive of that Commonwealth, who has come to bid you welcome. That was all he said. The men received his brief message as soldiers; in silence, but they were gratified, nevertheless, even to have seen this man who was to lead them through the primary stages of their military experience and to know at least what he looked like. Governor McCall's message to them was not so brief, and it was of such a nature as to "warm them all up inside" and make them feel that their own folks were really behind them. Said the governor: I welcome you most heartily to this state. I welcome you as the advance guard of the new National Army. I congratulate you upon being under the command of General Hodges, your chief instructor, a man who has been a professor at our Military Academy at West Point and has himself grad- uated from that institution, a man who has won distinction and high honors through regular grades of promotion to major-general of the army. 4 34 FORGING THE SWORD We are taking different methods, this year, of raising our armies than have been taken from the beginning of our Republic. Instead of appealing for enlistments the Government makes the selection. The country calls you to come to her help. Never before in this country nor in this world has a more democratic army resulted than this National Army will be. You represent the ideal of America, and we cannot say more for any army. I don't desire to use the word "class," for we have no classes in demo- cratic America. We have abolished the hyphen. You may have your origin in some foreign country in Europe, but, despite that, you represent our Republic and you represent the American people as a whole. Men, I feel sure you will continue to represent them and, if called upon to act, will remember the history of this country and make your actions worthy of it. Then the governor sat down. The men hadn't cheered General Hodges, but they began to applaud the governor before he stopped speaking and by their applause they showed that the sentiments he had expressed were their sentiments and that they would see to it that all he had spoken of was accomplished. Immediately following the governor's speech, the men were marched off the field, and the men from Maine and New Hampshire had what, in most instances, was their first glimpse of the governor of the state in which they were receiving their military training. These men were really getting down to brass tacks by now. Their preliminary training, or what should more properly be called the " hardening up " process, was progressing rapidly, and at the end of their first week at Camp Devens most of the men felt as though they had been in the army for months. And they were beginning to realize that, although they were away from their home and loved ones, people still cared a great deal about them and their welfare. They had the Y. M. C. A. and other welfare organizations with them always, and then the regimental funds were started. It was the 301st Infantry that first announced the formation of a regimental fund, and it was accomplished through the efforts of Major Edward (Pete) Bowditch, he of Harvard football fame. Major Bow- ditch announced within a week of the opening of the camp that FORGING THE SWORD 35 a friend of his had already advanced the sum of $8,000 as a starter on the regimental fund, and that the fund would start to grow on that. These regimental funds and what they were to be used for were little known to the men at this time, but later they were to be much better known and appreciated, for they grew into thousands and thousands of dollars, and many a man had things in the army that he could not possibly have had had it not been for the regimental and company funds. On the day following the visit of Governor McCall, Governor Henry W. Keyes of New Hampshire made his appearance, coming to see the men of the Granite State who were already in the army. Governor Keyes, who was a crew man in his Harvard days, was accompanied by his two brothers, George T. and Charles W. Keyes. He went straight to Division Headquarters, where he told General Hodges and the news- paper men that his state had in view steps to be taken for the welfare of New Hampshire boys in the 76th Division, adding that New Hampshire would do as much for her men as any other state would do for hers. Soon after their arrival these New England youngsters, who were so willing to offer their lives for their country, got a dis- tinct shock. Orders came through from the War Department, when only five per cent of New England's first quota was in camp, that a special company was to be formed in the 151st Depot Brigade to house the conscientious objectors drafted into the service. This word immediately started a hunt among the men, by the men themselves, for these objectors who were not willing to fight for democracy. In the first five per cent not an objector was found, and the vanguard of the division began to prepare for any of the "yellow bellies" who might later make their appearance. And if any of these individuals could have heard the "midnight opera" that followed the orders to prepare for their coming, they might well have had a change of heart. In deep guttural tones would 36 FORGING THE SWORD come the query from one end of the darkened bunk room: "What will clean our bayonets in the morning?" "Bloo-o-o- d-d-d!" would come the chorus in tones just as deep and ominous. But as a matter of fact none of them had bayonets yet, and when the "C. O.'s" did begin to arrive no blood was shed. By this time the drafted men were standing their own guards, and they found it an occupation none too well to their liking, though of course they performed their duties in the most con- scientious manner. Some extremely ludicrous situations arose during the first few nights when the National Army men were on guard, of course, and, though most of them have been told again and again, one or two may bear retelling here. A member of General Hodges* personal staff strolled down through the camp about midnight on one of the first nights drafted men had been posted. He was looking for material for a report to the division commander on how the men were picking up their duties. Near Headquarters he saw the form of a sentry through the darkness, and just to make sure that the man would see him in plenty of time to challenge, he coughed loudly. But the man paid him not the slightest bit of attention. So the officer strolled slowly up to him and made as if to go by. Right opposite the man he turned quickly and snapped out: "Well, have you anything to say to me?" "Gosh, yes," rejoined the "rookie." "I'd speak to any- body. I've been out here in the dark nigh on to two hours an' I ain't seen a soul." The man didn't mean to be careless. He simply didn't under- stand and, while he showed one extreme, the other was shown by the over-eager youngster who was walking his post about 9 : 30 the following night. The colonel of his regiment was taking his wife and daughter to their hotel outside the camp, when suddenly a "Halt! Who goes there?" rang out. The women jumped, but the colonel, quite pleased, repHed : " Colonel Blank, FORGING THE SWORD 37 with wife and daughter. " But the guard's reply nearly lifted the colonel out of his long riding boots. "Advance Colonel Blank and be recognized. Wife and daughter mark time. " The officers were patient and helpful, for the most part. Those who were not seldom held their jobs as commanders of men for very long. When they were found unfit to guide and instruct these boys who were entirely green at the military game they were shunted to other jobs where they could be used without ruining the material that New England had given the army. For the most part the National Army lads liked their officers and the officers liked the men. The West Point officers, es- pecially the younger ones, learned almost as much from the Plattsburg officers as the Plattsburgers did from the Regulars. For these provisional officers had the personal touch that went so far in making America's emergency sword the keen, strong blade it proved to be. The officers were good fellows in more ways than one, as these 2,200 Yankee lads admitted less than ten days after their arrival in camp. For the officers at Camp Devens at that time dug down into their own pockets to the tune of $5,000 to start one of the biggest ventures of its kind ever attempted in the American Army. It was the Devens officers' share of a $50,000 fund to establish a chain of vaudeville and motion picture shows in the camp for the benefit of the men themselves, in that the profits from the 10- and 15-cent admissions that would be charged were to go to the regimental funds of every unit in the division. Major Reginald Barlow of the 302d In- fantry, a well-known New York actor in civil life, started the project, which met with hearty approval throughout the camp. Even in those early days of the cantonment, however, the men were well provided with entertainment, for the Redpath Lyceum Bureau, with the permission of the War Department, opened up a big tent show in the little gully at the foot of In- fantry Hill, and there, seven nights a week, the New England 38 FORGING THE SWORD soldiers could find up-to-date entertainment for about one fifth of what it would cost them in the city. Besides this the Y. M. C. A. had a movie show almost every night, and various societies and companies were coming to camp several times a week to provide entertainment for the boys. Many things were planned, of course, that never were real- ized, but the spirit that started the planning to do for these boys was what counted. The spirit manifested by the folks at home was admirable, but there was plenty of it in the army, too. For instance, quite a chunk of it was found right in the Regimental Headquarters of the 301st Infantry, the Boston Regiment, when Colonel Frank Tompkins took out his own check book and wrote out a check to provide two Ford motor trucks for his regiment, solely so his men could get their uni- forms and other supplies more quickly than by waiting their turn at the big army trucks. That spirit was what built up the fighting spirit in the men. "When we seen the 'old man' do that for us, we just felt that it was up to us to do a little somethin' for the army ourselves, " was the way one "rookie" put it. September 15 was one of the happiest days at Camp Devens, at least for the few men who were there. And it might be added that there were many days that were far from sad. But it was on that day that the New England men already stationed at the cantonment received their first big war weapons. About 4: 30 in the afternoon Colonel Arthur S. Conklin, commander of the 303d Heavy Field Artillery, received word from the quartermaster that a train had just pulled into the Camp Devens siding with some guns for his regiment. Like a flash the word went down the line, and with yells of glee just about every man then in the regiment made a rush toward Headquarters. They were all anxious for a sight of the war weapons, and most of them wanted to share in the honor of unloading the first artillery to arrive at the camp. But, as it was later proven in this new army of ours, there FORGING THE SWORD 39 was always some particular man who was best fitted for any job that might put in its appearance at camp, and this time it was William F. Cronin of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who was called upon. He had been with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and was used to unloading ponderous equipment from cars. "Can you get those guns off for us?" he was asked. "Sure," smiled he, "if you'll give me men enough." There was no difficulty about that. Every man in the regiment wanted to have a hand in the work, supper or no supper. So about a hundred of them started in the direction of the quartermaster's tracks, and there, looking rather omi- nous to them, were four three-inch field pieces, a complete battery of field guns, lying on four fiat cars. There were fully a hundred men in the party that helped get those guns off the cars. They will tell you all about it. It was "the thrill that comes once in a life time." Under Cronin's direction runners were placed against the cars. The pieces were unlashed and swung around. Then it was a yell of " Let 'er go, Gallagher, " and down they rolled, the gleeful " rookies " clinging to the tongue of the caisson, and away they went with them up through the cantonment to the Headquarters Com- pany of the 303d, where the pieces were lined up for the awed inspection of the rest of the camp. And on the same day the comparatively few members of the 301st Infantry — Boston's Own Regiment — were feeling pretty chirky, too. For they had gone through their first inspection by a general, Brigadier-General F. H. AUbright. Their officers were a little nervous, too, but when it was all over everybody was happy, including the general. For, although he was a Regular Army officer and accustomed to inspecting trained soldiers, he had used such words as "vim and snap," and "eagerness and willingness" in describing the showing of these soldiers of less than ten days, and it meant a lot to them. But the biggest task so far was approaching. The "first 40 FORGING THE SWORD forty per cent" was due to arrive at Camp Devens on Septem- ber 19 — or at least the first part of that contingent was due on that date — some 20,000 men, a multitude compared to the number that had already arrived, and the transportation of these men as well as the caring for them as fast as they arrived was a problem that was taking much of the attention of the authorities. According to the schedule announced three days before these men were due to start, the men from Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were to come in on the 19th, more than 5,000 of them in all. On the 20th 4,390 men from Connecticut were to come. Massachusetts, exclusive of Boston, was to send 6,021 on the third day, and on the fourth day northern New York State was to send 2,330. On the fifth day the city of Boston was to send 2,029, and then the movement would be completed. This plan of transporting the men was drawn up by the American Railway Association and approved by the military authorities. The governor of each of the states involved also placed the seal of his approval on the plan, and so arrangements for the reception of these men were made on that basis. And the men already at camp — the first five per cent — were called upon to help get ready to receive their friends, which duty they performed with a will. Almost simultaneously came the announcement of the plans for the placing in the division of the men who were to come. The policy started on the arrival of the first five per cent was to be pursued right through the draft, according to the indica- tions, and men from the same localities were to be placed in the same or adjacent organizations. For Massachusetts, in the first forty per cent, the following arrangement of the men was announced : Men from To the Adams Depot Brigade Arlington 301st Artillery FORGING THE SWORD 41 Men from Belmont Beverly Boston Brookline Braintree Brookfield Brockton Cambridge Chelsea Concord Chicopee Deerfield Everett East Bridgewater Fall River Fairhaven Fitchburg Franklin Framingham Gardner Gloucester Hudson Holyoke Haverhill Ipswich Leominster Lee Lowell Lynn Lawrence Maiden Medford Marblehead Melrose Maynard Milford Milton Norwood Newton North Attleboro New Bedford To the 301st Artillery 301st Artillery 301st Infantry 301st Infantry 302d Infantry Depot Brigade Supply Train 301st Infantry 301st Infantry 301st Artillery Depot Brigade Depot Brigade 301st Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry Supply Train 302d Infantry 302d Infantry Headquarters Train 302d Machine Gun Battalion Ammunition Train Depot Brigade 302d Machine Gun Battalion 302d Machine Gun Battalion Headquarters Train Depot Brigade Headquarters Troop 301st Artillery 301st Field Signal Battalion 301st Artillery 301st Artillery 301st Artillery 301st Artillery Ammunition Train Ammunition Train 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 42 FORGING THE SWORD Men from Newburyport North Easton North Adams Northampton Northfield Plymouth Peabody Pittsfield Quincy Rockland Sagamore Stoneham Somerville Springfield Salem Southbridge Tewksbury Taunton Winthrop Waltham Ware Westfield Wilbraham Winchendon Worcester To the 302d Machine Gun Battalion 302 d Infantry Depot Brigade Depot Brigade Depot Brigade 302d Infantry 301st Artillery Depot Brigade 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 302d Infantry 301st Artillery 301st Artillery Depot Brigade 301st Artillery Headquarters Train 302d Machine Gun Battalion 302d Infantry 301st Infantry 301st Artillery Depot Brigade Depot Brigade Depot Brigade Depot Brigade Ammunition Train. While, of course, these were not the only towns and cities in Massachusetts to send men to Devens in the first forty per cent, they marked the centers from which the men were to come, and the men from the cities and towns surrounding these places were sent to the same organizations. As has often been stated, it was this arrangement of grouping men from the same localities in the same or adjacent units that went far in main- taining the morale at the beginning of our part in the war at the high scale it attained. As this program for sending men by the thousands unfolded, some of the older and more experienced officers began to have their doubts as to how the thousands were to be housed, large as the cantonment was. But the War Department provided FORGING THE SWORD 43 for all that. For before the arrival of the 20,000 men during the five days, September 19 to 24, came the announcement from Washington that another $1,000,000 was to be spent at Camp Devens on additional barracks. And those who had already seen the cantonment gasped, while those who had not seen it began to do some wondering about what kind of a place this could be, where $1 ,000,000 could be spent so easily. They had other gasps coming to them, however, for still more millions were to be spent before Devens was what it afterwards became. Through it all these veterans of ten days were preparing for the coming thousands. They had already learned to speak of the coming forty per cent as " rookies, " but it is not on record that any of these ten-day soldiers had gone quite so far as to term themselves "veterans. " Their preparations consisted of cleaning up barracks that were as yet unoccupied. The offi- cers had been busy among their men instilling into them the belief that theirs was the best regiment in the division, a verbal food which the "veterans" digested joyously and with a gusto. And then came a bombshell. Not literally, of course, but to some of the men it might almost as well have been. On September 18 orders came from Washington to transfer 500 of the comparatively few men at Devens to other regiments already formed at Massachusetts and other New England camps. These "rookies" were going to fill gaps in various regiments of Edwards' 26th (Yankee) Division, which was just about ready to go overseas. Some Massachusetts men went to B oxford, others to Fram- ingham and still others to Westfield; Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont men went to Westfield; Connecticut men went back to their home state, to Camp Yale at New Haven. The orders came through to each regiment to have their men ready in an hour and a half. Five minutes later it was changed so that they were to have their men ready in an hour. And so they hustled. The men were to be seen all over the canton- ment, pouring out of their barracks, some in full uniform, some 44 FORGING THE SWORD in half military and half civilian clothes and many still clad completely in " civies. " Frantically they gathered their belongings together and as soon as the last man from each company was ready they went straggling along the six rough roads that led to Post Office Square, in the center of the camp. From there they proceeded to the quartermaster tracks and boarded trains. It would be equally untrue to say that they were happy or that they were sad. Some were pleased and some weren't. There was the spice of adventure about their sudden move- ment, and nearly every one of them knew in his heart that he was headed for an early trip across the Atlantic. The Connect- icut men were frankly pleased that they were "going back to God's country," but many a man was sad that he was not going to be on hand to greet the thousands who were due to arrive on the morrow. These were the first troops to leave Camp Devens, just thirteen days after their arrival. Before the "buddies" they left behind had really earned the right to call themselves soldiers, this little group of 500 men had landed with the Yankee Division on foreign soil, and today some of them are sleeping there, having paid the full price of patriotism. Chapter VI "THE FIRST FORTY PER CENT" The coming of the first forty per cent of the first New England quota to Camp Devens was the most inspiring sight of the early days of America's part in the war. There was no secrecy connected with the event. It was one of the few things that we were all warned about and given an opportunity to watch. And we were not the only ones to watch it, for, just as the first thousands were reaching the cantonment at which they were to receive their military training, through the long lines of husky youngsters stretching from the cantonment gate clear down the road toward Ayer as far as the eye could see, a foreign potentate, a visitor to the United States from the Orient, was carried into Camp -Devens. And so the coming of the "first forty per cent" to Devens served as some- thing of a promise to one of our Allies. Viscount Ishii, head of the visiting mission from Japan, was in New England on an official visit, and no visit to New Eng- land during the war could be called in any measure complete without a sight of the New England National Army canton- ment, one of the finest and biggest in the country. Riding with Major-General Hodges, the cantonment com- mander, and personally attended by Ambassador Sata, the Japanese representative at Washington, the head of the Japanese mission watched with amazement how quickly and quietly and happily and smoothly this never-ending stream of young men flowed into the military service in answer to the call of democracy. In the automobile with Viscount Ishii and General Hodges was Mayor James M. Curley of Boston. 45 46 FORGING THE SWORD With eager interest the Japanese nobleman questioned General Hodges about the cantonment and the system of inducting the men into the service. Their activities of the past few days had somewhat worn out the visitors, but this sight of thousands of young giants arriving to throw themselves into the fight revived them, and their expressions of surprise and pleasure were good to hear. With General Hodges they made a tour of the cantonment, noting every detail of the huge machine that so soon was to turn out the best fighting men in the world, and before they left they congratulated their soldier host on the marvelous things that were being accom- plished. The picture of New England that they carried away with them was the picture of a country militant, a country burning with patriotism and of men filled with a resolve to do their duty with every atom of energy and strength that filled their strong young bodies. On September 19 there were 2,127 men due to come into camp. They were the quotas from Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont and part of New Hampshire. Because of the distance they had to travel, few got in before noon. It was not until 3 o'clock in the afternoon that they really began to arrive, but then they came fast. Vermont was the first in on this day — 420 lean, husky lads of pure old New England stock, the very best kind of soldiers we had. They went through the "receiving mill" in the smoothest manner imaginable and were assigned to the 302d Field Artillery. The first detachment came from Bennington County, 57 of them, headed by Benjamin D. Cleveland of Manchester, an old 5th Massachusetts Militia man. Each group of men had some member of the group in charge. Usually this leader was appointed either by the draft board or the men themselves before they left their home towns. New Hampshire was the next. There were only 97 men in this group, but they came in with spirit enough for 10,000. A few of them were from Berlin, and they bore signs announ- FORGING THE SWORD 47 cing what they were going to do when they reached a certain other Berlin that was rather well known. These signs the men carried — there were few contingents to arrive without them — furnished one of the most interesting sidelights in the whole interesting spectacle. These lads had received the greatest send-off in the history of the country. They had been banqueted and showered with gifts, extolled and praised and glorified and sent away on the crest of a wave of enthusiasm and patriotism that did not diminish for days. The New Hampshire and Maine and Vermont men showed that as soon as they arrived, and the same was true of the Rhode Islanders, who arrived later in the day. The Maine men, 727 strong, all decorated with various kinds of badges and streamers and armbands, travelled on special cars. They were seven hours late reaching Ayer, but that didn't matter to them. Better late than never was their attitude, and they marched happily away to the 303d Heavy Artillery, there to join the New Hampshire men. Rhode Island came in with a rush ; 884 men destined for the 301st Engineers. They were headed by James L. Doherty, a former policeman. Each man wore a white armband bearing the letters "N. A." in red. They were swallowed by Camp Devens just as swiftly as were their predecessors. It was incredible — the smoothness with which the receiving machinery worked. It almost seemed that there was no limit to the number of men that could be handled by these few officers and the clerks in the seven little booths on the receiving field. The Manchester, New Hampshire, delegation came by automobile, 35 machines stretching out into a sizeable column. They didn't arrive until the morning of September 20. They were accompanied by Mayor Spaulding of Manchester, and their cars were loaded down with gifts from their friends and relatives who had watched the procession start off. A few more men from Maine continued to straggle in on the 48 FORGING THE SWORD 20th, and among them was Vladek Cyganiewiez, better known to sport lovers as Zbyszko, heavy weight wrestler of world- wide reputation. Soon after his arrival, however, his six feet and 232 pounds of brawn and muscle was pushing a broom in his company barracks. Such was life in this army of democracy ! The Connecticut men came on the 20th, 4,000 of them. And the first 1,000 got a taste of what seemed to be real war weather, for they arrived in pouring rain and had to march about a mile and a quarter through mud and water that might well have rivaled the famous Flanders mud. They were assigned to the 304th Infantry, the 301st and 302d Machine Gun Battalions and to the 302d Field Artillery. Massachusetts' thousands began to arrive at 9 o'clock on the morning of September 21. The first to reach Devens came in automobiles. They came from the nearby towns of Leominster, Clinton and Lancaster. Then came the men from Arlington and Winchester, headed by Chief of Police Urquhart of Arlington. In the Winchester quota was Herbert W. Kelley, famous Harvard quarter-miler, a gunny- sack slung over his shoulder, his shirt open at the throat. Then came 427 men from Fall River and 291 from New Bedford. They had brought brass bands with them, and from their appearance the bandmen had been working ever since they left their respective cities. As soon as these men had passed through the receiving booths, they fell in behind their bands and were played up through the camp to their barracks to the tune of "Where Do We Go from Here?" That was the spirit of the men. Too much can't be said about that quality. They knew that this was only the first stop on the new adventure they had undertaken. They wanted action and they wanted it quick. The camp was filling up fast and, with all this pep and snap and ginger just bubbling out of its occupants, something was due to happen pretty soon. h %1 -,«, : ._^ ' :^ Lt.-Col. Romeyn Col. Arnold (killed in France) Maj. Waldo Maj. Collins Photo by Sarony Chap. Edwin A. Flynn Maj. Carpenter Maj. Hadley Maj. Porter Maj. Stebbins "Chow!" It Didn't Taste so Bad After a Day Spent as Below For the Boys Even Had to Break Out Their Own Roads in Winter Lt,-Col. Sinxlair Maj. Barlow Maj. Homer Gage Capt. Scannell Chap. M.J. L\nch Capt. E. C. Edwards Sgt. F. X. Beckwith Chap. T. F. Lynch Sgt. " Bill " Cunningham. / . ., • ■'■•■*• •■ >'■'..■,•..•■»■ ■-/ * ^tMf - h ^ / ■■!■ PHfl Si. U—JL. .::j V ^H| ^ -i^"™..., • -M^f^'-fiii iR/|y/£ d\iW^9 ' ^i%* :**-^- m * ^^MrWi^''^' 'm ,^^ -4 %\- , ^ tn < o u o O n 03 js Q 0) E c 3 u 0) +-1 o rt .2 *Cfi _a> u 'S W 'u Ph -S > ^ ^ goU •gw ^ :^ P3 K O a; C Ih . OJ cfl 03 U u o S OJ ^' c/5 tn d 03 P S 03 e 4-J a O 3 43 H U •h 03 OJ 03 3 < of 03 3 bo 03 J3 § s o j:3 be u in O U 1-^ H H •— ^ c U ^ O <■ 1— ^ 03 6 U^ 3 03 en O "3 G. -a OS 3 3 o! S o a 03 U <■ <; u cfl ^ ■ 3 X o -C oT < » u 00~ U U Q 3 o a a> CO OS -a d u O CO W c3 ^ U ■fS O 43 O 5 c oi c u d OS a IS -l-J ^' n o 03 OS 3 H J 3 &i 3 £J CO d c 03 J3 0) in 3 Pi' J 3 Q C c u. -M ^ a O (A) D o3 5^ ^ c '^ fe .SJ s w oi o a 1— ] >— > Q Pi ^ i" J ■4-1 3 Ph S fll O U +.1 03 o 03 O ffi OS 3 <: ^ C O 3 U 1—-) 0) -1-1 T3 03 C3 3 O o U 15 3 3 03 g 3 o P3 o -M Q, >^ C C biO . S 2 i •- O " "J ^ ^ ^ 3 ii S i 3 OS T3 OJ e a These Officers Conducted the First Non-Commissioned Officers' School to be Established in America .>ji*f -!>'..#" .::^ A 4 i. % % Calisthenics — "Some Exercise!" Cm -a U J^ O ^ 1-^ o O i-T O aj u, n^ ^- i^ r- -^ <1> .5 Hi > OS C M u u cs pi; Q Q h -2 f^ fe o o o U o J o; 3 3 J P a OJ cT cy c 3 Q (U O Q OJ ^- p.; < "S H rs 'o 03 _> Q "c3 un X u < X n . fe oS 42 J o U .s S *C1 1— -> _ '3 u o ^ ^ a JJ _y 03 •-^ +-> C/5 03 U ■^ FORGING THE SWORD 153 every jump. The rush didn't stop until every Canopic man had bathed. Then they were ready for food. Of course they had been given a wonderful reception and everything possible had been done for them by the good people of Boston and central Massachusetts, but it is perfectly safe to say that there was not a single feature of their welcome that appealed to them or was appreciated by them half as much as those showers. Chapter XVIII "MOPPING UP" On December 13 — lucky 13 this time — the skeleton of the old 76th Division arrived back at Camp Devens. There wasn't much left of it; in all 440 men and 27 officers of the Headquarters Troop, Headquarters Detachment and an ambu- lance company. They had been brought home on the trans- port Kroonland, which docked at New York, and they returned to Camp Devens on a special train from Camp Merritt, New Jersey. They were glad to be back home, but they were heartsick over the fate of the old division, which had been so broken up that these men were scarcely able to trace a single unit after it arrived at its training base in France. After telling all they could about what had happened to General Hodges' old out- fit they discussed their "tough luck" at some length, and the discussion usually ended with a gloomy: " Don't it beat Hell how the New England outfits have got it in the neck in this war?" These men were mustered out of the service on December 17, and it is feared that some left the service with a bitter taste in their mouths. Many of the returning overseas men — perhaps it would be nearer the truth to say "just about all" — came back to this country with " kicks " to make. And apparently most of them were legitimate. Men arrived at Camp Devens who had not been paid for eight and nine months. They hadn't received any money for so long that they had just about given up hope of ever getting any. It is only fair to say that the most of these were men who had been wounded and had spent months 154 FORGING THE SWORD 155 in hospitals, though there were plenty who had not had this painful experience. Relief came to them as soon as General McCain found out about their cases. He went down to their quarters and inter- \newed them personally. When he left he ordered the camp disbursing officer to pay the men what was due them at once. He didn't wait to wade through red tape or even to get author- ity from Washington, though he wired and asked for authority to pay them as soon as he found out about their cases. If the War Department had ruled that these men should not be paid until their papers were found or until each individual case had been straightened out through military channels — a procedure that would have taken weeks — he would have been held per- sonally responsible for the money that was paid out. But right is right with McCain, and he instructed his disbursing officer to pay each man what that man said was due him, in turn requir- ing the man to make affidavit that the amount he asked for was really due, and warning him that he would be liable to crim- inal prosecution if he intentionally made a false affidavit. There is no record at hand of any man who thus tried to "jip" the Government, and the men vindicated the trust placed in them by General McCain. In due time, of course, the author- ization came through from Washington to pay the men off in this way. And as the overseas men began to arrive Camp Devens took on added interest for New England folks, and they flocked to the big cantonment every day, and especially on Sundays and holidays. People who didn't know anybody there came in hopes they might find some man who knew some one they knew and to hear the boys' experiences at first hand. And so the men continued to pour into Camp Devens and pour out again. They came by twos and threes, by half-doz- ens and dozens, by battalions and regiments and by the trans- port-load. It didn't make any difference how fast they came, apparently. There was always room for them and they were 156 FORGING THE SWORD shunted out of the service almost as quickly as they had been inducted. Major General Hodges visited Camp Devens on December 26 for the first time since he arrived back from France. He went first to the Depot Brigade with the hope of finding some of his old command there, but about all of them had been dis- charged. He didn't say much about how he felt over what had happened to the 76th Division, but he obviously regretted the fact that the division didn't see action as a unit. He had noth- ing but the highest praise for the men of the old outfit, and stated that they had made good wherever they were sent. He was much interested in the changes that had been made in the camp, and made a tour all over it as the guest of General McCain. That part of the Plymouth Division which saw foreign serv- ice arrived back at Devens on December 27. There were 82 men and 77 officers in the party, and immediately on arrival at camp they were sent back to their old units. They went first to England, where they remained in camp a few days, and then to France, soon being sent to a school at Chaumont. They had attended the school only half a day when the armistice came and they were ordered back to this country. They didn't have much to do, but the fact that they went Over showed how near the 12th Division was ready to go. Demobilization orders for the 12th Division arrived just in time to kill one of the biggest experiments ever tried in the United States Army. For two months, following the signing of the armistice. General McCain had been working out a plan whereby the men of his division might go back to civilian life better prepared to shake a living out of the world than when they entered the service. It has long been the contention that, while a man may learn something in the navy that will be of use to him on his return to civilian pursuits, the army offers little, except a chance to improve his physical condition. It was to alter this that General McCain proposed to try his new experiment. FORGING THE SWORD 157 With the assistance of prominent educational leaders in New England, he formed what was known as the Camp Devens Institute, an institution for the enlisted men, where they could get, absolutely free of charge, instruction in almost any trade or profession or subject that they might elect to study. In- structors from civilian life and also from the army offered their services and classes were just about ready to start — with hun- dreds of men eager to attend, for the idea found instant favor with them — in almost everything imaginable from plumbing to astronomy. Then, on January 7, orders came through from Washington to start the demobilization of the 12th Division, and the whole plan was knocked in the head. The orders read that up to fifty per cent of the strength of the division on November 13, 1918, just after the armistice, were to be dis- charged immediately, and there was no getting away from it. The men had to go, many of them reluctantly giving up this opportunity to better themselves, which would probably not present itself again for a long time, at least. Comparatively soon after the first demobilization orders were received, came orders to let still more men go, and so, gradually toward the end, the Plymouth Division, with the exception of the Regulars who were in it, died out and as a division became extinct. It was one of the finest fighting machines ever con- structed in any country, and General McCain could truly say of his I2th Division, as Major-General Clarence R. Edwards was proud to say of his 26th, " It was a division with a soul," and with an unbeatable spirit of burning patriotism, from the commander right down to the lowliest private. General McCain stayed on at Devens long after the 12th Division was demobilized. He remained as cantonment com- mander and devoted his efforts to building up a demobilization machine that held the record for any camp in the country on daily discharge. The wounded and maimed continued to pour into the Base Hospital and the Convalescent Center as long as there were any left overseas to come home. They were coaxed 158 FORGING THE SWORD back to health and strength, in so far as it was possible to do so, at the Base Hospital, and many of them, during their conva- lescent days, attended the classes conducted by the " reconstruc- tion aids" in the Red Cross building, newly erected behind the Base Hospital for the purpose of teaching the wounded and permanently maimed man some method of earning his living when he got out of the service. The Red Cross, perhaps, did more for the wounded men at Camp Devens than any other organization, though every single society represented at Devens did everything they possibly could. But the Knights of Columbus and the Y. M. C. A. and the Jewish Welfare Board and the Salvation Army and the others had their hands pretty full with the well ones. The Red Cross had a recreation building right beside the Base Hospital, and to that building many of the wounded and sick were able to hobble. Almost every week, usually on a Friday, a delegation of actors would come up from Boston in the afternoon and give these boys the best they had to offer from the little stage in one end of the building. Fred Stone brought about half his com- pany up there on more than one occasion. Every member of the company "made up" and donned the stage costumes and exerted himself or herself to the utmost for the benefit of these boys. And when one part of the company had "done their turn" on the stage they went right over to the hospital and travelled from ward to ward, singing and laughing and chatting with the men and doing everything in their power to make painful hours shorter and brighter and help the lads on their way to recovery. Fred Stone nearly lost one of his biggest attractions the first time he brought his players up to Camp Devens. They were known as the Six Brown Brothers, and they all played saxo- phones. It was the kind of music these lads had ached for through many weary months, light, frothy, "jazzy" and full of pep. It just swept them off their feet. When the sextet FORGING THE SWORD 159 finally got away from the Red Cross building they were as breathless and perspiring as though they had just broken all records for the mile run, but they headed for the hospital just the same, short of breath but long on spirit. They started to play almost as soon as they entered the door, and then they marched from ward to ward, filling the squat, rambling building with ragtime that nearly cured half the hos- pital right then and there. They played and played and played, and still the men begged for more, begged so hard that the good- hearted players could not resist, and when Mr. Stone and the rest of his company were all changed and ready to start back for Boston and the evening show the Six Brown Brothers were still missing. Finally Mr. Stone himself had to go and simply drag them away, with promises to come again, which they did. So it went all through the winter, men coming in almost every day, transports landing in Boston laden with war-weary doughboys who were shipped immediately to camp, and spent an uncomfortable few hours going through the delouser, and shifting from their temporary billets in the "rest area" to their permanent billets in the camp proper. But their permanent billets were permanent in name only, for they were discharged or sent to other cantonments nearer their homes just as fast as they could be handled. Occasional lack of transportation tied up General McCain and his staff sometimes, but for the most part the men went through regularly and steadily. It was a humdrum process for the men who had to do the demobilizing, but an agreeable one for those being demobilized. Chapter XIX THE ARRIVAL OF THE Y-D With the coming of spring there also came the last big event at Camp Devens — the arrival of the 26th (Yankee) Division, those heroic lads who for more than twenty months had trained and fought and bled and died in France. The only division New England was allowed to put into the fighting line as a representative unit, and one which upheld the highest tradi- tions of its home states. The coming of these fighters was one of the most glorious days New England and Camp Devens ever knew. It v/as on April 4 that the first of them arrived. Two days before Brigadier-General Charles H. Cole, who had come home in advance of the division, arrived at Devens and held confer- ences with General McCain and other officers concerned in the billeting, provisioning and discharging of the unit, so that when the huge transport Mount Vernon steamed majestically into Boston Harbor with 5,800 yelling officers and men on board of her, and Boston and the rest of New England was almost turn- ing inside out with joy over their return, Devens was already . to receive them. That day will go down in history as one of the greatest the New England States ever knew. Certainly there was never such a reception tendered any other body of men, and nothing can ever surpass it for spontaneous joy and relief and just plain crazy hilarity. The men stepped right from the transport to the trains and were borne through more than fifty miles of screaming, whistling, weeping, shouting, clanging Massachu- setts countryside. They almost ran a gauntlet of humanity right from the transports to the camp, for every town, city and hamlet turned out to the last man, woman, child and wiggling 160 Colonel George C, Shaw Governor McCall, General McCain AND General Edwards Proudly Watch the i2th Division VICTORY •Uobliui '/...liiiii ,i,i;iii,- i I [WARISEWED ORVT CALLS ARE CANCELED The "GLOBE" brings Glad Tidings Captain John F. Conoley Camp Chaplain The First Bunch of Wounded Men to Arrive at Devens; Shot to Pieces, but Happy to be Home Photo by George H. Davis, Jr., Boston Globe Discharged! The Last March Through Camp, and One of the Happiest Col. M. N. Falls Lt.-Col. E. F. Harding Lt.-Col. Frothingham Maj. Philips. Se/rs Chap. J. H. Twitchell Maj. Briggs Capt. Vinxent Chap. L. A. Ramsay Capt. Whitman FORGING THE SWORD i6i cur dog to do honor to these men as they steamed by behind shrieking and decorated engines. On their arrival at camp they were marched right to the rest area across from the quartermaster storehouses and all around the delousing plant, and there went into temporary billets, which consisted largely of tents. Within thirty minutes of the time the first trainload arrived, men were on their way through that delouser. They weren't supposed to meet and greet their loved ones until after the deverminizing process was over, but it would have taken some force greater than that of arms to keep those joy-crazed mothers and fathers and sisters and sweethearts back, and in many cases husky, bronzed young fighters were swept right into the arms of their dear ones as they stepped from the trains, cooties or no cooties. The cooties were about the scarcest article to be found on the Y-D men, but the de- lousing had to be gone through as a precautionary measure. As soon as they had been deloused, however, and came forth from the plant, hot and steaming and clean, they were shifted to their permanent billets and were allowed to mingle with the thousands of loyal New Englanders who flocked to camp to see them. Leaves were given, too, for the Yankee Division was to stay at Camp Devens for nearly a month so as to be able to parade through the streets of Boston as a unit and show the battle-scarred ranks to the home folks. On the Mount Vernon were the Division Headquarters, with Major-General Harry C. Hale, then commander of the division; the Headquarters Troop and Military Police, the Headquarters of the 52d Infantry Brigade, the loist Engineers and the 104th Infantry. The transport America arrived on April 5 with 7,209 ofiicers and men, including the loist Infantry — the Boston Regiment — the Headquarters of the 51st Infantry Brigade and the 103d Infantry, with Brigadier-General George H. Shelton. They received a no less hearty reception. 12 1 62 FORGING THE SWORD The Agamemnon came in on April 7 with the I02d Infantry, the loist Machine Gun Battalion and part of the loist Field Artillery, 5,214 officers and men in all. The camp was absorbing them as fast as they came, and they were going through the delouser at a greater rate of speed than the most optimistic had hoped for, though the delousing plant at Camp Devens was only a small one. The Mongolia arrived on April 10 with the 51st Artillery Brigade, some 4,708 officers and men led by Brigadier-General John H. Sherburne. The remainder of the division arrived on the Patricia on April 17, the Winifredian on April 18 and the battleship New Jersey. General Hale had established the Yankee Division Head- quarters in the building just across Division Street from the Cantonment Headquarters, and he and his staff were working in the closest harmony with General McCain and the canton- ment staff. It was one of the finest pieces of teamwork that had ever been seen at Camp Devens. During the wait for all of the Yankee Division to get in and get deloused General Hale kept something doing every minute. Part of the men were away on pass all the time, but it was arranged that every regiment in the 26th Division should give a regimental parade on a separate day, thus affording the home folks an opportunity to see their own particular lads go through their paces, as permission to send units to their home areas for individual parades had been refused in Washington. On April 19, when the 10 1st Infantry staged their parade before a perfectly tremendous gathering, General Peyton C. March, chief of the General Staff in Washington, arrived at Camp Devens for a conference with General McCain and to look over Camp Devens, which he had never seen before. He appeared on the main parade field where the loist Infantry was drawn up and Colonel Edward L. Logan, commander of the regiment, was presented to him. He then made a tour of the cantonment with General McCain and departed that night. FORGING THE SWORD 163 No one knew just what his real reasons were for coming there, but they were ostensibly for the purpose of inspecting the cantonment with a view to buying it and making of it a per- manent military post. And Camp Devens had its biggest day still to come. It was on April 22, when the 26th Division made its last appearance as a full division in military formation. All New England came to the camp on that day. At least that was the way it seemed, for there was never before nor since such a crowd of humanity jammed together on one comparatively small area. The Military Police, who had the handling of the crowds, estimated that there were a quarter of a million visitors there, and it seemed to those who saw the ceremony that their estimate was a conservative one. Wearing their steel helmets and carrying the weapons that had played so noble a part in the whipping of the Boche, the Yankee Division was drawn up on the main parade field at i o'clock in the afternoon. The governors of the six New Eng- land States were there. So was Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, organizer and trainer and commander of the division through the greater part of its fighting. The division was in- spected by these notables, while the massed bands of the division — some 250 pieces — blared forth its stirring music. Then came a ceremony New England had never seen before : the decorating of the colors of the division units with their battle streamers. These long bright ribbons, which were at- tached to the staffs of the regimental flags, were awarded by the War Department, and they were inscribed with the differ- ent battles in which each unit had taken part. The long line of colors moved forward to the generals, each color escorted by the commander of the regiment. It was a gorgeous spectacle. Before the final act of this impressive drama — the last review — 49 men received decorations for valor; 48 were mili- tary men and the 49th was a civilian, Michael Perkins of Boston, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for i64 FORGING THE SWORD his son, young "Micky" Perkins, the bravest of the brave, who gave his life in France. Of the military men who received Dis- tinguished Service Crosses and several varieties of foreign decorations. General Edwards awarded half and General Hale the other half. Then came the review, and more than 20,000 men swept past a cheering host of proud and happy loved ones in the last scricdy military maneuver of the 26th Division. On Thursday, April 24, seven long trains, bearing approxi- mately half the division, pulled out of Camp Devens bound for Boston. The division was to parade there on the 25th, to receive more plaudits from the home folks. Those who went on Thursday had that night in the city and after the parade immediately entrained for camp. The other half of the divi- sion went down on Friday morning, participated in the parade and returned to camp on Saturday. This was positively their last appearance, and on April 28 the demobilization of the division began. In two short days Camp Devens was turned from a busy city, seething with humanity, to what seemed in contrast an almost deserted village. For Devens broke all records in the country in discharging the 26th Division. The record for the number of men discharged by any camp in one day up to that time had been about4,ooo. On April 28, General McCain's discharging force, under the direction of Captain George C. Tait, camp personnel adjutant, discharged over 7,000 individual soldiers. These took in the men of the loist, 103d and 104th Infantry Regiments. On the 29th they broke their own record by sending out more than 9,000 men. It was a feat as yet unparalleled in the military history of this country. Chapter XX "APR£S la GUERRE" That was really the end of Camp Devens. More men con- tinued to come. They came by the thousands, among them a number of famous New England units: The 14th (Railway) Engineers, recruited from the ranks of New England railroad men, and a unit which, despite many handicaps, made a proud name for itself and for New England while on the other side. The 301st Engineers of the old 76th Division also came in as a unit, after having been a part of the Army of Occupation in Germany for some time. But these outfits were demobilized and the men discharged as quickly as possible, and the passing of the 26th Division really marked the end of Camp Devens as a center for the pub- lic interest. Parts of the 32d Division arrived some time after the 26th, but they consisted of Middle West National Guard units and they were sent out to their own cantonments for discharge after being deloused at Camp Devens. The wounded contin- ued to come as long as there were any left to be distributed, but soon these ceased to arrive, and finally the Base Hospital ceased to exist. Much of the great institution was closed up and what was kept open was used as a camp hospital only. As the number of men dwindled and fewer and fewer came in for discharge, the whole Depot Brigade area was closed as well as the area known as the 303d and 304th Infantry barracks. Then the 302d Infantry area was closed, leaving only the 36th Infantry (the old 301st Infantry area) occupying infantry bar- racks. The artillery area was used to house the demobiliza- tion group as long as there was any left, but as the greater portion of our men returned from across the water, and Camp 165 i66 FORGING THE SWORD Devens got fewer and fewer of them, the demobilization group was cut down until there were only about lOO men in it. Finally, as there was less and less for it to do, the demobiliza- tion group passed out of existence altogether, and with its passing Devens ceased to exist as a demobilization center. So, while Camp Devens sprang up almost over night as re- gards population, it went down gradually, until less than 2,000 soldiers were left there. New England found it hard to recon- cile the cantonment they had known during the war and the demobilization period with what they found there during the late summer and fall of 1919. From a vast area teeming with life and activity, the big camp seemed to sink into a sleepy, rather dreary looking expanse covered with weather-beaten buildings — and not much else. The thousands of buildings that housed the tens of thousands of men were not torn down. They were just emptied and closed. The equipment they contained was cared for by the salvage officers, and the water was drained from the pipes to prevent their utter destruction with the arrival of cold weather. It was stated that it was considered inadvisable to try and dispose of any of the buildings not in use, even had the War Department showed any disposition to do so, because it would be a losing proposition for the Government in that it would actually cost money to give the lumber away, no contractor being willing, apparently, to tear down the buildings and carry away the material for the value of the material itself. It was said to be too expensive a task, owing for one thing to the location of the camp. So the buildings just stayed there, and because there were not enough men stationed at Devens to do the work on top of their regular duties, civilian watchmen were hired to patrol the abandoned areas and act as guards against fires, etc. Hun- dreds of civilians had to be employed in other capacities also, in many cases the men who had been doing a particular job while in the service taking their discharges and then contin- FORGING THE SWORD 167 uing with the work as civilian employees at considerably more pay than the munificent army remuneration of $30 per. Es- pecially was this true of clerks and men who had served in the Quartermaster Corps. Then, too, the labor battalions, composed of colored lads from the South, went back to the land of sunshine, cotton and watermelons, and there were not enough men left to do their work. So, in the early fall of 19 19, a detachment of one hun- dred general prisoners was sent up from New York to finish out their terms at Devens and there to perform whatever labor was required of them. Many of these chaps — for the most part pretty good scouts who had simply been "out of luck" or rather wild during their service on the other side — attracted considerable attention from New England people on their arrival at Devens because of the disclosures that were then being made regarding the cruelties of Lieutenant "Hard-Boiled" Smith to American soldiers who came under his jurisdiction at Farm Number 2 near Paris. Some of these prisoners who came to Devens had felt the cruel and heavy hand of this petty tyrant, who, not content with abusing the bodies of American soldiers, sought to crush their spirits and if possible their souls. These lads who came to Devens told their stories to the Boston Globe and the Globe told them to New England. And at last even these lads went away, swallowed up by hungry cities and towns all over the country. They left at least one beautiful piece of work behind them, however. Everybody who served at Devens will remember how bare of grass and how dusty the main parade field was, especially when there was a wind blowing and drills were going on at the same time. Well, it isn't bare any more. It was General McCain's idea to transform that barren expanse of earth into a green, velvety carpet, and he succeeded in doing it. He had the field ploughed up and seeded, the prisoners doing most of the work, and before the cold weather descended on the camp the main i68 FORGING THE SWORD parade' field was covered with light green, tender grass. In the spring it was seeded again and rolled, so that summer found it a great, deep green carpet. The general also had the ponds which were scattered over the camp stocked with fish and the entire reservation stocked with birds. This was accomplished through the generous co-opera- tion of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Commission. Then every officer and man in the camp was made a "game warden, " and they proved efficient ones, too. General McCain was devoting his every effort to Devens and the men in it during the less strenuous times of peace just as he did during the busy days of war. He waged extensive recruit- ing campaigns throughout New England and brought hundreds of men into the Regular service. Because of his own efforts and the assistance and co-opera- tion of the Knights of Columbus, he had something to offer these men that few if any of the other camps in the country had. For in the big building near the camp post-office, which used to be the Camp Devens laundry, there was now the "Camp Devens Schools," an offspring of what would have been the Camp Devens Institute mentioned in a preceding chapter. Here men stationed at Devens could study almost any trade they chose, entirely without cost to themselves. Many a man took advan- tage of this opportunity to gain for himself, while serving in the army, something he could not have received in civilian life without considerable expense and double the amount of work. A number of New England fathers and mothers heard about this school, wrote to the general for particulars and later sent their sons to him for a year of army training, coupled with an equal amount of trade training that enabled them on their return to civilian life to jump into the industrial scrimmage several stages ahead of the lads who were content just to get a job on their release from war service and work at it. The general is a firm believer in universal training, but he insists that some such plan as this, where the young men of the < ^ X "W !Sl ST u ?^ ^ ta 0^ < 1^ X s J