OF 0
COMPANY
"C"
320 MACHINE GUN
BATTALION
ALL AMERICAN DIVISION (82nd)
AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY
FORCES IN FRANCE
APRIL 1918 - MAY 1919
DEDICATION
To the memory of our brave comrades
of Company "C" 320 Machine Gun
Battalion who gave their lives in defense
of our country, this little volume is affec¬
tionately dedicated.
THOS. W. WERT
June 1, 1920 Decatur, Ala.
HISTORY
of
COMPANY "C", 320th MACHINE GUN BATTALION
82nd DIVISION.
Chapter 1.
The history of Company "C", 320th Machine gun'
Battalion, 82nd Division, is written in the nature of the
author's memoirs. I kept a diary from the day we sailed
from New York until the day we returned to the same port,
and my experiences were so closely interlinked with most of
the members of the Company that the history is written in
this nature, rather than in the ordinary company histories,
which were so generally written in France,
It is fully realized that this booklet will be of
little interest to anyone except members of the Company
which I had the honor to command.
Pi/hen the First Officer's Training Camp closed at Fort
McPherson, in August, 1917, I was ordered to the Machine
Gun School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and completed my course
about the first of November, when I reported to Camp Gordon
and was assigned to the Depot Brigade. Later, Major Matson
of the British Army and I were made Divisional Machine Gun
Instructors.
In January I was detailed as an Instructor at the Third
Officer's Training Camp at Camp Gordon, and the subjects
assigned to me were Machine Guns, Automatic Rifles, Field
Service Regulations, Map Reading and one or two other
minor subjects. The school closed about April 5, 1918
and I was ordered back to the Depot Brigade, which would
not leave for France. Lieutenant-Colonel John R. Thomas
had commanded the school during most of the time but
2
had recently been made Adjutant cf the Division. Just a
few days before the school closed, he asked me if I would
like to go with the Division to France and I told him it
was rny greatest desire, so he arrainged to have me trans¬
ferred to the 82nd Division. A few days after our conver¬
sation I was ordered to report to the 320th Machince Gun
Battalion, commanded by' Major Orlando G. Palmer, who
assigned me to Company "C". Captain Jennings F. Gillem,
for whom I entertain the highest respect and deepest affec¬
tion, was transferred to another company and was later
promoted to be a major. I had never known men more loyal
to a captain than the members cf this Company were to
Captain Gillem, and I attribute most of the excellent
training of the members to Captain Gillem*s work.
Major Palmer commanded the Battalion until some¬
time in August, when he- was sent back to the States, and
was promoted upon his return. He was the best friend I
ever had in the American army, and I shall always recall
with deep gratitude and tender memory the many favors
shown me by him.
My experiences as Divisional Machine Gun Instructor
were anything but pleasant. Major Pike, who commanded
the 321st Machine Gun Battalion, refused to allow me to
do anything, or attempt even to give the class the benefit
of that which I had learned at Fort Sill, He was what we
termed a "last Pointer", and like many of them, assumed
the attitude, and seemed to believe, that the total sum of
all military knowledge was locked in their brains and no¬
thing could be taught them, especially by a civilian who
had just come into the army.
While Divisional Instructor I ordered made, at my
own expense, five hundred protractors, and out of my own
money I paid $165.00. Had the protractors not been taken
by the machine gunners the loss would have been mine. I
gave Major Pike more than his share, and not wishing to lose
money, sold the balance of them to the students in the train'
ing camp. Some weeks later, Major Pike called me over the
8
telephone and demanded that I secure those protractors
from the students and turn them over to him, I refused
to do so and he stated: "I will make a record of this and
take it up through the Commander". Later he did take the
matter up, but I was sustained, and the Major became very
bitter towards me, and manifested it, until he was killed
in September following. He had been promoted, and made
Divisional Machine Gun Officer, and in the St. Mihiel fight
performed one of the bravest acts of which I knew through¬
out the war, but it cost him his life. Our personal rela¬
tions were unpleasant but I cannot speak too highly of his
bravery and his courage as an American Soldier.
Those of us who saw the packing and unpacking, the
crating and uncrating, the reports to make out and the
hundreds of memoranda to answer, can in a measure real¬
ize the torment through which X passed in trying to get
ready to move to the base portj and had it not been for
Lieutenant Tom C. Carter, who was my second in command,
I believe that ray Company could never have gotten ready
to leave with the others of the Battalion, for my ex¬
perience along these lines had been limited-ray work be¬
fore this having been that of Instructor.
Just before leaving Camp Gordon we had the authority
to transfer all the undesirable men to the infantry, and
some forty or fifty men from this Company were transferred
and their places filled with other men-most of them com¬
ing from the Northwest, and they were all "as fine as silk"
Our Battalion left Camp Gordon on two trains, on April
14th. I was train commander of the second train and had
General Cronan on board. We reached Camp Upton about the
15th or 16th of April, and while there did nothing but
check, recheck, enter requisitions for everything and
get little or nothing, answer memoranda and read orders-but
after all, it is now a pleasant memory.
One afternoon at Upton, I was checking the Company
property for the last time. A runner came upstairs and
said: "Captain, there is a captain downstairs who wishes
4
to see you." I suggested that the captain come upstairs,
and upon seeing him, my impression was that he was a
Mexican, but I soon found he was a negro, and very angry.
He said: "Captain, one of your men refused to salute me,'
I told him that my Major had ordered a report by 7p. m.,
and I would see him later. He said? "When will you see me?"
I told him that it would be impossible to tell him, and would
like to know who the man was. He turned to Sergeant Sutton,
who was graduated from the Third Officer's Training Camp
and would soon be an officer, and said to him? "V3hat is
your name?" Sutton almost stood on his tiptoes and said?
"Wiley C. Sutton is my name," The Captain turned to me,
his manner being very offensive, and saids "Will you take
deciplinary action against this man?" and I replied? "I
won't tell you a damned thing!" so he turned to leave and
said: "I will report this to General Bell," and I said?
"Report it to whomsoever you damned please!" After he left
I took Sutton off, for I was exceedingly fond of him, and
said? "Sutton, you know the Army Regulations require that
a negro be saluted the same as a white man?" He grinned at
me and said: "Yes, Captain, I know; but I ain't going to
salute one!"
Sutton had held some high position in an Atlanta bank?
he was as brave a soldier as I ever saw, and while with
me in the lines the following July he received his promo¬
tion. Ha and I had dinner together, and he left for Toul
to purchase his clothes and to join the First Division.
When he reached Toul he sent me word that the first per¬
son he saw was this negro captain, but he crossed the
street to keep from meeting him. Later on Sutton was
killed in the Argonne fight, but we never knew it until
after the war was over.
The night of this trouble the Major called the four Cap¬
tains together and told us that we would leave during the
night for somewhere, he knew not himself, so the men all
went to sleep, and at twelve o'clock we had hot coffee and a
5
light lunch. At 2 a. m. we entrained for New York, where
we embarked on the H, M, S, S. Coronia about 10 a. m.
The next morning, at 8:02 o'clock, our ship began to
leave Fourteenth Street Ferry and were on our journey
across the Atlantic.
We heard later that General Bell assembled most of
the officers of our Division and recited my trouble with
the negro captain, and stated that if more trouble of this
kind occurred the entire division would be held, and not
allowed to go to France!
Chapter II
Here my diary begins.
The officers who commanded Company "C" when we
went aboard ship were: Thomas W. Wert, Decatur, Alabama,
captain} T, C. Carter, Tupelo, Mississippi, first lieu¬
tenant, second in command| Knox Camp, Talladega, Ala¬
bama, first lieutenant} Albert Depue, Knoxville, Tennes¬
see, second lieutenant! C. L. Hunt, Memphis, Tennessee,
second lieutenant} William L. Moore, Perdue Hill, Ala¬
bama, second lieutenant.
On April 24, 1918, we boarded the Coronia with one
hundred and fifty-six men and six officers. All were well,
and each carried one travel ration. We had little to eat
the night before and during the day, so all of us ate our
travel ration.
The next morning at 8:02, we began to move down
the river. No one was allowed on deck, but wa could peep
through the holes and doors and get a glimpse of the
Statue of Liberty, the buildings and other objects as we
were starting on our journey. We were moving about
twelve knots an hour, and shortly after we left the pier I
threw all my clothes from my locker under my bunk and
carried it to the lower, deck, where our Company was quar¬
tered,
From day to day we purchased hundreds of dollars
worth of canned goods, cakes and candies, which were sold
from our little canteen. No profit was allowed and the
6
goods were sold only to our members. This was a great ^
help, because the canteen on ship was to supply about
thousand men, and sometimes to get one cake of chocolate
men would be required to stand in line for several hours.
The members of the Company appreciated and frequently
spoke of this little canteen, for the food was very bad and
poorly cooked, and these goods added some to their pleasure.
The second day we began a machine gun school, and
I was made Instructor. It was held in the smoker, and while
we did our best, very little good was derived therefrom.
My diary shows that frequently the rabbits served to
the men had hair left upon their bodies, the fish were not
properly cleaned, and I felt so badly about it that I com¬
plained to the authorities higher but to no avail. The offi¬
cer's food was some better but there was no salt in anything,
except the water. It lacked seasoning, and I could not en¬
joy anything we had for thinking of the food served to our
men on the lower deck.
On this day I was made Officer of the Day on "F"
Deck which was far below the waterline, and it was sim¬
ply terrible down there. I had to report at 11 p. m., 3:30
a. m. and 5:30 a. m., to the First Officer of the Day, Major
Halliburton, commander of the 128th Machine Gun Battalion
and of the 35th Division.
On Saturday we started boat drill, and had one twice
a day—at 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. Except for the school and
the boat drill, nothing happened on the following days.
The food had not improved, and the sea had gotten rough,
and many men were sick. Our boat was rocking, but she
was riding the waves as well as any. There were 12 ships
in our convoy, and we understood about twenty thousand
soldiers. We had only one warship with us, the cruiser
"Leviathan", Two other large ships were with us the
"Baltic" and the "Adriatic", We did not know the names
of the others, except two small boats, the "Plum Leaf" and
the "Maple Leaf". On Monday the "Plum Leaf" dropped
7
out and disappeared from the convoy, and we were making
seventeen knots an hour. The sea remained rough until the
2d of May, and more than half the Company had gotten
fearfully sick. Some felt as though they would die, but
luck was with me and I never felt the least sickness. The
sea became somewhat calmer on this day, but on the 3rd it
became rough again and the wind blew; added to this we
were notified that we had gotten to the submarine zone,
A short while afterwards we were required to wear our life
belts at all times, even when we were sleeping.
During the day a member of the 128th Machine Gun
Battalion, while playing with a pistol, accidentally shot
his comrade, whe died next day.
The sea was now calm, very few men were sick and we
were given a fairly good supper, which made us all feel much
better. On this day the "Plum Leaf" joined us and we were
happy to know that we would reach shore sometime around
Tuesday.
On Sunday morning when we awoke we found nine
torpedo boat destroyers spotted all around our convoy.
They were frisky little things, but they made us feel won¬
derfully secure. We guessed we were off the coast of Ire¬
land and near shore, and we were so tired of the conditions
under which we had lived that we were exceedingly anxious
to leave the ship. The sea was beautiful, and calm as a
lake, and we spent most of our time guessing just where
we were and when we would reach shore. Corporal Cor¬
coran, afterwards a Sergeant, who was the Company Clerk,
was taken sick with diphtheria and carried to the ship hos¬
pital. Sergeant Cox, afterwards a Lieutenant, with the aid
of Broadbent, began preparing the different lists and doing
other office work. It was a great ordeal, as none of us had
much expereince along that line, and-it seemed that the
work expected was almost beyond the possibility of perfor¬
mance.
The first sight of land was on Monday morning, May
6th. It was slightly raining, and we were just off the*coast
8
of Ireland. About 11 a. m. the sky cleared, and Irelan
our starboard and the beautiful hills of Scotland on our
left, almost made us forget for the moment the terrible ri
which we were soon to finish. The sea was literally cov¬
ered with torpedo boat destroyers, for were ir the most
dangerous part of the voyage; yet all seemed indifferent to
the danger, the English officers laughed at our reck¬
lessness and indifference. My opinion is, that it was due
to our lack of conception of the real danger to which we
were exposed.
That afternoon, at 2:25 o'clock, I was on the second
deck and heard a dreadful explosion. We all thought that
our ship had been torpedoed, but soon found it to be a
depth bomb which had been dropped from one of des¬
troyers in an effort to hit a submarine in sight. We heard
later the submarine was destroyed} but this we do not
know for certain. Several of the bombs were fired, and all
the Americans rushed on deck except our Company, which
formed as it had been instructed to do during the boat
drill, I can see now Lieutenant Carter and Major Palmer
laughing and joking when they thought they saw the peri¬
scope of a submarine, and all the soldiers seemed to enjoy
the excitement very much.
At 10:17 p. m. our ship crossed the bar at Liverpool.
We were out of danger and started up the river. We were
happy to learn that next day we would leave the ship, but
did not know our destination. We had breakfast at 7t40
a. m., however, but did not debark until 2:30 p. m. It was
raining slightly, with a very heavy fog, and as we lined the
Company up at the dock one man in the ranks broke out
with the measles. Immediately we had to evacuate the
other seven of the squad, and they did not rejoin us until
sometime later in France,
We marched several miles through the edge of Liver¬
pool to a station called Walton-on-the-hill and entrained
there at 7 p. ra. In my compartment were Lieutenants
Carter, Depue and Moore. This made a jolly crowd and
9
we had a very pleasant trip until dark, which came about
10 o'clock. The scenery was beautiful, the houses were
quaint and the people somewhat interesting. All England
seemed to be a vast arsenal, as at every short distance
we would see munition factories, which employed mostly
girls.
At 4:30 a. m. we arrived at a little town called Rom-
sey. Here we detrained and marched about a mile to a
quarantine camp, where our entire Battalion was placed in
quarantine. Our trip had been dreadfully tiresome, but at
Leschester we were served with what was supposed to be
coffee, but which we learned later was chickory, and while
it was warm and made us feel some better, the taste was
awful, yet it was all they had. The English had our sym¬
pathy at this time, for they seemed almost starved. They
looked hungry, and their condition appeared pathetic.
At 10 a. m. we had breakfast with practically nothing
to eat, for there was little in England to be eaten, The
men had more than we did, yet they told me they came
away from the table hungry. On the 10th of May one of the
men developed the mumps, and all in that tent, which
housed twenty-one men were sent into close quarantine.
While here we saw nothing of Romsey, though it was
an interesting little place. The Romans used it as a rest
camp when they would land in England at a point which
is now Southampton, and would then march to Romsey and
there rest until they could prepare for further invasion.
The town is in Hampshire, and one of our states-New
Hampshire-is named for it.
We had just been issued our range finders, and I was
the only one in the Battalion familiar with this work
so we took them out for demonstration work, and felt
we received considerable benefit from this experience.
Saturday we drilled in the forenoon, and in the
afternoon played a game of ball with the 128th Machine
Gun Battalion-is my recollection. They won by a score of
nine to five.
10
Sunday was the usual rest day and we did nothing
but loaf. The next day. Major Palmer went to Winchester on
business, and as it rained we did not drill in trie
noon, but in the afternoon we drilled for a short whi s
out several miles from camp.
When Major Palmer returned on the 14th of May he
led the Battalion for a long hike over the beautiful roads
and hills of Hampshire county. We returned at 11;30 a. m.,
and that afternoon several of us went out for practice
with the range finders, and while out on the road we met
several pretty English girls, and when I looked around all
the officers were gone and some of the enlisted men. I
would give their names, but they are married, and some
wife may read this.
Next day we boarded the train at Romsey, the Battal¬
ion leaving in several sections. We left at 12:35 p. m. and
reached Southampton about 1 o'clock-it being, only a few
miles away. At 5:30 p. m. we embarked on a ship called
"Albroath", and at 7:13 p. m. started for La Havre. There
were eight hundred men on board. No bunks, except 14,
and there were 32 officers. Being a captain I was assigned
to one eighteen inches wide, but the room was so close that
I nearly suffocated, The men had nothing to eat but their
travel ration; however, the English had a place where they
served some tea and a small piece of cold meat. Some of
the officers ate this, but I preferred to do without.
Some American delegation was in Southampton this
afternoon, and we saw the Major in his red coat and pic¬
turesque hat. He was riding in a coach, with many atten-
danst, as the English at this time seemed wild about all
Americans; but later, I believe their feelings changed,
and I know our's reversed itself.
After we left port we learned our boat was named
"Peth", but I could never verify its correct name. At 5
a. m, we reached La Havre and pulled up alongside a large
English hospital, where we saw men wounded and sick be-
11
ing wheeled in chairs, and it gave us anything but
a happy impression before leaving the ship.
I learned that a man down in the ship could make
coffee, so, having a little extra money, I went down and
arranged to have some made for our Company; and as the
members had some of their rations left, we enjoyed a fair
breakfast, but we were the only soldiers on board who re¬
ceived anything after this terrible night. The men had
been so packed in the little -ship that many of them could
not even find room to lie down on the floor, so one can
imagine just their physical feeling.
About 7j30 a, m. we started our march through La
Havre, the little street urchins annoyed us considerably
begging for pennies, but our men gave them freely. All
along the route I saw the word posted everywhere which
seemed "Affichage Acher", being, in French, "Post No
Bills". Two days later, in talking to the father of a
friend of mine whom I had known in Decatur, Mr. Purnelle,
he asked me the road we took, so I told him we v/ent along
the Affichage Acher! My pronounciation was so poor that I
finally-had to write it out for him, and I have never seen
a man so amused over one's ignorance. He told his wife,
his daughter and his future son-in-law, and they laughed
till they were almost sick.
In the few hours we had been in France we liked the
French much better than the English,-and I note in my
diary that "the English officers do not appeal to me". We
had been taught by the English officers to salute every for¬
eign officer. This we did religiously, but the Englishmen,
in nearly all instances, refused to return the salute, and
finally we came to where we never saluted them.
We eventually reached .an English camp on the hill out
from La Havre. At 1:45 p. m. we started on a long hike
of about six miles to get our gas masks, and one can im¬
agine how exhausted we were. Finally, Scofield fainted
while at the gas station, and when we reached camp that -
12
night we were almost past going, but we had a fair supp©r
and went to bed. .
The next day was a red letter day for all captains,
had been charged with the thousands of dollars worth of
equipment, so we were ordered to turn in all surplus equip¬
ment, and our responsibility there ceased. We were pre¬
paring to go to the front, and my diary shows that I was
delighted at the thought, but I frankly admit that didn't
know what we were getting into.
We drew our helmets and were given permission to go
down to the city of La Havre.
Saturday we began packing to leave for the front, and
started our march for the station at 4:30 in the afternoon.
We entrained about six o»clock, and the next day at about
7 a.m., we reached Eu, detrained, and marched about one-
half mile, where we were served with breakfast, and after
breakfast started for a little tov/n called Sallenelle,
reaching there about the middle of the afternoon. On all of
these marches I could have ridden, either on a truck or
horseback, but I felt that I should know what the men were
going through, and either a lieutenant or my orderly,
Charles Feis, rode my horse, and I went with my men. Feis
was as loyal and fine a soldier as I ever knew, and many
of the pleasant memories of my service in the army are
associated with him. We were truly congenial, and I was
exceedingly fond of him.
Chapter III
That night the Germans made an air raid on Abbe¬
ville, which is about ten miles from us, and killed twenty
horses and eight men. Lieutenant Carter and I watched
the raid from our window. The bombs made our houses quiver,
and the shells exploding from the from the anti-aircraft
shot seemed like a thousand fire-flies a mile high in the
air. We could hear the motors of the planes very distinctly
and could see the searchlights playing in the air in every
13
direction. Lieutenant Carter and I were greatly excited,
for this was the nearest we had been to real war, .
We had an. idea that billets would be French residences,
but our ideas were soon dispelled upon reaching Sallenelle,
and our men found themselves in barns which must have
been several hundred years old and as filthy as they were
old. Most of the men*in our Company pitched their tents
under the apple trees, and while at night quite cool, th6y
had a very pleasant location. It rained practically none
while we were there, and before we left the trees began to
bloom and it was truly "apple time in Normandy". I slept
under a blanket every night the year I was in France.
We cleaned our equipment on Monday and were get¬
ting .ready for the training we were to have by the English,
and about this time our Vickers machine guns were issued
to us, and the next day we went out with four carts for
practice.. The Major complimented Company "C" very highly
upon its work, and in the afternoon we were allowed to go
out for drill separately, so o.ur Company went over to the
River Somme and all of us took a dandy swim, but later
an order was issued that we could not go bathing in this
river any more. We came back just in time for supper
which was at 4:45 that afternoon.
Our Company next day made such a fine showing at
battalion drill, in which the Major devised signals of
his own, that he selected us to give an exhibition demon¬
stration. When we began to give it, it seemed like every¬
thing went wrong, and a number of the officers who were
my. close friends placed themselves on the side lines and
watched our performance. It was a dead failure, and I be¬
came so angry that my language would have never been
proper for a preacher. My friends laughed until they were
sick, and it must have been very funny, for I can see Cap¬
tain Shivers now almost bending double and he guyed me
unmercifully. When I look back upon the situation, it is
one of the many amusing experiences I had in the service.
The night before, the Germans had made another air
14
raid about two or three miles from us and did a great dea
of damage. They hit an ammunition dump and caused a
great many fires near a little town called St. Valery. St.
Valery is the town William the Conqueror left when he
sailed to conquer England. During the afternoon many
refugees passed through our little town going from the bat¬
tle area. This kept up for over a monthj and old men and-
old women, and children who could scarcely walk, came
tottering along. Some of the old women who could not walk
were in carts pulled by dogs or goats, with the child¬
ren straggling beside them. The picture was indeed pa¬
thetic, and one we shall never forget.
The first airplane accident we saw happened just as we
were leaving the drill grounds on the bank of the Somme,
Two Frenchmen attempted to land and the plane turned
turtle, throwing them high in the air, but they landed on
their feet and immediately began smoking cigarettes.
During the afternoon an order cams through to detail
from our Battalion one captain, two lieutenants and several
enlisted men to go to the front} Captains Shivers and Hen-
ning were detailed to go to the school at Camiers, and Cap¬
tain Muldrow was offered the place of being the Ranking
Captain, but he stated that he would rather not go, and I
requested Major Palmer to give me the assignment. So soon
Friday, the 24th, the detail was sent over to a little town
called Pende, across the field about a mile, to a gas
school, to prepare for our- experience in the front lines,
and it developed later that we certainly needed the instruc¬
tion. We expected to leave on the following Sunday for Vil-
liers-Bocade, which is several miles north of Amiens. From
our Company were detailed Sergeant Geirgerman, Sergeant
Lowman (afterwards lieutenant), Charles Feis and myself.
Next morning we received the happy news that mail
from America would be there in the afternoon. This was
the first which had reached us since we left, and no one
will, ever know how happy we were to receive it.
That afternoon we had a ball game over at the English
15
rest camp, but I did not go, as we had considerable paper
work to do. While at our Company headquarters we saw
hundreds of soldiers going through the village to the front,
mostly French, and we, of course, were very much inter¬
ested in the movement. That afternoon orders came coun¬
termanding the order sending us to the front, and we were
very much disappointed.
While we were over at Pende for dinner, Sergeants
Geigerman and Lowman, and Feis and myself, went down
to the cafe and had a fairly good dinner; and for supper a
British Colonel asked several of the officers down with him.
The Paris Cure was also down with us. He had been a veteran
of the Franco-Prussian war and was intensely interested
in us Americans, asking many questions regarding our
training.
After a regular gas attack in trenches that night, in
which we were forced to wear our masks for ever an hour,
we came back to our own area, and the next day being Satur¬
day we had our morning drill. All day the bombardment
on the front could be plainly heard, and we thought a big
drive was on. That night at supper, two Canadian captains
dined with the officers of our Company, and stated that
they had to go back to the front, as they expected a big
drive; and while eating we could plainly hear the cannon
roar all the time. In fact we heard them constantly while
we were at Sallenelle, but at this particular time it was
very heavy.
One afternoon, about this time a rumor was spread
that Sergeant Sutton and I would be sent back to America
for a General Court Martial regarding the negro-saluting
incident. A few hours later a letter came, saying, by
its various endorsements, that "Captain Wert will instruct
Sergeant Sutton that the Army Regulations require a ne¬
gro saluted the same as a white man", and were it not for
the great trouble and expense of bringing witnesses back
to America that Captain Wert would be brought back and
subjected to a General Court Martial.
u
I returned the letter and said that the indorsement r0
garding Sergeant Sutton had been complied with, and that
the other was noted, and as soon as we got into the lines I
never heard any more of the matter.
Sutton and I had some good laughs over being dis¬
missed, but I will admit we were just a little nervous.
We passed our Sunday, as usual, doing nothing, and
the week opened with the usual drills on the Sorame. Two
of our lieutenants, Depue and Hunt, had gone several days
before this, together with twelve non-commissioned officers
and one orderly, for the machine gun school at Val De Roy.
The Saturday before this, Lieutenants Carter and Camp
left for an English school at Camiers, up on the English
Channel, to be gone thirty days, and this day Lieutenant
Moore, of our Company, was detailed as Battalion Trans¬
port Officer, and his loss to me was greatly felt, as he
had been most loyal and efficient in his work with our Com¬
pany.
This afternoon Colonel Charges told us that Fritz was
attacking at Soissons, and had gained considerably. It was
my idea that they would attack north of there, which they
did afterwards as I recollect.
That night the officers of "C" Company, Major Palm¬
er, Lieutenant Bachus, Lieutenant Rosenthal and Lieuten¬
ant Spencer, of the British Army, had dinner with us. We
had a jolly good time, and I look back upon these little
dinners and associations as among the brightest spots of
my experience in the array.
While Colonel Charges was lecturing to our Battalion
the next day we received notice that Lord Milner would in¬
spect our Battalion, and a little while later they did in¬
spect us. My diary'shows that they looked just like anyone
else; in fact, a little more so.
We had another air raid the night before, but ws had
not got used to them, and I don't believe we ever did.
On Wednesday, May 27th, General Pershing inspected
our Battalion. All the other captains had gone to school,
17
so he inspected our Company first, and as he reached me
he said: "Come with me, Captain". He walked very fast and
I followed him as best I could, answering the many ques¬
tions he would ask, and frequently asking questions before
I could answer the preceding ones. He stopped suddenly
and said, very abruptly: "Stand at attention, Captain". I
thought I was at attention, but he said :"Put your heels
together". So I saluted and said: "Yes, sir". This was
not all he said, but I remember the incident very plainly.
It was very amusing to me, as by this time I had got used
to being "called down" by my superior officers.
May 30th was^ a holiday, and I rode horseback over to
Cayeux. This little town is on the Atlantic coast, and is
quite a summer resort in peace time. Krause, 0, member
of our Company, died with meningitis. The night before
this we had another air raid, but I didn't get out of bed,
as I had become somewhat more accustomed to themj in fact,
we had an air raid nearly every night in and around town,
but we stood them better each time.
The next night Stokely, in his sleep, walked out of
the door on the second floor and was taken to the hospital
unconcious, but joined us about a month later. On this day
Corporal Corcoran came back to us, and I felt many years
younger because of his efficiency as a Company Clerk and
the aid he could give in the paper work. I recall very
pleasantly my intimate associations with him throughout
the remainder of our service, and one of the warmest spots
in my heart is for Corcoran.
We saw many planes over Abbeville during the morn¬
ing, with the anti-aircract shells exploding all around
them. They succeeded in dropping many bombs, and getting
away without being harmed. There was a big raid that night,
and the bombardment was terrible.
We had the usual drill the next morning, and in the
afternoon a Boche plane went over us for observation and
photographic work. Lieutenant James, the Battalion Supply
Officer, while riding a motorcycle, ran into a truok and had
18
his leg broken in two places. There was & big battle o
day, from what we could hear. The guns roared convmu- ^
ously, and all the detail was ready to go to the iron •
had the goods packed, but the order was rescinded, an we
were doomed to disappointment.
I went over to Divison Headquarters, about eight
miles, the next day and got a number of horses. While
there I met Lieutenant Hugh Comer, who came over the next
night, it being Sunday, to have supper with us. We enjoyed
his visit very much, and I afterwards saw him frequently
while we were in France.
There was nothing of importance the next week, ex¬
cept the usual drills, and our Company had firing and pis¬
tol practice. General CrGnan came over to have Tumolo,
our barber, cut his hair, and Tumolo was delighted with
the honor. General Cronan was a very good officer, but not
popular with either men or officers.
We received reports the next day that the German
drive had slackened, and except the usual drills and air
raids nothing of importance happened until Friday, June 7,
at 5:30 a.m., when our party left for the front. We reached
Woignarne about 7:40 a.m., boarded the lorries and start¬
ed for the front through Abbeville. We reached Brigade
Headquarters of the 47th British Division late in the after¬
noon, and just as we arrived a big shall hit about fifty
yards from us. The detail from "C" went to Company "D" of
the English Machine Gun Battalion, with Captain Gordon in
command.
Saturday was a beautiful day, yet there was not one
second that some big gun was not roaring. Captain Gor¬
don and I inspected many machine gun emplacements, and
after we came back Colonel Portal and I walked over much
of the ground held by the English. We were near Albert,
Liviville, Millincourt and Heraincourtj these little villa¬
ges were almost totally destroyed. We were right at Albert
and the German line went through the town and was always
being shelled by the English. I saw a crater near Henjin-
19
court which I estimated to be feet deep and thirty
feet across; this was the largest one I ever saw.
The night before this, the troops next to us made a
raid and captured two German prisoners, who had in their
possession maps showing all the English positions, and it
was presumed that some deserters had given them this in¬
formation. We were enjoying our stay at this time, even
though the shelling on each side went on continously. I
slept in the dug-out this night, but the next night, as
there was no room, I was not given a place in the dug-out. I
have often thought that if the English officers had visited
our lines the treatment would have been quite different.
That day I helped calculate the firing data for a mach-
ing gun barrage, it was my first experience in firing a
barrage in actual warfare, and we selected a point which we
thought was the German Battalion Headquarters. The fir¬
ing commenced at 10 p.m and countinued for about an hour,
but we had hardly begun our barrage when the Germans
began to throw their seventy-sevens all around us. We
came back to headquarters about 10 p.m., and a short time
after that Fritz started a real show, his shells fell all
around us-gas shells, sneeze gas and the deadly poison;
phosgene. The bombardment kept up all night, and we sat
out in it without any protection other than a thin piece
of tin above our heads. The English officers finally went
down into the dug-out about 2:30 Sunday morning. X went
down to 'the signal station, near the dug-out, and stayed
there for some time.
The next morning we learned that a number in the
Company to which we were attached had been killed; in
fact, one man was killed right where we had stood in firing
our barrage. One of our party, Captain Jewitt Williams,
was killed that night. He was one of the cleanest, nicest
men I ever knew.
As I sat writing in my diary I noticed that not a sec¬
ond would pass without the big guns roaring, and the big
shells sounded like freight trains in the air. I slept in the
20
dug-out, about forty feet deep, dug largely through c , *e^
It was fearfully cold and I suffered dreadfully, bu ^hat
the protection. As we were going-over to the dug-ou
night we passed an apple orchard where many dead were
partly buried, and the odor from the bodies was awfu
They had been killed in the recent German drive*
On Monday Captain Gordon and I came back to our o
position, as the General of the Division was due there
at 9j30. He looked to be fifty-five years old, or even older
yet I learned that he was only forty-eight.
On the next day, June 11th, as we were sitting on the
side of the Albert-Amiens road, at 3:15, about two miles
from Albert, waiting for our lorries to take us back to Sal-
lenelle, the shells were passing over our heads in great
numbers. We were very close to the little village which
was occupied by the Australians. I cannot remember its
name but it is the place where the famous Count Richt-
hofen was brought down in his plane. He was the com¬
mander of the "Flying Circus", and the best aviator the
Germans had. The night before had been terrific. The
Germans tried themselves, but the Australians attacked
and won their ground, as was always the case, and during
the morning the Germans made another awful bombardment
of the Australian lines, but I never heard the result.
We reached Sallenelle at 3:30 a.m. on the 12th of
June. I was in command of the Battalion until 3:00 p.m.
and while we were out on the Sorame river, praticising, Sir
Douglas Haig came to our position, with his staff, and in¬
spected us.. Just as he came up, Major Palmer came out
and took charge of the Battalion. The Field Marshal was
very democratic, and stood around talking to us as if he
had been a minor officer and his attitude was so in contrast
with that of General Pershing as to be very noticeable to
all.
The next day we began turning .in our Vickers equip¬
ment, preparatory to leaving on the 15th for the American
Sector near Toul. I took dinner with the Battalion head~
21
quarters officers, and we had a fine and happy little chat
among ourselves.
We left Sunday, nCM and "D" Companies leaving at 8
a.m., after "A" and "B" Companies had gone. On the road
we saw 415 German prisoners, recently captured. I was
in command of "C" and "D" Companies and the second train.
We reached Eu about 1:30 p. m,, and entrained with our
equipment, horses and carts and everything, at 3;30 p. m.
At every short distance, some French railroad officer
would come into my compartment and either take off some
of the batch of papers I had been given, or punch holes
in them. I didn't know why he was doing it, but presumed
it was all right. My diary shows that we went south of
Paris, through Melun, Sens, Joiny, La Roche, Ervy, Sorcy
and Wassy.
We reached the Toul Sector about 6:30 a. m. We were
at Sorcy at about 5:00 a. m., and there received orders to
detrain at Moran. This was a little town where our famous
aviator, Major Luffberry, jumped from his plane, which had
been .set on fire by the Gernans, and was killed. I saw the
spot where he fell. It is quite near a bridge across the Mo¬
selle river at Moran. We began to detrain at 7:30 a.m., and
as there were other trains behind us, we unloaded quickly.
We had had nothing warm scarcely for three days so I
ordered the kitchens of Companies "C" and "D" to pro¬
ceed to the front of the column, so we could stop on the
road to the camp and prepare breakfast. This blocked the
road, which was a side road, for not exceeding thirty sec¬
onds, and just then a Major of the Second Army Corps
came up and was exceedingly abusive to me and one of my
lieutenants because of our blocking the road. Some of these
staff majors had nothing to do but find fault, and I pre¬
sume he was one of them.
22
Chapter IV
We reached Bois de l'Eveque at 11 a.m.* a11^
day we drilled on the drill grounds, as we did on Thurs ay,
and because of some misunderstanding on Thursday Major
Palmer grew very angry with me, and told me "where to
get off". It was the only time he ever lost his temper with
me, and I have sometimes thought I probably provoked it.
He was one of the best and finest men I ever knew, always
fair and square and I recall my associations with him as
the most gratifying while I was in the army. I wish for him
nothing but happiness and success throughout his whole life.
On Friday, the 21st of June, the French started a ma¬
chine gun school about a thousand yards from our camp.
The arrangements were not good, and we had practically
nothing to eat until we were allowed to return to our own
Company for food.
The next day the calls were announced: first at 5:00
a.m., breakfast at 5:30} firing at 6:15. Vfs returned at 10:
30} lunch at 11} firing at 1:45 p.m., and returned at 5:00
p.m., Sundays not excepted. We were studying the Hotch-
kiss machine gun, which we afterwards used in all the
fights.
On the following Wednesday, Major Palmer was re¬
quested to send in the name of a captain to be promoted to
a major. He sent my name in, but it was blocked in some
way at Division Headquarters. Later, I was recommended
by Major Palmer to be sent to the Staff College, but that
was likewise blocked. I always knew who did it, but it
made little difference to me. Today we received our first
mail since we left Sallenelle, and it made us very happy.
The next night many planes came over, and they had
a big fight just above our quarters. *Some dropped a few
bcmbs near us about 11 o'clock that night.
The school for the enlisted men ended on Monday, but
the officers had ten days longer. We were beginning to likQ
23
the French, but had become very tired of their school. A
part of our Division had just left for the trenches, and we
were asked to send in the names of several to go into the
trenches as observers. I requested to go, and would have
been sent along with several of our men, but the order was
canceled.
On the 3rd of July General Burham, our Division Com¬
mander, and General Passagar of the French Army, who
was called "the hero of Verdun", came over to our school,
and "C" and "A" Companies supported the left in a prob¬
lem which we fired in the morning. In the afternoon we
fired an indirect fire problem, shooting over hills etc,
with a range at twenty-three hundred and forty meters--about
twenty-seven hundred yards. The wind was blowing twelve
miles an hour, and our guns had to shift considerably,
but we succeeded in hitting the target.
On our national holiday, July the Forth, Lieutenant
Carter and I went to Nancy on horseback. We left at 9:45
a.m. and returned at 6 p.m.. Many houses in Nancy had
been wrecked by the bombing, and the city of formerly one
hundred and twenty-five thousand had dwindled to about
thirty thousand people. It was a beautiful city and for a
long time a resort where the Americans had much pleasure.
The French displayed the American flag everywhere, and
during the afternoon gave a big concert on the square.
The next day we fired an indirect fire problem, but
were not so successful in hitting the target.
On July 6th everything it seemed went wrong. I
became very angry and reduced the First Sergeant, Stable
Sergeant, Acting Supply Sergeant, Horseshoer and one or two
othersj but while they didn't know it, I held their places
for them, and later on all were restored to their former
positions.
As we were firing on the Moselle river a few days later
one of the guns we were working jammed, Culberson, Mor-
rissy and I were attempting to reduced the jam, with our
eyes right at the gun, when a cartridge in the barrel
24
became so hot that it exploded, cutting Culberson ^er^gSy
in the face; but aside from a few powder burns on orr
and myself, we were not harmed. Later the firing^was r)QT;)UQ
announced as through, and Lieutenant Exley, Lie^uenan
and I started across the field and up the hill, throug
some woods, and Company "A", not seeing us, began fir-^
ing. We ran and fell behind some trees, narrowly esc^P^s
death, as the bullets cut the ground and the trees rig J
us. It was one of the closest places I was in whil© I was
in the army.
At the close of the school on July 12th Companies
"C" and "A" had a preliminary test in the forenoon. Com¬
pany "C" won, of course. The contest of the entire school
came off in the afternoon. After the contest was over, the
French Lieutenant in command announced on the hill that
"C" Company had won three of the four prizes. It seemed
to cause considerable disappointment among the officers of
another battalion, and I saw a high officer holding a con¬
ference with the other French officers, and immediately they
recalculated the data and would only giv6 our Company on9
prize of the four; however, wa were given second place on
the other three. Lieutenant Grosse, of the French army,
came to me and said: "Captain, they have robbed you",
and was very excited in talking to me. Captain Muldrow,
of another company, afterwards came to me and told me
Lieutenant Grosse had requested that he be relieved from
the school and allowed to go back to the trenches, as he
could not approve of such dirty work; but it made little
difference to us, for we felt that we had rightly won the
three prizes.
All day Saturday we decorated for July 14th, which is
the French Fourth of July. We finished late, and about
6 p.m. an order came commanding us to the front at 9;00
p.m. Many of the men were on passes, but we finally got
them to camp before we started for the front.
25
Chapter V
We reached Minorville at 2 a.m. Sunday. It was just
a few miles from the trenches. Our men were billeted at
4}45 and I went to sleep, but arose at 8:30. We v/ere not¬
ified that we would go in the front lines the next morning,
and I went over as far as Noviant, trying to get into the
lines, but Colonel McArthur would not issue me a pass.
The next morning I went to the front and saw Captain Par¬
ker (who was afterwards a Major), whom I was to relieve
on July 16th. On my way over there I v/ent through Bernecourt
and saw many dead horses on the roadj they had been killed
the night before, as well as some French soldiers. Ser¬
geant Shaw (Mess Sergeant), two cooks and I came up by
the woods in the afternoon. Just as we passed there, a
sentry came out and told us that a mam had just been
killed there, .so it is needless to say that we moved our
steps quite quickly. We saw the bloodstains, but the man
had been taken away. The guns which I commanded were
scattered over a front of about five miles, and in all I had
twenty-three machine guns and three revolving cannon.
The next day I was ordered to remove all of them, ex¬
cept the cannon, for some reason we never knew, but we
thought some officer just had to issue an order.
Saturday we enjoyed the usual trench life, and Sunday
I note "we cannot tell Sunday from any other day".
Captain Parker's nom de guerre was "the Man with
the Itch". Colonel McArthur's was "the Big Mogul". The
Lieutenant-Colonel's was "the Little Mogul", mine was
"the Big Captain". When we referred to any of those offi¬
cers over the telephone, those were the names we would
give themf and my station I named "Tupelo", after Lieu¬
tenant Carter's town. Later, I named stations "Ferris"
and "Elliott" after two friends from my home town.
Monday we saw a German aviator put two of our bal¬
loons down right near us. One was near Bernecourt and
26
one was at Minorville. I was out inspecting the guns ^
Battery No. 6, Lieutenant Hunt's platoon, when
down. The next day the Germans were shelling us Pre
heavily, but nothing of importance occurred. _
On Wednesday Major Palmer and Lieutenant-Colone
Pike, together with some French captains came out uO
change a gun position which I had protested against w en
it was placed there. The Germans had discovered it, an
shelled it all the time. After considerable trouble, we a
a change of about fifty yards, and that night, a few minutes
after it was changed and the men had gone away, a shell
exploded right in the position and destroyed everything.
That night we also built other emplacements and recon¬
structed an old dug-out. I was out inspecting at midnight,
but it took nearly all the balance of the night to finish
the work. Very few shells fell that day, but the following,
which was Friday, we had considerable shelling.
We did nothing on Sunday, but the Germans shelled us
considerably. The trench life here was not so bad, and we
enjoyed it.
On Monday, at 10t45 p.m., orders came to me that
an attack was expecVted by the Germans, At 10t52 I had run¬
ners on the way to each platoon, and in a short time
received replies that everything was in readiness, but the
Germans did not attack. "D" Company began relieving us
this night at 9 p.m., but the relief was not finished until
2i00 a.m., so we walked back to Minorville, expecting a long
rest. We reached there at daylight, and after I had slept a
few hours I received the joyful news that I was to report
back to the trenches to select gun positions for a raid
which would soon come off, by a regiment in our Division, So
we went back to the front lines, starting about dark, and
had to walk each night up there, which was nearly six
miles and back. We would dig until 2iOO a.m., and then start
on our journey back to the rest area. X was very sick the
next day, but we were nearly ready for the show. That night
we expected Fritz to raid us, and he did considerable
27
firing but didn't com© over. We were in the trenches all
of the night of September 30th, and on August 2nd we went
up, prepared for the big show. Our guns were laid, our
firing data calculated, we were prepared to fire the left
side of the box barrage. "A" Company would fire the right
side and the artillery the rear. I was given the news that
the big show zero hour would begin at 3:55 a.m. the next
day, and about two hours before the raid our watches were
all synchronized. At 3:55 a.m.,on Sunday, August 4th, the
barrage started almost instantly over all our front. We
did great firing and I was proud of the conduct of our men.
The Germans laid out what is known as a rolling or creeping
barrage, especially on "C" Company, The green rocket went
up at 4:45 which permitted us to stop firing. We didn't
wish to carry so much ammunition back so we fired twenty
minutes longer.
I rushed down into a dug-out to help repair some guns
which were out of commission, and while I was there
Lieutenant Camp came down and said the German barrage
was within forty-five feet of us, I rushed up and ordered
all of the men off the guns and down into the dug-out, but I
had great trouble in getting them away, for it seemed great
sport to them. The last shells the Germans fired hit within
e'ight feet of our positions, and many pieces of shrapnel fell
pretty close to us, and would have killed a number of our
men had we not gotten them off the guns.
Not a man on the American side was killed in the raid
but in bringing our wounded back, two stretcher-bearers
blocked the trench for a few minutes, and seventeen of the
infantry were killed there by two shells. Colonel McArthur
told me a month later that while on a visit to another offi¬
cer well in the rear he saw the German barrage coming and
he said to the other officer: "Captain Wert's Company
is wiped out!" but we were lucky again.
Everything was peaceful and quiet the next day, and on
Tuesday we had inspection. As one of the platoons was
being called to attention, Private Stokely accidentally shot
28
* j> T ^ ^ t
himself in the leg. It was purely accidental* for
and I am happy to say he recovered. +his
The 89th Division relieved our Division about
time, and during the releif the Germans put over a gas
tack, which lasted from about 11:00 p.m. to about 7: •
The 89th Division had never been in the lines before,
it lost over a thousand men, more than 100 being kill©
Our Division lost about 100, with, I think, 4 deaths.
Chapter VI
We left for Menil-la-Tour on foot about 7:45 p.m. It
was raining, but we reached there at 9:15. We parked our
carts, and our lieutenants, who had ridden on before, had
us hot cocoa at the Y, M, C. A. Our men ate, and as we
had a wonderful quartette, sang until 9:50, when we start¬
ed through Toul for Montrot. While we were in the black
dark, Westcott let a mule and a machine gun cart get away
from him, and we came near having a stampede. The mule
was finally recovered and we proceeded on our journey.
We came through Toul about 1:00 a.m., and Sergeant Cary,
sent ahead as a guide, conducted us from there to Montrot,
which we reached about 3:00 a.m. We were very nicely
situated at this place and enjoyed it, for we had been under
terrific strain in the trenches.
Nothing happened} the next day I we to Toul to
purchase some clothes for the men. They were almost naked,
and as we could get no other garments, I purchased some
cloth out of my personal funds to have their clothes patched.
Friday, August 9th, we had a showdown inspection
The weather was cloudy, and we heard the report that our
Division would go to Italy; but we could get all sorts of
reports as to what we were going to do, and they were very
seldom correct.
On Saturday the men were all taken to Toul for a bath.
29
They were forced to bathe in the Moselle river, but even
that helped seme. Our hearts were made light by the good
news from the English front, and I .frequently rod9 over to
Colombey les Baines to get the Paris edition of the New
York Herald, the Chicago Tribune and the London Mail.
On the 14th we had target practice, but our guns were
not working well, as many parts were defective and broken.
On the 15th Sergeants Hitchens, Trout and I came up
as far as Liverdune as a reconnoitering party preparing to
take over the Schwele sector, which a part of the Second
Division was holding. We left Montrot at 9:30 a. m. and
arrived at Liverdune at 4 p. m. on horseback, and next day
we went to the trenches. The weather was hot and disagree¬
able, but the sector was fine and we enjoyed it.
Next day the Company started for the trenches, reach¬
ing Pompey at 10:30, and prepared for dinner. Colonel
Pike saw us on the side of the road and ordered us up into
some woods, and gave us a good dressing down for being
on the road in daylight. I told him that I was there under
order of Colonel McArthur. However he made us stay there till
dark. While we were there, thousands of troops proceeded both
ways along the road, and I felt that the order was unfair,
but Colonel Pike was always "on my neck".
We left at dark and went through Millery and just to
the right of Longemont. As we were eating our supper at
Pompey some little French children, all carrying gas masks
as they were near the front, and who seemed almost starv¬
ed, came around us and began eating the scraps, so we gave
them some of our own food and then they acted like little
children do at Christmas time.
We reached our sector about 1:00 a.m., tired and worn
out, but were delighted with our situation and practically
did nothing while holding this position but eat and sleep
and have a good time. Sergeant Corcoran, First Sergeant
Conklin, Hussey and myself slept in a small shanty, about
eight feet wide and ten feet long.
On the 20th we received an order that we must "stand
30
to" from 3 o'ckock to 5 each morning, which we did a
time we were in this sector. We had to get up a
guns, ready for an attack.
On August 23rd we received orders to go to another
sector on the front to reconnoiter for positions we should
hold. We were expecting an attack at these points,
our orders were changed to begin "standing to" at twelve
o'clock midnight. We completed the relief for the new posi¬
tion, which was held by the Machine Gun Company of the
326th Infantry, at Ij30 a. m. The runner was started back
at 2:10 a. m., and we had to "stand to"j didn't go to sleep.
Everything was working fine", and this was a wonderful
sector. I was sleeping in a little wooden shanty, with Ser¬
geants Corcoran, Conklin and Hussey, and the men did
likewise. As we were eating supper that night in the woods
a German plane was over us but it did no damage.
The next day I went to the top of Exon hill, inspect¬
ing the third platoon. We could easily look into Metz with
the naked eye, and in the fields we could see the Germans
harvesting wheat and plowing. Many of the Germans dressed
as women were soldiers who knew we would not likely fire
on them. We picked blackberries and frequently had blackberry
pie for dinner, which added to our good times.
The next day we learned that the place we had left th8
night before had been shelled by the Germans, and several
were killed and wounded. The Bosches fired their machine
guns a great deal and shelled the woods we were in consid¬
erably. Much of the shrapnel fell on my little shanty.
On Friday morning Adjutant Lieutenant Bachus came
up to inspect our new positions. I went with him to each
one, and it consumed an entire day. He took dinner with
Lieutenant McGowan, my transport officer who was with me
at Company Headquarters, and myself, and we enjoyed having
him.
The next day Captain Muldrow came up. He was
commanding the Battalion and spent the entire day trying to
locate a position for two machine guns to fire an indirect
SI
problem on a Bosche position. Frequently we would re¬
ceive orders to fire on a certain position, but not to use
the regular places, and it was always amusing to see how an
order would come to select these places within one or two
hours, when the man himself would sometimes take a day, a,nd
then go back without discovering one.
My diary shows on September 1st, orders, orders, or¬
ders, orders-and they almost ran me crazy. It was rather
easy for those in the rear to issue orders, for few of them
had ever had the experience of carrying them outj but I
believe that every member of my Company, as well as my¬
self, made an honest effort to do all we could to carry them
out as fast as we received them.
The next day I spent my entire time inspecting our
gun positions, and on Tuesday, Septerber 3rd, "D" Com¬
pany relieved us. The relief was completed at 2:20 a. m.
I was ordered to remain with the new Company for twen¬
ty-four hours after the relief, but in the afternoon General
Cronan was at our position and told me I could go back.
He offered me a seat in his car, but I told him I had rather
ride my horse, so I mounted "Old Jerry" and reached our
Company quarters at Ville au Val at 7 p.m. My experi¬
ence in this position was as pleasant as any I ever spent,
and I believe the men all enjoyed this service. Though few
of us had any protection from the shell-fire, we had gotten
used to taking that as our lot; and with the good things
to eat, nothing to do, and wonderful association with the
fine set of men in our Company, I look on it as one of the
pleasant memories of my service in France.
Chapter VII
The Company was de-lousad at the railhead on Thurs¬
day.
It rained all day Friday and we were carried through
the gas chamber, and given more instruction regarding
32
gas. My diary showst "I believe a big drive is comics
off."
On Saturday I went over to Nancy, Kane and
went also, to purchase some musical instruments, w 1
we carried until we got into the Argonne Forest, where w
lost them all. We boarded a street car at Fouard, near
Porapey,. and rode into Nancy. That night the lightning was
terrible and reminded us somewhat of the shelling.
Monday I was President of a special Court Martial.
We tried several men, among them Brosseau, of our Com¬
pany, I did not serve during his trial. It was his fourth
offense of being A. W. 0. L., and after he was convicted I
went to the Commander of the Battalion and asked him to
hold up proceedings. I saw Brosseau in person and ap¬
pealed to him to brace up and be a man. The poor fellow
promised me that he would, and I believe he really intended
to do so, but a few days later he went to Pompey on a leave
which had been given him, became intoxicated, deserted, and
we have never heard from him since, A clipping was sent to
me saying that he died in France, but I don't believe it.
On the 10th, orders came to proceed to the front to
calculate fire data at various points. Each gun had seven
different targets, and there were twelve guns. One of our
platoons was given Captain Shivers to go up and prepare
emplacements the day before, I worked until 2 a. m, on the
data, and started a runner back at that hour. We were in
the woods near Exon hill the next night, and there is no
place on earth which would be as completely dark as these
woods. At 4t30 that afternoon enough orders came to keep
forty officers busy. Of the twelve emplacements already
prepared, Captain Shivers was given eight by Captain Mul-
drow. They were great friends. We had about 120 men;
Captain Shivers had about 165; yet we were required to
prepare eight positions and he four. None of our men had .
any shelter; practically all his men had shelter; and while
we were out in the rain that night, digging, ;an order came
that we should go under cover at twelve o'clock at night
33
We went down into the woods to an old hole with a few logs
over it, and at one o'clock a terrific barrage started. The
St. Mihiel drive had begun.
About 2*45 a, m, Lieutenant Black came up and told
us that this was MD" day, and "H" hour would be at five
o'clock. In other words, the attack would start at 5 a, m.,
and all of our guns must be in position, ready to fire at
that time. I remained in the woods till the last man left,
which was just at daylight. Some of our light artillery was
just back of us, and many German shells came right at us, as
I came out along the road, starting up the hill which we
were holding. The sight was beautiful. The sky was
lighted up for forty miles, ammunition dumps exploding,
and shells bursting high in the air, like rocketsj many
towns burning, and the cannon roaring everywhere. When
I reached to hill, the Bosche began shelling our position,
and I thought for a while we were going up. None of us
were hurt, as the trenches protected us. I could see Epley
being gassed by the artillery; it was on the extreme right
of this drive; it pivoted on our Division, and Epley was
some four miles to the right of us. We were shelled all
the next day by the H, E.'s, and two of our men were seri¬
ously hurt. A piece of shrapnel went through Private
Chapman's shoulder, and another piece went through the
helmet of Sergeant Amidon, sticking in his head; and On
Saturday, Privates Duston and McArliffe were badly gas¬
sed. We lost several men, as I remember, from being
gassed, but the only casualties suffered in our Battalion
in the drive were from "C" Company. Our own artillery
shelled us one day-their range being too low and striking
the hill we were holding, I reported it, but they, said they
didn't do it, and that ended it. That afternoon I saw a
German plane bring down an Allied plane, and as the red-
nosed German plane came back over us, we saw him drop
a note into his own lines-we presumed to establish his re¬
cord, and then went on to the rear.
An amusing incident took place in the afternoon when
84
I received a memorandum from Brigade Headquarters,
coming through Battalion Headquarters, lecturing uf, °nthjLS
military courtesy. To think of being in a battle li 0 ^ »
sending runners four or five miles through shell-*ire* .
lecture us on saluting, was one of the many ridiculous
some officers had of duty.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Muldrow called me up
and said :"How would you like to come back?" and I tol
him, "Delighted", so we began to move just about dark,
which was nearly ten o'clock. Just after we left, the place
in the wood where our kitchen had been located was ter¬
rifically gassed and shelled; and the next day, when we
sent some men up after supplies we had left, they were
forced to wear their masks, and they told us the place was
literally torn to pieces. The place where Captain Ham,
of. the Infantry, and I slept had been bombed by German
airplanes. A few minutes after we left we heard the bombs
and next day we learned that Ham and several others W6re
killed*
Chapter VIII
At 4:15 Sunday afternoon we received an order to as¬
semble the Company and be ready to move forward at a
moment's notice, as an attack by the Germans was expected
at Epley. I thought the General had his "wind up", and
it afterwards developed that he had.
At 2 a. m, Monday, the 16th, the officers were required
to get up and dress, while the men were allowed to sleep;
but there was nothing to all this scare. Our guns were in¬
spected and found in fine condition, and we read the news¬
papers stating that Austria desired to discuss terms of
peace, which made us-feel many years younger.
The next day lieutenant—Colonel Pike died of wounds
received at the front. I cannot speak too highly 0f Colonel
Pike's bravery. He was not required to go to the position
he had gone to, and few higher officers ever reached there.
35
yet he was out among the Infantry, and when it went to
pieces, reorganized it, together with some of his machine
gunners» when he received the wound from which he never re¬
covered*
On the 19th we received orders to move from Ville au
Val to the woods near Pompey. My diary shows: "Prom there
we are evidently going to have a pretty good scrap."
It developed that it was the Argonne fight, and it was some
fight, believe me! My diary shows: "Some think Italy,
but I think the Verdun sector." We left there at 7:30 p. m,
and had an awful night. General Cronan halted us on the
road, as he said too many troops were moving now, All of
us were soaked when we reached the woods, but not a com¬
plaint was heard from the men. They never whimpered,
but I always kicked for them; in fact, an officer said the
General told him that: "Captain Wert kicked too much,"
and I replied that: "I never registered a complaint, except
for my men."
The next day our transport left for the Verdun sector,
and Captain Muldrow ordered all officers to turn in their
bedding rolls, which our officers didj but he later notified
the other Companies that they could keep their's, and failed
to tell us, so we were forced to sleep several nights without
a thing to cover us. I have never in my life suffered more
from the cold, I was forced to gather leaves and grass to
make a-bed. My overcoat somewhat protected me, but my suffer¬
ings were intense.
We came down from the woods on the morning of
Tuesday, the 24th, and sat on the Mabache-Pompey road
until 3:50 p. m. Hundreds of lorries passed us, preparing,
it seemed, to take several Divisions to the new sector. The
lorries carried eighteen men, and that night as we reached
Bar-le-Duc I was in front of a lorry with a crazy French
chauffer, and he and a drunken American truck driver ran
together. Our lorry was severely damaged and we narrowly
escaped death. Later we were given another lorry, and we re¬
joined our Battalion.
36
Chapter IX
At daylight we reached Rarecourt, which is on the right
edge of the Argonne forest. Our kitchens had not reached
us, but the 35th Division was in the woods, ana several of
us went over to their artillery and they kindly gave us a
little coffee and a sandwich. I believe it was the most de¬
lightful food I have ever tasted, as we were nearly starved.
The barrage for the Argonne forest drive started at
11 o'clock p. m« Wednesday, the 25th of September, and
was going all night. We were in reserve and thought
we would go into the fight the next night} but the next day
we received an order moving us about five hundred yards
from a dry place to a swamp. The reason for this we
never could understand, and most of us were in water one
or two inches deep. It was about as horrible a situation
as one could possibly imagine. Fortunately I had a cot, and
it kept me out of the water.
On Saturday I went to the front line, just north of
Varenns, This is the little town where Louis XVI was
captured while trying to escape from France, but was taken
back to Paris and beheaded. It was formerly far within the
German lines.
All Saturday and Sunday it rained, and the conditions
were beyond description, and we received orders to be ready
to move at five minutes notice. We had not moved at 1:00
a. m. Monday, so the order was canceled, and that day we
moved down to some barracks formerly held by the French,
We could hear the Germans were retreating, but of course
we knew nothing officially.
On the first of October the sky cleared, the sun dried
our clothes and very few shells were going over us. We
received lots of mail from home, and it made us quite hap¬
py. Another big barrage opened up this night, and next
day we could hear all sorts of rumors, none of which could
be verified. We read in the papers, however, that Bulgaria
87
had surrendered, and of course that made us feel that the
war could not last much longer,
My diary shows that we received four orders the fol¬
lowing day to move, and finally we left, going through
Clemont and les Islettes, reaching camp near Varenns about
5 p. m., and were still in the forest.
We worked all day Sunday cleaning our equipment
and in the afternoon we went over many dugouts which the
Germans had built and then abandoned during their retreat.
In the afternoon we heard of the several Companies of the
77th Division which had been cut off, and were notified that
we would go into the fight to relieve them. This turned out
to be the famous Lost Battalion, in which a Major had his
Battalion cut off, and was promoted for getting it lost.
Funny things happened in the army!
Sergeant Carey was sent out on a reconnoitering party
up near the front. All were in readiness to move, and at
3 a. m. we received orders to pitch our tents but to be ready
to move at 6:30 a. m. We had breakfast at 6 a. m. and
were on the alert all day. The attack came off, and many
of our Division were killed. It was raining, and early be¬
came very dark, so at 6:45 we were all in bedj but at 8:20
I received orders for the Company to be ready to move
within thirty minutes, We finally left at three o'clock the
next morning. We stood in the rain all that time, and
when we did move we went about five miles towards the
front. As we moved up the next day, the 77th Division
was coming out at a cross-roads. Captain Muldrow, com*
manding the Battalion, ordered me to halt, and he moved
to the rear. Just then General Cronan came up in his car
and said: "Captain, who is commanding this Battalion!"
I told him, "Captain Muldrow." He said with an oath that
I ought to have known better than be halted there, and U3ed
very abusing language towards me, I saluted him and
said "Yes Sir", and moved on. Our Company went through
the 77th Division like a football team running over -their
opponents. I have afterwards thought, in civil life, whether
S3
the General would use the same remarks to me-he may
do it, and I would salute him, but 1 guarantee that my
fingers would not be extended when I did the saluting.
Another big drive was on, and that night we slept till
1 a. m., when the Germans began shelling the woods near
us, but none of us were hurt.
Next morning Lieutenant Carter and I went into the
front lines and advanced with the Infantry. Major Watkins
of the Third Battalion 326th Infantry was right with his
men, and we were in that part of the forest which is cover¬
ed by low bushes. Machine gun bullets were passing us
all the time, but happily none struck us. Major Watkins
requested that I bring my Company up to support him,
and we reached a point that afternoon where we were to
plant our kitchen, but could find no desirable spot, owing
to the number of German dead. We buried two German soldiers
who had literally been torn to pieces, giving them a nice
burial and placing a little stick at the head of each
gravej on these we placed their caps, so that they would be
known as German soldiers.
Just as we were unpacking, General Cronan called me
and 'said for me to move my Company on up to the apple
orchard near Cornay. Many American soldiers were dead
in this orchard, and as we unpacked I received an order to
send one platoon to the 326th Machine Gun Company, Lieu¬
tenant Gregory was detailed, and in a few minutes I re¬
ceived an order from Muldrow to fire a barrage on a point
which, had we fired, we should have killed many of our own
soldiers. I told Captain Muldrow that we could not afford
to fire without knowing the situation, and finally I went to
Colonel McArthur, who agreed that we should not fire.
Later we were sent on down near Marcq, and were ordered
to fire a barrage on the hill in the rear of St. Juvin. Next
morning, the Infantry, the 326th Machine Gun Company,
and our first platoon tried to cross the river Aire, and we
met one of the bloodiest repulses during the entire war. I
understand the official report shows that eighty per cent
39
were either killed or wounded. Our Company suffered but
few casualties. Lieutenant Tate, a friend of mine, was
killed. Captain Jeffers a close friend of mine was seri¬
ously wounded and thought dying. The conduct of the
officers and men in this attack was as gallant, in my opi¬
nion, as that of any soldiers in the history of American war
fare. Of course we did not take St, Juvin, but had to re¬
treat, or at least to draw back to our former front lines.
The next day we read President Wilson's note to Ger¬
many, and we thought it was fine. Many of my friends had
been killed, but so far cur Company had been very lucky,
yet I resented being sent into the lines first, as Captain
Muldrow had told me, the day before, that he would not
send "C" Company in the lines first any more, as we, with
Company "A", had always gone into the lines first; but
he seemed to have forgotten his promise, and we had to
bear the brunt of this attack.
As we were eating supper that night we could not
stand for the shrapnel, and Colwell, who was sitting about
five feet from me, was hit with a piece in the breast, but
not seriously hurt. The Germans had shelled my little
position until we were almost crazy, and we had just heard
the news that four captains, nine lieutenants and hundreds
of men had been killed a short time before in the 325th
Infantry, on our immediate right.
We were just south of Marcq, and I went down into
the town to reconnoiter, and while down there, near the
chateau, with some of my men, the Germans seemed to have
discovered us, and shelled us for thirty minutes. We got
behing a stone wall and escaped unhurt. They used gas,
shrapnel and high explosives, but none of us were hurt.
As I was writing in my diary, on October 13th, I not¬
ed Oakley Davis, a runner, was sleeping with me, and that
we were in a little hole in the ground, near Marcq. We
had spent a horrible night, and the day was dreadful.
About 4i30 p. m. Fritz started the worst barrage I had ever
heard. One shell, a 210, which is about eight inches india-
40
meter, fell just a few feet from Walsh and me as we were
on the road. The shell had a delayed action fuse, so it
penetrated the ground before it exploded, and we thought
the rocks and dirt falling upon us would beat us to death, as
we fell to the ground to escape the shrapnel. The hole it
tore in the road was almost as big as a wagon. As I sat,
writing in my diary, shells were hitting all around us-and
big ones too. I never thought we could get out alive.
As I started"across the field to Battalion Headquarters,
Captain Muldrow had been ordered to move his headquar¬
ters up into the line, and he had gotten behind a high hill}
so, going to headquarters, I staggered across the field, fall-
into the shell holes, almost like a drunken man, to es¬
cape the bursting shells as I could hear them coming.
When I reached headquarters and asked Lieutenant Bach-
us, the Adjutant, what was on, he said? "You are the Sen¬
ior Captain, and will have to take charge of the Battalion,"
I told him that Captain Muldrow was on the field somewheres
and about this time a runner came in, and said Lieutenant
Carter had just been killed and Goldshaw badly wounded.
Goldshaw was killed a few days later. Lieutenant Carter
was altogether the most popular officer we had} one of the
finest men, one of the cleanest characters, and -easily the
most efficient officer in the Battalion. His loss was deeply
felt, Goldshaw was killed later, and though I did not know
him well, he was an excellent soldier and liked by all.
As I started out of the headquarters, Muldrow came
rushing in and I asked him what was the trouble. He said
he did not know} that I would have to remain up therej
that he was going back to see the Colonel, I told him that
I didn't expect there was any other place that I could go to|
andabout that time he began to "beat it" to the rear.
That afternoon we heard that Germany had accepted
President Wilson's note, and we were happy} but it deve¬
loped later that it was untrue. My diary shows as follows!
"No pen or word can ever describe the horribleness of all
this!"
41
That night, as we started to eat our supper, a German
barrage broke it up. Of course, we were very much ex¬
cited and prepared for the attack, and of course we did
not eat anything. The shelling went on all night, and an¬
other heavy barrage began at 4a. m,, lasting until 9:40 a,
m. My diary shows| "The Dutch are giving us the devil!"
Our Company was firing a barrage over back of St. Juvin,
and stopped at 10:30 a. m., when we went back to the little
apple orchard, about a mile,- where the kitchen and trans¬
port had been. The cooks had us some flap-jacks. I be¬
lieve our kitchen force was the finest in the army. We
"mopped up" with about two flap-jacks each and a little
syrup, and moved on through Cornay, which is a little
town where the Division had. a whole Company captured.
We went from Cornay to Fleville, and along the road
we saw many deadj in this instance, mostly Germans.
Chapter X
I received an order for the Company to go into Ranee
Valley, so I left the Company behind a hill and Lieutenant
Dever and I went into the valley, but it was being so heav¬
ily shelled and so filled with gas that I saw we could not
hold it, and I went back and put our Company about five
hundred yards to the rear. As I walked in this little
valley I saw General Cronan, and he spoke very pleasantly
to us, and said: "I am back here, Captain, out of the
shells. The old man is too old to expose himself." He gave
me permission to put the Company in this place. We had
no supper, but we dug little holes and lay down to
sleep.
At 9:40 Captain Muldrow ordered us into Ranee val¬
ley- the reason why, to this day, I cannot guess. In the
hope of giving the men a little more sleep, I sent word to
Captain Muldrow by a runner that it was impossible for us
to remain in this valley. Another Company had been or¬
dered to go into this valley, but they refused to carry out
42
the order Muldrow sent. He sent me an order, directing
me to proceed immediately to the valley, and I obeyed it.
At 2 a. m. Captain Muldrow sent me an order to
report to a Battalion in the 325th Infantry to go over
the top at 5:00 a. m. He said he thought the Battalion,
was near Sommerance, so I immediately sent a runner to
Sommerance, about two miles away. He came back and repor¬
ted that the Battalion had never been there I I then
sent two runners to Sommerance, -and sent Lieutenant
Dever up near St. Juvin, while I went back over the road
to Fleville, which was being heavily shelled, to see Mul¬
drow personally. He became very angry, and I told him it was
his place to tell me where the Battalion wasj that I could
not go all over northern France to locate it. As I started
away he ran after me and said: "A man in the street says
it is in Ravin aux Pierres, and says that you can go out on
the streets and find out where they are!" I said to him:
"Why in the hell didn't you go on the streets and get me the
information at first?" and he flung back: "You report
immediately up this road." I said: "Do you wish me to
go, with my whole Company, under this terrific shelling?"
and he said: "Yes, and I order you immediately to go!"
When we started, two of my lieutenants protested, but I told
them we were going, if it killed every man in the Company.
Welsh and I led the column, and just as the column
had passed a culvert I heard a 210 coming and immedi¬
ately leaped over behind it. It exploded right near Burk-
hart, practically tearing off both his legs and he died with¬
in two or three minutes. The mule he held was killed, the
machine gun and cart were torn to pieces, and the men
were lying out on the road in numbers. They were sent to
the hospital, but I never heard whether or not any others
of them died. This order by Muldrow will be held against
him by me as long.as I live.
Lieutenant Dever, by this time had located Major Haw¬
kins, who said that the Battalion we desired to reach was in
Ravin aux Pierresj and when I reported to Major Hawkins
43
he said? "You pass over this hill, and you must expect to
lose twelve men in passing over it," Why he mentioned
twelve I have never been able to learn. So I scattered the
men out, and we passed over the hill without losing a man. I
placed the Company back of a wood, in an effort to locate
Ravin aux Pierres. Davis and I went far beyond the Ameri¬
can lines, and came near walking into the German lines.
Shells were falling around us everywhere, and we saw some
Germans running into a little wood. I took them to be
French, but in a few minutes I saw the bullets were
from the enemy. We then jumped into machine gun holes
which the Germans had abandoned. We remained there some
time in the rain, then Davis went to the left and loca¬
ted Captain Castle, with the Battalion to which we were
supposed to report. It was then afternoon, and when I
reached Castle he said that if we had advanced a few feet
further we would have been killed or captured, as the Ger¬
mans had held Ravin aux Pierres for two days.
Just then a telephone message came for Castle to at¬
tack, so he turned to Captain Varnadore and me and said
we had to attack. Varnadore became very profane, and I
admit I used a little language which it would not do to
publish. I told the Captain that I did not even have my
Company in position! but he said that we were to attack in
forty minutes, so Davis and I ran back and placed the
Company in position. Lieutenant Gregory, to whom I am
indebted for great aid, practically took charge of the data,
and, as the attack came off, we fired a barrage over back of
Rayin aux Pierres. Our Infantry was repulsed, and as the
Germans came over we lowered our guns and repulsed their
attack, it*was for this incident that I received a citation.
Many of our men were cited for bravery during the war, I
do nat rl&all all of them, but I do recall the names of Frick
the cook, Sergeant Kifer and First Sergeant Carey,
: I dug a little hole in the ground, and we stayed there
in this place, in the rain and cold, with nothing to shel¬
ter us» during Wednesday and Thursday, and on Friday we
44
moved down to our left into a little ravine, about six feet
deep. They were called "ravines" over there. The shell¬
ing all the time was simply beyond all human imagination,
and almost beyond human endurance.
Chapter XI
On the 19th I slept with Lieutenant Depue, and my
diary shows that we had about sixty men left free for duty.
Corbett and Cummings had been killed the day before.
They were fine fellows and brave soldiers, and we missed
them after they were gone. We were lucky that our whole
Company was not wiped out at this place.
On the 20th of October I sent Lieutenant Dever with
the third platoon to assist in an attack on the left. When
they got on the hill north of St, Juvin, Major Jones,
seeing that the attack could not succeed, ordered the men to
withdraw. It was cold and raining, and we were all blue.
My diary shows? "My Company is being shot to pieces,
and scon I will not have enough for a platoon,"
About dark I received a note from our Battalion Com¬
mander, Captain Shivers (Captain Muldrow had gone to
the hospital, sick), saying? "The 82nd Division will attack
no more." Lieutenant Depue and I went to sleep, and, to
be honest, we were delighted with the note? but about 3:00
a. ra. an order came to prepare for an attack at 5 a, m., and
I had to report to Major Jones. I went a mile or two across
the fields, with shells falling everywhere. The moon was
shining, and frequently a machine gun would open up on
the runner and me, but we escaped. We prepared for the
attack, but it did not come off. It fell to Lieutenant Greg¬
ory's lot to report with the first platoon to attack, and he
waited on the road until 7:30, but the Infantry didn*t come
up. Later, he received an order to go into a little strip of
wood on our right, and when he and his men were going
over they were caught between the American and German
45
barrages. The shells exploded so close to them that the
smoke obscured the men from each other. None were
killed, but several were wounded. My diary shows: "Nine¬
ty percent of our men are sick, and both Lieutenant Depue
and I are quite sick." Lieutenant Hunt had gone to the
hospital two days before, sick: and my diary shows:
"This is the most horrible life a person can imagine, but
maybe it will be over soon." The mail came today, and I
received ten letters which made me quite happy.
We received orders that night that "DH Company
would relieve us about dark. It had been commanded by
Lieutenants Walter and Alex. G-uerry. I cannot 3peak too
highly of the bravery and efficiency of these two young
men. They won the admiration and esteem of everyone
in the Battalion. We were to go back to Fleville for forty-
eight hours. Just as "D" Company was beginning to re¬
lieve us, and all the men had packed, we received orders
to halt the relief and unpack. The Germans started as
mean a shelling of our position as I ever saw. We clung
to the side of the ravine like bats to a wall, and while
none were killed there were several wounded. We finally got
out about 11 p. m. and went back to Fleville for a very crude
bath. In the afternoon we received an order to start to the
front again to relieve Captain Williams.
We relieved him on a little hill about two miles north
of Fleville, and were shelled continuously in this position.
The next morning there was big attack on our left, and
we supported it from 5 to 6 a. m.—the 78th Division was
attacking. The Bosche in this sector at this time had air
supremacy, and as I was writing in my diary I saw two of
our balloons put down by German planes.
The next day, from 2 to 5 a. m., Fritz shelled us
dreadfully with high explosives and gas, and we had
to wear masks so long that many of the men went to sleep
in them. The day, however, was beautiful, but at 10:30
a, m. Fritz was putting his shells as fast as he could into
St. Juvin.
46
Chapter XII
On Saturdayf the 26th of October, I received orders to
proceed to Fleville about dark and prepare to go back of
Grand Pre at daylight to reconnoiter for twelve gun posi¬
tions. Lieutenant Gregory was left in command of the Company,
and Oakley Davis and I started for Fleville.
When we reached there the cooks seemed delighted to
see us and made us some flap-jacks| so after we ate supper
we sat around where they slept until about ten or eleven
o'clock, then I lay down on a cot for a little rest, it being
the first time I had done so for many weeks. In a short
time a German six-inch shell hit within about four feet of
my head. It wounded me in the head, the shoulder and
the feet. Sergeants Corcoran, Feis and Bosque were also
wounded. Nearly all of my equipment was destroyed or
lost. The Doctor insisted that I go to the hospital, but so
many had gone to the hospital, feigning sickness, that I
was unwilling to have any question raised as to my service
in the lines, and I remained.
The next morning, Lieutenant Megown and I recon-
noitered for positions, and it took us all day. I was prac¬
tically unconscious of anything I was doing and saying,
and Lieutenant Megown frequently laughed at the foolish
things I did and said. That night I slept in Fleville, and
the next morning assumed command of my Company. However,
I was of little use as an officer, because of my physical
condition.
Next day I walked back to Captain Shivers' position,
where he was commanding the Battalion, and upon seeing
me he insisted that I go to the hospital. He called a Doctor,
who was a Major, and the Doctor also insisted that I go;
but I declined for the above reason. He asked if I had
taken the anti-toxin treatment. I told him I had not,
and with an oath he said it was an outrage, and ordered it
to be given to me down at the first aid station.
47
The Division was ordered relieved by the 80th Divi¬
sion the next night, which was October 30th,.but it fell to
our luck to be ordered back to Grand Pre for the last big
barrage of the war. We were fairly well situation, however,
over there, and few shells fell among us.
I was still quite sick and still could not wear a shoe
on my foot because of my wound. That morning while out
inspecting my guns, Captain Shivers came over, and, see¬
ing my condition, insited that I go back; but as we only
had a few days, I told him I would stick it out. I shall al¬
ways recall with great pleasure, his kindness and consider¬
ation for me while he commanded our Battalion.
The big barrage was started on Friday, the 1st of No¬
vember, at 3:30 a. m., and lasted two hours. It was the
finest I ever heard, and we were under it all,
On the 2nd of November it was dark and gloomy, but
some of the men found an old bath-room the Germans had
used, and got some clothes and a fairly good bath, and it
made them feel pretty good.
We received an order that we should move back the
next day, I told my men to begin to move at one minute
after 12, and we started at that time, on the 3rd of Novem¬
ber, from the line back to a little camp near Florent, NEVER
AGAIN TO HEAR THE SHELLS OF WAR. We reached there, after
marching all day, about 4:30 p. m. The roads were blocked
and the confusicn was awful, as new Divisions were coming
in and the Germans were retreating rapidly.
On Monday, the 4th, our men bathed and cleaned up
but I was too sick to even answer any of the calls. Captain
Ferguson, of the Medical Corps, came to see me and said:
"Captain, I don't give a damn whether you go to the hos¬
pital or not, but if ycu remain here you are going to break,
either mentally or physically," and it frightened me so that
I told him to send for the ambulance. Mike Klopich and I
were loaded into it, and that night, about dark, we reached
Fleury. Aside from my gunshot wounds, the Doctor said I had
"psychoneurosis" (a name itself enough to kill any ordinary
soldier). It means "shell-shock", I think.
48
The supper we had at the hospital consisted of cold
canned tomatoes, baked beans, cold bread and cold coffee.
A Major examined me on the 6th and said there was noth¬
ing wrong with me except my heart} and he added that I
would be ordered to Southern France immediately. X was
carried on a litter to the train next day, and we started
for the hospital, which was at Pouges les Eaux. My stay
there is only interesting to me.
After I left, the Division started moving towards
Prauthory, and, as I was not with my Company, I know
very little of their march, except that the men told me it
was fearfully tiresome to them. They told of many instances
of General Duncan's unreasonable expectations of them
after they had been in the lines the length of tiime that
they had. He was a very unpopular General, and I was
told by Captain , in the presence of another
Captain, that he and General Cronan were so unpopular in
the 325th Infantry, that any officer who ever mentioned
the name of either was required to buy a bottle of cham¬
pagne! I never saw General Duncan but once, and my personal
knowledge of him amounts to practically nothing.
Our Company was finally billeted at Hivies les Fosses,
and when I reached there Captain Bachus was in charge of
it. I did nothing for several days because of my physical
condition.
On the 18th of December the Division went out man¬
euvering. It was cold and rainy, and all the higher offi¬
cers rode in closed cars, and most of them returned and
slept in their billets that night. The Doctor refused to let
me go, and I was delighted with the suggestion. The French
people thought that to expose the men was an outrage
and I felt the same way, but I did not say anything, of
course.
On Tuesday the 19th, my letter requesting that I be
allowed to return to the States, was sent back disapproved.
On the 21st of December, Captain Shivers assumed
command of the Battalion.
49
On the 22nd of December, it rained nearly all day, and
we had nothing but officer's meetings, with Captain Muld-
row delivering his usual talks.
Christmas came in raining and gloomy. We were all
longing for the time when we would start for America.
We had a little extra money and we spent one hundred and
fifty dollars for our dinner. It was fine, and I believe
all the men enjoyed it.
While we were in this little town there was the usual
life around all towns where we were billeted—drills, clean¬
ing equipment and answering roll calls. It rained practi¬
cally every day we were there, and was very gloomy and dis¬
agreeable most of the time.
On January 2nd I again sent in my resignation, but
Major Boyd, who was acting Adjutant, refused even to al¬
low it to be sent to the General, and proceeded to lecture
me, although many had been allowed to resign for reasons
not nearly so good as mine. Think of an Adjutant in
Headquarters lecturing a soldier of the line, on duty! Can
you beat it? On the same day, Captain Kelly, who had
been v/ith General Duncan in the 77th Division, went
down to eat dinner with him, and he had a slight cough. .
Without his knowledge, two doctors appeared on the scene
the next day to examine him, and he was ordered
back to the States! I made these several efforts to
resign because of the desperate condition of my father's
health and my own physical conditionj and as the war was
over, I saw no need of my remaining. All my efforts were
fruitless. Finally, I enlisted the aid of two Senators, an
ex-Congressman and a prominent citizen of Tennesseej
and when ray request came through General Headquarters
they became so interested in me that I received a telephone
message asking my wishes in the matter. As we were
to leave soon, I declined at the moment to resign, and re¬
turned about a week later with the Battalion.
Yet some people say there is no politics in the army!
While we were there, many of us received leave and
50
traveled over France. On the 24th of January, Major
Holloway came to me and said that I could be assigned to
the Judge Advocate's Department and probably be promoted
to be a Major, so I went down to see Major Zimmerman the
next day and seriously thought of going with him. That
night, when I returned, many of the men requested me
not to leave, and after supper I asked Meade, who worked
in the officer's mess, to please hold my overcoat for me,
and in doing so he whispered to me: "Captain, I'll do it if
you will promise not to leave the Company." So I thought
if my men liked me that much, I would rather return with
them than to receive any promotion or honors.
Next day the snow was about three inches deep, and
Lieutenant Depue had a fox and hound chase with the men.
He was very popular with all of them and they enjoyed the
game very much*
Chapter XIII
About this time we had an order to write the histories
of our Companies, and I wrote the history of this Company
as directed. Later, when I was gone on a leave, Captain
(then Major) Muldrow changed my history and left out
the reference to our being ordered up the road when Burk-
hart was killed, and then signed my name to the history.
The Battalion history was written, and no reference was
made to the runners of "C" Company, and it stated that
"A" Company had the honor of going over the top first,
notwithstanding, Captain Muldrow had repeatedly told me
and others that "C" Company was the first over the top
and always first in the lines. I grew angry, and addressed
one letter to the General and one to the D. M. G. 0, Of
course, they had to go through military channels and
Major Muldrow. The following Sunday the Major seemed
very much excited, and asked me to come to his room.
He told me that the histories were not correct and were un¬
fair to "C" Company, and if I would allow them to be re-
51
written, he would do it, and asked that I withdraw my
letters to the General and Major Holloway, I always did
dislike a rat, but when I catch one in a cage he has my
sympathy, I now felt this way towards Muldrow, and
consented to the change, telling him he could tear up the
letters which I had sent.
We were frequently without money, and about this
time all our officers and men seemed to be without a cent,
so I went over to see Lieutenant Hugh Comer and borrowed
a thousand francs from him, but by dark I had only one
hundred left, I have loaned thousands of francs to enlisted
men while I was in the army, and out of it all I lost only
four dollars.
On February 1st, the Division had a horse show, and
our water cart, which had been painted and decorated by
Corporal Kaeser, was really beautiful. It received compli¬
ments from all the high officers, but because our horses
were small, and did not compare with the artillery, we did
not win the prize.
On the 14th of February General Somerrall, our Corps
Commander, reviewed the 320th, the 319th and the 321st
Machine Gun Battalions and the 307th Signal Battalion,
The snow was still on the ground, and it was very disagree¬
able and cold about this time.
On the 16th of February we turned over our guns and
carts and mules to the 78th Division. We were preparing
to leave for the base port, and the 78th would leave after
us. A party of officers and men received orders to report
back to the Argonne Forest on the 17th for historical pur¬
poses—whatever they were. We were almost frozen on the
trip, but it was really interesting to go over the old ground
where we had fought, and where so many had died. How¬
ever it was now "a banquet hall deserted". When we left
at 4:40 a. m. Captain Shivers had breakfast with me, and
Bosquet, Meade and Bordreau had a wonderful break¬
fast I cannot speak too highly of their loyalty to us,
and I frequenbdy r0call the delightful things they prepared
52
for us while they were in the officer's mess. Meade espec¬
ially deserves praise, for while he and Bosquet were in the
officer's mess he came to me and said that he wanted to
go into the lines, and not be working outside of the machine
gunner's line} so in the St. Mihiel fight and in the Argonne
fight he lay in the mud-holes with usj and one time, when
he was too sick even to walk, he refused to be evacuated.
Such men are seldom found} they were a great credit to the.
American forces in France.
We reached the Argonne forest about 6 p. m. The
next day, Sunday, we went over all the positions we had
held. They were near Grand Pre, Marcq and St. Juvin.
We also road through Buzancy. All of this sector is in
the neighborhood of Sedan. At li25 p. m. on Monday we
started for Verdun. We stayed there some little time and
then went to Bar le Due, reaching there at night.
Next day we reached our Company area about 4jS0 p. m.
Lincoln's birthday being a holiday, nothing happened
of importance that day. The v/eather was mean, and plen¬
ty of rain fell until the 21st of February, when we had our
last review and inspection on the hill. Our Company, as
usual showed up fine.
The next day was Washington's birthday, and a holi¬
day.
Chapter XIV
Sunday, the 23rd, we received definite orders to prepare
to leave for the base port on the 27th. The trip would take
sixty hours, so we entrained on the 27th, about 2 a. m., at
Vaux sus Aubigny, and left there about 5 a. m. On our
way to the new area we went through Dijon, St. Jean,
Civres, Allery, Chalon sur Savne, Chagnay, St. Leger,
Montchanis, Le Crensot (the Essen of France), Nevers,
Issondon, Argenton sur Curse, St. Sebastin, Limozes, and
reached Langorian March 1st. It was raining and very
disagreeable when we got there, but our billets and our
53
quarters were so much better than anything we had had
while in France that we were delighted with the new situa¬
tion.
On Monday night we had a dance» and the members
of the Company seemed to have a good time. Many of the
French girls came in their working clothes, cotton aprons,
and some in wooden shoes. Of course, it was very unlike
our American dances.
Captain Shivers received his promotion on the 4th
and his command of the Battalion met with the approval of
all the officers and men. He was popular, efficient, and
fair in all his dealings with the various companies. Major
Muldrow was sent to "Division Headquarters as Assistant
Adjutant,
We had the usual routine of camp life until about the
8th, when an Inspector came out and inspected only "C"
Company. We received the most flattering report I have
ever-known in the army. A few days later we received the
report that "C" Company was the only Company which
left the last area at Riviers in perfect conditionj and it
was always with pleasure that I told the members of our
Company of these flattering reports. I was acting at this
time as Assistant Judge Advocate of the Division, and later
was made Trial Judge Advocate of the Division, and in the
discharge of my duties I tried many men for various viola¬
tions of the Articles of War, Of course I remained in com¬
mand of "C" Company while performing this additional
duty.
On the 26th we had memorial exercises, and on the
28th we had a baseball game at Castres. On the Satur¬
day following we had an inspection and review, in a down¬
pour of rain. "Toot Sweet", the Divisional show, played
for us this night, and it was fine. It compared favorably
with some professional shows,-for we had some wonderful
talent in the Division.
About March 30th an order came out allowing the
men to visit any part of France except Paris, so I devised
54
a scheme of getting passes for the men to points beyond
Paris, and they could get twenty-four hours stay, going
and coming through Paris, and in this way every man in
our Company who desired to visit Paris received permission,
I dare say no other Company in the A. E. F. can show this
record.
April 2nd was beautiful. On the 3rd, the 325th In¬
fantry show played for us, and we had movies twice a week
on the outside, on a screen. On the 5th we had a practice
review, and were very much delighted that day to know
that the 78th Division advanced party had come down to
look over our area, for we knew we were soon to move.
On Sunday the 6th, we had a ball game between the
Machine Gun Battalions and the Infantry Regiment, and
almost had a riot. Finally we won, 5 to 4.
On Sunday I tried four soldiers for killing a Sergeant,
but the evidence showed only one to be guilty, and he was
convicted and given ten years in the penitentiary.
On the 8th we had another review, and on the 9th
Major Shivers went on a leave, and I assumed command
of the Battalion. I gave all the passes requested, and many
of the men and officers availed themselves of the opportu¬
nity to go over France.
Next day I went to Division Headquarters to a meet¬
ing of the commanding officers, and this was the first and
only time I ever saw General Duncan. Very few members
of our Company ever saw the General, and those who did,
judging from their free expressions, do not care to see him
again.
The 11th was mean and gloomy. On the 12th I tried
Captain >- for embezzlement. I suggested to th6 Court
that as he had not gotten the money, it could convict
him and reprimand him him by changing the Article of War
under which he was being triedj•otherwise he would have
been dismissed. But the Court thought'it seemed that he
had intended getting it, so they convicted him and reprim¬
anded him.
55
On the 14th we hiked in the morning, and in the af¬
ternoon it rained. The next day I went to Bordeaux and
selected a cane for Captain Louis Marchand, the French
Machine Gun Captain, who had been our instructor through¬
out the war. It was a beautiful cane, and he made a very
touching speech in accepting it.
While I was in Bordeaux I saw the "Chicago" pre¬
paring to sail with American troops, and while I envied
them, I felt that we also would soon be on our way to Amer¬
ica and home.
On Sunday, as I was going up the street, Major Shi¬
vers said: "The Chief of Staff has just called us up and ask¬
ed if we would be ready to move the next day." And I told
him that "C" Company would be ready to move within an
hour. So on the following morning we arose at 5a, ra,,
had breakfast, cleaned the camp, and as Major Shivers went
on to Bordeaux, I commanded the Battalion on the march.
We left Langorian at 8:20 a. m. and reached the first camp
at 2:30 p. m. The distance was about twenty miles, and
was both dusty and hot. It was a beautiful and we didn't
mind the trip, for we were starting towards home.
We went to the second camp the next afternoon, and
went through the mill at 3:50 p. m., and then began prepar¬
ing our passenger list, which consisted of twelve lists, and
required a considerable amount of work and experience.
Sergeants Corcoran and Hussey worked all day and night,
and when they had finished, Corcoran and I went to the
first camp to have the list checked over. We returned at 1
a. m., and the next morning arose at 5 o'clock and marched
to Bassens, where we boarded a boat and started down the
river on our way to Poulliac. While we were down there,
the next day, an order came to have the Battalion assemble
to present Corporal Quincy Adams with the D. S. C. A
General always presents the medal. Corporal Adams and
Private Nelson had performed wonderful acts of bravery
while in the St. Mihiel fight, and, after due consideration
b high officers! at my.recommendation, they were awarded
56
these medals. The ceremony of presenting the medal to
Adams was beautiful, and we were all proud of him, as well
as of Nelson, who had already received his medal,
A few hours after this, Major Shivers received orders
to remain in France, and I was in command of the Batta¬
lion and prepared it to go on board the ship "Huron", which
had formerly been the "Frederick der Grosse", and the
next morning Major Clark, an Engineer Major, assumed
command of the Battalion. It was too late for me to re¬
ceive my promotion as Major, and he remained with us
until we were demobilized.
When we arose next morning, we learned that w-e had
left Poulliac with the high tide at 11:30 p. m. We were far
out in the Bay of Biscay and out of sight of land. All the
men were in blue overalls, but happy, because we were on
our way to America.
The trip across was uneventful. We had much better
food and service coming beck than we did on our voyage
going over. The sea was rough on the 27th, and the
sky was hazy. On the 29th it was calm, and the day was
beautiful. On the 1st, the sea got rough again, and many
on board were sick. I had the good fortune not to be sick,
either going over or coming back.
May 2nd I sent a wireless to my father, which, I heard
afterwards, he received the next day. We were then about
twelve hundred miles out. The sea was still rough on
Sunday, but we were begining to enjoy the trip, as we
could see many ships passing at a distance. The "George
Washington" passed us the night before on her way to
America, She left long after we did, but she was making
eighty miles a day more than we. We had traveled, up to
noon the day before, two thousand four hundred and fifty-
six miles.
On Sunday, church was held at three different places
on board, and a show and boxing bout were held on the rear
deck in the afternoon.
There was a heavy fog on Monday, and our ship had
57
to slow down, as we had just heard of a ship a few miles
away from us running into another ship.
On May 6th, at 7:SO a. m., I saw land for the first
time on our return voyage. It was Sandy Hook, and as we
came closer to shore our hearts became lighter, for we
felt that soon we should again be upon our native soil.
We landed at South Brooklyn at 9:45 a. m. The day
was cold, but beautiful. We docked about noon, and the
Red Cross fed us wonderfully well. From there most of
us sent telegrams home, and a short time afterwards we
crossed the river by ferry on our way to Camp Dix to be
demobilized.
My diary closes in the following words: "My diary
ends here. It covers the most eventful portion of my life—
with lots of sunshine, but many shadows!"
We proceeded to Camp Dix preparing for demobiliza¬
tion and were there several days. The morning of the day
we were to separate, Sergeant Carey sent for me to come
to the Company's quarters. I rushed down, thinking some¬
thing had gone wrong, but found the whole Company as¬
sembled, and I was presented with a beautiful Howard
gold watch, a gold chain, and a cigar-cutter with a diamond
in it. Upon the watch my monogram was inscribed, and
on the inside was inscribed these words: "Compliments of
the Enlisted men, Company "C", Machine Gun Battalion,
May 1919."
I frankly admit that I was so surprised and overcome
that the tears came to my eyes, so that for the moment I
could not speak. I finally began a little speech, and told
them I would rather have this token of esteem from the
enlisted men with whom I had lain in mud-holes, and gone
without food, and suffered untold hardships, than to have
commanded the entire Division, and I meant every word I
said I told them that if they made as good citizens as they
had soldiers, our country would be proud of them.
A few hours later, when we were to make our last
i j-nuphier. I went to the Company quarters, and when
march togc *
58
I arrived, some one called "Attention!" and the entire
Company stood up and saluted! Knowing that in a few
hours they would be private citizens, and knowing that
saluting me made no difference to me, it made me feel most
deeply the kindly feeling all had for me. It was certainly
mutual, for I loved each man as an older brother does his
younger, and it had been my aim always to treat them as
such.
Under the strain of being censured by higher officials
I may have once or twice spoken harshly to some of the
men, but I am sure that no man in old Company "C" can
say that he ever was forced to do any unnecessary thing or
was ever mistreated by any order of mine.
Chapter XV
It was my pleasure to know all the members of our
Company, the name of nearly each one of them, but space will
not permit me to mention each one in this little story.
We lost Cook Zimmerman (Fatty) by being quarantined.
He was such a fine cook that we could never get him back,
although we made diligent effort. I can see Crouse now
driving those two big horses to our kitchen. He was one
of the best drivers I ever saw. He writes that he is now
on his farm in Maine. The best of luck to him!
Had it not been for Sergeant Corcoran's efficiency and
loyalty to me, aided by Hussey, I do not believe that I ever
could have administered the affairs of our Company with
anything like the success I did. Corcoran has married
since his return, and here is nothing but happinss to him.
Hussey has a million dollar smile, and his cheerfulness un¬
der all conditions, his efficiency as an assistant to the
Clerk and his bravery as a soldier, is one of the brightest
spots in my memory of France. All our Sergeants and Corporals
were wonderful non-commissioned officers, and I have often
wondered if any Company in the A. E. F. could have been
as blessed as we were. I have frequently told other officers
59
that we could have exchanged our bars for their stripesf
and our places with them and at least forty other enlisted
men in our Company, and it would have been as success¬
fully officered, if not more so, as it was with us.
Galloway was the best Stable Sergeant I ever saw, and
other Companies and Headquarters tried their best to get
him. Therrian was a wonderful Supply Sergeant, Shaw
as mess Sergeant, served until after the armisticei he was
loyal to me as well as efficient, and I recall him most pleas¬
antly; and Perrin, who succeeded him after he went to the
hospital, was without a superior anywhere in such a posi¬
tion; it was due to Perrin and Shaw and their force that
our kitchen was so often complimented.
It is no secret that various units would steal property
from others units in the army, and when I put Sergeants
Galloway, Therrian, Shaw and several others on a job of
that kind, we always had "the goods delivered." In the
Argonne we found ourselves without a water-cart, but I
told some of my officers that "ray forty thieves and I would
soon have one", and believe me, we soon had it, I always
told the men that if any Company had to check up short it
must not be Company "C"—and it never was. The 35th
Division allowed some of its horses to get hitched to some of
our halters, and as it was too much trouble to take the
halters off, we just led the horses on with us, as we didn't
have enough to carry our property; but we left the horses
over there for them, if they wanted them.
If a monument should ever be erected to any class of
soldiers, it could not be too high for the "runners" (mes¬
sage carriers). They carried messages through hell itself,
and I have never seen one flinch, when ordered to go.
Pfleghaar, Kearns, Davis, McCormack, Flanagan, Sheld-
rup and others, they were all as brave as any soldiers I
ever knew. Davis was my "bunkie" in mud-holes in the Ar¬
gonne show. . .
Our kitchen force received more compliments, but none
■fVinvi any other I have ever seen. I now recall
too many» » *
60
Simmons, Davis, Smoyer, McCoy, Alster and Frickj and
frequently I find myself wishing I could again spend some
of the happy moments I have so often spent around the
camp kitchen, chatting with those fine fellows.
Fash, the horse-shoer, nearly always in trouble, and
especially after pay-day, was a dandy little fellow. He kept
our horses in fine shape, but he frequently appealed to me
to go on a gun, yet we couldn't spare him from the trans¬
port. I appreciate his great work while with us.
The mechanics, Geer, Dustin and Deering, were as
conscientious and faithful workers as I ever knew, and I
know they can hear me say now, "You mechanics, get those
carts in shape before noon", or some other fool order
I would issue, I was fond of all three of them.
Old Cantaloupe (Cantaloop) I loved. If Italy had an army
of soldiers like him, the world couldn't beat her.
Levine (Jake), our little Jew private, was the life of
the Company| he was wounded in the arm by a bullet,
but he wouldn't come out of the lines. He always appeal¬
ed to me as a true soldier. I know he is worth $100,000
by now.
I remember the two Irishmen, always joking, but can
only recall the name of Mitten. Their jokes were funny
and amused us all when we heard them. I'll bet a dollar
they are lecturing for Irish freedom over here now,
Sessi, the little fat Italian, always laughing and hap¬
py, I recall him most pleasantly. Here's the best of luck to
him I
Wescott (Lizzie) had many funny experiences. I re¬
member the time at Fliry when he got lost, and came near
walking into the German's hands} and also the night at
Menil la Tour, when his mule came tearing through our
Company and almost caused a stampede. Some one said
"There goes Lizzie's mule!" and Wescott, running after it
yelled: "Yes, and Lizzie right after him, too!" These
things are all funny to us now.
61
C0Urse» men recall Mike Braun, and the
ristmas when I reduced all the non-commissioned officers
for the day, and made Mike the First Sergeant, He made
First Sergeant Carey and the other Sergeants the Kitchen
Police, and put all non-commissioned officers to work, Mike
took his place seriously, and we had many laughs. I know
Mike is saluting wherever he is and saying, "Yis, Sor!"
Cumisky, with his deep voice, came to me in the lines
one night ar.d said: "Captain, can*t I use my discretion?"
and I said, "About what?"
He said: "We were bringing up food tonight, and shells
began hitting right at us, and all ran and got in a ditch
and made me stay on a mule." I told him to let the food
and mule go to and protect himself, and he was the
happiest fellow I ever saw.
Hard Luck Heyn, always sick, hurt, quarantined or
detailed in time to miss his pay; Kennedy the bugler and
Smeck the bugler and ball player are pleasant memories
to me, but I could choke those buglers now for blowing
their bugles under my window so early every morning after
the armistice had been signed.
The Battalion show was made up almost of "C" Com¬
pany men. Kiam the wonderful dancer, Sheridan the in¬
terlocutor, the quartette, Kane, Shabo, Kennedy—the other
I do not recall—and most of the orchestra of our men made
us quite a bit conceited. Felix, the Jewish comedian, was
fine as could be, and rendered his part admirably well.
Kaeser was a genius as a cartoonist and draftsman,
and his cartoons, especially of Corporal Dalby, were very
amusing. The best boxers in the Battalion were Landrieu
and Landry, and ^7 orderly and partner Feis, was the
best for his size anywhere. None could whip him, and but
few tried.
X remember little Goding at Langorian getting too much
"t " on^ night, and the old French woman at whose house
Sa- staying complained to me. I had to do something,
ne waSa(ie Q0(iing scrub a canvass for two afternoons down
62
on the river bank. If I had punished all who took too
much "tea", I am afraid the Company would have had few men
left to perform regular Company dutiesj and the first night
we went in the lines we wouldn't have had a man to go on the
guns. I don't commit myself about the officers, especially
"the Captain".
I used Bordeau's mess kit with him in the lines.
After the armistice I asked him if he would like to go in
the officer's mess with Meade and Bosquet we had a
wonderful team, I recall the time he was sent as a guide
near Pompey and got lost with his horse, and not being
used to riding was so sore he led his horse all night and
joined us the next afternoon. We had many good laughs about
this incident.
Detwilder, our sadler, worked all the time, and I can¬
not praise him too highly as a soldier while he was with us.
The Lieutenants under me were fine. Gregory was
most efficient and I seldom checked his work, for I knew
it was better than I could myself. He was as loyal to me
as I could have wished, and I did my best to have him pro¬
moted, for he deserved it,
Depue was as fine a front soldier as I ever knew, six
feet four inches tall, never afraid, and I believe no soldier
was loved better by his men than Depue was by his platoon.
Arthur, even tempered, clean and efficient, I recall
very happily, and remember him always as one of my good
friends.
Megown, the hard-boiled boy Lieutenant, was "fine as
silk". Mack was my pet, and I always made him stay
with me if possible. While his place was with the trans-
pert, he would come up and sleep with me in the lines, and
I enjoyed having him as he will never know.
Moore was with us until June. I really loved him.
He was true blue, clean, loyal and one of the most con¬
scientious officers I ever knewj brave as he could be, and
exceedingly popular with his brother officers.
68
Black, the Irish Lieutenant, I suspect was "cussed"
out by me more-than anybody else in the world. We car¬
ried him as one of our Lieutenants, but as supply officer
he was always getting out memoranda which made us work
overtime, and would nearly laugh himself sick at my kick¬
ing about these things. He is a fine fellow, only he is very
loyal to England, but I often told him I thought he was
crazy, anyway.
It was my pleasure to know such men as Lieutenant
Alex Guerry and Lieutenant Walter McNeil, of "D" Com¬
pany. They were young fellows and had the responsibility
of that Company practically all the time, and it has always
seemed to me one of the many injustices which I witnessed
in the army that neither received his Captaincy, I believe
they were as brave as any two officers I ever knew, and both
of them, of course will succeed in civil life.
While my associations with practically all the officers
of our Battalion were very pleasant, they were somewhat limi¬
ted, I admired most of them, and especially did I admire
Lieutenant Mason Douglass of Company "A",
. He wa3 one of the most conscientious and efficient
officers I knew in the service. Had he not gone to the
hospital, severely wounded, he would have been promoted,
but like many of the other weak points in the administra¬
tion of affairs in France, a soldier in the hospital had no
chance for promotion.
Shivers, afterwards a Major, was one of the most popular
officers in the Battalion. I recall my associations with him
most pleasantly, and, while we were keen rivals, personally
I entertained the highest regard for him as a man and a
soldier. He was worthy of his popularity among the men and
officers *
And so I could go on down the line and tell about
many officers and nearly all our men, I knew their jokes,
their nick-names and much of their fun, and it always de¬
lighted me to know of any happy moments they would have.
64
I never stopped but one card or crap game while I was in
the army, that was the night we were just west of Varennes
and ordered to move further in the Argonne at a moment's
notice. Our men, while I was gone from the Company head¬
quarters' tent, came up during the night and started a
crap game in one corner and a card game in the other, so
when I came back I told them that I thought they had
their nerves to put on a show like this in their Captain's
tent, and they took it as a big joke, laughed and moved
away.
At Langorian my first room was on the third floor of
the billet in charge of Sergeant O'Neal. Of course the men
were supposed to be in quarters, with lights out, at taps,
but judging from those hob nail shoes hitting the bare floor
at all hours of the night I can't believe the men in this
billet observed the rule any too well, and frequently as an
accompainment to the hob nails, the men were quite hilar¬
ious.
I recall one morning about 2i00 a. m., when a comrade
was helping another up the steps, said! "Hush, there's
the Captain's roomj and his reply was; "Damn the Captain."
I know that if I had been in his fix I would have felt
the same way, and it was only funny to me. However, the
next day I found another room and moved, so that they would
not be worried with an officer so near them.
And so I could relate many other amusing incidents,
but space will not permit me to do so here.
Chapter XVI
While my observation of higher officers and conditions
in France are of little importance, being those of a minor
officer, I am giving them for what they are worth.
Many of the disagreeable and unpleasant things I re¬
corded are given so that a portion of the conditions may be
knownj yet I have left unwritten many of the unpleasant
things I recorded in my diary. The injustices throughout
65
the army were so numerous that I refrain from an attempt
to point them all out.
The history of the 82nd Division, recently published by
Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind., is so manifestly un¬
fair to the Machine Gunners that I cannot refuse to enter
a protest. One can scarcely tell that such a branch actually
saw servicej yet we lay in mud, water and cold in the front
lines and frequently within a stoned throw of the enemy.
We attacked with the Infantry and frequently held the front
lines without the Infantry. Some positions the Infantry
had orders handed down whereby it could withdraw (retreat)
but Machine Gunners could never retreat} and yet, when
the history is written, this branch is practically ignored,
and I say it is unjust and unfair.
General Pershing was exceedingly unpopular with the
soldiers in France; he was regarded as a Martinet and as a
General he v/as not highly regarded. Many of the French
actually laughed at him. In my opinion, he was entirely
too small for his position, and if credit is given him for
the good things over there, he should assume the burden of
the bad things and they are numerous. The army wished for
General Wood thousands of times, for he is loved, respected
and admired by all who have served under him, and by many
thousands of those who have never had that honor.
Our Division Commander, General Duncan, was un¬
reasonable and inconsiderate of other officers and enlisted
men. I never heard a complimentary remark about him, and
the Division left him without regret.
General Lindsey, of the 164-th Brigade, I have heard
was popular, but I have heard of certain orders he is alleged
to have issued, which, if true, should forever condemn him.
Our Brigade Commander, General Cronan, was rude to
the point of being insulting. He was an able officer, but
exceedingly unpopular with his Brigade.
My associations, limited as they were, with such men as
Colonel Buxton, Col. Johnson and Col. Troupe Miller, all of
66
the staff, were very pleasant. It was a relief to find offi¬
cers in their positions whose heads had not gotten too large
for their over-seas caps.
I never knew a more lovable man than Col. McArthur
of the 326th Infantry. He told me that after the raid at
Fliry, he was on the hill back of us and saw the German
barrage creeping up on our Company, and that he saidt
"Wert*s Company is wiped out", and expressed great satis¬
faction that we escaped. I appreciated his many kindnesses
to the men of our Company and me.
Col. Lindsey of the 328th Infantry was VERY popular
with his men, from all accounts. I knew him while I was
Judge-Advocate and he President of the Court, and I have
seen him in the front lines and always entertained the
highest regard for him as a man and a soldier.
It was my pleasure to know quite well both Major
Watkins of Atlanta and Major Jones of Jacksonville; both
were afterwards made Lieutenant-Colonels, I have seen
both of these officers, day after day, fight with us in the
front lines. I have seen them there when they could have
easily been far back without any censure. Their bravery
and their consideration of the men under them will always
be honored and their conduct as officers was frequently
commended by the officers and men associated with them.
Colonel Weatherall, in my opinion was without a super¬
ior as an officer in the line, was efficient, brave as a lion
and admired by all.
And so I could go down the line, giving my estimate
of the various officers, if space permitted; but I cannot
close without mentioning Major Miller, formerly of the 319th
Machine Gun Battalion and later with the field hospital,
and Captain Donald R, Ferguson, both of the Medical Corps.
They were as fine soldiers as I ever saw, exposed often
to shell fire, brave always, and considerate in every
way of the comfort of the sick and wounded. If the Medi¬
cal Corps had had officers like these throughout, there
67
would have been little complaint regarding this branch of
the service.
Chapter XVII
The waste in our army was enormous, the inefficiency
of many branches appalling, but of course we were not or¬
ganized like the other armies and it takes time to perfect
organizations.
There were cowards in our army, as in other armiesj
in fact, I heard many expressions of regret that some of
our soldiers feigned sickness, wounds from gas and the
like. I saw one officer, higher in rank than I, examined
by a doctor and the doctor told me there was nothing wrong
with him, but he later received favors from this man and
would never confirm the statement in the presence of any¬
one j but a doctor, who was a Major, said he saw him in a
hospital and that nothing was wrong with him, and he told
him so, but couldn't make him go back to the lines. Others
know the same man.
There were atrocities in our army, but it would not be
possible to collect two million men without some of them
being abnormal.
America did not win the war; without us the war would
not have been won by the Allies, but there were other con¬
tributing factors in winning the war besides America's entry.
I believe the success of our army in the Meuse-Argonne
offensive may be summed up in the overwhelming numbers
of our soldiers and the supreme bravery of the enlisted men.
My story must close, but I must pay tribute again to
the men with whom I served. I believe they were as fine
a set of fellows (and they were nearly all damned Yankees,
while I am a rebel) as ever wore uniforms. I believe they
as brave as any men who ever answered a bugle call
or marched beneath a flag of war, AND THE WORLD IS FAR
BETTER BECAUSE SUCH MEN HAVE LIVED IN IT!!
THOS. W. WERT
Tha End.
69
The following is a complete roster of our Company
given from the Company records:
Thomas W. Wert
James B. Gregorie
Albert Depue
Paul Megown
John E. Dever
Walter S. Arthur
William A. Black
James P. Lowman
Amundson, Charles Robert
Adams, Frank Humphrey
Adams, Quincy
Allard, Robert Percy
Allgeier, George Joseph
Alster, George
Amidon, James William
Decatur, Alabama
Coral Gabies, Florida
Knoxville, Tenn.
Recruiting Station, Columbia, Tenn.
Washington, Delaware
Webster, South Dakota
709 E. 126th St. Cleveland, Ohio.
807 Norris Bldg. Atlanta, Ga.
Rossyth Alberta, Canada
5606 N. Mascher St. Phila., Penn.
Fort Fairfield, Maine
Pomfret St. Putnam, Conn,
R. F. D. No. 3 Waterford, Penn.
124 E. 123d St. New York City
138 6th St. N. E. Washington, D. C.
Amis, Melvy Ernest R. F. D. No. 4 Lineville; Iowa
Anderson, Claude Alvin
Anderson, Knute Gustaf
Andrus, Everett
Aquilino, Joseph
R. F. D. No. 1 Lohrville, Iowa
R. 2 Box 59 Marathon, Iowa
Maxie, Louisiana
455 E. 116 St. New York City
*Beary, Richard J. (Mother) 383 No. Brunt St. Brooklyn, N. Y.
Bolstad, Melvin 3052 18th Ave. So. Minneapolis, Minn,
Burklund, Carl Arthur R. 1. Ludlow, 111.
Beaudreau, Henry Edward 39 Harold St. Providence R. I.
Bauer, Frank Wilwar 139 E. Lov/don St, Philadelphia, Penn.
Boanarens, Edward B, R. F. D. No. 1 Weingarten, Md.
140 Willard Ave. Providence R. I.
Box No. 33, Elgin, Iowa.
905 E. 169th St. New York City
540 Bair Ave. Hanover, Penn,
3230 Ann St. New Orleans, La.
Mars Hill, Maine
Sheldon, Iowa
803 So. First St. New Bedford, Mass,
Dooley, Mont.
Bolotin, Max
Blockhus, Swen C.
*Bierman, Herman H.
Becker, Jobn Clayton
Braud, James S.
Boyd, George
Boone, Andrew
Boisquet, Alfred
Breazdahl,
Edward
70
Brink, Leonard Hjalmer 4108 Portland Ave. Minneapolis Minn.
Broadbent, William H. Jr. 48 Ocean "St. New Bedford, Mass.
Brown, William Robert 824 North Ave. North Braddock, Penn
Butzer, William H. 926 McDougal St. Fostoria, Ohio.
Carucci, Ralph 742 E. 224th St. New York City
Capers, Robert S. Hunnewell St. Wsllesley Hills, Mass.
Caswell, Henry Charles 32 Nevada Ave. Rumford, R. I.
Chapman, Guy Wesley Clio, Iowa.
Carlson, Frederick G.
Collins, Edward Ted 781-A Western Ave. West Lynn, Mass.
Conklin, George 15 Gesner St. North Tarrytown, N, Y.
Cox, Robert E. 908 North Boulevard, Atlanta, Ga.
Cacciaguida, John J. 126 Elizabeth St. New York City
Callahan, Chas. T. 814 Orange St. New Orleans, La.
Campbell, Chas. J.
Clee, Andrew Bert 5029 No. Fifth St. Philadelphia, Peon.
Cantalupo, Giuseppe East Millersboro, Penn.
Cummings, Michael Joseph 1022 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Curaisky, Mathew Francis 114 Harriet St. Providence, R. I.
Culbertson, Clifford Allen Lawsonham, Penn.
Crouse, Abram Crouseville, Maine
Corcoran, Leonard 220 Main St. Poughkeepsie, N. Y.
Colwell, David Eraie, Iowa
Cataldo, Vincent 308 East 29th St. New York City
Carlson, Henry Carl Hector, Minn.
Carey, Oscar John Mayon, 111.
Cummings, Leonard James 205 Lombard St. New Haven, Conn.
Dalbey, Thomas 2410 So, Rosewood St. Philadelphia, Penn.
Daniels, Dorsy Benson R, F. D. No. 2 Boswell, Penn.
Davis, George R. West Liberty, Iowa
Davis, Oakley Smith R. F. D. No, 1 Lima, Iowa
Decker, Thomas C.227 Duffield St. Brooklyn, N. Y.
Deering, Bliss A. Orient, Maine
Dennis, John L. Route 4 Enfield, 111.
Desmond, Jeremiah Joseph 69 Florence St. Brockton, Mass.
Detweiler, Harry Horning Telford, Penn.
Dustin, Charles Herbert Marlborough, N. H.
71
Enowsky, Adam 83 Green St. Boston, Mass.
Faraci, Carmelo 23 Hartford St. Rochester, N. Y.
Farr, Harlon Page Comer, Ga.
Fash, Harry J. 64 Hull St. Brooklyn, N, Y.
Feis, Charles Henry 140 14th St. Brooklyn, N. Y.
Felix, Gordon William 862 No. 1.2th St. Reading, Penn.
Finch, Herbert Carlyle Dallas, Ga.
Flanagan, John 38 Leonard St. Springfield, Mass.
Frick, Joseph Francis 823 Third St. Dunmore, Penn.
Friday, Albert Jacob R. F, D. Tyrone, Penn.
Gebnardt, Charlie 2418 Irving Ave, North, Minneapolis, Minn.
Gerlach, Joseph R. F. D. No. 5 Cannon Falls, Minn.
Geigerman, Harold 827 Elton Ave. Bronx New York, N. Y.
Gilbert, Albert W.
Gabel, Edward R. F. D. No. 2 Donnellson, Iowa
Galloway, Charles Quebec, N. C.
Guidry, Pierre Leroy, La.
Grimm, Frank Carl Strawberry Point, Iowa
Gcding, Leo A. 93 Newton St. Somerville, Mass.
Gilleland, Walter B. R. F. D. No. 2 Uniontown, Penn.
Gill, John Francis 8 Lonsdale St. Fall River, Mass.
Geer, John Wesley 310 Evans St. Uniontown, Penn.
Hendershot, Ralph N. 244 Beade St. Plymouth, Penn.
Hagmeier, Charles Franklin R. F. D. No. 2 Keokuk, Iowa
Healey, Chas. M. 542£ Common. St. Shreveport, La.
Houlihan, Patrick Joseph 63 Park Avenue Bingh&mton, N. Y.
Herold, Paul Joseph Fort Atkinson, Iowa
Haugen, Eddie Lewis R. F. D. No. 5 Forest City, Iowa
Heath, Errold Edwin Taylor Falls, Minn.
Hussey, Herbert Melvin 53 Summer St. Saugus, Mass,
Hopkins, Lewis Elmer Rathbun, Iowa
Hitchin, Vincent William 3330 No. Lee St. Philadelphia, Penn.
Hirsch, Frank Carlton R. F. D. No. 3 Erie, Penn.
Hillard, Ernest G. R. F. D. No. 1 Montpelier, Ohio
Hill, Tyler 1023 East 9th St. Hopkinsville, Ky.
Heyn, Fred Adolph Pine City, Minn,
Johnson, Ernest Emanuel 715 East Geranium St. St. Paul, Minn.
72
Jasper, William Henry 422 Bedford St, Johnstown, Penn.
Jenny, Adam J. 628 Kentucky St. New Orleans, La.
Johnson, James A. Skene, Miss.
Johnson, Sidney Harlen 2708 First St. Sioux City, Iowa.
Ketterer, Wesley Lincoln 3336 "A" St. Philadelphia, Penn.
Keough, Thomas R.
Kaeser, Conrad Ludwig 172 Bruce Ave. Stratford, Conn. .
Kaltenbacker, George C. 1621 Bartholomew St. New Orleans, La.
Kane, John Joseph 126 Adams St. Lynn, Mass.
Kearns, John Martin Mammoth, Penn.
Kelly, Thomas A. 2513 Eighth Ave. New York City
Kennedy, Gordon S. 820 Virginia Ave. Johnstown, Penn.
Kiam, Alexander 42 West 38th St. New York City
Kifer, Edward Curtis Coral, Indiana County, Penn.
Kennan, Charles Wagoner, Okla,
Kline, Francis R, 312 South Elwood St. Tulsa, Okla.
Klinkhammer, Alex Stewart, Minn.
Klopich, Mike Ely, Minn.
Kocher, Harold B. 903 Washington St. Freeland, Penn.
Kottkamp, John Henry 200 Starr Ave. Burlington, Iowa
Krau39, August F. 1005 Meldrum Ave. Detroit, Mich.
Kahoe, Nicholas Leo 360 Edith Ave, Oakhurst, Johnstown.
Kastal, Harry 17 Gay St. Providence, R. I.
Landrieu, Joseph G. 1113 No. Ramport St, New Orleans, La.
Lowraan, James Preston 34 South Forsyth St. Atlanta, Ga.
Landry, Calio Erath, La.
Leffler, Edwin G. 571 Delaware Ave. Marion, Ohio
Lewis, Milton H, 921 Woodlawn Ave. Bucyrus, Ohio
Lockridge, Robert E. Dupont, Indiana
Logos, Emile F. 1715 Annette St. New Orleans, La.
McAuliffe, Thomas Ward Monson, Mass.
McBride, Samp S. Jonesboro, La.
McCorkle, Alfred 2214 8th St. Portsmouth, Ohio
McCormack, Patrick 230 West 122nd St. New York City
McGovern, Owen 235 East 9th St. New York City
McKendry, William J. 2 East 51st St. New York City
McKie, Roy Albert 37 Playstead Rd. West Medford, Mass.
73
McLelland, Sam Rt. No. 1 Winnoboro, La.
Miller, Dowl Paul Bedias, Texas
Maher, Thomas Francis 2514 So. Watt St. Phila., Penn.
Marren, Patrick 715 Ninth Avenue New York City
Martin, Raymond DeLoss Atalissa, Iowa
Meade, Arthur James 20 East Milton Rd. Brookline, Mass
Meuleners, Cornelius Joseph Winsted, Minn.
Mihura, Hanley Cabaniss, Okla.
Millican, Ersel L, Leesville, La.
Miner, Joseph Aubrey R, F. D. No. 7 Norwich, Conn.
Mitten, William 136 Alley St. Lynn, Mass,
Muench, Carl G. 212 Judd Ave, Edwardsville, 111,
Morrissey, John Albert 6 Barker St, Danvers, Mass.
Moline, Otto B. 11338 Indiana Ave. Chicago, 111.
Neel, Joseph P. 404 Mass, Ave. St. Joseph, Mo.
Nelson, Herbert Waldemar 1162 No, Main St. Pro., R. I.
Nemec, Jerry J. 561 West 16th St, Chicago, 111.
Owens, Robert Emmett 262 Eastern Ave. Lynn, Mass.
O'Neil, Thomas J. 88 Sprague St, Readville, Mass,
O'Brien, John 553 No, 12th St, East St. Louis, 111.
O'Neill, John James 49 Johnson St, Lynn, Mass.
O'Rielly, Joseph Henry 23 Maple Ave. Waterbury, Conn
Pelletier, Florent R. F. D. No. 2 Fort Kent, Maine
Pauliclk, James Schuyler, Neb.
Perrin, Ralph N, Mentor, Ohio
Pfaff, William John 234 Meserole St. Brooklyn, N. Y.
Pfleghaar, Phillip James Cologne, Minn.
Piccionellif Tony 164 Forbes St. New Haven, Conn.
Pralgever, Henry 92 Walton St, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Raymond, Frederick H. Fifth St. Webster, Mass.
Rix, Adolph L. Freeburg, 111,
Roberts, Bailey B. R. F. D. No. 1 Logansport, La.
Rock, Frederick William 55 Thompson St, Stapleton, N.
Rose* John H. Jr., 1540 Elizabeth St. Shreveport, La.
Rushing, Tot Sheridan, Ark,
Snvder, Alfred B. Meredith, Ky,
Shaw, Henry Sidney 3038 S. W. Eighth St. Miami, Fla,
74
Smith, Jacob 324 Hazel Ave. Ellwood City, Pen-j.
Shoemaker, William B. 36 Chestnut St.. Freeport, 111.
Steindler, Carl 941 Intervale Ave. New York City
Stokley, John Joseph 429 Earp St. Philadelphia, Penn.
Szaryko, Martin Jr. 442S Almond St. Philadelphia, Penn.
Steadman, Harold C. Dupont Indiana
Sinclair, Floyd Shangaloo, La.
Simms, Lee Clarksdale, Miss.
Simmons, Johnnie R. F. D. No. 1 Taft, Tenn.
Sheridan, James E. 1068 Woodycrest Ave. New York City
Shabo, John 99 Military Rd. Buffalo, N. Y,
Sessi, Frank Zazhary 509 Spring St. Latrobe, Penn,
Semel, Max 36 West 116th St. New York City
Standley, Sidney Ray Lykens, Penn.
Stanfield, Clarence H. Irvington, Ky.
Scheldrup, Arent Fritjoff 1960 E. 49th St. Brooklyn, N. Y.
Sears, William Andrew 49 Prospect St. Williamansett, Mass.
Scott, John Sellersvilie, Penn.
Schweizer, Albert Christian 2525 W. York St. Phila., Penn.
Stravades, George 153 North St, New Britian, Conn.
Schuckert, John Titus Canby, Minn.
Schofield, Cephas Bronson Texas
Schmoyer, Erwin George 268 Elm St. Allenton, Penn.
Schmidt, Charles 55 Ryman St. Luzerne, Penn,
Schmeck, Herbert Paul 245 North 10th St. Reading, Penn.
■Townley, Robert 6 Wetmore St. Central Falls, R. I.
Taylor, Thomas Leckie 11 Lowden Ave. W. Sommerville, Mass.
Therrien, Alfred Joseph 71 Shephard St. Lynn, Mass,
Thomas, Gilbert Elk Lick, Penn.
Trimpe, Otto H. R. R. Courtland, Indiana
Trout, Joseph McMacken 1841 E. Tioga St. Phila., Penn.
Troxell, Harvey Edward 1113 Braddock Ave, Braddock, Penn.
Tumolo, Donato 1213 Emily St. Phila., Penn.
Tunik, Samuel 549 West 163rd St. New York City
Turney, Joseph Lincoln 17 Bedlow Ave. Newport, R. I.
Vanderwest, Edward 95 East 21st St. Holland, Mich.
Vaitch, Thomas A. 204 Oak St. Springfield, Mass.
75
Walker, Adriel J. 3200 Maricn St. Mattoon, 111.
Welsh, William Patrick 22 Craft St. Newtonville, Mass.
Williams, Francis Mclntyre 320 Warren St. Needham, Mass.
Wallen, Rasmus R. F. D. No. 2 Cutterfield, Minn.
Waterman, Stephen P. Machanicsville, Conn.
Westcott, Merritt Ealy R. F. D. No. 3 Moscow, Penn.
Wolanski, John Mike R. R. No. 2 Box 19 Silver Lake, Minn,
Wright, Albert G. 510 West 136th St. New York City
Zimmerman, John Joseph 4 Bennett Ave. Chattanooga, Tenn.
*Dead
If there is an error in any address or if any member
should change his address, in the above list, I would ap¬
preciate the information. If, at any time, any member de¬
sires an address or information I shall be glad to give
it to him.
Thos. W. Wert,
Decatur, Alabama.
PRINTED ON THE MULTIGRAPH
BY
J. E. CALL
DATE OF REPRINT, DECEMBER, 1931.