]> <emph>History of the 113th Field Artillery 30th Division:</emph> Electronic Edition. Fletcher, Arthur Lloyd, 1881- Funding from the State Library of North Carolina supported the electronic publication of this title. Text transcribed by Apex Data Services, Inc. Images scanned by Harris Henderson Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc., Melissa Meeks, and Jill Kuhn Sexton First edition, 2002 ca. 750K Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2002.

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 History of the 113th Field Artillery 30th Division A. L. Fletcher 262 p., ill. Raleigh, N. C. Published by The History Committee of 113th F. A. 1920 Call number C970.9 F61 c.2 (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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 Library of Congress Subject Headings English World War, 1914-1918 -- North Carolina. World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Belgium. World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- France. North Carolina -- History, Military -- 20th century. United States. Army. Field Artillery, 113th -- History. World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- United States. 2002-05-23, Celine Noel and Wanda Gunther revised TEIHeader and created catalog record for the electronic edition. 2002-04-16, Jill Kuhn Sexton finished TEI-conformant encoding and final proofing. 2002-04-01, Melissa Meeks finished TEI/SGML encoding 2002-03-01, Apex Data Services, Inc. finished transcribing the text.

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COLONEL ALBERT L. COX[Frontispiece Image]

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 History of the 113th Field Artillery 30th Division Published by The History Committee of 113th F. A. Raleigh, N. C. Copyright 1920 A. L. Fletcher Raleigh, N. C. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company Printers and BindersHeadquarters for War Histories Eighty Lafayette Street, New York Dedication

To our comrades who were killed in action, or who died of wounds or disease in hospitals, this book is reverently and affectionately dedicated

Insignia of Organizations With Which the 113th F. A. Served

Insignia of Organizations With Which the 113th F. A. Served

 THE VICTORY MEDAL

The Victory Medal

The Victory Medal will be awarded to all persons who served on active duty in the army of the United States at any time between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918, provided that their service was honorable. The ribbon of the medal will bear clasps indicating the service of the individual. Members of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery will be entitled to four such clasps, and to four stars on the service ribbon, when worn without the medal. These are as follows: Service in the First Army Area between August 30, 1918 and November 11, 1918; the St. Mihiel Offensive, September 12, 1918 to September 16, 1918; the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, September 26, 1918 to November 11, 1918; service in the Second Army Area between October 12, 1918 and November 11, 1918.

The battle-flag of the One Hundred and Thirteenth, now in the Hall of History at Raleigh, N. C., bears ribbons denoting honorable service in these various offensives, awarded by General Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the A. E. F., and officially bestowed by Brigadier General Samuel L. Faison, commanding the Thirtieth Division, on April 16, 1919, at Charlotte, N. C.

 INTRODUCTION

THIS brief history of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery has been written under difficulties. Owing to the fact that he held an exacting and extremely difficult job that required his undivided attention for every working hour of the day, the Historian was able to give to the history only such spare time as could be found in the evenings and on holidays. Because of this it has taken a long time to finish the work.

While the regiment was at Le Mans, France, it was decided to raise a fund for the publication of a history of the regiment and a History Committee was selected, composed of the following:

Colonel Albert L. Cox, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney C. Chambers, Major L. P. McLendon, Captain Robert P. Beaman, Chaplain B. R. Lacy, Jr., Captain Kenneth M. Hardison, Regimental Sergeant Major Kenneth J. Nixon, Battalion Sergeant Major Marvin M. Capps, Sergeant George Graham and Sergeant Liston L. Mallard.

On June 1, 1919, the Committee selected Captain A. L. Fletcher, of Raleigh, N. C., to write the book, officially bestowed upon him the title of “Historian” and turned over to him such records, pictures and miscellaneous papers as had been collected.

It has not been easy to “write up to” this regiment of ours. The Historian knows that he has not done it justice and no one knows better than he how far short he has fallen in the effort to do it justice.

There has been no effort to write a solemn, ponderous chronological history modeled after the text-book variety of history. The reader will find the book written, rather, in newspaper style, or in something approaching that. In telling the story the Historian has adhered strictly to the cardinal rules of the newspaper game and has sought to exaggerate nothing, to write nothing in malice, and to be fair to everybody.

There will be many who will criticise. Among these will be some who did all they could to help the Historian to make the book what it should have been, and it is their right to criticise if they so desire. There will others—and they will be in the majority—who have no right to utter a word of complaint, for they were called upon for help and they would not help. It was always so. Good as the regiment was, it was not perfect, for this element existed throughout the regiment's history. They kept hands-off when others were blazing new trails, or undertaking new things, never lending a hand to help and never putting in a friendly word, but they were wonderfully free with criticism, condemnation and censure afterwards. This paragraph is to remind them, when they are holding a postmortem on this little history of their regiment, that they were asked to help make it a history worthy of the regiment and they would not.

The Historian desires, also, to forestall those who would lay blame for the shortcomings of the book upon The History Committee. This committee was composed of busy men, who had businesses to rebuild after discharge from the service, obligations of all sorts to meet and important things to do all the time. They could not meet often and they could not spare time to supervise the work. Consequently, they were forced to leave it to the Historian and he accepts entire responsibility for it and offers himself as a target for whatever brickbats may be hurled.

The Historian desires to make grateful acknowledgment of the assistance given by Chaplain Lacy, Captain Beaman, Major McLendon, Sergeant George Graham, Sergeant Liston L. Mallard, and others who helped by contributing pictures, maps and other material for the book. Elsewhere in the book will be found various special articles, among these being:

“An Appreciation of the One Hundred and Thirteenth,” by Lieutenant Jacques J. L. Popelin, of the French army; “Carryings-On About Carrying On,” by Sergeant George Graham, of Headquarters Company, the “regimental humorist”; “A Brief Story of the Operations of the Thirtieth Division in Belgium and France,” and individual battery and company sketches, some of them written by the organization commanders and signed by them and others prepared by the Historian from sketches written by various members of the organization.

There appear also the organization rosters as of February 1, 1919, which were made up for Headquarters 30th Division shortly after arrival in the Le Mans area and before the regiment was split up to form the various casual detachments; a complete roster of the regiment by county and State, with the home address of every man as shown on his “locator” card; a chronology of the regiment, and many other features.

Because scant mention has been made of them, it is not to be considered that the other units of the 55th Field Artillery Brigade—the 114th Field Artillery, the 115th Field Artillery, the 105th Ammunition Train, the 105th Trench Mortar Battery, and the 105th Mobile Ordnance Repair Shop, were unworthy of mention. The One Hundred and Thirteenth felt no little pride in its sister organizations of the brigade and found them always faithful to every obligation and equal to every emergency, but the telling of their stories is left to their own historians.

THE HISTORIAN. Raleigh, N. C., February 12, 1920. The 55th Field Artillery Brigade Here's to their memory—here's their Good Luck On from the General down to the Buck— On from Sevier to the last hills of France, Holding their drive through the final advance; St. Mihiel knew them—and when they were done On to the Argonne with caisson and gun, Taking each highway that led to the Hun! Slogging along through the mud and the flame, On to the finish still playing the game, Playing the game as the game should be played— Here's to the 55th F. A. Brigade! —Grantland Rice

(By permission of Lieut.-Colonel William J. Bacon, editor of the History of the 55th F. A. Brigade)

THE FRENCH 75

This picture in an enlargement from a kodak picture made by Captain Reid R. Morrison, of Battery F. The One Hundred and Thirteenth was equipped with 24 of these wonderful guns.

 CHAPTER I ORGANIZATION

AN American statesman, famous for his opposition to militarism and preparedness, has been much ridiculed of late years for his proud boast that standing armies are not necessary for this land of ours because “a million men would spring to arms overnight to protect her should any danger threaten.” In the organization of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, which was accomplished with record-breaking speed and enthusiasm, may be found some justification of his faith.

When the United States declared war against Germany there was not even the nucleus of a field artillery organization in the State of North Carolina. There was not even a single field artillery officer. The War Department at that time was in doubt as to the best course to pursue and its whole National Guard program was still in process of incubation. Nobody knew what the outcome would be. Nobody was willing even to hazard a guess. April passed and May and it was well along in June before the War Department announced that it would accept a regiment of field artillery from the State of North Carolina. The Adjutant General of North Carolina, Major General Beverly S. Royster, notified the War Department that the regiment would be furnished and the work started.

North Carolina's response to the call issued by the Adjutant General was immediate and confined to no one particular locality. It came from every part of the State. Eager and enthusiastic towns all over North Carolina wanted batteries in the new regiment. Two regiments might have been organized in the State almost as quickly as one and with infinitely less embarrassment to the Adjutant General.

North Carolina had already done well in the matter of furnishing man-power for the Great War. She had offered her full quota and more for the regular army, the navy and the marines, and in addition a full infantry brigade, a squadron of cavalry, six companies of coast artillery, an ambulance company, a field hospital and other National Guard units of proven efficiency. There were many who said that the Old North State had done all that could be expected of her in the matter of furnishing volunteers for the World War and these predicted that the proposed artillery organization would never materialize. To their great astonishment they found that North Carolina was capable of doing even greater things than had been asked of her and the whole State thrilled with pride when it was announced that the new regiment had been raised in less than thirty days and was ready for instant service wheresoever the country needed it.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney C. Chambers.

Just how it came about will always be a mystery even to those who were at the head of the movement. There were no hard drives for recruits. It was not necessary to bring pressure to bear on men to bring them into the new regiment. It appeared to fit their needs and to be just what they had been waiting for, and they came by ones and two and by squads. Those towns first to move for the formation of organizations secured allotments and those towns that were unsuccessful immediately proceeded to furnish recruits for the lucky towns nearest them, and when the organization was mobilized for service, eighty-nine out of the hundred counties in the State, were represented in the regiment. It is believed that no other organization that represented North Carolina in the World War was so thoroughly representative of the State and so typically “Tar Heel” throughout. Later the regiment was to receive replacements from thirty-seven States, the District of Columbia and seven foreign countries, but it began its existence as a Tar Heel outfit, officered by Tar Heels, and with every section of the Old North State represented in its make-up.

Major Thaddeus G. Stem, Commanding the First Battalion.

Major Alfred L. Bulwinkle, Commanding the Second Battalion.

In personnel, both commissioned and enlisted, the regiment ranked high. The men were always just a little proud of their status as volunteers. They had not been drafted, nor had they been let in for service in the World War because of peace-time National Guard affiliations. They were 100-per-cent volunteer! They had joined up after the declaration of war and their participation in the war was in no sense the result of accident or chance.

Every trade, profession and calling that exists in North Carolina was represented in the regiment. There were lawyers, teachers, doctors, preachers, farmers, merchants, mechanics, accountants, bankers, manufacturers, engineers, scientists, clerks, students, stenographers, typists, newspaper men. It was an aggregation, a combination of brains, skill and enthusiasm such as this world has seen but rarely and which it may never see again for the reason that the circumstances that called it into being may never occur again. Bad men manage to creep into all large organizations, and it will always be so, but the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, collectively and to its last individual, is prepared to assert and to back up the assertion that within its ranks there were fewer undesirables than any regiment of its size ever carried.

In organizing the eastern part of the State got away to a little better start than the western. This may be explained partly by the fact that the organization commanders selected for the eastern batteries were old and experienced soldiers, fully alive to the needs of the service and experienced in recruiting, while only one of the western captains had had previous military service. Battery A, at New Bern, with Captain John H. Weddell commanding, was the first to recruit up to strength required by the War Department, with Battery B of Washington and Battery C of Durham following close in the order named. Battery B was commanded by Captain Wiley C. Rodman of Washington, who had filled every rank in the old Second North Carolina Infantry from private to colonel. Battery C was commanded by Captain Lennox P. McLendon, of Durham, who had held a commission as 1st lieutenant in the Third North Carolina Infantry for many years. Captain Weddell had had twenty years' service in the National Guard and had served as an officer of volunteers in the Spanish-American War. Captain Rodman enlisted his first man on June 13th. Captain McLendon took in his first on June 16th and on June 27th both were ready for Federal inspection and so was Weddell. The first battalion of the “First North Carolina Light Field Artillery,” as it was then called, was ready for business.

In the western part of the State there was great rivalry among many good towns for batteries and this rivalry was so strenuous that it delayed the work of organizing. Finally Wadesboro and Monroe combined to form the “Bickett Battery,” or Battery D, naming it in honor of Governor Thomas W. Bickett, of North Carolina, who was born in Union county, near Monroe. Kenneth M. Hardison, of Wadesboro, was the leading spirit in the organization of this battery and he became its captain.

Major Claude L. Pridgen, Regimental Surgeon.

Major Louis B. Crayton, who commanded Battery E until promoted in February, 1919.

Battery E went to the mountains of the northwestern section of the State and was composed of a sturdy bunch of mountaineers from the counties of Ashe, Caldwell, Watauga, Alexander and Wilkes, with Buford F. Williams, a well-known lawyer of Lenoir, as its captain. Battery F was organized at Mooresville, by Reid R. Morrison, a physician and soldier of long experience, who had held a first lieutenancy in the First North Carolina Infantry. All of these organizations went over the minimum, the dead line set by the War Department, early in July. From the enlistment

Major Lennox P. McLendon, who commanded Battery C throughout its service at home and in France until promoted in February, 1919.

Major Robert M. Hanes, in command of Battery A until promoted in February, 1919.

of the first recruit on June 13, 1917, to the completion of the regiment, a little less than four weeks had elapsed.

On July 13, 1917, the First North Carolina Light Field Artillery was officially recognized by the War Department and on that date Governor Bickett formally commissioned Judge Albert L. Cox, of the North Carolina Superior Court bench, colonel of the new regiment. (S. O. 202 AGO N. C.) By Special Order on the same day, Captain Thaddeus G. Stem, commanding the machine gun company of the Third North Carolina Infantry, was transferred to the regiment, promoted to major and assigned to the command of the First Battalion. By the same order Captain Alfred L. Bulwinkle, of Company B, First North Carolina Infantry, was transferred to the regiment, promoted to major and assigned to the Second Battalion. Batteries A, of New Bern, B of Washington and C of Durham were officially designated as the First Battalion and Batteries D, of Wadesboro and Monroe, E of Lenoir and F of Mooresville, as the Second Battalion. (S. O. 206 AGO N. C.)

On that day, also, commissions were issued to Captain John H. Weddell, of Battery A, New Bern; Captain Lennox P. McLendon, of Battery C, who was transferred from the Third North Carolina Infantry in the same order; Captain Reid R. Morrison, Battery F, Mooresville, who was transferred from the First North Carolina Infantry; Chaplain Benjamin R. Lacy, Jr., with the rank of captain; Dr. Claude L. Pridgen, of Wilmington, to be regimental surgeon with rank of major.

On July 14, 1917, Matt H. Allen, lawyer and legislator, of Goldsboro, was commissioned captain and assigned as adjutant of the regiment, and A. L. Fletcher, of Raleigh, was commissioned as captain and assigned as regimental supply officer. By the same order he was directed to proceed to the organization of a Supply Company.

On July 17, 1917, Wiley C. Rodman, of Washington, was commissioned captain of Battery B; Buford F. Williams, of Lenoir, captain of Battery E and Kenneth M. Hardison, captain of Battery D.

On July 18, 1917, Erskine E. Boyce, of Gastonia, was commissioned captain and adjutant of the Second Battalion and two days later William T. Joyner, of Raleigh, was commissioned captain and adjutant of the First Battalion. On July 21, 1917, the last organization commander was named, this being Captain Rufus M. Johnston, of Charlotte, who was assigned to the command of Headquarters Company. The same order transferred him from the First North Carolina Infantry.

On July 27, 1917, Major Sidney C. Chambers, of Durham, a battalion commander in the Third North Carolina Infantry, was transferred to the First North Carolina Light Field Artillery and promoted to lieutenant-colonel. (S. O. 255 AGO N. C.)

The organization of the Supply and Headquarters Companies was not undertaken until after the six batteries had been practically completed. If the regiment had failed of organization in its entirety there would not have been need for either company and their organization was delayed

Captain Gustaf R. Westfeldt, Jr., Regimental Adjutant and Operations Officer.

Captain Kenneth M. Hardison, Adjutant of the First Battalion.

purposely. On July 14th, Captain Fletcher of the Supply Company, was told that he had nine days within which to complete his organization. The Adjutant General had designated Raleigh as the home station of both the Supply Company and Headquarters Company and the outlook for recruiting at Raleigh was not bright. Raleigh had already furnished a big infantry company, a full coast artillery company, a machine gun company, big detachments for the regulars, the navy, the marines and the various training camps, and recruiting officers who had been over the field said that there was no chance of forming two additional companies in Raleigh and scant hope of a single one. Just as other doubters had done when the regiment was first proposed, they failed to take note of the spirit that was abroad in the land and they based their predictions on their previous experiences and failures. The same spiritual uplift that “put over” the six batteries of the regiment was still strong enough to

Captain Robert P. Beaman, Adjutant of the Second Battalion.

Captain Alfred W. Horton, Regimental Personnel Officer.

put over the two remaining companies. Seventy-nine men applied for enlistment in the Supply Company alone. The full strength of an artillery supply company at that time was thirty-eight men. The over-flow was sent to other organizations of the regiment. Both of the companies went over the limit within a week and were ready for muster-in.

On July 25, 1917, the President called the National Guard into Federal service and along with the other North Carolina units the First North Carolina Light Field Artillery responded. The organizations assembled at home rendezvous and began training. Every organization had a nucleus of old soldiers, many of them experienced infantry non-commissioned officers, and these men under the supervision of the battery commanders set about the task of teaching the raw recruits the mysteries of the squad movement, military courtesy and the thousand and one things that a soldier should know.

The first monthly return of the new regiment, dated July 31, 1917, showed the strength of each organization and named the commissioned personnel as follows:

Regimental Headquarters: Three officers present, these being Colonel Albert L. Cox, commanding; Captain Matt H. Allen, adjutant and Captain Benjamin R. Lacy, Jr., chaplain. Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney C. Chambers was reported at the Infantry School of Musketry, Fort Sill, Okla.

Headquarters Company: Captain Rufus M. Johnston, commanding; First Lieutenant William P. Whittaker. Enlisted strength, 92 men.

Supply Company: Captain Arthur L. Fletcher, commanding; First Lieutenant Percy B. Perry. Enlisted strength, 38 men.

First Battalion Headquarters: Major Thaddeus G. Stem, commanding; Captain William T. Joyner, adjutant.

Battery A: Captain John H. Weddell, commanding; First Lieutenant W. B. R. Guion; Second Lieutenants Beverly S. Royster, Jr., and David R. Morris. Enlisted strength, 164 men.

Battery B: Captain Wiley C. Rodman, commanding; First Lieutenants Enoch S. Simmons and William E. Baugham; Second Lieutenants Robert H. Lawrence and George S. Dixon. Enlisted strength, 148 men.

Battery C: Captain Lennox P. McLendon, commanding; First Lieutenants Samuel M. Gattis, Jr., and Frank L. Fuller; Second Lieutenant Thomas J. Craig. Enlisted strength, 170 men.

Second Battalion Headquarters: Major Alfred L. Bulwinkle, commanding; Captain Erskine E. Boyce, adjutant.

Battery D: Captain Kenneth M. Hardison, commanding; First Lieutenants Frank B. Ashcraft and Julian E. Moore; Second Lieutenants Harry B. Covington and Herman H. Hardison. Enlisted strength, 136 men.

Battery E: Captain Buford F. Williams, commanding; First Lieutenants Sanford A. Richardson and Claude B. McBrayer; Second Lieutenants Wade V. Bowman and Eugene P. Jones. Enlisted strength, 158 men.

Battery F: Captain Reid R. Morrison, commanding; First Lieutenants

First Lieutenant William P. Whittaker, Regimental Gas Officer.

First Lieutenant Christian E. Mears, Regimental Radio and Telephone Officer.

ants Louis B. Crayton and George A. Morrow; Second Lieutenants Eugene Allison and Gowan Dusenberry, Jr. Enlisted strength, 173 men.

Sanitary Detachment: Major Claude L. Pridgen, commanding; First Lieutenants Gabe H. Croom and Joseph A. Speed, medical corps, and First Lieutenant Thomas L. Spoon, dental corps; Second Lieutenant Simeon A. Nathan, veterinary corps.

Caring for the men for the period intervening between July 25th, the date of assembly at company rendezvous, and the day the regiment was

Chaplain Benjamin R. Lacy, Jr.

First Lieutenant Joseph Lonergon, of the Supply Company, Regimental Munitions Officer.

ordered to mobilization camp, proved to be a task of considerable difficulty. Headquarters and Supply Companies were well taken care of at the North Carolina State A. & E. College, at Raleigh, this great college turning over its splendid dormitories and fine grounds to the National Guard organizations of Raleigh without cost. The men were furnished the best of board at the college dining room for the government allowance of seventy-five cents per day per man. The matter was not so easily handled in other towns and organization commanders were hard-pressed to find desirable quarters and proper food for their growing organizations.

It was here that the new captains got their first experience with old General Red Tape, that tough old army bird that was to roost on their necks for many a weary day and many a toilsome night. Their first difficulty was in solving the mysteries of “ration return” and it was a solid month before a single ration return reached the office of the Supply Officer in proper shape. This is no reflection on the officers making the returns, as a brief glance at the method of procedure, as outlined in the “Manual for the Quartermaster Corps” will readily show. Those who think it easy are invited to try it once.

If you wake up some fine morning feeling that the world is your oyster and longing for a job that will keep you busy mentally, physically and spiritually twenty-four hours per day and seven days in every week, permit some power to wish off on you the job of supply officer of a young, ambitious, impatient, growing regiment of field artillery. If you stay on the job you will never, like Alexander, sigh for other worlds to conquer. You will be kept eternally busy, keeping just one jump ahead of the deluge—studying A. R., G. O.'s, S. O.'s of the regiment, brigade, division, corps, department, War Department, files of bulletins from these various H. Q.'s the Q. M. Manual, the “Table of Fundamental Allowances,” and like publications; requisitioning again and again for equipment your regiment is howling for; checking payrolls and rations savings accounts; explaining “by indorsement hereon” why you haven't secured a pair of No. 14 “Shoes, Heavy Field” for a giant private in Battery D and a pair of No. 2½ of the same for petit Private Bill Jones of Battery C.

August and September were months of stress and strain to the regimental supply officer in particular and to the various organization commanders in lesser degree. The United States Government had undertaken a big task and equipment was lacking. It was several weeks before any sort of equipment could be secured and every organization was calling for everything. The United States Property and Disbursing Officer at Raleigh finally managed to secure uniforms and other equipment. As fast as the equipment was turned over to the Supply Officer it was apportioned to the batteries and shipped out. By the first of September every soldier in the regiment had one cotton uniform, two suits of underwear, two shirts, flannel O. D., one hat and one pair of canvas leggings. Later slickers were secured and before the regiment left for camp it was beginning to look like a military organization. Blankets, bed-sacks and iron cots sufficient for every man, were shipped out from Raleigh and the handling of 1,500 heavy iron cots and many tons of other equipment in the hottest part of the hot season, served to give the Supply Company a foretaste of what was coming to it.

Along about the first of August, 1917, it was definitely announced that the National Guard of North Carolina would form part of the 30th Division and that the other units of the division would come from Tennessee and South Carolina. A little later it was announced that Camp Sevier, at Greenville, S. C., would be the division's training camp. Reports drifted up from Greenville that work on the new camp was progressing slowly and representatives of the regiment were sent down to see. They reported that there was evidence in the woods near the little town of Paris, six miles from Greenville, that a military camp would eventually be established there, but that it was still far off. They failed utterly in locating the artillery section of the camp, all of that section being in a dense forest of pine and oak. The divisions of the camp that had been selected for the infantry organizations, the engineers, ambulance companies and field hospitals, contained much open land.

On August 27, 1917, Battery F, of Mooresville, was ordered to camp to help in clearing the camp site and getting things in readiness for the regiment. Though hampered by the lack of equipment, this battery did splendid work in clearing the forest, laying out streets, and many other things necessary in carving a home for the regiment out of the wilderness. When the remainder of the regiment arrived, the men of Battery F were hardened veterans, and, to them, watching their newly-arrived comrades, fresh from two soft and easy months at home station, buckling down to the hardest variety of manual labor, was a source of pleasure unalloyed.

The period of waiting at home stations was trying in the extreme. It was pleasant to be close to home folks. It was good to know all of the people they met on the streets. It was good to be fed on home cooking and the men of the regiment appreciated it. But it was not what they had enlisted for. They were too far from the Western Front. The men knew a long, arduous course of training lay between them and active participation in the World War and they were anxious to get at the job.

Finally, after many delays and after many false rumors of moving, orders came from the Headquarters of the Southeastern Department, Charleston, S. C., directing that the regiment entrain for Camp Sevier and the movement started Saturday night, September 14, 1917. All of the organizations reached their destination Sunday afternoon. This Sunday proved to be the first of a long line of Sundays that found the regiment moving. As luck would have it, almost every important move the regiment made during its existence, began or ended on Sunday.

 CHAPTER II IN TRAINING AT CAMP SEVIER, SOUTH CAROLINA

AT this stage of the game Camp Sevier still lacked much of being a real camp. After much difficulty guides were found on that momentous Sunday afternoon who could find the artillery camp by following a blue print sketch and the men were marched down a winding trail through the woods to the spot, where they found nine long frame mess-halls standing in the woods. Just enough trees had been cut away to give the buildings standing room. No regimental or battery streets had been cleared. There was a line of latrines and bath-houses in the rear of the space reserved for the erection of tents and the laying out of the streets. Regimental Supply Sergeant John P. Bolt had been on the ground for two weeks and he had secured field ranges and provided plenty of rations. The organizations had their own cots and bedding and before night fell there were enough “tents, pyramidal, large” up to shelter most of the men. The remainder slept in the mess-halls.

The task that lay before the regiment on that “Blue Monday” following its arrival in camp, was a big one, viewed from any angle. A bare start had been made at getting the camp ready for human occupancy and that was all. Ahead of the men lay the job of clearing away a tangled forest, grubbing thousands of oak and forest pine stumps, draining acres of marshy ground and moving tons of dirt. Armed with axes, mattocks, picks, saws, shovels, ropes and other equipment the men went at it and week followed week, in dreary, monotonous grind. It was grub stumps, pile brush, rake trash all day long and the bugle called you again early the following morning to start it all over again.

“Pap” Martin, horseshoer in the Supply Company, looking disgustedly at the neat horseshoe on his sleeve that marked his rank, said that he was going to see the Supply Sergeant and ask him if he hadn't made a mistake in issuing him such insignia.

“Seems to me,” said “Pap,” “I ought to have a grubbing hoe on my sleeve, 'stead of this thing.”

All of the men felt the same way about it but they stuck to the task with true Tar Heel grit. Rivalry developed among the organizations, each striving to have the most attractive street and this helped wonderfully.

Camp of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, Camp Sevier, S. C., with the regiment in the foreground.

Blistered hands and aching muscles were forgotten in the effort to outdo the other fellow.

Meanwhile the regiment was being merged into a larger organization, the 55th Field Artillery Brigade of the 30th Division. The regiment was no longer known as the “First North Carolina Field Artillery” but was now designated the “One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery.” Beside it in the artillery area of the camp was the 114th Field Artillery, of Tennessee, also a light artillery organization, and farther on, over the hill, was the 115th Field Artillery, a heavy outfit, also from Tennessee.

These three organizations, with the 105th Trench Mortar Battery and the the 105th Ammunition Train, made up the 55th Field Artillery Brigade. In command was Brigadier General George G. Gatley, one of the best artillery officers in the United States Army.

Gradually more equipment began to trickle in. The Supply Company picked up a bunch of escort wagons, borrowed some harness from the 105th Engineers, and drew a few good teams of mules from the Remount Depot. A month passed and the Remount Depot began to issue horses. It was several months before the regiment had its full quota of horses and mules, but they came at last and they were all that could be desired. No finer bunch of horses and mules were ever assembled anywhere and it was the regiment's greatest sorrow that it was not permitted to take these animals to France.

After the work of clearing away the stumps and trees from the battery streets had been completed and after the forty acres that composed the corrals were likewise shorn of trees and fit for the habitation of mules and horses, a sigh of relief went up from the regiment. Everybody was happy, but it was not to last. One morning General Gatley called Colonel Cox over to his headquarters and pointing to a spot on the camp blue print said:

“Your parade ground will be there.”

“There” proved to be the area directly north of the regiment's camp, every inch of which was covered with trees, briars, thorns and vines.

Camp of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, Camp Sevier, S. C., with the regiment in the foreground.

A Chatham county rabbit would have hesitated long before trying to make his way through it and Chatham county rabbits are famous throughout North Carolina for their daring and intrepidity. In spite of all this, General Gatley remarked careless-like, almost nonchalantly:

“Your parade ground will be there.”

“Yes, Sir,” said the Colonel and he departed to pass the news on down to his organization commanders, who, in turn, passed it on to their top sergeants, who broke the news to the men raspingly:

“Outside! Parade ground grubbing detail for the morning will consist of the following men, etc. File by the supply tent and get your pioneer equipment.”

For the benefit of the uninitiated let it be understood that “pioneer equipment” is just another name for the outfit used for clearing new grounds and it meant just axes, saws, picks and mattocks and all of this was now old stuff to the men, who went at it again with dogged determination. It was Christmas before all of the grubbing was finished but they got it cleared in time to make room for their first real guns, a battery of American 3-inch guns, all of them many years old.

Supplies of all kinds, except food, continued scarce. The rough work of clearing up forests proved to be very hard on army clothes. Men tore their uniforms into shreds. Overalls lasted only a few days. Shoes were ripped and snagged and the bottoms burned off around the brush fires. Hats lost their shape and leggings were frayed and torn. The Division Quartermaster was sitting on the lid, holding it down tight. He had 30,000 men to care for and not equipment enough for half the number. Consequently, he made life a burden to all supply officers, and his own existence during those trying months was doubtless troubled. Winter came on and there were no winter clothes. The weather was bitter cold before the men could be furnished with winter clothes and a fourth of winter was past before the first overcoats arrived. It was hard lines, but there was no help for it. Uncle Sam simply did not have the stuff. True, there seemed to be no lack of warm winter clothes, fine heavy

“Call this soldiering if you want to!” Men of the regiment clearing away the forest to make a parade ground.

overcoats and good shoes at National Army camps, those camps de luxe where the selective service men lived luxuriously in steam-heated barracks, but those articles were sadly lacking in at least one National Guard camp, where 30,000 of the finest soldiers the world has ever seen lived under canvas through the worst winter the South had experienced since 1898. Mumps and measles broke out in camp and, naturally as night follows day, grippe, pneumonia and kindred ailments came and seized upon the victims, who, weakened by mumps, measles and exposure, died in great numbers. Other organizations lost a great deal more heavily than did the One Hundred and Thirteenth and this immunity from disease was thought by the surgeons to be due to the gradual hardening of the men, beginning in the warm days of the early fall and continuing practically through the winter. Certain it is that the regiment never lacked for the hardest of manual labor at any time during the fall and winter of 1917-1918 and the men really were as “hard as nails.” The few members of the regiment who died were mainly replacements from National Army camps at Camp Jackson, S. C., and Camp Gordon, Ga. These men came to the regiment late in the fall and they were not prepared for the hardships that came upon them. It is worth noting here that those twin scourges, mumps and measles, and that other disease, most dreaded of all, meningitis, were practically unknown at Camp Sevier until the big contingent of drafted men arrived from Camp Jackson. The commanding general of the 30th Division reported these facts to the War Department and a searching investigation was made. The result of the investigation was never made

At Drill with wooden guns. This is Battery D.

known, but the surgeons of the 30th Division will bear witness to the fact that the epidemics that swept over the camp came in the wake of the influx of drafted men from Camp Jackson and were directly traceable to them.

Later the division learned to quarantine incoming recruits from National Army camps long enough to see whether they were harboring deadly germs or not and there was no further trouble along this line.

While the severe weather, scanty clothing, cold tents and frozen bath-houses were unpleasant and hard to bear with cheerfulness, the situation had its compensations. The men developed hardihood and character while struggling with stumps, logs and underbrush, displaying the same fortitude that later characterized them on the field of battle and won for them undying fame. The lessons learned on the icy hills around Camp Sevier helped the division to break the Hindenburg Line and aided no little in the making of its splendid record.

Shortly after the arrival of the regiment at Camp Sevier there were changes in the Tables of Organization for practically all branches of the service. The strength of a light field artillery regiment was increased by the addition of four men to each battery. Headquarters Company was increased to 167 men and the Supply Company from 38 to 120 men, including an ordnance detachment of 12 men.

The commissioned personnel also increased considerably, the increase being in Headquarters Company and including radio, telephone, gas and other specialists. According to the Tables of Organization, Headquarters Company should have had 14 officers but there was never a time when

Battery C drilling with wooden guns. It takes imagination to see it, but this picture shows a 3-inch American gun and gun limber.

the company had more than half that number. The regiment was always short of officers.

Because much has been said about it here, it should not be understood that clearing away the “forest primeval” was the only thing under way at Camp Sevier. It was the biggest thing going on for several weeks but at the same time the men were beginning to learn things about their new trade. While half of a battery was out in the woods hard at work, the other half would be at standing gun drill or doing “squads east.” No time was lost. Each organization provided itself with wooden guns, there being no real guns available, and drilled faithfully. These guns were made out of pine logs, either mounted on old wagon or buggy wheels, or on forks set in the ground. The first battery to secure enough buggy wheels to mount its four guns was much envied. The others followed suit and with true Tar Heel ingenuity provided various substitutes for instruments needed in their work. In spite of the difficulties training went forward remarkably well. A great national weekly magazine, “Leslie's Weekly,” heard of the regiment's wooden guns and sent a famous war correspondent all the way from New York to look the regiment over, photograph its wooden guns and watch the earnest and aspiring artillerymen work without equipment. Later these pictures were used to preach a strong sermon about our nation's unpreparedness and they created a profound impression.

The arrival of real guns created much excitement in camp. They came after many promises and many delays, and while they were aged and uncertain in action, they were highly prized. The regiment secured four of them, four others going to the 114th Field Artillery. The guns were placed on the parade ground and a regular schedule for gun drill was prepared by which each organization got its turn at the guns with regularity and every gun was in use every working hour. Rain or shine, no organization missed its drill period. The winter was unusually bitter but it made no difference with the One Hundred and Thirteenth. There were only a few days when the snow was too deep and the weather too cold for outdoor drill and on those days the men were carried to the mess-halls and instruction continued there. No outfit ever worked harder than did the One Hundred and Thirteenth. The game was new to every member of the regiment, from the colonel down, and every member of the regiment determined to master every detail of it.

Let it be recorded here that the officers of the regiment worked. It was up to them to keep several jumps ahead of their men and it took earnest, persistent, grinding labor, through long hours, to do this, for the enlisted personnel was of a variety that absorbed artillery education with astonishing ease.

When retreat sounded in the afternoon, the enlisted man could “call it a day,” except perhaps for a little detail work. Ordinarily he was free to visit the city, or call on friends in other parts of the camp, but not so with the officer. There was officers' school from seven o'clock until nine, and after school he had a whole hour to study the work of the coming day, check up on his paper work, square himself with the various inspectors who had picked flaws in his battery street, his mess-hall, latrine, or bath-house and had demanded explanation “by indorsement hereon.” That man was considered some worker who could get through with his labors by taps and turn in with the blissful consciousness that he had nothing to do but sleep until reveille.

Not all of the officers of the regiment made good and it is not to their discredit that they failed. With few exceptions, every man tried his level best. Not every man can be an artilleryman. There is no royal road to an artillery education and men of matured minds and settled habits, many years removed from the school room, find it extremely difficult to master anew the complexities of higher mathematics, a thorough knowledge of which is absolutely essential. There are men who can never be good mathematicians, just as there are men who can never be good lawyers, good surgeons, or good preachers. In any other branch of the service, the same amount of energy and devotion to duty might have brought success to these men who failed to make good as artillery officers. It is to their credit, too, that they needed no “benzine board,” as the well-known military efficiency board is popularly called in the army, to suggest resignations. Without exception they recognized their own inability to master the game and having the good of the regiment at heart, they stepped down and out with no bitterness in their hearts.

As rapidly as it could be arranged, the battalion commanders and adjutants and the various organization commanders, were sent away to the great U. S. Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Okla. Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney C. Chambers was first to go, returning to the regiment after Christmas. He had taken the Fort Sill course and an additional course at the school for field officers in Texas. On December 1st, Colonel Cox went to Fort Sill. Major Stem, of the First Battalion, was also among those who went early. His adjutant, Captain Joyner, was retained at Fort Sill as an instructor, after he had finished the course and did not rejoin the regiment until it was about to sail for duty overseas. In the absence of the other field officers, Major Bulwinkle commanded the regiment until relieved by Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob A. Mack, of the regular army, who reported for duty on December 31st. Lieutenant-Colonel John T. Geary, C. A. C., regular army, was at first assigned to the regiment but owing to his preference for the “heavies” he was transferred to the 115th Field Artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel Mack had just returned from France, where he had seen service with the 7th Field Artillery, U. S. A., and he remained with the regiment until Colonel Cox had completed his studies at Fort Sill and at the field officers' school in Texas.

In September the regiment received the following new officers:

Second Lieutenants U. S. R. C., George R. Holmes, Ralph W. Harrison, Robert P. Beaman, Hamilton S. F. Greene, Wilbur F. Brooks, Rufus G. Roberts, Christian E. Mears, Francis L. Harris, Harry C. Williams.

First Lieutenant Dental Reserve Corps, Wallace D. Gibbs.

In October Second Lieutenant William O. Hughes, Veterinary Reserve Corps, was assigned to the regiment from the Remount Depot of the camp.

In November First Lieutenants Medical Reserve Corps, Burmah D. Moore, Eugene P. Ledford and William H. Goldstein joined the Sanitary Detachment, the three coming from Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Goldstein remained with the regiment about a month and was transferred to a base hospital in New York. Moore and Ledford were transferred in February, 1918, to the 118th Infantry of the 30th Division.

In November there were many changes among the officers of the regiment, among these being the transfer of Captain Erskine E. Boyce from adjutant of the Second Battalion to Regimental Adjutant, succeeding Captain Matt H. Allen, who was transferred to the department of the Judge Advocate General on November 19th with the rank of major; Captain Rufus M. Johnston, of Headquarters Company, was relieved of his command and made adjutant of the First Battalion, succeeding Captain William T. Joyner, who was transferred to Headquarters Company.

There were also many promotions in the regiment in November. Sergeants Owen S. Robertson, Leroy C. Hand, John W. Moore, Lemuel R. Johnston, Regimental Sergeant Major William B. Duncan, Color Sergeant Henry A. McKinnon and Ordnance Sergeant Jesse E. Carpenter became second lieutenants. Second Lieutenants Beverly S. Royster, Jr., Christian E. Meares, Wade V. Bowman, Robert P. Beaman and Wilbur F. Brooks were made first lieutenants and all assigned to Headquarters Company.

In December Captain Buford F. Williams of Battery E became adjutant of the Second Battalion. First Lieutenant Louis B. Crayton, of Battery F, succeeded him in command of Battery E and was promoted to captain on December 22d. During the month Sergeant Frank B. Davis, Sergeant Owen H. Guion, Regimental Sergeant Major Caleb K. Burgess and Battalion Sergeant Major Zack D. Harden were made second lieutenants. Second Lieutenants Eugene P. Allison and William B. Duncan were promoted to first lieutenants. First Lieutenant Robert M. Hanes reported for duty and was assigned to Battery E. He was later to become captain of Battery A. First Lieutenant Frank K. Borden and Second Lieutenant Emmett H. Bellamy, O. R. C., joined the regiment during this month. Lieutenant Wilbur F. Brooks was transferred to headquarters 55th F. A. Brigade and Lieutenants Goldstein, Holmes and Williams were transferred to other camps.

During December many difficulties were encountered. Practically all of the month was extremely cold. There were many heavy snows and to make a bad situation worse, the measles and mumps epidemics already referred to, were at their height. For a large part of the month the regiment was in quarantine and only those who have experienced a camp quarantine know just how deadly dull and trying it is. There were days when drill at the guns could not be held and on these days the regiment took long practice hikes, covering all of the territory around Camp Sevier. At this time the regiment had about 1,000 head of horses and mules, and feeding and grooming these animals under the weather conditions that prevailed was a tremendous task. To make a bad matter worse, the accumulations of soiled bedding and manure from the corrals had to be hauled out daily and delivered in accordance with the instructions of a Greenville contractor, who had contracted for the whole output of the camp at the low price of twenty-five cents per load, delivered under anywhere within eight miles of camp. The Supply Company delivered under this contract an average of twenty loads daily for many months, with an average haul of twelve miles. This Greenville contractor collected $1.50 per load from the farmers of the surrounding country. An effort was made to ascertain the name of the brilliant quartermaster who made this contract but the effort was in vain. Nobody wanted to father the deal and the buck was passed with much speed whenever it was mentioned.

No other organization of the regiment will begrudge the Supply Company a few words of praise for the work they did during that long hard winter. In addition to keeping the corrals clean they had their other labors to perform, a regiment to feed and clothe and with this foolish contract to carry out, it required seven days of hard labor every week. There was no rest for the Supply Company. When a rare half holiday came along, down would come a memorandum from headquarters, reading about as follows:

CAMP SEVIER SCENES

(1) Regimental Street under snow. (2) A Detail engaged in Flooring Tents. (3) Battery C's Rolling Kitchen, completely covered with Cooks and K. P.'s. (4) “Danger,” the famous Pit Bull Mascot of the Supply Company at “Attention.” (5) Snapshot of the Officers' Club House. (6) A Section of the Camp. (7) Looking up Regimental Street toward Headquarters. (8) Lining up for Chow. (9) “Asa,” the Mascot of Battery A, saddled and ready for action.

“Class B men, all organizations, will report to the Supply Company for policing corrals.”

“Class B men” being men who by misconduct of one kind or another had forfeited the rights usually accorded enlisted men.

One of the Supply Company “mule-skinners” was heard to remark to his corporal one snowy day:

“Say, Corp, I know now who put the ‘S’ in ‘S. O. L.’ ”

And he put his finger on the big letter S that showed on his collar ornament.

Nevertheless, he and his fellows worked faithfully and cheerfully in all kinds of weather. When the wagons of the Supply Company stopped rolling it was because they had encountered a division inspector who had declared the roads too bad for traffic. Nothing else could stop them and the result was that when bad weather was over, the corrals of the One Hundred and Thirteenth were as clean as a new pin and the Supply Company was able to respond to a frantic plea for help from the Supply Company of the 114th which had found the weather too bad for it. The company did this with real pleasure, too, for there was a great deal of good-natured rivalry between the two organizations and this calling for help was proof positive that the Tar Heel outfit had the edge on their Tennessee rivals.

And that was some winter, too! The people of Greenville said that there had been no such weather there since the Spanish-American War. They resented no little the many uncomplimentary things that were said about their climate and they spoke enthusiastically about the balmy winters they usually served to all comers. This was received with jeers and scoffing by the majority and with polite skepticism by the rest.

Whatever the usual thing may be in the way of Greenville winters, the fact remains that the winter of 1917-18 was altogether bad, exceedingly uncomfortable, and more like the variety one would expect in the far north. It was marked by terrible blizzards and high winds. Much of the tentage used by the regiment had seen service on the Mexican border. Several tents bore old markings of Pershing's expeditionary force. All of it was old and the winds ripped it to shreds. Sparks from the Sibley stoves fell on the sides of the tents and burned great holes in them. Many were destroyed completely, and there were no new tents to be had and no canvas for patching the old.

Organization commanders will remember this season of trouble and worry. The Commanding General while roaming through the regiment one day, caught sight of a row of tents in one of the batteries that was worse, far worse, than any of the others. He sent an aide to tell the captain of the battery to mend his ways, also his tents, at once. The captain made every effort to secure canvas to do the mending but there was none to be had. The following day, a cold and snowy Saturday, the General passed through again on his regular Saturday tour of inspection and he remembered the message he had sent to the battery commander. The General, always a fluent talker, surpassed himself that day and the things he said to that luckless captain doubtless make his ears burn to this day, for the General is noted for a blistering tongue, a caustic and copious flow of language and picturesque, highly-colored phraseology.

He promised that luckless captain that he would find every one of those neglected holes—and there were scores of them—in his efficiency record and he forthwith confined the captain and all of his officers to camp until every hole had been mended.

But that sort of thing was all in the day's work. It was nothing to lose sleep over. It is the way of generals to find things to kick about and the vast majority of them kicked promiscuously and with great frequency from the rising up of the sun to the going down of the same and no man dares say them nay. Just why it is necessary for higher officers of the regular army—generals in particular—to raise Cain all the time, never dropping a word of commendation, is a deep, dark mystery to the unprofessional soldier. Their system seems to work fairly well but the same results might be obtained in a much more pleasing way.

Having mentioned Greenville, right here is as good a place as any to speak of that long-suffering, much-enduring town situated in the suburbs of Camp Sevier. It has been the experience of most towns that landed cantonments after long and earnest effort, that the cantonment was not always an unmixed blessing. The soldier receives a warm welcome at first but when he begins to fill the streets and stores and jam the street cars and jitneys, the inhabitants of the city he is gumming up grow weary and grumble. If Greenville ever felt this way about the 30th Division, she hid it wonderfully well. Greenville merchants and landlords may have profiteered a bit, for the opportunity was there and they were human, but in the main the finest feeling prevailed always between the people of the town and the soldiers. Greenville, like charity, suffered long and was kind.

Officers will remember their Saturday night visits to Greenville as orgies of saluting. Anywhere on Main street in the city of Greenville on Saturday night an officer walking or standing still, was required to execute thirty salutes per minute. When his right arm could stand the strain no longer he would hail a jitney and get off the street, or take refuge in a picture show.

Officers and enlisted men in great numbers will also remember Greenville for the hospitality shown their wives and children. Hundreds of soldiers brought their families to Greenville and kept them there during the long months of training. This was a source of much comfort to all concerned.

In the various Liberty Loan drives that marked the fall of 1917, the regiment did its part exceedingly well. In the drive ending on November 2, 1917, the regiment subscribed for $55,750 of bonds, 751 officers and men subscribing. This was distributed through the regiment as follows:

Officers not reported with organizations . . . . . $ 450.00 Supply Company . . . . . 2,150.00 Headquarters Company . . . . . 1,750.00 Sanitary Detachment . . . . . 2,900.00 Battery A . . . . . 8,650.00 Battery B . . . . . 10,600.00 Battery C . . . . . 5,400.00 Battery D . . . . . 9,650.00 Battery E . . . . . 6,750.00 Battery F . . . . . 7,450.00

Battery F led in the number of subscribers, having 149. Battery B was second with 134 and Battery A third with 120.

The men did well also in the matter of making allotments to their families, practically all of them showing an earnest desire to take advantage of everything offered them by the War Department. The regiment experienced a great deal of trouble with allotments. There seemed to be a complete breakdown in Washington and it took months to get simple little questions answered and small mistakes cleared up. In scores of cases there were wives, children and dependent parents at home sorely in need of the amount allotted to them and it was extremely difficult to get the allotments going. If you want to get a rise out of the average soldier, say something about that famous organization, the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, that had charge of the matter. No government agency ever looked better on its face or failed more completely than did this one.

The men of the regiment seized the opportunity to take the insurance offered by the government with great enthusiasm. When the campaign was over and the time limit set by the government had expired, 1,479 officers and men of the regiment had subscribed for war risk insurance totalling $12,500,000, making the regiment full 100 per cent. insured.

The official record of the insurance drive published in a memorandum from regimental headquarters on February 13, 1918, was as follows:

RECORD OF INSURANCE SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH FIELD ARTILLERY. Organization. Actual Strength February 13. No. of Policies. Amount of Insurance. Per cent. of Men Headquarters Company 179 205 $1,709,000 100% Supply Company 113 132 921,000 100% Sanitary Detachment 36 38 324,000 100% Battery A 185 187 1,575,000 100% Battery B 190 263 1,597,000 100% Battery C 186 242 1,679,500 100% Battery D 189 215 1,474,000 100% Battery E 185 225 1,136,000 100% Battery F 186 315 1,815,000 100% TOTAL *1,449

*This total includes twenty officers. Remainder of officers insured but not included in this table.

 1,822 $12,230,500 100%

Average amount subscribed for—$8,440.65.

The regiment will always be proud of this record. Not many organizations in the service equalled it and none excelled it. It drew special commendation from the division commander. Adding the insurance taken by the remainder of the officers of the regiment, it was insured for a total of approximately $12,500,000.

The insurance idea was one that grew on the men as the months went by, as is indicated by the number of policies taken in each organization. Men who started with one policy of $5,000, subscribed for another, going the full limit.

But, as has been hinted at heretofore, a most exacting and rigid course of instruction in all phases of artillery work was carried out despite the fearful weather and the various Liberty bond and insurance campaigns. Nothing, no matter how praiseworthy, was allowed to interfere with the work of making artillerymen out of the men and officers of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery. The progress made was phenomenal, considering the difficulties encountered in the way of lack of equipment, lack of trained instructors, and, as has been mentioned, extremely bad weather. Whatever else they may have lacked, nobody ever accused the men of the regiment of lacking energy, grit, initiative and enthusiasm and they stuck to the work with unwavering determination.

In the matter of instructors, the regiment might have fared worse. It was extremely fortunate in having a one third interest in Lieutenant Jacques J. L. Popelin, a brilliant young French artillery officer of rare tact and understanding. He came to the 55th Field Artillery Brigade about December 1, 1917, just as Colonel Cox was leaving for the Fort Sill Artillery School. Lieutenant Popelin had served for nearly four years on the front and he knew the game from the ground up. He did not laugh at the crudeness of things as he found them. Never once did he sneer at well-meaning efforts of inexperienced, but terribly-in-earnest, soldiers to do things they were ordered to do. He was always willing and anxious to help, always properly sympathetic and always patient, no matter how helplessly the student floundered. He was just as ready to spend hours helping a hopeless bone-head master a problem as he was to help the more brilliant, and that is what won for him the respect and admiration of the entire brigade. Elsewhere in this book Lieutenant Popelin tells in his own way of the training period and of his experience with the regiment. He writes as he speaks and his letter will serve to recall to all of the officers of the regiment his delightful lectures.

Another Frenchman was attached to the brigade for several months, Marechal des Logis Boree, also an experienced fighter and a very helpful instructor. Boree supervised the construction of four gun emplacements, very much on the order of the gun emplacements the regiment was to find all along the front in the St. Mihiel sector.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob A. Mack, of the regular army, who assumed command of the regiment on January 1, 1918, believed strongly in shifting his officers around, “breaking up happy families” as he expressed it. His contention was that no officer should command his home company for the reason that it would be very difficult for the officer to avoid having favorites among his men and “playing” these favorites, too; that officers and men were prone to get into a rut and lose interest in their work, if they associated too long together. Therefore, he set about the task of shaking up the regiment and when he got through with it there was “nobody home” in any outfit except the Supply Officer and the Regimental Adjutant. These two were not moved.

During the month of January the following transfers and other changes took place among the officers of the regiment:

First Lieutenant William P. Whittaker transferred from Headquarters Company to Battery D; First Lieutenant J. E. Moore, from Battery D to Headquarters Company; Sergeant James P. Dodge, Jr., promoted to second lieutenant and assigned to Battery F; Second Lieutenant E. H. Bellamy, Battery F, transferred to Chickamaugua Park; Second Lieutenant Thomas J. Craig, Battery C, to Headquarters Company; Second Lieutenant Robert H. Lawrence, Battery B, resigned; First Lieutenant David R. Morris, Battery A, to Headquarters Company; First Lieutenant Claude B. Mc-Brayer, Headquarters Company, resigned.

In February Captain Gustaf R. Westfeldt joined the regiment and was assigned to Headquarters Company. He assumed command of that organization on February 21st. First Lieutenant Horace C. Bennett also joined the regiment and was assigned to Headquarters Company. First Lieutenant Sanford A. Richardson, Battery E, was transferred to Headquarters Company and later resigned. First Lieutenant P. B. Perry, Supply Company, transferred to Headquarters Company and resigned on February 20th. First Lieutenant Robert P. Beaman, transferred from Headquarters Company to Battery B; First Lieutenant Christian E. Mears, Headquarters Company, to Battery E; Second Lieutenant Jesse E. Carpenter, Headquarters Company to Battery A; Second Lieutenant Zack D. Harden, Headquarters Company to Battery A; Captain John H. Weddell, Battery A to battalion adjutant, First Battalion; First Lieutenant William B. R. Guion, Battery A, to Battery C; Second Lieutenant Richard D. Dixon, Battery A, to Battery E; Second Lieutenant Frank B. Davis, Battery A, to Battery D; Captain Lennox P. McLendon, Battery C, to Battery B; First Lieutenant Frank B. Ashcraft, Battery D to Battery B; Second Lieutenant H. B. Covington, Battery D to Battery B; Second Lieutenant John W. Moore, Headquarters Company to Battery B; First Lieutenant William E. Baugham, Battery B to Supply Company; Captain Rufus M. Johnston, from adjutant of First Battalion to Battery F; First Lieutenant Enoch S. Simmons, Battery B to Battery F; First Lieutenant Frank L. Fuller, Battery C to Battery F; Second Lieutenant H. H. Hardison, Battery D to Battery F; Captain Reid R. Morrison, Battery F to Battery D; First Lieutenant George A. Morrow, Battery F to Battery D; First Lieutenant Eugene Allison, Battery F to Battery C; Second Lieutenant Eugene P. Jones, Battery F to Battery C; Second Lieutenant James P. Dodge, Jr., Battery F to Battery A; Captain Wiley C. Rodman, Battery B to Battery E; Second Lieutenant Owen S. Robertson, Battery C to Battery E: First Lieutenant S. M. Gattis, Battery C to Battery D; First Lieutenant Robert M. Hanes, Battery E to Battery A; Second Lieutenant G. S. Dixon, Battery B to Battery D; Second Lieutenant Leroy C. Hand, Battery E to Battery C; Captain Louis B. Crayton, Battery E to Battery C; Second Lieutenant Eugene P. Jones, of Battery C resigned on February 7th.

Practically all of the transfers in February were made in one order, R. S. O. No. 21, dated February 1, 1918. Officers and men will long remember this particular order, for it came without warning and completely upset the old and established order of things.

In March there were also many changes, though not so many as in February. Battery A reported no changes. In Battery B, Leroy C. Hand, Battery C, promoted from second lieutenant to first, was in command of the outfit in the absence of Captain McLendon, who was at Fort Sill. Second Lieutenant Russel N. Boswell, commissioned from sergeant and transferred from Battery C, and Second Lieutenant Henry A. McKinnon, transferred to Battery B from Headquarters Company, were the other new officers in Battery B. First Lieutenant John W. Moore and First Lieutenant Frank B. Ashcraft were transferred, the first to Battery E and the latter to Headquarters Company. Lieutenant Ashcraft resigned during the month. First Lieutenants Frank L. Fuller and Enoch S. Simmons were transferred from Battery F to Battery C and Second Lieutenant Francis E. Liles, newly commissioned from sergeant, was assigned to Battery C. First Lieutenant William B. R. Guion was transferred from Battery C to Battery A and First Lieutenant William P. Whittaker to Battery F.

In Battery D, First Lieutenant George A. Morrow resigned and First Lieutenant Richard D. Dixon, promoted during the month from Second Lieutenant, was assigned to the battery from Battery E. In Battery E, there was only one other change during the month. Second Lieutenant Marshal S. Barnett, commissioned from sergeant, was assigned to the battery on March 13th. Battery F was unchanged, except that Ordnance Sergeant Edwin B. Haynes, Supply Company, was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the battery. Headquarters Company showed two changes in March, one being the resignation of First Lieutenant Frank B. Ashcraft and the assignment to the company of Second Lieutenant J. P. Bolt, commissioned from regimental supply sergeant on March 13th. In the Sanitary Detachment Second Lieutenant W. O. Hughes, veterinary corps, was made first lieutenant, First Lieutenants Burmah D. Moore and Henry P. Ledford were transferred to the 118th Infantry.

In April the regiment lost for a time eighteen of its officers who were sent overseas with the advance school detachment of the 30th Division. From Headquarters Company First Lieutenants David R. Morris and Julian E. Moore were transferred to the Aviation Concentration Camp at Fort Sill. Second Lieutenant Henry A. McKinnon was transferred to Battery A, Second Lieutenant John P. Bolt to the Supply Company, and First Lieutenant William B. Duncan to Battery E. Second Lieutenant Zack D. Harden was transferred to Battery A. Second Lieutenant Harry B. Covington resigned from Battery B. First Lieutenant Eugene Allison, of Battery A, was assigned to Battery C on April 24th and Captain Louis B. Crayton of Battery C, was assigned to Battery E on April 13th. On the same date Captain Reid R. Morrison, of Battery D was reassigned to his old battery F, and Captain Rufus M. Johnston, of Battery F, was assigned to Battery D. Second Lieutenant Edwin B. Haynes, Battery F, was assigned to Battery E. First Lieutenant William P. Whittaker was transferred to Headquarters Company. Captain John H. Weddell, adjutant of the First Battalion, resigned.

About the middle of May nine new officers reported to the regiment, all coming from the field artillery replacement camp at Camp Jackson, S. C. They were: Captain Nugent B. Vairin, Jr., First Lieutenants Charles H. Wood, Allan W. Douglass, Lewis M. Smith, Jr., Maitland Solomon; Second Lieutenants Richard S. Schmidt, Daniel T. Roberts, Ernest W. Hinchcliffe and Kip I. Chace. Two of these, Lieutenant Douglass and Lieutenant Schmidt, were assigned to Battery A. Second Lieutenant James P. Dodge, Jr., was transferred from Battery A to Headquarters Company and Second Lieutenant Jesse E. Carpenter, of Battery A, resigned. First Lieutenant Charles H. Wood and Second Lieutenant Daniel T. Roberts were assigned to Battery B. Second Lieutenant Ernest W. Hinchcliffe was assigned to Battery C. Captain Nugent B. Vairin, Jr., was assigned to Battery D, succeeding Captain Rufus M. Johnston, who resigned. Second Lieutenant Kip I. Chace was also assigned to Battery D. First Lieutenant Maitland Solomon and Second Lieutenant Richard S. Schmidt were assigned to Battery F. First Lieutenant Lewis M. Smith was assigned to Headquarters Company and First Lieutenant William E. Baugham, relieved from duty with the Supply Company, was also assigned to Headquarters Company. First Lieutenant Frank K. Borden was transferred from the Headquarters Company to the Aviation Concentration Camp at Fort Sill. First Lieutenant Joseph Lonergon was transferred to the regiment from the Quartermaster Corps and was attached to the Supply Company on May 1. He was assigned to the Supply Company on May 22d. Captain Martin Olthouse, veterinary corps, was assigned to the regiment during this month.

In April the regimental staff was increased by the addition of another officer, a personnel adjutant. First Lieutenant Alfred W. Horton, of the 30th Division Staff, was selected for this place and he was transferred to the regiment, soon thereafter being promoted to captain. This new office, it was announced, would relieve company commanders of the onerous labors of making out pay rolls and writing miles of reports. While all of the dreams engendered by the news of the new departure failed to come true, it did serve to greatly lighten the burdens of all organization commanders. The Personnel Officer took from the shoulders of the Supply Officer the burden of handling the regiment's pay account and his records, carefully card indexed and filed, made instantly available the regiment's every asset in the way of specially trained man-power.

While these changes were taking place among the officers of the regiment, many changes were taking place among the enlisted men of the regiment. By slow degrees every man found his place. Men who had come to camp, privates, demonstrated their fitness for places of responsibility and in many cases men who had come to camp wearing the stripes of a corporal or of a sergeant again found their way back to the ranks. The changes were too numerous to be chronicled here. In March, April and May of 1918, there were many calls for specially trained men for service overseas and elsewhere in the United States. French speaking soldiers were taken in one group and sent to Camp Greene, N. C., for immediate service in France. Another time the call was for railway mechanics for the A. E. F. and the regiment lost heavily. Truck drivers and auto mechanics went out in a body, leaving a big gap in the ranks, and so it went. Organization commanders were sorely tried during these months, for they knew not the hour when an order would come down calling for their very best men. A good private is a precious possession and one to be cherished, but a good non-com is worth his weight in gold. It takes long, hard, sustained effort to develop one and to have him trailed down to your outfit by a card index hound and snatched away without so much as “by your leave,” is one of the things that makes war what Sherman said it was.

In January the following soldiers were sent to the Third Officers' Training Camp at Camp Stanley, Leon Springs, Texas:

Sergeant Major W. A. Allen, First Sergeant W. F. Danielly, Sergeants Fred M. Patterson, Paul B. Scott, Michael H. Jones and George B. Hellen, Headquarters Company; Corporal Leland C. Shepard, Supply Company; Sergeant John G. Hudgins, Battery A; First Sergeant W. A. Blount, Battery B; Sergeant C. B. Wills, Battery C; Sergeant Nero T. Bobbitt and Corporal Percy H. Wilson, Battery D; Sergeant C. J. M. Blume, Corporals Leland White, Jr., and Mitchell F. Orr, Private John L. Bell, of Battery F.

Many other men were transferred to other branches of the service. The Signal Corps took quite a number and the Quartermaster Corps called for trained accountants and men experienced in the handling of supplies. By means of the card index of the personnel officer these men were located easily and taken away in droves. There was never a time when the regiment was unable to furnish the kind of men called for. Every variety of skilled labor and most of the professions were represented in the regiment.

As these men went, others came to fill their places. They came from National Army camps at Camp Jackson, S. C., Camp Gordon, Ga., and Camp Funston, Kan. The men received from Camp Funston, Kan., were of an unusually high order and well trained in field artillery work. Those received from Jackson and Gordon were green. The Camp Funston men were out of the 89th Division and almost without exception proved to be good soldiers. A search of the records would show that the Camp Funston detachment furnished the regiment a number of non-commissioned officers out of all proportion to the size of the detachment. These men were all from the west. Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska were well represented as were the Dakotas and Colorado.

The War Department changed its policy of promoting men from the ranks in the spring of 1918, requiring thereafter a course in some training camp. The number of officer candidates alloted to each regiment was very small and this was very discouraging to the ambitious. The One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery possessed “officer timber” in large quantities. No regiment ever boasted an enlisted personnel ranking higher in intelligence and soldierly qualities in general than that of the One Hundred and Thirteenth. There was no disposition on the part of the officers of the regiment to keep any of their men from attending the officers' training camps, though it was discouraging to the last degree to train a non-commissioned officer up to a point where he was almost indispensable and then lose him. On the other hand, they pulled hard for their best sergeants and the selection of the monthly list of candidates was always fraught with rivalry.

Meanwhile, those who were left in the regiment were fast getting an artillery education. Officers began to report back from the great Artillery School of Fire at Fort Sill in January, Lieutenant-Colonel Chambers being first to return, and these brought new ideas and new methods of instruction. The 3-inch guns were worked all day long and the old wooden guns lost their bark. The men kept on the jump all the time. Lieutenant-Colonel Mack began to instruct the officers in new French methods which he had acquired with the 7th Field Artillery in France. They learned that firing cannons was no longer a simple matter, but that they must take into consideration the density of the air, the temperature of the powder and various and sundry meteorological facts and circumstances. Lieutenant Popelin was an expert along this line and was of great assistance to Lieutenant-Colonel Mack.

Lieutenant Popelin was ordered to Fort Sill in February, but returned to the brigade in March, just as the regiment was getting ready to start to the artillery range at Cleveland Mills, about twenty miles north of Camp Sevier. This period of practice firing, the first the men had, was one of unusual interest to them. For months they had been going through the motions of loading, aiming and firing. They had stood gun drill until they were letter perfect in the execution of every command and the gun squads moved like well-oiled machines. The men wondered if they could handle “live” shells as smoothly as they handled the wooden shells, and if the report of the guns would rattle them; and they were possessed of a great and burning curiosity to see their officers work under conditions approximating actual warfare. They could hardly wait to get on the range and at work.

The First Battalion, with about half of the Supply Company and the battalion detail out of Headquarters Company, left for the range on the 30th day of March, arriving the following day. The First Battalion spent a week in target work and was relieved by the Second Battalion and the other halves of Headquarters and Supply Companies, these returning from the range on April 15th. The work of the officers and of the men was satisfactory throughout and very pleasing to the instructors.

Very soon after the return of the regiment from the artillery range rumors of moving began to stir and soon they were coming thick and fast. Equipment was checked and rechecked and property accounts carefully audited. The Division Quartermaster had scoured the nation for equipment for his division and at the final check-up it was found to be in fairly good condition. The Assistant Division Quartermaster announced in April that according to his records the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery was the best equipped regiment in the division, leading all other outfits by a margin of 9 per cent. in quartermaster property. In the matter of ordnance signal and engineer property, the outfit was sadly lacking, and these classes of property were not received in abundance until the regiment reached France.

On April 19, 1918, Colonel Cox was directed by the Division Commander to name 18 officers and 30 enlisted men as an “advance school detachment” to precede the regiment to France for instruction. This detachment left the regiment on April 30th and sailed from New York on the steamship George Washington on May 8th. They landed at Brest, France and reported at the U. S. Artillery School at Camp de Valdahon, France. This detachment rejoined the regiment at Camp de Coetquidan, France, on June 22, 1918. It consisted of the following officers and men:

OFFICERS: Lieut.-Col. Sidney C. Chambers, commanding. Wireless or Telegraphy: 1st Lieut. Horace C. Bennett. 1st Lieut. Christian E. Mears. Firing: Capt. Wiley C. Rodman. Capt. Robert M. Hanes. 1st Lieut. Wade V. Bowman. 1st Lieut. Richard D. Dixon. 1st Lieut. Beverly S. Royster, Jr. 1st Lieut. Enoch S. Simmons. 2d Lieut. James P. Dodge, Jr. Reconnaissance and Orientation: Capt. Lennox P. McLendon. 1st Lieut. William B. R. Guion. 1st Lieut. John W. Moore. 2d Lieut. Lemuel R. Johnston. Aerial Observation: 1st Lieut. William E. Baugham. 1st Lieut. Samuel M. Gattis, Jr. 2d Lieut. Zack D. Harden. 2d Lieut. Caleb K. Burgess. ENLISTED MEN: Department of Materiel: Sgts. Edward E. Bell and John G. Hudgins, of Battery A. Sgts. Frank W. McKeel and James K. Proctor, of Battery B. Sgt. Charles B. Wills, of Battery C. Sgts. Nero T. Bobbit and Percy H. Wilson, of Battery D. Sgt. Walter R. Minish, of Battery E. Sgts. McLin S. Choate and Charles F. Rich, of Battery F. Department of Telephone: Sgt. Luther White, of Battery A. Corp. William L. Hassel, of Battery B. Corp. Lester V. Smith, of Battery C. Corp. Fred E. Williams, of Battery D. Sgt. Ronald A. Craven, of Battery E. 1st Cl. Pvt. Clarence G. Hope, of Battery F. Sgt. Fred M. Patterson, of Headquarters Co. Department of Wireless: Sgt. Newton S. Gulley, of Battery B. Sgt. Lawrence F. Dixon, of Battery C. Sgt. Archie B. Fairley, of Battery D. Corp. Rufus A. Annas, of Battery E. Corp. Charles G. Sellers, of Battery F. Corp. George H. Goelson, of Battery A. Sgt. Ralph L. Henderson, of Headquarters Co. Department of Observation and Liaison: Corp. Jacob H. Ziegler, of Battery A. Corp. Marshall E. Bagwell, of Battery B. 1st Cl. Pvt. Charles L. Andrews, of Battery C. Pvt. Julian D. Kirby, of Battery D. Pvt. Dedrick S. Barber, of Battery E. Corp. William E. Cornelius, of Battery F. Sgt. Earl Johnson, of Headquarters Co.

The departure of these men stirred the regiment to fever heat. The whole outfit, both officers and men, were wild to be on the move and eager to get at the foe. The news from Europe at that time was not cheering. Germany had launched the first of her five big drives in March. The result had been disastrous to the allies. In April Germany again smashed through the allied lines for big gains and it began to look like the war would be over before the eager warriers of the One Hundred and Thirteenth could reach the scene of action. Bare thought of such an ending, such a blasting of all their hopes, wore the patience of the waiting soldiers threadbare and when things began to look like real action was in prospect, great was their enthusiasm.

The infantry outfits of the division were first to move, and they moved swiftly when they started. Within a week from the time the movement started, all of the big camp, except the area occupied by the 55th Field Artillery Brigade and a few scattering units, was vacant. Then began another period of depression that lasted for ten days or more. Rumors again flew thick and fast and the most persistent of them had it that no artillery outfits were going to France for many months, as the Allies were well-fixed with artillery but needed infantry and machine gun outfits.

On May 8th a telegram from Adjutant General McCain was received directing the movement of all remaining units of the division to the Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, N. J., and this dispelled all doubt. Hurry-up orders came down for the turning in to the Remount Depot of all animals and there was great scurrying around in all quarters to clear up property accounts. The regiment checked out exactly in the matter of animals, much to the delight of everybody concerned. The 3-inch American guns were shipped to Camp Jackson for the artillery replacement division there and the battery of British 75 milimetre guns, which the regiment received late in the spring and used but little, were shipped to the 37th Division at Camp Sheridan, Ala. Hundreds of packing boxes were made and the work of packing and marking equipment was carried through without a hitch. The regiment was ready for moving at the hour appointed for it, with nothing left undone. There was not a single “hang over” left to worry about and no Camp Sevier ghosts rose to haunt the regiment afterwards.

The regiment boarded train on Sunday, May 19, 1918, and on the day following. Headquarters and Supply Companies and the First Battalion left Sunday on trains No. 48 and No. 49, with Lieutenants Whittaker and Barnett as train quartermasters. On Monday train No. 50, with Lieutenant Bolt as train quartermaster, carried the Second Battalion. Trains No. 48 and No. 49 reached Camp Albert L. Mills, Long Island, N. Y., on Tuesday, May 21st, and the remaining units reached camp late the same day, marching into a camp area only partly equipped in pitch-black darkness and in a driving rain.

The regiment spent the remainder of the week at Camp Mills and a busy week it was for everybody. Orders were to turn in every piece of equipment and draw new equipment and this involved tremendous labor. A flock of inspectors descended upon the regiment and every article of equipment was scrutinized as closely as if the fate of the world depended on its good condition. The great city of New York just across the Sound, beckoned in vain. There was no opportunity for the officers to get any recreation or relaxation and the majority of the non-commissioned officers were bound down to their tasks in the same way. The big job was to get the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery ready for duty overseas.

On Sunday morning, May 26, 1918, the regiment marched from Camp Mills and boarded a ferry-boat and was carried to its loading pier, where it found the Armagh, a big British freighter waiting to receive it. This boat had been constructed for carrying beef from Australia and new Zealand to England and was, no doubt, admirably adapted to that sort of business, but as a transport for soldiers it left much to be desired. The boat had been converted hastily into a transport and the quarters provided for the men were the last word in discomfort, extremely hard to keep even half clean and very poorly ventilated. About 2,500 soldiers were crowded into the Armagh. It held all of the One Hundred and Thirteenth except about fifteen officers, who were assigned to the 115th Field Artillery for the voyage; the 105th Field Signal Battalion, under Major Van Dusen; Headquarters 55th Field Artillery Brigade, with General Gatley in charge, and a few other scattered units.

The Armagh sailed on the 27th of May and it struck nasty foggy weather before it was well out of the harbor. Thirteen other ships and one lone battleship slipped out of the mist and joined the Armagh on the morning of the 28th and throughout the long voyage the convoy kept in regular formation day and night.

For more than a week, as the ship labored on, there was small thought of dangers lurking near, for it took that long to get within what was then called the “danger zone” and it is just as well that nobody on board knew that German submarines were operating at that time just outside New York harbor. Everywhere on the broad Atlantic in those days there was danger. The regiment was on the water at the time when the first news of submarine operations along the coasts of the United States startled the country and it caused much uneasiness among the people at home. No member of the regiment knew about it until after the Armagh had reached Liverpool.

 CHAPTER III THE JOURNEY TO FRANCE

THE voyage was devoid of incident, except that there was a submarine scare. The ship's second officer on watch one night was very positive that he saw the wake of a torpedo as it passed close astern of the nearest ship in the convoy and shot on across the bow of the Armagh. The convoy speeded up and when daylight came several of the ships were found to be out of position. They drifted back into formation and the voyage continued as before, the ships zig-zagging across the ocean after a scheme agreed upon. In the office of the navigator, high on the bridge of the ship, a little clock gave a signal at regular intervals and the big ship obeyed it instantly. Every other ship in the convoy changed course at exactly the same moment.

The voyage was monotonous in the extreme. The eternal sameness got on everyone's nerves. Hundreds of the soldiers, both officers and men, were getting their first taste of the sea and “mal de mer” claimed them for its own. Fog settled down on the sea like a blanket and the ship's whistle sounded night and day. Inspection followed inspection and life-boat drill was the only thing that broke the monotony, and even that palled on the men after the first week. “Craps” was interesting until the crew had been relieved of all of their money. The wily Britishers proved an easy mark at this game, but they came back at the Yanks with a game of their own that easily recouped all their losses. The game flourished until news of it came to the ears of some officers of the regiment and it was stopped.

The Armagh and her sister ships of the convoy took the northern route. None who traveled with that outfit will deny that the convoy went north. It grew cold and colder and everybody looked for icebergs. In fact, the opinion was freely expressed that the north pole was not far off and every man wore his heavy overcoat and was glad that he had it. The life-belts were fine chest protectors. The majority of the men had the padded jacket variety, with a heavy collar that stood up around the ears. These were worn after the ship reached the so-called “danger zone.”

To make things worse, there was the British grub and British cooking. It was all good, from a British standpoint, but exceedingly disgusting to American stomachs. There was mutton. Few Americans like mutton, but the Britisher holds it second only to his beloved roast beef. The Armagh seemed to be stocked up heavily on mutton and anxious to get rid of it, for there was mutton every day and very often mutton twice a day.

Then there was that other evil-tasting mixture that the Britishers called “orange marmalade.” This came on the menu with sickening regularity. The men hated the stuff and more than one can of it went overboard. In fact, so much of it went that way that guards were set to watch out for such “wanton waste of comestibles.” The men could hardly figure just how the stuff came to be considered a “comestible,” for it was not palatable. When warned not to destroy more of it they readily desisted, one man stating it clearly in these words:

“The stuff ain't fit for a human being to eat and according to my way of looking at it, overboard is the place for it, but if there are people in the world foolish enough to eat it, I say let's save it for them.”

Potatoes, boiled in their jackets, were on the bill of fare for every meal, and so it went. There was never any lack of food and the food was undoubtedly nourishing, but it didn't suit the American soldier. The men longed for their own “mess line” again, with their own mess sergeants presiding over the “eats” and their own cooks and “K. P.'s” dishing them out with generous hands. They promised themselves that “if they ever got back to good old U. S. A. rations again” they would kick no more and their loud lamentations were music to the ears of the aforesaid mess sergeants and cooks, all of whom had suffered long and grievously at the hands of the lamenters. Suffice it to say that these promises, though earnestly made, were not kept. The American soldier is never satisfied.

The voyage made a deep and lasting impression on the minds of the men. The nights were particularly solemn and depressing. The big gray ship, dark as a tomb from end to end, plunged along through the darkness, with not a sound except the throb of the engines. The men were not permitted to smoke a cigarette for fear that the lighted end might cast a glow that would catch the sinister eye of a German sub lurking out there somewhere in the darkness. The long days, when the fog covered the face of the waters and blotted out the outlines of even the closest ships of the convoy, were almost as solemn as the nights. Altogether such a voyage as the men of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery experienced is not to be sought after. One is quite enough for an ordinary lifetime.

Somewhere far out in the Atlantic, northwest of the Irish coast, the men woke one morning to find the big gray American battleship that had been escorting the transports gone, and even as they scanned the horizon for it they saw a strange sight. Out of the misty distance there came a fleet of destroyers, long, rakish little vessels, with big guns mounted on them, and they came on with surprising speed. There were fourteen of them and they swarmed all over the sea, darting in and out among the ships of the convoy, rising now on the tip of a big wave and now plunging down almost out of sight. These were the foes most dreaded by the sub, these the men who daily flirted with death and at great peril kept the sea lanes open. It was a sight to stir the blood.

On the night of the twelfth day out, late watchers on the decks caught the beams of a lighthouse on the coast of northern Ireland. The news spread through the ship and everybody was happy. The ship had followed the extreme northerly course. In fact, it had gone so far north that for part of the time there was not more than three hours of night out of the twenty-four. On the following morning the men woke to see before them the beautiful green fields of “Old Erin” and quaint little towns hugging the shore at the base of steep cliffs. Overhead several dirigibles floated lazily, guarding the convoy and keeping a sharp look-out for subs. Swift aeroplanes darted through the air, all on the same mission. The fleet of fourteen destroyers was still on the job and it had been supplemented by a score or more of smaller craft, tiny little trawlers and all sorts of little boats. Many of these had guns mounted on them that were out of all proportion to the size of the boat and one wondered just how high out of the water one of those plucky little fellows would be kicked if the gun were ever fired.

The convoy was closely guarded in this way all the way through the Irish Sea, the very happy hunting grounds of the sub. At frequent intervals there were pointed out grim reminders of the work of the sub. The tops of the masts of the transport Lincoln were to be seen jutting out of the water and along the course other wreckage was in evidence. It was a beautiful day, the only beautiful day of the long voyage, and the scene that met the eye was one of such rare loveliness and peacefulness that it was difficult for the men to realize that the “jackal of the sea” had stealthily sunk stately ships on that very course and that even at that moment one might be waiting for the Armagh.

When the day ended the Armagh had completed her voyage and the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery was “tied up at the dock” in Liverpool. The regiment had been aboard the Armagh for thirteen weary days. It was June 7, 1918.

Early on the morning of June 8th the work of debarking began. The main body of the regiment was ordered to Knotty Ash, the American camp in Liverpool. The men made a fine appearance on their march through the streets of Liverpool and were greeted with the wildest enthusiasm all along the line. It was a great experience to all of them.

The unloading of the baggage, transferring it from the docks to the train and loading, was completed in less than half a day. Captain Fletcher, of the Supply Company, with his own men and details from the batteries, aggregating 287 men, was directed to proceed to the American Rest Camp at Winnall Downs, near Winchester. These men did not accompany the remainder of the regiment to Knotty Ash but got away for Winnall Downs about three o'clock in the afternoon, arriving there before midnight. The remainder of the regiment arrived at Winnall Downs on the next day, June 9th.

The regiment remained at Winchester until June 11th. The men were made fairly comfortable and they spent every moment exploring historic Winchester. They were shown the spot where Cromwell's artillery took position for shelling Winchester and many other things of equal interest. Probably the most interesting relic they saw was King Arthur's Round Table on display in the great hall of the Castle of Winchester.

Here at Winchester the men found their liberties much curtailed because of trouble that other American troops had experienced in Winchester. The American soldier never had any trouble with the Canadian, the Australian, or the New Zealander and very rarely with the Frenchman, but there was trouble in plenty when “Yank” met “Tommy Atkins.” Ask any veteran of the World War what he thinks of the typical British Tommy and you will hear distinctly unflattering comment.

The Tar Heel artillerymen of the One Hundred and Thirteenth had small opportunity of mingling with the Tommies but they had enough. Months later, when they had rejoined the 30th Division, they were to learn that their brethren of the 30th who served with the British never learned to like the British Tommy, but that they did greatly admire the Canadians and the “Aussies.”

The British officers were no more likable than their enlisted men. There is something about the British officer that just naturally rubs an American the wrong way. The officers of the One Hundred and Thirteenth, almost without exception, disliked those they came in contact with. They found them unbearably egotistical, blind to everything save their own national greatness, stubbornly opinionated and vain beyond description.

Watching these Britishers of high and low degree, listening to their talk, observing the conditions under which they lived, and picking up information concerning them here and there as they went along, the men of the regiment began to feel a new pride in the United States of America, for it dawned upon them that the American branch of the Anglo-Saxon family had climbed to heights which the English branch had not as yet dreamed of scaling. In fact, they found it extremely difficult to believe that old England is young America's mother.

The world is coming at least to realize that the World War was practically over in June, 1918 and that Germany had won. At this time, when American forces were being hurled across the seas and every energy bent on getting American fighting men into the front lines, the great German machine was driving everything before it. The British could not stop it and the armies of Britain and France were falling back. It was the darkest hour of the war and the gloom that had settled like a black cloud on the fighting forces along the Western Front had spread over all England.

Chaplain Lacy, of the One Hundred and Thirteenth, who was educated at Oxford, England, and who could get closer to the average Britisher than any other man in the regiment, talked with a great many men in Winchester and elsewhere and the prevailing opinion among them was that the war was over and that they had lost.

“We are glad that you have come,” one English leader said to Lacy, “but you have come too late. There is nothing that you can do now that will save us.”

His was the attitude of the whole country but both he and the country were wrong. They underestimated the wonderful fighting ability of their new forces and at the very moment when he was speaking, the doughboys of the First, Second, Third, Thirty-second, Forty-second and Seventy-seventh divisions, A. E. F., had been thrown into the fray to steady the wavering lines, with immediate visible results. A few weeks later, at a little town less than forty miles from Paris, a handful of American Marines of the Second Division and a machine gun battalion out of the Third, met the German onslaught at its exact center and stopped it with a suddenness that surprised the world. From that day on, Germany never gained a foot of ground, but, step by step, was driven back.

But it was a gloomy people that the men of the One Hundred and Thirteenth looked upon in England. Nothing was pleasing except the landscape and that was pleasing only in an artificial way. All England looked like one great park, wonderfully trimmed and kept, but as a place in which to make a living, the farmer lads of the regiment shook their heads and voted solidly for the less ornamental acres of the Old North State. They were interested in it all, for here their forefathers had made history. Every organization sent out sightseeing parties, but there were too many things to be done in camp to admit of much exploring. One whole precious afternoon of the regiment's stay at Winchester was taken up with a review in honor of the Duke of Connaught, uncle of King George.

The regiment got away on June 11th for Southampton, there to take boat for France. The crossing of the Channel was uneventful. The outfit had heard much of the roughness of the seas in these quarters and was totally unprepared for the untroubled expanse of water that greeted them.

On the morning of June 12th the regiment woke to hear, dim and far away, the rumble of heavy guns. They were in Le Havre. The baggage was transferred from the hold of the ship to waiting trucks and put aboard freight cars and the men carrying all equipment, were hiked up hill for five weary miles to another rest camp, where the accommodations were hardly half as good as those found at Winnall Downs and Knotty Ash and those were bad enough. Here the men were assigned twelve to a tent about half the size of the regular pyramidal tents. There were no cots and no floors in the tents. The men lay on the ground and stacked their legs around the tent pole. The officers fared no better.

Now that the war is over and there is leisure for such pastime, it would be well for some one to make a search for the humorist who first named that variety of camp a “rest camp.” No man ever left one in as good condition as he was when he entered it. This one at Le Havre was the worst any member of the One Hundred and Thirteenth had seen up to