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diff --git a/25963.txt b/25963.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04d2d03 --- /dev/null +++ b/25963.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13974 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of World's War Events, Vol. II, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: World's War Events, Vol. II + +Author: Various + +Editor: Francis J. Reynolds + Allen L. Churchill + +Release Date: July 4, 2008 [EBook #25963] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORLD'S WAR EVENTS, VOL. II *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: PRESIDENT WILSON READING HIS WAR MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, +APRIL 2, 1917] + + + + +WORLD'S WAR EVENTS + +RECORDED BY STATESMEN . COMMANDERS HISTORIANS AND BY MEN WHO FOUGHT OR +SAW THE GREAT CAMPAIGNS + + + COMPILED AND EDITED BY + FRANCIS J. REYNOLDS + FORMER REFERENCE LIBRARIAN . LIBRARY OF CONGRESS + +AND + + ALLEN L. CHURCHILL + ASSOCIATE EDITOR "THE STORY OF THE GREAT WAR" + ASSOCIATE EDITOR "THE NEW INTERNATIONAL + ENCYCLOPEDIA" + + + +VOLUME II + +[Illustration] + + P. F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY + NEW YORK + + + + +Copyright 1919 BY P. F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY + + + + +WORLD'S WAR EVENTS + +VOLUME II + + BEGINNING WITH THE ATTACK AT VERDUN + EARLY IN 1916 THE STORY OF THE + WAR AND OF AMERICAN + AID IS CARRIED TO + THE CLOSE OF + 1917 + + + + +CONTENTS + + + ARTICLE PAGE + + I. THE BATTLE OF VERDUN 7 + _Raoul Blanchard_ + + II. THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND BANK 30 + _Admiral Sir John Jellicoe's Official Despatch_ + + III. TAKING THE COL DI LANA 55 + _Lewis R. Freeman_ + + IV. THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 67 + _Sir Douglas Haig_ + + V. RUSSIA'S REFUGEES 114 + _Gregory Mason_ + + VI. THE TRAGEDY OF RUMANIA 124 + _Stanley Washburn_ + + VII. SIXTEEN MONTHS A WAR PRISONER 142 + _Private "Jack" Evans_ + + VIII. UNDER GERMAN RULE IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM 159 + _J. P. Whitaker_ + + IX. THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN IN TURKEY 174 + _James B. MacDonald_ + + X. KITCHENER 188 + _Lady St. Helier_ + + XI. WHY AMERICA BROKE WITH GERMANY 194 + _President Woodrow Wilson_ + + XII. HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA 205 + _Official Account_ + + XIII. THE WAR MESSAGE 226 + _President Woodrow Wilson_ + + XIV. BRITISH OPERATIONS AT SALONIKI 244 + _Official Report of General Milne_ + + XV. IN PETROGRAD DURING THE SEVEN DAYS 253 + _Arno Dosch-Fleurot_ + + XVI. AMERICA'S FIRST SHOT 271 + _J.R. Keen_ + + XVII. GERMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED STATES 278 + _House Committee on Foreign Affairs_ + + XVIII. PREPARING FOR WAR 298 + _Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War_ + + XIX. THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM 344 + _General E. H. H. Allenby_ + + XX. AMERICAN SHIPS AND GERMAN SUBMARINES 369 + _From Official Reports_ + + + + +THE BATTLE OF VERDUN + +RAOUL BLANCHARD + +Copyright, Atlantic Monthly, June, 1917. + + +[Sidenote: Greatest drama of the war.] + +The Battle of Verdun, which continued through from February 21, 1916, to +the 16th of December, ranks next to the Battle of the Marne as the +greatest drama of the world war. Like the Marne, it represents the +checkmate of a supreme effort on the part of the Germans to end the war +swiftly by a thunderstroke. It surpasses the Battle of the Marne by the +length of the struggle, the fury with which it was carried on, the huge +scale of the operations. No complete analysis of it, however, has yet +been published--only fragmentary accounts, dealing with the beginning or +with mere episodes. Neither in France nor in Germany, up to the present +moment, has the whole story of the battle been told, describing its +vicissitudes, and following step by step the development of the stirring +drama. That is the task I have set myself here. + +[Sidenote: German successes in France.] + +[Sidenote: Preparations for a great offensive.] + +The year 1915 was rich in successes for the Germans. In the West, thanks +to an energetic defensive, they had held firm against the Allies' +onslaughts in Artois and in Champagne. Their offensive in the East was +most fruitful. Galicia had been almost completely recovered, the kingdom +of Poland occupied, Courland, Lithuania, and Volhynia invaded. To the +South they had crushed Serbia's opposition, saved Turkey, and won over +Bulgaria. These triumphs, however, had not brought them peace, for the +heart and soul of the Allies lay, after all, in the West--in England and +France. The submarine campaign was counted on to keep England's hands +tied; it remained, therefore, to attack and annihilate the French army. +And so, in the autumn of 1915, preparations were begun on a huge scale +for delivering a terrible blow in the West and dealing France the _coup +de grace_. + +The determination with which the Germans followed out this plan and the +reckless way in which they drew on their resources leave no doubt as to +the importance the operation held for them. They staked everything on +putting their adversaries out of the running by breaking through their +lines, marching on Paris, and shattering the confidence of the French +people. This much they themselves admitted. The German press, at the +beginning of the battle, treated it as a matter of secondary import, +whose object was to open up free communications between Metz and the +troops in the Argonne; but the proportions of the combat soon gave the +lie to such modest estimates, and in the excitement of the first days +official utterances betrayed how great were the expectations. + +[Sidenote: Troops urged to take Verdun.] + +[Sidenote: Objects of the campaign.] + +On March 4 the Crown Prince urged his already over-taxed troops to make +one supreme effort to "capture Verdun, the heart of France"; and General +von Deimling announced to the 15th Army Corps that this would be the +last battle of the war. At Berlin, travelers from neutral countries +leaving for Paris by way of Switzerland were told that the Germans would +get there first. The Kaiser himself, replying toward the end of February +to the good wishes of his faithful province of Brandenburg, +congratulated himself publicly on seeing his warriors of the 3d Army +Corps about to carry "the most important stronghold of our principal +enemy." It is plain, then, that the object was to take Verdun, win a +decisive victory, and start a tremendous onslaught which would bring +the war to a triumphant close. + +We should next examine the reasons prompting the Germans to select +Verdun as the vital point, the nature of the scene of operations, and +the manner in which the preparation was made. + +[Sidenote: Strategic advantages to be gained.] + +[Sidenote: Verdun railways dominated by Germans.] + +Why did the Germans make their drive at Verdun, a powerful fortress +defended by a complete system of detached outworks? Several reasons may +be found for this. First of all, there were the strategic advantages of +the operation. Ever since the Battle of the Marne and the German +offensive against St. Mihiel, Verdun had formed a salient in the French +front which was surrounded by the Germans on three sides,--northwest, +east, and south,--and was consequently in greater peril than the rest of +the French lines. Besides, Verdun was not far distant from Metz, the +great German arsenal, the fountain-head for arms, food, and munitions. +For the same reasons, the French defense of Verdun was made much harder +because access to the city was commanded by the enemy. Of the two main +railroads linking Verdun with France, the Lerouville line was cut off by +the enemy at St. Mihiel; the second (leading through Chalons) was under +ceaseless fire from the German artillery. There remained only a +narrow-gauge road connecting Verdun and Bar-le-Duc. The fortress, then, +was almost isolated. + +[Sidenote: Iron mines of Lorraine.] + +[Sidenote: Extent of Lotharingia.] + +For another reason, Verdun was too near, for the comfort of the Germans, +to those immense deposits of iron ore in Lorraine which they have every +intention of retaining after the war. The moral factor involved in the +fall of Verdun was also immense. If the stronghold were captured, the +French, who look on it as their chief bulwark in the East, would be +greatly disheartened, whereas it would delight the souls of the +Germans, who had been counting on its seizure since the beginning of the +war. They have not forgotten that the ancient Lotharingia, created by a +treaty signed eleven centuries ago at Verdun, extended as far as the +Meuse. Finally, it is probable that the German General Staff intended to +profit by a certain slackness on the part of the French, who, placing +too much confidence in the strength of the position and the favorable +nature of the surrounding countryside, had made little effort to augment +their defensive value. + +[Sidenote: Serious obstacles to an offensive.] + +This value, as a matter of fact, was great. The theatre of operations at +Verdun offers far fewer inducements to an offensive than the plains of +Artois, Picardy, or Champagne. The rolling ground, the vegetation, the +distribution of the population, all present serious obstacles. + +[Sidenote: The plateaus of the Meuse.] + +[Sidenote: Hills and ravines.] + +The relief-map of the region about Verdun shows the sharply marked +division of two plateaus situated on either side of the river Meuse. The +plateau which rises on the left bank, toward the Argonne, falls away on +the side toward the Meuse in a deeply indented line of high but gently +sloping bluffs, which include the Butte de Montfaucon, Hill 304, and the +heights of Esnes and Montzeville. Fragments of this plateau, separated +from the main mass by the action of watercourses, are scattered in long +ridges over the space included between the line of bluffs and the Meuse: +the two hills of Le Mont Homme (295 metres), the Cote de l'Oie, and, +farther to the South, the ridge of Bois Bourrus and Marre. To the east +of the river, the country is still more rugged. The plateau on this bank +rises abruptly, and terminates at the plain of the Woevre in the cliffs +of the Cotes-de-Meuse, which tower 100 metres over the plain. The brooks +which flow down to the Woevre or to the Meuse have worn the cliffs and +the plateau into a great number of hillocks called _cotes_: the Cote du +Talon, Cote du Poivre, Cote de Froideterre, and the rest. The ravines +separating these _cotes_ are deep and long: those of Vaux, Haudromont, +and Fleury cut into the very heart of the plateau, leaving between them +merely narrow ridges of land, easily to be defended. + +[Sidenote: Stretches of forest.] + +[Sidenote: Villages well placed for defense.] + +These natural defenses of the country are strengthened by the nature of +the vegetation. On the rather sterile calcareous soil of the two +plateaus the woods are thick and numerous. To the west, the approaches +of Hill 304 are covered by the forest of Avocourt. On the east, long +wooded stretches--the woods of Haumont, Caures, Wavrille, Herbebois, la +Vauche, Haudromont, Hardaumont, la Caillette, and others--cover the +narrow ridges of land and dominate the upper slopes of the ravines. The +villages, often perched on the highest points of land, as their names +ending in _mont_ indicate, are easily transformed into small fortresses; +such are Haumont, Beaumont, Louvemont, Douaumont. Others follow the +watercourses, making it easier to defend them--Malancourt, Bethincourt +and Cumieres, to the west of the Meuse; Vaux to the east. + +These hills, then, as well as the ravines, the woods, and the favorably +placed villages, all facilitated the defense of the countryside. On the +other hand, the assailants had one great advantage: the French positions +were cut in two by the valley of the Meuse, one kilometre wide and quite +deep, which, owing to swampy bottom-lands, could not be crossed except +by the bridges of Verdun. The French troops on the right bank had +therefore to fight with a river at their backs, thus imperiling their +retreat. A grave danger, this, in the face of an enemy determined to +take full advantage of the circumstance by attacking with undreamed-of +violence. + +[Sidenote: Troops selected in October.] + +The German preparation was, from the start, formidable and painstaking. +It was probably under way by the end of October, 1915, for at that time +the troops selected to deliver the first crushing attack were withdrawn +from the front and sent into training. Four months were thus set aside +for this purpose. To make the decisive attack, the Germans made +selection from four of their crack army corps, the 18th active, the 7th +reserve, the 15th active (the Muehlhausen corps), and the 3d active, +composed of Brandenburgers. + +[Sidenote: Artillery and munitions made ready.] + +These troops were sent to the interior to undergo special preparation. +In addition to these 80,000 or 100,000 men, who were appointed to bear +the brunt of the assault, the operation was to be supported by the Crown +Prince's army on the right and by that of General von Strautz on the +left--300,000 men more. Immense masses of artillery were gathered +together to blast open the way; fourteen lines of railroad brought +together from every direction the streams of arms and munitions. Heavy +artillery was transported from the Russian and Serbian fronts. No light +pieces were used in this operation--in the beginning, at any rate; only +guns of large calibre, exceeding 200 millimetres, many of 370 and 420 +millimetres. + +[Sidenote: Reliance on heavy artillery.] + +The battle plans were based on the offensive power of the heavy +artillery. The new formula was to run, "The artillery attacks, the +infantry takes possession." In other words, a terrible bombardment was +to play over every square yard of the terrain to be captured; when it +was decided that the pulverization had been sufficient, a scouting-party +of infantry would be sent out to look the situation over; behind them +would come the pioneers, and then the first wave of the assault. In case +the enemy still resisted, the infantry would retire and leave the field +once more to the artillery. + +[Sidenote: The point selected for attack.] + +The point chosen for the attack was the plateau on the right bank of the +Meuse. The Germans would thus avoid the obstacle of the cliffs of Cotes +de Meuse, and, by seizing the ridges and passing around the ravines, +they could drive down on Douaumont, which dominates the entire region, +and from there fall on Verdun and capture the bridges. At the same time, +the German right wing would assault the French positions on the left +bank of the Meuse; the left wing would complete the encircling movement, +and the entire French army of Verdun, driven back to the river and +attacked from the rear, would be captured or destroyed. + +[Sidenote: A ten months' battle.] + +[Sidenote: The formidable German attack.] + +[Sidenote: Periods of fixation.] + +The Battle of Verdun lasted no less than ten months--from February 21 to +December 16. First of all, came the formidable _German attack_, with its +harvest of success during the first few days of the frontal drive, which +was soon checked and forced to wear itself out in fruitless flank +attacks, kept up until April 9. After this date the German programme +became more modest: they merely wished to hold at Verdun sufficient +French troops to forestall an offensive at some other point. This was +the _period of German "fixation,"_ lasting from April to the middle of +July. It then became the object of the French to hold the German forces +and prevent transfer to the Somme. _French "fixation,"_ ended in the +successes of October and December. + +[Sidenote: Lack of foresight on the part of French.] + +The first German onslaught was the most intense and critical moment of +the battle. The violent frontal attack on the plateau east of the Meuse, +magnificently executed, at first carried all before it. The commanders +at Verdun had shown a lack of foresight. There were too few trenches, +too few cannon, too few troops. The soldiers had had too little +experience in the field, and it was their task to face the most +terrific attack ever known. + +[Sidenote: The battle begins.] + +[Sidenote: French left driven backwards.] + +On the morning of February 21 the German artillery opened up a fire of +infernal intensity. This artillery had been brought up in undreamed-of +quantities. French aviators who flew over the enemy positions located so +many batteries that they gave up marking them on their maps; the number +was too great. The forest of Gremilly, northeast of the point of attack, +was just a great cloud shot through with lightning-flashes. A deluge of +shells fell on the French positions, annihilating the first line, +attacking the batteries and finding their mark as far back as the city +of Verdun. At five o'clock in the afternoon the first waves of infantry +assaulted and carried the advanced French positions in the woods of +Haumont and Caures. On the 22d the French left was driven back about +four kilometres. + +[Sidenote: Fall of Herbebois.] + +The following day a terrible engagement took place along the entire line +of attack, resulting toward evening in the retreat of both French wings; +on the left Samognieux was taken by the Germans; on the right they +occupied the strong position of Herbebois. + +[Sidenote: Germans enter Douaumont.] + +The situation developed rapidly on the 24th. The Germans enveloped the +French centre, which formed a salient; at two in the afternoon they +captured the important central position of Beaumont, and by nightfall +had reached Louvemont and La Vauche forest, gathering in many prisoners. +On the morning of the 25th the enemy stormed Bezonvaux, and entered the +fort of Douaumont, already evacuated. + +[Illustration: FIRST ATTACK ON VERDUN] + +[Sidenote: Germans advance eight kilometres.] + +[Sidenote: General de Castelnau and General Petain.] + +[Sidenote: Hand-to-hand fighting.] + +In less than five days the assaulting troops sent forward over the +plateau had penetrated the French positions to a depth of eight +kilometres, and were masters of the most important elements of the +defense of the fortress. Verdun and its bridges were only seven +kilometres distant. The commander of the fortified region himself +proposed to evacuate the whole right bank of the Meuse; the troops +established in the Woevre were already falling back toward the bluffs of +Cotes de Meuse. Most luckily, on this same day there arrived at Verdun +some men of resource, together with substantial reinforcements. General +de Castelnau, Chief of the General Staff, ordered the troops on the +right bank to hold out at all costs. And on the evening of the 25th +General Petain took over the command of the entire sector. The Zouaves, +on the left bank, were standing firm as rocks on the Cotes du Poivre, +which cuts off access from the valley to Verdun. During this time the +Germans, pouring forward from Douaumont, had already reached the Cote de +Froideterre, and the French artillerymen, out-flanked, poured their fire +into the gray masses as though with rifles. It was at this moment that +the 39th division of the famous 20th French Army Corps of Nancy met the +enemy in the open, and, after furious hand-to-hand fighting, broke the +backbone of the attack. + +[Sidenote: The German frontal drive checked.] + +That was the end of it. The German tidal wave could go no farther. There +were fierce struggles for several days longer, but all in vain. Starting +on the 26th, five French counter-attacks drove back the enemy to a point +just north of the fort of Douaumont, and recaptured the village of the +same name. For three days the German attacking forces tried +unsuccessfully to force these positions; their losses were terrible, and +already they had to call in a division of reinforcements. After two days +of quiet the contest began again at Douaumont, which was attacked by an +entire army corps; the 4th of March found the village again in German +hands. The impetus of the great blow had been broken, however, after +five days of success, the attack had fallen flat. + +[Sidenote: German flank attacks.] + +Were the Germans then to renounce Verdun? After such vast preparations, +after such great losses, after having roused such high hopes, this +seemed impossible to the leaders of the German army. The frontal drive +was to have been followed up by the attack of the wings, and it was now +planned to carrying this out with the assistance of the Crown Prince's +army, which was still intact. In this way the scheme so judiciously +arranged would be accomplished in the appointed manner. Instead of +adding the finishing touch to the victory, however, these wings now had +the task of winning it completely--and the difference is no small one. + +[Sidenote: Genius of Petain and Nivelle.] + +These flank attacks were delivered for over a month (March 6-April 9) on +both sides of the river simultaneously, with an intensity and power +which recalled the first days of the battle. But the French were now on +their guard. They had received great reinforcements of artillery, and +the nimble "75's," thanks to their speed and accuracy, barred off the +positions under attack by a terrible curtain of fire. Moreover, their +infantry contrived to pass through the enemy's barrage-fire, wait calmly +until the assaulting infantry were within 30 metres of them, and then +let loose the rapid-fire guns. They were also commanded by energetic and +brilliant chiefs: General Petain, who offset the insufficient railroad +communications with the rear by putting in motion a great stream of more +than 40,000 motor trucks, all traveling on strict schedule time; and +General Nivelle, who directed operations on the right bank of the river, +before taking command of the Army of Verdun. The German successes of the +first days were not duplicated. + +[Sidenote: On the left of the Meuse.] + +[Sidenote: Le Mort Homme.] + +[Sidenote: Hill 304.] + +These new attacks began on the left of the Meuse. The Germans tried to +turn the first line of the French defense by working down along the +river, and then capture the second line. On March 6 two divisions +stormed the villages of Forges and Regneville, and attacked the woods of +Corbeaux on the Cote de l'Oie, which they captured on the 10th. After +several days of preparation, they fell suddenly upon one of the +important elements of the second line, the hill of Le Mort Homme, but +failed to carry it (March 14-16). Repulsed on the right, they tried the +left. On March 20 a body of picked troops just back from the Russian +front--the 11th Bavarian Division--stormed the French positions in the +wood of Avocourt and moved on to Hill 304, where they obtained foothold +for a short time before being driven back with losses of from 50 to 60 +per cent of their effectives. + +[Sidenote: Crown Prince brings up reserves.] + +[Sidenote: Village and fort of Vaux.] + +At the same time the Germans were furiously assaulting the positions of +the French right wing east of the Meuse. From the 8th to the 10th of +March the Crown Prince brought forward again the troops which had +survived the ordeal of the first days, and added to them the fresh +forces of the 5th Reserve Corps. The action developed along the Cote du +Poivre, especially east of Douaumont, where it was directed against the +village and fort of Vaux. The results were negative, except for a slight +gain in the woods of Hardaumont. The 3d Corps had lost 22,000 men since +the 21st of February--that is, almost its entire original strength. The +5th Corps was simply massacred on the slopes of Vaux, without being able +to reach the fort. New attempts against this position, on March 16 and +18, were no more fruitful. The battle of the right wing, then, was also +lost. + +[Sidenote: Fighting on both sides the Meuse.] + +The Germans hung on grimly. One last effort remained to be made. After a +lull of six days (March 22-28) savage fighting started again on both +sides of the river. On the right bank, from March 31 to April 2, the +Germans got a foothold in the ravine of Vaux and along its slopes; but +the French dislodged them the next day, inflicting great damage, and +drove them back to Douaumont. + +[Sidenote: Avocourt retaken.] + +[Sidenote: Le Mort Homme like a volcano.] + +Their greatest effort was made on the left bank. Here the French took +back the woods of Avocourt; from March 30 to the 8th of April, however, +the Germans succeeded in breaking into their adversaries' first line, +and on April 9, a sunny Sabbath-day, they delivered an attack against +the entire second line, along a front of 11 kilometres, from Avocourt to +the Meuse. There was terrific fighting, the heaviest that had taken +place since February 26, and a worthy sequel to the original frontal +attack. The artillery preparation was long and searching. The hill of Le +Mort Homme, said an eye-witness, smoked like a volcano with innumerable +craters. The assault was launched at noon, with five divisions, and in +two hours it had been shattered. New attacks followed, but less orderly, +less numerous, and more listless, until sundown. The checkmate was +complete. "The 9th of April," said General Petain to his troops, "is a +day full of glory for your arms. The fierce assaults of the Crown +Prince's soldiers have everywhere been thrown back. Infantry, artillery, +sappers, and aviators of the Second Army have vied with one another in +heroism. Courage, men: _on les aura_!" + +[Sidenote: German plans ruined.] + +And, indeed, this great attack of April 9, was the last general effort +made by the German troops to carry out the programme of February--to +capture Verdun and wipe out the French army which defended it. They had +to give in. The French were on their guard now; they had artillery, +munitions, and men. The defenders began to act as vigorously as the +attackers; they took the offensive, recaptured the woods of La +Caillette, and occupied the trenches before Le Mort Homme. The German +plans were ruined. Some other scheme had to be thought out. + +[Sidenote: Verdun to be kept a battlefield.] + +[Sidenote: A battle of attrition.] + +Instead of employing only eight divisions of excellent troops, as +originally planned, the Germans had little by little cast into the fiery +furnace thirty divisions. This enormous sacrifice could not be allowed +to count for nothing. The German High Command therefore decided to +assign a less pretentious object to the abortive enterprise. The Crown +Prince's offensive had fallen flat; but, at all events, it might succeed +in preventing a French offensive. For this reason it was necessary that +Verdun should remain a sore spot, a continually menaced sector, where +the French would be obliged to send a steady stream of men, material, +and munitions. It was hinted then in all the German papers that the +struggle at Verdun was a battle of attrition, which would wear down the +strength of the French by slow degrees. There was no talk now of +thunderstrokes; it was all "the siege of Verdun." This time they +expressed the true purpose of the German General Staff; the struggle +which followed the fight of April 9, now took the character of a battle +of fixation, in which the Germans tried to hold their adversaries' +strongest units at Verdun and prevent their being transferred elsewhere. +This state of affairs lasted from mid-April to well into July, when the +progress of the Somme offensive showed the Germans that their efforts +had been unavailing. + +[Sidenote: Germans still formidable.] + +It is true that during this new phase of the battle the offensive vigor +of the Germans and their procedure in attacking were still formidable. + +Their artillery continued to perform prodigies. The medium-calibre +pieces had now come into action, particularly the 150 mm. guns, with +their amazing mobility of fire, which shelled the French first line, as +well as their communications and batteries, with lightning speed. This +storm of artillery continued night and day; it was the relentless, +crushing continuity of the fire which exhausted the adversary and made +the Battle of Verdun a hell on earth. There was one important +difference, however: the infantry attacks now took place over restricted +areas, which were rarely more than two kilometres in extent. The +struggle was continual, but disconnected. Besides, it was rarely in +progress on both sides of the river at once. Until the end of May the +Germans did their worst on the left; then the French activities brought +them back to the right side, and there they attacked with fury until +mid-July. + +[Sidenote: A period of recuperation.] + +The end of April was a period of recuperation for the Germans. They were +still suffering from the confusion caused by their set-backs of March, +and especially of April 9. Only two attempts at an offensive were +made--one on the Cote du Poivre (April 18) and one on the front south of +Douaumont. Both were repulsed with great losses. The French, in turn, +attacked on the 15th of April near Douaumont, on the 28th north of Le +Mort Homme. It was not until May that the new German tactics were +revealed: vigorous, but partial, attacks, directed now against one +point, now against another. + +[Sidenote: Artillery directed against Hill 304.] + +[Sidenote: Cumieres and Le Mort Homme.] + +On May 4 there began a terrible artillery preparation, directed against +Hill 304. This was followed by attacks of infantry, which surged up the +shell-blasted slopes, first to the northwest, then north, and finally +northeast. The attack of the 7th was made by three divisions of fresh +troops which had not previously been in action before Verdun. No gains +were secured. Every foot of ground taken in the first rush was +recaptured by French counter-attacks. During the night of the 18th a +savage onslaught was made against the woods of Avocourt, without the +least success. On the 20th and 21st, three divisions were hurled against +Le Mort Homme, which they finally took; but they could go no farther. +The 23d and 24th were terrible days. The Germans stormed the village of +Cumieres; their advance guard penetrated as far as Chattancourt. On the +26th, however, the French were again in possession of Cumieres and the +slopes of Le Mort Homme; and if the Germans, by means of violent +counter-attacks, were able to get a fresh foothold in the ruins of +Cumieres, they made no attempt to progress farther. The battles of the +left river-bank were now over; on this side of the Meuse there were to +be only unimportant local engagements and the usual artillery fire. + +[Sidenote: Battles on right of Meuse.] + +[Sidenote: Mangin's division attacks.] + +This shift of the German offensive activity from the left side of the +Meuse to the right is explained by the activity shown at the same time +in this sector by the French. The French command was not deceived by the +German tactics; they intended to husband their strength for the future +Somme offensive. For them Verdun was a sacrificial sector to which they +sent, from now on, few men, scant munitions, and only artillery of the +older type. Their object was only to hold firm, at all costs. However, +the generals in charge of this thankless task, Petain and Nivelle, +decided that the best defensive plan consisted in attacking the enemy. +To carry this out, they selected a soldier bronzed on the battlefields +of Central Africa, the Soudan, and Morocco, General Mangin, who +commanded the 5th Division and had already played a distinguished part +in the struggle for Vaux, in March. On May 21 Mangin's division attacked +on the right bank of the Meuse and occupied the quarries of Haudromont; +on the 22d it stormed the German lines for a length of two kilometres, +and took the fort of Douaumont with the exception of one salient. + +The Germans replied to this with the greatest energy; for two days and +nights the battle raged round the ruins of the fort. Finally, on the +night of the 24th, two new Bavarian divisions succeeded in getting a +footing in this position, to which the immediate approaches were held by +the French. This vigorous effort alarmed the enemy, and from now on, +until the middle of July, all their strength was focused on the right +bank of the river. + +[Sidenote: The bloodiest chapter of the battle.] + +[Sidenote: Intense barrage-fire.] + +This contest of the right bank began on May 31. It is, perhaps the +bloodiest, the most terrible, chapter of all the operations before +Verdun; for the Germans had determined to capture methodically, one by +one, all the French positions, and get to the city. The first stake of +this game was the possession of the fort of Vaux. Access to it was cut +off from the French by a barrage-fire of unprecedented intensity; at the +same time an assault was made against the trenches flanking the fort, +and also against the defenses of the Fumin woods. On June 4 the enemy +reached the superstructure of the fort and took possession, showering +down hand-grenades and asphyxiating gas on the garrison, which was shut +up in the casemates. After a heroic resistance the defenders succumbed +to thirst and surrendered on June 7. + +[Sidenote: Thiaumont changes hands repeatedly.] + +Now that Vaux was captured, the German activity was directed against the +ruins of the small fort of Thiaumont, which blocks the way to the Cote +de Froideterre, and against the village of Fleury, dominating the mouth +of a ravine leading to the Meuse. From June 8 to 20, terrible fighting +won for the Germans the possession of Thiaumont; on the 23d, six +divisions, representing a total of at least 70,000 men, were hurled +against Fleury, which they held from the 23d to the 26th. The French, +undaunted, returned to the charge. On August 30 they reoccupied +Thiaumont, lost it at half-past three of the same day, recaptured it at +half-past four, and were again driven out two days later. However, they +remained close to the redoubt and the village. + +[Sidenote: Battles in July.] + +The Germans then turned south, against the fortifications which +dominated the ridges and ravines. There, on a hillock, stands the fort +of Souville, at approximately the same elevation as Douaumont. On July +3, they captured the battery of Damloup, to the east; on the 12th, after +insignificant fighting, they sent forward a huge mass of troops which +got as far as the fort and battery of L'Hopital. A counterattack drove +them away again, but they dug themselves in about 800 metres away. + +[Sidenote: Germans cannot win Verdun.] + +After all, what had they accomplished? For twelve days they had been +confronted with the uselessness of these bloody sacrifices. Verdun was +out of reach; the offensive of the Somme was under way, and the French +stood before the gates of Peronne. Decidedly, the Battle of Verdun was +lost. Neither the onslaught of the first period nor the battles of +fixation had brought about the desired end. It now became impossible to +squander on this field of death the munitions and troops which the +German army needed desperately at Peronne and Bapaume. The leaders of +the German General Staff accepted the situation. Verdun held no further +interest for them. + +[Sidenote: French take the initiative.] + +[Sidenote: General Nivelle's blows.] + +Verdun, however, continued to be of great interest to the French. In the +first place, they could not endure seeing the enemy intrenched five +kilometres away from the coveted city. Moreover, it was most important +for them to prevent the Germans from weakening the Verdun front and +transferring their men and guns to the Somme. The French troops, +therefore, were to take the initiative out of the hands of the Germans +and inaugurate, in their turn, a battle of fixation. This new situation +presented two phases: in July and August the French were satisfied to +worry the enemy with small forces and to oblige them to fight; in +October and December General Nivelle, well supplied with troops and +material, was able to strike two vigorous blows which took back from the +Germans the larger part of all the territory they had won since February +21. + +From July 15 to September 15, furious fighting was in progress on the +slopes of the plateau stretching from Thiaumont to Damloup. This time, +however, it was the French who attacked savagely, who captured ground, +and who took prisoners. So impetuous were they that their adversaries, +who asked for nothing but quiet, were obliged to be constantly on their +guard and deliver costly counter-attacks. + +[Sidenote: Contest again around Thiaumont.] + +[Sidenote: French colonials take Fleury.] + +The contest raged most bitterly over the ruins of Thiaumont and Fleury. +On the 15th of July the Zouaves broke into the southern part of the +village, only to be driven out again. However, on the 19th and 20th the +French freed Souville, and drew near to Fleury; from the 20th to the +26th they forged ahead step by step, taking 800 prisoners. A general +attack, delivered on August 3, carried the fort of Thiaumont and the +village of Fleury, with 1500 prisoners. The Germans reacted violently; +the 4th of August they reoccupied Fleury, a part of which was taken back +by the French that same evening. From the 5th to the 9th the struggle +went on ceaselessly, night and day, in the ruins of the village. During +this time the adversaries took and retook Thiaumont, which the Germans +held after the 8th. But on the 10th the Colonial regiment from Morocco +reached Fleury, carefully prepared the assault, delivered it on the +17th, and captured the northern and southern portions of the village, +encircling the central part, which they occupied on the 18th. From this +day Fleury remained in French hands. The German counter-assaults of the +18th, 19th, and 20th of August were fruitless; the Moroccan Colonials +held their conquest firmly. + +[Sidenote: The French advance.] + +On the 24th the French began to advance east of Fleury, in spite of +incessant attacks which grew more intense on the 28th. Three hundred +prisoners were taken between Fleury and Thiaumont on September 3, and +300 more fell into their hands in the woods of Vaux-Chapitre. On the 9th +they took 300 more before Fleury. + + +[Sidenote: French programme carried out.] + +It may be seen that the French troops had thoroughly carried out the +programme assigned to them of attacking the enemy relentlessly, obliging +him to counter-attack, and _holding_ him at Verdun. But the High Command +was to surpass itself. By means of sharp attacks, it proposed to carry +the strong positions which the Germans had dearly bought, from February +to July, at the price of five months of terrible effort. This new plan +was destined to be accomplished on October 24 and December 15. + +[Sidenote: Four hundred millimeter guns.] + +[Sidenote: Excellent troops.] + +Verdun was no longer looked on by the French as a "sacrificial sector." +To this attack of October 24, destined to establish once for all the +superiority of the soldier of France, it was determined to consecrate +all the time and all the energy that were found necessary. A force of +artillery which General Nivelle himself declared to be of exceptional +strength was brought into position--no old-fashioned ordnance this time, +but magnificent new pieces, among them long-range guns of 400 +millimetres calibre. The Germans had fifteen divisions on the Verdun +front, but the French command judged it sufficient to make the attack +with three divisions, which advanced along a front of seven kilometres. +These, however, were made up of excellent troops, withdrawn from +service in the first lines and trained for several weeks, who knew every +inch of the ground. General Mangin was their commander. + +[Sidenote: French offensive in October.] + +[Sidenote: Germans evacuate Ft. Vaux.] + +The French artillery opened fire on October 21, by hammering away at the +enemy's positions. A feint attack forced the Germans to reveal the +location of their batteries, more than 130 of which were discovered and +silenced. At 11.40 a.m., October 24, the assault started in the fog. The +troops advanced on the run, preceded by a barrage-fire. On the left, the +objective points were reached at 2.45 p.m., and the village of Douaumont +captured. The fort was stormed at 3 o'clock by the Moroccan Colonials, +and the few Germans who held out there surrendered when night came on. +On the right, the woods surrounding Vaux were rushed with lightning +speed. The battery of Damloup was taken by assault. Vaux alone resisted. +In order to reduce it, the artillery preparation was renewed from +October 28 to November 2, and the Germans evacuated the fort without +fighting on the morning of the 2d. As they retreated, the French +occupied the villages of Vaux and Damloup, at the foot of the _cotes_. + +Thus the attack on Douaumont and Vaux resulted in a real victory, +attested to by the reoccupation of all the ground lost since the 25th of +February, the capture of 15 cannon and more than 6000 prisoners. This, +too, despite the orders found on German prisoners bidding them to "hold +out at all cost" (25th Division), and to "make a desperate defense" (von +Lochow). The French command, encouraged by this success, decided to do +still better and to push on farther to the northeast. + +[Sidenote: Operations in December.] + +[Sidenote: Roads and railways constructed.] + +The operations of December 15 were more difficult. They were directed +against a zone occupied by the enemy for more than nine months, during +which time he had constructed a great network of communication trenches, +field-railways, dug-outs built into the hillsides, forts, and redoubts. +Moreover, the French attacks had to start from unfavorable ground, where +ceaseless fighting had been in progress since the end of February, where +the soil, pounded by millions of projectiles, had been reduced to a sort +of volcanic ash, transformed by the rain into a mass of sticky mud in +which men had been swallowed up bodily. Two whole divisions were needed +to construct twenty-five kilometres of roads and ten kilometres of +railway, make dug-outs and trenches, and bring the artillery up into +position. All was ready in five weeks; but the Germans, finding out what +was in preparation, had provided formidable means of defense. + +[Sidenote: Battle of Verdun ends in victory for the French.] + +The front to be attacked was held by five German divisions. Four others +were held in reserve at the rear. On the French side, General Mangin had +four divisions, three of which were composed of picked men, veterans of +Verdun. The artillery preparation, made chiefly by pieces of 220, 274, +and 370 mm., lasted for three full days. The assault was let loose on +December 15, at 10 a.m.; on the left the French objectives were reached +by noon; the whole spur of Hardaumont on the right was swiftly captured, +and only a part of the German centre still resisted, east of Bezonvaux. +This was reduced the next day. The Cote du Poivre was taken entire; +Vacherauville, Louvemont, Bezonvaux as well. The front was now three +kilometres from the fort of Douaumont. Over 11,000 prisoners were taken +by the French, and 115 cannon. For a whole day their reconnoitring +parties were able to advance in front of the new lines, destroying +batteries and bringing in prisoners, without encountering any serious +resistance. + +The success was undeniable. As a reply to the German peace proposals of +December 12, the Battle of Verdun ended as a real victory; and this +magnificent operation, in which the French had shown such superiority in +infantry and artillery, seemed to be a pledge of future triumphs. + +[Sidenote: German plans and their outcome.] + +The conclusion is easily reached. In February and March Germany wished +to end the war by crushing the French army at Verdun. She failed +utterly. Then, from April to July, she wished to exhaust French military +resources by a battle of fixation. Again she failed. The Somme offensive +was the offspring of Verdun. Later on, from July to December, she was +not able to elude the grasp of the French, and the last engagements, +together with the vain struggles of the Germans for six months, showed +to what extent General Nivelle's men had won the upper hand. + +The Battle of Verdun, beginning as a brilliant German offensive, ended +as an offensive victory for the French. And so this terrible drama is an +epitome of the whole great war: a brief term of success for the Germans +at the start, due to a tremendous preparation which took careless +adversaries by surprise--terrible and agonizing first moments, soon +offset by energy, heroism, and the spirit of sacrifice; and finally, +victory for the Soldiers of Right. + + * * * * * + +On May 31st, 1916, there was fought in the North Sea off Jutland, the +most important naval battle of the Great War. While the battle was +undecisive in some of the results attained, it was an English victory, +in that the Germans suffered greater losses and were forced to flee. The +narrative of this battle which follows is by the Admiral of the British +Fleet. + + + + +THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND BANK + +ADMIRAL SIR JOHN JELLICOE'S OFFICIAL DISPATCH + + +The German High Sea Fleet was brought to action on 31st May, 1916, to +the westward of the Jutland Bank, off the coast of Denmark. + +[Sidenote: The Grand Fleet sweeping the sea.] + +The ships of the Grand Fleet, in pursuance of the general policy of +periodical sweeps through the North Sea, had left its bases on the +previous day, in accordance with instructions issued by me. + +[Sidenote: The British scouting force.] + +In the early afternoon of Wednesday, 31st May, the 1st and 2nd +Battle-cruiser Squadrons, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Light-cruiser Squadrons, and +destroyers from the 1st, 9th, 10th, and 13th Flotillas, supported by the +5th Battle Squadron, were, in accordance with my directions, scouting to +the southward of the Battle Fleet, which was accompanied by the 3rd +Battle-cruiser Squadron, 1st and 2nd Cruiser Squadrons, 4th +Light-cruiser Squadron, 4th, 11th, and 12th Flotillas. + +The junction of the Battle Fleet with the scouting force after the enemy +had been sighted was delayed owing to the southerly course steered by +our advanced force during the first hour after commencing their action +with the enemy battle-cruisers. This was, of course, unavoidable, as had +our battle-cruisers not followed the enemy to the southward the main +fleets would never have been in contact. + +[Sidenote: Vice Admiral Beatty commands battle cruisers.] + +The Battle-cruiser Fleet, gallantly led by Vice-Admiral Sir David +Beatty, K.C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O., and admirably supported by the ships of +the Fifth Battle Squadron under Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, M.V.O., +fought an action under, at times, disadvantageous conditions, especially +in regard to light, in a manner that was in keeping with the best +traditions of the service. + +The following extracts from the report of Sir David Beatty give the +course of events before the Battle Fleet came upon the scene: + +[Sidenote: Enemy ships sighted.] + +"At 2.20 p.m. reports were received from _Galatea_ (Commodore Edwyn S. +Alexander-Sinclair, M.V.O., A.D.C.), indicating the presence of enemy +vessels. The direction of advance was immediately altered to SSE., the +course for Horn Reef, so as to place my force between the enemy and his +base. + +[Sidenote: The German force.] + +"At 2.35 p.m. a considerable amount of smoke was sighted to the +eastward. This made it clear that the enemy was to the northward and +eastward, and that it would be impossible for him to round the Horn Reef +without being brought to action. Course was accordingly altered to the +eastward and subsequently to north-eastward, the enemy being sighted at +3.31 p.m. Their force consisted of five battle-cruisers. + +[Sidenote: Battle begins at long range.] + +"After the first report of the enemy, the 1st and 3rd Light-cruiser +Squadrons changed their direction, and, without waiting for orders, +spread to the east, thereby forming a screen in advance of the +Battle-cruiser Squadrons and 5th Battle Squadron by the time we had +hauled up to the course of approach. They engaged enemy light-cruisers +at long range. In the meantime the 2nd Light-cruiser Squadron had come +in at high speed, and was able to take station ahead of the +battle-cruisers by the time we turned to ESE., the course on which we +first engaged the enemy. In this respect the work of the Light-cruiser +Squadrons was excellent, and of great value. + +[Sidenote: Scout reports enemy force considerable.] + +"From a report from _Galatea_ at 2.25 p.m. it was evident that the enemy +force was considerable, and not merely an isolated unit of +light-cruisers, so at 2.45 p.m. I ordered _Engadine_ to send up a +seaplane and scout to NNE. This order was carried out very quickly, and +by 3.8 p.m. a seaplane was well under way; her first reports of the +enemy were received in _Engadine_ about 3.30 p.m. Owing to clouds it was +necessary to fly very low, and in order to identify four enemy +light-cruisers the seaplane had to fly at a height of 900 feet within +3,000 yards of them, the light-cruisers opening fire on her with every +gun that would bear. + +[Sidenote: Line of battle formed.] + +"At 3.30 p.m. I increased speed to 25 knots, and formed line of battle, +the 2nd Battle-cruiser Squadron forming astern of the 1st Battle-cruiser +Squadron, with destroyers of the 13th and 9th Flotillas taking station +ahead. I turned to ESE., slightly converging on the enemy, who were now +at a range of 23,000 yards, and formed the ships on a line of bearing to +clear the smoke. The 5th Battle Squadron, who had conformed to our +movements, were now bearing NNW., 10,000 yards. The visibility at this +time was good, the sun behind us and the wind SE. Being between the +enemy and his base, our situation was both tactically and strategically +good. + +[Sidenote: Running fight to southward.] + +"At 3.48 p.m. the action commenced at a range of 18,500 yards, both +forces opening fire practically simultaneously. Course was altered to +the southward, and subsequently the mean direction was SSE., the enemy +steering a parallel course distant about 18,000 to 14,500 yards. + +"At 4.8 p.m. the 5th Battle Squadron came into action and opened fire at +a range of 20,000 yards. The enemy's fire now seemed to slacken. The +destroyer _Landrail_, of 9th Flotilla, who was on our port beam, trying +to take station ahead, sighted the periscope of a submarine on her port +quarter. Though causing considerable inconvenience from smoke, the +presence of _Lydiard_ and _Landrail_ undoubtedly preserved the +battle-cruisers from closer submarine attack. _Nottingham_ also reported +a submarine on the starboard beam. + +[Sidenote: Destroyers in action.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy torpedo attack frustrated.] + +"Eight destroyers of the 13th Flotilla, _Nestor_, _Nomad_, _Nicator_, +_Narborough_, _Pelican_, _Petard_, _Obdurate_, _Nerissa_, with _Moorsom_ +and _Morris_, of 10th Flotilla, _Turbulent_ and _Termagant_, of the 9th +Flotilla, having been ordered to attack the enemy with torpedoes when +opportunity offered, moved out at 4.15 p.m., simultaneously with a +similar movement on the part of the enemy Destroyers. The attack was +carried out in the most gallant manner, and with great determination. +Before arriving at a favorable position to fire torpedoes, they +intercepted an enemy force consisting of a light-cruiser and fifteen +destroyers. A fierce engagement ensued at close quarters, with the +result that the enemy were forced to retire on their battle-cruisers, +having lost two destroyers sunk, and having their torpedo attack +frustrated. Our destroyers sustained no loss in this engagement, but +their attack on the enemy battle-cruisers was rendered less effective, +owing to some of the destroyers having dropped astern during the fight. +Their position was therefore unfavorable for torpedo attack. + +[Sidenote: Destroyers attack battleships.] + +"_Nestor_, _Nomad_, and _Nicator_ pressed home their attack on the +battle-cruisers and fired two torpedoes at them, being subjected to a +heavy fire from the enemy's secondary armament. _Nomad_ was badly hit, +and apparently remained stopped between the lines. Subsequently _Nestor_ +and _Nicator_ altered course to the SE., and in a short time, the +opposing battle-cruisers having turned 16 points, found themselves +within close range of a number of enemy battleships. Nothing daunted, +though under a terrific fire, they stood on, and their position being +favorable for torpedo attack fired a torpedo at the second ship of the +enemy line at a range of 3,000 yards. Before they could fire their +fourth torpedo, _Nestor_ was badly hit and swung to starboard, _Nicator_ +altering course inside her to avoid collision, and thereby being +prevented from firing the last torpedo. _Nicator_ made good her escape. +_Nestor_ remained stopped, but was afloat when last seen. _Moorsom_ also +carried out an attack on the enemy's battle fleet. + +[Sidenote: Officers of destroyers commended for gallantry.] + +"_Petard_, _Nerissa_, _Turbulent_, and _Termagant_ also pressed home +their attack on the enemy battle cruisers, firing torpedoes after the +engagement with enemy destroyers. _Petard_ reports that all her +torpedoes must have crossed the enemy's line, while _Nerissa_ states +that one torpedo appeared to strike the rear ship. These destroyer +attacks were indicative of the spirit pervading His Majesty's Navy, and +were worthy of its highest traditions. I propose to bring to your notice +a recommendation of Commander Bingham and other Officers for some +recognition of their conspicuous gallantry. + +[Sidenote: Visibility reduced.] + +"From 4.15 to 4.43 p.m. the conflict between the opposing +battle-cruisers was of a very fierce and resolute character. The 5th +Battle Squadron was engaging the enemy's rear ships, unfortunately at +very long range. Our fire began to tell, the accuracy and rapidity of +that of the enemy depreciating considerably. At 4.18 p.m. the third +enemy ship was seen to be on fire. The visibility to the north-eastward +had become considerably reduced, and the outline of the ships very +indistinct. + +[Sidenote: Closing with the enemy's Battle Fleet.] + +"At 4.38 p.m. _Southampton_ reported the enemy's Battle Fleet ahead. The +destroyers were recalled, and at 4.42 p.m. the enemy's Battle Fleet was +sighted SE. Course was altered 16 points in succession to starboard, and +I proceeded on a northerly course to lead them towards the Battle Fleet. +The enemy battle-cruisers altered course shortly afterwards, and the +action continued. _Southampton_, with the 2nd Light-cruiser Squadron, +held on to the southward to observe. They closed to within 13,000 yards +of the enemy Battle Fleet, and came under a very heavy but ineffective +fire. _Southampton's_ reports were most valuable. The 5th Battle +Squadron were now closing on an opposite course and engaging the enemy +battle-cruisers with all guns. The position of the enemy Battle Fleet +was communicated to them, and I ordered them to alter course 16 points. +Led by Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas, in _Barham_, this squadron supported us +brilliantly and effectively. + +"At 4.57 p.m. the 5th Battle Squadron turned up astern of me and came +under the fire of the leading ships of the enemy Battle Fleet. +_Fearless_, with the destroyers of 1st Flotilla, joined the +battle-cruisers, and, when speed admitted, took station ahead. +_Champion_, with 13th Flotilla, took station on the 5th Battle Squadron. +At 5 p.m. the 1st and 3rd Light-cruiser Squadrons, which had been +following me on the southerly course, took station on my starboard bow; +the 2nd Light-cruiser Squadron took station on my port quarter. + +[Sidenote: Weather conditions unfavorable.] + +[Sidenote: Following a northerly course.] + +[Sidenote: An enemy ship on fire.] + +"The weather conditions now became unfavorable, our ships being +silhouetted against a clear horizon to the westward, while the enemy +were for the most part obscured by mist, only showing up clearly at +intervals. These conditions prevailed until we had turned their van at +about 6 p.m. Between 5 and 6 p.m. the action continued on a northerly +course, the range being about 14,000 yards. During this time the enemy +received very severe punishment, and one of their battle-cruisers +quitted the line in a considerably damaged condition. This came under my +personal observation, and was corroborated by _Princess Royal_ and +_Tiger_. Other enemy ships also showed signs of increasing injury. At +5.5 p.m. _Onslow_ and _Moresby_, who had been detached to assist +_Engadine_ with the seaplane, rejoined the battle-cruiser squadrons and +took station on the starboard (engaged) bow of _Lion_. At 5.10 p.m. +_Moresby_, being 2 points before the beam of the leading enemy ship, +fired a torpedo at a ship in their line. Eight minutes later she +observed a hit with a torpedo on what was judged to be the sixth ship in +the line. _Moresby_ then passed between the lines to clear the range of +smoke, and rejoined _Champion_. In corroboration of this, _Fearless_ +reports having seen an enemy heavy ship heavily on fire at about 5.10 +p.m., and shortly afterwards a huge cloud of smoke and steam. + +[Sidenote: Range of 14,000 yards.] + +"At 5.35 p.m. our course was NNE., and the estimated position of the +Battle Fleet was N. 16 W., so we gradually hauled to the north-eastward, +keeping the range of the enemy at 14,000 yards. He was gradually hauling +to the eastward, receiving severe punishment at the head of his line, +and probably acting on information received from his light-cruisers +which had sighted and were engaged with the Third Battle-cruiser +Squadron. Possibly Zeppelins were present also. + +[Sidenote: British Battle Fleet sighted.] + +"At 5.50 p.m. British cruisers were sighted on the port bow, and at 5.56 +p.m. the leading battleships of the Battle Fleet, bearing north 5 miles. +I thereupon altered course to east, and proceeded at utmost speed. This +brought the range of the enemy down to 12,000 yards. I made a report to +you that the enemy battle-cruisers bore south-east. At this time only +three of the enemy battle-cruisers were visible, closely followed by +battleships of the _Koenig_ class. + +[Sidenote: Torpedo attack on enemy Battle Fleet.] + +"At about 6.5 p.m. _Onslow_, being on the engaged bow of _Lion_, sighted +an enemy light-cruiser at a distance of 6,000 yards from us, apparently +endeavoring to attack with torpedoes. _Onslow_ at once closed and +engaged her, firing 58 rounds at a range of from 4,000 to 2,000 yards, +scoring a number of hits. _Onslow_ then closed the enemy +battle-cruisers, and orders were given for all torpedoes to be fired. At +this moment she was struck amidships by a heavy shell, with the result +that only one torpedo was fired. Thinking that all his torpedoes had +gone, the Commanding Officer proceeded to retire at slow speed. Being +informed that he still had three torpedoes, he closed with the +light-cruiser previously engaged and torpedoed her. The enemy's Battle +Fleet was then sighted, and the remaining torpedoes were fired at them +and must have crossed the enemy's track. Damage then caused _Onslow_ to +stop. + + "At 7.15 p.m. _Defender_, whose speed had been + reduced to 10 knots, while on the disengaged + side of the battle-cruisers, by a shell which + damaged her foremost boiler, closed _Onslow_ + and took her in tow. Shells were falling all + round them during this operation, which, + however, was successfully accomplished. During + the heavy weather of the ensuing night the tow + parted twice, but was re-secured. The two + struggled on together until 1 p.m., 1st June, + when _Onslow_ was transferred to tugs." + +[Sidenote: Course of the British Battle Fleet.] + +On receipt of the information that the enemy had been sighted, the +British Battle Fleet, with its accompanying cruiser and destroyer force, +proceeded at full speed on a SE. by S. course to close the +Battle-cruiser Fleet. During the two hours that elapsed before the +arrival of the Battle Fleet on the scene the steaming qualities of the +older battleships were severely tested. Great credit is due to the +engine-room departments for the manner in which they, as always, +responded to the call, the whole Fleet maintaining a speed in excess of +the trial speeds of some of the older vessels. + +[Sidenote: The Third Battle-cruiser Squadron.] + +The Third Battle-cruiser Squadron, commanded by Rear-Admiral the Hon. +Horace L.A. Hood, C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O., which was in advance of the +Battle Fleet, was ordered to reinforce Sir David Beatty. At 5.30 p.m. +this squadron observed flashes of gunfire and heard the sound of guns to +the south-westward. Rear-Admiral Hood sent the _Chester_ to investigate, +and this ship engaged three or four enemy light-cruisers at about 5.45 +p.m. The engagement lasted for about twenty minutes, during which period +Captain Lawson handled his vessel with great skill against heavy odds, +and, although the ship suffered considerably in casualties, her fighting +and steaming qualities were unimpaired, and at about 6.5 p.m. she +rejoined the Third Battle-cruiser Squadron. + +The Third Battle-cruiser Squadron had turned to the north-westward, and +at 6.10 p.m. sighted our battle-cruisers, the squadron taking station +ahead of the _Lion_ at 6.21 p.m. in accordance with the orders of the +Vice-Admiral Commanding Battle-cruiser Fleet. He reports as follows: + +[Sidenote: Hood's squadron takes station ahead.] + +"I ordered them to take station ahead, which was carried out +magnificently, Rear-Admiral Hood bringing his squadron into action ahead +in a most inspiring manner, worthy of his great naval ancestors. At 6.25 +p.m. I altered course to the ESE. in support of the Third Battle-cruiser +Squadron, who were at this time only 8,000 yards from the enemy's +leading ship. They were pouring a hot fire into her and caused her to +turn to the westward of south. At the same time I made a report to you +of the bearing and distance of the enemy battle-fleet. + +[Sidenote: Low visibility hinders both fleets.] + +"By 6.50 p.m. the battle-cruisers were clear of our leading battle +squadron then bearing about NNW. 3 miles, and I ordered the Third +Battle-cruiser Squadron to prolong the line astern and reduced to 18 +knots. The visibility at this time was very indifferent, not more than 4 +miles, and the enemy ships were temporarily lost sight of. It is +interesting to note that after 6 p.m., although the visibility became +reduced, it was undoubtedly more favorable to us than to the enemy. At +intervals their ships showed up clearly, enabling us to punish them very +severely and establish a definite superiority over them. From the report +of other ships and my own observation it was clear that the enemy +suffered considerable damage, battle-cruisers and battleships alike. The +head of their line was crumpled up, leaving battleships as targets for +the majority of our battle-cruisers. Before leaving us the Fifth Battle +Squadron was also engaging battleships. The report of Rear-Admiral +Evan-Thomas shows that excellent results were obtained, and it can be +safely said that his magnificent squadron wrought great execution. + +[Sidenote: Light cruisers attack heavy enemy ships.] + +"From the report of Rear-Admiral T. D. W. Napier, M.V.O., the Third +Light-cruiser Squadron, which had maintained its station on our +starboard bow well ahead of the enemy, at 6.25 p.m. attacked with the +torpedo. _Falmouth_ and _Yarmouth_ both fired torpedoes at the leading +enemy battle-cruiser, and it is believed that one torpedo hit, as a +heavy underwater explosion was observed. The Third Light-cruiser +Squadron then gallantly attacked the heavy ships with gunfire, with +impunity to themselves, thereby demonstrating that the fighting +efficiency of the enemy had been seriously impaired. Rear-Admiral Napier +deserves great credit for his determined and effective attack. +_Indomitable_ reports that about this time one of the _Derfflinger_ +class fell out of the enemy's line." + +[Sidenote: Ships hard to distinguish in the mist.] + +Meanwhile, at 5.45 p.m., the report of guns had become audible to me, +and at 5.55 p.m. flashes were visible from ahead round to the starboard +beam, although in the mist no ships could be distinguished, and the +position of the enemy's battle fleet could not be determined. The +difference in estimated position by "reckoning" between _Iron Duke_ and +_Lion_, which was inevitable under the circumstances, added to the +uncertainty of the general situation. + +Shortly after 5.55 p.m. some of the cruisers ahead, under Rear-Admirals +Herbert L. Heath, M.V.O., and Sir Robert Arbuthnot, Bt., M.V.O., were +seen to be in action, and reports received show that _Defence_, +flagship, and _Warrior_, of the First Cruiser Squadron, engaged an enemy +light-cruiser at this time. She was subsequently observed to sink. + +At 6 p.m. _Canterbury_, which ship was in company with the Third +Battle-cruiser Squadron, had engaged enemy light-cruisers which were +firing heavily on the torpedo-boat destroyer _Shark_, _Acasta_, and +_Christopher_; as a result of this engagement the _Shark_ was sunk. + +At 6 p.m. vessels, afterwards seen to be our battle-cruisers, were +sighted by _Marlborough_ bearing before the starboard beam of the battle +fleet. + +At the same time the Vice-Admiral Commanding, Battle-cruiser Fleet, +reported to me the position of the enemy battle-cruisers, and at 6.14 +p.m. reported the position of the enemy battle fleet. + +At this period, when the battle fleet was meeting the battle-cruisers +and the Fifth Battle Squadron, great care was necessary to ensure that +our own ships were not mistaken for enemy vessels. + +[Sidenote: Battle Fleet in line of battle.] + +I formed the battle fleet in line of battle on receipt of Sir David +Beatty's report, and during deployment the fleets became engaged. Sir +David Beatty had meanwhile formed the battle-cruisers ahead of the +battle-fleet. + +[Sidenote: Commanders of the divisions of the Battle Fleet.] The +divisions of the battle fleet were led by: + + The Commander-in-Chief. + Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney, K.C.B., K.C.M.G. + Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Jerram, K.C.B. + Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee, Bt., K.C.B., C.V.O., C.M.G. + Rear-Admiral Alexander L. Duff, C.B. + Rear-Admiral Arthur C. Leveson, C.B. + Rear-Admiral Ernest F. A. Gaunt, C.M.G. + +At 6.16 p.m. _Defence_ and _Warrior_ were observed passing down between +the British and German Battle Fleets under a very heavy fire. _Defence_ +disappeared, and _Warrior_ passed to rear disabled. + +[Sidenote: Arbuthnot's ships disabled.] + +It is probable that Sir Robert Arbuthnot, during his engagement with the +enemy's light-cruisers and in his desire to complete their destruction, +was not aware of the approach of the enemy's heavy ships, owing to the +mist, until he found himself in close proximity to the main fleet, and +before he could withdraw his ships they were caught under a heavy fire +and disabled. It is not known when _Black Prince_ of the same squadron, +was sunk, but a wireless signal was received from her between 8 and 9 +p.m. + +The First Battle Squadron became engaged during deployment, the +Vice-Admiral opening fire at 6.17 p.m. on a battleship of the _Kaiser_ +class. The other Battle Squadrons, which had previously been firing at +an enemy light cruiser, opened fire at 6.30 p.m. on battleships of the +_Koenig_ class. + +[Sidenote: Accident to the _Warspite_.] + +At 6.6 p.m. the Rear-Admiral Commanding Fifth Battle Squadron, then in +company with the battle-cruisers, had sighted the starboard +wing-division of the battle-fleet on the port bow of _Barham_, and the +first intention of Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas was to form ahead of the +remainder of the battle-fleet, but on realizing the direction of +deployment he was compelled to form astern, a man[oe]uvre which was well +executed by the squadron under a heavy fire from the enemy battle-fleet. +An accident to _Warspite's_ steering gear caused her helm to become +jammed temporarily and took the ship in the direction of the enemy's +line, during which time she was hit several times. Clever handling +enabled Captain Edward M. Phillpotts to extricate his ship from a +somewhat awkward situation. + +Owing principally to the mist, but partly to the smoke, it was possible +to see only a few ships at a time in the enemy's battle line. Towards +the van only some four or five ships were ever visible at once. More +could be seen from the rear squadron, but never more than eight to +twelve. + +[Sidenote: Action at shorter ranges.] + +The action between the battle-fleets lasted intermittently from 6.17 +p.m. to 8.20 p.m. at ranges between 9,000 and 12,000 yards, during which +time the British Fleet made alterations of course from SE. by E. by W. +in the endeavour to close. The enemy constantly turned away and opened +the range under cover of destroyer attacks and smoke screens as the +effect of the British fire was felt, and the alterations of course had +the effect of bringing the British Fleet (which commenced the action in +a position of advantage on the bow of the enemy) to a quarterly bearing +from the enemy battle line, but at the same time placed us between the +enemy and his bases. + +[Sidenote: Wreck of the _Invincible_.] + +At 6.55 p.m. _Iron Duke_ passed the wreck of _Invincible_, with Badger +standing by. + +During the somewhat brief periods that the ships of the High Sea Fleet +were visible through the mist, the heavy and effective fire kept up by +the battleships and battle-cruisers of the Grand Fleet caused me much +satisfaction, and the enemy vessels were seen to be constantly hit, some +being observed to haul out of the line and at least one to sink. The +enemy's return fire at this period was not effective, and the damage +caused to our ships was insignificant. + +[Sidenote: Course of the Battle Fleet.] + +Regarding the battle-cruisers, Sir David Beatty reports:-- + +"At 7.6 p.m. I received a signal from you that the course of the Fleet +was south. Subsequently signals were received up to 8.46 p.m. showing +that the course of the Battle Fleet was to the southwestward. + +[Sidenote: Visibility improves.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy destroyers make smoke screen.] + +"Between 7 and 7.12 p.m. we hauled round gradually to SW. by S. to +regain touch with the enemy, and at 7.14 p.m. again sighted them at a +range of about 15,000 yards. The ships sighted at this time were two +battle-cruisers and two battleships, apparently of the _Koenig_ class. +No doubt more continued the line to the northward, but that was all that +could be seen. The visibility having improved considerably as the sun +descended below the clouds, we re-engaged at 7.17 p.m. and increased +speed to 22 knots. At 7.32 p.m. my course was SW., speed 18 knots, the +leading enemy battleship bearing NW. by W. Again, after a very short +time, the enemy showed signs of punishment, one ship being on fire, +while another appeared to drop right astern. The destroyers at the head +of the enemy's line emitted volumes of grey smoke, covering their +capital ships as with a pall, under cover of which they turned away, and +at 7.45 p.m. we lost sight of them. + +[Sidenote: Enemy steams to westward.] + +"At 7.58 p.m. I ordered the First and Third Light-cruiser Squadrons to +sweep to the westward and locate the head of the enemy's line, and at +8.20 p.m. we altered course to west in support. We soon located two +battle-cruisers and battleships, and were heavily engaged at a short +range of about 10,000 yards. The leading ship was hit repeatedly by +_Lion_, and turned away eight points, emitting very high flames and with +a heavy list to port. _Princess Royal_ set fire to a three-funnelled +battleship. _New Zealand_ and _Indomitable_ report that the third ship, +which they both engaged, hauled out of the line, heeling over and on +fire. The mist which now came down enveloped them, and _Falmouth_ +reported they were last seen at 8.38 p.m. steaming to the westward. + +[Sidenote: Shock felt.] + +"At 8.40 p.m. all our battle-cruisers felt a heavy shock as if struck by +a mine or torpedo, or possibly sunken wreckage. As however, examination +of the bottoms reveals no sign of such an occurrence, it is assumed that +it indicated the blowing up of a great vessel. + +"I continued on a south-westerly course with my light cruisers spread +until 9.24 p.m. Nothing further being sighted, I assumed that the enemy +were to the north-westward, and that we had established ourselves well +between him and his base. _Minotaur_ (Captain Arthur C. S. H. D'Aeth) +was at this time bearing north 5 miles, and I asked her the position of +the leading battle squadron of the Battle Fleet. Her reply was that it +was in sight, but was last seen bearing NNE. I kept you informed of my +position, course, and speed, also of the bearing of the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Expectation of locating enemy at daybreak.] + +"In view of the gathering darkness, and the fact that our strategical +position was such as to make it appear certain that we should locate the +enemy at daylight under most favorable circumstances, I did not consider +it desirable or proper to close the enemy Battle Fleet during the dark +hours. I therefore concluded that I should be carrying out your wishes +by turning to the course of the Fleet, reporting to you that I had done +so." + +[Sidenote: German torpedo attacks ineffective.] + +As was anticipated, the German Fleet appeared to rely very much on +torpedo attacks, which were favored by the low visibility and by the +fact that we had arrived in the position of a "following" or "chasing" +fleet. A large number of torpedoes were apparently fired, but only one +took effect (on _Marlborough_), and even in this case the ship was able +to remain in the line and to continue the action. The enemy's efforts to +keep out of effective gun range were aided by the weather conditions, +which were ideal for the purpose. Two separate destroyer attacks were +made by the enemy. + +[Sidenote: _Marlborough_ hit by a torpedo.] + +[Sidenote: Hits on enemy ships.] + +The First Battle Squadron, under Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney, came +into action at 6.17 p.m. with the enemy's Third Battle Squadron, at a +range of about 11,000 yards, and administered severe punishment, both to +the battleships and to the battle-cruisers and light-cruisers, which +were also engaged. The fire of _Marlborough_ was particularly rapid and +effective. This ship commenced at 6.17 p.m. by firing seven salvoes at a +ship of the _Kaiser_ class, then engaged a cruiser, and again a +battleship, and at 6.54 she was hit by a torpedo and took up a +considerable list to starboard, but we opened at 7.3 p.m. at a cruiser +and at 7.12 p.m. fired fourteen rapid salvoes at a ship of the _Koenig_ +class, hitting her frequently until she turned out of the line. The +manner in which this effective fire was kept up in spite of the +disadvantages due to the injury caused by the torpedo was most +creditable to the ship and a very fine example to the squadron. + +The range decreased during the course of the action to 9,000 yards. The +First Battle Squadron received more of the enemy's return fire than the +remainder of the battle-fleet, with the exception of the Fifth Battle +Squadron. _Colossus_ was hit, but was not seriously damaged, and other +ships were straddled with fair frequency. + +[Sidenote: Range-taking difficult.] + +In the Fourth Battle Squadron--in which squadron my flagship _Iron Duke_ +was placed--Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee leading one of the +divisions--the enemy engaged was the squadron consisting of the _Koenig_ +and _Kaiser_ class and some of the battle-cruisers, as well as disabled +cruisers and light-cruisers. The mist rendered range-taking a difficult +matter, but the fire of the squadron was effective. _Iron Duke_, having +previously fired at a light-cruiser between the lines, opened fire at +6.30 p.m. on a battleship of the _Koenig_ class at a range of 12,000 +yards. The latter was very quickly straddled, and hitting commenced at +the second salvo and only ceased when the target ship turned away. + +[Sidenote: Firing at enemy battle cruisers.] The fire of other ships of +the squadron was principally directed at enemy battle-cruisers and +cruisers as they appeared out of the mist. Hits were observed to take +effect on several ships. + +The ships of the Second Battle Squadron, under Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas +Jerram, were in action with vessels of the _Kaiser_ or _Koenig_ classes +between 6.30 and 7.20 p.m., and fired also at an enemy battle-cruiser +which had dropped back apparently severely damaged. + +During the action between the battle fleets the Second Cruiser Squadron, +ably commanded by Rear-Admiral Herbert L. Heath, M.V.O., with the +addition of _Duke of Edinburgh_ of the First Cruiser Squadron, occupied +a position at the van, and acted as a connecting link between the battle +fleet and the battle-cruiser fleet. This squadron, although it carried +out useful work, did not have an opportunity of coming into action. + +The attached cruisers _Boadicea_, _Active_, _Blanche_ and _Bellona_ +carried out their duties as repeating-ships with remarkable rapidity and +accuracy under difficult conditions. + +[Sidenote: Light cruisers attack with torpedoes.] + +The Fourth Light-cruiser Squadron, under Commodore Charles E. Le +Mesurier, occupied a position in the van until ordered to attack enemy +destroyers at 7.20 p.m., and again at 8.18 p.m., when they supported the +Eleventh Flotilla, which had moved out under Commodore James R. P. +Hawksley, M.V.O., to attack. On each occasion the Fourth Light-cruiser +Squadron was very well handled by Commodore Le Mesurier, his captains +giving him excellent support, and their object was attained, although +with some loss in the second attack, when the ships came under the heavy +fire of the enemy battle fleet at between 6,500 and 8,000 yards. The +_Calliope_ was hit several times, but did not sustain serious damage, +although I regret to say she had several casualties. The light-cruisers +attacked the enemy's battleships with torpedoes at this time, and an +explosion on board a ship of the _Kaiser_ class was seen at 8.40 p.m. + +During these destroyer attacks four enemy torpedo-boat destroyers were +sunk by the gunfire of battleships, light-cruisers, and destroyers. + +After the arrival of the British Battle Fleet the enemy's tactics were +of a nature generally to avoid further action, in which they were +favored by the conditions of visibility. + +[Sidenote: Enemy entirely out of sight.] + +At 9 p.m. the enemy was entirely out of sight, and the threat of +torpedo-boat-destroyer attacks during the rapidly approaching darkness +made it necessary for me to dispose the fleet for the night, with a view +to its safety from such attacks, whilst providing for a renewal of +action at daylight. I accordingly man[oe]uvred to remain between the +enemy and his bases, placing our flotillas in a position in which they +would afford protection to the fleet from destroyer attack, and at the +same time be favorably situated for attacking the enemy's heavy ships. + +During the night the British heavy ships were not attacked, but the +Fourth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Flotillas, under Commodore Hawksley and +Captains Charles J. Wintour and Anselan J. B. Stirling, delivered a +series of very gallant and successful attacks on the enemy, causing him +heavy losses. + +[Sidenote: Severe losses in the Fourth Flotilla.] + +It was during these attacks that severe losses in the Fourth Flotilla +occurred, including that of _Tipperary_, with the gallant leader of the +Flotilla, Captain Wintour. He had brought his flotilla to a high pitch +of perfection, and although suffering severely from the fire of the +enemy, a heavy toll of enemy vessels was taken, and many gallant actions +were performed by the flotilla. + +Two torpedoes were seen to take effect on enemy vessels as the result of +the attacks of the Fourth Flotilla, one being from _Spitfire_, and the +other from either _Ardent_, _Ambuscade_, or _Garland_. + +[Sidenote: An enemy ship torpedoed.] + +The attack carried out by the Twelfth Flotilla was admirably executed. +The squadron attacked, which consisted of six large vessels, besides +light-cruisers, and comprised vessels of the _Kaiser_ class, was taken +by surprise. A large number of torpedoes was fired, including some at +the second and third ships in the line; those fired at the third ship +took effect, and she was observed to blow up. A second attack, made +twenty minutes later by _Maenad_ on the five vessels still remaining, +resulted in the fourth ship in the line being also hit. + +The destroyers were under a heavy fire from the light-cruisers on +reaching the rear of the line, but the _Onslaught_ was the only vessel +which received any material injuries. In the _Onslaught_ Sub-Lieutenant +Harry W. A. Kemmis, assisted by Midshipman Reginald G. Arnot, R.N.R., +the only executive officers not disabled, brought the ship successfully +out of action and reached her home port. + +During the attack carried out by the Eleventh Flotilla, _Castor_ leading +the flotilla, engaged and sank an enemy torpedo-boat-destroyer at +point-blank range. + +Sir David Beatty reports:-- + +[Sidenote: Engaging enemy destroyers.] + +"The Thirteenth Flotilla, under the command of Captain James U. Farie, +in _Champion_, took station astern of the battle fleet for the night. At +0.30 a.m. on Thursday, 1st June, a large vessel crossed the rear of the +flotilla at high speed. She passed close to _Petard_ and _Turbulent_, +switched on searchlights and opened a heavy fire, which disabled +_Turbulent_. At 3.30 a.m. _Champion_ was engaged for a few minutes with +four enemy destroyers. _Moresby_ reports four ships of _Deutschland_ +class sighted at 2.35 a.m., at whom she fired one torpedo. Two minutes +later an explosion was felt by _Moresby_ and _Obdurate_. + +[Sidenote: Battleship of the _Kaiser_ class alone.] + +"_Fearless_ and the 1st Flotilla were very usefully employed as a +submarine screen during the earlier part of the 31st May. At 6.10 p.m., +when joining the Battle Fleet, _Fearless_ was unable to follow the +battle cruisers without fouling the battleships, and therefore took +station at the rear of the line. She sighted during the night a +battleship of the _Kaiser_ class steaming fast and entirely alone. She +was not able to engage her, but believes she was attacked by destroyers +further astern. A heavy explosion was observed astern not long after." + +[Sidenote: Deeds of the destroyers.] + +There were many gallant deeds performed by the destroyer flotillas; they +surpassed the very highest expectations that I had formed of them. + +Apart from the proceedings of the flotillas, the Second Light-cruiser +Squadron in the rear of the battle fleet was in close action for about +15 minutes at 10.20 p.m. with a squadron comprising one enemy cruiser +and four light-cruisers, during which period _Southampton_ and _Dublin_ +suffered rather heavy casualties, although their steaming and fighting +qualities were not impaired. The return fire of the squadron appeared to +be very effective. + +_Abdiel_, ably commanded by Commander Berwick Curtis, carried out her +duties with the success which has always characterized her work. + +[Sidenote: The Battle Fleet searches for enemy vessels.] + +[Sidenote: _Marlborough_ sent to a base.] + +[Sidenote: The enemy had returned into port.] + +At daylight, 1st June, the battle fleet, being then to the southward and +westward of the Horn Reef, turned to the northward in search of enemy +vessels and for the purpose of collecting our own cruisers and +torpedo-boat destroyers. At 2.30 a.m. Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney +transferred his flag from _Marlborough_ to _Revenge_, as the former ship +had some difficulty in keeping up the speed of the squadron. +_Marlborough_ was detached by my direction to a base, successfully +driving off an enemy submarine attack en route. The visibility early on +1st June (three to four miles) was less than on 31st May, and the +torpedo-boat destroyers, being out of visual touch, did not rejoin until +9 a.m. The British Fleet remained in the proximity of the battle-field +and near the line of approach to German ports until 11 a.m. on 1st June, +in spite of the disadvantage of long distances from fleet bases and the +danger incurred in waters adjacent to enemy coasts from submarines and +torpedo craft. The enemy, however, made no sign, and I was reluctantly +compelled to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet had returned into +port. Subsequent events proved this assumption to have been correct. Our +position must have been known to the enemy, as at 4 a.m. the Fleet +engaged a Zeppelin for about five minutes, during which time she had +ample opportunity to note and subsequently report the position and +course of the British Fleet. + +[Sidenote: Large amount of wreckage.] + +[Sidenote: _Warrior_ evidently foundered.] + +The waters from the latitude of the Horn Reef to the scene of the action +were thoroughly searched, and some survivors from the destroyers +_Ardent_, _Fortune_, and _Tipperary_ were picked up, and the +_Sparrowhawk_, which had been in collision and was no longer seaworthy, +was sunk after her crew had been taken off. A large amount of wreckage +was seen, but no enemy ships, and at 1.15 p.m., it being evident that +the German Fleet had succeeded in returning to port, course was shaped +for our bases, which were reached without further incident on Friday, +2nd June. A cruiser squadron was detached to search for _Warrior_, which +vessel had been abandoned whilst in tow of _Engadine_ on her way to the +base owing to bad weather setting in and the vessel becoming +unseaworthy, but no trace of her was discovered, and a further +subsequent search by a light-cruiser squadron having failed to locate +her, it is evident that she foundered. + +[Sidenote: Low visibility hinders accurate report of damage.] + +The conditions of low visibility under which the day action took place +and the approach of darkness enhance the difficulty of giving an +accurate report of the damage inflicted or the names of the ships sunk +by our forces, but after a most careful examination of the evidence of +all officers, who testified to seeing enemy vessels actually sink, and +personal interviews with a large number of these officers, I am of +opinion that the list shown in the enclosure gives the minimum in regard +to numbers, though it is possibly not entirely accurate as regards the +particular class of vessel, especially those which were sunk during the +night attacks. In addition to the vessels sunk, it is unquestionable +that many other ships were very seriously damaged by gunfire and by +torpedo attack. + +[Sidenote: British ships lost in the battle.] + +I deeply regret to report the loss of H.M. ships: + + 1. _Queen Mary_, Battle-cruiser, 27,000 tons. + 2. _Indefatigable_, Battle-cruiser, 18,750 tons. + 3. _Invincible_, Battle-cruiser, 17,250 tons. + 4. _Defence_, Armored cruiser, 14,600 tons. + 5. _Black Prince_, Armored cruiser, 13,550 tons. + 6. _Warrior_, Armored cruiser, 13,550 tons. + 7. _Tipperary_, Destroyer, 1,430 tons. + 8. _Ardent_, Destroyer, 935 tons. + 9. _Fortune_, Destroyer, 935 tons. + 10. _Shark_, Destroyer, 935 tons. + 11. _Sparrowhawk_, Destroyer, 935 tons. + 12. _Nestor_, Destroyer, 1,000 tons. + 13. _Nomad_, Destroyer, 1,000 tons. + 14. _Turbulent_, Destroyer, 1,430 tons. + Total, 113,300 tons; + +[Sidenote: Distinguished officers who went down.] + +[Sidenote: Gallantry of officers and men.] + +and still more do I regret the resultant heavy loss of life. The death +of such gallant and distinguished officers as Rear-Admiral Sir Robert +Arbuthnot, Bart., Rear-Admiral the Hon. Horace Hood, Captain Charles F. +Sowerby, Captain Cecil I. Prowse, Captain Arthur L. Cay, Captain Thomas +P. Bonham, Captain Charles J. Wintour, and Captain Stanley V. Ellis, and +those who perished with them, is a serious loss to the navy and to the +country. They led officers and men who were equally gallant, and whose +death is mourned by their comrades in the Grand Fleet. They fell doing +their duty nobly, a death which they would have been the first to +desire. + +[Sidenote: Fighting qualities of the enemy.] + +The enemy fought with the gallantry that was expected of him. We +particularly admired the conduct of those on board a disabled German +light-cruiser which passed down the British line shortly after +deployment, under a heavy fire, which was returned by the only gun left +in action. + +[Sidenote: Heroism of the wounded.] + +The conduct of officers and men throughout the day and night actions was +entirely beyond praise. No words of mine could do them justice. On all +sides it is reported to me that the glorious traditions of the past were +most worthily upheld--whether in heavy ships, cruisers, light-cruisers, +or destroyers--the same admirable spirit prevailed. Officers and men +were cool and determined, with a cheeriness that would have carried them +through anything. The heroism of the wounded was the admiration of all. + +I cannot adequately express the pride with which the spirit of the Fleet +filled me. + +[Sidenote: Work of the engine room department.] + +[Sidenote: No failures in material.] + +Details of the work of the various ships during action have now been +given. It must never be forgotten, however, that the prelude to action +is the work of the engine-room department, and that during action the +officers and men of that department perform their most important duties +without the incentive which a knowledge of the course of the action +gives to those on deck. The qualities of discipline and endurance are +taxed to the utmost under these conditions, and they were, as always, +most fully maintained throughout the operations under review. Several +ships attained speeds that had never before been reached, thus showing +very clearly their high state of steaming efficiency. Failures in +material were conspicuous by their absence, and several instances are +reported of magnificent work on the part of the engine-room departments +of injured ships. + +[Sidenote: Valuable work of artisans.] + +The artisan ratings also carried out much valuable work during and after +the action; they could not have done better. + +[Sidenote: Success of the medical officers.] + +The work of the medical officers of the Fleet, carried out very largely +under the most difficult conditions, was entirely admirable and +invaluable. Lacking in many cases all the essentials for performing +critical operations, and with their staff seriously depleted by +casualties, they worked untiringly and with the greatest success. To +them we owe a deep debt of gratitude. + +[Sidenote: Ships that sustained hardest fighting.] + +It will be seen that the hardest fighting fell to the lot of the +Battle-cruiser Fleet (the units of which were less heavily armored than +their opponents), the Fifth Battle Squadron, the First Cruiser Squadron, +Fourth Light-cruiser Squadron, and the Flotillas. This was inevitable +under the conditions and the squadrons and Flotillas mentioned, as well +as the individual vessels composing them, were handled with conspicuous +ability, as were also the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Squadrons of the Battle +Fleet and the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. + +I desire to place on record my high appreciation of the manner in which +all the vessels were handled. The conditions were such as to call for +great skill and ability, quick judgment and decisions, and this was +conspicuous throughout the day. + + * * * * * + +The campaigns carried on by Italy against Austria were, as had been +noted in a former chapter, among the most difficult of the war. The +Italian troops fighting with the greatest gallantry in a mountainous +and, in places, an impassable country, continued to capture Austrian +fortified places, along the entire Isonzo front. One of the most daring +and most brilliant of their exploits is told in the following pages. + + + + +TAKING THE COL DI LANA + +LEWIS R. FREEMAN + +Copyright, World's Work, June, 1917. + + +[Sidenote: A hot wind from the Mediterranean.] + +[Sidenote: Thaw and avalanches in the Alps.] + +Once or twice in every winter a thick, sticky, hot wind from somewhere +on the other side of the Mediterranean breathes upon the snow and +ice-locked Alpine valleys the breath of a false springtime. The Swiss +guides, if I remember correctly, call it by a name which is pronounced +as we do the word _fun_; but the incidence of such a wind means to them +anything but what that signifies in English. To them--to all in the +Alps, indeed--a spell of _fun_ weather means thaw, and thaw means +avalanches; avalanches, too, at a time of the year when there is so much +snow that the slides are under constant temptation to abandon their +beaten tracks and gouge out new and unexpected channels for themselves. +It is only the first-time visitor to the Alps who bridles under the +Judas kiss of the wind called _fun_. + +[Sidenote: A hot wind in January.] + +It was on an early January day of one of these treacherous hot winds +that I was motored up from the plain of Venezia to a certain sector of +the Italian Alpine front, a sector almost as important strategically as +it is beautiful scenically. What twelve hours previously had been a +flint-hard, ice-paved road had dissolved to a river of soft slush, and +one could sense rather than see the ominous premonitory twitchings in +the lowering snow-banks as the lapping of the hot moist air relaxed the +brake of the frost which had held them on the precipitous mountain +sides. Every stretch where the road curved to the embrace of cliff or +shelving valley wall was a possible ambush, and we slipped by them with +muffled engine and hushed voices. + +[Sidenote: Skirting a lake.] + +Toward the middle of the short winter afternoon the gorge we had been +following opened out into a narrow valley, and straight over across the +little lake which the road skirted, reflected in the shimmering sheet of +steaming water that the thaw was throwing out across the ice, was a +vivid white triangle of towering mountain. A true granite Alp among the +splintered Dolomites--a fortress among cathedrals--it was the +outstanding, the dominating feature in a panorama which I knew from my +map was made up of the mountain chain along which wriggled the +interlocked lines of the Austro-Italian battle front. + +"Plainly a peak with a personality," I said to the officer at my side. +"What is it called?" + +[Sidenote: The Col di Lana an important position.] + +"It's the Col di Lana," was the reply; "the mountain Colonel 'Peppino' +Garibaldi took in a first attempt and Gelasio Caetani, the +Italo-American mining engineer, afterward blew up and captured +completely. It is one of the most important positions on our whole +front, for whichever side holds it not only effectually blocks the +enemy's advance, but has also an invaluable sally-port from which to +launch his own. We simply _had_ to have it, and it was taken in what was +probably the only way humanly possible. It's Colonel Garibaldi's +headquarters, by the way, where we put up to-night and to-morrow; +perhaps you can get him to tell you the story." . . . + +[Sidenote: The story of the Col di Lana.] + +By the light of a little spirit lamp and to the accompaniment of a +steady drip of eaves and the rumble of distant avalanches of falling +snow, Colonel Garibaldi, that evening, told me "the story:" + +[Sidenote: _Legion Italienne_ withdrawn] + +"The fighting that fell to the lot of the _Legion Italienne_ in January, +1915, reduced its numbers to such an extent that it had to be withdrawn +to rest and reform. Before it was in condition to take the field again, +our country had taken the great decision and we were disbanded to go +home and fight for Italy. Here--principally because it was thought best +to incorporate the men in the units to which they (by training or +residence) really belonged--it was found impracticable to maintain the +integrity of the fourteen battalions--about 14,000 men in all--we had +formed in France, and, as a consequence, the _Legion Italienne_ ceased +to exist except as a glorious memory. We five surviving Garibaldi were +given commissions in a brigade of Alpini that is a 'lineal descendant' +of the famous _Cacciatore_ formed by my grandfather in 1859, and led by +him against the Austrians in the war in which, with the aid of the +French, we redeemed Lombardy for Italy. + +[Sidenote: Defensive and offensive advantages of the peak.] + +[Sidenote: Bitter struggle for the Col di Lana.] + +"In July I was given command of a battalion occupying a position at the +foot of the Col di Lana. Perhaps you saw from the lake, as you came up, +the commanding position of this mountain. If so, you will understand its +supreme importance to us, whether for defensive or offensive purposes. +Looking straight down the Cordevole Valley toward the plains of Italy, +it not only furnished the Austrians an incomparable observation post, +but also stood as an effectual barrier against any advance of our own +toward the Livinallongo Valley and the important Pordoi Pass. We needed +it imperatively for the safety of any line we established in this +region; and just as imperatively would we need it when we were ready to +push the Austrians back. Since it was just as important for the +Austrians to maintain possession of this great natural fortress as it +was for us to take it away from them, you will understand how it came +about that the struggle for the Col di Lana was perhaps the bitterest +that has yet been waged for any one point on the Alpine front. + +[Sidenote: The Alpini get a foothold.] + +[Sidenote: Col. Garibaldi takes command.] + +"Early in July, under cover of our guns to the south and east, the +Alpini streamed down from the Cima di Falzarego and Sasso di Stria, +which they had occupied shortly before, and secured what was at first +but a precarious foothold on the stony lower eastern slope of the Col di +Lana. Indeed, it was little more than a toe-hold at first; but the +never-resting Alpini soon dug themselves in and became firmly +established. It was to the command of this battalion of Alpini that I +came on the 12th of July, after being given to understand that my work +was to be the taking of the Col di Lana regardless of cost. + +[Sidenote: Scientific man-saving needed.] + +"This was the first time that I--or any other Garibaldi, for that matter +(my grandfather, with his 'Thousand,' took Sicily from fifty times that +number of Bourbon soldiers) had ever had enough, or even the promise of +enough, men to make that 'regardless of cost' formula much more than a +hollow mockery. But it is not in a Garibaldi to sacrifice men for any +object whatever if there is any possible way of avoiding it. The period +of indiscriminate frontal attacks had passed even before I left France, +and ways were already being devised--mostly mining and better artillery +protection--to make assaults less costly. Scientific 'man-saving,' in +which my country has since made so much progress, was then in its +infancy on the Italian front. + +[Sidenote: Out-gunned by the Austrians.] + +[Sidenote: First time of gallery-barracks.] + +"I found many difficulties in the way of putting into practice on the +Col di Lana the man-saving theories I had seen in process of development +in the Argonne. At that time the Austrians--who had appreciated the +great importance of that mountain from the outset--had us heavily +out-gunned while mining in the hard rock was too slow to make it worth +while until some single position of crucial value hung in the balance. +So--well, I simply did the best I could under the circumstances. The +most I could do was to give my men as complete protection as possible +while they were not fighting, and this end was accomplished by +establishing them in galleries cut out of the solid rock. This was, I +believe, the first time the 'gallery-barracks'--now quite the rule at +all exposed points--were used on the Italian front. + +[Sidenote: Working under heavy fire.] + +"There was no other way in the beginning but to drive the enemy off the +Col di Lana trench by trench, and this was the task I set myself to +toward the end of July. What made the task an almost prohibitive one was +the fact that the Austrian guns from Corte and Cherz--which we were in +no position to reduce to silence--were able to rake us unmercifully. +Every move we made during the next nine months was carried out under +their fire, and there is no use in denying that we suffered heavily. I +used no more men than I could possibly help using, and the Higher +Command was very generous in the matter of reserves, and even in +increasing the strength of the force at my disposal as we gradually got +more room to work in. By the end of October my original command of a +battalion had been increased largely. + +[Sidenote: Austrians hold one side and summit.] + +[Sidenote: Austrian position seems impregnable.] + +"The Austrians made a brave and skilful defense, but the steady pressure +we were bringing to bear on them gradually forced them back up the +mountain. By the first week in November we were in possession of three +sides of the mountain, while the Austrians held the fourth side and--but +most important of all--the summit. The latter presented a sheer wall of +rock, more than 200 metres high, to us from any direction we were able +to approach it, and on the crest of this cliff--the only point exposed +to our artillery fire--the enemy had a cunningly concealed machine-gun +post served by fourteen men. Back and behind, under shelter in a rock +gallery, was a reserve of 200 men, who were expected to remain safely +under cover during a bombardment and then sally forth to any infantry +attack that might follow it. The handful in the machine-gun post, it was +calculated, would be sufficient, and more than sufficient, to keep us +from scaling the cliff before their reserves came up to support them; +and so they would have been if there had been _only_ an infantry attack +to reckon with. It failed to allow sufficiently, however, for the weight +of the artillery we were bringing up, and the skill of our gunners. The +apparent impregnability of the position was really its undoing. + +[Sidenote: Machine-gun post key position.] + +"This cunningly conceived plan of defense I had managed to get a pretty +accurate idea of--no matter how--and I laid my own plans accordingly. +All the guns I could get hold of I had emplaced in positions most +favorable for concentrating on the real key to the summit--the exposed +machine-gun post on the crown of the cliff--with the idea, if possible, +of destroying men and guns completely, or, failing in that, at least to +render it untenable for the reserves who would try to rally to its +defense. + +[Sidenote: The Alpino thoroughly dependable.] + +"We had the position ranged to an inch, and so, fortunately, lost no +time in 'feeling' for it. This, with the surprise incident to it, was +perhaps the principal element in our success; for the plan--at least so +far as _taking_ the summit was concerned--worked out quite as perfectly +in action as upon paper. That is the great satisfaction of working with +the Alpino, by the way: he is so sure, so dependable, that the 'human +fallibility' element in a plan (always the most uncertain quantity) is +practically eliminated. + +[Sidenote: Alpini scale the cliff.] + +"It is almost certain that our sudden gust of concentrated gunfire +snuffed out the lives of all the men in the machine-gun post before +they had time to send word of our developing infantry attack to the +reserves in the gallery below. At any rate, these latter made no attempt +whatever to swarm up to the defense of the crest, even after our +artillery fire ceased. The consequence was that the 120 Alpini I sent to +scale the cliff reached the top with only three casualties, these +probably caused by rolling rocks or flying rock fragments. The Austrians +in their big 'funk-hole' were taken completely by surprise, and 130 of +them fell prisoners to considerably less than that number of Italians. +The rest of the 200 escaped or were killed in their flight. + +[Sidenote: Difficulties of holding the summit.] + +[Sidenote: An Austrian counter-attack.] + +"So far it was so good; but, unfortunately, taking the summit and +holding it were two entirely different matters. No sooner did the +Austrians discover what had happened than they opened on the summit with +all their available artillery. We have since ascertained that the fire +of 120 guns was concentrated upon a space of 100 by 150 metres which +offered the only approach to cover that the barren summit afforded. +Fifty of my men, finding shelter in the lee of rocky ledges, remained +right out on the summit; the others crept over the edge of the cliff and +held on by their fingers and toes. Not a man of them sought safety by +flight, though a retirement would have been quite justified, considering +what a hell the Austrians' guns were making of the summit. The enemy +counter-attacked at nightfall, but despite superior numbers and the +almost complete exhaustion of that little band of Alpini heroes, they +were able to retake only a half of the summit. Here, at a +ten-metres-high ridge which roughly bisects the _cima_, the Alpini held +the Austrians, and here, in turn, the latter held the reinforcements +which I was finally able to send to the Alpini's aid. There, exposed to +the fire of the guns of either side (and so comparatively safe from +both), a line was established from which there seemed little probability +that one combatant could drive the other, at least without a radical +change from the methods so far employed. + +[Sidenote: Idea of blowing up positions.] + +"The idea of blowing up positions that cannot be taken otherwise is by +no means a new one. Probably it dates back almost as far as the +invention of gunpowder itself. Doubtless, if we only knew of them, there +have been attempts to mine the Great Wall of China. It was, therefore, +only natural that, when the Austrians had us held up before a position +it was vitally necessary we should have, we should begin to consider the +possibility of mining it as the only alternative. The conception of the +plan did not necessarily originate in the mind of any one individual, +however many have laid claim to it. It was the inevitable thing if we +were not going to abandon striving for our objective. + +[Sidenote: Engineering operation of great magnitude.] + +"But while there was nothing new in the idea of the mine itself, in +carrying out an engineering operation of such magnitude at so great an +altitude and from a position constantly exposed to intense artillery +fire there were presented many problems quite without precedent. It was +these problems which gave us pause; but finally, despite the prospect of +difficulties which we fully realized might at any time become +prohibitive, it was decided to make the attempt to blow up that portion +of the summit of the Col di Lana still held by the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Gelasio Caetani the engineer.] + +"The choice of the engineer for the work was a singularly fortunate one. +Gelasio Caetani--he is a son of the Duke of Sermoneta--had operated as a +mining engineer in the American West for a number of years previous to +the war, and the practical experience gained in California and Alaska +was invaluable preparation for the great task now set for him. His +ready resource and great personal courage were also incalculable assets. + +[Sidenote: Miners from North America.] + +"Well, the tunnel was started about the middle of January, 1916. Some of +my men--Italians who had hurried home to fight for their country when +the war started--had had some previous experience with hand and machine +drills in the mines of Colorado and British Columbia, but the most of +our labor had to gain its experience as the work progressed. Considering +this, as well as the difficulty of bringing up material (to say nothing +of food and munitions), we made very good progress. + +[Sidenote: Mining under constant fire.] + +[Sidenote: Thirty-eight shells a minute.] + +"The worst thing about it all was the fact that it had to be done under +the incessant fire of the Austrian artillery. I provided for the men as +best as I could by putting them in galleries, where they were at least +able to get their rest. When the enemy finally found out what we were up +to they celebrated their discovery by a steady bombardment which lasted +for fourteen days without interruption. During a certain forty-two hours +of that fortnight there was, by actual count, an average of thirty-eight +shells a minute exploding on our little position. + +[Sidenote: Silencing an Austrian battery.] + +"We were constantly confronted with new and perplexing problems--things +which no one had ever been called upon to solve before--most of them in +connection with transportation. How we contrived to surmount one of +these I shall never forget. The Austrians had performed a brave and +audacious feat in emplacing one of their batteries at a certain point, +the fire from which threatened to make our position absolutely +untenable. The location of this battery was so cunningly chosen that not +one of our guns could reach it; and yet we _had_ to silence it--and for +good--if we were going to go on with our work. The only point from +which we could fire upon these destructive guns was so exposed that any +artillery we might be able to mount there could only count on the +shortest shrift under the fire of the hundred or more 'heavies' that the +Austrians would be able to concentrate upon it. And yet (I figured), +well employed, these few minutes might prove enough to do the work in. + +[Sidenote: A young giant endeavors to climb with a gun.] + +"And then there arose another difficulty. The smallest gun that would +stand a chance of doing the job cut out for it weighed 120 kilos--about +265 pounds; this just for the gun alone, with all detachable parts +removed. But the point where the gun was to be mounted was so exposed +that there was no chance of rigging up a cable-way, while the incline +was so steep and rough that it was out of the question to try to drag it +up with ropes. Just as we were on the verge of giving up in despair, one +of the Alpini--a man of Herculean frame who had made his living in +peace-time by breaking chains on his chest and performing other feats of +strength--came and suggested that he be allowed to carry the gun up on +his shoulders. Grasping at a straw, I let him indulge in a few 'practice +man[oe]uvres'; but these only showed that, while the young Samson could +shoulder and trot off with the gun without great effort, the task of +lifting himself and his burden from foothold to foothold in the +crumbling rock of the seventy-degree slope was too much for him. + +[Sidenote: Men pull man and gun to position.] + +"But out of this failure there came a new idea. Why not let my strong +man simply support the weight of the gun on his shoulder--acting as a +sort of ambulant gun-carriage, so to speak--while a line of men pulled +him along with a rope? + +We rigged up a harness to equalize the pull on the broad back, and, with +the aid of sixteen ordinary men, the feat was accomplished without a +hitch. I am sorry to say, however, that poor Samson was laid up for a +spell with racked muscles. + +"The gun--with the necessary parts and munition--was taken up in the +night, and at daybreak it was set up and ready for action. It fired just +forty shots before the Austrian 'heavies' blew it--and all but one or +two of its brave crew--to pieces with a rain of high-explosive. But the +troublesome Austrian battery was put so completely out of action that +the enemy never thought it worth while to re-emplace it. + +[Sidenote: Italians mine and Austrians countermine.] + +[Sidenote: The final explosion.] + +"That is just a sample of the fantastic things we were doing all of the +three months that we drove the tunnel under the summit of the Col di +Lana. The last few weeks were further enlivened by the knowledge that +the Austrians were countermining against us. Once they drove so near +that we could feel the jar of their drills, but they exploded their mine +just a few metres short of where it would have upset us for good and for +all. All the time work went on until, on the 17th of April, the mine was +finished, charged, and 'tamped.' That night, while every gun we could +bring to bear rained shell upon the Austrian position, it was exploded. +A crater 150 feet in diameter and sixty feet deep engulfed the ridge the +enemy had occupied, and this our waiting Alpini rushed and firmly held. +Austrian counterattacks were easily repulsed, and the Col di Lana was at +last completely in Italian hands." + + * * * * * + +During the late spring and summer of 1916, there was waged in France +that great series of battles participated in by both British and French +armies known as the battles of the Somme. Next to the defense of Verdun, +they formed the most important military operations on the western front +during that year. These battles are described in the narrative which +follows. + +[Illustration: WESTERN BATTLE FRONT, AUGUST, 1916] + + + + +THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME + +SIR DOUGLAS HAIG + + +[Sidenote: An offensive summer campaign planned.] + +The principle of an offensive campaign during the Summer of 1916 had +already been decided on by all the Allies. The various possible +alternatives on the western front had been studied and discussed by +General Joffre and myself, and we were in complete agreement as to the +front to be attacked by the combined French and British armies. +Preparations for our offensive had made considerable progress; but as +the date on which the attack should begin was dependent on many doubtful +factors, a final decision on that point was deferred until the general +situation should become clearer. + +[Sidenote: British armies and supplies increasing.] + +Subject to the necessity of commencing operations before the Summer was +too far advanced, and with due regard to the general situation, I +desired to postpone my attack as long as possible. The British armies +were growing in numbers and the supply of munitions was steadily +increasing. Moreover, a very large proportion of the officers and men +under my command were still far from being fully trained, and the longer +the attack could be deferred the more efficient they would become. On +the other hand, the Germans were continuing to press their attacks at +Verdun, and both there and on the Italian front, where the Austrian +offensive was gaining ground, it was evident that the strain might +become too great to be borne unless timely action were taken to relieve +it. Accordingly, while maintaining constant touch with General Joffre +in regard to all these considerations, my preparations were pushed on, +and I agreed, with the consent of his Majesty's Government, that my +attack should be launched, whenever the general situation required it, +with as great a force as I might then be able to make available. + +[Sidenote: Pressure on Italian front.] + +[Sidenote: Heroic French defense at Verdun.] + +By the end of May, 1916, the pressure of the enemy on the Italian front +had assumed such serious proportions that the Russian campaign was +opened early in June, and the brilliant successes gained by our allies +against the Austrians at once caused a movement of German troops from +the western to the eastern front. This, however, did not lessen the +pressure on Verdun. The heroic defense of our French allies had already +gained many weeks of inestimable value and had caused the enemy very +heavy losses; but the strain continued to increase. In view, therefore, +of the situation in the various theatres of war, it was eventually +agreed between General Joffre and myself that the combined French and +British offensive should not be postponed beyond the end of June. + +[Sidenote: Objects of new offensive.] + +The object of that offensive was threefold: + +(i.) To relieve the pressure on Verdun. + +(ii.) To assist our allies in the other theatres of war by stopping any +further transfer of German troops from the western front. + +(iii.) To wear down the strength of the forces opposed to us. + +[Sidenote: Enemy attempts at interference.] + +While my final preparations were in progress the enemy made two +unsuccessful attempts to interfere with my arrangements. The first, +directed on May 21, 1916, against our positions on the Vimy Ridge, south +and southeast of Souchez, resulted in a small enemy gain of no strategic +or tactical importance; and rather than weaken my offensive by involving +additional troops in the task of recovering the lost ground, I decided +to consolidate a position in rear of our original line. + +[Sidenote: A position lost and retaken.] + +The second enemy attack was delivered on June 2, 1916, on a front of +over one and a half miles from Mount Sorrell to Hooge, and succeeded in +penetrating to a maximum depth of 700 yards. As the southern part of the +lost position commanded our trenches, I judged it necessary to recover +it, and by an attack launched on June 13, 1916, carefully prepared and +well executed, this was successfully accomplished by the troops on the +spot. + +Neither of these enemy attacks succeeded in delaying the preparations +for the major operations which I had in view. + +These preparations were necessarily very elaborate and took considerable +time. + +[Sidenote: Vast stores accumulated.] + +[Sidenote: Shelter and communication facilities prepared.] + +Vast stocks of ammunition and stores of all kinds had to be accumulated +beforehand within a convenient distance of our front. To deal with these +many miles of new railways--both standard and narrow gauge--and trench +tramways were laid. All available roads were improved, many others were +made, and long causeways were built over marshy valleys. Many additional +dugouts had to be provided as shelter for the troops, for use as +dressing stations for the wounded, and as magazines for storing +ammunition, food, water, and engineering material. Scores of miles of +deep communication trenches had to be dug, as well as trenches for +telephone wires, assembly and assault trenches, and numerous gun +emplacements and observation posts. + +[Sidenote: Mining operations.] + +Important mining operations were undertaken, and charges were laid at +various points beneath the enemy's lines. + +[Sidenote: Water supply insured.] + +Except in the river valleys, the existing supplies of water were +hopelessly insufficient to meet the requirements of the numbers of men +and horses to be concentrated in this area as the preparations for our +offensive proceeded. To meet this difficulty many wells and borings were +sunk, and over one hundred pumping plants were installed. More than one +hundred and twenty miles of water mains were laid, and everything was +got ready to insure an adequate water supply as our troops advanced. + +[Sidenote: Spirit of the troops.] + +Much of this preparatory work had to be done under very trying +conditions, and was liable to constant interruption from the enemy's +fire. The weather, on the whole, was bad, and the local accommodations +totally insufficient for housing the troops employed, who consequently +had to content themselves with such rough shelter as could be provided +in the circumstances. All this labor, too, had to be carried out in +addition to fighting and to the everyday work of maintaining existing +defenses. It threw a very heavy strain on the troops, which was borne by +them with a cheerfulness beyond all praise. + +[Sidenote: Formidable enemy position on the Somme and the Ancre.] + +The enemy's position to be attacked was of a very formidable character, +situated on a high, undulating tract of ground, which rises to more than +500 feet above sea level, and forms the watershed between the Somme on +the one side and the rivers of Southwestern Belgium on the other. On the +southern face of this watershed, the general trend of which is from +east-southeast to west-northwest, the ground falls in a series of long +irregular spurs and deep depressions to the valley of the Somme. Well +down the forward slopes of this face the enemy's first system of +defense, starting from the Somme near Curlu, ran at first northward for +3,000 yards, then westward for 7,000 yards to near Fricourt, where it +turned nearly due north, forming a great salient angle in the enemy's +lines. + +Some 10,000 yards north of Fricourt the trenches crossed the River +Ancre, a tributary of the Somme, and, still running northward, passed +over the summit of the watershed, about Hebuterne and Gommecourt, and +then down its northern spurs to Arras. + +On the 20,000-yard front between the Somme and the Ancre the enemy had a +strong second system of defense, sited generally on or near the southern +crest of the highest part of the watershed, at an average distance of +from 3,000 to 5,000 yards behind his first system of trenches. + +[Sidenote: German methods of making position impregnable.] + +During nearly two years' preparation he had spared no pains to render +these defenses impregnable. The first and second systems each consisted +of several lines of deep trenches, well provided with bomb-proof +shelters and with numerous communication trenches connecting them. The +front of the trenches in each system was protected by wire +entanglements, many of them in two belts forty yards broad, built of +iron stakes interlaced with barbed wire, often almost as thick as a +man's finger. + +[Sidenote: Veritable fortresses.] + +[Sidenote: Machine-gun emplacements.] + +The numerous woods and villages in and between these systems of defense +had been turned into veritable fortresses. The deep cellars, usually to +be found in the villages, and the numerous pits and quarries common to a +chalk country were used to provide cover for machine guns and trench +mortars. The existing cellars were supplemented by elaborate dugouts, +sometimes in two stories, and these were connected up by passages as +much as thirty feet below the surface of the ground. The salients in the +enemy's lines, from which he could bring enfilade fire across his front, +were made into self-contained forts, and often protected by mine fields, +while strong redoubts and concrete machine-gun emplacements had been +constructed in positions from which he could sweep his own trenches +should these be taken. The ground lent itself to good artillery +observation on the enemy's part, and he had skillfully arranged for +cross-fire by his guns. + +[Sidenote: A composite system of great strength.] + +These various systems of defense, with the fortified localities and +other supporting points between them, were cunningly sited to afford +each other mutual assistance and to admit of the utmost possible +development of enfilade and flanking fire by machine guns and artillery. +They formed, in short, not merely a series of successive lines, but one +composite system of enormous depth and strength. + +[Sidenote: Many lines prepared in the rear.] + +Behind this second system of trenches, in addition to woods, villages, +and other strong points prepared for defense, the enemy had several +other lines already completed; and we had learned from aeroplane +reconnoisance that he was hard at work improving and strengthening these +and digging fresh ones between them and still further back. + +In the area above described, between the Somme and the Ancre, our +front-line trenches ran parallel and close to those of the enemy, but +below them. We had good direct observation on his front system of +trenches and on the various defenses sited on the slopes above us +between his first and second systems; but the second system itself, in +many places, could not be observed from the ground in our possession, +while, except from the air, nothing could be seen of his more distant +defenses. + +[Sidenote: The lines of the Allies.] + +North of the Ancre, where the opposing trenches ran transversely across +the main ridge, the enemy's defenses were equally elaborate and +formidable. So far as command of ground was concerned we were here +practically on level terms, but, partly as a result of this, our direct +observation over the ground held by the enemy was not so good as it was +further south. On portions of this front the opposing first-line +trenches were more widely separated from each other, while in the +valleys to the north were many hidden gun positions from which the enemy +could develop flanking fire on our troops as they advanced across the +open. + +[Sidenote: Period of active operations.] + +The period of active operations dealt with in this dispatch divides +itself roughly into three phases. The first phase opened with the attack +of July 1, 1916, the success of which evidently came as a surprise to +the enemy and caused considerable confusion and disorganization in his +ranks. + +The advantages gained on that date and developed during the first half +of July may be regarded as having been rounded off by the operations of +July 14, 1916, and three following days, which gave us possession of the +southern crest of the main plateau between Delville Wood and +Bazentin-le-Petit. + +[Sidenote: The enemy's efforts to hold the ridge.] + +We then entered upon a contest lasting for many weeks, during which the +enemy, having found his strongest defenses unavailing, and now fully +alive to his danger, put forth his utmost efforts to keep his hold of +the main ridge. This stage of the battle constituted a prolonged and +severe struggle for mastery between the contending armies, in which, +although progress was slow and difficult, the confidence of our troops +in their ability to win was never shaken. Their tenacity and +determination proved more than equal to their task, and by the first +week in September they had established a fighting superiority that has +left its mark on the enemy, of which possession of the ridge was merely +the visible proof. + +[Sidenote: The plateau gained.] + +[Sidenote: Successes of the French south of the Somme] + +The way was then opened for the third phase, in which our advance was +pushed down the forward slopes of the ridge and further extended on +both flanks until, from Morval to Thiepval, the whole plateau and a good +deal of ground beyond were in our possession. Meanwhile our gallant +allies, in addition to great successes south of the Somme, had pushed +their advance, against equally determined opposition and under most +difficult tactical conditions, up the long slopes on our immediate +right, and were now preparing to drive the enemy from the summit of the +narrow and difficult portion of the main ridge which lies between the +Combles Valley and the River Tortille, a stream flowing from the north +into the Somme just below Peronne. + +[Sidenote: Careful artillery preparation.] + +Defenses of the nature described could only be attacked with any +prospect of success after careful artillery preparation. It was +accordingly decided that our bombardment should begin on June 24, 1916 +and a large force of artillery was brought into action for the purpose. + +[Sidenote: Gas discharges.] + +Artillery bombardments were also carried out daily at different points +on the rest of our front, and during the period from June 24 to July 1, +1916, gas was discharged with good effect at more than forty places +along our line upon a frontage which in total amounted to over fifteen +miles. Some seventy raids, too, were undertaken by our infantry between +Gommecourt and our extreme left north of Ypres during the week preceding +the attack, and these kept me well informed as to the enemy's +dispositions, besides serving other useful purposes. + +[Sidenote: Attack by the Royal Flying Corps.] + +On June 25, 1916, the Royal Flying Corps carried out a general attack on +the enemy's observation balloons, destroying nine of them, and depriving +the enemy for the time being of this form of observation. + +[Sidenote: British and French co-operate in attack.] + +On July 1, 1916, at 7.30 a. m., after a final hour of exceptionally +violent bombardment, our infantry assault was launched. Simultaneously +the French attacked on both sides of the Somme, co-operating closely +with us. + +The British main front of attack extended from Maricourt on our right, +round the salient at Fricourt, to the Ancre in front of St. Pierre +Divion. To assist this main attack by holding the enemy's reserves and +occupying his artillery, the enemy's trenches north of the Ancre, as far +as Serre, inclusive, were to be assaulted simultaneously, while further +north a subsidiary attack was to be made on both sides of the salient at +Gommecourt. + +[Sidenote: Rawlinson and Allenby.] + +I had intrusted the attack on the front from Maricourt to Serre to the +Fourth Army, under the command of General Sir Henry S. Rawlinson, Bart., +K. C. B., K. C. V. O., with five army corps at his disposal. The +subsidiary attack at Gommecourt was carried out by troops from the army +commanded by General Sir E. H. H. Allenby, K. C. B. + +[Sidenote: Mines exploded under enemy lines.] + +[Sidenote: Advance over open ground.] + +[Sidenote: Trenches taken near Fricourt.] + +Just prior to the attack the mines which had been prepared under the +enemy's lines were exploded, and smoke was discharged at many places +along our front. Through this smoke our infantry advanced to the attack +with the utmost steadiness in spite of the very heavy barrage of the +enemy's guns. On our right our troops met with immediate success, and +rapid progress was made. Before midday Montauban had been carried, and +shortly afterward the Briqueterie, to the east, and the whole of the +ridge to the west of the village were in our hands. Opposite Mametz part +of our assembly trenches had been practically leveled by the enemy +artillery, making it necessary for our infantry to advance to the attack +across 400 yards of open ground. None the less they forced their way +into Mametz, and reached their objective in the valley beyond, first +throwing out a defensive flank toward Fricourt on their left. At the +same time the enemy's trenches were entered north of Fricourt, so that +the enemy's garrison in that village was pressed on three sides. Further +north, though the village of La Boisselle and Ovillers for the time +being resisted our attack, our troops drove deeply into the German lines +on the flanks of these strongholds, and so paved the way for their +capture later. + +[Sidenote: Fight for the Leipsic Salient.] + +On the spur running south from Thiepval the work known as the Leipsic +Salient was stormed, and severe fighting took place for the possession +of the village and its defenses. Here and north of the valley of the +Ancre, as far as Serre, on the left flank of our attack, our initial +successes were not sustained. Striking progress was made at many points, +and parties of troops penetrated the enemy's positions to the outer +defenses of Grandcourt, and also to Pendant Copse and Serre; but the +enemy's continued resistance at Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel made it +impossible to forward reinforcements and ammunition, and in spite of +their gallant efforts our troops were forced to withdraw during the +night to their own lines. + +[Sidenote: The attack at Gommecourt.] + +The subsidiary attack at Gommecourt also forced its way into the enemy's +positions, but there met with such vigorous opposition that as soon as +it was considered that the attack had fulfilled its object our troops +were withdrawn. + +[Sidenote: Instructions to General Gough.] + +In view of the general situation at the end of the first day's +operations I decided that the best course was to press forward on a +front extending from our junction with the French to a point half way +between La Boisselle and Contalmaison, and to limit the offensive on our +left for the present to a slow and methodical advance. North of the +Ancre such preparations were to be made as would hold the enemy to his +positions and enable the attack to be resumed there later if desirable. +In order that General Sir Henry Rawlinson might be left free to +concentrate his attention on the portion of the front where the attack +was to be pushed home, I also decided to place the operations against +the front, La Boisselle to Serre, under the command of General Sir +Hubert de la P. Gough, K. C. B., to whom I accordingly allotted the two +northern corps of Sir Henry Rawlinson's army. My instructions to Sir +Hubert Gough were that his army was to maintain a steady pressure on the +front from La Boisselle to the Serre road and to act as a pivot on which +our line could swing as our attacks on his right made progress toward +the north. + +[Sidenote: Fricourt to Contalmaison.] + +During the succeeding days the attack was continued on these lines. In +spite of strong counter-attacks on the Briqueterie and Montauban, by +midday on July 2 our troops had captured Fricourt, and in the afternoon +and evening stormed Fricourt Wood and the farm to the north. During July +3 and 4 Bernajay and Caterpillar woods were also captured, and our +troops pushed forward to the railway north of Mametz. On these days the +reduction of La Boisselle was completed after hard fighting, while the +outskirts of Contalmaison were reached on July 5. North of La Boisselle +also the enemy's forces opposite us were kept constantly engaged, and +our holding in the Leipsic Salient was gradually increased. + +[Sidenote: Result of five days' fighting.] + +[Sidenote: Prisoners taken.] + +To sum up the results of the fighting of these five days, on a front of +over six miles, from the Briqueterie to La Boisselle, our troops had +swept over the whole of the enemy's first and strongest system of +defense, which he had done his utmost to render impregnable. They had +driven him back over a distance of more than a mile, and had carried +four elaborately fortified villages. The number of prisoners passed back +at the close of July 5, 1916, had already reached the total of +ninety-four officers and 5,724 other ranks. + +[Sidenote: Readjustments and reliefs.] + +[Sidenote: Contalmaison and Mametz Wood.] + +After the five days' heavy and continuous fighting just described it was +essential to carry out certain readjustments and reliefs of the forces +engaged. In normal conditions of enemy resistance the amount of progress +that can be made at any time without a pause in the general advance is +necessarily limited. Apart from the physical exhaustion of the attacking +troops and the considerable distance separating the enemy's successive +main systems of defense, special artillery preparation was required +before a successful assault could be delivered. Meanwhile, however, +local operations were continued in spite of much unfavorable weather. +The attack on Contalmaison and Mametz Wood was undertaken on July 7, +1916, and after three days' obstinate fighting, in the course of which +the enemy delivered several powerful counterattacks, the village and the +whole of the wood, except its northern border, were finally secured. On +July 7 also a footing was gained in the other defenses of Ovillers, +while on July 9, 1916, on our extreme right, Maltz Horn Farm--an +important point on the spur north of Hardecourt--was secured. + +[Sidenote: British troops in Trones Wood.] + +A thousand yards north of this farm our troops had succeeded at the +second attempt in establishing themselves on July 8, 1916, in the +southern end of Trones Wood. The enemy's positions in the northern and +eastern parts of this wood were very strong, and no less than eight +powerful German counterattacks were made here during the next five days. +In the course of this struggle portions of the wood changed hands +several times; but we were left eventually, on July 13, 1916, in +possession of the southern part of it. + +[Sidenote: Assault on the German second system of defense.] + +Meanwhile Mametz Wood had been entirely cleared of the enemy, and with +Trones Wood also practically in our possession we were in a position to +undertake an assault upon the enemy's second system of defense. +Arrangements were accordingly made for an attack to be delivered at +daybreak on the morning of July 14, 1916, against a front extending from +Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, both inclusive. Contalmaison Villa, +on a spur 1,000 yards west of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, had already been +captured to secure the left flank of the attack, and advantage had been +taken of the progress made by our infantry to move our artillery forward +into new positions. The preliminary bombardment had opened on July 11, +1916. The opportunities offered by the ground for enfilading the enemy's +lines were fully utilized, and did much to secure the success of our +attack. + +[Sidenote: A night operation of magnitude.] + +In the early hours of July 4, 1916, the attacking troops moved out over +the open for a distance of from about 1,000 to 1,400 yards, and lined up +in the darkness just below the crest and some 300 to 500 yards from the +enemy's trenches. Their advance was covered by strong patrols, and their +correct deployment had been insured by careful previous preparations. +The whole movement was carried out unobserved and without touch being +lost in any case. The decision to attempt a night operation of this +magnitude with an army, the bulk of which had been raised since the +beginning of the war, was perhaps the highest tribute that could be paid +to the quality of our troops. It would not have been possible but for +the most careful preparation and forethought, as well as thorough +reconnoissance of the ground, which was, in many cases, made personally +by divisional, brigade, and battalion commanders and their staffs before +framing their detailed orders for the advance. + +[Sidenote: The assault on July 14.] + +The actual assault was delivered at 3.25 a.m. on July 14, 1916, when +there was just sufficient light to be able to distinguish friend from +foe at short ranges, and along the whole front attacked our troops, +preceded by a very effective artillery barrage, swept over the enemy's +first trenches and on into the defenses beyond. + +[Sidenote: Trones Wood cleared of the enemy.] + +[Sidenote: Longueval occupied.] + +On our right the enemy was driven from his last foothold in Trones Wood, +and by 8 a.m. we had cleared the whole of it, relieving a body of 170 +men who had maintained themselves all night in the northern corner of +the wood, although completely surrounded by the enemy. Our position in +the wood was finally consolidated, and strong patrols were sent out from +it in the direction of Guillemont and Longueval. The southern half of +this latter village was already in the hands of the troops who had +advanced west of Trones Wood. The northern half, with the exception of +two strong points, was captured by 4 p.m. after a severe struggle. + +[Sidenote: The enemy counterattacks.] + +In the centre of our attack Bazentin-le-Grand village and wood were also +gained, and our troops pushing northward captured Bazentin-le-Petit +village and the cemetery to the east. Here the enemy counterattacked +twice about midday without success, and again in the afternoon, on the +latter occasion momentarily reoccupying the northern half of the village +as far as the church. Our troops immediately returned to the attack and +drove him out again with heavy losses. To the left of the village +Bazentin-le-Petit Wood was cleared, in spite of the considerable +resistance of the enemy along its western edge, where we successfully +repulsed a counterattack. In the afternoon further ground was gained to +the west of the wood, and posts were established immediately south of +Pozieres. + +[Sidenote: General Rawlinson employs cavalry.] + +The enemy's troops, who had been severely handled in these attacks and +counterattacks, began to show signs of disorganization, and it was +reported early in the afternoon that it was possible to advance to High +Wood. General Rawlinson, who had held a force of cavalry in readiness +for such an eventuality, decided to employ a part of it. As the fight +progressed small bodies of this force had pushed forward gradually, +keeping in close touch with the development of the action, and prepared +to seize quickly any opportunity that might occur. A squadron now came +up on the flanks of our infantry, who entered High Wood at about 8 p.m., +and, after some hand-to-hand fighting, cleared the whole of the wood +with the exception of the northern apex. Acting mounted in co-operation +with the infantry, the cavalry came into action with good effect, +killing several of the enemy and capturing some prisoners. + +[Sidenote: British withdrawn from High Wood.] + +On July 15, 1916, the battle still continued, though on a reduced scale. +Arrow Head Copse, between the southern edge of Trones Wood and +Guillemont, and Waterlot Farm on the Longueval-Guillemont road, were +seized, and Delville Wood was captured and held against several hostile +counterattacks. In Longueval fierce fighting continued until dusk for +the possession of the two strong points and the orchards to the north of +the village. The situation in this area made the position of our troops +in High Wood somewhat precarious, and they now began to suffer numerous +casualties from the enemy's heavy shelling. Accordingly orders were +given for their withdrawal, and this was effected during the night of +July 15-16, 1916, without interference by the enemy. All the wounded +were brought in. + +[Sidenote: Progress toward Pozieres.] + +In spite of repeated enemy counterattacks further progress was made on +the night of July 16, 1916, along the enemy's main second-line trenches +northwest of Bazentin-le-Petit Wood to within 500 yards of the northeast +corner of the village of Pozieres, which our troops were already +approaching from the south. + +[Sidenote: Ovillers captured.] + +Meanwhile the operations further north had also made progress. Since the +attack of July 7, 1916, the enemy in and about Ovillers had been pressed +relentlessly and gradually driven back by incessant bombing attacks and +local assaults, in accordance with the general instructions I had given +to General Sir Hubert Gough. On July 16, 1916, a large body of the +garrison of Ovillers surrendered, and that night and during the +following day, by a direct advance from the west across No Man's Land, +our troops carried the remainder of the village and pushed out along the +spur to the north and eastward toward Pozieres. + +[Sidenote: A new line definitely established.] + +The results of the operations of July 4, 1916, and subsequent days were +of considerable importance. The enemy's second main system of defense +had been captured on a front of over three miles. We had again forced +him back more than a mile, and had gained possession of the southern +crest of the main ridge on a front of 6,000 yards. Four more of his +fortified villages and three woods had been wrested from him by +determined fighting, and our advanced troops had penetrated as far as +his third line of defense. In spite of a resolute resistance and many +counterattacks, in which the enemy had suffered severely, our line was +definitely established from Maltz Horn Farm, where we met the French +left, northward along the eastern edge of Trones Wood to Longueval, +then westward past Bazentin-le-Grand to the northern corner of +Bazentin-le-Petit and Bazentin-le-Petit Wood, and then westward again +past the southern face of Pozieres to the north of Ovillers. Posts were +established at Arrow Head Copse and Waterlot Farm, while we had troops +thrown forward in Delville Wood and toward High Wood, though their +position was not yet secure. + +[Sidenote: Sir Henry Rawlinson commended.] + +I cannot speak too highly of the skill, daring endurance, and +determination by which these results had been achieved. Great credit is +due to Sir Henry Rawlinson for the thoroughness and care with which this +difficult undertaking was planned; while the advance and deployment made +by night without confusion, and the complete success of the subsequent +attack, constitute a striking tribute to the discipline and spirit of +the troops engaged, as well as to the powers of leadership and +organization of their commanders and staffs. + +[Sidenote: Guns and prisoners taken.] + +During these operations and their development on the 15th a number of +enemy guns were taken, making a total capture since July 1, 1916, of +eight heavy howitzers, four heavy guns, forty-two field and light guns +and field howitzers, thirty trench mortars, and fifty-two machine guns. +Very considerable losses had been inflicted on the enemy, and the +prisoners captured amounted to over 2,000, bringing the total since July +1, 1916, to over 10,000. + +[Sidenote: Enemy able to bring up fresh troops.] + +There was strong evidence that the enemy forces engaged on the battle +front had been severely shaken by the repeated successes gained by +ourselves and our allies; but the great strength and depth of his +defenses had secured for him sufficient time to bring up fresh troops, +and he had still many powerful fortifications, both trenches, villages, +and woods, to which he could cling in our front and on our flanks. + +We had, indeed, secured a footing on the main ridge, but only on a front +of 6,000 yards, and desirous though I was to follow up quickly the +successes we had won, it was necessary first to widen this front. + +[Sidenote: Pozieres and Thiepval still to be carried.] + +West of Bazentin-le-Petit the villages of Pozieres and Thiepval, +together with the whole elaborate system of trenches around, between and +on the main ridge behind them, had still to be carried. An advance +further east would, however, eventually turn these defenses, and all +that was for the present required on the left flank of our attack was a +steady, methodical, step by step advance as already ordered. + +[Sidenote: Salient at Delville, Wood and Longueval.] + +On our right flank the situation called for stronger measures. At +Delville Wood and Longueval our lines formed a sharp salient, from which +our front ran on the one side westward to Pozieres, and on the other +southward to Maltz Horn Farm. At Maltz Horn Farm our lines joined the +French, and the allied front continued still southward to the village of +Hem, on the Somme. + +[Sidenote: Enemy's advantages.] + +This pronounced salient invited counterattacks by the enemy. He +possessed direct observation on it all around from Guillemont on the +southeast to High Wood on the northwest. He could bring a concentric +fire of artillery, to bear not only on the wood and village, but also on +the confined space behind, through which ran the French communications +as well as ours, where great numbers of guns, besides ammunition and +impediments of all sorts, had necessarily to be crowded together. Having +been in occupation of this ground for nearly two years, he knew every +foot of it, and could not fail to appreciate the possibilities of +causing us heavy loss there by indirect artillery fire; while it was +evident that, if he could drive in the salient in our line and so gain +direct observation on the ground behind, our position in that area would +become very uncomfortable. + +[Sidenote: Confidence in the troops] + +If there had not been good grounds for confidence that the enemy was not +capable of driving from this position troops who had shown themselves +able to wrest it from him, the situation would have been an anxious one. +In any case it was clear that the first requirement at the moment was +that our right flank, and the French troops in extension of it, should +swing up into line with our centre. To effect this, however, strong +enemy positions had to be captured both by ourselves and by our allies. + +[Sidenote: Plateau from Delville Wood to Morval] + +[Sidenote: New enemy defenses.] + +From Delville Wood the main plateau extends for 4,000 yards +east-northeast to Les Boeufs and Morval, and for about the same distance +southeastward to Leuze and Bouleau Woods, which stand above and about +1,000 yards to the west of Combles. To bring my right up into line with +the rest of my front it was necessary to capture Guillemont, Falfemont +Farm, and Leuze Wood, and then Ginchy and Bouleau Woods. These +localities were naturally very strong, and they had been elaborately +fortified. The enemy's main second-line system of defense ran in front +of them from Waterlot Farm, which was already in our hands, +southeastward to Falfemont Farm, and thence southward to the Somme. The +importance of holding us back in this area could not escape the enemy's +notice, and he had dug and wired many new trenches, both in front of and +behind his original lines. He had also brought up fresh troops, and +there was no possibility of taking him by surprise. + +[Sidenote: Rain and unfavorable ground.] + +[Sidenote: Constant haze.] + +The task before us was, therefore, a very difficult one and entailed a +real trial of strength between the opposing forces. At this juncture its +difficulties were increased by unfavorable weather. The nature of the +ground limited the possibility of direct observation of our artillery +fire, and we were consequently much dependent on observation from the +air. As in that element we had attained almost complete superiority, all +that we required was a clear atmosphere; but with this we were not +favored for several weeks. We had rather more rain than is usual in July +and August, and even when no rain fell there was an almost constant haze +and frequent low clouds. + +[Sidenote: British and French must advance together.] + +[Sidenote: Positions the French must capture.] + +In swinging up my own right it was very important that the French line +north of the Somme should be advanced at the same time in close +combination with the movement of the British troops. The line of +demarkation agreed on between the French commander and myself ran from +Maltz Horn Farm due eastward to the Combles Valley and then +northeastward up that valley to a point midway between Sailly-Saillisel +and Morval. These two villages had been fixed upon as objectives, +respectively, of the French left and of my right. In order to advance in +co-operation with my right, and eventually to reach Sailly-Saillisel, +our allies had still to fight their way up that portion of the main +ridge which lies between the Combles Valley on the west and the River +Tortille on the east. To do so they had to capture, in the first place, +the strongly fortified villages of Maurepas, Le Forest, Rancourt, and +Fregicourt, besides many woods and strong systems of trenches. As the +high ground on each side of the Combles Valley commands the slopes of +the ridge on the opposite side, it was essential that the advance of the +two armies should be simultaneous and made in the closest co-operation. +This was fully recognized by both armies, and our plans were made +accordingly. + +[Sidenote: A pause necessary.] + +To carry out the necessary preparations to deal with the difficult +situation outlined above a short pause was necessary, to enable tired +troops to be relieved and guns to be moved forward; while at the same +time old communications had to be improved and new ones made. +Intrenchments against probable counterattacks could not be neglected, +and fresh dispositions of troops were required for the new attacks to be +directed eastward. + +[Sidenote: Pressure on whole front.] + +It was also necessary to continue such pressure on the rest of our +front, not only on the Ancre, but further south, as would make it +impossible for the enemy to devote himself entirely to resisting the +advance between Delville Wood and the Somme. In addition, it was +desirable further to secure our hold on the main ridge west of Delville +Wood by gaining more ground to our front in that direction. Orders were +therefore issued in accordance with the general considerations explained +above, and, without relaxing pressure along the enemy's front from +Delville Wood to the west, preparations for an attack on Guillemont were +pushed on. + +[Sidenote: Enemy counterattack on Delville Wood.] + +During the afternoon of July 18, 1916, the enemy developed his expected +counterattack against Delville Wood, after heavy preliminary shelling. +By sheer weight of numbers, and at very heavy cost, he forced his way +through the northern and northeastern portion of the wood and into the +northern half of Longueval, which our troops had cleared only that +morning. In the southeast corner of the wood he was held up by a gallant +defense, and further south three attacks on our positions in Waterlot +Farm failed. + +[Sidenote: Progress bought by hard fighting.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy in great strength.] + +This enemy attack on Delville Wood marked the commencement of the long, +closely contested struggle which was not finally decided in our favor +till the fall of Guillemont on September 3, 1916, a decision which was +confirmed by the capture of Ginchy six days later. Considerable gains +were indeed made during this period, but progress was slow, and bought +only by hard fighting. A footing was established in High Wood on July +20, 1916, and our line linked up thence with Longueval. A subsequent +advance by the Fourth Army on July 23, 1916, on a wide front from +Guillemont to Pozieres found the enemy in great strength all along the +line, with machine guns and forward troops in shell holes and newly +constructed trenches well in front of his main defenses. Although ground +was won, the strength of the resistance experienced showed that the +hostile troops had recovered from their previous confusion sufficiently +to necessitate long and careful preparation before further successes on +any great scale could be secured. + +[Sidenote: Two powerful counterattacks.] + +An assault delivered simultaneously on this date by General Gough's army +against Pozieres gained considerable results, and by the morning of July +25, 1916, the whole of that village was carried, including the cemetery, +and important progress was made along the enemy's trenches to the +northeast. That evening, after heavy artillery preparation, the enemy +launched two more powerful counterattacks, the one directed against our +new position in and around High Wood and the other delivered from the +northwest of Delville Wood. Both attacks were completely broken up with +very heavy losses to the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Delville Wood recovered.] + +On July 27, 1916, the remainder of Delville Wood was recovered, and two +days later the northern portion of Longueval and the orchards were +cleared of the enemy, after severe fighting, in which our own and the +enemy's artillery were very active. + +[Sidenote: Fighting at Guillemont.] + +On July 30, 1916, the village of Guillemont and Falfemont Farm to the +southeast were attacked, in conjunction with a French attack north of +the Somme. A battalion entered Guillemont, and part of it passed +through to the far side; but as the battalions on either flank did not +reach their objectives, it was obliged to fall back, after holding out +for some hours on the western edge of the village. In a subsequent local +attack on August 7, 1916, our troops again entered Guillemont, but were +again compelled to fall back owing to the failure of a simultaneous +effort against the enemy's trenches on the flanks of the village. + +[Sidenote: Dominating enemy positions.] + +[Sidenote: Series of French and British attacks.] + +The ground to the south of Guillemont was dominated by the enemy's +positions in and about that village. It was therefore hoped that these +positions might be captured first, before an advance to the south of +them in the direction of Falfemont Farm was pushed further forward. It +had now become evident, however, that Guillemont could not be captured +as an isolated enterprise without very heavy loss, and, accordingly, +arrangements were made with the French Army on our immediate right for a +series of combined attacks, to be delivered in progressive stages, which +should embrace Maurepas, Falfemont Farm, Guillemont, Leuze Wood, and +Ginchy. + +[Sidenote: Attacks and counterattacks.] + +An attempt on August 16, 1916, to carry out the first stage of the +prearranged scheme met with only partial success, and two days later, +after a preliminary bombardment lasting thirty-six hours, a larger +combined attack was undertaken. In spite of a number of enemy +counterattacks the most violent of which leveled at the point of +junction of the British with the French, succeeded in forcing our allies +and ourselves back from a part of the ground won--very valuable progress +was made, and our troops established themselves in the outskirts of +Guillemont village and occupied Guillemont Station. A violent +counterattack on Guillemont Station was repulsed on August 23, 1916, and +next day further important progress was made on a wide front north and +east of Delville Wood. + +[Sidenote: Advance by bombing and sapping.] + +[Sidenote: Progress near Thiepval.] + +Apart from the operations already described, others of a minor +character, yet involving much fierce and obstinate fighting, continued +during this period on the fronts of both the British armies. Our lines +were pushed forward wherever possible by means of local attacks and by +bombing and sapping, and the enemy was driven out of various forward +positions from which he might hamper our progress. By these means many +gains were made which, though small in themselves, in the aggregate +represented very considerable advances. In this way our line was brought +to the crest of the ridge above Martinpuich, and Pozieres Windmill and +the high ground north of the village were secured, and with them +observation over Martinpuich and Courcelette and the enemy's gun +positions in their neighborhood and around Le Sars. At a later date our +troops reached the defenses of Mouquet Farm, northwest of Pozieres, and +made progress in the enemy's trenches south of Thiepval. The enemy's +counter-attacks were incessant and frequently of great violence, but +they were made in vain and at heavy cost to him. The fierceness of the +fighting can be gathered from the fact that one regiment of the German +Guards Reserve Corps which had been in the Thiepval salient opposite +Mouquet Farm is known to have lost 1,400 men in fifteen days. + +[Sidenote: A general attack.] + +The first two days of September, 1916, on both army fronts were spent in +preparation for a more general attack, which the gradual progress made +during the preceding month had placed us in a position to undertake. Our +assault was delivered at 12 noon on September 3, 1916, on a front +extending from our extreme right to the third enemy trenches on the +right bank of the Ancre, north of Hamel. Our allies attacked +simultaneously on our right. + +[Sidenote: Guillemont stormed.] + +[Sidenote: Counterattacks on Guillemont.] + +Guillemont was stormed and at once consolidated, and our troops pushed +on unchecked to Ginchy and the line of the road running south to Wedge +Wood. Ginchy was also seized, but here, in the afternoon, we were very +strongly counterattacked. For three days the tide of attack and +counterattack swayed backward and forward among the ruined houses of the +village, till, in the end, for three days more the greater part of it +remained in the enemy's possession. Three counterattacks made on the +evening of September 3, 1916, against our troops in Guillemont all +failed, with considerable loss to the enemy. We also gained ground north +of Delville Wood and in High Wood, though here an enemy counterattack +recovered part of the ground won. + +On the front of General Gough's army, though the enemy suffered heavy +losses in personnel, our gain in ground was slight. + +[Sidenote: British assault on Falfemont Farm.] + +In order to keep touch with the French who were attacking on our right +the assault on Falfemont Farm on September 3, 1916, was delivered three +hours before the opening of the main assault. In the impetus of their +first rush our troops reached the farm, but could not hold it. +Nevertheless, they pushed on to the north of it, and on September 4, +1916, delivered a series of fresh assaults upon it from the west and +north. + +[Sidenote: Leuze Wood cleared.] + +Ultimately this strongly fortified position was occupied piece by piece, +and by the morning of September 5, 1916, the whole of it was in our +possession. Meanwhile further progress had been made to the northeast of +the farm, where considerable initiative was shown by the local +commanders. By the evening of the same day our troops were established +strongly in Leuze Wood, which on the following day was finally cleared +of the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Advance on the right.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy's barrier broken.] + +In spite of the fact that most of Ginchy and of High Wood remained in +the enemy's hands, very noteworthy progress had been made in the course +of these four days' operations, exceeding anything that had been +achieved since July 14, 1916. Our right was advanced on a front of +nearly two miles to an average depth of nearly one mile, penetrating the +enemy's original second line of defense on this front, and capturing +strongly fortified positions at Falfemont Farm, Leuze Wood, Guillemont, +and southeast of Delville Wood, where reached the western outskirts of +Ginchy. More important than this gain in territory was the fact that the +barrier which for seven weeks the enemy had maintained against our +further advance had at last been broken. Over 1,000 prisoners were taken +and many machine guns captured or destroyed in the course of the +fighting. + +Preparations for a further attack upon Ginchy continued without +intermission, and at 4.45 p.m. on September 9, 1916, the attack was +reopened on the whole of the Fourth Army front. At Ginchy and to the +north of Leuze Wood it met with almost immediate success. On the right +the enemy's line was seized over a front of more than 1,000 yards from +the southwest corner of Bouleau Woods, in a northwesterly direction, to +a point just south of the Guillemont-Morval tramway. Our troops again +forced their way into Ginchy, and passing beyond it carried the line of +enemy trenches to the east. Further progress was made east of Delville +Wood and south and east of High Wood. + +[Sidenote: German prisoners taken.] + +Over 500 prisoners were taken in the operations of September 9, 1916, +and following days, making the total since July 1, 1916, over 17,000. + +[Sidenote: French progress.] + +Meanwhile the French had made great progress on our right, bringing +their line forward to Louage Wood (just south of Combles)--Le +Forest-Clery-sur-Somme, all three inclusive. The weak salient in the +allied line had therefore disappeared and we had gained the front +required for further operations. + +[Sidenote: Ability of new armies.] + +[Sidenote: Depth of enemy fortifications.] + +[Sidenote: Failure of counterattacks.] + +Still more importance, however, lay in the proof afforded by the results +described of the ability of our new armies, not only to rush the enemy's +strongest defenses, as had been accomplished on July 1 and 14, 1916, but +also to wear down and break his power of resistance by a steady, +relentless pressure, as they had done during the weeks of this fierce +and protracted struggle. As has already been recounted, the preparations +made for our assault on July 1, 1916, had been long and elaborate; but +though the enemy knew that an attack was coming, it would seem that he +considered the troops already on the spot, secure in their apparently +impregnable defenses, would suffice to deal with it. The success of that +assault, combined with the vigor and determination with which our troops +pressed their advantage, and followed by the successful night attack of +July 14, 1916, all served to awaken him to a fuller realization of his +danger. The great depth of his system of fortification, to which +reference has been made, gave him time to reorganize his defeated +troops, and to hurry up numerous fresh divisions and more guns. Yet in +spite of this, he was still pushed back, steadily and continuously. +Trench after trench and strong point after strong point were wrested +from him. The great majority of his frequent counterattacks failed +completely, with heavy loss; while the few that achieved temporary local +success purchased it dearly, and were soon thrown back from the ground +they had for the moment regained. + +The enemy had, it is true, delayed our advance considerably, but the +effort had cost him dear; and the comparative collapse of his resistance +during the last few days of the struggle justified the belief that in +the long run decisive victory would lie with our troops, who had +displayed such fine fighting qualities and such indomitable endurance +and resolution. + +[Sidenote: Mouquet Farm in hands of British.] + +Practically the whole of the forward crest of the main ridge on a front +of some 9,000 yards, from Delville Wood to the road above Mouquet Farm, +was now in our hands, and with it the advantage of observation over the +slopes beyond. East of Delville Wood, for a further 3,000 yards to Leuze +Wood, we were firmly established on the main ridge, while further east, +across the Combles Valley, the French were advancing victoriously on our +right. But though the centre of our line was well placed, on our flanks +there was still difficult ground to be won. + +[Sidenote: High ground from Ginchy to Morval.] + +From Ginchy the crest of the high ground runs northward for 2,000 yards, +and then eastward, in a long spur, for nearly 4,000 yards. Near the +eastern extremity of this spur stands the village of Morval commanding a +wide field of view and fire in every direction. At Leuze Wood my right +was still 2,000 yards from its objective at this village, and between +lay a broad and deep branch of the main Combles Valley, completely +commanded by the Morval spur, and flanked, not only from its head +northeast of Ginchy, but also from the high ground east of the Combles +Valley, which looks directly into it. + +[Sidenote: The French near Combles.] + +Up this high ground beyond the Combles Valley the French were working +their way toward their objective at Sailly-Saillisel, situated due east +of Morval, and standing at the same level. Between these two villages +the ground falls away to the head of the Combles Valley, which runs +thence in a southwesterly direction. In the bottom of this valley lies +the small town of Combles, then well fortified and strongly held, though +dominated by my right at Leuze Wood and by the French left on the +opposite heights. It had been agreed between the French and myself that +an assault on Combles would not be necessary, as the place could be +rendered untenable by pressing forward along the ridges above it on +either side. + +[Sidenote: Difficulties in way of French advance.] + +The capture of Morval from the south presented a very difficult problem, +while the capture of Sailly-Saillisel, at that time some 3,000 yards to +the north of the French left, was in some respects even more difficult. +The line of the French advance was narrowed almost to a defile by the +extensive and strongly fortified Wood of St. Pierre Vaast on the one +side, and on the other by the Combles Valley, which, with the branches +running out from it and the slopes each side, is completely commanded, +as has been pointed out, by the heights bounding the valley on the east +and west. + +[Sidenote: Close cooperation necessary on right.] + +On my right flank, therefore, the progress of the French and British +forces was still interdependent, and the closest cooperation continued +to be necessary in order to gain the further ground required to enable +my centre to advance on a sufficiently wide front. To cope with such a +situation unity of command is usually essential, but in this case the +cordial good feeling between the allied armies, and the earnest desire +of each to assist the other, proved equally effective, and removed all +difficulties. + +[Sidenote: Enemy defense on main ridge over Thiepval.] + +On my left flank the front of General Gough's army bent back from the +main ridge near Mouquet Farm down a spur descending southwestward, and +then crossed a broad valley to the Wonderwork, a strong point situated +in the enemy's front-line system near the southern end of the spur on +the higher slopes of which Thiepval stands. Opposite this part of our +line we had still to carry the enemy's original defenses on the main +ridge above Thiepval, and in the village itself, defenses which may +fairly be described as being as nearly impregnable as nature, art, and +the unstinted labor of nearly two years could make them. + +[Sidenote: British advance on Thiepval defenses.] + +[Sidenote: Positions might be rushed.] + +Our advance on Thiepval and on the defenses above it had been carried +out up to this date, in accordance with my instructions given on July 3, +1916, by a slow and methodical progression, in which great skill and +much patience and endurance had been displayed with entirely +satisfactory results. General Gough's army had, in fact, acted most +successfully in the required manner as a pivot to the remainder of the +attack. The Thiepval defenses were known to be exceptionally strong, and +as immediate possession of them was not necessary to the development of +my plans after July 1, 1916, there had been no need to incur the heavy +casualties to be expected in an attempt to rush them. The time was now +approaching, although it had not yet arrived, when their capture would +become necessary; but from the positions we had now reached and those +which we expected shortly to obtain, I had no doubt that they could be +rushed when required without undue loss. An important part of the +remaining positions required for my assault on them was now won by a +highly successful enterprise carried out on the evening of September 14, +1916, by which the Wonderwork was stormed. + +[Sidenote: Plan of combined attack.] + +[Sidenote: Main effort against Rancourt and Fregicourt.] + +The general plan of the combined allied attack which was opened on +September 15 was to pivot on the high ground south of the Ancre and +north of the Albert-Bapaume road, while the Fourth Army devoted its +whole effort to the rearmost of the enemy's original systems of defense +between Morval and Le Sars. Should our success in this direction warrant +it I made arrangements to enable me to extend the left of the attack to +embrace the villages of Martinpuich and Courcelette. As soon as our +advance on this front had reached the Morval line, the time would have +arrived to bring forward my left across the Thiepval Ridge. Meanwhile on +my right our allies arranged to continue the line of advance in close +co-operation with me from the Somme to the slopes above Combles, but +directing their main effort northward against the villages of Rancourt +and Fregicourt, so as to complete the isolation of Combles and open the +way for their attack upon Sailly-Saillisel. + +A methodical bombardment was commenced at 6 a.m. on September 12, 1916, +and was continued steadily and uninterruptedly till the moment of +attack. + +[Sidenote: Bombardment and infantry assault.] + +At 6.20 a.m. on September 15, 1916 the infantry assault commenced, and +at the same moment the bombardment became intense. Our new heavily +armored cars, known as "tanks," now brought into action for the first +time, successfully co-operated with the infantry, and, coming as a +surprise to the enemy rank and file, gave valuable help in breaking down +their resistance. + +[Sidenote: Tanks enter Flers.] + +[Sidenote: High Wood carried.] + +[Sidenote: Capture of the Quadrilateral.] + +The advance met with immediate success on almost the whole of the front +attacked. At 8.40 a.m. "tanks" were seen to be entering Flers, followed +by large numbers of troops. Fighting continued in Flers for some time, +but by 10 a.m. our troops had reached the north side of the village, and +by midday had occupied the enemy's trenches for some distance beyond. On +our right our line was advanced to within assaulting distance of the +strong line of defense running before Morval, Les Boeufs, and +Gueudecourt, and on our left High Wood was at last carried after many +hours of very severe fighting, reflecting great credit on the attacking +battalions. Our success made it possible to carry out during the +afternoon that part of the plan which provided for the capture of +Martinpuich and Courcelette, and by the end of the day both these +villages were in our hands. On September 18, 1916, the work of this day +was completed by the capture of the Quadrilateral, an enemy stronghold +which had hitherto blocked the progress of our right toward Morval. +Further progress was also made between Flers and Martinpuich. + +[Sidenote: Results of four days' fighting.] + +The result of the fighting of September 15, 1916, and following days was +a gain more considerable than any which had attended our arms in the +course of a single operation since the commencement of the offensive. In +the course of one day's fighting we had broken through two of the +enemy's main defensive systems and had advanced on a front of over six +miles to an average depth of a mile. In the course of this advance we +had taken three large villages, each powerfully organized for prolonged +resistance. Two of these villages had been carried by assault with short +preparation in the course of a few hours' fighting. All this had been +accomplished with a small number of casualties in comparison with the +troops employed, and in spite of the fact that, as was afterward +discovered, the attack did not come as a complete surprise to the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners taken.] + +The total number of prisoners taken by us in these operations since +their commencement on the evening of September 14, 1916, amounted at +this date to over 4,000, including 127 officers. + +[Sidenote: General attack launched.] + +[Sidenote: Objectives taken.] + +Preparations for our further advance were again hindered by bad weather, +but at 12.35 p.m. on September 25, 1916, after a bombardment commenced +early in the morning of the 24th, a general attack by the Allies was +launched on the whole front between the Somme and Martinpuich. The +objectives on the British front included the villages of Morval, Les +Boeufs, and Gueudecourt, and a belt of country about 1,000 yards deep +curving round the north of Flers to a point midway between that village +and Martinpuich. By nightfall the whole of these objectives were in our +hands, with the exception of the village of Gueudecourt, before which +our troops met with very serious resistance from a party of the enemy in +a section of his fourth main system of defense. + +[Sidenote: French take Rancourt.] + +[Sidenote: Combles occupied.] + +On our right our allies carried the village of Rancourt, and advanced +their line to the outskirts of Fregicourt, capturing that village also +during the night and early morning. Combles was therefore nearly +surrounded by the allied forces, and in the early morning of September +26, 1916, the village was occupied simultaneously by the allied forces, +the British to the north and the French to the south of the railway. The +capture of Combles in this inexpensive fashion represented a not +inconsiderable tactical success. Though lying in a hollow, the village +was very strongly fortified, and possessed, in addition to the works +which the enemy had constructed, exceptionally large cellars and +galleries, at a great depth under ground, sufficient to give effectual +shelter to troops and material under the heaviest bombardment. Great +quantities of stores and ammunition of all sorts were found in these +cellars when the village was taken. + +[Sidenote: Gueudecourt carried.] + +[Sidenote: Few casualties.] + +On the same day Gueudecourt was carried, after the protecting trench to +the west had been captured in a somewhat interesting fashion. In the +early morning a "tank" started down the portion of the trench held by +the enemy from the northwest, firing its machine guns and followed by +bombers. The enemy could not escape, as we held the trench at the +southern end. At the same time an aeroplane flew down the length of the +trench, also firing a machine gun at the enemy holding it. These then +waved white handkerchiefs in token of surrender, and when this was +reported by the aeroplane the infantry accepted the surrender of the +garrison. By 8.30 a.m. the whole trench had been cleared, great numbers +of the enemy had been killed, and 8 officers and 362 of the ranks made +prisoners. Our total casualties amounted to five. + +[Sidenote: Tactical value of the main ridge.] + +The success of the Fourth Army had now brought our advance to the stage +at which I judged it advisable that Thiepval should be taken, in order +to bring our left flank into line and establish it on the main ridge +above that village, the possession of which would be of considerable +tactical value in future operations. + +[Sidenote: New attack on Thiepval.] + +Accordingly at 12.25 p.m. on September 26, 1916, before the enemy had +been given time to recover from the blow struck by the Fourth Army, a +general attack was launched against Thiepval and the Thiepval Ridge. The +objective consisted of the whole of the high ground still remaining in +enemy hands extending over a front of some 3,000 yards north and east of +Thiepval, and including, in addition to that fortress, the Zollern +Redoubt, the Stuff Redoubt, and the Schwaben Redoubt, with the +connecting lines of trenches. + +[Sidenote: Strong enemy resistance.] + +The attack was a brilliant success. On the right our troops reached the +system of enemy trenches which formed their objectives without great +difficulty. In Thiepval and the strong works to the north of it the +enemy's resistance was more desperate. Three waves of our attacking +troops carried the outer defenses of Mouquet Farm, and, pushing on, +entered Zollern Redoubt, which they stormed and consolidated. In the +strong point formed by the buildings of the farm itself, the enemy +garrison, securely posted in deep cellars, held out until 6 p.m., when +their last defenses were forced by a working party of a pioneer +battalion acting on its own initiative. + +[Sidenote: Thiepval taken.] + +On the left of the attack fierce fighting, in which "tanks" again gave +valuable assistance to our troops, continued in Thiepval during that day +and the following night, but by 8.30 a.m. on September 27, 1916 the +whole of the village of Thiepval was in our hands. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners.] + +Some 2,300 prisoners were taken in the course of the fighting on the +Thiepval Ridge on these and the subsequent days, bringing the total +number of prisoners taken in the battle area in the operations of +September 14-30, 1916, to nearly 10,000. In the same period we had +captured 27 guns, over 200 machine guns, and some 40 trench mortars. + +[Sidenote: Stuff and Schwaben Redoubts.] + +On the same date the south and west sides of Stuff Redoubt were carried +by our troops, together with the length of trench connecting that strong +point with Schwaben Redoubt to the west and also the greater part of the +enemy's defensive line eastward along the northern slopes of the ridge. +Schwaben Redoubt was assaulted during the afternoon, and in spite of +counterattacks, delivered by strong enemy reenforcements, we captured +the whole of the southern face of the redoubt and pushed out patrols to +the northern face and toward St. Pierre Divion. + +Our line was also advanced north of Courcelette, while on the Fourth +Army front a further portion of the enemy's fourth-system of defense +northwest of Gueudecourt was carried on a front of a mile. Between these +two points the enemy fell back upon his defenses running in front of +Eaucourt l'Abbaye and Le Sars, and on the afternoon and evening of +September 27, 1916, our troops were able to make a very considerable +advance in this area without encountering serious opposition until +within a few hundred yards of this line. The ground thus occupied +extended to a depth of from 500 to 600 yards on a front of nearly two +miles between the Bazentin-le-Petit, Lingy, Thilloy, and Albert-Bapaume +roads. + +[Sidenote: Destremont Farm carried.] + +Destremont Farm, southwest of Le Sars, was carried by a single company +on September 29, 1916, and on the afternoon of October 1, 1916, a +successful attack was launched against Eaucourt l'Abbaye and the enemy +defenses to the east and west of it, comprising a total front of about +3,000 yards. Our artillery barrage was extremely accurate, and +contributed greatly to the success of the attack. Bomb fighting +continued among the buildings during the next two days, but by the +evening of October 3 the whole of Eaucourt l'Abbaye was in our hands. + +[Sidenote: Fourth Army attacks.] + +At the end of September, 1916, I had handed over Morval to the French, +in order to facilitate their attacks on Sailly-Saillisel, and on October +7, 1916, after a postponement rendered necessary by three days' +continuous rain, our allies made a considerable advance in the direction +of the latter village. On the same day the Fourth Army attacked along +the whole front from Les Boeufs to Destremont Farm in support of the +operations of our allies. + +[Sidenote: Enemy's trenches east of Gueudecourt taken.] + +The village of Le Sars was captured, together with the quarry to the +northwest, while considerable progress was made at other points along +the front attacked. In particular, to the east of Gueudecourt, the +enemy's trenches were carried on a breadth of some 2,000 yards, and a +footing gained on the crest of the long spur which screens the defenses +of Le Transloy from the southwest. Nearly 1,000 prisoners were secured +by the Fourth Army in the course of these operations. + +With the exception of his positions in the neighborhood of +Sailly-Saillisel, and his scanty foothold on the northern crest of the +high ground above Thiepval, the enemy had now been driven from the whole +of the ridge lying between the Tortille and the Ancre. + +[Sidenote: Germans make repeated counterattacks.] + +[Sidenote: British situation satisfactory.] + +Possession of the northwestern portion of the ridge north of the latter +village carried with it observation over the valley of the Ancre between +Miraumont and Hamel and the spurs and valleys held by the enemy on the +right bank of the river. The Germans, therefore, made desperate efforts +to cling to their last remaining trenches in this area, and in the +course of the three weeks following our advance made repeated +counterattacks at heavy cost in the vain hope of recovering the ground +they had lost. During this period our gains in the neighborhood of Stuff +and Schwaben Redoubts were gradually increased and secured in readiness +for future operations; and I was quite confident of the ability of our +troops, not only to repulse the enemy's attacks, but to clear him +entirely from his last positions on the ridge whenever it should suit my +plans to do so. I was, therefore, well content with the situation on +this flank. + +Along the centre of our line from Gueudecourt to the west of Le Sars +similar considerations applied. As we were already well down the forward +slopes of the ridge on his front, it was for the time being inadvisable +to make any serious advance. Pending developments elsewhere all that was +necessary or indeed desirable was to carry on local operations to +improve our positions and to keep the enemy fully employed. + +[Sidenote: Strong enemy positions in eastern flank.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy resistance weakens.] + +On our eastern flank, on the other hand, it was important to gain +ground. Here the enemy still possessed a strong system of trenches +covering the villages of Le Transloy and Beaulencourt and the town of +Bapaume; but, although he was digging with feverish haste, he had not +yet been able to create any very formidable defenses behind this line. +In this direction, in fact, we had at last reached a stage at which a +successful attack might reasonably be expected to yield much greater +results than anything we had yet attained. The resistance of the troops +opposed to us had seriously weakened in the course of our recent +operations, and there was no reason to suppose that the effort required +would not be within our powers. + +[Sidenote: Necessity to gain spur and heights.] + +The last completed system of defense, before Le Transloy, was flanked to +the south by the enemy's positions at Sailly-Saillisel, and screened to +the west by the spur lying between Le Transloy and Les Boeufs. A +necessary preliminary, therefore, to an assault upon it was to secure +the spur and the Sailly-Saillisel heights. Possession of the high ground +at this latter village would at once give a far better command over the +ground to the north and northwest, secure the flank of our operations +toward Le Transloy, and deprive the enemy of observation over the allied +communications in the Combles Valley. In view of the enemy's efforts to +construct new systems of defense behind the Le Transloy spur, was +extended and secured time in dealing with the situation. + +[Sidenote: Rain and fog a hindrance.] + +Unfortunately, at this juncture, very unfavorable weather set in and +continued with scarcely a break during the remainder of October and the +early part of November. Poor visibility seriously interfered with the +work of our artillery, and constant rain turned the mass of hastily dug +trenches for which we were fighting into channels of deep mud. The +country roads, broken by countless shell craters, that cross the deep +stretch of ground we had lately won, rapidly became almost impassable, +making the supply of food, stores, and ammunition a serious problem. +These conditions multiplied the difficulties of attack to such an extent +that it was found impossible to exploit the situation with the rapidity +necessary to enable us to reap the full benefits of the advantages we +had gained. + +[Sidenote: Enemy has time to reorganize.] + +None the less, my right flank continued to assist the operations of our +allies against Saillisel, and attacks were made to this end, whenever a +slight improvement in the weather made the co-operation of artillery and +infantry at all possible. The delay in our advance, however, though +unavoidable, had given the enemy time to reorganize and rally his +troops. His resistance again became stubborn and he seized every +favorable opportunity for counterattacks. Trenches changed hands with +great frequency, the conditions of ground making it difficult to renew +exhausted supplies of bombs and ammunition, or to consolidate the ground +won, and so rendering it an easier matter to take a battered trench than +to hold it. + +[Sidenote: French take Sailly-Saillisel.] + +On September 12 and 18, 1916, further gains were made to the east of the +Les Boeufs-Gueudecourt line and east of Le Sars, and some hundreds of +prisoners were taken. On these dates, despite all the difficulties of +ground, the French first reached and then captured the villages of +Sailly-Saillisel, but the moment for decisive action was rapidly passing +away, while the weather showed no signs of improvement. By this time, +too, the ground had already become so bad that nothing less than a +prolonged period of drying weather, which at that season of the year was +most unlikely to occur, would suit our purpose. + +[Sidenote: New line established.] + +In these circumstances, while continuing to do all that was possible to +improve my position on my right flank, I determined to press on with +preparations for the exploitation of the favorable local situation on my +left flank. At midday on October 21, 1916, during a short spell of fine, +cold weather, the line of Regina Trench and Stuff Trench, from the west +Courcelette-Pys road westward to Schwaben Redoubt, was attacked with +complete success. Assisted by an excellent artillery preparation and +barrage, our infantry carried the whole of their objectives very quickly +and with remarkably little loss, and our new line was firmly established +in spite of the enemy's shell fire. Over one thousand prisoners were +taken in the course of the day's fighting, a figure only slightly +exceeded by our casualties. + +[Sidenote: Part of Regina trench carried.] + +On October 23, 1916, and again on November 5, 1916, while awaiting +better weather for further operations on the Ancre, our attacks on the +enemy's positions to the east of Les Boeufs and Gueudecourt were +renewed, in conjunction with French operations against the +Sailly-Saillisel heights and St. Pierre Vaast Wood. Considerable further +progress was achieved. Our footing at the crest of Le Transloy Spur was +extended and secured, and the much-contested tangle of trenches at our +junction with the French left at last passed definitely into our +possession. Many smaller gains were made in this neighborhood by local +assaults during these days, in spite of the difficult conditions of the +ground. In particular, on November 10, 1916, after a day of improved +weather, the portion of Regina Trench lying to the east of the +Courcelette-Pys road was carried on a front of about one thousand yards. + +[Sidenote: Enemy losses.] + +Throughout these operations the enemy's counterattacks were very +numerous and determined, succeeding indeed in the evening of October 23, +1916, in regaining a portion of the ground east of Le Sars taken from +him by our attack on that day. On all other occasions his attacks were +broken by our artillery or infantry and the losses incurred by him in +these attempts, made frequently with considerable effectives, were +undoubtedly very severe. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for attack on the Ancre.] + +On November 9, 1916, the long-continued bad weather took a turn for the +better, and thereafter remained dry and cold, with frosty nights and +misty mornings, for some days. Final preparations were therefore pushed +on for the attack on the Ancre, though, as the ground was still very bad +in places, it was necessary to limit the operations to what it would be +reasonably possible to consolidate and hold under the existing +conditions. + +[Sidenote: Permanent line of enemy fortifications.] + +The enemy's defenses in this area were already extremely formidable when +they resisted our assault on July 1, 1916, and the succeeding period of +four months had been spent in improving and adding to them in the light +of the experience he had gained in the course of our attacks further +south. The hamlet of St. Pierre Divion and the villages of +Beaucourt-sur-Ancre and Beaumont Hamel, like the rest of the villages +forming part of the enemy's original front in this district, were +evidently intended by him to form a permanent line of fortifications, +while he developed his offensive elsewhere. Realizing that his position +in them had become a dangerous one, the enemy had multiplied the number +of his guns covering this part of his line, and at the end of October +introduced an additional division on his front between Grandcourt and +Hebuterne. + +[Sidenote: Barrage to cover infantry.] + +At 5 o'clock on the morning of November 11, 1916, the special +bombardment preliminary to the attack was commenced. It continued with +bursts of great intensity until 5.45 o'clock on the morning of November +13, 1916, when it developed into a very effective barrage covering the +assaulting infantry. + +[Sidenote: St. Pierre Divion taken.] + +At that hour our troops advanced on the enemy's position through dense +fog, and rapidly entered his first-line trenches on almost the whole +front attacked, from east of Schwaben Redoubt to the north of Serre. +South of the Ancre, where our assault was directed northward against the +enemy's trenches on the northern slopes of the Thiepval Ridge, it met +with a success altogether remarkable for rapidity of execution and +lightness of cost. By 7.20 a.m. our objectives east of St. Pierre Divion +had been captured, and the Germans in and about that hamlet were hemmed +in between our troops and the river. Many of the enemy were driven into +their dugouts and surrendered, and at 9 a.m. the number of prisoners was +actually greater than the attacking force. St. Pierre Divion soon fell, +and in this area nearly 1,400 prisoners were taken by a single division +at the expense of less than 600 casualties. The rest of our forces +operating south of the Ancre attained their objectives with equal +completeness and success. + +[Sidenote: Objectives reached on right bank of Ancre.] + +North of the river the struggle was more severe, but very satisfactory +results were achieved. Though parties of the enemy held out for some +hours during the day in strong points at various places along his first +line and in Beaumont Hamel, the main attack pushed on. The troops +attacking close to the right bank of the Ancre reached their second +objectives to the west and northwest of Beaucourt during the morning, +and held on there for the remainder of the day and night, though +practically isolated from the rest of our attacking troops. Their +tenacity was of the utmost value, and contributed very largely to the +success of the operations. At nightfall our troops were established on +the western outskirts of Beaucourt, in touch with our forces south of +the river, and held a line along the station road from the Ancre toward +Beaumont Hamel, where we occupied the village. Further north the +enemy's first-line system for a distance of about half a mile beyond +Beaumont Hamel was also in our hands. Still further north--opposite +Serre--the ground was so heavy that it became necessary to abandon the +attack at an early stage, although, despite all difficulties, our troops +had in places reached the enemy's trenches in the course of their +assault. + +[Sidenote: Beaumont carried.] + +Next morning, at an early hour, the attack was renewed between Beaucourt +and the top of the spur just north of Beaumont Hamel. The whole of +Beaumont was carried, and our line extended to the northwest along the +Beaucourt road across the southern end of the Beaumont Hamel spur. The +number of our prisoners steadily rose, and during this and the +succeeding days our front was carried forward eastward and northward up +the slopes of the Beaumont Hamel spur. + +[Sidenote: Allies command Ancre Valley.] + +The results of this attack were very satisfactory, especially as before +its completion bad weather had set in again. We had secured the command +of the Ancre Valley on both banks of the river at the point where it +entered the enemy's lines, and, without great cost to ourselves, losses +had been inflicted on the enemy which he himself admitted to be +considerable. Our final total of prisoners taken in these operations, +and their development during the subsequent days, exceeded 7,200, +including 149 officers. + +[Sidenote: Enemy kept on alert.] + +Throughout the period dealt with in this dispatch the role of the other +armies holding our defensive line from the northern limits of the battle +front to beyond Ypres was necessarily a secondary one, but their task +was neither light nor unimportant. While required to give precedence in +all respects to the needs of the Somme battle, they were responsible for +the security of the line held by them and for keeping the enemy on +their front constantly on the alert. Their role was a very trying one, +entailing heavy work on the troops and constant vigilance on the part of +commanders and staffs. It was carried out to my entire satisfaction, and +in an unfailing spirit of unselfish and broad-minded devotion to the +general good, which is deserving of the highest commendation. + +[Sidenote: Great number of raids.] + +Some idea of the thoroughness with which their duties were performed can +be gathered from the fact that in the period of four and a half months +from July 1, 1916, some 360 raids were carried out, in the course of +which the enemy suffered many casualties and some hundreds of prisoners +were taken by us. The largest of these operations was undertaken on July +19, 1916, in the neighborhood of Armentieres. Our troops penetrated +deeply into the enemy's defenses, doing much damage to his works and +inflicting severe losses upon him. + +[Sidenote: Main objects of offensive achieved.] + +The three main objects with which we had commenced our offensive in July +had already been achieved at the date when this account closes, in spite +of the fact that the heavy Autumn rains had prevented full advantage +from being taken of the favorable situation created by our advance, at a +time when we had good grounds for hoping to achieve yet more important +successes. + +Verdun had been relieved, the main German forces had been held on the +western front, and the enemy's strength had been very considerably worn +down. + +[Sidenote: Ample compensation for sacrifices.] + +Any one of these three results is in itself sufficient to justify the +Somme battle. The attainment of all three of them affords ample +compensation for the splendid efforts of our troops and for the +sacrifices made by ourselves and our allies. They have brought us a long +step forward toward the final victory of the allied cause. + +[Sidenote: German failure at Verdun.] + +The desperate struggle for the possession of Verdun had invested that +place with a moral and political importance out of all proportion to its +military value. Its fall would undoubtedly have been proclaimed as a +great victory for our enemies, and would have shaken the faith of many +in our ultimate success. The failure of the enemy to capture it, despite +great efforts and very heavy losses, was a severe blow to his prestige, +especially in view of the confidence he had openly expressed as to the +results of the struggle. + +[Sidenote: Eastward movement of German troops checked.] + +Information obtained both during the progress of the Somme battle and +since the suspension of active operations has fully established the +effect of our offensive in keeping the enemy's main forces tied to the +western front. A movement of German troops eastward, which had commenced +in June as a result of the Russian successes, continued for a short time +only after the opening of the allied attack. Thereafter the enemy forces +that moved east consisted, with one exception, of divisions that had +been exhausted in the Somme battle, and these troops were already +replaced on the western front by fresh divisions. In November the +strength of the enemy in the western theatre of war was greater than in +July, notwithstanding the abandonment of his offensive at Verdun. + +[Sidenote: Somme offensive relieved Verdun.] + +It is possible that if Verdun had fallen large forces might still have +been employed in an endeavor further to exploit that success. It is, +however, far more probable, in view of developments in the eastern +theatre, that a considerable transfer of troops in that direction would +have followed. It is therefore justifiable to conclude that the Somme +offensive not only relieved Verdun but held large forces which would +otherwise have been employed against our allies in the east. + +The third great object of the allied operations on the Somme was the +wearing down of the enemy's powers of resistance. Any statement of the +extent to which this has been attained must depend in some degree on +estimates. + +There is, nevertheless, sufficient evidence to place it beyond doubt +that the enemy's losses in men and material have been very considerably +higher than those of the Allies, while morally the balance of advantage +on our side is still greater. + +[Sidenote: Enemy resistance feebler.] + +During the period under review a steady deterioration took place in the +morale of large numbers of the enemy's troops. Many of them, it is true, +fought with the greatest determination, even in the latest encounters, +but the resistance of still larger numbers became latterly decidedly +feebler than it had been in the earlier stages of the battle. Aided by +the great depth of his defenses and by the frequent reliefs which his +resources in men enabled him to effect, discipline and training held the +machine together sufficiently to enable the enemy to rally and +reorganize his troops after each fresh defeat. As our advance +progressed, four-fifths of the total number of divisions engaged on the +western front were thrown one after another into the Somme battle, some +of them twice, and some three times; and toward the end of the +operations, when the weather unfortunately broke, there can be no doubt +that his power of resistance had been very seriously diminished. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners and guns taken.] + +The number of prisoners taken by us in the Somme battle between July 1 +and November 18, 1916, is just over 38,000, including over 800 officers. +During the same period we captured 29 heavy guns, 96 field guns and +field howitzers, 136 trench mortars, and 514 machine guns. + + * * * * * + +The war fell with special severity upon the people of the poorer classes +in Russia, many of whom, upon the advance of the German and Austrian +armies, were compelled to flee from their homes in a practically +destitute condition. A graphic description of the pitiable plight of +these unfortunate people is given in the following pages. + + + + +RUSSIA'S REFUGEES + +GREGORY MASON + +Copyright, Outlook, January 19, 1916. + + +[Sidenote: A Russian freight train with passengers.] + +Near Moscow, on a siding of the railway that runs from Moscow to Warsaw +through Smolensk, was a string of thirteen freight cars, the short, +chunky Russian kind--barely half as long as the American--looking as +flimsy, top-heavy, and unwieldy as houseboats on wheels. No locomotive +was tied to the string, and from the windward side, where the cars were +whitewashed by the biting blizzard that had already stopped all traffic +with its drifted barricades, they had the desolate look of stranded +empties. But the leeward door of each car was open a few inches, +permitting the egress of odors that told any one who chanced to pass +that the big rolling boxes were loaded with human freight, closely +packed and long on the journey. + +[Sidenote: Old women at work.] + +I pushed the door of one car back and looked in. At first in the +semi-gloom nothing was visible, but gradually, against a crack in the +opposite car wall that let through a streak of gray light with a ribbon +of snow that rustled as it fell on the straw-covered floor, there grew +the dull silhouette of two old women, who sat facing each other in the +straw, laboriously pounding corn into flour in a big earthen bowl +between them. + +[Sidenote: Emaciated children and dead babies.] + +The young Pole who was with me climbed into the car and probed its +recesses with a spear of light from a pocket flash-lamp. The old women +stopped pounding to lift toward us wrinkled faces that expressed fear +and hate when the tiny searchlight was turned on their dim, blinking +eyes. Another pair of hags in a far corner, propped against a bale of +hay and bound together like Siamese twins in a brown horse-blanket, +moved their eyes feebly, but nothing more. They were paralyzed. A score +of children that had been huddled here and there in the straw in twos +and threes for warmth's sake came slowly to life and crowded around us, +lifting a ring of wan, emaciated little faces. Three, too feeble to +stand, sat up and stared at the strange light. The bodies of four small +babies moved not at all--were, in fact, lifeless. + +[Sidenote: Refugees from Poland.] + +[Sidenote: Herded like cattle by soldiers.] + +These people were refugees from a rural part of Poland, made homeless by +the Russian military decree which ordered the destruction of all +buildings and the removal of all civilians from the rearward path of the +Muscovite army as it fell back before the battering attacks of the +Germans from Warsaw to Dwinsk. For ten days these four old women and +twenty-seven children had been in that car, with no fire, few warm +clothes, and only a little dried meat, corn flour, and water to sustain +life in them. This the meager fare had failed to do in the case of the +four youngest. Since they had been herded into that cold box like cattle +by soldiers at the station to which they had driven or walked from their +blazing homes, they had been moved eastward daily in the joggling car, +which traveled slowly and by fits and starts, unvisited by any one, not +knowing their destination, and now too low in mind and body to care. + +[Sidenote: Children forget their families.] + +The two old creatures who were paralyzed when they had been dumped into +the car were now apparently dying; several of the children swayed with +weakness as they stood, clutching at the biscuits and sweet chocolate +which we drew from our pockets. Five of them were grandchildren of one +of the paralytics, three designated one of the wrinkled flour-makers by +the Polish equivalent of "granny," but none of the others knew where +their parents were, and six of them had forgotten their own family names +or had never known them. + +[Sidenote: Moscow and Petrograd overcrowded.] + +The other twelve cars were like this one except that all of them had at +least two or three--and usually six or seven--feeble, crackly-voiced old +men with their complement of women and children, and one contained three +young fellows of twenty who had probably smuggled themselves into the +car and who cringed when my Polish interpreter lunged on them with his +rapier of light and retreated into a corner where two cows stood with +necks crossed in affection. These youths knew they had no business in +that car, for even in the chaos of retreat the word had been passed +among the civilian refugees: "Women, children, and old men first in the +cars; young men can walk." But there have not been enough cars even for +the weak, the very young, and the very aged, and thousands, perhaps tens +of thousands, have found their graves along the slushy, muddy roads they +were following toward Petrograd and Moscow from the occupied provinces +of Poland and the Baltic. These people in the freight cars at least had +had transportation and a crude kind of shelter. But of the two million +refugees who are overcrowding Moscow and Petrograd, to the great +detriment of the health average of the two Russian capitals, many +thousands came there several hundred weary miles on foot. And others, +less determined or weaker, are still straggling in or are lingering by +the way, some of the latter dying and some finding shelter in small +towns between the twin big cities and the front. + +[Sidenote: Millions of refugees.] + +[Sidenote: People of all ranks and stations.] + +Some estimates place the number of Russian refugees at from ten to +fifteen million; thirteen million is the estimate of the Tatiana +Committee, one of the most influential relief organizations in Russia, +named after the second daughter of the Czar, who is its honorary head. +By race the refugees are principally Poles, Jews, Letts, and +Lithuanians, but they come from all ranks and stations of life, rich and +poor alike, now all poor, thrown from their homes with nothing but the +clothes on their bodies by the grim chances of war. + +[Sidenote: Thousands must starve and freeze.] + +In times of peace and prosperity the sudden impoverishment of such a +large mass of people would tax the relief and charity of Russia to the +limit; but now, when all food prices are from one hundred to three +hundred per cent higher than before the war--when even the well-to-do +have difficulty to get enough bread, sugar, and coal--it is inevitable +that thousands of these homeless ones should starve and freeze to death. +Thousands have already suffered this fate, but hundreds of thousands, +perhaps a million or more, will die this way before spring unless relief +comes quickly and bountifully from abroad, for Russia cannot cope with +the emergency alone. Unless Russia's allies or neutrals begin at once to +pour into Russia a stream of food to fill the stomachs of these hungry, +homeless ones, this will be the bitterest winter in Russian history, a +winter whose horrors will far transcend the terrible winter of 1812, +when Napoleon ravaged Poland and sacked Moscow. + +[Sidenote: Great Britain must bolster weaker allies.] + +Great Britain, who is holding up some of her weaker allies in many ways, +sweeping mines from the White Sea for Russia, and with France bolstering +the remnant of the Belgian army in Flanders, is doing much to alleviate +the suffering of Russia's refugees by unofficial action. The Great +Britain to Poland Fund, organized and supported by such prominent +Britons as Lady Byron, Viscount Bryce, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl +of Rosebery, and the Lord Mayor of London, at the instance of Princess +Bariatinsky, who is better known as the famous Russian actress, Madame +Yavorska, is feeding between 4,000 and 7,000 refugees daily at +Petrograd, Moscow, Minsk, and at several small towns close to the front. + +[Sidenote: The Petrograd "Feeding Point."] + +[Sidenote: Sheds for shelter.] + +The Petrograd "Feeding Point" is a long, hastily built shed of +unfinished lumber a stone's-throw from the Warsaw station. This site was +well selected, for the long stone railway station, open at both ends +like an aviation hangar, is the center of refugee population in the +Czar's city. Not only were several hundred homeless men, women, and +children sleeping on the cold stone floors of the draughty station, but +other hundreds were lying about in odd corners here and there, in empty +trucks and freight cars, lying within a few feet of where the crowded +refugee train had left them, with no hope or ambition to make them move +on. Still other hundreds, more fortunate than these, were sheltered in +three sheds, similar to the "Refugees' Restaurant" in their unfinished +board construction, which had been built by the Government. Each of +these sheds, about thirty by sixty feet in dimensions, housed between +two and three hundred persons. This crowding was made possible by the +presence of platforms built one above another in triple or quadruple +deck "nests" about the room, where people of both sexes and of all ages +slept, cooked and ate such food as they could beg, and lay all day long +with expressionless, bulging eyes, half stupefied in the stifling stench +of the place. + +[Sidenote: Lines before the feeding stations.] + +Twice a day a line formed before the door of the feeding station of such +persons as were known to have no private food supply, and when the door +opened they surged in, getting brass tickets at the threshold which each +one exchanged in the far end of the room for a large square piece of +Russian _chorny khleb_--black bread--and a steaming bowl of good old +English porridge served to them by the bustling ladies of the British +Colony. Only enough were admitted at a time to fill the double row of +board tables, yet every day from 1,000 to 1,400 were fed. + +[Sidenote: The gayety of hungry youth.] + +It was interesting to stand at the elbow of the buxom, indefatigably +good-natured English lady who wielded the porridge spoon and watch the +long, hungry file which melted away toward the tables when it reached +the tall, bottomless urn that held the fragrant, steaming cereal. First +came a dozen boys and girls who had lost their parents but not the +irresistible gayety of hungry youth in the presence of food. + +[Sidenote: A one-time rich man.] + +[Sidenote: Bitterness toward the Government.] + +They took their bread and porridge without even a mumbled +"_Spassiba_"--thanks--and shouldered each other for seats at the tables. +Then came a blind old man led by his two grandsons. His thanks were +pathetically profuse. Next another graybeard, carrying an ivory cane and +wearing a handsome fur coat, the only indications of his recent high +station in provincial society except the unmistakable reserve and +dignity of gentility. After him was a handsome Lett, who had been a +station agent in Courland till his station was dynamited in the Russian +retreat. None of the children gave any thanks for the food; in fact, +hardly any one did except the very old. The attitude of the others +seemed to be that of people who were getting only a small part of their +just due. Perhaps that was because they may not have realized that they +were being fed by England, not by Russia, and toward Russia all of them +were bitter even those who lived in the shelters the Government had +built. This bitterness was indicated by the refusal of most of them to +accept work proffered them by provincial or municipal officials. + +[Sidenote: No wish to begin over.] + +Their attitude is that, inasmuch as the Government has deliberately +wiped out their homes and destroyed their means of livelihood, it is the +Government's duty to support them in comfortable idleness. They seem to +feel that it is adding insult to injury to ask them to begin over again +in a new environment and work for their living. I asked a young Lettish +railway man, living in one of the board barracks near the Warsaw +station, why he had refused an offer of employment in the railway yards +hard by. + +"Why should I work for Russia?" he asked, bitterly. "Russia has taken +from me my pretty home, my good job, and my wife and two children, who +died on the road in that awful blizzard recently. Why should I work for +Russia?" + +"But you will starve if you do not," I suggested. + +[Sidenote: Gloomy resignation.] + +"_Nichevo!_"--it doesn't matter--he muttered, in gloomy resignation. + +[Sidenote: A great mistake.] + +[Sidenote: Everything destroyed.] + +The majority of the refugees feel the way this man does. I do not refer +to the refugees who left their homes voluntarily through fear of the +advancing Germans, but to that greater number who were forced to leave +by the compulsion of their own Government, which deliberately destroyed +their homes as a military measure. Every Russian, even the military +officers who were responsible for this policy of destruction, now +realize that the adoption of that policy was one of the greatest +mistakes Russia has made during the war. For it has cost her the support +of a large and important body of Letts, Poles, Jews, and Lithuanians. +The theory was that to leave large masses of civilians behind the +forward-pushing German lines would provide Germany with a large number +of spies, as well as with sustenance for its armies. To some extent, +too, it was believed that buildings left standing in the Russian retreat +might serve as protection and cover for German artillery. So everything +was destroyed--farm-houses, barns, churches, schools, orchards, even +haystacks. Whenever the Russian lines retracted before the unbearable +pounding of the terrible German guns, they left only a desert for the +Kaiser's men to cross. + +[Sidenote: Loss too great to be compensated by gain.] + +War is not a parlor game. A great deal of destruction is inevitable in +the nature of war, and sometimes in wars of the past commanders have +deliberately laid waste large sections of beautiful country to handicap +the enemy, and the results have justified this destruction. A ten per +cent social and economic loss is gladly borne by a nation at war for a +ninety per cent military gain. Perhaps a commander is even justified in +inflicting a forty-nine per cent social and economic loss on his country +for a fifty-one per cent military gain. But the deliberate ravaging of +Poland and the Baltic provinces was a ninety per cent social and +economic loss for a ten per cent military gain--something that is never +justifiable. + +[Sidenote: Relief should meet refugees.] + +It is very difficult for a general to remember that there are other +factors in war besides the military factors, and we must not be too +severe in our criticism of the Russian General Staff because it saw only +the ten per cent military gain and overlooked the ninety per cent +political and economic loss. The order which made a desert of thousands +of square miles of the best territory in Russia was countermanded, +anyway, but not until the harm had been done. But now the only concern +of Russia and of the friends of Russia should be to confine the damage +to the irremediable minimum. To that end it is necessary to handle the +great streams of refugees intelligently. The influx into Petrograd and +Moscow should be stopped. Relief organization should go out from these +cities toward the front, stop the refugees where they meet them, and +there make provision for them to spend the winter. To this purpose +hundreds and thousands of sleeping barracks and soup kitchens like those +in Petrograd must be built along the provincial highways. Thousands of +these people will never again see the familiar environment where they +have lived all their lives, even if Russia regains her lost provinces. +But more of them will be able to return eventually, and there will be +less suffering among them this winter, if they are stopped where they +are and are not allowed to flow into the two Russian capitals, so +terribly overcrowded already, and into the colder country north and east +of Petrograd and Moscow. + +[Sidenote: Russia unable to handle situation.] + +I understand that this policy has been adopted by the Tatiana Committee. +But Russia alone cannot handle the situation; she must have generous aid +from outside. + +[Sidenote: America a synonym for service.] + +A young American, Mr. Thomas Whittemore, who was in Sofia when Bulgaria +went to war, left there declining an invitation of the Queen of Bulgaria +to head a branch of the Red Cross, because his sympathies were with the +Allies, and is now in Russia working out a programme for the relief of +Russia's refugees under the auspices of the Tatiana Committee. He is out +on the roads in an automobile constantly, meeting the incoming human +flotsam and jetsam of war, and his recommendations will have the weight +of authority. America has become a synonym for service in France, +Belgium, and Servia, but thus far America has done next to nothing for +Russia. Shall America, who responded so splendidly to the appeal of +Belgium and Servia, ignore the needs of the stricken people of Poland +and the Baltic provinces, whose sufferings are greater than the +sufferings of the Belgians, certainly as great as the sufferings of the +Servians? + +[Sidenote: War's most moving sight.] + +There are many pathetic things in war--soldiers wasted with disease, +blasted in arm and leg with explosive shell, withered in eye and lung by +the terrible gas; but none of these things is so moving as the sight of +little children, homeless, parentless, and with clothing worn and torn +by travel, sleeping in empty freight cars, cold railway stations, or on +the very blizzard-swept sidewalks of Russian cities, and slowly dying +because they have no food. + + * * * * * + +Rumania hesitated long before entering the war. The sympathies of her +people were strongly with the Allies, for military and economic reasons +connected with German domination of her resources made her actual +military participation with the Allied Armies difficult and dangerous. +The decision, however, was made in the late summer of 1916, and an +attack was made by the Rumanian army against Austrian forces. This was +followed by successes which continued until Bulgaria began hostilities +against the Rumanian army. Shortly after, a German army under General +Mackensen against Rumania was started which ended in the capture of +Bucharest in December, 1916. + + + + +THE TRAGEDY OF RUMANIA + +STANLEY WASHBURN + +Copyright, Atlantic Monthly, December, 1917. + + +[Sidenote: What it meant for Rumania to fight.] + +More than a year has now elapsed since Rumania entered the war. What is +meant for this little country to abandon neutrality is not generally +realized. Here in America we know that so long as the British fleet +dominated the seas we were safe, and that we should have ample +opportunity to prepare ourselves for the vicissitudes of war and to make +the preparations that are now being undertaken and carried out by the +administration of President Wilson. Canada and Australia likewise knew +that they were in no danger of attack. + +[Sidenote: War's terrible cost.] + +But the case of Rumania was far different. She knew with a terrible +certainty that the moment she entered the war she would be the target +for attack on a frontier over twelve hundred kilometres long. The world +criticized her for remaining neutral, and yet one wonders how many +countries would have staked their national future as Rumania did when +she entered the war. In a short fourteen months she has seen more than +one half of her army destroyed, her fertile plains pass into the hands +of her enemies, and her great oil industry almost wiped out. To-day her +army, supported by Russians, is holding with difficulty hardly twenty +per cent of what, before the war, was one of the most fertile and +prosperous small kingdoms of Europe. + +[Sidenote: Why nations went to war.] + +[Sidenote: America's reasons.] + +When America entered the war she assumed, in a large measure, the +obligations to which the Allies were already committed. It seems of +paramount importance under these circumstances that the case and the +cause of Rumania be more thoroughly understood in this country. Other +countries entered the war through necessities of various sorts. America +committed herself to the conflict for a cause which even the cynical +German propaganda, hard as it has tried, has been unable to distort into +a selfish or commercial one. We are preparing to share in every way the +sacrifices, both in blood and wealth, which our allies have been making +these past three years. And as our reward we ask for no selfish or +commercial rights, nor do we seek to acquire extension of territory or +acquisition of privilege in any part of the world. We have entered the +war solely, because of wrongs committed in the past, and with the just +determination that similar wrongs shall never again be perpetrated. No +country and no people on this globe are more responsive to an +obligation, and more determined to fulfill such an obligation when +recognized, than are the American people. + +[Sidenote: The author in Rumania.] + +For nearly two years prior to the entrance of Rumania into the war I had +been attached to the Russian Imperial Staff in the field, as special +correspondent of the London "Times." I went to Rumania in September, +1916, directly from the staff of the then Tsar, with a request from the +highest authority in Russia to the highest command in Rumania that every +opportunity for studying the situation be given me. These letters gave +me instant access to the King and Queen of Rumania, to the Rumanian +General Staff, and to other persons of importance in the Rumanian +administration. I remained in that country until late in the autumn, +motoring more than five thousand kilometres, and touching the Rumanian +front at many places. My opinion, then, of the Rumanian cause is based +on first-hand evidence obtained at the time. + +[Sidenote: An interview with the King.] + +When I arrived in Rumania, in September, the army was still at the high +tide of its advance in Transylvania and the world was lauding without +stint the bravery and efficiency of Rumanian troops. Two days after my +arrival I lunched with the King, and had the first of a series of +interviews with him on the status of the case of Rumania. Inasmuch as +without the consent of its sovereign the entrance of Rumania into the +war would have been impossible, I should first present the King's view +of her case as His Majesty, after several conversations, authorized me +to present it. + +[Sidenote: The King of Rumania decides for war.] + +The King himself, as all the world knows, is a Hohenzollern. His +personal feelings must, therefore, in a measure, be affected by the fact +that most of his relatives and friends are fighting on the German side. +There is, however, not the slightest evidence to indicate that he has +ever allowed the fact of his German blood to weigh against the true +interests of Rumania. A conversation which illustrates the attitude of +the King at this time is one which the Princess ----, one of the most +clever and best-informed women in Rumania, related to me in Bucharest. +The day before the declaration of war the most pro-German of the +Rumanian ministers, who had the name of being the leader of the +pro-German party in the capital, spent several hours putting forth every +effort to prevent the declaration of war by the King. The minister, +making no headway, finally said, "The Germans are sure to win. Your +Majesty must realize that it is impossible to beat a Hohenzollern." The +King replied, "I think it can be done, nevertheless." To this the +defender of the German cause answered, "Can you show me a single case +where a Hohenzollern has been beaten?" The King replied, "I can. I am a +Hohenzollern, and I have beaten my own blood instincts for the sake of +Rumania." + +[Sidenote: Personality of the King of Rumania.] + +One beautiful autumn afternoon, at the royal shooting-box outside of +Bucharest, the King talked freely about his motives and the cause of his +people. We had finished luncheon and he had dismissed his suite. He and +the Crown Prince and myself were left in the unpretentious study. Here, +over a map-strewn table, it was the custom of the King to study the +problems of the campaign. A tired, harassed-looking man of about sixty, +clad in the blue uniform of the Hussars of his Guard, he paced the +floor, and with deep emotion emphasized the case of his country and the +motives which had induced Rumania to enter the war. + +This earnest presentation of his opinion I placed in writing at that +time, and the sentences quoted here were a part of the statement +published in the London "Times." So far as I know, this is the only +occasion on which the King outlined in a definite way his personal view +of the Rumania case. + +His Majesty began by laying stress on the necessity for interpreting +Rumania truthfully to the world, now that her enemies were doing their +utmost to misrepresent her; the necessity for understanding the genius +of the people and the sacrifices and dangers which the country faced. He +urged that Rumania had not been moved by mere policy or expediency, but +that her action was based on the highest principles of nationality and +national ideals. + +[Sidenote: The nation moved by ties of race and blood.] + +[Sidenote: The Bulgar a menace.] + +"In Rumania as in Russia," said the King, "the tie of race and blood +underlies all other considerations, and the appeal of our purest +Rumanian blood which lies beyond the Transylvanian Alps has ever been +the strongest influence in the public opinion of all Rumania, from the +throne to the lowest peasant. Inasmuch as Hungary was the master that +held millions of our blood in perpetual bondage, Hungary has been our +traditional enemy. The Bulgar, with his efficient and unquestionably +courageous army, on a frontier difficult to defend, has logically become +our southern menace, and as a latent threat has been accepted +secondarily as a potential enemy." + +[Sidenote: German friendship an asset.] + +[Sidenote: Rumania's long frontier.] + +After stating that, although at the beginning of the war Rumanian +sympathy had leaped instantly to France and England, the Rumanians had +realized that, economically, the friendship of Germany was an asset in +the development of Rumanian industries, the King added that, +nevertheless, as the Great War progressed, there had developed in +Rumania a moral issue in regard to the war. The frightfulness and +lawlessness practiced by the Central Powers had a profound effect upon +the Rumanian people, and the country began to feel the subtle force of +enemy intrigue endeavoring to force her into war against her own real +interests. Let us remember, when we would criticize Rumania for her +early inactivity, that she was, in the words of her King, "a small power +with a small army surrounded by giants"; that she had a western frontier +1,000 kilometres long--greater than the English and French fronts +combined--and a Bulgarian frontier, almost undefended and near her +capital, stretching for other hundreds of kilometres on the south. With +Russia in retreat, Rumania would have been instantly annihilated if she +had acted. She had to wait till she could be reasonably sure of +protecting herself and of being supported by her allies. She waited not +a moment longer. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners and noncombatants well-treated.] + +After pointing out the great risks which Rumania had run, as a small +country, and the deterring effect of the fate of Serbia and Belgium, +the King continued, "Notwithstanding the savagery with which the enemy +is attacking us and the cruelty with which our defenseless women and +children are being massacred, this government will endeavor to prevent +bitterness from dominating its actions in the way of reprisals on +prisoners or defenseless noncombatants; and to this end orders have been +issued to our troops that, regardless of previous provocation, those who +fall into our hands shall be treated with kindness; for it is not the +common soldiers or the innocent people who must be held responsible for +the policy adopted by the enemy governments." + +The interview ended with the King's assurance that Rumanians would not +falter in their allegiance to England the just, to France, their brother +in Latin blood, and to Russia, their immediate neighbor. + +"With confidence in the justice of our cause, with faith in our allies, +and with the knowledge that our people are capable of every fortitude, +heroism, sacrifice, which may be demanded of them, we look forward +soberly and seriously to the problems that confront us, but with the +certainty that our sacrifices will not be in vain, and that ultimate +victory must and will be the inevitable outcome. In the achievement of +this result the people of Rumania, from the throne to the lowliest +peasant, are willing to pay the price." + +[Sidenote: Rumanians realized their danger.] + +When it is realized that these conversations took place in September and +the first days of October, it must be clear, I think, that neither the +King nor the Queen had ever felt that Rumania entered the war in +absolute security, but that they always realized the danger of their +situation and moved only because their faith in the Allies was such as +to lead them to believe that they had at least a fair chance to +cooperate with them without the certainty of destruction. + +To emphasize further the fact that both realized this danger even before +the war started, I would mention one occasion some weeks later, when the +fear of the German invasion of Rumania was becoming a tangible one. +During a conversation with the King and the Queen together, in regard to +this menace, the Queen turned impulsively to the King and said, "This is +exactly what we have feared. We, at least, never imagined that Rumania +was going to have an easy victory, and we have always felt the danger of +our coming into the war." + +The King looked very tired and nervous, having spent all that day with +the General Staff weighing news from the front which was increasingly +adverse. "Yes," he said, as he pulled his beard, "we were never misled +as to what might happen." + +So much then for the psychology of the sovereigns of Rumania as I +received it from their own lips. + +[Sidenote: Russian efforts to aid Rumania.] + +Ever since the loss of Bucharest the world has been asking why Rumania +entered the war. It seems to be the general opinion that her action at +that time was unwarranted and that she had been betrayed. There has even +been a widely circulated report that Germany, through the King, has +intrigued to bring about this disaster. Again, I have heard that the +Russian High Command had purposely sacrificed Rumania. At this time, +when much of the evidence is still unattainable, it is impossible for me +to make absolutely authoritative statements, but immediately after +leaving Rumania I spent three hours with General Brussiloff discussing +the situation. A few days later I had the privilege of meeting the +former Tsar at Kieff (to whom the Queen had given me a letter), and I +know from his own lips his feelings in regard to Rumania. Subsequently, +I was at the headquarters of the Russian High Command and there learned +at first hand the extraordinary efforts that Alexieff was making to +support Rumania. The British efforts to cooperate with Rumania and +prevent disaster I knew thoroughly at that time. + +[Sidenote: Lack of vision and foresight.] + +I never saw the slightest evidence that either Russia or her allies had +any intention whatever of disregarding their duties or their +responsibilities to this little country. That there was lack of vision +and foresight on all sides is quite apparent. But that there was bad +faith on the part of any of the contracting parties I do not believe. It +is probably true that the reactionary government in Petrograd was glad +to see the Rumanian disaster, but it must be realized that this was a +military situation primarily, and that ninety per cent of it in the +first three months was in the hands, not of the Petrograd politicians +but of the military authorities at the front. Brussiloff and Alexieff +are men incapable of intrigue or bad faith. The Emperor, with whom I +talked at Kieff, and the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlowna nearly wept at the +misfortune of Rumania, and I am certain that the former Tsar was in no +way a party to any breach of faith with this little ally. + +[Sidenote: Military conditions prior to Rumania's venture.] + +[Sidenote: Failure of Germans at Verdun.] + +I have said that there was not bad faith toward Rumania on the part of +the Allies when they induced her to enter the war, and that there was +not lack of intelligence on the part of Rumania when she followed their +advice. In order to understand the point of view of the Allies it is +necessary to have clearly in mind the military conditions existing in +the whole theatre of operations during the six months prior to Rumania's +fatal venture. In February the Germans had assembled a large portion of +their mobile reserves for their effort against Verdun. The constant +wastage of German human material continued almost without intermission +into May, with spasmodic recurrences up to the present time. Hundreds of +thousands of Germans were drawn from the visible supply of enemy manhood +by these offensives. By early May the failure of the Verdun venture had +probably become manifest to the German High Command, and there is +evidence that they were commencing to conserve their troops for other +purposes. + +[Sidenote: General Brussiloff's offensive.] + +On the 5th of June there began in Galicia and Volhynia the great +offensive of General Brussiloff which lasted, almost without +intermission, on one or another part of his front, until October. By the +middle of June this drive of the Russians began to divert German troops +for the defense of Kovel. In July started the British-French offensive +in the West. + +[Sidenote: German troops diverted to Eastern front.] + +With their reservoirs of men already greatly reduced by the Verdun +attacks, the Germans, by the middle of July, were compelled to find +supports to meet the continuous offensives on both the Eastern and +Western fronts. I cannot estimate the number of troops required by them +against the French and British, but I do know that between the 5th of +June and the 30th of August a total of thirty divisions of enemy troops +were diverted from other fronts against Brussiloff alone. This heavy +diversion was the only thing that prevented the Russians from taking +Kovel in July and forcing the entire German line in the East. So +continuous and pressing were the Russian attacks that more than two +months elapsed before the enemy could bring this offensive to a final +stop on the Kovel sector. Enemy formations arriving were ground up in +detail as fast as they came, and by the middle of July it was clear to +us, who were on the fighting line in Volhynia, that the Germans were +having extraordinary difficulties in filling their losses from day to +day. In June their first supports came by army corps; in July they were +coming by divisions; and early in August we checked the arrival of +single regiments, while the Austrians were often so hard pressed that +they sent isolated battalions to fill the holes in their lines. + +[Sidenote: Teuton losses.] + +In the meantime the Russians had cleared the Bukovina of the enemy. It +was believed that Rumania could put in the field twenty-two divisions of +excellent troops. The enemy losses in prisoners alone, up to the first +of September, from Brussiloff's offensive, were above four hundred +thousand and over four hundred guns. It seemed then that these extra +twenty-two divisions thrown in by Rumania could meet but little +resistance. + +[Sidenote: The Allied plan of operation.] + +[Sidenote: Munitions to come daily from Russia.] + +In order that the Rumanian attempt to cooperate might be safeguarded in +the highest degree, a coordinated plan of operations on the part of the +Allies was agreed upon with Rumania. The allied force in Saloniki under +General Sarrail was to commence a heavy offensive intended to pin down +the Bulgarian and Turkish forces to the southern line, thus protecting +the Rumanian line of the Danube. Brussiloff's left flank in Galicia was +to start a drive through the Bukovina toward the Hungarian plain, thus +relieving the Rumanians from any pressure on the south. A Russian force +of fifty thousand men in the Dobrudja was to protect the Rumanian left. +This, in view of the apparent shortage of enemy reserves, seemed to +protect the army of Rumania on both flanks in its advance into +Transylvania. In addition Rumania was to receive certain shipments of +munitions of war daily from Russia. It was the opinion of the military +advisers in Rumania that under no circumstances could the Germans divert +against her within three months more than sixteen divisions, while some +of the experts advising her placed the number as low as ten. + +[Sidenote: Bulgar and Austrian attack.] + +[Sidenote: Rumanians on defensive.] + +Now let us see what happened. For some reason, which I do not know, the +offensive on the south was delayed, and when it did start it attained no +important results nor did it detain sufficient enemy troops in that +vicinity to relieve Rumania. On the contrary, heavy forces of Bulgars +and Austrians immediately attacked the line of the Danube, taking the +Rumanian stronghold of Turtekaia, with the bulk of the Rumanian heavy +guns. In order to safeguard Bucharest, then threatened, the Rumanians +were obliged to withdraw troops from their Transylvania advance, which +up to this time had been highly successful. These withdrawals +represented the difference between an offensive and a defensive, and the +Transylvania campaign potentially failed when Bucharest was threatened +from the south. + +[Sidenote: Defense in Dobrudja falls.] + +The Russian expedition in the Dobrudja, which was supported by a +Rumanian division and a mixed division of Serbs and Slavs, partially +recruited from prisoners captured by the Russians, failed to work in +harmony, and the protection of the Rumanian left became, after the +capture of Turtekaia, a negligible factor which ultimately collapsed +entirely. Thus we see in the beginning that through no bad faith the +southern assets on which Rumania depended proved to be of little or no +value to her. + +[Sidenote: The case with Brussiloff's army.] + +There still remained the Russian agreement to cooperate in Galicia and +the Bukovina. I can speak of this situation with authority because I had +been on the southwestern front almost without intermission since June, +and know that there was every intent on the part of Brussiloff to carry +out to the limit of his capacity his end of the programme. The success +of this, however, was impaired by a situation, over which he had no +control, which developed in Galicia in September. It must not be +forgotten that all the Russian troops on the southwestern front had been +fighting constantly for nearly three months. When I came through Galicia +on my way to Rumania I found Brussiloff's four southern armies engaged +in a tremendous action. Early in September they had made substantial +advances in the direction of Lemberg, and were in sight of Halicz on the +Dniester when they began to encounter terrific and sustained +counter-attacks. + +[Sidenote: Efforts to cooperate with Rumania.] + +That the force of this may be understood I would mention the case of the +army attacking Halicz. When I first went to the southwestern front in +June, there were facing this army three Austrian divisions, three +Austrian cavalry divisions, and one German division. In September, at +the very moment when Brussiloff was supposed to be heavily supporting +Rumania, there were sent against this same army--on a slightly extended +front--three Austrian divisions, two Austrian cavalry divisions, two +Turkish divisions, and nine German divisions. The army on the extreme +Russian left, whose duty it was to participate in the offensive in the +Bukovina, had made important advances toward Lemberg from the south, and +just at the time that Rumania entered the war it also was subjected to +tremendous enemy counter-attacks. For several weeks it held its position +only with the greatest difficulty and by diverting to itself most of the +available reserves. Something more than one army corps did endeavor to +cooperate with Rumania, but the situation I have described in Galicia +made it impossible for sufficient supports to reach the Bukovina +offensive to enable it to fulfill its mission. + +[Sidenote: Reasons for delay in munitions.] + +Thus we see that after the first month of the campaign the cooperative +factors which alone had justified Rumania's entering into the war had +proved to be failures. The arrival of material from Russia was delayed +because, after Turtekaia was taken, a new Russian corps was sent to the +Dobrudja to stiffen up that front. The railroad communications were bad +and immediately became congested by the movements of troops, thus +interfering with the shipping of badly needed material. I have since +heard the Russian reactionary government charged with purposely holding +up these shipments; but I am inclined to believe that my explanation of +the cause of the delays in the arrival of material is the correct one. + +[Sidenote: Allies underestimated German force.] + +The greatest mistake on the part of the Allies was their estimate of the +number of troops that the Germans could send to Rumania during the fall +of 1916. As I have said, experts placed this number at from ten to +sixteen divisions, but, to the best of my judgment, they sent, between +the 1st of September and the 1st of January, not less than thirty. The +German commitments to the Rumanian front came by express, and the +Russian supports, because of the paucity of lines of communication, came +by freight. The moment that it became evident what the Germans could do +in the way of sending troops, Rumania was doomed. + +[Sidenote: Russians too late to save Bucharest.] + +The move of Alexieff and the Russian High Command in the middle of +October, which is one of tangible record and not of opinion, should +absolutely eliminate the charges of bad faith on the part of Russia, for +he immediately appropriated for the support of Rumania between eight and +ten army corps, which were instantly placed in motion, regardless of the +adverse condition their absence caused on his own front. It is quite +true that these troops arrived too late to save Bucharest; but that they +came as quickly as possible, I can assert without reservation, for I was +on the various lines of communication for nearly a month and found them +blocked with these corps, which represented the cream of the Russian +army, to make good the moral obligations of Russia to Rumania. In +November I had a talk with Brussiloff, who authorized me to quote him as +follows on the Rumanian situation: + +[Sidenote: Rumania feels bitterness of defeat.] + + + H.Q.--S.W.F.--Nov. 7. + + Rumania is now feeling for the first time the + pressure of war and the bitterness of defeat; + but Rumania must realize that her defeats are + but incidents in the greater campaign; for + behind her stands great Russia, who will see to + it that her brave little ally, who has come + into the war for a just cause, does not + ultimately suffer for daring to espouse this + cause for which we are all fighting. I can + speak with authority when I state that, from + the Emperor down to the common soldier, there + is a united sentiment in Russia that Rumania + shall be protected, helped, and supported in + every way possible. Rumanians must feel faith + in Russia and the Russian people, and must also + know that in the efforts we are making to save + them sentiment is the dominant factor, and we + are not doing it merely as a question of + protecting our own selfish interest and our + left flank. + +[Sidenote: No wanton breach of faith.] + +It seems to me that the evidence I have submitted above clears the +Allies, including Russia, of any wanton breach of faith toward Rumania, +though the failure of their intention to relieve her certainly does not +diminish their responsibility toward her in the future. + +[Sidenote: Germans on defensive in the north.] + +In the final analysis the determining factor in the ruin of Rumania was +the failure of the Allies to foresee the number of troops the Germans +could send against them. Their reasoning up to a certain point was +accurate. In July, August, and for part of September it was, I believe, +almost impossible for the Germans to send troops to Transylvania, which +accounts for the rapidity of the Rumanian advance at the beginning of +their operations. The fallacy in the Allied reasoning seems to me to +have been that every one overlooked certain vital factors in the German +situation. First, that she would ultimately support any threat against +Hungary to the limit of her capacity, even if she had to evacuate +Belgium to get troops for this purpose. For with Hungary out of the war +it is a mate in five moves for the Central Empires. Second: the Allies +failed to analyze correctly the troop situation on the eastern front, +apparently failing to grasp one vital point. An army can defend itself +in winter, with the heavy cold and snows of Russia sweeping the barren +spaces, with perhaps sixty per cent of the number of troops required to +hold those identical lines in summer. It should have been obvious that, +when the cold weather set in in the north, the Germans would take +advantage of this situation, and by going on the defensive in the north +release the margin representing the difference in men required to hold +their lines in summer and in winter. Possibly the same condition applies +to the west, though I cannot speak with any authority on that subject. +Apparently this obvious action of the Germans is exactly what happened. +When their northern front had been combed, we find forces subtracted +piecemeal from the north, reaching an aggregate of thirty divisions, or +at least nearly fifteen divisions more than had been anticipated. The +doom of Rumania was sealed. + +[Sidenote: Retreating armies must reach defenses.] + +What happened in the Russian effort to support Rumania is exactly what +has occurred in nearly all the drives that I have been in during this +war. An army once started in retreat in the face of superior forces can +hold only when supported _en bloc_ or when it reaches a fortified line. +The Germans with all their cleverness and efficiency were not able to +stop the Russian offensive of 1916 until they had fallen back on the +fortified lines of the Stokhod in front of Kovel. In the Galician drive +against the Russians in 1915, the armies of the Tsar were not able to +hold until they reached the San River, on which they fought a series of +rear-guard actions. + +[Sidenote: Russian corps on Sereth line.] + +So it was in Rumania. The Russian corps arriving on the installment plan +were swept away by the momentum of the advancing enemy, who could not be +halted until the fortified line of the Sereth was reached. + +[Sidenote: Rumanians played the game.] + +[Sidenote: Russia in chaos.] + +Whether one blames the Allies for lack of vision or not, I think one +must at least acquit Rumania of any responsibility for her own undoing. +Her case as represented by the King seems a just and sufficient reason +for her having entered the war. Her action during the war has been +straightforward and direct, and I have never heard of any reason to +believe that the King or the Rumanian High Command has ever looked back +in the furrow since they made the decision to fight on the side of the +Allies. They followed the advice given them as to their participation in +the war. They have played the game to the limit of their resources and +to-day stand in a position almost unparalleled in its pathos and +acuteness. In front of them, as they struggle with courage and +desperation for the small fragment of their kingdom that remains, are +the formations of the Turks, Bulgars, Austrians, Hungarians, and +Germans, with Mackensen striving to give them a death-blow. Behind them +is Russia in chaos. German agitators and irresponsible revolutionists +have striven in vain to destroy the morale of their army and shake their +faith in their government and their sovereign. It is estimated that +three million Rumanian refugees have taken shelter behind their lines. +Their civil population, or that portion of it which remains, will this +winter be destitute of almost every necessity of life. + +[Sidenote: Obligation of Allies to Rumania.] + +This, then, is the case of Rumania, and if we and the other Allies have +not a moral obligation to the King and Queen and the government of that +little country, to support them in every way possible, then surely we +have no obligation to any one. + +Sentiment, however, is not the only factor in the Rumanian case. There +is also the problem of sound policy. In spite of all her distress and +her discouragements Rumania has been able to save from the wreckage, and +to reconstruct, an army which it is said can muster between three and +four hundred thousand men. + +[Sidenote: Rumanian army well drilled.] + +These soldiers are well drilled by French officers, filled with +enthusiasm and fighting daily, and are even now diverting enemy troops +toward Rumania which would otherwise be available for fighting British, +French, and American troops in the west. + +The Rumanians are the matrix of the Russian left flank, and if, through +lack of support and the necessities of life, they go out of the war, the +solidity of the Russian left is destroyed and the capture of Odessa +probably foreordained. + +A few hundred million dollars would probably keep Rumania fighting for +another year. It is a conservative estimate to state that it will take +ten times that amount, and at least six months' delay, to place the +equivalent number of trained American troops on any fighting front. + +[Sidenote: Every assistance should be given.] + +It is, I think, obvious that from the point of view of sound military +policy, as well as moral and ethical obligation, every American whose +heart is in this war should be behind the President of the United States +without reserve, in any effort he may make or recommend, in extending +assistance to Rumania in this the hour of her greatest peril. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Germany's treatment of prisoners of war.] + +Prisoners taken by the Germans were overworked and disciplined with much +insolence and cruelty. For infractions of their iron rules the Germans +inflicted the severest penalties. The food supplied was insufficient and +of very poor quality, so that men might actually have starved had it not +been for boxes sent from home through the Red Cross. In the following +chapter, a Canadian soldier, who finally escaped after three +unsuccessful attempts, describes the life of prisoners and other workers +in the Westphalian coal mines. + + + + +SIXTEEN MONTHS A WAR PRISONER + +PRIVATE "JACK" EVANS + +Copyright, Forum, May 1918. + + +I was in Germany as prisoner of war from June, 1916, to September, 1917. + +[Sidenote: Captured at third battle of Ypres.] + +[Sidenote: A giant shell blows up the dugout.] + +My story starts with my capture at the third battle of Ypres. The Fourth +Canadian Mounted Rifles were in the front line at Zillebeke. We had been +terribly pounded by German artillery, in fact, almost annihilated. After +a hideous night, morning, June 2, 1916, dawned beautiful and clear. At +5.30 I turned in for a little sleep with four other fellows who made up +the machine-gun crew with me. Lance Corporal Wedgewood, in charge of the +gun, remained awake to clean it. I had just got into a sound sleep when +it seemed as if the whole crust of the earth were torn asunder in one +mammoth explosion, and I found myself buried beneath sandbags and loose +earth. I escaped death only by a miracle and managed to dig my way out. +A giant shell had blown up our dugout. Two of the boys were killed. + +"We're in for it," said Wedgewood. "They'll keep this up for a while and +they'll come over. We must get the gun out." + +[Sidenote: German barrage almost wipes out the Fourth.] + +The gun had been buried by the explosion, but we managed to get it out +and were cleaning it up again when another trench mortar shell came +over. It destroyed all but 300 rounds of ammunition. Then the +bombardment started in earnest. Shells rained on us like hailstones. The +German artillery started a barrage behind us that looked almost like a +wall of flame; so we knew that there was no hope whatever of help +reaching us. + +Our men dropped off one by one. The walls of our trench were battered to +greasy sand heaps. The dead lay everywhere. Soon only Wedgewood, another +chap, and myself were left. + +"They've cleaned us out now. The whole battalion's gone," he said. + +As far as we could see along the line there was nothing left, not even +trenches--just churned-up earth and mutilated bodies. The gallant Fourth +had stood its ground in the face of probably the worst hell that had yet +visited the Canadian lines and had been wiped out! + +It was not long before the other fellow was finished by a piece of +shrapnel. I was wounded in the back with a splinter from a shell which +broke overhead and then another got me in the knee. I bled freely, but +luckily neither wound was serious. About 1.30 we saw a star shell go up +over the German lines. + +"They're coming!" cried Wedgewood, and we jumped to the gun. + +[Sidenote: The two men remaining fire the machine gun.] + +The Germans were about seventy-five yards off when we got the gun +trained on them. We gave them our 300 rounds and did great damage; the +oncoming troops wavered and the front line crumpled up, but the rest +came on. + +[Sidenote: Captured by Germans.] + +What followed does not remain very clearly in my mind. We tried to +retreat. Every move was agony for me. We did not go far, however. Some +of the Germans had got around us and we ran right into four of them. We +doubled back and found ourselves completely surrounded. A ring of steel +and fierce, pitiless eyes! I expected they would butcher us there and +then. The worst we got, however, was a series of kicks as we were +marching through the lines in the German communication trenches. + +[Sidenote: The night in a stable at Menin.] + +We were given quick treatment at a dressing station and escorted with +other prisoners back to Menin by Uhlans. The wounded were made to get +along as best they could. We passed through several small towns where +the Belgian people tried to give us food. The Uhlans rode along and +thrust them back with their lances in the most cold-blooded way. We +reached Menin about 10 o'clock that night and were given black bread and +coffee--or something that passed by that name. The night was spent in a +horse stable with guards all around us with fixed bayonets. The next day +we were lined up before a group of German officers, who asked us +questions about the numbers and disposition of the British forces, and +we lied extravagantly. They knew we were lying, and finally gave it up. + +[Sidenote: In cattle trucks to Duelmen camp.] + +During the next day and a half, traveling in cattle trucks, we had one +meal, a bowl of soup. It was weak and nauseating. We took it gratefully, +however, for we were nearly starved. + +[Sidenote: Food bad and insufficient.] + +Finally we arrived at Duelmen camp, where I was kept two months. The food +was bad, and very, very scanty. For breakfast we had black bread and +coffee; for dinner, soup (I still shudder at the thought of turnip +soup), and sometimes a bit of dog meat for supper, a gritty, tasteless +porridge, which we called "sand storm." We used to sit around with our +bowls of this concoction and extract a grim comfort from the hope that +some day Kaiser Bill would be in captivity and we might be allowed to +feed him on "sand storm." + +[Sidenote: The American Ambassador's visit.] + +While I was at Duelmen we had quite a number of visitors. One day Mr. +Gerard, the American Ambassador, appeared. He looked us over with great +concern and asked us a number of questions. "Is there anything I can do +for you?" he asked as he was leaving. + +"See if you can get them to give us more food," one of us begged. + +"I shall speak to the camp commander about it," promised Mr. Gerard. + +I do not doubt that he did so--but there was no change in the menu and +no increase in the quantities served. + +[Sidenote: Arrival at the coal mine.] + +After two months at Duelmen prison camp we got word that we were to be +sent to work on a farm. We conjured up visions of open fields and fresh +air and clean straw to sleep in and perhaps even real food to eat. They +loaded fifty of us into one car and sent us off, and when we reached our +farm we found it was a coal mine! + +As we tumbled off the train, stiff, weary, and disappointed, we were +regarded curiously by a small group of people who worked in the mines. +They were a heavy looking lot--oldish men with beards, and dull, stolid +women. They regarded us with sullen hostility, but there was no fire in +their antagonism. Some of the men spat and muttered "Schweinhunds!" That +was all. + +[Sidenote: The prison camp.] + +We were marched off to the "Black Hole." It was a large camp with large +frame buildings, which had been erected especially for the purpose. +There was one building for the French prisoners, one for the Russians, +and one for the British and Canadian contingent. Barbed wire +entanglements surrounded the camp and there were sentries with drawn +bayonets everywhere. + +[Sidenote: Heavy work and slender rations.] + +We were greeted with considerable interest by the other prisoners. There +were about two hundred of our men there and all of them seemed in bad +shape. They had been subjected to the heaviest kind of work on the +slenderest rations and were pretty well worn out. + +[Sidenote: A strike for safeguards.] + +Some of us were selected for the mine and some were told off for coke +making, which, as we soon learned, was sheer unadulterated hell. I was +selected for the coke mine and put in three days at it--three days of +smarting eyes and burning lungs, of aching and weary muscles. Then my +chum, Billy Flanagan, was buried under an avalanche of falling coal and +killed. There were no safeguards in the mine and the same accident might +occur again at any time. So we struck. + +[Sidenote: Kept at "attention" thirty-six hours.] + +The officers took it as a matter of course. We were lined up and ordered +to stand rigidly at "attention." No food was served, not even a glass of +water was allowed us. We stood there for thirty-six hours. Man after man +fainted from sheer exhaustion. When one of us dropped he was dragged out +of the ranks to a corner, where a bucket of water was thrown over him, +and, as soon as consciousness returned, he was yanked to his feet and +forced to return to the line. All this time sentries marched up and down +and if one of us moved he got a jab with the butt end of the gun. Every +half hour an officer would come along and bark out at us: + +"Are you for work ready now?" + +Finally, when some of our fellows were on the verge of insanity, we gave +in in a body. + +[Sidenote: Awakened at 4 a. m.] + +[Sidenote: Turnip soup the chief article of diet.] + +After that things settled down into a steady and dull routine. We were +routed out at 4 o'clock in the morning. The sentries would come in and +beat the butts of their rifles on the wooden floor and roar "Raus!" at +the top of their voices. If any sleep-sodden prisoners lingered a +second, they were roughly hauled out and kicked into active obedience. +Then a cup of black coffee was served out to us and at 5 o'clock we were +marched to the mines. There was a dressing room at the mine where we +stripped off our prisoners' garb and donned working clothes. We stayed +in the mines until 3.30 in the afternoon and the "staggers"--our pet +name for the foremen--saw to it that we had a busy time of it. Then we +changed back into our prison clothes and marched to barracks, where a +bowl of turnip soup was given us and a half pound of bread. We were +supposed to save some of the bread to eat with our coffee in the +morning. Our hunger was so great, however, that there was rarely any of +the bread left in the morning. At 7 o'clock we received another bowl of +turnip soup and were then supposed to go to bed. + +If it had not been for the parcels of food that we received from friends +at home and from the Red Cross we would certainly have starved. We were +able to eke out our prison fare by carefully husbanding the food that +came from the outside. + +[Sidenote: Citizen miners also complain about food.] + +The citizens working in the mines when I first arrived were mostly +middle-aged. Many were quite venerable in appearance and of little +actual use. They were willing enough to work and work hard; but they +complained continually about the lack of food. + +That was the burden of their conversation, always, food--bread, butter, +potatoes, schinken (ham)! They were living on meager rations and the +situation grew steadily worse. The people that I worked with were in +almost as bad a plight as we prisoners of war. In the course of a few +months I could detect sad changes in them. + +[Sidenote: German miners also severely disciplined.] + +The German miners were quite as much at the mercy of the officers as we +were. Discipline was rigid and they were "strafed" for any infraction of +rules; that is, they were subjected to cuts in pay. Lateness, laziness, +or insubordination were punished by the deduction of so many marks from +their weekly earnings, and all on the say-so of the "stagger" in charge +of the squad. At a certain hour each day an official would come around +and hand each civilian a slip of paper. I asked one of my companions +what it was all about. + +[Sidenote: No bread tickets for those who do not work.] + +"Bread tickets," he explained. "If they don't turn up for work, they +don't get their bread tickets and have to go hungry." + +The same rule applied to the women who worked around the head of the +mine, pushing carts and loading the coal. If they came to work, they +received their bread tickets; if they failed to turn up, the little +mouths at home would go unfed for a day. + +[Sidenote: German women at the mines.] + +I often used to stop for a moment or so on my way to or from the pit +head and watch these poor women at work. Some of them went barefoot, but +the most of them wore wooden shoes. They appeared to be pretty much of +one class, uneducated, dull, and just about as ruggedly built as their +men. They seemed quite capable of handling the heavy work given them. +There were exceptions, however. Here and there among the gray-clad +groups I could pick out women of a slenderer mold. These were women of +refinement and good education who had been compelled to turn to any +class of work to feed their children. Their husbands and sons were at +the front or already killed. + +The food restrictions caused bitterness among all the mine workers. +There were angry discussions whenever a group of them got together. For +several days this became very marked. + +"There's going to be trouble here," my friend, the English Tommy, told +me. "These people say their families are starving. They will strike one +of these days." + +The very next day, as we marched up to work in the dull gray of the +early morning, we found noisy crowds of men and women around the +buildings at the mine. A ring of sentries had been placed all around. + +[Sidenote: Bread strike of the citizen miners.] + +"Strike's on! There's a bread strike all through the mining country!" +was the whispered news that ran down the line of prisoners. We were +delighted, because it meant that we would have a holiday. The +authorities did not dare let us go into the mines with the civilians +out; they were afraid we might wreck it. So we were marched back to camp +and stayed there until the strike was over. + +[Sidenote: The strikers win and new rules are formulated.] + +The strike ended finally and the people came back to work, jubilant. The +authorities had given in for two reasons, as far as we could judge. The +first was the dire need of coal, which made any interruption of work at +the mines a calamity. The second was the fact that food riots were +occurring in many parts and it was deemed wise to placate the people. + +But the triumph of the workers was not complete. The very next day we +noticed signs plastered up in conspicuous places with the familiar word +"Verboten" in bold type at the top. One of our fellows who could read +German edged up close enough to see one of the placards. + +"There won't be any more strikes," he informed us. "The authorities have +made it illegal for more than four civilians to stand together at any +time or talk together. Any infringement of the rule will be jail for +them. That means no more meetings." + +There was much muttering in the mine that day, but it was done in groups +of four or less. I learned afterward, when I became sufficiently +familiar with the language and with the miners themselves to talk with +them, that they bitterly resented this order. + +[Sidenote: Strike leaders disappear from the mine.] + +I found that the active leaders in the strike shortly afterward +disappeared from the mine. Those who could possibly be passed for +military service were drafted into the army. This was intended as an +intimation to the rest that they must "be good" in future. The fear of +being drafted for the army hung over them all like a thunder cloud. They +knew what it meant and they feared it above everything. + +When I first arrived at the mine there were quite a few able-bodied men +and boys around sixteen and seventeen years of age at work there. +Gradually they were weeded out for the army. When I left none were there +but the oldest men and those who could not possibly qualify for any +branch of the service. + +[Sidenote: Talks with the German miner.] + +In the latter stages of my experience at the mine I was able to talk +more or less freely with my fellow workers. A few of the Germans had +picked up a little English. There was one fellow who had a son in the +United States and who knew about as much English as I knew German, and +we were able to converse. If I did not know the "Deutsch" for what I +wanted to say, he generally could understand it in English. He was +continually making terrific indictments of the German Government, yet he +hated England to such a degree that he would splutter and get purple in +the face whenever he mentioned the word. However, he could find it in +his heart to be decent to isolated specimens of Englishmen. + +I first got talking with Fritz one day when the papers had announced the +repulse of a British attack on the western front. + +[Sidenote: Fritz's view of British attacks.] + +"It's always the same. They are always attacking us," he cursed. "Of +course, it's true that we repulse them. They are but English and they +can't break the German army. But how are we to win the war if it is +always the English who attack?" + +"Do you still think Germany can win?" I asked. + +"No!" He fairly spat at me. "We can't beat you now. But you can't beat +us! This war will go on until your pig-headed Lloyd George gives in." + +"Or," I suggested gently, "until your pig-headed Junker Government gives +in." + +"They never will!" he said, a little proudly, but sadly too. "Every man +will be killed in the army--my two sons, all--and we will starve before +it is all over!" + +[Sidenote: The Germans no longer hope for a big victory.] + +The German citizens, in that section at least, had given up hope of +being able to score the big victory that was in every mind when the war +started. What the outcome would be did not seem to be clear to them. All +they knew was that the work meant misery for them, and that, as far as +they could see, this misery would continue on and on indefinitely. They +had lost confidence in the newspapers. It was plain to be seen that the +stereotyped rubber-stamped kind of official news that got into the +papers did not satisfy them. Many's the time I heard bitter curses +heaped upon the Hobenzollerns by lips that were flabby and colorless +from starvation. + +[Sidenote: News of unrestricted submarine warfare.] + +There was much excitement among them when, early in 1917, the news +spread that unrestricted submarine warfare was to be resumed. Old Fritz +came over to me with a newspaper in his hand and his eyes fairly popping +with excitement. + +"This will end it!" he declared. "We are going to starve you out, you +English." + +"You'll bring America in," I told him. + +"No, no!" he said, quite confidently. "The Yankees won't come in. They +are making too much money as it is. They won't fight. See, here it is in +the paper. It is stated clearly here that the United States will not +fight. It doesn't dare to fight!" + +But when the news came that the United States had actually declared war +they were a sad lot. I took the first opportunity to pump old Fritz +about the views of his companions. + +"It's bad, bad," he said, shaking his head dolefully. + +"Then you are afraid of the Americans, after all?" I said. + +[Sidenote: Why Fritz was sorry to have America in the war.] + +Fritz laughed, with a short, contemptuous note. "No, it is not that," he +said. "England will be starved out before the Americans can come in and +then it will all be over. But--just between us, you and me--most of us +here were intending to go to America, after the war, where we would be +free from all this. But--now the United States won't let us in after the +war!" + +I shall never forget the day that the papers announced the refusal of +the English labor delegates to go to Stockholm. One excited miner struck +me across the face with the open newspaper in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Hatred of the English.] + +"Always, always the same!" he almost screamed. "The English block +everything. They will not join and what good can come now of the +conference? They will not be content and the war must go on!" + +[Sidenote: Shortage in necessities of life.] + +The food shortage reached a crisis about the time that I managed, after +three futile attempts, to escape. Frequently, when the people took their +bread tickets to the stores they found that supplies had been exhausted +and that there was nothing to be obtained. Prices had gone sky-high. +Bacon, for instance, $2.50 and more a pound. A cake of soap cost 85 +cents. Cleanliness became a luxury. These prices are indicative of the +whole range and it is not hard to see the struggle these poor mine +people were having to keep alive at all. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners receive food from England.] + +[Sidenote: Germans wonder at food of starving England.] + +At this time our parcels from England were coming along fairly regularly +and we were better off for food than the Germans themselves. Owing to +the long shift we were compelled to do in the mines we fell into the +habit of "hoarding" our food parcels and carrying a small lunch to the +mines each day. These lunches had to be carefully secreted or the +Germans would steal them. They could not understand how it was that +starving England could send food abroad to us. The sight of these +lunches helped to undermine their faith in the truth of the official +information they read in the newspapers. + +[Sidenote: Wages spent for soap.] + +Our lot at the mines was almost unendurable. We were supposed to receive +four and a half marks (90 cents) a week for our labor, but there was +continual "strafing" to reduce the amount. If we looked sideways at a +"stagger," we were likely to receive a welt with a pick handle and a +strafe of several marks. Sometimes we only received a mark or two for a +week's work. Most of this we spent for soap. It was impossible to work +in the mine and not become indescribably dirty, and soap became an +absolute necessity. + +[Sidenote: Uncomfortable quarters.] + +We lived under conditions of great discomfort in the camp, 250 of us in +30 x 30 quarters. There were two stoves in the building in which coke +was burned, but the place was terribly cold. The walls at all seasons +were so damp that pictures tacked up on them mildewed in a short time. +Our bunks contained straw which was never replenished and we all became +infested with fleas. Some nights it was impossible to sleep on account +of the activity of these pests. On account of the dampness and cold we +always slept in our clothes. + +[Sidenote: Cruelty of discipline.] + +[Sidenote: Seven plan to escape.] + +Discipline was rigorous and cruel. We were knocked around and given +terms of solitary confinement and made to stand at attention for hours +at the least provocation. Many of the prisoners were killed--murdered by +the cruelty. It became more than flesh and blood could stand. One day +seven of us got together and made a solemn compact to escape. We would +keep at it, we decided, no matter what happened, until we got away. Six +of us are now safely at home. The seventh, my chum, J. W. Nicholson, is +still a prisoner. + +I made four attempts to escape before I finally succeeded. The first +time a group of us made a tunnel out under the barricade, starting +beneath the flooring of the barracks. We crawled out at night and had +put fifteen miles between us and the camp before we were finally caught. +I got seven days' "black" that time, solitary confinement in a narrow +stone cell, without a ray of light, on black bread and water. + +[Sidenote: Two attempts to escape fail and are punished.] + +The second attempt was again by means of a tunnel. A chum of mine, +William Raesides, who had come over with the 8th C. M. R.'s, was my +companion that time. We were caught by bloodhounds after twenty miles +and they gave us ten days' "black." + +[Sidenote: The third attempt.] + +The third attempt was made in company with my chum Nicholson, and we +planned it out very carefully. Friends in England sent through suits of +civilian clothes to us. + +The next day we dressed up for the attempt by putting on our "civies" +first and then drawing our prisoner's uniform over them. When we got to +the mine we took off the uniform and slipped the mining clothes on over +the others. We worked all day. Coming up from work in the late +afternoon, Nick and I held back until everyone else had gone. We went up +alone in the hoist and tore off our mining clothes as we ascended, +dropping each piece back into the pit as we discarded it. + +It was fairly dark when we got out of the hoist and the guards did not +pay much attention to us. There was a small building at the mine head +where we prisoners washed and dressed after work and a separate exit for +the civilians. Nick and I took the civilian exit and walked out into +the street without any interference. + +[Sidenote: Near the Dutch border.] + +We could both speak enough German to pass, so we boldly struck out for +the Dutch border, which was about 85 miles away, traveling only during +the night. We had a map that a miner had sold to us for a cake of soap +and we guided our course by that. We got to the border line without any +trouble whatever, but were caught through overconfidence, due to a +mistake in the map. Close to the line was a milepost indicating that a +certain Dutch town was two miles west. The map indicated that this town +was four miles within the Dutch border. + +[Sidenote: Captured and punished again.] + +"We're over!" we shouted when we saw that welcome milepost. Throwing +caution aside, we marched boldly forward, right into a couple of +sentries with fixed bayonets! + +It was two weeks' "black" they meted out to us that time. The +Kommandant's eyes snapped as he passed sentence. I knew he would have +been much more strict on me as the three-time offender had it not been +that the need for coal was so dire that labor, even the labor of a +recalcitrant prisoner, was valuable. + +"No prisoner has yet escaped from this Kommando!" he shouted, "and none +shall. Any further attempts will be punished with the utmost severity." + +[Sidenote: A new method of getaway planned.] + +Nevertheless they took the precaution to break up my partnership with +Nicholson, putting him on the night shift. I immediately went into +partnership with Private W. M. Masters, of Toronto, and we planned to +make our getaway by an entirely new method. + +The building at the mine where we changed clothes before and after work +was equipped with a bathroom in one corner, with a window with one iron +bar intersecting. Outside the window was a bush and beyond that open +country. A sentry was always posted outside the building, but he had +three sides to watch and we knew that, if we could only move that bar, +we could manage to elude the sentry. So we started to work on the bar. + +[Sidenote: Four months' steady work.] + +I had found a bit of wire which I kept secreted about me and every +night, after washing up, we would dig for a few minutes at the brickwork +around the bar. It was slow, tedious and disappointing work. Gradually, +however, we scooped the brick out around the bar and after nearly four +months' application we had it so loosened that a tug would pull it out. + +[Sidenote: Night in a bog.] + +The next day Masters and I were the last in the bathroom, and when the +sentry's round had taken him to the other side of the building, we +wrenched out the bar, raised the window and wriggled through head first, +breaking our fall in the bush outside. We got through without attracting +attention and ran across the country into a swamp, where we soon lost +our way and wallowed around all night up to our knees in the bog, +suffering severely from the cold and damp. Early in our flight the +report of a gun from the camp warned us that our absence had been +discovered. Our adventure in the swamp saved us from capture, for the +roads were patrolled by cavalry that night. + +We found our way out of the swamp near morning, emerging on the western +side. By the sale of more soap to miners we had acquired another map and +a compass, so we had little difficulty in determining our whereabouts +and settling our course for the border. For food we had each brought +along ten biscuits, the result of several weeks' hoarding. + +That day we stayed on the edge of the swamp, never stirring for a moment +from the shelter of a clump of bushes. One slept while the other +watched. No one came near us and we heard no signs of our pursuers. +Night came on most mercifully dark and we struck out along the roads at +a smart clip. + +We traveled all night, making probably twenty-five miles. It was +necessary, we knew, to make the most of our strength in the earlier +stages of the dash. As our food gave out we would be less capable of +covering the ground. So we spurred ourselves on to renewed effort and +ate the miles up in a sort of frenzy. + +This kept up for four days and nights. We kept going as hard as our +waning strength would permit and we were cautious in the extreme. Even +at that we had many narrow escapes. + +[Sidenote: Crossing the Lippe River.] + +Our greatest difficulty was when we struck the Lippe River. Our first +plan was to swim across, but we found that we had not the strength left +for this feat. We lost a day as a result. The second night we found a +scow tied up along the bank and got across that way. + +[Sidenote: Rapid progress, though starving.] + +By this time we were slowly starving on our feet, we were wet through +continuously, and such sleep as we got was broken and fitful. Before we +had been four days out we were reduced to gaunt, tattered, dirty +scarecrows. We staggered as we walked and sometimes one of us would drop +on the road through sheer weakness. Through it all we kept up our frenzy +for speed and it was surprising how much ground we forced ourselves to +cover in a night. And, no matter how much the pangs of hunger gnawed at +us, we conserved our fast dwindling supply of biscuit. Less than two +biscuits a day was our limit! + +Finally we reached a point that I recognized from my previous attempt to +escape. It was about four miles from the border. We had two biscuits +left between us. The next day we feasted royally and extravagantly on +those two biscuits. No longer did we need to hoard our supplies, for the +next night would tell the tale. + +[Sidenote: Safe past the German sentries.] + +By the greatest good fortune night came on dark and cloudy. Not a star +showed in the sky. We crawled cautiously and painfully toward the +border. At every sound we stopped and flattened out. Twice we saw +sentries close at hand, but both times we got by safely. Finally we +reached what we judged must be the last line of sentries. We had crawled +across a ploughed field and reached a road lined on both sides with +trees where sentries were passing up and down. + +"It's the border!" we whispered. + +When the nearest sentry had reached the far end of his beat we doubled +up like jack-knives and dashed across that road, plunging through the +trees on the other side. Not a sound came from the sentries. We struck +across fields with delirious speed, we reeled along like drunken men, +laughing and gasping and sometimes reaching out for a mutual handshake. + +[Sidenote: Across the border in Holland.] + +Then we got a final scare. Marching up the road toward us was what +looked like a white sheet. Our nerves were badly shattered, and that +moving thing froze my blood, but it was a scare of brief duration. The +sheet soon resolved itself into two girls in white dresses, walking up +the road with a man. We scurried to the side of the road as soon as we +made them out. Then I decided to test the matter of our whereabouts and +stepped out to accost them. + +"Have you a match?" I asked in German. + +The man did not understand me! + +We were in Holland--_and free_! + + * * * * * + +Little was heard from the Belgians themselves of the hardships and +suffering endured by them under the rule of the Germans. Occasionally, +however, an eye-witness from the outside was able to present some +aspects of the terrible picture. The narrative of such an eye-witness is +given in the following pages. + + + + +UNDER GERMAN RULE IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM + +J. P. WHITAKER + + +[Sidenote: The German iron heel on Roubaix.] + +Toward the end of March, 1915, a distinct change became noticeable in +the policy of the German military authorities, and for the first time +the people of Roubaix began to feel the iron heel. The allied +Governments had formally declared their intention of blockading Germany +and the German Army had been given a sharp lesson at Neuve Chapelle. +Whether these two events had anything to do with the change, or whether +it was merely a coincidence, I do not know; the fact remains that our +German governors who had hitherto treated us with tolerable leniency +chose about this time to initiate a regime of stringent regulation and +repression. + +[Sidenote: Identification papers.] + +The first sign of the new policy was the issue of posters calling on all +men, women, and children over the age of 14 to go to the Town Hall and +take out identification papers, while all men between 17 and 50 were +required also to obtain a control card. + +Up to this time I had escaped any interference from the Germans, perhaps +because I scarcely ventured into the streets for the first two months of +the German occupation, and possibly also because, from a previous long +residence in Roubaix, I spoke French fluently. Strangely enough, though +I went to the Town Hall with the rest and supplied true particulars of +my age and nationality, papers were issued to me as a matter of course, +and never during the whole two years and more of my presence in their +midst did the enemy molest me in any way. + +[Sidenote: Control cards for men of military age.] + +The only incident which throws any light on this curious immunity +occurred about the middle of 1915. Like all other men of military age, I +was required to present myself once a month at a public hall, in order +to have my control card, which was divided into squares for the months +of the year, marked in the proper space with an official stamp "Kontrol, +July," or "August," or whatever the month might be. We were summoned for +this process by groups, first those from 17 to 25, then those from 25 to +35, and so on. Hundreds of young fellows would gather in a room, and one +by one, as their names were called, would take their cards to be stamped +by a noncommissioned officer sitting at a table on the far side of the +room. On the occasion I have in mind, the noncommissioned officer said +to me, "You are French, aren't you?" I answered, "No." "Are you +Belgian?" "No," again. "You are Dutch, then?" A third time I replied +"No." + +At this stage an officer who had been sauntering up and down the room +smoking a cigarette came to the table, took up my card, and turning to +the man behind the table, remarked, "It's all right. He's an American." +I did not trouble to enlighten him. That is probably why I enjoyed +comparative liberty. + +[Sidenote: The German policy of enslavement.] + +Enslavement is part of the deliberate policy of the Germans in France. +It began by the taking of hostages at the very outset of their +possession of Roubaix. A number of the leading men in the civic and +business life of the town were marked out and compelled to attend by +turns at the Town Hall, to be shot on the spot at the least sign of +revolt among the townspeople. + +[Sidenote: Treatment of girl mill operatives who refuse to work.] + + +Not a few of the mill owners were ordered to weave cloth for the +invaders, and on their refusal were sent to Germany and held to ransom. +Many of the mill operatives, quite young girls, were directed to sew +sandbags for the German trenches. They, too, refused, but the Germans +had their own ways of dealing with what they regarded as juvenile +obstinacy. They dragged the girls to a disused cinema hall, and kept +them there without food or water until their will was broken. + +Barbarity reached its climax in the so-called "deportations." They were +just slave raids, brutal and undisguised. + +[Sidenote: The deportations or slave raids.] + +[Sidenote: Taken to an unknown fate.] + +The procedure was this: The town was divided into districts. At 3 +o'clock in the morning a cordon of troops would be drawn round a +district--the Prussian Guard and especially, I believe, the Sixty-ninth +Regiment, played a great part in this diabolical crime--and officers and +noncommissioned officers would knock at every door until the household +was roused. A handbill, about octavo size, was handed in, and the +officer passed on to the next house. The handbill contained printed +orders that every member of the household must rise and dress +immediately, pack up a couple of blankets, a change of linen, a pair of +stout boots, a spoon and fork, and a few other small articles, and be +ready for the second visit in half an hour. When the officer returned, +the family were marshaled before him, and he picked out those whom he +wanted with a curt "You will come," "And you," "And you." Without even +time for leave-taking, the selected victims were paraded in the street +and marched to a mill on the outskirts of the town. There they were +imprisoned for three days, without any means of communication with +friends or relatives, all herded together indiscriminately and given but +the barest modicum of food. Then, like so many cattle, they were sent +away to an unknown fate. + +[Sidenote: Girls put to farm labor.] + +Months afterward some of them came back, emaciated and utterly worn out, +ragged and verminous, broken in all but spirit. I spoke with numbers of +the men. They had been told by the Germans, they said, that they were +going to work on the land. They found that only the women and girls were +put to farm labor. + +[Sidenote: Men do construction work in Ardennes.] + +[Sidenote: Very little food.] + +[Sidenote: No complaints permitted.] + +The men were taken to the French Ardennes and compelled to mend roads, +man sawmills and forges, build masonry, and toil at other manual tasks. +Rough hutments formed their barracks. They were under constant guard +both there and at their work, and they were marched under escort from +the huts to work and from work to the huts. For food each man was given +a two-pound loaf of German bread every five days, a little boiled rice, +and a pint of coffee a day. At 8 o'clock in the morning, after a +breakfast consisting of a slice of bread and a cup of coffee, they went +to work. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon they returned for the night and +took their second meal--dinner, tea, and supper all in one. Often they +were buffeted and generally ill-used by their taskmasters. If they fell +ill, cold water, internally or externally, was the invariable remedy. +Once a commission came to see them at work, but they had been warned +beforehand that any man who complained of his treatment would suffer for +it. One of them was bold enough to protest to the visitors against a +particularly flagrant case of ill-usage. That man disappeared a few days +later. + +[Sidenote: The Belgian frontier is closed.] + +Long before this the food problem had become acute in Roubaix. +Simultaneously with the establishment of the system of personal control +over the inhabitants the Germans closed the frontier between France and +Belgium and forbade us to approach within half a mile of the border +line. The immediate effect of this isolation was to reduce to an +insignificant trickle the copious stream of foodstuffs which until then +poured in from Belgium--not the starving Belgium of fiction, but the +well supplied Belgium of fact. + +[Sidenote: Fabulous prices for meat.] + +Butchers and bakers and provision dealers had to shut their shops, and +the town became almost wholly dependent on supplies brought in by the +American Relief Commission. Fresh meat was soon unobtainable, except by +those few people who could afford to pay fabulous prices for joints +smuggled across the frontier. Months ago meat cost 32 francs a kilogram +(about 13 shillings a pound) and an egg cost 1 franc 25 (a shilling). +Obviously such things were beyond the reach of the bulk of the people, +and had it not been for the efforts of the Relief Commission we should +all have starved. + +[Sidenote: Foodstuffs supplied by the Relief Commission.] + +The commission opened a food depot, a local committee issued tickets for +the various articles, and rich and poor alike had to wait their turn at +the depot to procure the allotted rations. The chief foodstuffs supplied +were: Rice, flaked maize, bacon, lard, coffee, bread, condensed milk +(occasionally), haricot beans, lentils, and a very small allowance of +sugar. Potatoes could not be bought at any price. + +[Sidenote: The Germans intercept mine food.] + +Unfortunately, though I regret that I should have to record it, there is +evidence that by some means or other the German Army contrived to +intercept for itself a part of the food sent by the American Commission. +One who had good reason to know told me that more than once trainloads +which, according to a notification sent to him, had left Brussels for +Roubaix failed to arrive. I know also that analysis of the bread showed +that in some cases German rye flour, including 30 per cent of sawdust, +had been substituted for the white American flour, producing an +indigestible putty-like substance which brought illness and death to +many. Indeed, the mortality from this cause was so heavy at one period +that all the grave diggers in the town could not keep pace with it. + +[Sidenote: Germans eager to buy food.] + +One could easily understand how great must have been the temptation to +the Germans to tap for themselves the food which friends abroad had sent +for their victims. It is a significant fact that soldiers in Roubaix +were eager to buy rice from those who had obtained it at the depot at +four francs (3s 4d) the pound in order, as they said, "to send it home." +I shall describe later how utterly different were the conditions in +Belgium as I saw them. + +Meagre as were the food supplies for the civilians in Roubaix, those +issued to the German soldiers toward the end of my stay were little +better. + +At first the householders, on whom the soldiers were billeted, were +required to feed them and to recover the cost from the municipal +authorities. + +[Sidenote: Change of demeanor of soldiery.] + +Of all the things I saw and heard in Roubaix and Lille none impressed me +more than the wonderful change which came over the outlook and demeanor +of the German soldiery between October, 1914, and October, 1915. + +I had many opportunities of mingling with them, more, in fact, than I +cared to have, for now and again during this period two or three of them +were actually billeted on the good folk with whom I lodged. + +[Sidenote: Already tired of war.] + +I knew just sufficient of the German language to be able to chat with +them, and they made no attempt to conceal from me their real feelings. I +am merely repeating the statement made to me over and over again by many +German soldiers when I say that the men in the ranks are thoroughly +tired of the war, that they have abandoned all thought of conquest, and +that they fight on only because they believe that their homes and +families are at stake. + +On that Autumn morning when the first German troops came into Roubaix +they came flushed with victory, full of confidence in their strength, +marching with their eyes fixed on Paris and London. They sang aloud as +they swung through our streets. They sing no more. Instead, as I saw +with my own eyes, many of them show in their faces the abject misery +which is in their hearts. + +[Sidenote: Expect end of war in November, 1916.] + +Last year scores of them told me, quite independently, that the war +would come to an end on November 17, 1916. How that date came to be +fixed by the prophets nobody knew, but the belief in the prophecy was +universal among the soldiers. + +[Sidenote: Soldiers more courteous than officers.] + +As a rule, the soldiers did not maltreat the civilians in Roubaix, +except when they were acting under the orders of their officers; when, +for example, they were tearing people from their homes to work as +slaves. They had, however, the right of traveling without payment on the +tramcars, and they frequently exercised this right to such an extent as +to preclude the townsfolk from the use of the cars. + +[Sidenote: Officers requisition supplies.] + +Apart from that annoyance, there was little ground for complaint of the +general behavior of the soldiers. The conduct of the officers was very +different. For a long time they made a habit of requisitioning from +shopkeepers and others supplies of food for which they had no intention +of paying. One day an officer drove up in a trap to a shop kept by an +acquaintance of mine and "bought" sardines, chocolate, bread, and fancy +cakes to the value of about 200 francs (about $40). He produced a piece +of paper and borrowed a pair of scissors with which to cut off a slip. +On this slip he wrote a few words in German, and then, handing it to +the shopkeeper, he went off with his purchases. The shopkeeper, on +presenting the paper at the Kommandantur, was informed that the +inscription ran, "For the loan of scissors, 200 francs," and that the +signature was unknown. Payment was therefore refused. This case, I +believe, was by no means an isolated one. + +When an officer was billeted on a house, he would insist on turning the +family out of the dining room and drawing room and sleeping in the best +bedroom; sometimes he would eject people entirely from their home. + +[Sidenote: A docile private soldier.] + +By contrast the docile private soldier was almost a welcome guest. I +remember well one quite friendly fellow who was lodged for some time in +the same house as myself and some English over military age in the +suburb of Croix. He came to me in great glee one day with a letter from +his wife in which she warned him to beware of "the English cutthroats." +She went on to give him a long series of instructions for his safety. He +was to barricade his bedroom door every night, to sleep always with his +knife under his pillow, and never to take anything we offered him to eat +or drink. + +[Sidenote: Few civilian offenses.] + +Despite the temptations to crime and insubordination which naturally +attend an idle manufacturing population of some 125,000 people, there +were very few civilian offenses against the law, German or French, among +the inhabitants of Roubaix. + +[Sidenote: Time hangs heavily.] + +Time hung heavily on our hands. Cut off from the outer world except by +the occasional arrival of smuggled French and English newspapers, we +spent our time reading and playing cards, and at the last I hoped I +might never be reduced to this form of amusement again. In the two and a +half years cut out of my life and completely wasted I played as many +games of cards as will satisfy me for the rest of my existence. + +[Sidenote: The gendarmerie called "Green devils."] + +But even if the inhabitants, in their enforced idleness, had any +temptation to be insubordinate, they had a far greater inducement to +keep the law in the bridled savagery of the German gendarmerie. These +creatures, who from the color of their uniform and the brutality of +their conduct were known as the "green devils," seemed to revel in sheer +cruelty. They scour the towns on bicycles and the outlying districts on +horseback, always accompanied by a dog as savage as his master, and at +the slightest provocation or without even the slenderest pretext they +fall upon civilians with brutish violence. + +[Sidenote: Women badly treated.] + +It was not uncommon for one of these men to chase a woman on his +bicycle, and when he had caught her, batter her head and body with the +machine. Many times they would strike women with the flat of their +sabres. One of them was seen to unleash his dog against an old woman, +and laugh when the savage beast tore open the woman's flesh from thigh +to knee. + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Crossing Belgium.] + +In January Mr. Whitaker crossed the line into Belgium with the aid of +smuggler friends, traversed that country, chiefly on foot, and two +months later escaped into Holland and so to England. In Belgium he was +astonished to find what looked like prosperity when compared with +conditions in the occupied provinces of France. After expressing +gratitude to Belgian friends and a desire to tell only what is truth, he +proceeds: + +[Sidenote: No sign of privations.] + +The first fact I have to declare is that nowhere in my wanderings did I +see any sign of starvation. Nowhere did I notice such privation of food +as I had known in Northern France. Near the French frontier, it is true, +the meals I took in inns and private cottages were far from sumptuous, +but as I drew nearer to the Dutch frontier the amount and variety of the +food to be obtained changed in an ascending scale, until at Antwerp one +could almost forget, so far as the table was concerned, that the world +was at war. + +[Sidenote: The diet at Roubaix, France.] + +Let me give a few comparisons. At Roubaix, in France, at the time when I +left in the first week of this year, my daily diet was as follows: +Breakfast--coffee, bread and butter (butter was a luxury beyond the +reach of the working people, who had to be content with lard); midday +meal--vegetable soup, bread, boiled rice, and at rare intervals an egg +or a tiny piece of fresh meat; supper--boiled rice and bread. Just over +the border, in Belgium, the food conditions were a little better. The +ticket system prevailed, and the villagers were dependent on the depots +of the American Relief Commission, supplemented by local produce. + +A little further, and one passed the line of demarkation between the +etape--the part of Belgium which is governed by General von Denk, +formerly commanding the troops at Valenciennes--and the governement +general, under the command of General von Bissing. + +[Sidenote: The first fresh meat in weeks.] + +Here a distinct change was noticeable. My first meal in this area +included fillet of beef, the first fresh meat I had tasted for weeks. +Tickets were still needed to buy bread and other things supplied by the +Relief Commission, but other foodstuffs could be bought without +restriction. + +[Sidenote: A dinner at Brussels.] + +At Brussels the food supply seems to be nearly normal. My Sunday dinner +there consisted of excellent soup, a generous helping of roast leg of +mutton, potatoes, haricot beans, white bread, cheese, and jam, and wine +or beer, as preferred; while for supper I had cold meat, fried potatoes, +and bread. + +[Sidenote: Food conditions at Antwerp.] + +At Antwerp, with two French friends who accompanied me on my journey +through Belgium, I walked into a middle-class cafe at midday. I ordered +a steak with fried potatoes and my friends ordered pork chops. Without +any question about tickets we were served. We added bread, cheese, and +butter to complete the meal and washed it down with draft light beer. +Later in the day we took supper in the same cafe--an egg omelette, fried +potatoes, bread, cheese, and butter. And the cost of both meals together +was less than the cost of the steak alone in Roubaix. + +[Sidenote: Appearance of Brussels.] + +The policy of the Germans appears to be to interfere as little as +possible with the everyday life of the country. The fruits of this +policy are seen in a remarkable degree in Brussels. All day long the +main streets of the city are full of bustle and all the outward +manifestations of prosperity. + +[Sidenote: Business going on.] + +Women in short, fashionable skirts, with high-topped fancy boots, stroll +completely at their ease along the pavement, studying the smart things +with which the drapers' shop windows are dressed. Jewelers' shops, +provision stores, tobacconists, and the rest show every sign of +"business as usual." I bought at quite a reasonable price a packet of +Egyptian cigarettes, bearing the name of a well-known brand of English +manufacture, and I recalled how, not many miles away in harassed France, +I had seen rhubarb leaves hanging from upper windows to dry, so that the +French smoker might use them instead of the tobacco which he could not +buy. Even the sweetstuff shops had well-stocked windows. + +[Sidenote: Theaters and cinema palaces open.] + +The theaters, music halls, cinema palaces, and cafes of Brussels were +open and crowded. On the second night of my visit I went with my two +French companions to the Theatre Moliere and heard a Belgian company in +Paul Hervieu's play, "La Course du Flambeau." The whole building was +packed with Belgians, thoroughly enjoying the performance. So far as I +could tell, the only reminder that we were in the fallen capital of an +occupied country was the presence in the front row of the stalls of two +German soldiers, whose business, so I learned, was to see that nothing +disrespectful to Germany and her armies was allowed to creep into the +play. + +[Sidenote: An ordinary cinema performance.] + +At another theater, according to the posters, "Veronique" was produced, +and a third bill announced "The Merry Widow." At the Theatre de la +Monnaie, which has been taken over by the Germans, operas and plays are +given for the benefit of the soldiers and German civilians. One +afternoon I spent a couple of hours in a cinema hall. A continuous +performance was provided, and people came and went as they chose, but +throughout the program the place was well filled. The films shown had no +relation to the war. They were of the ordinary dramatic or comic types, +and I fancy they were of pre-war manufacture. Nothing of topical +interest was exhibited. + +[Sidenote: Scenes in Antwerp like those in Brussels.] + +All the scenes which I have described in Brussels were reproduced in +Antwerp. There was a slightly closer supervision over the comings and +goings of the inhabitants, but there was the same unreal atmosphere of +contentment and real appearance of plenty. Though a good number of +officers were in evidence, the military arm of Germany was not +sufficiently displayed to produce any intimidation. Perhaps the most +obvious mark, here and in the capital, that all was not normal was the +complete absence of private motor cars and cabs from the streets. + +[Sidenote: Belgium still has cattle.] + +In the country districts two things struck me as unfamiliar after my +long months in France. About Roubaix not a single head of cattle was to +be seen; in Belgium every farm had its cows. In Belgium the mounted +gendarmerie--the "green devils" whose infamous conduct in the Roubaix +district I have described--were unknown. Their place was filled by +military police, who, by comparison with the gendarmes, were gentleness +itself. + +I do not profess to know the state of affairs in parts of Belgium which +I did not visit, but I do know that my narrative of the conditions of +life that came under my personal inspection has come as a great surprise +to many people who imagine the whole of Belgium is starving. + +[Sidenote: Belgium better fed than occupied France.] + +We in hungry Roubaix looked out on Belgium as the land of promise. The +Flemish workers who came into the town from time to time from Belgium +were well fed and prosperous looking, a great contrast to the French of +Roubaix and Lille. The Belgian children that I saw were healthy and of +good appearance, quite unlike the wasted little ones of France, with +hollow blue rings round their eyes. + +[Sidenote: Germany desires a state in Belgium.] + +The people of Roubaix, knowing these facts, are convinced that the +Germans are endeavoring to lay the foundations of a vassal State in +Belgium. Foiled in their attempts to capture Calais, the Germans believe +that Zeebrugge and Ostend are capable of development as harbors for +aggressive action against England. The French do not doubt that the +enemy will make a desperate struggle before giving up Antwerp. + +The picture I have presented of Belgium as I saw it is, of course, +vastly different from the outraged Belgium of the first stage of the +war. + +[Sidenote: The people not to be seduced.] + +Lest there should arise any misunderstanding, I complete the picture by +stating my conviction, based on intimate talks with Belgian men and +women, that the population as a whole are keeping a firm upper lip, and +that attempts by the Germans to seduce them from their allegiance by +blandishment and bribery will fail as surely as the efforts of +frightfulness. + +Mr. Whitaker's account of his escape into Holland closes thus: + +[Sidenote: Nearing Holland.] + +When we drew near to the wires, just before midnight, we lay on the +ground and wriggled along until we were within fifty yards of Holland. +There we lay for what seemed to be an interminable time. We saw patrols +passing. An officer came along and inspected the sentries. Everything +was oppressively quiet. + +[Sidenote: Through the electrified barbed wire.] + +Each sentry moved to and fro over a distance of a couple of hundred +yards. Opposite the place where we lay two of them met. Choosing his +opportunity, one of my comrades, who had provided himself with rubber +gloves some weeks before for this critical moment, rushed forward to the +spot where the two sentries had just met. Scrambling through barbed wire +and over an unelectrified wire, he grasped the electrified wires and +wriggled between them. We came close on his heels. He held the deadly +electrified wires apart with lengths of thick plate glass with which he +had come provided while first my other companions and then I crawled +through. Before the sentries returned we had run some hundreds of yards +into No Man's Land between the electrified wires and the real Dutch +frontier. + +[Sidenote: Arrival at Rotterdam.] + +Only one danger remained. We had no certainty that the Dutch frontier +guards would not hand us back to the Germans. We took no risks, though +it meant wading through a stream waist deep. Our troubles were now +practically over. By rapid stages we proceeded to Rotterdam. + +I was without money. My watch I had given to the Belgian villager in +whose cottage I had found refuge. My clothes were shabby from frequent +soakings and hard wear. I had shaved only once in Belgium, and a stubby +growth of beard did not improve my general appearance. + +[Sidenote: Sent on to London.] + +At Rotterdam I reported myself to the British Consul. I was treated with +the utmost kindness. My expenses during the next four or five days, +while I waited for a boat, were paid and I was given my fare to Hull. +There I was searched by two military police and questioned closely by an +examining board. My papers were taken and I was told to go to London and +apply for them at the Home Office. As I was again practically without +means I was given permission to go to my home in Bradford before +proceeding to London. + + * * * * * + +In cooperation with the British forces, a Russian army took part in +movements against Bagdad and Turkish cities in Armenia and Persia. These +military movements were marked by varying success on the part of the +Russian and Turkish forces. Certain phases of this campaign are +described in the following chapter. + + + + +THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN IN TURKEY + +JAMES B. MACDONALD + +Copyright, American Review of Reviews, April, 1916. + + +[Sidenote: Mesopotamia important to Great Britain.] + +It is perhaps not generally realized how important the future of +Mesopotamia is to the British, or why they originally sent an expedition +there which has since developed into a more ambitious campaign. Ever +since the Napoleonic period British influence and interests have been +supreme from Bagdad to the Persian Gulf, and this was the one quarter of +the globe where they successfully held off the German trader with his +political backing. + +[Sidenote: Great Britain's war with Persia.] + +[Sidenote: British steamer on the Tigris.] + +It will be recalled that early in Queen Victoria's reign Great Britain +engaged in a war with Persia, and landed troops at Bushire in assertion +of their rights. Ever since they have policed the Persian Gulf, put down +piracy, slave and gun-running, and lighted the places dangerous to +navigation. These interests having been entrusted to the Government of +India, news affecting them seldom finds its way into Western papers. +Previous to the war a line of British steamers plied regularly up the +River Tigris to Bagdad, the center of the caravan trade with Persia. The +foreign trade of this town alone in 1912 amounted to $19,000,000, and it +was nearly all in the hands of merchants in Great Britain or India. +Germany exported $500,000 worth of goods there annually. Basra, farther +down the river, exports annually about 75,000 tons of dates, valued at +$2,900,000. It also does a large export trade in wheat. + +[Sidenote: An irrigation scheme.] + +[Sidenote: The Persian oil fields controlled by Great Britain.] + +[Sidenote: Native tribes subsidized.] + +A large irrigation scheme was partly completed before the war, near the +ancient town of Babylon, under the direction of a famous Anglo-Indian +engineer, Sir William Willcocks. When finished it was to cost +$105,000,000, and was expected to reclaim some 2,800,000 acres of land +of great productibility. It will, therefore, be seen that Britain had +some considerable stake in the country. In addition to this, the British +Government, shortly before the war, invested $10,000,000 in acquiring +control of the Anglo-Persian oil fields, which is the principal source +of supply for oil fuel for their navy. By this means they avoided the +risk of great American corporations cornering the supply of oil fuel and +holding up their navy. John Bull upon occasion shows some gleamings of +shrewdness. This deal is on a par with their purchase of sufficient +shares to control the Suez Canal. The Anglo-Persian oil fields are +situated across the border in Persia, and the oil is led in pipes down +the Karam River valley, a tributary of the combined Tigris and Euphrates +rivers. The native tribes in the neighborhood were subsidized to protect +the pipe-line, or, rather, to leave it alone. + +[Sidenote: Russia and Great Britain in Persia.] + +[Sidenote: German railways must end at Bagdad.] + +During recent years Persia has fallen into decay. Politically she is +more sick than "the sick man of the East." The people have a religion of +their own and worship the sun, although quite a number of Moslems have +settled in their midst. Being cognizant of German designs to create a +great Eastern empire in Mesopotamia and Persia, which would threaten +India, Egypt, and the Russian East, Britain and Russia came together and +formed a kind of Monroe Doctrine of their own. They said, in effect, +northern Persia shall be Russia's sphere of influence, and southern +Persia shall be Britain's sphere of influence. They both recognized that +a great military power, like Germany, permanently established at +Bagdad, with aggressive tendencies, would imperil their Eastern +dominions, and both were prepared to make it a _casus belli_--Britain, +further, a few years ago informed Germany that the area from Bagdad to +the head of the Gulf was her "Garden of Eden," and any attempt to carry +German railways south of Bagdad would bring on war. The Emperor William +apparently did not mind this opposition by Britain and Russia to his +Oriental ambition, provided he could find a passage through the Balkans. + +[Sidenote: Persian gendarmes officered by Swedes.] + +[Sidenote: Fairy-tales of Turkish conquest.] + +At the time Britain and Russia came to an agreement regarding Persia +they were not on so good a footing with each other as they are to-day. +In order that neither should get an advantage over the other, it was +decided that the Persian gendarmes--about 6,000 in number--should be +officered by neutrals, and, unfortunately as it turned out for the +Allies, they mutually chose Swedes. On the outbreak of war neither +Britain nor Russia desired that Persia should be brought into it. The +German ambassador in Persia, however, had other views, and suborned +Swedish officers in command of the Persian gendarmes. Partly by this +means, and partly by Turkish agents, a rebellion was brought about +within the Russian sphere. Religion had nothing to do with the trouble +in Persia. Turkish forces entered Persian Kurdistan and announced that +they were on their way to conquer India and the Russian East, while +their compatriots would overrun Egypt. These were the fairy-tales with +which the Germans had originally enticed the Turks into the war. The +Turks were willing to believe them, and apparently did believe them. The +responsible Germans had no such illusions, but hoped to attain their +ends by causing internal disturbances within India and Egypt. These +German canards, put about in war time, have been adopted by some +writers in this country as the foundation from which to write +contemporary history. It may interest them to know that India possesses +the strongest natural frontiers in the world. + +[Sidenote: Strategy depends on geography.] + +Strategy nowadays is very largely a matter of geography. Modern armies +are circumscribed in their movements by the available means of +transportation, whether these be by railroad, river, or roadway, and +this means geography applied in giving direction to troop movements. + +[Sidenote: Geographies of the war area.] + +Before entering into a review of the combined Anglo-Russian campaign a +preliminary survey of the strategical geography of the war area will +make the position more clear. + +[Sidenote: Constantinople once the world clearing-house.] + +[Sidenote: Still the easiest route.] + +In ancient times the only practical way by road and ferry from Europe +to Asia or Africa was by way of the Balkan valleys and across the +Bosphorus or Dardanelles. Hence arose the importance of the +ferryhouse--Constantinople. That city in those days was the center of +the known world and the clearing-house for the merchandise of Asia, +Africa, and Europe. From Scutari, on the opposite shore, the overland +route meandered across Asia Minor to Aleppo in Syria. Here the sign-post +to India pointed down the Euphrates Valley, by way of Bagdad, while that +to Egypt and Arabia followed the Levant or eastern shore of the +Mediterranean. Between each fork lay the Syrian desert. A glance at the +map shows the reason why in those days this was the only practical +route, as to-day it is the easiest. The wall of the Ural Mountains, the +Caspian Sea, the Caucasian Mountains, and the Black Sea shut out direct +communication from Europe to Asia, or _vice versa_, except by the +Constantinople ferry or a sea voyage. + +[Sidenote: Another practical route.] + +[Sidenote: The road for invasion of Egypt or India.] + +[Sidenote: The Taurus range is the natural frontier of Egypt.] + +In Asia Minor progress was further barred by the watershed of the +Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the south, and the Caucasian Mountains +to the east. A practical way was found at the lower elevations of the +Taurus and Amanus mountains--two parallel spurs which strike the sea at +the Gulf of Alexandretta. This narrow neck of the bottle, as it were, is +of enormous military importance alike to the Turks and to the British. +Through it must pass any army of invasion by land from Europe or Asia +Minor to Egypt or India; and, conversely, through it must pass any +invading army from Mesopotamia into Asia Minor. If the British should +conquer Mesopotamia and should intend to hold it--as they undoubtedly +would--they will have no strategical frontiers until they secure the +watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the Taurus passage. If +they secure the latter, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia will fall to them +like apples off a tree. It would then be no longer necessary to defend +the Suez Canal. The natural frontier of Egypt is the Taurus mountain +range. Asia Minor is the real Turkey; the other portions of the +empire--Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, and Turkey in Europe--are +only appendages. The eastern door into Asia Minor is Erzerum, and the +southern door is the Taurus passage. Turkey can only part with these at +the cost of her life. Russia has already captured Erzerum, and the +British possess the Island of Cyprus, which commands the head of the +Gulf of Alexandretta--twenty miles from the Taurus passage. That is, +broadly, the situation. + +[Sidenote: Aleppo is the starting point of caravan routes.] + +Near the crossing of the Taurus and Amanus mountains lies the city of +Aleppo, the starting-point for the overland caravan routes to Bagdad and +India, and also to Damascus, Mecca, and Egypt. Just as surely as pioneer +travelers always chose the easiest route, so the railways of to-day +follow in their footsteps. The physical features of nature constrained +both modern as well as ancient armies to travel the same way. Hence a +railway map of the Balkans and of Asiatic Turkey is a first +consideration in appreciating the strategical bearings of the +Anglo-Russian campaign in Turkey-in-Asia, or the alleged rival +Germanic-Turkish schemes for the invasion of Egypt, Persia, and India. +Of no less importance is a knowledge of the available sea routes and +inland rivers. + +[Sidenote: Bulgaria and Turkey depend on aid from Germany.] + +The ability of Bulgaria and Turkey to carry on the war depends on aid +from Germany in men, munitions, and money. These allies are the weakest +members of the Central Group, and may be the first to give in if +circumstances are adverse to their adventure. + +[Sidenote: The importance of the Balkan railway.] + +Their sole communication with the Central Powers is by the Balkan +railway from the Danube to Constantinople by way of Sofia. If this line +is severed, then these nations are out of the game. The Allies have all +winter been organizing the defenses of Salonica as a _pied-a-terre_ for +such an attack. Should Rumania join the Allies in the spring, then a +further attack may be expected from the north, in which Russian troops +would join. Turkey is now too preoccupied with her own troubles to be +able to assist Bulgaria. + +[Sidenote: Asia Minor's only important line.] + +[Sidenote: Railway planned from Aleppo to Bagdad.] + +In Asia Minor the only railway of importance is the trunk line from +Scutari, on the Bosphorus, to the Taurus Tunnel, in course of completion +near Adana. One branch runs west to Smyrna, and another east to Angora. +Beyond the Taurus Tunnel is another in course of completion through the +Amanus Mountains. Every person and everything destined for the Bagdad +front or for the invasion of Egypt has to be transported over these +mountains. So also have rails for the completion of the Aleppo-to-Bagdad +railway. These tunnels are expected to be finished this year--when it +will be too late. From Aleppo the Syrian railway runs south through +Damascus to Medina and Mecca in Arabia. Branches reach the Levant +seaports of Tripoli, Beirut, and Haifa. Another railway was started from +Aleppo to Bagdad shortly before the war, and construction begun at both +ends. We have no reliable information as to how far it has progressed, +but the presumption is that there is a large gap between Ras-el-ain and +Mosul and between the latter place and Samara. + +[Sidenote: The city of Aleppo key of railways as once of caravan +routes.] + +It is at once apparent how important the city of Aleppo is as the +junction for the three main railways of Asiatic Turkey. Napoleon +considered that it was the key to India, because it commanded the +caravan routes. To-day it would be more correct to say that Aleppo is +the key to the outer _approaches_ to India and Egypt, the inner defenses +of which are impregnable. + +[Sidenote: Reasons for a British army in Egypt.] + +[Sidenote: Vantage points held by Great Britain.] + +The British maintain a large army in Egypt not so much because it is +required there as because it is a most convenient central camp within +striking distance of all the battle-fronts in the East. This permits of +throwing a large army secretly and unexpectedly where it can be most +effective. Similar camps are available at Malta and Cyprus. Any attack +on Egypt on a formidable scale would be a veritable trap for the +invaders. It will be recalled that when Britain held up the Russian +advance on Constantinople, in 1878, she entered into a treaty with +Turkey guaranteeing the latter in the possession of Asia Minor (only) +against all enemies. The consideration was the lease of the Island of +Cyprus, which dominates the Taurus passage. In other words, Britain +holds the cork with which she can close the Syrian tube and put the +closure on any invasion of India or Egypt from this side. This treaty +was abrogated some eighteen months ago, when Turkey declared war on the +British Empire. Britain, in consequence, annexed Egypt and Cyprus. + +At the outbreak of the war the Indian Government, apparently off their +own bat, despatched a small force to the Persian oil fields to seize and +hold the pipe-line, which had been tampered with and the supply cut off +for a time. + +[Sidenote: The Turks threaten Basra.] + +[Sidenote: British advance up the Tigris to Kut-el-Amara.] + +It became necessary to hold in force three triangular points--Basra, +Muhammereh, and Awaz. A strong Turkish force, with headquarters at +Amara, was equidistant about 100 miles from both Basra and Awaz, and +could elect to strike the divided British forces either by coming down +the Tigris River to Basra, or by going overland to Awaz. Reinforcements +were sent from India, and Amara occupied. The oil fields seemed secure. +Then the unexpected happened. A Turkish army came down the +Shat-el-Hai--an ancient canal or waterway connecting the Tigris River at +Kut-el-Amara with the Euphrates at Nasiriyeh (or Nasdi)--about 100 miles +to the west of Basra--and threatened the latter place. (Shat-el-Hai +means the river which flows by the village of Hai. Kut-el-Amara means +the fort of Amara and is not to be confused with the town of Amara lower +down the Tigris River.) This led to the British driving the Turks out of +Nasiriyeh and also advancing up the Tigris River from Amara to occupy +Kut-el-Amara, where a battle was fought. The Turks were strongly +entrenched and expected to hold up the Anglo-Indian troops here, but a +turning movement made them retire on Bagdad--about 100 miles to the +northwest. It was known that large Turkish reinforcements were on the +way to Bagdad and an attempt was made to anticipate them. + +[Sidenote: General Townshend's attempt to take Bagdad.] + +General Townshend advanced on Bagdad with less than a division of mixed +Anglo-Indian troops--some 16,000 to 20,000 strong. At Ctesiphon he found +a Turkish army of four divisions, with two others in reserve, awaiting +him. After a two days' indecisive battle, Townshend, recognizing he had +insufficient forces, retired on his forward base at Kut-el-Amara. The +Arabs in the neighborhood awaited the issue of the battle, ready to take +sides, for the time being, with the winner. + +[Sidenote: The Turks much stronger in numbers.] + +[Sidenote: Secret of European success in Asia.] + +It says much for the stamina of this composite division that, although +opposed throughout by five or six times their number of Turks and +Turkish irregulars, the latter were unable to overwhelm them. To the +Western mind, unacquainted with the mentality and moral weakness of the +Moslem under certain circumstances, this may appear a most foolhardy +adventure. To the Anglo-Indian the most obvious thing to do when in a +tight corner is to go for the enemy no matter what their numbers. All +Europeans in India develop an extraordinary pride in race, and an +inherent contempt for numbers. It is the secret of their success there. +Most Moslems fight well when posted behind strong natural defenses. In +open country, such as Mesopotamia, they do not show to so much +advantage. Another trait is that when their line of retreat is +threatened they are more timorous than European troops. This weakness +will have important bearings on the future of the campaign on the Tigris +Valley, because the communications of the Turks are threatened by the +Russians far in their rear and in more than one place. + +[Sidenote: Kut-el-Amara of great strategical importance.] + +Townshend's camp at Kut-el-Amara is well supplied with stores and +munitions, and will soon be relieved. When his retreat was cut off at +the bend of the Tigris River he could still have retired safely by +following the Shat-el-Hai to Nasiriyeh. There was no thought, however, +of retreat, Kut-el-Amara is geographically of great strategical +importance, and the British garrison there has served the useful purpose +of detaining large forces of the enemy where it was desired they should +remain while important Allied developments were taking place in their +flank and rear. Most of these Turkish reinforcements were withdrawn from +Armenia when the depth of winter appeared to make it impossible for the +Russians to break through the lofty hills of Caucasia. + +[Sidenote: Turks deceived by rumor about Grand Duke Nicholas.] + +[Sidenote: The Grand Duke's strategy.] + +The rumor, so diligently put about, that the Grand Duke Nicholas had +been retired in disgrace, after so ably extricating the Russian armies +in Poland, and that he had been sent to Caucasia, served its purpose. +The Turks were deceived by it, and sent part of their forces from +Armenia to oppose the Anglo-Indian advance on Bagdad and arrived in time +to turn the scale after the battle of Ctesiphon. When the Grand Duke +fell on the unwary Turks their defeat was complete. Flying from Erzerum, +one army made for Trebizond, another for the Lake Van district, and the +rest went due west towards Sivas. The Grand Duke's right wing, center, +and left are following in the same directions. He has two flying wings +further south--one in the Lake Urumia district and the other advancing +along the main caravan route from Kermanshah to Bagdad, while the +British are furthest south at Kut-el-Amara. It will be observed that the +whole of the Allied armies from the Black Sea to Kut-el-Amara are in +perfect echelon formation, and it would be a strange coincidence if this +just happened--say, by accident. Like the Syrian and Arabian littoral, +Mesopotamia is another tube confined within the Syrian desert on the one +side and the mountains of Armenia and Persia on the ether. All egress is +stopped by the Allies' echelon formation, except by Aleppo. + +[Sidenote: Possible to cut Turkish Empire in two.] + +Petrograd advices at the time of writing (March 9th) state that the +Grand Duke's main army is making for the Gulf of Alexandretta with +intent to cut the Turkish Empire in two. This is not only possible, but +highly probable, and the echelon formation of the Allies, together with +the configuration of the country, lends itself to such an operation. The +British army in Egypt and the British fleet could in such an eventuality +cooperate to advantage. + +[Sidenote: Russians must take Trebizond.] + +[Sidenote: Turks will endeavor to hold Armenian Taurus.] + +[Sidenote: The road that Xenophon traveled.] + +As a preliminary the Russians must clear their right wing by capturing +Trebizond and utilizing it as a sea base. Asia Minor is a high +tableland, in shape like the sole of a boot turned upside down, with the +highlands of Armenia representing the heel. The Turks, having lost their +only base and headquarters at Erzerum, have now to rush troops, guns, +and stores from Constantinople to the railhead at Angora and endeavor to +rally their defeated forces to the east of Sivas. In the meantime, the +Russians will have overrun some 250 miles of Turkish territory before +they are held up even temporarily. The Turkish army in Syria will be +rushed to Diarbekr to rally their defeated right wing and endeavor to +hold the Armenian Taurus Mountains against the Grand Duke's left wing. +If the Russians break through here, then all is lost to the Turks in the +south. They, however, have a most difficult task before them, because +the hills here reach their highest. There is a road of sorts, because we +know that Xenophon in ancient times traveled it with his 10,000 Greeks, +and the Turks did the same recently, when they sent reinforcements to +Bagdad. Both must have traveled light, and the Russians will have to do +the same. This means that the Turks on the south will be better supplied +with guns than their opponents, who will have to rely once more on +their bayonets. + +[Sidenote: British forces in the south ample.] + +[Sidenote: The Tigris and other available routes.] + +[Sidenote: Plans of the British army.] + +[Sidenote: Russian and British forces would join.] + +In the extreme south the British have ample force now to carry out their +part of the contract. We know that some 80,000 veteran Indian troops +have arrived from France, as well as other large reinforcements from +India. It is unlikely that these will all proceed up the Tigris River, +because sufficient troops are already there who are restricted to a +narrow front, owing to the salt marshes between the bend of the river +and the Persian mountains. Two other routes are available, the +Shat-el-Hai from Nasiriyeh to relieve the garrison at Kut-el-Amara from +the south, and the Euphrates River, to attack Bagdad from the southwest, +while the Russian flying wing at Kermanshah threatens it from the +northeast. The Turkish report of heavy fighting at Nasiriyeh would +indicate that one or both of these routes were being taken. Athens +reports that Bagdad is about to fall. As it falls, a British flotilla +will ascend the Euphrates and make direct for Aleppo. The British army +from Kut-el-Amara and the Russians from Kermanshah will, after the fall +of Bagdad--which is a foregone conclusion--ascend the Tigris River to +Mosul, where they may be expected to get in touch with the other Russian +flying wing from the Lake Urumia district. The combined force will then +be in a position to force a junction with the Grand Duke's left wing, +and then continue their advance on Aleppo. + +[Sidenote: Turkish army might retire to defend the Taurus passage.] + +Should the main army of the Grand Duke, as reported, converge on the +Gulf of Alexandretta with intent to destroy the Turkish southern army, +then the latter would be in a very dangerous position, because their +northern army being, as yet, without a base or organization, is not in a +position to take the offensive to assist them. If, on the other hand, +the Turkish army of the south declines battle at Aleppo and retires to +defend the Taurus passage, after abandoning half their Empire to the +Allies, the latter will, if they have not previously anticipated it, +have a difficult problem to solve as to how they are going to get their +large forces in the south over the Taurus range to assist the Grand Duke +in the final struggle. The forcing of the Taurus passage will mean +fighting on a narrow front and will take time. + +So far this campaign had been conducted as one of India's little wars, +which come as regularly as intermittent fever. + +[Sidenote: The Russians enter Armenia and later withdraw.] + +When Turkey entered the war she reckoned that Russia was so busy on the +German and Austrian frontiers as to be unable to meet an attack in her +rear. Turkey thereupon concentrated her main armies at Erzerum and +invaded Caucasia. The Russians beat them back and entered Armenia, where +the inhabitants assisted them. The same cause which led to the +retirement from Poland--shortage of ammunition--compelled the Russians +also to withdraw from Armenia. + +[Sidenote: Britain's reverse at Gallipoli.] + +Contemporary with these events, Britain met with a severe reverse on the +Gallipoli peninsula, which likewise injured her prestige in the East. + +[Sidenote: An Anglo-Russian campaign from Kurna to the Black Sea.] + +It became a matter of first importance with both Britain and Russia that +they should not only reinstate their prestige in the East in striking +fashion, but that they should end once and for all time German intrigue +and Turkish weakness in the East. These considerations were contributing +factors in bringing about a joint war council and an Allied Grand Staff. +The latter immediately took hold of the military situation in Asiatic +Turkey, and the isolated operations of Britain and Russia in these parts +now changed into a great Anglo-Russian campaign stretching from the +junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to the Black Sea. + +The drama unfolding before us promises to be one of the most sensational +in the great world war. The end of the Ottoman Empire appears in sight. +Its heirs and successors may be the other great Moslem powers--Britain, +Russia, France, and Italy. The last two have yet to be heard from on the +western shores of Asia Minor. + +[Sidenote: The possible future.] + +The future may see the British in possession of Turkey's first capital, +Mosul; the French in possession of their second capital, Konia; the +Russians in possession of their third and last capital, Constantinople, +and the Italians occupying Smyrna. Each of these powers is a Mohammedan +empire in itself; and the greatest Moslem country in the world is the +British Empire. + +[Sidenote: Britain may be stronger than ever in the East.] + +The Moslems in India not only approve of the idea of removing the +Sheik-Ul-Islam, head of the Mohammedan creed, from Constantinople to +Delhi or Cairo, under British protection, but the head of their church +in India volunteered as a private soldier to fight in France, and is now +with the Anglo-Indian army in Mesopotamia. It would seem as if Britain +and Russia, at the end of this war, would find themselves stronger than +ever in the East. + + * * * * * + +Great Britain suffered one of her greatest losses during the war on June +7, 1916, when the cruiser _Hampshire_, on board of which was Earl +Kitchener on his way to Russia, was sunk by a German mine or torpedo. +Over 300 lives were lost in this disaster. Earl Kitchener had been +throughout the war the chief force in raising and training the British +army, and to his ability and zeal was due largely the great feats of +landing large numbers of British troops in France within a time which in +the period of peace would have been considered impossible. + + + + +KITCHENER + +LADY ST. HELIER + +Copyright, Harper's Magazine, October, 1916. + + +[Sidenote: Lord Kitchener a mystery to the outside world.] + +[Sidenote: Fond of old friends.] + +To the outside world Lord Kitchener was something of a mystery; they +knew little of him personally, he shunned publicity, he was not a seeker +after popularity. Though he had few personal friends, he was endeared to +that chosen few in a way unique and rare. He was shy and reserved about +the deep things of life, but a charming companion in ordinary ways--very +amusing and agreeable. He had a great sense of humor, and his rapid +intuition gave him a wonderful insight into character, and he soon +arrived at a just estimate of people, and of the motives of those with +whom he came into contact. He did not make many new friends, and the +people who knew him well, and with whom his holidays or hours of +relaxation were passed, were confined to those he had known for many +years. He always impressed one with a deep sense of decency in +conversation and conduct; one felt in talking to him how impossible it +would be to drift into the easy-going discussion of questions and +problems of our modern life, and it seemed impossible to imagine his +taking a silent acquiescence in the jokes and insinuations which are not +considered now extraordinary or unpleasant. + +[Sidenote: Economy in expenditure in Egypt.] + +[Sidenote: Kitchener's unsparing activity in South Africa.] + +Lord Kitchener's strength lay in the fact that his views broadened as he +went on in life. As long as he was confined to Egypt and had to carry +out his task with the minimum of force and expenditure, he was careful +even to penuriousness, and his subordinates groaned under his exacting +economy; but he was justified in his care by the wonderful development +of the country devolving from his unsparing activity. When he went to +South Africa with a great staff and unlimited funds, he took a new +departure. He worked himself unceasingly, and exacted the same from +those around him, but he recognized inevitable limitations and was most +considerate. + +[Sidenote: Medical aid for Egyptian women organized.] + +[Sidenote: Trained English nurses sent to Egypt.] + +[Sidenote: Lives of babies saved.] + +[Sidenote: Expected to return to Egypt.] + +Ceaseless activity characterized his work in Egypt, when he went there +after failing to be appointed Viceroy of India, which most of his +friends anticipated, and which he would have accepted. Perhaps Egypt was +a disappointment after the wider sphere India presented, but nothing +ever prevented him from doing what came to him to do and giving his best +to it. When he returned there, the question of infant mortality and the +unhygienic condition of Egyptian women during child-bearing, from the +neglect and ignorance of the most elementary measures, came under his +observation, and he was deeply interested in devising means of providing +medical treatment for them, and of training native women in midwifery +and all that would conduce to improving the conditions under which they +lived. He enlisted the sympathy and interest of the wives of officials, +and of Englishwomen in Egypt, and carried out a scheme which in itself +was a wonderful example of what his interest and driving power could +accomplish. These women whose help he enlisted could tell endless +stories of the task he set them to do and his tacit refusal to listen to +any difficulties that arose in carrying it out. A number of trained +English nurses were despatched to Egypt and sent to different +localities, where they gave training to a large number of native women +in midwifery and kindred subjects. The scheme was a great success, and +the benefit it has been to thousands of native women is indescribable, +as regards both their general treatment and the care of themselves and +their children at birth. Little was known about the subject in England, +and much less about all that was done to mitigate the evil; but it was a +wonderful piece of administration, though perhaps not one that appealed +specially to him; and when some one, knowing what had been achieved, +congratulated him on his success and the boon it was to the women in +Egypt, his characteristic reply was: "I am told I have saved the lives +of ten thousand babies. I suppose that is something to have done." At +that time, only a fortnight before the prospect of war seemed possible, +he was talking with the keenest interest of his return to Egypt and of +what he had still to do there. + +[Sidenote: The dinner at Lord French's.] + +There are incidents in life which leave lasting impressions, and one of +a large dinner at Lord French's about the same time, at which Lord K., +Lord Haldane, and others were present, comes to my mind; probably no one +there but those three men had an idea of the threatening cloud which +broke in so short a time over England, and the important part two of +them would take in it. Lord K., as the world knows, was on the point of +returning to Egypt; in fact, he had started when he was recalled, almost +on board the steamer at Dover. + +[Sidenote: The country expects Lord Kitchener to head the War Office.] + +The two questions which moved the soul of the English people to its +deepest depth were, undoubtedly, what part the country was going to take +when it was realized that war was inevitable, and, after that, who was +to preside at the War Office. There might have been hesitation on the +one point; on the other there was none, and the silent, deep +determination with which the people waited to be told that Lord +Kitchener was to be Secretary of State for War can only be realized by +those who went through those anxious days. There was never a doubt or +hesitation in the mind of the country that Lord K. was the only person +who could satisfy its requirements, and the acclamation with which the +news flashed through the country when he was appointed Secretary of +State for War was overwhelming, while those who were thrown into contact +with him give a marvelous account of the cool, rapid, and soldier-like +way in which he accepted the great position. He quickly installed +himself at the War Office, even to sleeping there, so that he was ever +at the call of his office, and lived there till Lady Wantage placed her +house in Carlton Gardens, close by, at his disposal. Later on the King +offered him St. James's Palace, and those neighbors who rose early +enough saw him daily start off on his morning walk to his office, where +he remained all day. + +[Sidenote: Lord Kitchener's arduous two years.] + +The last two crowded years of Lord Kitchener's life, full of their +anxieties and responsibilities, had not changed him; but though he had +aged, and the constant strain had told on him, he had altered outwardly +but little. The office life was irksome, and the want of exercise to a +man of his active habits very trying, for he hardly ever left London +except for an occasional week-end at Broome. His intended visit to +Russia was not known, and, like so many of his visits to France and the +army at the front, were only made public after his return. Those who saw +him that last week and knew of his going, tell how he longed for the +change and how eagerly he looked forward to his holiday. + +[Sidenote: The great task completed.] + +[Sidenote: The farewell visit to the King and to the Grand Fleet.] + +The last few months, with the controversies over conscription, had +harassed him. He was not a keen believer in the conscript principle; he +was more than justified in his preference for a voluntary army by the +response he had received on his appeal to the manhood of England. There +was a wonderful completion of the task he had undertaken in those last +few days. He had raised his millions, and the country had accepted the +inevitable imposition of compulsion, and with it that chapter of his +life was finished. He had met the House of Commons, and, uncertain as +the result of that conference was, like all he did, it was one of his +greatest successes. He had no indecision when it was proposed to him +that he should meet the Commons, and, as was always the case, the result +was never in doubt. What passed has never been divulged, but he left an +impression on the two hundred members who were present which was perhaps +one of the best tributes ever paid him. After his farewell to the King, +his last visit to Broome and to Sir John Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet, +he set sail for the shore he never reached, and the end had come. It was +perhaps the most perfect end of such a life--a life full of high +endeavor and completion. The service he had rendered his country by +raising her armies and foreseeing the probable duration of the war could +not have been performed by any other living man. If, as his critics say, +he depended too much on his own individual endeavors, he was not to be +blamed when we read day by day of the glorious deeds of the armies he +had created. + +The country staggered under the blow of his death, and one can never +forget the silent grief and dismay of that dreadful day with its +horrible tragedy. The grief was universal and personal, and the tributes +to his work and memory were spoken from the heart by the great leaders +of both parties. No more touching and pathetic tribute was ever said +than the speech made by Lord Derby in the House of Lords on the +resolution in reference to his death. There is not one word to be +altered from beginning to end, but the concluding words must go to +every heart and find an echo: + +[Sidenote: The whole machinery of the new armies in running order.] + +Lord Kitchener said good-by to the nation at a moment when he left the +whole of the machinery of the great armies that he had created in +running order, and when it only required skilled engineers to keep going +his work. It was really as if Providence in its wisdom had given him the +rest he never would have given to himself. + +With the memory of a great naval battle fresh in our minds we must all +realize how rich a harvest of death the sea has reaped. We in these +islands from time immemorial had paid a heavy toll to the sea for our +insular security, but, speaking as the friend of a friend, I can say +that the sea never executed a heavier toll than when Lord Kitchener, +coffined in a British man-of-war, passed to the Great Beyond. + + * * * * * + +How and why America joined with the Allies against Germany in April, +1917, is told in the three articles following. The summaries contained +therein are official, and the war message of President Wilson condenses +the reasons which impelled the United States, after long delay, to throw +the force of its strength and resources against the German Empire. + + + + +WHY AMERICA BROKE WITH GERMANY + +PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON + + +[Sidenote: Germany proclaims ruthless submarine warfare.] + +The Imperial German Government on the 31st day of January announced to +this Government and to the Governments of the other neutral nations that +on and after the 1st day of February, the present month, it would adopt +a policy with regard to the use of submarines against all shipping +seeking to pass through certain designated areas of the high seas, to +which it is clearly my duty to call your attention. + +[Sidenote: The _Sussex_ case.] + +Let me remind the Congress that on the 18th of April last, in view of +the sinking on the 24th of March of the cross-channel steamship _Sussex_ +by a German submarine without summons or warning, and the consequent +loss of lives of several citizens of the United States who were +passengers aboard her, this Government addressed a note to the Imperial +German Government, in which it made the following statement: + +[Sidenote: The note to the Imperial German Government.] + +"If it is still the purpose of the Imperial German Government to +prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of +commerce by the use of submarines without regard to what the Government +of the United States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of +international law and the universally recognized dictates of humanity, +the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion +that there is but one course it can pursue. Unless the Imperial +Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of +its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight +carrying vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice +but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." + +In reply to this declaration the Imperial German Government gave this +Government the following assurance: + +[Sidenote: Germany's assurances to the United States.] + +"The German Government is prepared to do its utmost to confine the +operations of war for the rest of its duration to the fighting forces of +the belligerents, thereby also insuring the freedom of the seas, a +principle upon which the German Government believes now, as before, to +be in agreement with the Government of the United States. + +[Sidenote: Promises that merchant vessels shall not be sunk without +warning.] + +"The German Government, guided by this idea, notifies the Government of +the United States that the German naval forces have received the +following orders: In accordance with the general principles of visit and +search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by international +law, such vessels, both within and without the area declared a naval war +zone, shall not be sunk without warning and without saving human lives, +unless these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance. + +"But," it added, "neutrals cannot expect that Germany, forced to fight +for her existence, shall, for the sake of neutral interest, restrict the +use of an effective weapon if her enemy is permitted to continue to +apply at will methods of warfare violating the rules of international +law. Such a demand would be incompatible with the character of +neutrality, and the German Government is convinced that the Government +of the United States does not think of making such a demand, knowing +that the Government of the United States has repeatedly declared that +it is determined to restore the principle of the freedom of the seas, +from whatever quarter it has been violated." + +To this the Government of the United States replied on the 8th of May, +accepting, of course, the assurance given, but adding: + +[Sidenote: The reply of the United States.] + +[Sidenote: Rights of American citizens do not depend on conduct of +another government.] + +"The Government of the United States feels it necessary to state that it +takes it for granted that the Imperial German Government does not intend +to imply that the maintenance of its newly announced policy is in any +way contingent upon the course or result of diplomatic negotiations +between the Government of the United States and any other belligerent +Government, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the +Imperial Government's note of the 4th inst. might appear to be +susceptible of that construction. In order, however, to avoid any +misunderstanding, the Government of the United States notifies the +Imperial Government that it cannot for a moment entertain, much less +discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities for the +rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any +way or in the slightest degree be made contingent upon the conduct of +any other Government, affecting the rights of neutrals and +noncombatants. Responsibility in such matters is single, not joint, +absolute, not relative." + +To this note of the 8th of May the Imperial German Government made no +reply. + +On the 31st of January, the Wednesday of the present week, the German +Ambassador handed to the Secretary of State, along with a formal note, a +memorandum which contained the following statement: + +"The Imperial Government therefore does not doubt that the Government of +the United States will understand the situation thus forced upon Germany +by the Entente Allies' brutal methods of war and by their determination +to destroy the Central Powers, and that the Government of the United +States will further realize that the now openly disclosed intention of +the Entente Allies gives back to Germany the freedom of action which she +reserved in her note addressed to the Government of the United States on +May 4, 1916. + +[Sidenote: Germany will sink all ships within zone proclaimed.] + +"Under these circumstances, Germany will meet the illegal measures of +her enemies by forcibly preventing, after February 1, 1917, in a zone +around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the Eastern Mediterranean, +all navigation, that of neutrals included, from and to England and from +and to France, &c. All ships met within the zone will be sunk." + +I think that you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration, +which suddenly and without prior intimation of any kind deliberately +withdraws the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government's note +of the 4th of May, 1916, this Government has no alternative consistent +with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take the course +which, in its note of the 18th of April, 1916, it announced that it +would take in the event that the German Government did not declare and +effect an abandonment of the methods of submarine warfare which it was +then employing and to which it now purposes again to resort. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic relations with Germany are severed.] + +I have therefore directed the Secretary of State to announce to his +Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic relations between +the United States and the German Empire are severed and that the +American Ambassador to Berlin will immediately be withdrawn; and, in +accordance with this decision, to hand to his Excellency his passports. + +[Sidenote: Hard to believe Germany will carry out threats.] + +Notwithstanding this unexpected action of the German Government, this +sudden and deplorable renunciation of its assurances, given this +Government at one of the most critical moments of tension in the +relations of the two Governments, I refuse to believe that it is the +intention of the German authorities to do in fact what they have warned +us they will feel at liberty to do. I cannot bring myself to believe +that they will indeed pay no regard to the ancient friendship between +their people and our own or to the solemn obligations which have been +exchanged between them, and destroy American ships and take the lives of +American citizens in the willful prosecution of the ruthless naval +program they have announced their intention to adopt. Only actual overt +acts on their part can make me believe it even now. + +If this inveterate confidence on my part in the sobriety and prudent +foresight of their purpose should unhappily prove unfounded; if American +ships and American lives should in fact be sacrificed by their naval +commanders in heedless contravention on the just and reasonable +understandings of international law and the obvious dictates of +humanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before the Congress +to ask that authority be given me to use any means that may be necessary +for the protection of our seamen and our people in the prosecution of +their peaceful and legitimate errands on the high seas. I can do nothing +less. I take it for granted that all neutral Governments will take the +same course. + +[Sidenote: America does not desire war with Germany.] + +We do not desire any hostile conflict with the Imperial German +Government. We are the sincere friends of the German people, and +earnestly desire to remain at peace with the Government which speaks for +them. We shall not believe that they are hostile to us unless and until +we are obliged to believe it; and we purpose nothing more than the +reasonable defense of the undoubted rights of our people. We wish to +serve no selfish ends. We seek merely to stand true alike in thought and +in action to the immemorial principles of our people, which I have +sought to express in my address to the Senate only two weeks ago--seek +merely to vindicate our rights to liberty and justice and an unmolested +life. These are the bases of peace, not war. God grant that we may not +be challenged to defend them by acts of willful injustice on the part of +the Government of Germany! + +[Sidenote: Reasons for addressing Congress.] + +I have again asked the privilege of addressing you because we are moving +through critical times during which it seems to me to be my duty to keep +in close touch with the houses of Congress, so that neither counsel nor +action shall run at cross-purposes between us. + +On the 3rd of February I officially informed you of the sudden and +unexpected action of the Imperial German Government in declaring its +intention to disregard the promises it had made to this Government in +April last and undertake immediate submarine operations against all +commerce, whether of belligerents or of neutrals, that should seek to +approach Great Britain and Ireland, the Atlantic coasts of Europe, or +the harbors of the Eastern Mediterranean and to conduct those operations +without regard to the established restrictions of international +practice, without regard to any considerations of humanity even which +might interfere with their object. + +[Sidenote: The German ruthless policy in practice.] + +That policy was forthwith put into practice. It has now been in active +exhibition for nearly four weeks. Its practical results are not fully +disclosed. The commerce of other neutral nations is suffering severely, +but not, perhaps, very much more severely than it was already suffering +before the 1st of February, when the new policy of the Imperial +Government was put into operation. + +[Sidenote: American commerce suffers.] + +We have asked the cooperation of the other neutral Governments to +prevent these depredations, but I fear none of them has thought it wise +to join us in any common course of action. Our own commerce has +suffered, is suffering, rather in apprehension than in fact, rather +because so many of our ships are timidly keeping to their home ports +than because American ships have been sunk. + +[Sidenote: American vessels sunk.] + +Two American vessels have been sunk, the _Housatonic_ and the _Lyman M. +Law_. The case of the _Housatonic_, which was carrying foodstuffs +consigned to a London firm, was essentially like the case of the _Frye_, +in which, it will be recalled, the German Government admitted its +liability for damages, and the lives of the crew, as in the case of the +_Frye_, were safeguarded with reasonable care. + +The case of the _Law_, which was carrying lemon-box staves to Palermo, +discloses a ruthlessness of method which deserves grave condemnation, +but was accompanied by no circumstances which might not have been +expected at any time in connection with the use of the submarine against +merchantmen as the German Government has used it. + +[Sidenote: Congestion of shipping in American ports.] + +In sum, therefore, the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the +actual conduct of the German submarine warfare against commerce and its +effects upon our own ships and people is substantially the same that it +was when I addressed you on the 3rd of February, except for the tying up +of our shipping in our own ports because of the unwillingness of our +ship owners to risk their vessels at sea without insurance or adequate +protection, and the very serious congestion of our commerce which has +resulted--a congestion which is growing rapidly more and more serious +every day. + +This, in itself, might presently accomplish, in effect, what the new +German submarine orders were meant to accomplish, so far as we are +concerned. We can only say, therefore, that the overt act which I have +ventured to hope the German commanders would in fact avoid has not +occurred. + +[Sidenote: Indications that German ruthlessness will continue.] + +But while this is happily true, it must be admitted that there have been +certain additional indications and expressions of purpose on the part of +the German press and the German authorities which have increased rather +than lessened the impression that, if our ships and our people are +spared, it will be because of fortunate circumstances or because the +commanders of the German submarines which they may happen to encounter +exercise an unexpected discretion and restraint, rather than because of +the instructions under which those commanders are acting. + +[Sidenote: Situation full of danger.] + +It would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with the +gravest possibilities and dangers. No thoughtful man can fail to see +that the necessity for definite action may come at any time if we are, +in fact and not in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a +neutral nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared. + +I cannot in such circumstances be unmindful of the fact that the +expiration of the term of the present Congress is immediately at hand by +constitutional limitation and that it would in all likelihood require an +unusual length of time to assemble and organize the Congress which is to +succeed it. + +[Sidenote: The President asks for authority.] + +I feel that I ought, in view of that fact, to obtain from you full and +immediate assurance of the authority which I may need at any moment to +exercise. No doubt I already possess that authority without special +warrant of law, by the plain implication of my constitutional duties and +powers; but I prefer in the present circumstances not to act upon +general implication. I wish to feel that the authority and the power of +the Congress are behind me in whatever it may become necessary for me to +do. We are jointly the servants of the people and must act together and +in their spirit, so far as we can divine and interpret it. + +[Sidenote: Necessary to defend commerce and lives.] + +No one doubts what it is our duty to do. We must defend our commerce and +the lives of our people in the midst of the present trying circumstances +with discretion but with clear and steadfast purpose. Only the method +and the extent remain to be chosen, upon the occasion, if occasion +should indeed arise. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic means fail.] + +Since it has unhappily proved impossible to safeguard our neutral rights +by diplomatic means against the unwarranted infringements they are +suffering at the hands of Germany, there may be no recourse but to armed +neutrality, which we shall know how to maintain and for which there is +abundant American precedent. + +It is devoutly to be hoped that it will not be necessary to put armed +forces anywhere into action. The American people do not desire it, and +our desire is not different from theirs. I am sure that they will +understand the spirit in which I am now acting, the purpose I hold +nearest my heart and would wish to exhibit in everything I do. + +[Sidenote: Mr. Wilson the friend of peace.] + +I am anxious that the people of the nations at war also should +understand and not mistrust us. I hope that I need give no further +proofs and assurances than I have already given throughout nearly three +years of anxious patience that I am the friend of peace and mean to +preserve it for America so long as I am able. I am not now proposing or +contemplating war or any steps that need lead to it. I merely request +that you will accord me by your own vote and definite bestowal the +means and the authority to safeguard in practice the right of a great +people, who are at peace and who are desirous of exercising none but the +rights of peace, to follow the pursuit of peace in quietness and +good-will--rights recognized time out of mind by all the civilized +nations of the world. + +[Sidenote: America not seeking war.] + +No course of my choosing or of theirs will lead to war. War can come +only by the willful acts and aggressions of others. + +You will understand why I can make no definite proposals or forecasts of +action now and must ask for your supporting authority in the most +general terms. The form in which action may become necessary cannot yet +be foreseen. + +[Sidenote: Merchant ships should be supplied with defensive arms.] + +I believe that the people will be willing to trust me to act with +restraint, with prudence, and in the true spirit of amity and good faith +that they have themselves displayed throughout these trying months; and +it is in that belief that I request that you will authorize me to supply +our merchant ships with defensive arms should that become necessary, and +with the means of using them, and to employ any other instrumentalities +or methods that may be necessary and adequate to protect our ships and +our people in their legitimate and peaceful pursuits on the seas. I +request also that you will grant me at the same time, along with the +powers I ask, a sufficient credit to enable me to provide adequate means +of protection where they are lacking, including adequate insurance +against the present war risks. + +I have spoken of our commerce and of the legitimate errands of our +people on the seas, but you will not be misled as to my main +thought--the thought that lies beneath these phrases and gives them +dignity and weight. It is not of material interest merely that we are +thinking. It is, rather, of fundamental human rights, chief of all the +rights of life itself. + +[Sidenote: To protect the lives of noncombatants.] + +I am thinking not only of the right of Americans to go and come about +their proper business by way of the sea, but also of something much +deeper, much more fundamental than that. I am thinking of those rights +of humanity without which there is no civilization. My theme is of those +great principles of compassion and of protection which mankind has +sought to throw about human lives, the lives of noncombatants, the lives +of men who are peacefully at work keeping the industrial processes of +the world quick and vital, the lives of women and children and of those +who supply the labor which ministers to their sustenance. We are +speaking of no selfish material rights, but of rights which our hearts +support and whose foundation is that righteous passion for justice upon +which all law, all structures alike of family, of State, and of mankind +must rest, as upon the ultimate base of our existence and our liberty. + +I cannot imagine any man with American principles at his heart +hesitating to defend these things. + + + + +HOW THE WAR CAME TO AMERICA + +OFFICIAL ACCOUNT + + +[Sidenote: The Monroe Doctrine a warning to the old world.] + +In the years when the Republic was still struggling for existence, in +the face of threatened encroachments by hostile monarchies over the sea, +in order to make the New World safe for democracy our forefathers +established here the policy that soon came to be known as the Monroe +Doctrine. Warning the Old World not to interfere in the political life +of the New, our Government pledged itself in return to abstain from +interference in the political conflicts of Europe; and history has +vindicated the wisdom of this course. We were then too weak to influence +the destinies of Europe, and it was vital to mankind that this first +great experiment in government of and by the people should not be +disturbed by foreign attack. + +[Sidenote: Our isolation fast becoming imaginary.] + +Reenforced by the experience of our expanding national life, this +doctrine has been ever since the dominating element in the growth of our +foreign policy. Whether or not we could have maintained it in case of +concerted attack from abroad, it has seemed of such importance to us +that we were at all times ready to go to war in its defense. And though +since it was first enunciated our strength has grown by leaps and +bounds, although in that time the vast increase in our foreign trade and +of travel abroad, modern transport, modern mails, the cables, and the +wireless have brought us close to Europe and have made our isolation +more and more imaginary, there has been until the outbreak of the +present conflict small desire on our part to abrogate, or even amend, +the old familiar tradition which has for so long given us peace. + +[Sidenote: American statement in the minutes of The Hague.] + +In both conferences at The Hague, in 1899 and 1907, we reaffirmed this +policy. As our delegates signed the First Convention in regard to +arbitration, they read into the minutes this statement: + +"Nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to +require the United States of America to depart from its traditional +policy of not intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in +the political questions or policy or internal administration of any +foreign State; nor shall anything contained in the said convention be +construed to imply a relinquishment by the United States of America of +its traditional attitude toward purely American questions." + +On the eve of the war our position toward other nations might have been +summarized under three heads: + +[Sidenote: The Monroe Doctrine.] + +I. The Monroe Doctrine.--We had pledged ourselves to defend the New +World from European aggression, and we had by word and deed made it +clear that we would not intervene in any European dispute. + +[Sidenote: The Freedom of the Seas.] + +II. The Freedom of the Seas.--In every naval conference our influence +had been given in support of the principle that sea law to be just and +worthy of general respect must be based on the consent of the governed. + +[Sidenote: Settlement of disputes by arbitration.] + +III. Arbitration.--As we had secured peace at home by referring +interstate disputes to a Federal tribunal, we urged a similar settlement +of international controversies. Our ideal was a permanent world court. +We had already signed arbitration treaties not only with great powers +which might conceivably attack us, but even more freely with weaker +neighbors in order to show our good faith in recognizing the equality of +all nations both great and small. We had made plain to the nations our +purpose to forestall by every means in our power the recurrence of wars +in the world. + +The outbreak of war in 1914 caught this nation by surprise. The peoples +of Europe had had at least some warnings of the coming storm, but to us +such a blind, savage onslaught on the ideals of civilization had +appeared impossible. + +[Sidenote: The war incomprehensible.] + +The war was incomprehensible. Either side was championed here by +millions living among us who were of European birth. Their contradictory +accusations threw our thought into disarray, and in the first chaotic +days we could see no clear issue that affected our national policy. +There was not direct assault on our rights. It seemed at first to most +of us a purely European dispute, and our minds were not prepared to take +sides in such a conflict. The President's proclamation of neutrality was +received by us as natural and inevitable. It was quickly followed by his +appeal to "the citizens of the Republic." + +[Sidenote: American neutrality natural.] + +"Every man who really loves America will act and speak in the true +spirit of neutrality," he said, "which is the spirit of impartiality and +fairness and friendliness to all concerned. * * * It will be easy to +excite passion and difficult to allay it." He expressed the fear that +our nation might become divided in camps of hostile opinion. "Such +divisions among us * * * might seriously stand in the way of the proper +performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one people +holding itself ready to play a part of impartial mediation and speak +counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a +friend." + +[Sidenote: The United States must be the mediator.] + +This purpose--the preservation of a strict neutrality in order that +later we might be of use in the great task of mediation--dominated all +the President's early speeches. + +[Sidenote: Invasion of Belgium stirs American opinion.] + +The spirit of neutrality was not easy to maintain. Public opinion was +deeply stirred by the German invasion of Belgium and by reports of +atrocities there. The Royal Belgian Commission, which came in September, +1914, to lay their country's cause for complaint before our National +Government, was received with sympathy and respect. The President in his +reply reserved our decision in the affair. It was the only course he +could take without an abrupt departure from our most treasured +traditions of non-interference in Old World disputes. But the sympathy +of America went out to the Belgians in the heroic tragedy, and from +every section of our land money contributions and supplies of food and +clothing poured over to the Commission for Relief in Belgium, which was +under the able management of our fellow-countrymen abroad. + +Still, the thought of taking an active part in this European war was +very far from most of our minds. The nation shared with the President +the belief that by maintaining a strict neutrality we could best serve +Europe at the end as impartial mediators. + +[Sidenote: Complication on the seas imperils American neutrality.] + +But in the very first days of the war our Government foresaw that +complications on the seas might put us in grave risk of being drawn into +the conflict. No neutral nation could foretell what violations of its +vital interests at sea might be attempted by the belligerents. And so, +on August 6, 1914, our Secretary of State dispatched an identical note +to all the powers then at war, calling attention to the risk of serious +trouble arising out of this uncertainty of neutrals as to their maritime +rights, and proposing that the Declaration of London be accepted by all +nations for the duration of the war. + +[Sidenote: German Government stirs opinion hostile to United States.] + +[Sidenote: American policy not inconsistent with American traditions.] + +In the first year of the war the Government of Germany stirred up among +its people a feeling of resentment against the United States on account +of our insistence upon our right as a neutral nation to trade in +munitions with the belligerent powers. Our legal right in the matter was +not seriously questioned by Germany. She could not have done so +consistently, for as recently as the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913 both +Germany and Austria sold munitions to the belligerents. Their appeals to +us in the present war were not to observe international law, but to +revise it in their interest. And these appeals they tried to make on +moral and humanitarian grounds. But upon "the moral issue" involved, the +stand taken by the United States was consistent with its traditional +policy and with obvious common sense. + +For, if, with all other neutrals, we refused to sell munitions to +belligerents, we could never in time of a war of our own obtain +munitions from neutrals, and the nation which had accumulated the +largest reserves of war supplies in time of peace would be assured of +victory. + +The militarist State that invested its money in arsenals would be at a +fatal advantage over the free people who invested their wealth in +schools. To write into international law that neutrals should not trade +in munitions would be to hand over the world to the rule of the nation +with the largest armament factories. Such a policy the United States of +America could not accept. + +[Sidenote: Controversy about German submarine war zone.] + +[Sidenote: The sinking of the _Lusitania_.] + +But our principal controversy with the German Government, and the one +which rendered the situation at once acute, rose out of their +announcement of a sea zone where their submarines would operate in +violation of all accepted principles of international law. Our +indignation at such a threat was soon rendered passionate by the sinking +of the _Lusitania_. This attack upon our rights was not only grossly +illegal; it defied the fundamental concepts of humanity. + +[Sidenote: Murder of noncombatants not to be settled by litigation.] + +Aggravating restraints on our trade were grievances which could be +settled by litigation after the war, but the wanton murder of peaceable +men and of innocent women and children, citizens of a nation with which +Germany was at peace, was a crime against the civilized world which +could never be settled in any court. + +Our Government, however, inspired still by a desire to preserve peace if +possible, used every resource of diplomacy to force the German +Government to abandon such attacks. This diplomatic correspondence, +which has already been published, proves beyond doubt that our +Government sought by every honorable means to preserve faith in that +mutual sincerity between nations which is the only basis of sound +diplomatic interchange. + +[Sidenote: Bad faith of the Imperial German Government.] + +But evidence of the bad faith of the Imperial German Government soon +piled up on every hand. Honest efforts on our part to establish a firm +basis of good neighborliness with the German people were met by their +Government with quibbles, misrepresentations, and counter-accusations +against their enemies abroad. + +And meanwhile in this country official agents of the Central +Powers--protected from criminal prosecution by diplomatic +immunity--conspired against our internal peace and placed spies and +agents provocateurs throughout the length and breadth of our land, and +even in high positions of trust in departments of our Government. + +[Sidenote: German agents in Latin America, in Japan and the West +Indies.] + +While expressing a cordial friendship for the people of the United +States, the Government of Germany had its agents at work both in Latin +America and Japan. They bought or subsidized papers and supported +speakers there to rouse feelings of bitterness and distrust against us +in those friendly nations, in order to embroil us in war. They were +inciting to insurrection in Cuba, in Haiti, and in Santo Domingo; their +hostile hand was stretched out to take the Danish Islands; and +everywhere in South America they were abroad sowing the seeds of +dissension, trying to stir up one nation against another and all against +the United States. + +[Sidenote: Assaults on the Monroe Doctrine.] + +In their sum these various operations amounted to direct assault upon +the Monroe Doctrine. And even if we had given up our right to travel on +the sea, even if we had surrendered to German threats and abandoned our +legitimate trade in munitions, the German offensive in the New World, in +our own land and among our neighbors, was becoming too serious to be +ignored. + +[Sidenote: Recall of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador.] + +So long as it was possible, the Government of the United States tried to +believe that such activities, the evidence of which was already in a +large measure at hand, were the work of irresponsible and misguided +individuals. It was only reluctantly, in the face of overwhelming proof, +that the recall of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador and of the German +Military and Naval Attaches was demanded. + +Proof of their criminal violations of our hospitality was presented to +their Governments. But these Governments in reply offered no apologies +nor did they issue reprimands. It became clear that such intrigue was +their settled policy. + +In the meantime the attacks of the German submarines upon the lives and +property of American citizens had gone on; the protests of our +Government were now sharp and ominous, and this nation was rapidly +being drawn into a state of war. + +The break would have come sooner if our Government had not been +restrained by the vain hope that saner counsels might still prevail in +Germany. For it was well known to us that the German people had to a +very large extent been kept in ignorance of many of the secret crimes of +their Government against us. + +[Sidenote: Tension relieved by _Sussex_ agreement.] + +And the presence of a faction of German public opinion less hostile to +this country was shown when their Government acquiesced to some degree +in our demands at the time of the _Sussex_ outrage, and for nearly a +year maintained at least a pretense of observing the pledge they had +made to us. The tension was abated. + +While the war spirit was growing in some sections of our nation, there +was still no widespread desire to take part in the conflict abroad; for +the tradition of non-interference in Europe's political affairs was too +deeply rooted in our national life to be easily overthrown. + +Moreover, two other considerations strengthened our Government in its +efforts to remain neutral in this war. The first was our traditional +sense of responsibility toward all the republics of the New World. +Throughout the crisis our Government was in constant communication with +the countries of Central and South America. + +[Sidenote: Opinion in Central and South America.] + +They, too, preferred the ways of peace. And there was a very obvious +obligation upon us to safeguard their interests with our own. + +The second consideration, which had been so often developed in the +President's speeches, was the hope that by keeping aloof from the bitter +passions abroad, by preserving untroubled here the holy ideals of +civilized intercourse between nations, we might be free at the end of +this war to bind up the wounds of the conflict, to be the restorers and +rebuilders of the wrecked structure of the world. + +[Sidenote: German compliance not in good faith.] + +All these motives held us back, but it was not long until we were beset +by further complications. We soon had reason to believe that the recent +compliance of the German Government had not been made to us in good +faith, and was only temporary, and by the end of 1916 it was plain that +our neutral status had again been made unsafe through the +ever-increasing aggressiveness of the German autocracy. There was a +general agreement here with the statement of our President on October +26, 1916, that this conflict was the last great war involving the world +in which we would remain neutral. + +[Sidenote: Peace move on behalf of the Central powers.] + +It was in this frame of mind, fearing we might be drawn into the war if +it did not soon come to an end, that the President began the preparation +of his note, asking the belligerent powers to define their war aims. But +before he had completed it the world was surprised by the peace move of +the German Government--an identical note on behalf of the German Empire, +Austro-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, sent through neutral powers on +December 12, 1916, to the Governments of the Allies proposing +negotiations for peace. + +While expressing the wish to end this war--"a catastrophe which +thousands of years of common civilization was unable to prevent and +which injures the most precious achievements of humanity"--the greater +portion of the note was couched in terms that gave small hope of a +lasting peace. + +Boasting of German conquests, "the glorious deeds of our armies," the +note implanted in neutral minds the belief that it was the purpose of +the Imperial German Government to insist upon such conditions as would +leave all Central Europe under German dominance and so build up an +empire which would menace the whole liberal world. + +[Sidenote: A veiled threat to neutral nations.] + +Moreover, the German proposal was accompanied by a thinly veiled threat +to all neutral nations; and from a thousand sources, official and +unofficial, the word came to Washington that unless the neutrals use +their influence to bring the war to an end on terms dictated from +Berlin, Germany and her allies would consider themselves henceforth free +from any obligations to respect the rights of neutrals. + +The Kaiser ordered the neutrals to exert pressure on the Entente to +bring the war to an abrupt end, or to beware of the consequences. Clear +warnings were brought to our Government that if the German peace move +should not be successful, the submarines would be unleashed for a more +intense and ruthless war upon all commerce. + +[Sidenote: The President's note to the belligerents.] + +On the 18th of December the President dispatched his note to all the +belligerent powers, asking them to define their war aims. There was +still hope in our minds that the mutual suspicions between the warring +powers might be decreased, and the menace of future German aggression +and dominance be removed, by finding a guaranty of good faith in a +league of nations. + +There was a chance that by the creation of such a league as part of the +peace negotiations the war could now be brought to an end before our +nation was involved. Two statements issued to the press by our Secretary +of State, upon the day the note was dispatched, threw a clear light on +the seriousness with which our Government viewed the crisis. + +From this point events moved rapidly. The powers of the Entente replied +to the German peace note. Neutral nations took action on the note of +the President, and from both belligerents replies to this note were soon +in our hands. + +[Sidenote: The German reply evasive.] + +The German reply was evasive--in accord with their traditional +preference for diplomacy behind closed doors. Refusing to state to the +world their terms, Germany and her allies merely proposed a conference. +They adjourned all discussion of any plan for a league of peace until +after hostilities should end. + +[Sidenote: Our concern the lasting restoration of peace.] + +The response of the Entente Powers was frank and in harmony with our +principal purpose. Many questions raised in the statement of their aims +were so purely European in character as to have small interest for us; +but our great concern in Europe was the lasting restoration of peace, +and it was clear that this was also the chief interest of the Entente +nations. + +As to the wisdom of some of the measures they proposed toward this end, +we might differ in opinion, but the trend of their proposals was the +establishment of just frontiers based on the rights of all nations, the +small as well as the great, to decide their own destinies. + +The aims of the belligerents were now becoming clear. From the outbreak +of hostilities the German Government had claimed that it was fighting a +war of defense. But the tone of its recent proposals had been that of a +conqueror. It sought a peace based on victory. + +[Sidenote: Central Empires desire domination over other races.] + +The Central Empires aspired to extend their domination over other races. +They were willing to make liberal terms to any one of their enemies, in +a separate peace which would free their hands to crush other opponents. +But they were not willing to accept any peace which did not, all fronts +considered, leave them victors and the dominating imperial power of +Europe. + +The war aims of the Entente showed a determination to thwart this +ambition of the Imperial German Government. Against the German peace to +further German growth and aggression the Entente Powers offered a plan +for a European peace that should make the whole Continent secure. + +[Sidenote: The kind of peace America desires.] + +At this juncture the President read his address to the Senate, on +January 22, 1917, in which he outlined the kind of peace the United +States of America could join in guaranteeing. His words were addressed +not only to the Senate and this nation, but to people of all countries: + +"May I not add that I hope and believe that I am in effect speaking for +liberals and friends of humanity in every nation and of every program of +liberty? I would fain believe that I am speaking for the silent mass of +mankind everywhere who have as yet had no place or opportunity to speak +their real hearts out concerning the death and ruin they see to have +come already upon the persons and the homes they hold most dear." + +[Sidenote: The peace of the people.] + +The address was a rebuke to those who still cherished dreams of a world +dominated by one nation. For the peace he outlined was not that of a +victorious Emperor, it was not the peace of Caesar. It was in behalf of +all the world, and it was a peace of the people: + +"No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not recognize and +accept the principle that Governments derive all their just powers from +the consent of the governed, and that no right anywhere exists to hand +people about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were property. + +[Sidenote: Each people should determine its own polity.] + +"I am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord +adopt the doctrine of President Monroe as the doctrine of the world; +that no nation should seek to extend its policy over any other nation or +people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own +polity, its own way of development, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, +the little along with the great and powerful. + +"I am proposing that all nations henceforth avoid entangling alliances +which would draw them into competitions of power, catch them in a net of +intrigue and selfish rivalry and disturb their own affairs with +influences intruded from without. There is no entangling alliance in a +concert of power. When all unite to act in the same sense and with the +same purpose, all act in the common interest and are free to live their +own lives under a common protection. + +[Sidenote: Seas must be free.] + +"I am proposing government by the consent of the governed; that freedom +of the seas which in international conference after conference +representatives of the United States have urged with the eloquence of +those who are convinced disciples of liberty, and that moderation of +armaments which makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not +an instrument of aggression or of selfish violence. + +"And the paths of the sea must, alike in law and in fact, be free. The +freedom of the seas is the sine qua non of peace, equality, and +co-operation. + +[Sidenote: Question of limiting armaments.] + +"It is a problem closely connected with the limitation of naval armament +and the co-operation of the navies of the world in keeping the seas at +once free and safe. And the question of limiting naval armaments opens +the wider and perhaps more difficult question of the limitation of +armies and of all programs of military preparation. * * * There can be +no sense of safety and equality among the nations if great +preponderating armaments are henceforth to continue here and there to be +built up and maintained. + +[Sidenote: How peace must be made secure.] + +"Mere agreements may not make peace secure. It will be absolutely +necessary that a force be created as a guarantor of the permanency of +the settlement so much greater than the force of any nation now engaged +or any alliance hitherto formed or projected that no nation, no probable +combination of nations, could face or withstand it. If the peace +presently to be made is to endure, it must be a peace made secure by the +organized major force of mankind." + +[Sidenote: Entente peoples welcome President Wilson's views.] + +[Sidenote: The German note to Mexico.] + +If there were any doubt in our minds as to which of the great alliances +was the more in sympathy with these ideals, it was removed by the +popular response abroad to this address of the President. For, while +exception was taken to some parts of it in Britain and France, it was +plain that so far as the peoples of the Entente were concerned the +President had been amply justified in stating that he spoke for all +forward-looking, liberal-minded men and women. It was not so in Germany. +The people there who could be reached, and whose hearts were stirred by +this enunciation of the principles of a people's peace, were too few or +too oppressed to make their voices heard in the councils of their +nation. Already, on January 16, 1917, unknown to the people of Germany, +Herr Zimmermann, their Secretary of Foreign Affairs, had secretly +dispatched a note to their Minister in Mexico, informing him of the +German intention to repudiate the _Sussex_ pledge and instructing him to +offer to the Mexican Government New Mexico and Arizona if Mexico would +join with Japan in attacking the United States. + +[Sidenote: Sinister German intrigues in the New World.] + +In the new year of 1917, as through our acceptance of world +responsibilities so plainly indicated in the President's utterances in +regard to a league of nations we felt ourselves now drawing nearer to a +full accord with the Powers of the Entente; and, as on the other hand, +we found ourselves more and more outraged at the German Government's +methods of conducting warfare and their brutal treatment of people in +their conquered lands; as we more and more uncovered their hostile +intrigues against the peace of the New World; and, above all, as the +sinister and anti-democratic ideals of their ruling class became +manifest in their manoeuvres for a peace of conquest--the Imperial +German Government abruptly threw aside the mask. + +[Sidenote: The new submarine war zone proclaimed.] + +On the last day of January, 1917, Count Bernstorff handed to Mr. Lansing +a note, in which his Government announced its purpose to intensify and +render more ruthless the operations of their submarines at sea, in a +manner against which our Government had protested from the beginning. +The German Chancellor also stated before the Imperial Diet that the +reason this ruthless policy had not been earlier employed was simply +because the Imperial Government had not then been ready to act. In +brief, under the guise of friendship and the cloak of false promises, it +had been preparing this attack. + +[Sidenote: Count Bernstorff receives his passports.] + +This was the direct challenge. There was no possible answer except to +hand their Ambassador his passports and so have done with a diplomatic +correspondence which had been vitiated from the start by the often +proved bad faith of the Imperial Government. + +On the same day, February 3, 1917, the President addressed both houses +of our Congress and announced the complete severance of our relations +with Germany. The reluctance with which he took this step was evident in +every word. But diplomacy had failed, and it would have been the +hollowest pretense to maintain relations. At the same time, however, he +made it plain that he did not regard this act as tantamount to a +declaration of war. Here for the first time the President made his sharp +distinction between government and people in undemocratic lands: + +[Sidenote: American attitude toward the German people.] + +"We are the sincere friends of the German people," he said, "and +earnestly desire to remain at peace with the Government which speaks for +them. * * * God grant we may not be challenged by acts of willful +injustice on the part of the Government of Germany." + +[Sidenote: Submarine order must be withdrawn.] + +In this address of the President, and in its indorsement by the Senate, +there was a solemn warning; for we still had hope that the German +Government might hesitate to drive us to war. But it was soon evident +that our warning had fallen on deaf ears. The tortuous ways and means of +German official diplomacy were clearly shown in the negotiations opened +by them through the Swiss Legation on the 10th of February. In no word +of their proposals did the German Government meet the real issue between +us. And our State Department replied that no minor negotiations could be +entertained until the main issue had been met by the withdrawal of the +submarine order. + +[Sidenote: President Wilson advises armed neutrality.] + +By the 1st of March it had become plain that the Imperial Government, +unrestrained by the warning in the President's address to Congress on +February 3, was determined to make good its threat. The President then +again appeared before Congress to report the development of the crisis +and to ask the approval of the representatives of the nation for the +course of armed neutrality upon which, under his constitutional +authority, he had now determined. More than 500 of the 531 members of +the two houses of Congress showed themselves ready and anxious to act; +and the armed neutrality declaration would have been accepted if it had +not been for the legal death of the Sixty-fourth Congress on March 4. + +No "overt" act, however, was ordered by our Government until Count +Bernstorff had reached Berlin and Mr. Gerard was in Washington. For the +German Ambassador on his departure had begged that no irrevocable +decision should be taken until he had had the chance to make one final +plea for peace to his sovereign. We do not know the nature of his report +to the Kaiser; we know only that, even if he kept his pledge and urged +an eleventh-hour revocation of the submarine order, he was unable to +sway the policy of the Imperial Government. + +[Sidenote: Armed guards on American merchant ships.] + +And so, having exhausted every resource of patience, our Government on +the 12th of March finally issued orders to place armed guards on our +merchant ships. + +With the definite break in diplomatic relations there vanished the last +vestige of cordiality toward the Government of Germany. Our attitude was +now to change. So long as we had maintained a strict neutrality in the +war, for the reason that circumstances might arise in which Europe would +have need of an impartial mediator, for us to have given official heed +to the accusations of either party would have been to prejudge the case +before all the evidence was in. + +[Sidenote: Germany is forcing the United States into war.] + +But now at last, with the breaking of friendly relations with the German +Government, we were relieved of the oppressive duty of endeavoring to +maintain a judicial detachment from the rights and wrongs involved in +the war. We were no longer the outside observers striving to hold an +even balance of judgment between disputants. One party by direct attack +upon our rights and liberties was forcing us into the conflict. And, +much as we had hoped to keep out of the fray, it was no little relief to +be free at last from that reserve which is expected of a judge. + +[Sidenote: Perfidy of the German Government.] + +Much evidence had been presented to us of things so abhorrent to our +ideas of humanity that they had seemed incredible, things we had been +loath to believe, and with heavy hearts we had sought to reserve our +judgment. But with the breaking of relations with the Government of +Germany that duty at last was ended. The perfidy of that Government in +its dealings with this nation relieved us of the necessity of striving +to give them the benefit of the doubt in regard to their crimes abroad. +The Government which under cover of profuse professions of friendship +had tried to embroil us in war with Mexico and Japan could not expect us +to believe in its good faith in other matters. The men whose paid agents +dynamited our factories here were capable of the infamies reported +against them over the sea. Their Government's protestations, that their +purpose was self-defense and the freeing of small nations, fell like a +house of cards before the revelation of their "peace terms." + +[Sidenote: The German record.] + +[Sidenote: Arrogant intolerance of the Prussians.] + +And judging the German Government now in the light of our own experience +through the long and patient years of our honest attempt to keep the +peace, we could see the great autocracy and read her record through the +war. And we found that record damnable. Beginning long before the war in +Prussian opposition to every effort that was made by other nations and +our own to do away with warfare, the story of the autocracy has been one +of vast preparations for war combined with an attitude of arrogant +intolerance toward all other points of view, all other systems of +governments, all other hopes and dreams of men. + +With a fanatical faith in the destiny of German Kultur as the system +that must rule the world, the Imperial Government's actions have through +years of boasting, double dealing, and deceit tended toward aggression +upon the rights of others. And, if there still be any doubt as to which +nation began this war, there can be no uncertainty as to which one was +most prepared, most exultant at the chance, and ready instantly to march +upon other nations--even those who had given no offense. + +[Sidenote: Atrocities in Belgium and Servia.] + +The wholesale depredations and hideous atrocities in Belgium and in +Serbia were doubtless part and parcel with the Imperial Government's +purpose to terrorize small nations into abject submission for +generations to come. But in this the autocracy has been blind. For its +record in those countries, and in Poland and in Northern France, has +given not only to the Allies but to liberal peoples throughout the world +the conviction that this menace to human liberties everywhere must be +utterly shorn of its power for harm. + +[Sidenote: German defiance of law and humanity.] + +For the evil it has effected has ranged far out of Europe--out upon the +open seas, where its submarines, in defiance of law and the concepts of +humanity, have blown up neutral vessels and covered the waves with the +dead and the dying, men and women and children alike. Its agents have +conspired against the peace of neutral nations everywhere, sowing the +seeds of dissension, ceaselessly endeavoring by tortuous methods of +deceit, of bribery, false promises, and intimidation to stir up brother +nations one against the other, in order that the liberal world might not +be able to unite, in order that the autocracy might emerge triumphant +from the war. + +[Sidenote: The rulers of Germany must go.] + +All this we know from our own experience with the Imperial Government. +As they have dealt with Europe, so they have dealt with us and with all +mankind. And so out of these years the conviction has grown that until +the German Nation is divested of such rulers democracy cannot be safe. + +[Sidenote: German relation with the Russian autocracy.] + +There remained but one element to confuse the issue. One other great +autocracy, the Government of the Russian Czar, had long been hostile to +free institutions; it had been a stronghold of tyrannies reaching far +back into the past, and its presence among the Allies had seemed to be +in disaccord with the great liberal principles they were upholding in +this war. Russia had been a source of doubt. Repeatedly during the +conflict liberal Europe had been startled by the news of secret accord +between the Kaiser and the Czar. + +[Sidenote: The people of Russia overthrow the Czar's Government.] + +But now at this crucial time for our nation, on the eve of our entrance +into the war, the free men of all the world were thrilled and heartened +by the news that the people of Russia had risen to throw off their +Government and found a new democracy; and the torch of freedom in Russia +lit up the last dark phases of the situation abroad. Here, indeed, was a +fit partner for the League of Honor. The conviction was finally +crystallized in American minds and hearts that this war across the sea +was no mere conflict between dynasties, but a stupendous civil war of +all the world; a new campaign in the age-old war, the prize of which is +liberty. Here, at last, was a struggle in which all who love freedom +have a stake. Further neutrality on our part would have been a crime +against our ancestors, who had given their lives that we might be free. + +"The world must be made safe for democracy." + +[Sidenote: The President's message to Congress.] + +On the 2d of April, 1917, the President read to the new Congress his +message, in which he asked the Representatives of the nation to declare +the existence of a state of war, and in the early hours of the 6th of +April the House by an overwhelming vote accepted the joint resolution +which had already passed the Senate. + +"_Whereas_, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts +of war against the Government and the people of the United States of +America: Therefore be it + +[Sidenote: The declaration of the existence of a state of war.] + +"_Resolved_ by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between +the United States and the Imperial German Government which has thus been +thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and that the +President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the +entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources +of the Government to carry on the war against the Imperial German +Government, and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all +the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the +United States." + +Neutrality was a thing of the past. The time had come when the +President's proud prophecy was fulfilled: + +[Sidenote: America guided by moral force.] + +"There will come that day when the world will say, 'This America that we +thought was full of a multitude of contrary counsels now speaks with the +great volume of the heart's accord, and that great heart of America has +behind it the supreme moral force of righteousness and hope and the +liberty of mankind.'" + + + + +THE WAR MESSAGE + +PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON + + +[Sidenote: Why Congress was called in extraordinary session.] + +I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are +serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made +immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permissible +that I should assume the responsibility of making. + +On the 3d of February last I officially laid before you the +extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and +after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all +restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every +vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and +Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled +by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean. + +[Sidenote: The question of submarine warfare.] + +[Sidenote: A cruel and unmanly business.] + +That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier +in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had +somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft, in conformity +with its promise, then given to us, that passenger boats should not be +sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its +submarines might seek to destroy, when no resistance was offered or +escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a +fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions +taken were meagre and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing +instance after instance in the progress of the cruel and unmanly +business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed. + +[Sidenote: Germany sweeps all restriction away.] + +The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, +whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, +their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning +and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of +friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships +and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of +Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the +proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished +by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless +lack of compassion or of principle. + +[Sidenote: International law on the seas.] + +I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in +fact be done by any Government that had hitherto subscribed to humane +practices of civilized nations. International law had its origin in the +attempt to set up some law which would be respected and observed upon +the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay the free +highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been +built up, with meagre enough results, indeed, after all was accomplished +that could be accomplished, but always with a clear view, at least, of +what the heart and conscience of mankind demanded. + +[Sidenote: Germany shows no scruples of humanity.] + +This minimum of right the German Government has swept aside, under the +plea of retaliation and necessity and because it had no weapons which it +could use at sea except these, which it is impossible to employ, as it +is employing them, without throwing to the wind all scruples of humanity +or of respect for the understandings that were supposed to underlie the +intercourse of the world. + +[Sidenote: Lives cannot be paid for.] + +I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and +serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of +the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children, engaged in +pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern +history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; +the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. The present German +submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. + +[Sidenote: American lives taken at at sea.] + +It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American +lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, +but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been +sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no +discrimination. + +[Sidenote: Our motive vindication of human right.] + +The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how +it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a +moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our +character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. +Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the +physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of +human right, of which we are only a single champion. + +[Sidenote: Submarines are in effect outlaws.] + +[Sidenote: Must be dealt with on sight.] + +When I addressed the Congress on the 26th of February last I thought +that it would suffice to assert our neutral rights with arms, our right +to use the seas against unlawful interference, our right to keep our +people safe against unlawful violence. But armed neutrality, it now +appears, is impracticable. Because submarines are in effect outlaws, +when used as the German submarines have been used against merchant +shipping, it is impossible to defend ships against their attacks, as +the law of nations has assumed that merchantmen would defend themselves +against privateers or cruisers, visible craft giving chase upon the open +sea. It is common prudence in such circumstances, grim necessity indeed, +to endeavor to destroy them before they have shown their own intention. +They must be dealt with upon sight, if dealt with at all. + +[Sidenote: Armed neutrality ineffectual] + +The German Government denies the right of neutrals to use arms at all +within the areas of the sea which it has proscribed, even in the defense +of rights which no modern publicist has ever before questioned their +right to defend. The intimation is conveyed that the armed guards which +we have placed on our merchant ships will be treated as beyond the pale +of law and subject to be dealt with as pirates would be. Armed +neutrality is ineffectual enough at best; in such circumstances and in +the face of such pretensions it is worse than ineffectual; it is likely +only to produce what it was meant to prevent; it is practically certain +to draw us into the war without either the rights or the effectiveness +of belligerents. There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of +making; we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most +sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. +The wrongs against which we now array ourselves are no common wrongs; +they cut to the very roots of human life. + +[Sidenote: Course of Germany actually war on the United States.] + +With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the +step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, +but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty, I +advise that the Congress declare the recent course of the Imperial +German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the +Government and people of the United States; that it formally accept the +status of belligerent which has thus been thrust upon it; and that it +take immediate steps not only to put the country in a more thorough +state of defense, but also to exert all its power and employ all its +resources to bring the Government of the German Empire to terms and end +the war. + +[Sidenote: Necessary to co-operate with Ententes.] + +What this will involve is clear. It will involve the utmost practicable +co-operation in counsel and action with the Governments now at war with +Germany, and, as incident to that, the extension to those Governments of +the most liberal financial credits, in order that our resources may so +far as possible be added to theirs. + +[Sidenote: Resources must be organized.] + +It will involve the organization and mobilization of all the material +resources of the country to supply the materials of war and serve the +incidental needs of the nation in the most abundant and yet the most +economical and efficient way possible. + +It will involve the immediate full equipment of the navy in all +respects, but particularly in supplying it with the best means of +dealing with the enemy's submarines. + +[Sidenote: A great army must be raised.] + +It will involve the immediate addition to the armed forces of the United +States, already provided for by law in case of war, of at least 500,000 +men, who should, in my opinion, be chosen upon the principle of +universal liability to service, and also the authorization of subsequent +additional increments of equal force so soon as they may be needed and +can be handled in training. + +[Sidenote: The Government will need adequate credits.] + +It will involve also, of course, the granting of adequate credits to the +Government, sustained, I hope, so far as they can equitably be sustained +by the present generation, by well-conceived taxation. + +I say sustained so far as may be equitable by taxation, because it seems +to me that it would be most unwise to base the credits, which will now +be necessary, entirely on money borrowed. It is our duty, I most +respectfully urge, to protect our people, so far as we may, against the +very serious hardships and evils which would be likely to arise out of +the inflation which would be produced by vast loans. + +[Sidenote: Nations must obtain supplies from us.] + +In carrying out the measures by which these things are to be +accomplished we should keep constantly in mind the wisdom of interfering +as little as possible in our own preparation and in the equipment of our +own military forces with the duty--for it will be a very practical +duty--of supplying the nations already at war with Germany with the +materials which they can obtain only from us or by our assistance. They +are in the field, and we should help them in every way to be effective +there. + +[Sidenote: Measure suggested to accomplish nation's ends.] + +I shall take the liberty of suggesting, through the several executive +departments of the Government, for the consideration of your committees, +measures for the accomplishment of the several objects I have mentioned. +I hope that it will be your pleasure to deal with them as having been +framed after very careful thought by the branch of the Government upon +whom the responsibility of conducting the war and safeguarding the +nation will most directly fall. + +[Sidenote: Concert of purpose and action among free peoples.] + +While we do these things, these deeply momentous things, let us be very +clear, and make very clear to all the world, what our motives and our +objects are. My own thought has not been driven from its habitual and +normal course by the unhappy events of the last two months, and I do not +believe that the thought of the nation has been altered or clouded by +them. I have exactly the same things in mind now that I had in mind when +I addressed the Senate on the 22d of January last; the same that I had +in mind when I addressed the Congress on the 3d of February and on the +26th of February. Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the +principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against +selfish and autocratic power, and to set up among the really free and +self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of +action as will henceforth insure the observance of those principles. + +[Sidenote: Standards of conduct for nations.] + +Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the +world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that +peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic Governments, +backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not +by the will of their people. We have seen the last of neutrality in such +circumstances. We are at the beginning of an age in which it will be +insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for +wrong done shall be observed among nations and their Governments that +are observed among the individual citizens of civilized States. + +[Sidenote: A war determined upon by rulers.] + +We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feeling toward +them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse +that their Government acted in entering this war. It was not with their +previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars +used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days, when peoples were +nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in +the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were +accustomed to use their fellow-men as pawns and tools. + +[Sidenote: Such aggression impossible where people rule.] + +Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor States with spies or +set the course of intrigue to bring about some critical posture of +affairs which will give them an opportunity to strike and make conquest. +Such designs can be successfully worked out only under cover and where +no one has the right to ask questions. Cunningly contrived plans of +deception or aggression, carried, it may be, from generation to +generation, can be worked out and kept from the light only within the +privacy of courts or behind the carefully guarded confidences of a +narrow and privileged class. They are happily impossible where public +opinion commands and insists upon full information concerning all of the +nation's affairs. + +[Sidenote: Only a partnership of democratic nations can maintain peace.] + +A steadfast concert for peace can never be maintained except by a +partnership of democratic nations. No autocratic Government could be +trusted to keep faith within it or observe its covenants. It must be a +league of honor, a partnership of opinion. Intrigue would eat its vitals +away; the plottings of inner circles who could plan what they would and +render account to no one would be a corruption seated at its very heart. +Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a +common end and prefer the interests of mankind to any narrow interest of +their own. + +[Sidenote: What is happening in Russia.] + +Does not every American feel that assurance has been added to our hope +for the future peace of the world by the wonderful and heartening things +that have been happening within the last few weeks in Russia? Russia was +known by those who knew her best to have been always in fact democratic +at heart in all the vital habits of her thought, in all the intimate +relationships of her people that spoke their natural instinct, their +habitual attitude toward life. The autocracy that crowned the summit of +her political structure, long as it had stood and terrible as was the +reality of its power, was not in fact Russian in origin, character, or +purpose; and now it has been shaken off and the great, generous Russian +people have been added, in all their naive majesty and might, to the +forces that are fighting for freedom in the world, for justice, and for +peace. Here is a fit partner for a League of Honor. + +[Sidenote: Prussia has filled America with spies.] + +One of the things that have served to convince us that the Prussian +autocracy was not and could never be our friend is that from the very +outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting communities, +and even our offices of government, with spies and set criminal +intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity of counsel, our +peace within and without, our industries and our commerce. Indeed, it is +now evident that its spies were here even before the war began; and it +is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact proved in our courts +of justice, that the intrigues which have more than once come perilously +near to disturbing the peace and dislocating the industries of the +country, have been carried on at the instigation, with the support, and +even under the personal direction of official agents of the Imperial +Government accredited to the Government of the United States. + +[Sidenote: The United States has been generous.] + +Even in checking these things and trying to extirpate them we have +sought to put the most generous interpretation possible upon them +because we knew that their source lay, not in any hostile feeling or +purpose of the German people toward us, (who were, no doubt, as ignorant +of them as we ourselves were,) but only in the selfish designs of a +Government that did what it pleased and told its people nothing. But +they have played their part in serving to convince us at last that that +Government entertains no real friendship for us, and means to act +against our peace and security at its convenience. That it means to stir +up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted note to the +German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence. + +[Sidenote: Why we accept the challenge.] + +We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we know that +in such a Government, following such methods, we can never have a +friend; and that in the presence of its organized power, always lying in +wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there can be no assured +security for the democratic Governments of the world. We are now about +to accept the gage of battle with this natural foe to liberty and shall, +if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation to check and nullify +its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now that we see the facts +with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the +ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, the +German peoples included; for the rights of nations, great and small, and +the privilege of men everywhere to choose their way of life and of +obedience. + +[Sidenote: America has no selfish ends to serve.] + +The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted +upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish +ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no +indemnities for ourselves, no material compensation for the sacrifices +we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of +mankind. We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as +secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them. + +[Sidenote: America will observe principles of right.] + +Just because we fight without rancor and without selfish object, seeking +nothing for ourselves but what we shall wish to share with all free +peoples, we shall, I feel confident, conduct our operations as +belligerents without passion and ourselves observe with proud punctilio +the principles of right and of fair play we profess to be fighting for. + +[Sidenote: Germany only has actually made war on America.] + +I have said nothing of the Governments allied with the Imperial +Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us or +challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-Hungarian +Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified indorsement and +acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare, adopted now +without disguise by the Imperial German Government, and it has therefore +not been possible for this Government to receive Count Tarnowski, the +Ambassador recently accredited to this Government by the Imperial and +Royal Government of Austria-Hungary; but that Government has not +actually engaged in warfare against citizens of the United States on the +seas, and I take the liberty, for the present at least, of postponing a +discussion of our relations with the authorities at Vienna. We enter +this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no +other means of defending our rights. + +[Sidenote: America fights the irresponsible Government of Germany.] + +It will be all the easier for us to conduct ourselves as belligerents in +a high spirit of right and fairness because we act without animus, not +with enmity toward a people or with the desire to bring any injury or +disadvantage upon them, but only in armed opposition to an irresponsible +Government which has thrown aside all considerations of humanity and of +right and is running amuck. + +We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German people, and +shall desire nothing so much as the early re-establishment of intimate +relations of mutual advantage between us, however hard it may be for +them for the time being to believe that this is spoken from our hearts. +We have borne with their present Government through all these bitter +months because of that friendship, exercising a patience and forbearance +which would otherwise have been impossible. + +[Sidenote: Most Americans of German birth are loyal to the United +States.] + +We shall happily still have an opportunity to prove that friendship in +our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men and women of +German birth and native sympathy who live among us and share our life, +and we shall be proud to prove it toward all who are in fact loyal to +their neighbors and to the Government in the hour of test. They are most +of them as true and loyal Americans as if they had never known any other +fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt to stand with us in rebuking +and restraining the few who may be of a different mind and purpose. If +there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with with a firm hand of +stern repression; but, if it lifts its head at all, it will lift it only +here and there and without countenance except from a lawless and +malignant few. + +[Sidenote: Trial and sacrifice ahead.] + +It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Congress, +which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are, it may be, +many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful +thing to lead this great, peaceful people into war, into the most +terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be +in the balance. + +[Sidenote: America will fight for democracy.] + +But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the +things which we have always carried nearest our hearts--for democracy, +for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their +own Governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a +universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall +bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last +free. + +To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything +that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who +know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood +and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and +the peace which she has treasured. + +God helping her, she can do no other. + + +DECLARATION OF WAR + +[Sidenote: Germany has made war on the United States.] + +_Whereas_, The Imperial German Government has committed repeated acts of +war against the Government and the people of the United States of +America; therefore, be it + +[Sidenote: War is formally declared.] + +_Resolved_, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled. That the state of war between +the United States and the Imperial German Government, which has thus +been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared; and + +[Sidenote: The President is given full authority.] + +That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to +employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the +resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial German +Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all +the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the +United States. + + +PROCLAMATION TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE + +BY PRESIDENT WILSON + +[Sidenote: Congress has declared war.] + +_Whereas_, The Congress of the United States, in the exercise of the +constitutional authority vested in them, have resolved by joint +resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, bearing date this +day, "that a state of war between the United States and the Imperial +German Government which has been thrust upon the United States is hereby +formally declared"; + +_Whereas_, It is provided by Section 4,067 of the Revised Statutes as +follows: + +[Sidenote: Proclamation regarding alien enemies.] + +"Whenever there is declared a war between the United States and any +foreign nation or Government or any invasion or predatory incursion is +perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the +United States by any foreign nation or Government, and the President +makes public proclamation of the event, all native citizens, denizens, +or subjects of a hostile nation or Government being male of the age of +14 years and upward, who shall be within the United States and not +actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, +secured, and removed as alien enemies. The President is authorized in +any such event by his proclamation thereof, or other public acts, to +direct the conduct to be observed on the part of the United States +toward the aliens who become so liable; the manner and degree of the +restraint to which they shall be subject and in what cases and upon what +security their residence shall be permitted, and to provide for the +removal of those who, not being permitted to reside within the United +States, refuse or neglect to depart therefrom; and to establish any such +regulations which are found necessary in the premises and for the public +safety." + +_Whereas_, By Sections 4,068, 4,069, and 4,070 of the Revised Statutes, +further provision is made relative to alien enemies; + +[Sidenote: All officers of the United States are warned to be vigilant.] + +_Now, therefore_, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of +America, do hereby proclaim, to all whom it may concern, that a state of +war exists between the United States and the Imperial German Government, +and I do specially direct all officers, civil or military, of the United +States that they exercise vigilance and zeal in the discharge of the +duties incident to such a state of war, and I do, moreover, earnestly +appeal to all American citizens that they, in loyal devotion to their +country, dedicated from its foundation to the principles of liberty and +justice, uphold the laws of the land, and give undivided and willing +support to those measures which may be adopted by the constitutional +authorities in prosecuting the war to a successful issue and in +obtaining a secure and just peace; + +And, acting under and by virtue of the authority vested in me by the +Constitution of the United States and the said sections of the Revised +Statutes, + +[Sidenote: Conduct to be observed toward alien enemies.] + +I do hereby further proclaim and direct that the conduct to be observed +on the part of the United States toward all natives, citizens, denizens, +or subjects of Germany, being male of the age of 14 years and upward, +who shall be within the United States and not actually naturalized, who +for the purpose of this proclamation and under such sections of the +Revised Statutes are termed alien enemies, shall be as follows: + +[Sidenote: Alien enemies must preserve the peace.] + +All alien enemies are enjoined to preserve the peace toward the United +States and to refrain from crime against the public safety and from +violating the laws of the United States and of the States and +Territories thereof, and to refrain from actual hostility or giving +information, aid, or comfort to the enemies of the United States and to +comply strictly with the regulations which are hereby, or which may be +from time to time promulgated by the President, and so long as they +shall conduct themselves in accordance with law they shall be +undisturbed in the peaceful pursuit of their lives and occupations, and +be accorded the consideration due to all peaceful and law-abiding +persons, except so far as restrictions may be necessary for their own +protection and for the safety of the United States, and toward such +alien enemies as conduct themselves in accordance with law all citizens +of the United States are enjoined to preserve the peace and to treat +them with all such friendliness as may be compatible with loyalty and +allegiance to the United States. + +[Sidenote: Penalties added to those prescribed by law.] + +And all alien enemies who fail to conduct themselves as so enjoined, in +addition to all other penalties prescribed by law, shall be liable to +restraint or to give security or to remove and depart from the United +States, in the manner prescribed by Sections 4,069 and 4,070 of the +Revised Statutes and as prescribed in the regulations duly promulgated +by the President. + +[Sidenote: The necessary regulations.] + +And pursuant to the authority vested in me, I hereby declare and +establish the following regulations, which I find necessary in the +premises and for the public safety: + +[Sidenote: Cannot possess weapons.] + +1. An alien enemy shall not have in his possession at any time or place +any firearms, weapons, or implements of war, or component parts thereof, +ammunition, Maxim or other silencer, arms, or explosives or material +used in the manufacture of explosives; + +[Sidenote: No signaling devices or cipher codes.] + +2. An alien enemy shall not have in his possession at any time or place, +or use or operate, any aircraft or wireless apparatus, or any form of +signaling device or any form of cipher code or any paper, document, or +book written or printed in cipher or in which there may be invisible +writing; + +[Sidenote: Property may be seized.] + +3. All property found in the possession of an alien enemy in violation +of the foregoing regulations shall be subject to seizure by the United +States; + +[Sidenote: Must not approach forts or munition works.] + +4. An alien enemy shall not approach or be found within one-half of a +mile of any Federal or State fort, camp, arsenal, aircraft station, +Government or naval vessel, navy yard, factory, or workshop for the +manufacture of munitions of war or of any products for the use of the +army or navy; + +[Sidenote: Must not speak or write against the United States.] + +5. An alien enemy shall not write, print, or publish any attack or +threat against the Government or Congress of the United States, or +either branch thereof, or against the measures or policy of the United +States, or against the persons or property of any person in the +military, naval, or civil service of the United States, or of the States +or Territories, or of the District of Columbia, or of the municipal +governments therein; + +[Sidenote: Must not commit any hostile act.] + +6. An alien enemy shall not commit or abet any hostile acts against the +United States or give information, aid, or comfort to its enemies; + +[Sidenote: Must not enter prohibited areas.] + +7. An alien enemy shall not reside in or continue to reside in, to +remain in, or enter any locality which the President may from time to +time designate by an Executive order as a prohibitive area, in which +residence by an alien enemy shall be found by him to constitute a danger +to the public peace and safety of the United States, except by permit +from the President and except under such limitations or restrictions as +the President may prescribe; + +[Sidenote: May be made to remove by executive order.] + +8. An alien enemy whom the President shall have reasonable cause to +believe to be aiding or about to aid the enemy or to be at large to the +danger of the public peace or safety of the United States, or to have +violated or to be about to violate any of these regulations, shall +remove to any location designated by the President by Executive order, +and shall not remove therefrom without permit, or shall depart from the +United States if so required by the President; + +[Sidenote: Cannot leave country without permission.] + +9. No alien enemy shall depart from the United States until he shall +have received such permit as the President shall prescribe, or except +under order of a court, Judge, or Justice, under Sections 4,069 and +4,070 of the Revised Statutes; + +[Sidenote: Entering United States regulated.] + +10. No alien enemy shall land in or enter the United States except under +such restrictions and at such places as the President may prescribe; + +[Sidenote: May be obliged to register.] + +11. If necessary to prevent violation of the regulations, all alien +enemies will be obliged to register; + +[Sidenote: Alien enemies who violate rules to be arrested.] + +12. An alien enemy whom there may be reasonable cause to believe to be +aiding or about to aid the enemy, or who may be at large to the danger +of the public peace or safety, or who violates or who attempts to +violate or of whom there is reasonable grounds to believe that he is +about to violate, any regulation to be promulgated by the President or +any criminal law of the United States, or of the States or Territories +thereof, will be subject to summary arrest by the United States Marshal, +or his Deputy, or such other officers as the President shall designate, +and to confinement in such penitentiary, prison, jail, military camp, or +other place of detention as may be directed by the President. + +This proclamation and the regulations herein contained shall extend and +apply to all land and water, continental or insular, in any way within +the jurisdiction of the United States. + + * * * * * + +Saloniki was one of the mysteries of the war. News from that city was +brief and unsatisfying in the main. Great things, however, were done +there, and none greater than those accomplished by the British. Some of +these accomplishments are told in the pages that follow. + + + + +BRITISH OPERATIONS AT SALONIKI + +OFFICIAL REPORT OF GENERAL MILNE + + +[Sidenote: Reinforcements needed north of Saloniki.] + +[Sidenote: Italy to send 300,000.] + +Since the conference at Rome the situation in Macedonia has been +radically changed. The weakness of General Sarrail's position lay in the +fact that neither England nor France felt free to send from the critical +western front the large reinforcements of men which the situation north +of Saloniki called for. Italy had the men, but was unwilling to send +them and to incur the heavy additional expense of maintaining them in +Macedonia. The conference at Rome, in which Premier Lloyd George was the +dominant figure, overcame that reluctance, probably promising Italy +parts of the Turkish Empire that had been earlier assigned tentatively +to Greece and guaranteeing the cost of the new expedition. The result +has been immediate and of the highest importance. Rome dispatches +indicate that Italy has sent, or is sending, a force of not less than +300,000 men; that these troops, to avoid the danger of submarines, are +being dispatched, not to Saloniki, but to Avlona, which is within forty +miles of the Italian coast; and, finally, these Italian forces have not +only built an excellent highway through the Albanian mountains but have +already joined forces with General Sarrail's right wing at Monastir. All +these facts indicate early activity in the Macedonian sector. + +[Sidenote: General G. F. Milne's report.] + +This glimpse of present conditions will serve to introduce the following +report of General G. F. Milne, commanding the British Saloniki Army in +Macedonia, on last Summer's operations in that sector. His report, +submitted to the British War Office early in December, 1916, covered the +army's operations from May 9, 1916, to October 8, 1916. The official +text of the report is here reproduced, with a few minor omissions: + +[Sidenote: Found army concentrated near Saloniki.] + +[Sidenote: British forces responsible for front on east and northeast.] + +[Sidenote: Construction of defenses.] + +"On May 9, 1916, the greater part of the army was concentrated within +the fortified lines of Saloniki, extending from Stavros on the east to +near the Galiko River on the west; a mixed force, consisting of a +mounted brigade and a division, had been pushed forward to the north of +Kukush in order to support the French Army which had advanced and was +watching the right bank of the Struma River and the northern frontier of +Greece. Further moves in this direction were contemplated, but, in order +to keep the army concentrated, I entered into an agreement with General +Sarrail by which the British forces should become responsible for that +portion of the allied front which covered Saloniki from the east and +northeast. By this arrangement a definite and independent area was +allotted to the army under my command. On June 8, 1916, the troops +commenced to occupy advanced positions along the right bank of the River +Struma and its tributary, the River Butkova, from Lake Tachinos to +Lozista village. By the end of July, on the demobilization of the Greek +Army, this occupation had extended to the sea at Chai Aghizi. Along the +whole front the construction of a line of resistance was begun; work on +trenches, entanglements, bridgeheads, and supporting points was +commenced; for administrative purposes the reconstruction of the +Saloniki-Seres road was undertaken and the cutting of wagon tracks +through the mountainous country was pushed forward. + +[Sidenote: British take over line near Doiran.] + +[Sidenote: Capture of Horseshoe Hill.] + +"On July 20, 1916, in accordance with the policy laid down in my +instructions, and in order to release French troops for employment +elsewhere, I began to take over the line south and west of Lake Doiran, +and commenced preparations for a joint offensive on this front. This +move was completed by August 2, 1916, and on the 10th of that month an +offensive was commenced against the Bulgarian defenses south of the line +Doiran-Hill 535. The French captured Hills 227 and La Tortue, while the +British occupied in succession those features of the main 535 ridge now +known as Kidney Hill and Horseshoe Hill, and, pushing forward, +established a series of advanced posts on the line Doldzeli-Reselli. The +capture of Horseshoe Hill was successfully carried out on the night of +August 17-18, 1916, by the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light +Infantry at the point of the bayonet in the face of stubborn opposition. +The enemy's counterattacks were repulsed with heavy loss. + +[Sidenote: The Bulgarian advance.] + +[Sidenote: British and French attack.] + +"On August 17, 1916, the Bulgarians, who, at the end of May, had entered +Greek territory by the Struma Valley and moved down as far as Demir +Hissar, continued their advance into Greek Macedonia. Columns of all +arms advanced from seven different points, between Sarisaban, on the +Mesta, and Demir Hissar. The four eastern columns converged on the +country about Drama and Kavala, while the remainder moved southward on +to the line of the Struma from Demir Hissar toward Orfano. On August 19, +1916, a mounted brigade with one battery carried out a strong +reconnoissance, and found the enemy in some force on the line +Prosenik-Barakli Djuma; on the following day, after being reinforced by +a battalion, this brigade again advanced in conjunction with the French +detachment. These attacking troops, after encountering the enemy in +force on the line Kalendra-Prosenik-Haznatar, withdrew after dark to +the right bank of the Struma. The French detachment was subsequently +placed under the orders of the General Officer Commanding British troops +on this front, and received instructions to cooperate in the defense of +the river line. + +[Sidenote: Bridges over Angista River destroyed.] + +"On August 21, 1916, the railway bridge near Angista Station was +demolished by a detachment from the Neohori garrison, and three days +later two road bridges over the Angista River were destroyed. Both these +operations were well carried out by yeomanry, engineers, and cyclists in +the face of hostile opposition. + +[Sidenote: Bulgarians in Eastern Macedonia.] + +"The Bulgarians continued their advance into Eastern Macedonia unopposed +by the Greek garrison, and it was estimated that by the end of August +the enemy's forces, extending from Demir Hissar southward in the Seres +sector of the Struma front, comprised the complete Seventh Bulgarian +Division, with two or three regiments of the Eleventh Macedonian +Division, which had moved eastward from their positions on the Beles +Mountain to act as a reserve to the Seventh Division, and at the same +time to occupy the defenses from Vetrina-Pujovo northward. Opposite the +Lower Struma was a brigade of the Second Division, with a brigade of the +Tenth Division, in occupation of the coast and the zone of country +between Orfano and the Drama-Kavala road. This brigade of the Tenth +Division was supported by another brigade in the Drama Kavala area. As a +result of this advance and of a similar move in the west General Sarrail +decided to intrust to the British Army the task of maintaining the +greater portion of the right and center of the allied line. + +[Sidenote: Northumberland Fusiliers capture Nevolien.] + +"On September 10, 1916, detachments crossed the river above Lake +Tachinos at five places between Bajraktar Mah and Dragos, while a sixth +detachment crossed lower down at Neohori. The villages of Oraoman and +Kato Gudeli were occupied, and Northumberland Fusiliers gallantly +captured Nevolien, taking thirty prisoners and driving the enemy out of +the village. The latter lost heavily during their retirement and in +their subsequent counterattack. They also suffered severely from our +artillery fire in attempting to follow our prearranged movements to +regain the right bank of the river. + +[Sidenote: Rise in the Struma River hinders operations.] + +"On the 15th similar operations were undertaken, six small columns +crossing the river between Lake Tachinos and Orljak bridge. The villages +of Kato Gudeli, Dzami Mah, Agomah, and Komarjan were burned and +twenty-seven prisoners were taken. The enemy's counterattacks completely +broke down under the accurate fire of our guns on the right bank of the +river. On the 23d a similar scheme was put into action, but a sudden +rise of three feet in the Struma interfered with the bridging +operations. Nevertheless, the enemy's trenches at Yenimah were captured, +fourteen prisoners taken, and three other villages raided. Considerable +help was given on each occasion by the French detachment under Colonel +Bescoins, and much information was obtained which proved to be of +considerable value during subsequent operations. + +[Sidenote: British attack Matzikovo salient.] + +[Sidenote: Heavy artillery fire from the enemy.] + +[Sidenote: British carry out bombing raids.] + +"On the Doiran-River Vardar front there remained as before the whole of +the Bulgarian Ninth Division, less one regiment; a brigade of the Second +Division and at least two-thirds of the German 101st Division, which had +intrenched the salient north of Matzikovo on the usual German system. To +assist the general offensive by the Allies I ordered this salient to be +attacked at the same time as the allied operations in the Florina area +commenced. With this object in view the whole of the enemy's intrenched +position was subjected to a heavy bombardment from Septem. 11 to 13, +1916, the southwest corner of the salient known as the Piton des +Mitrailleuses being specially selected for destruction. The enemy's +position was occupied during the night 13th-14th, after a skillfully +planned and gallant assault, in which the King's Liverpool Regiment and +Lancashire Fusiliers specially distinguished themselves. Over 200 +Germans were killed in the work, chiefly by bombing, and seventy-one +prisoners were brought in. During the 14th the enemy concentrated from +three directions a very heavy artillery fire, and delivered several +counterattacks, which were for the most part broken up under the fire of +our guns. Some of the enemy, however, succeeded in forcing an entrance +into the work, and severe fighting followed. As hostile reinforcements +were increasing in numbers, and as the rocky nature of the ground +rendered rapid consolidation difficult, the troops were withdrawn in the +evening to their original line, the object of the attack having been +accomplished. This withdrawal was conducted with little loss, thanks to +the very effective fire of the artillery. During the bombardment and +subsequent counterattack the enemy's losses must have been considerable. +On the same front on the night of the 20th-21st, after bombarding the +hostile positions on the Crete des Tentes, a strong detachment raided +and bombed the trenches and dugouts, retiring quickly with little loss. +A similar raid was carried out northeast of Doldzeli. + +"In addition to these operations and raids, constant combats took place +between patrols, many prisoners being captured, and several bombing +raids were carried out by the Royal Flying Corps. + +[Sidenote: Operations on a more extensive scale.] + +[Sidenote: Bridging the Struma River.] + +"In order further to assist the progress of our allies toward Monastir +by maintaining such a continuous offensive as would insure no +transference of Bulgarian troops from the Struma front to the west, I +now issued instructions for operations on a more extensive scale than +those already reported. In accordance with these the General Officer +Commanding on that front commenced operations by seizing and holding +certain villages on the left bank of the river with a view to enlarging +the bridgehead opposite Orljak, whence he would be in a position to +threaten a further movement either on Seres or on Demir Hissar. The high +ground on the right bank of the river enabled full use to be made of our +superiority in artillery, which contributed greatly to the success of +these operations. The river itself formed a potential danger, owing to +the rapidity with which its waters rise after heavy rain in the +mountains, but on the night of September 29, 1916, sufficient bridges +had been constructed by the Royal Engineers for the passage of all arms. +During the night of September 29-30 the attacking infantry crossed below +Orljak bridge and formed up on the left bank. + +[Sidenote: Scotch troops take several villages.] + +"At dawn on the following morning the Gloucesters and the Cameron +Highlanders advanced under cover of an artillery bombardment, and by 8 +a.m. had seized the village of Karadjakoi Bala. Shortly after the +occupation of the village the enemy opened a heavy and accurate +artillery fire, but the remaining two battalions of the brigade, the +Royal Scots and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, though suffering +severely from enfilade fire, pushed on against Karadjakoi Zir. By 5.30 +p. m. that village also was occupied, in spite of the stubborn +resistance of the enemy. Attempts to bring forward hostile +reinforcements were frustrated during the day by our artillery, but +during the night the Bulgarians launched several strong counterattacks, +which were repulsed with heavy loss. + +[Sidenote: Capture of Yenikoi.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy counterattacks.] + +[Sidenote: British consolidate new line.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy casualties heavy.] + +"During the following night determined counterattacks of the enemy were +again repulsed, and by the evening of October 2, 1916, the position had +been fully consolidated. Preparations were at once made to extend the +position by the capture of Yenikoi, an important village on the main +Seres road. This operation was successfully carried out by an infantry +brigade, composed of the Royal Munster and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, on +the morning of October 3, 1916, after bombardment by our artillery. By 7 +a. m. the village was in our hands. During the day the enemy launched +three heavy counterattacks. The first two were stopped by artillery +fire, which caused severe loss. At 4 p. m. the village, the ground in +the rear, and the bridges were subjected to an unexpectedly heavy +bombardment from several heavy batteries which had hitherto not +disclosed their positions. Following on the bombardment was the heaviest +counterattack of the day, six or seven battalions advancing from the +direction of Homondos, Kalendra, and Topalova with a view to enveloping +our positions. This attack was carried forward with great determination, +and some detachments succeeded in entering the northern portion of +Yenikoi, where hard fighting continued all night, until fresh +reinforcements succeeded in clearing out such enemy as survived. During +the following day the consolidation of our new line was continued under +artillery fire. On the 5th, after a bombardment, the village of Nevolien +was occupied, the Bulgarian garrison retiring on the approach of our +infantry. By the following evening the front extended from Komarjan on +the right via Yenikoi to Elisan on the left. On the 7th a strong +reconnoissance by mounted troops located the enemy on the Demir +Hissar-Seres railway, with advanced posts approximately on the line of +the Belica stream and a strong garrison in Barakli Djuma. On October 8, +1916, our troops had reached the line Agomah-Homondos-Elisan-Ormanli, +with the mounted troops on the line Kispeki-Kalendra. The enemy's +casualties during these few days were heavy. + +[Sidenote: Assistance of the Royal Flying Corps.] + +"I consider that the success of these operations was due to the skill +and decision with which they were conducted by Lieutenant General C. J. +Briggs, C. B., and to the excellent cooperation of all arms, which was +greatly assisted by the exceptional facilities for observation of +artillery fire. The Royal Flying Corps, in spite of the difficulties +which they had to overcome and the great strain on their resources, +rendered valuable assistance. Armored motor cars were used with effect. +* * * + +"On the enforcement of martial law the management of the three lines of +railway radiating from Saloniki had to be undertaken by the Allies; one +line, the Junction-Saloniki-Constantinople, is now entirely administered +by the British Army; this, together with the additional railway traffic +involved by the arrival of the Serbian Army, as well as the Russian and +Italian troops, has thrown a considerable strain on the railway +directorate." + + * * * * * + +Russia, after three years of warfare against Austria and Germany, during +which millions of her soldiers were killed and wounded, startled the +world suddenly, in February, 1917, by casting out the Czar and +establishing a provisional government, which purported to be a +government by the people and not by the bureaucracy. The dramatic events +of the first days of the revolution are described in the following +chapter. + + + + +IN PETROGRAD DURING THE SEVEN DAYS + +ARNO DOSCH-FLEUROT + +Copyright, World's Work, July, 1917. + + +[Sidenote: Cossacks trotting through the Nevsky in Petrograd.] + +A crowd of ordinary citizens were passing in front of the Singer +Building on the Nevsky in Petrograd at noon February 25th, Russian time +(March 10th), stopping occasionally to watch a company of Cossacks +amiably roughing some students with a miscellaneous following who +insisted on assembling across the street before the wide, sweeping +colonnades of Kasan Cathedral. As the Cossacks trotted through, hands +empty, rifles slung on shoulders, the crowds cheered, the Cossacks +laughed. + +A few trolley cars had stopped, though not stalled, and groups of +curious on-lookers had crowded in for a grandstand view. The only people +who did not seem interested in the spectacle were hundreds of women with +shawls over their heads who had been standing in line for many hours +before the bread-shops along the Catherine Canal. + +[Sidenote: Some Cossacks and infantry in side streets.] + +[Sidenote: People charged by police.] + +People were going about their affairs up and down the Nevsky without +being stopped, and sleighs were passing constantly. Cossacks and a few +companies of infantrymen were beginning to appear on the side streets in +considerable numbers, but, as a demonstration over the lack of bread in +the Russian capital had been going on at intervals for two days with +very little violence, people were beginning to get used to it. I arrived +from the direction of the Moika Canal just as the cannon boomed midday +and I felt sufficiently unhurried to correct my watch. Then I hailed a +British general in uniform who had arrived, also unimpeded, from the +opposite direction, and we had just stopped to comment on the unusual +attitude of populace and Cossacks, when there was a sudden rush of +people around the corner from the Catherine Canal and before we could +even reach the doubtful protection of a doorway a company of mounted +police charged around the corner and started up the Nevsky on the +sidewalk. We were obviously harmless onlookers, fur-clad bourgeois, but +the police plunged through at a hard trot, bare sabres flashing in the +cold sunshine. The British general and I were knocked down together and +escaped trampling only because the police were splendidly mounted, and a +well-bred horse will not step on a man if he can help it. + +[Sidenote: Display of stupid physical force.] + +This was a display of that well-known stupid physical force which used +to be the basis of strength of the Russian Empire. Its ruthlessness, its +carelessness of life, however innocent, terrorized, and, we used to +think, won respect. We know better now, especially those of us who were +eye-witnesses of the Russian revolution, and saw how the police provoked +a quarrel they could not handle. + +[Sidenote: Crowds begin to be dangerously large.] + +I watched the growth of the revolt with wonder. Knowing something of the +dissatisfaction in the country, I marveled at the stupidity of the +Government in permitting the police to handle its inception as they did. +Any hundred New York or London policemen, or any hundred Petrograd +policemen, could have prevented the demonstrations by the simple process +of closing the streets. But they let people crowd in from the side +streets to see what was going on even when the crowds were beginning to +be dangerously large, and, having permitted them to come, charged among +them at random as if expressly making them angry. + +[Sidenote: Ease with which Czar was overthrown.] + +I look back now at the time before the Revolution. The life of Petrograd +is much as it was to outward appearances except that the new republican +soldiers are now policing the streets, occasional citizens are wearing +brassarts showing they are deputies of some sort or members of +law-and-order committees, and there is a certain joyous freedom in the +walk of every one. Here, in one corner of this vast empire, a revolt +lacking all signs of terrorism, growing out of nothing into a sudden +burst of indignation, knocked over the most absolute of autocracies. +Just to look, it is hard to believe it true. As a Socialist said to me +to-day: "The empire was rotten ready. One kick of a soldier's boot, and +the throne with all its panoplies disappeared, leaving nothing but +dust." + +I asked President Rodzianko of the Duma the other day: + +[Sidenote: Revolution inevitable after Duma was dissolved.] + +"From what date was the revolution inevitable?" + +I expected him to name one of the days immediately before the revolt, +but he replied: + +"When the Duma was dissolved in December without being granted a +responsible ministry." + +"How late might the Emperor have saved his throne?" + +"New Year's. If he had granted a responsible ministry then, it would not +have been too late." + +[Sidenote: The Government brought Cossacks to Petrograd.] + +The Government was either blind or too arrogant to take precautions. It +had fears of an uprising at the reconvening of the Duma and brought +13,000 Cossacks to Petrograd to put fear into the hearts of the people, +but it permitted a shortage of flour which had been noticeable for +several weeks to become really serious just at this moment. There were +large districts of working people practically without bread from the +time the Duma reconvened up to the moment of the revolution. + +[Sidenote: Situation needed a great ruler.] + +In the palace at Tsarskoe-Selo the seriousness of the situation was not +ignored, but the preventive measures were lamentable. The Emperor, also, +went to the front. If he had been a big enough man to be an emperor he +would certainly never have done so. That left the neurasthenic Empress +and the crafty, small-minded Protopopoff to handle a problem that needed +a real man as great as Emperor Peter or Alexander III. + +[Sidenote: The author on the point of leaving Russia.] + +[Sidenote: The appearance of Cossacks.] + +When the Duma reconvened without disorders it never occurred to me that +the Government would be foolish enough to let the flour situation get +worse. I was so used by this time to see the Duma keep a calm front in +the face of imperial rebuffs that I thought Russia was going to continue +to muddle on to the end of the war and, though I thought I was rather +well-posted, I confess I was on the point of leaving Russia to return to +the western front, where the spring campaign was about to begin with +vigor. As late as the Wednesday before the revolution I was preparing to +leave. That day I learned that several small strikes which had occurred +in scattered factories could not be settled and that several other +factories were forced to close because workmen, having no bread, refused +to report. Still I remember I was not too preoccupied by these reports +to discuss the possibility of a German offensive against Italy with our +military attache, Lieutenant Francis B. Riggs, as we strolled down the +Nevsky in the middle of the afternoon. We had reached the Fontanka Canal +when we passed three Cossacks riding abreast at a walk up the street. +They were the first Cossacks to make a public appearance, and they +brought to the mind of every Petrograd citizen the recollection of the +barbarities of the revolution of 1905. Their appearance was a challenge +to the people of Petrograd. They seemed to say, "Yes, we are here." If +any one had said to me that afternoon, "These Cossacks are going to +start a revolution which will set Russia free within a week," I should +have regarded him as a lunatic with an original twist. + +[Sidenote: Petrograd life normal.] + +The life of Petrograd was still normal as late as Thursday morning +February 23d, Russian style (March 8th). The bread lines were very long, +but Russians are patient and would have submitted to standing four or +five hours in the cold if in the end they had always been rewarded, but +shops were being closed with long lines still before them, and the +disappointed were turning away with bitter remarks. + +[Sidenote: The historic spot for protests.] + +[Sidenote: Cossacks merely keep the crowd on sidewalks.] + +The open ground before Kasan Cathedral is the historic spot for protests +and, true to tradition, the first demonstration against the bread +shortage began there Thursday morning toward noon. There were not more +than a dozen men speaking to groups of passing citizens. Each gathered a +constantly changing audience, like an orator in Union Square, New York. +But the Nevsky is always a busy street and it does not take much to give +the appearance of a crowd. Examining that crowd, I could see it had not +more than a hundred or two intent listeners. A company of Cossacks +appeared to disperse it, but they confined themselves to riding up and +down the curbs keeping the people on the sidewalks. The wide street was, +as usual, full of passing sleighs and automobiles. Even then, at the +beginning, it must have occurred to the military commander, General +Khabaloff, that the Cossacks were taking it easy, or perhaps the police +acted on their own initiative; at any rate the scene did not become +exciting until mounted police arrived, riding on the sidewalk and +scattering the curious onlookers pell-mell. By one o'clock the Nevsky +was calm again, and the street cars, which had been blocked for an hour, +started once more. + +[Sidenote: Duma discusses food situation.] + +[Sidenote: The first snarl of the mob.] + +That afternoon I went to the Duma, where the mismanagement of the food +situation throughout Russia was being discussed. I had a glass of tea +with a member of the liberal Cadet Party, and he seemed more concerned +with the victualing of the country than with the particular situation in +Petrograd. Toward evening I drove back along the Nevsky and my +'ishvoshik was blocked for a few minutes while a wave of working people, +in unusual numbers for that part of town, passed. They were being urged +on by Cossacks, but they were mostly smiling, women were hanging to +their husbands' arms, and they were decidedly unhurried. It was not a +crowd that could be in any sense called a mob, and was perfectly +orderly, but it did not go fast enough to suit the police and a dozen of +them came trotting up. Their appearance wiped the smile away, and when +they began really roughing I heard the first murmurings of the snarl +which only an infuriated mob can produce. I wondered what the police +were up to. They were obviously provoking trouble. I felt then we might +be in for serious difficulties--and the attitude of the police gave me +the fear. + +[Sidenote: Watching for the Cossacks to act.] + +[Sidenote: A red flag.] + +Friday morning only a few street cars were running, but the city was +quiet enough until after ten in the morning. Then the agitators, their +small following, and the onlookers, sure now of having a spectacle, +began gathering in considerable numbers. I was still expecting the rough +work to commence with the Cossacks, but after watching them from the +colonnades of the cathedral for half an hour I walked out through the +crowd and, shifted but slightly out of my route by the sway of the crowd +as Cossacks trotted up and down the street, crossed the thick of it. +Green student caps were conspicuous, and one of the students told me +the universities had gone on strike in sympathy with the bread +demonstration. As a company of Cossacks swung by, lances in rest, rifles +slung on their shoulders, I scanned their faces without finding anything +ferocious there. Some one waved a red flag, the first I had seen, before +them, but they passed, unnoticing. + +[Sidenote: Crowd not yet dangerous.] + +This time the crowd did not break up but began to bunch here and there +as far as the Fontanka Canal. All afternoon the Cossacks kept them +stirring, and occasionally the police gave them a real roughing. Each +time the police appeared, I heard that menacing murmur, but by Friday +evening, when the day's crowd disappeared, the increase in discontent +and anger had not developed sufficiently in twenty-four hours to be +really dangerous. I felt the Government still had plenty of time to +remove the discontent, and an announcement pasted up conspicuously +everywhere saying there would be no lack of bread seemed like an +assurance that the Government would somehow overnight provide all bakers +with sufficient flour. That was the one obvious thing to do. + +[Sidenote: A tour of the Wiborg factory district.] + +During the afternoon I made a long tour through the Wiborg factory +district, which was thickly policed by infantrymen. Occasional street +cars were still running, but otherwise the district was ominously +silent. The bread-lines were very long here, and on the corners were +groups of workmen. Their silent gravity struck me as being something to +reckon with. Still the lack of real trouble on the Nevsky as I came back +in a measure reassured me. + +[Sidenote: Crowd friendly with Cossacks.] + +Saturday morning the crowd on the Nevsky gathered at the early Petrograd +hour of ten, but they seemed to be there to encourage the Cossacks. +Wherever the Cossacks passed, individuals called out to them cheerfully +and, even though they crowded in so close to the trotting horsemen as to +be occasionally knocked about, they took it good-humoredly and went on +cheering. I went away for an hour or so and when I returned the +fraternizing of the crowd and the Cossacks was increasingly evident. By +this time all sorts of ordinary citizens, catching the sense of events, +were joining in the general acclamation. I was just beginning to get a +glimmering of the meaning of all this when I was bowled over by the +mounted police in front of the Singer Building. + +[Sidenote: Crowd beginning to challenge police.] + +[Sidenote: Soldiers fire but wound few.] + +[Sidenote: Police inviting quarrel.] + +The more timorous average citizens began to lose interest, but the +workmen and students who were in the Nevsky now in considerable numbers, +and arriving hourly, accepted the challenge of the police. They began +throwing bottles, the police charged afresh, and by the early part of +Saturday afternoon there was really a mob on the Nevsky. Liberally mixed +through the whole, though, were the ordinary onlookers, many of them +young girls. The Nevsky widens for a space before the Gastenidwor (the +Russian adaptation of the oriental bazaar), and infantrymen were now +detailed to hold the people back at the point of the bayonet. Meanwhile, +all the side streets were wide open and the appearance of a large, angry +mob was kept up by constant arrivals. The crowd becoming unwieldy, the +soldiers fired into it several times, but they did not wound many, +indicating that they were extracting many bullets before they fired. The +shooting only augmented the crowd, as Russians do not frighten very +easily, and though at a few points it was necessary to turn the corner, +I found no difficulty in going back and forth all afternoon between +Kasan Cathedral and the Nicola Station--the main stretch of the Nevsky. +There was general roughing along this mile and a half of street which +could have been stopped at any time in fifteen minutes by closing the +streets. Instead, the police charged with increasing violence without +doing anything to prevent the people coming from other parts of town. +The idea was now unescapable that the police were inviting the people to +a quarrel. + +[Sidenote: Rioting at the Nicola Station.] + +[Sidenote: Evident Cossacks are with people.] + +The Cossacks were sometimes riding pretty fast themselves, but never +with the violence of the police, and the cheering was continuous. At any +point I could tell by the quality of the howl that went up from the mob +whether it was being stirred by Cossacks or police. At the Nicola +Station the rioting was the roughest, the police freely using their +sabres. The crowd, though unarmed, stood its ground and howled back, and +when possible caught an isolated mounted policeman and disarmed him. In +one case the mob had already disarmed and was unseating a policeman, and +other sections of the mob were rushing up to have a turn at manhandling +him, when a single Cossack, with nothing in his hands, forced his way +through and rescued the policeman, amid the cheers of the same people +who were harassing him. It was quite evident that the people and the +Cossacks were on the same side, and only the unbelievable stupid old +Russian Government could have ignored it. + +[Sidenote: Machine guns installed.] + +At nightfall the crowd had had its fill of roughing, but Sunday was +evidently to be the real day. There would have been, of course, nothing +on the Nevsky, if properly policed, and I have been unable to understand +how the old Government, unless overconfident of its autocratic power and +disdainful of the people, could have let things go on. But though half +the regiments in Petrograd were on the point of revolt and their +sympathy with the people was evident even to a foreigner, Sunday was +mismanaged like the days before. It was even worse. The powers that +were had, as early as Friday, been so silly as to send armored motor +cars screeching up and down the Nevsky. Now they began installing +machine guns where they could play on the crowd. Up to this time I had +been a neutral, if disgusted, spectator, but now I hoped the police and +the whole imperial regime would pay bitterly for their insolence and +stupidity. The few corpses I encountered during the day on the Nevsky +could not even add to the feeling. They were the mere casualties of a +movement that was beginning to attain large proportions. + +[Sidenote: Many soldiers firing blanks.] + +[Sidenote: At the French theatre.] + +The late afternoon and evening of Sunday were bloody. The Nevsky was +finally closed except for cross traffic, and at the corner of the +Sadovia and the Nevsky by the national library there was a machine gun +going steadily. But it was in the hands of soldiers and they were firing +blanks. The soldiers everywhere seemed to be firing blanks, but there +was carnage enough. The way the crowds persisted showed their capacity +for revolution. The talk was for the first time seriously revolutionary, +and the red flags remained flying by the hour. That evening the air was +for the first time electric with danger, but the possibilities of the +next morning were not sufficiently evident to prevent me from going to +the French theatre. There were a sufficient number of other people, of +the same mind, including many officers, to fill half the seats. + +[Sidenote: Imperial box saluted for the last time.] + +As usual, between the acts, the officers stood up, facing the imperial +box, which neither the Emperor nor any one else ever occupied. This act +of empty homage, which always grated on my democratic nerves in a +Russian theatre, was being performed by these officers--though they did +not even seem to suspect it--for the last time. + +[Sidenote: Lively rifle fire Sunday night.] + +On my way home at midnight I picked up from wayfarers rumors of soldiers +attacking the police, soldiers fighting among themselves and rioting in +barracks. But outwardly there was calm until three in the morning, when +I heard in my room on the Moika Canal side of the Hotel de France some +very lively rifle fire from the direction of the Catherine Canal. This +sounded more like the real thing than anything so far, so I dressed and +tried to get near enough to learn what was going on. But for the first +time the streets were really closed. The firing kept up steadily until +four. Farther on in the great barracks along the Neva beyond the Litenie +it kept up until the revolting soldiers had command. + +[Sidenote: Revolt spreads like a prairie fire.] + +I regret not having seen the revolt getting under way in that quarter. I +regret missing the small incidents, the moments when the revolt hung in +the balance, when it was the question of whether a certain company would +join, for when I reached there it was still in its inception and the +most interesting thing about it was to watch it spread like a prairie +fire. + +[Sidenote: The Duma dissolved.] + +Still not realizing, like most people in Petrograd, that we were within +a few hours of a sweeping revolt, I wasted some precious hours that +morning trying to learn what could be done with the censor. But toward +noon I heard the Duma had been dissolved, and, as there had not been +since Sunday any street cars, 'ishvoshiks, or other means of conveyance, +I started out afoot with Roger Lewis of the Associated Press to walk the +three miles to the Duma. + +[Sidenote: A silence like that of Louvain.] + +The hush of impending events hung over the entire city. I remember +nothing like that silence since the day the Germans entered Louvain. On +every street were the bread lines longer than ever. All along the +Catherine Canal, the snow was pounded by many feet and spotted with +blood. But there were no soldiers and few police. We hurried along the +Nevsky, gathering rumors of the fight that was actually going on down by +the arsenal on the Litenie. But many shops were open and there was a +semblance of business. All was so quiet we could not make out the +meaning of a company of infantry drawn up in a hollow square commanding +the four points at the junction of the Litenie and Nevsky, ordinarily +one of the busiest corners in the world. + +[Sidenote: Cavalry commands arrive.] + +[Sidenote: The barricade on the Litenie.] + +[Sidenote: Haphazard rifle-fire.] + +But as soon as we turned down the Litenie we could hear shots farther +down, and the pedestrians were mostly knotted in doorways. Scattered +cavalry commands were arriving from the side streets, and the Litenie +began looking a little too hot. So we chose a parallel street for +several blocks until we were within three blocks of the Neva, where we +had to cross the Litenie in front of a company drawn up across the +street ready to fire toward the arsenal, where there was sporadic rifle +fire. Here there were bigger knots of curious citizens projecting +themselves farther and farther toward the middle of the street, hoping +for a better view, until a nearer shot frightened them closer to the +walls. The barricade on the Litenie by the arsenal, the one barricade +the revolution produced, was just beginning to be built two hundred feet +away as Lewis and I reached the shelter of the Fourshtatzkaya, on the +same street as the American Embassy. By crossing the Litenie we had +entered the zone of the revolutionists. We did not realize this, +however, and were puzzled by the sight of a soldier carrying simply a +bayonet, and another with a bare officer's sword. A fourteen-year-old +boy stood in the middle of the street with a rifle in his hand, trifling +with it. It exploded in his hand, and when he saw the ruin of the +breech block he unfixed the bayonet, threw down the gun, and ran around +the corner. A student came up the street examining the mechanism of a +revolver. There seemed to be rifle-fire in every direction, even in the +same street, but haphazard. + +[Sidenote: An officer recruiting for the revolution.] + +If we had not been living in a troubled atmosphere these small +indications would have impressed us deeply, but neither of us gathered +immediately the significance of events. Before we reached the next +corner we passed troops who evidently did not know yet whether or not +they were still on the side of the Government. An automobile appeared +full of soldiers, an officer standing on the seat. He waved toward him +all the soldiers in sight and began haranguing them. There was no red +flag in sight, and, until we caught his words, we thought he was urging +them to remain loyal. He was really recruiting for the revolution. + +[Sidenote: Automobiles and motor trucks.] + +As we kept on toward the Duma we encountered other automobiles, many of +them, and motor trucks, literally bristling with guns and sabres. Half +the men were civilians and the number of young boys with revolvers who +looked me over made me feel it was a very easy time in which to be +killed. I was wearing an English trench coat and a fur cap, so to +prevent any mistake of identity I stopped and presented a full view to +each passing motor. Still I knew my continued existence depended on the +sanity of any one of thirty or forty very excited men and boys on each +truck, and when I reached the protection of the enormous crowd that was +storming the entrance to the Duma I felt more comfortable. + +[Sidenote: The Duma waits, but finally takes command.] + +The Duma had just been dismissed by imperial decree, an ironical +circumstance in view of the thousands of soldiers and civilians massed +before its doors under the red flag. Their leaders were within, asking +the Duma to form a provisional government. The Duma was not yet +convinced, and the mental confusion within was more bewildering than the +revolution without. This was early in the afternoon, and the Duma held +off for hours. Even when it was known that the Preobarzhenski regiment, +which began its career with Peter the Great, had turned revolutionary, +the Duma insisted on waiting. But at nine o'clock in the evening, when +every police station, every court, was on fire and the revolutionists +completely controlled the city, President Rodzianko decided that the +Duma must take command. + +[Sidenote: Automobiles dart boldly everywhere.] + +It is interesting to watch a revolution grow, and even at this time, +early Monday afternoon, the revolutionists controlled only a corner of +Petrograd. They were working up excitement, and, as often before in the +war, the motor trucks played an important part. They thundered back and +forth through doubtful streets, students, soldiers, and workmen standing +tight and bristling with bayonets like porcupines. They carried +conviction of force, and, as each foray met with less resistance, it was +not long before they were dashing boldly everywhere. That accounts for +the rapid control of the city. It could not have been done afoot. + +[Sidenote: The revolutionists take the arsenal.] + +All day, from the time the arsenal fell into their hands, the +revolutionists felt their strength growing, and from noon on no attack +was led against them. At first the soldiers simply gave up their guns +and mixed in the crowd, but they grew bolder, too, when they saw the +workmen forming into regiments and marching up the Fourshtatzkaya, still +fumbling with the triggers of their rifles to see how they met the enemy +at the next corner. The coolness of these revolutionists, their +willingness to die for their cause, won the respect of a small group of +us who were standing before the American Embassy. The group was +composed chiefly of Embassy attaches who wanted to go over to the old +Austrian Embassy, used by us as the headquarters for the relief of +German and Austrian prisoners in Russia; but though it was only a five +minutes' walk, the hottest corner in the revolution lay between. + +[Sidenote: Soldiers ground arms and become revolutionists.] + +When we left the Embassy, Captain McCulley, the American Naval Attache, +said he knew a way to get out of the revolutionary quarter without +passing a line of fire. So he edged us off toward the distant Nevsky +along several blood-blotched streets in which there were occasional +groups of soldiers who did not know which way to turn. Then, as the +Bycenie, beyond, suddenly filled with revolutionists coming from some +other quarter, we turned to cross the Litenie. Twenty minutes earlier +Captain McCulley had passed there and the Government troops controlled +for another quarter mile. Now we passed a machine-gun company commanding +the street, which dared not fire because there was a line of soldiers +between it and a vast crowd pouring through the street toward us. The +crowd had already overwhelmed and made revolutionists out of hundreds of +soldiers, and the situation for a moment was dramatically tense. + +Down the bisecting Litenie another crowd was advancing, filling the wide +street. Before it there was also a company of soldiers, and it did not +know whether to face the Bycenie or the river. Three immense mobs were +overwhelming it, though it knew of but two. Suddenly, just at the moment +when we expected a shower of bullets, and flattened ourselves against a +doorway, the company grounded arms and in three seconds was in the arms +of the revolution. + +[Sidenote: Company after company joins.] + +As we retreated to the Nevsky ahead of the victorious crowd we could see +company after company turn, as if suddenly deciding not to shoot, and +join. + +[Sidenote: Thunder of motor trucks.] + +I walked rapidly back to the Morskaya and down to the cable office, +which I found closed, not encountering on the whole two miles a single +soldier or policeman until I reached St. Isaac's Cathedral, where a +regiment of marines turned up the Morskaya toward the Nevsky, swinging +along behind a band. Five minutes later I followed them up the Morskaya, +but before I reached the Gorokawaya, half the distance, I could hear the +thunder of the revolutionary motor trucks and the glad howls of the +revolutionists. They had run the length of the Nevsky, and the city, +except this little corner, was theirs. The shooting began at once, and +for the next three hours on both the Morskaya and the Moika there was +steady firing. This was still going on when, at nine in the evening, I +passed around the edge of the fight, crossed Winter Palace Square, +deserted except for a company of Cossacks dimly outlined against the +Winter Palace across the square. By passing under the arch into the head +of Morskaya again I was once more with the revolutionists. + +I have since asked Mr. Milukoff, now Minister of Foreign Affairs, at +that moment a member of the Duma's Committee of Safety, how much of an +organization there was behind the events of that day. + +[Sidenote: The organization a spontaneous growth.] + +"There was some incipient organization certainly," he replied, "though +even now I could not be more definite. But for the most part it was +spontaneous growth. The Duma was not revolutionary, and we held off +until it became necessary for us to take hold. We were the only +government left." + +[Sidenote: Duma is forced to adopt democratic programme.] + +The rapid work was done by the Socialists, who quickly formed the +Council of Workmen and Soldiers' Deputies and formulated the programme +which has come to be the Russian Declaration of Independence. They +consented to support the Duma if it adopted their democratic programme. +There was nothing else for the Duma to do, and the main issues of the +new Government were worked out before Tuesday morning, within +twenty-four hours of the beginning of the revolution. Since then I have +been repeatedly impressed with the organizing ability of the men in +control, and their ability to take matters rapidly in hand. + +[Sidenote: The crowd feels its power.] + +[Sidenote: Not much terrorism.] + +Monday night the city was in the hands of the mob. Anybody could have a +gun. Public safety lay in the released spirits of the Russian workmen +who saw the vision of liberty before them. Tuesday was the most +dangerous day, as the crowd was beginning to feel its power, and the +amount of shooting going on everywhere must have been out of all +proportion to the sniping on the part of cornered police. But the +searching of apartments for arms was carried on with some semblance of +order, and usually there was a student in command. The individual +stories of officers who refused to surrender and fought to the end in +their apartments are endless, but these individual fights were lost in +the victorious sweep of the day. Tuesday evening the real business of +burning police stations and prisons and destroying records went on +throughout the city, but the actual burnings, while picturesque, lacked +the terrorism one might expect. Still I felt that the large number of +irresponsible civilians carrying arms might do what they pleased. + +The same idea evidently occurred to the Committee of Safety, as it began +at once disarming the irresponsible, and its work was so quick and +effective that there were very few civilians not registered as +responsible police who still had fire-arms on Wednesday morning. + +[Sidenote: Regiments sent to Petrograd join revolutionists.] + +As late as Wednesday there was a possibility of troops being sent +against Petrograd, but all the regiments for miles around joined the +revolution before they entered the city. There was obviously no one who +wanted to uphold the old monarchy, and it fell without even dramatic +incident to mark its end. To us in Petrograd the abdication of the +Emperor had just one significance. It brought the army over at a stroke. +The country, long saturated with democratic principles, accepted the new +Government as naturally as if it had been chosen by a national vote. + + * * * * * + +The credit of the first shot fired on the American side in the Great War +fell to the crew of the American ship, _Mongolia_. A narrative of this +dramatic event is given in the chapter following. + + + + +AMERICA'S FIRST SHOT + +J. R. KEEN + +Copyright, New York Times, April 27, 1919. + + +[Sidenote: Gunners of the _Mongolia_ hit a submarine.] + +April 19 has long been celebrated in Massachusetts because of the battle +of Lexington, but henceforth the Bay State can keep with added pride a +day which has acquired national interest in this war, for on that date +the S. S. _Mongolia_, bound from New York to London, under command of +Captain Emery Rice, while proceeding up the English Channel, fired on an +attacking submarine at 5.24 in the morning, smashing its periscope and +causing the U-boat to disappear. + +[Sidenote: Officers from Massachusetts.] + +The gun crew who made this clean hit at 1,000 yards were under command +of Lieutenant Bruce R. Ware, United States Navy, and the fact of special +interest in Massachusetts is that both Rice and Ware were born in that +State, the Captain receiving his training for the sea in the +Massachusetts Nautical School and the Lieutenant being a graduate of +Annapolis. + +[Sidenote: Dangerous voyages and cargoes.] + +The _Mongolia_, a merchantman of 13,638 tons, had been carrying +munitions to Great Britain since January, 1916, when she reached New +York Harbor from San Francisco, coming by way of Cape Horn, and she had +already made nine voyages to England. In those voyages her officers and +men had faced many of the greatest perils of the war. Her cargoes had +consisted of TNT, of ammunition, of powder, of fuses, and of shells. At +one time while carrying this dangerous freight Captain Rice saw, as he +stood on the bridge during a storm, a lightning bolt strike the ship +forward just where a great quantity of powder was stored, and held his +breath as he waited to see "whether he was going up or going down." + +[Sidenote: Warnings of U-boats.] + +Captain Rice has since died, and among his papers now in my possession +are many of the warnings of the presence of U-boats sent to his ship by +the British Admiralty during 1916, when every vessel approaching the +British coast was in danger from those assassins of the sea. + +[Sidenote: _Mongolia_ sails in spite of German edict.] + +After February 1, 1917, when the Huns made their "war zone" declaration, +the question with us at home whether the _Mongolia_ would continue to +sail in defiance of that edict of ruthless warfare became a matter of +acute anxiety. The ship completed her eighth voyage on February 7, when +she reached New York and found the whole country discussing the burning +question, "Would the United States allow the Imperial German Government +to dictate how and where our ships should go?" There was never but one +answer in the mind of Captain Rice. At home he simply said, "I shall +sail on schedule, armed or unarmed. Does any one suppose I would let +those damned Prussians drive me off the ocean?" + +In the office of the International Mercantile Marine he expressed +himself more politely, but with equal determination, to the President of +the company, P. A. S. Franklin, to whom he said, "I am prepared, so are +my officers, to sail with or without arms, but of course I would rather +have arms." + +[Sidenote: Arms slow to get.] + +But the arms were slow to get, and the _Mongolia_, loaded with her +super-dangerous cargo, cleared from New York on February 20, the first +one of our boats to reach England after the "war zone" declaration, I +believe. Captain Rice arrived in London about the time when Captain +Tucker of the S. S. _Orleans_ reached Bordeaux, the latter being the +first American to reach France in safety after the same declaration. + +[Sidenote: Spies try to learn sailing dates.] + +Early in February of 1917 we became aware that German spies were making +a persistent attempt to get into our home to find out when the +_Mongolia_ was sailing, and if the ship was to be armed. The first spy +came up the back stairs in the guise of an employe engaged in delivering +household supplies. He accomplished nothing, and the incident was +dismissed from our minds, but the second spy came up the front stairs +and effected an entrance, and this event roused us to the dangers around +Captain Rice even in his own country and showed the intense +determination of the Germans to prevent, if they could, any more big +cargoes of munitions reaching England on the _Mongolia_. Our second +visitor was a man who had been an officer in the German Army years +before. After leaving Germany he came to the United States and became a +citizen. + +[Sidenote: A German-American turns German spy.] + +In August, 1914, when the Huns invaded Belgium, he became all German +again and returned to Europe to serve with the German Army on the French +front, from which region he was ordered by the German Government back to +the United States, where his command of English and knowledge of the +country made him valuable to the propaganda and spy groups here. All +this and much more I found out shortly after his visit, but the +afternoon he called I (I was alone at the time) received him without +suspicion, since he said he came to pay his respects to Captain Rice, +whom he had known in China. + +[Sidenote: Deceiving the spy.] + +It was not until his apparently casual questions about the time of the +_Mongolia's_ sailing and whether she was to be armed became annoying +that "I woke up," and looking attentively at this over-curious visitor, +I encountered a look of such cold hostility that with a shock I +realized I was dealing with a spy, one who was probably armed, and who +appeared determined to get the information he sought. In a few seconds +of swift thinking I decided the best thing to do was to make him believe +that Captain Rice himself did not know whether his ship was going out +again, and that no one could tell what course of action the ship owners +would take. After forty minutes of probing for information he departed, +convinced there was no information to be had from me. + +[Sidenote: How signals could be sent by German agents.] + +It was ascertained that his New York home was in an apartment house on +the highest point of land in Manhattan. In this same house there lived +another German, who received many young men, all Teutons, as visitors, +some of whom spent much time with him on the roof. The possibility of +their signaling out to sea from this elevation is too obvious to be +dwelt on, and it is beyond doubt that some of the submarines' most +effective work at this time and later was due to the activities of these +German agents allowed at large by our too-trustful laws of citizenship. +So exact and timely was much of the information these spies secured that +the _Mongolia_ on one of her voyages to England picked up a wireless +message sent in the _Mongolia's_ own secret code, saying that the +_Montana_ was sinking, giving her position, and asking the _Mongolia_ to +come to her rescue, but it had happened that when the _Mongolia_ left +New York Harbor at the beginning of this very voyage one of her officers +had noticed the _Montana_ lying in the harbor. + +[Sidenote: _Mongolia_ is armed with three 6-inch guns.] + +When the _Mongolia_ returned on March 30, 1917, from this unarmed voyage +she was given three six-inch guns, two forward and one aft, and a gun +crew from the U. S. S. _Texas_, under Lieutenant Bruce R. Ware, who had +already made his mark in gunnery. + +The _Mongolia_ left New York on her tenth voyage April 7 with the +following officers: + +[Sidenote: The officers on the voyage.] + +Commander, Emery Rice; in command of armed guard, Lieutenant Bruce R. +Ware; Chief officer, Thomas Blau; First Officer, W. E. Wollaston; Second +Officer, Charles W. Krieg; Third Officer, Joseph C. Lutz; Fourth +Officer, Carroll D. Riley; Cadets, Fred Earl Wilcox and Theodore +Forsell; Doctor, Charles Rendell; Assistant Purser, J. T. Wylie; Chief +Steward, W. T. Heath; Chief Engineer, James W. Condon; First Assistant +Engineer, Clarence Irwin; Second Assistant Engineer, William Hodgkiss; +Third Assistant Engineer, L. R. Tinto. Six junior engineers--William +Hasenfus, E. Larkin, Perry McComb, Sidney Murray, J. R. Fletcher, +Lawrence Paterson, Refrigerator Engineer, H. Johnson, Electrician, E. +Powers; Dock Engineer, V. Hansen. + +[Sidenote: Entries from the ship's log.] + +The log of the ship for that voyage contains these entries: + + + Sailed from New York April 7, 1917. + Arrived Falmouth, England, April 18, 1917. + Left Falmouth, England, April 18, 1917, p. m. + On April 19, 5.24 a. m., fired on submarine. + Arrived Tilbury, London, April 21. + Left Tilbury, London, May 2. + Arrived New York, May 13. + +The Captain's report to the London office of the International +Mercantile Marine is dated April 21, 1917, and says: + +"I beg to report that the S. S. _Mongolia_ under my command, while +proceeding up Channel on April 19 at 5.24 a. m. encountered a submarine, +presumably German, in Latitude 50.30 degrees North, Longitude 32 degrees +West; 9 miles South 37 degrees East true from the Overs Light vessel. + +"The weather at the time: calm to light airs, sea smooth, hazy with +visibility about 3 miles; speed of the ship fifteen knots, course North +74 degrees East true, to pass close to the Royal Sovereign Light vessel. + +[Sidenote: A periscope sighted.] + +"The periscope was first sighted broad on the port bow, distant about +one-half mile, by Chief Officer Blau in charge of the bridge watch at +the time. His shout of 'submarine on the port bow' brought Lieutenant +Ware and myself quickly out of the chart room on to the bridge, where we +immediately saw the swirling wake left by the submarine as it submerged. + +[Sidenote: Lieutenant Ware gives the range.] + +"The armed guard under Lieutenant Ware, United States Navy, were +standing by all guns at the time, which were fully loaded, and while +Lieutenant Ware gave the range to the guns I ordered the helm put +hard-a-starboard with the object of lessening the broadside angle of the +ship to an approaching torpedo. + +[Sidenote: The shot goes home.] + +[Sidenote: Efficiency of the gunners.] + +"Lieutenant Ware's order of 'train on the starboard quarter and report +when you bear on a submarine's periscope' was answered almost +immediately by the after gun's crew, who were then ordered to commence +firing. One shot was fired from the after gun which struck in the centre +of the swirl created by the submarine, causing a quantity of light blue +smoke to hang over the spot where the submarine disappeared for some +time. This was the only shot fired, and the submarine was not seen +again, and after zigzagging until the weather became very thick the ship +was again put on her course. Passed through the Gateway off Folkestone +at 10.45 a. m. and anchored at 11.01 a. m., as I considered the weather +too thick to proceed. I feel that the _Mongolia's_ safe arrival at +London is due to a large extent to the zeal and ability in the execution +of his duties displayed by Lieutenant B. R. Ware, United States Navy, +who has been untiring in his efforts to bring the men under his command +to a high state of efficiency, and who has kept a continuous watch for +the past five days. His co-operation with the ship's officers has been +of the closest, and his men and guns were always ready. Also to Mr. +Blau, the chief officer, a large measure of credit is due, for had he +not seen the periscope at the exact moment of its appearance it is +possible that all our precautions would have been useless. + + Signed. EMERY RICE, + "Commander S. S. _Mongolia_." + +[Sidenote: _Mongolia's_ officers marked men.] + +The fame of the first engagement made the _Mongolia's_ officers marked +men. When Captain Rice returned home he reported that Consul General +Skinner in London had told him that the Germans had set a price of +50,000 marks on his head, and letters expressing hatred and revenge +reached us in New York from points as far away as Kansas City. On the +other hand, the pride felt in the great ship's exploit brought scores of +letters from officers and men who applied for service on her. + + * * * * * + +German agents were industrious throughout the United States, long before +the American Government broke with Germany. Her activities were carried +on in the form of propaganda and by more violent deeds. A complete +account of these activities as revealed in a congressional investigation +follows. + + + + +GERMAN ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED STATES + +FROM REPORT OF HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS + + +[Sidenote: Momentous results must follow.] + +It is with the deepest sense of responsibility of the momentous results +which will follow the passage of this resolution that your committee +reports it to the House, with the recommendation that it be passed. + +The conduct of the Imperial German Government toward this Government, +its citizens, and its interests has been so discourteous, unjust, cruel, +barbarous, and so lacking in honesty and fair dealing that it has +constituted a violation of the course of conduct which should obtain +between friendly nations. + +In addition to this, the German Government is actually making war upon +the people and the commerce of this country, and leaves no course open +to this Government but to accept its gage of battle, declare that a +state of war exists, and wage that war vigorously. + +[Sidenote: The announcement of the submarine war zone.] + +On the 31st day of January, 1917, notice was given by the Imperial +German Government to this Government that after the following +day--"Germany will meet the illegal measures of her enemies by forcibly +preventing, in a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the +Eastern Mediterranean, all navigation, that of neutrals included, from +and to England and from and to France, &c. All ships met within that +zone will be sunk." + +[Sidenote: American ships sunk.] + +Since that day seven American ships flying the American flag have been +sunk and between twenty-five and thirty American lives have been lost +as a result of the prosecution of the submarine warfare in accordance +with the above declaration. This is war. War waged by the Imperial +German Government upon this country and its people. + +[Sidenote: Review of Germany's hostile acts.] + +A brief review of some of the hostile and illegal acts of the German +Government toward this Government and its officers and its people is +herewith given. + +[Sidenote: German note of February, 1915.] + +In the memorial of the Imperial German Government accompanying its +proclamation of February 4, 1915, in regard to submarine warfare, that +Government declared: "The German Navy has received instructions to +abstain from all violence against neutral vessels recognizable as such." +In the note of the German Government dated February 16, 1915, in reply +to the American note of February 10, it was declared that "It is very +far indeed from the intention of the German Government * * * ever to +destroy neutral lives and neutral property. * * * The commanders of +German submarines have been instructed, as was already stated in the +note of the 4th instant, to abstain from violence to American merchant +ships when they are recognizable as such." + +[Sidenote: American lives lost on many torpedoed ships.] + +Nevertheless, the German Government proceeded to carry out its plans of +submarine warfare and torpedoed the British passenger steamer _Falaba_ +on March 27, 1915, when one American life was lost, attacked the +American steamer _Cushing_ April 28 by airship, and made submarine +attacks upon the American tank steamer _Gulflight_ May 1, the British +passenger steamer _Lusitania_ May 7, when 114 American lives were lost, +and the American steamer _Nebraskan_ on May 25, in all of which over 125 +citizens of the United States lost their lives, not to mention hundreds +of noncombatants who were lost and hundreds of Americans and +noncombatants whose lives were put in jeopardy. + +The British mule boat _Armenian_ was torpedoed on June 28, as a result +of which twenty Americans are reported missing. + +On July 8, 1915, in a note to Ambassador Gerard, arguing in defense of +its method of warfare and particularly of its submarine commander in the +_Lusitania_ case, it is stated: + +[Sidenote: German defense of German submarine warfare.] + +"The Imperial Government therefore repeats the assurances that American +ships will not be hindered in the prosecution of legitimate shipping and +the lives of American citizens on neutral vessels shall not be placed in +jeopardy. + +"In order to exclude any unforeseen dangers to American passenger +steamers * * * the German submarines will be instructed to permit the +free and safe passage of such passenger steamers when made recognizable +by special markings and notified a reasonable time in advance." + +[Sidenote: American ships attacked later.] + +Subsequently the following vessels carrying American citizens were +attacked by submarines: British liner _Orduna_, July 9; Russian steamer +_Leo_, July 9; American steamer _Leelanaw_, July 25; British passenger +liner _Arabic_, August 19; British mule ship _Nicosian_, August 19; +British steamer _Hesperian_, September 4. In these attacks twenty-three +Americans lost their lives, not to mention the large number whose lives +were placed in jeopardy. + +Following these events, conspicuous by their wantonness and violation of +every rule of humanity and maritime warfare, the German Ambassador, by +instructions from his Government, on September 1 gave the following +assurances to the Government of the United States: + +"Liners will not be sunk by our submarines without warning and without +safety of the lives of noncombatants, provided that the liners do not +try to escape or offer resistance." + +[Sidenote: Germany gives assurance of regard for lives of +noncombatants.] + +On September 9, in a reply as to the submarine attack on the _Orduna_, +the German Government renewed these assurances in the following +language: + +[Sidenote: The _Orduna_ case.] + +"The first attack on the _Orduna_ by a torpedo was not in accordance +with the existing instructions, which provide that large passenger +steamers are to be torpedoed only after previous warning and after the +rescuing of passengers and crew. The failure to observe the instructions +was based on an error which is at any rate comprehensible and the +repetition of which appears to be out of the question, in view of the +more explicit instructions issued in the meantime. Moreover, the +commanders of the submarines have been reminded that it is their duty to +exercise greater care and to observe carefully the orders issued." + +The German Government could not more clearly have stated that liners or +large passenger steamers would not be torpedoed except upon previous +warning and after the passengers and crew had been put in places of +safety. + +[Sidenote: Statement about the _William P. Frye_.] + +On November 29 the German Government states, in connection with the case +of the American vessel _William P. Frye_: + +[Sidenote: Germany promises to protect passengers.] + +"The German naval forces will sink only such American vessels as are +loaded with absolute contraband, when the preconditions provided by the +Declaration of London are present. In this the German Government quite +shares the view of the American Government that all possible care must +be taken for the security of the crew and passengers of a vessel to be +sunk. Consequently the persons found on board of a vessel may not be +ordered into her lifeboats except when the general conditions--that is +to say, the weather, the condition of the sea, and the neighborhood of +the coasts--afford absolute certainty that the boats will reach the +nearest port." + +[Sidenote: An American Consul drowned.] + +Following this accumulative series of assurances, however, there seems +to have been no abatement in the rigor of submarine warfare, for attacks +were made in the Mediterranean upon the American steamer _Communipaw_ on +December 3, the American steamer _Petrolite_ December 5, the Japanese +liner _Yasaka Maru_ December 21, and the passenger liner _Persia_ +December 30. In the sinking of the _Persia_ out of a total of some 500 +passengers and crew only 165 were saved. Among those lost was an +American Consul traveling to his post. + +On January 7, eight days after the sinking of the _Persia_, the German +Government notified the Government of the United States through its +Ambassador in Washington as follows: + +[Sidenote: Submarines in Mediterranean ordered to respect international +law.] + +"1. German submarines in the Mediterranean had, from the beginning, +orders to conduct cruiser warfare against enemy merchant vessels only in +accordance with the general principles of international law, and in +particular measures of reprisal, as applied in the war zone around the +British Isles, were to be excluded. + +"2. German submarines are therefore permitted to destroy enemy merchant +vessels in the Mediterranean, _i. e._, passenger as well as freight +ships as far as they do not try to escape or offer resistance--only +after passengers and crews have been accorded safety." + +Clearly the assurances of the German Government that neutral and enemy +merchant vessels, passenger as well as freight ships, should not be +destroyed except upon the passengers and crew being accorded safety +stood as the official position of the Imperial German Government. + +[Sidenote: Germany offers indemnity for Americans lost on _Lusitania_.] + +On February 16, 1916, the German Ambassador communicated to the +Department of State an expression of regret for the loss of American +lives on the _Lusitania_, and proposed to pay a suitable indemnity. In +the course of this note he said: + +"Germany has * * * limited her submarine warfare because of her +long-standing friendship with the United States and because by the +sinking of the _Lusitania_, which caused the death of citizens of the +United States, the German retaliation affected neutrals, which was not +the intention, as retaliation should be confined to enemy subjects." + +[Sidenote: French unarmed _Patria_ attacked.] + +[Sidenote: The _Sussex_ torpedoed without warning.] + +On March 1, 1916, the unarmed French passenger steamer _Patria_, +carrying a number of American citizens, was attacked without warning. On +March 9 the Norwegian bark _Silius_, riding at anchor in Havre Roads, +was torpedoed by an unseen submarine and one of the seven Americans on +board was injured. On March 16 the Dutch passenger steamer _Tubantia_ +was sunk in the North Sea by a torpedo. On March 16 the British steamer +_Berwindale_ was torpedoed without warning off Bantry Island with four +Americans on board. On March 24 the British unarmed steamer _Englishman_ +was, after a chase, torpedoed and sunk by the submarine _U-19_, as a +result of which one American on board perished. On March 24 the unarmed +French cross-Channel steamer _Sussex_ was torpedoed without warning, +several of the twenty-four American passengers being injured. On March +27 the unarmed British liner _Manchester Engineer_ was sunk by an +explosion without prior warning, with Americans on board, and on March +28 the British steamer _Eagle Point_, carrying a Hotchkiss gun, which +she did not use, was chased, overtaken, and sunk by a torpedo after the +persons on board had taken to the boats. + +[Sidenote: America will hold Germany responsible.] + +The American note of February 10, 1915, stated that should German +vessels of war "destroy on the high seas an American vessel or the +lives of American citizens it would be difficult for the Government of +the United States to view the act in any other light than an +indefensible violation of neutral rights which it would be very hard, +indeed, to reconcile with the friendly relations so happily subsisting +between the two Governments," and that if such a deplorable situation +should arise, "the Government of the United States would be constrained +to hold the Imperial Government to a strict accountability for such acts +of their naval authorities." + +In the American note of May 13, 1915, the Government stated: + +"The imperial Government will not expect the Government of the United +States to omit any word or act necessary to the performance of its +sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its +citizens and in safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment." + +In the note of July 21, 1915, the United States Government said that-- + +"Repetition by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in +contravention of those rights must be regarded by the Government of the +United States, when they affect American citizens, as deliberately +unfriendly." + +In a communication of April 18, 1916, the American Government said: + +[Sidenote: The United States insists on regard for international law.] + +"If it is still the purpose of the Imperial Government to prosecute +relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the +use of submarines without regard to what the Government of the United +States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of international +law and the universally recognized dictates of humanity, the Government +of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is +but one course it can pursue. Unless the Imperial Government should not +immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of +submarine warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels the +Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever +diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." + +[Sidenote: Germany gives definite assurances.] + +The German Government replied to this communication on May 4, 1916, +giving definite assurances that new orders had been issued to the German +naval forces "in accordance with the general principles of visit and +search and the destruction of merchant vessels recognized by +international law." And this agreement was substantially complied with +for many months, but finally, on January 31, 1917, notice was given that +after the following day-- + +[Sidenote: The notice of January 31, 1917.] + +"Germany will meet the illegal measures of her enemies by forcibly +preventing in a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the +Eastern Mediterranean all navigation, that of neutrals included, from +and to England and from and to France, &c. All ships met within that +zone will be sunk." + +In view of this Government's warning of April 18, 1916, and the Imperial +German Government's pledge of May 4 of the same year, the Government of +the United States, on February 3, 1917, stated to the Imperial German +Government that-- + +[Sidenote: The course of the United States.] + +"In view of this declaration, which withdraws suddenly and without prior +intimation the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government's note +of May 4, 1916, this Government has no alternative consistent with the +dignity and honor of the United States but to take the course which it +explicitly announced in its note of April 18, 1916, it would take in the +event that the Imperial Government did not declare and effect an +abandonment of the methods of submarine warfare then employed and to +which the Imperial Government now purposes again to resort. + +[Sidenote: Diplomatic relations with Germany severed.] + +"The President has, therefore, directed me to announce to your +Excellency that all diplomatic relation between the United States and +the German Empire are severed, and that the American Ambassador at +Berlin will be immediately withdrawn, and, in accordance with such +announcement, to deliver to your Excellency your passports." + +[Sidenote: American ships torpedoed.] + +On February 3 one American ship was sunk, and since that date six +American ships flying the American flag have been torpedoed, with a loss +of about thirteen American citizens. In addition, fifty or more foreign +vessels of both belligerent and neutral nationality with Americans on +board have been torpedoed, in most cases without warning, with a +consequent loss of several American citizens. + +[Sidenote: German officials violate laws of United States.] + +Since the beginning of the war German officials in the United States +have engaged in many improper activities in violation of the laws of the +United States and of their obligations as officials in a neutral +country. Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador, Captain von Papen, +Military Attache of the embassy, Captain Boy-Ed, Naval Attache, as well +as various Consular officers and other officials, were involved in these +activities, which were very widespread. + +The following instances are chosen at random from the cases which have +come to the knowledge of the Government: + +[Sidenote: The German Embassy furnishes funds to be used illegally.] + +I. By direct instruction received from the Foreign Office in Berlin the +German Embassy in this country furnished funds and issued orders to the +Indian Independence Committee of the Indian Nationalist Party in the +United States. These instructions were usually conveyed to the committee +by the military information bureau in New York (von Igel), or by the +German Consulates in New York and San Francisco. + +[Sidenote 1: Indian revolutionary propaganda.] + +Dr. Chakrabarty, recently arrested in New York City, received, all in +all, according to his own admission, some $60,000 from von Igel. He +claims that the greater portion of this money was used for defraying the +expenses of the Indian revolutionary propaganda in this country and, as +he says, for educational purposes. While this is in itself true, it is +not all that was done by the revolutionists. They have sent +representatives to the Far East to stir up trouble in India, and they +have attempted to ship arms and ammunition to India. These expeditions +have failed. The German Embassy also employed Ernest T. Euphrat to carry +instructions and information between Berlin and Washington under an +American passport. + +[Sidenote 2: Germans on parole escaped.] + +II. Officers of interned German warships have violated their word of +honor and escaped. In one instance the German Consul at Richmond +furnished the money to purchase a boat to enable six warrant officers of +the steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm to escape after breaking their parole. + +[Sidenote 3: Fraudulent passports secured.] + +III. Under the supervision of Captain von Papen and Wolf von Igel, Hans +von Wedell and, subsequently, Carl Ruroede maintained a regular office +for the procurement of fraudulent passports for German reservists. These +operations were directed and financed in part by Captain von Papen and +Wolf von Igel. Indictments were returned, Carl Ruroede sentenced to the +penitentiary, and a number of German officers fined. Von Wedell escaped +and has apparently been drowned at sea. Von Wedell's operations were +also known to high officials in Germany. When von Wedell became +suspicious that forgeries committed by him on a passport application +had become known, he conferred with Captain von Papen and obtained money +from him wherewith to make his escape. + +[Sidenote: American passport covers unneutral activities.] + +IV. James J. F. Archibald, under cover of an American passport and in +the pay of the German Government through Ambassador Bernstorff, carried +dispatches for Ambassador Dumba and otherwise engaged in unneutral +activities. + +[Sidenote: Spies sent to England.] + +V. Albert O. Sander, Charles Wunnenberg, and others, German agents in +this country, were engaged, among other activities, in sending spies to +England, equipped with American passports, for the purpose of securing +military information. Several such men have been sent. Sander and +Wunnenberg have pleaded guilty to indictments brought against them in +New York City, as has George Voux Bacon, one of the men sent abroad by +them. + +[Sidenote: American passports counterfeited.] + +VI. American passports have been counterfeited and counterfeits found on +German agents. Baron von Cupenberg, a German agent, when arrested +abroad, bore a counterfeit of an American passport issued to Gustav C. +Roeder; Irving Guy Ries received an American passport, went to Germany, +where the police retained his passports for twenty-four hours. Later a +German spy named Carl Paul Julius Hensel was arrested in London with a +counterfeit of the Ries passport in his possession. + +[Sidenote: Coaling German warships.] + +VII. Prominent officials of the Hamburg-American Line, who, under the +direction of Captain Boy-Ed, endeavored to provide German warships at +sea with coal and other supplies in violation of the statutes of the +United States, have been tried and convicted and sentenced to the +penitentiary. Some twelve or more vessels were involved in this plan. + +[Sidenote: Indictments returned.] + +VIII. Under the direction of Captain Boy-Ed and the German Consulate at +San Francisco, and in violation of our law, the steamships _Sacramento_ +and _Mazatlan_ carried supplies from San Francisco to German war +vessels. The _Olsen_ and _Mahoney_, which were engaged in a similar +enterprise, were detained. The money for these ventures was furnished by +Captain Boy-Ed. Indictments have been returned in connection with these +matters against a large number of persons. + +[Sidenote: The case of Werner Horn.] + +IX. Werner Horn, a Lieutenant in the German reserve, was furnished funds +by Captain Franz von Papen and sent, with dynamite, under orders to blow +up the International Bridge at Vanceboro, Maine. He was partially +successful. He is now under indictment for the unlawful transportation +of dynamite on passenger trains and is in jail awaiting trial following +the dismissal of his appeal by the Supreme Court. + +[Sidenote: Plot to blow up factory.] + +X. Captain von Papen furnished funds to Albert Kaltschmidt of Detroit, +who is involved in a plot to blow up a factory at Walkerville, Canada, +and the armory at Windsor, Canada. + +[Sidenote: Bombs on ships.] + +XI. Robert Fay, Walter Scholtz, and Paul Doeche have been convicted and +sentenced to the penitentiary and three others are under indictment for +conspiracy to prepare bombs and attach them to allied ships leaving New +York Harbor. Fay, who was the principal in this scheme, was a German +soldier. He testified that he received finances from a German secret +agent in Brussels, and told Von Papen of his plans, who advised him that +his device was not practicable, but that he should go ahead with it, and +if he could make it work he would consider it. + +[Sidenote: Incendiary bombs on allied vessels.] + +XII. Under the direction of Captain von Papen and Wolf von Igel, Dr. +Walter T. Scheele, Captain von Kleist, Captain Wolpert of the Atlas +Steamship Company, and Captain Rode of the Hamburg-American Line +manufactured incendiary bombs and placed them on board allied vessels. +The shells in which the chemicals were placed were made on board the +steamship _Friedrich der Grosse_. Scheele was furnished $1,000 by von +Igel wherewith to become a fugitive from justice. + +[Sidenote: Rintelen's plots.] + +XIII. Captain Franz Rintelen, a reserve officer in the German Navy, came +to this country secretly for the purpose of preventing the exportation +of munitions of war to the Allies and of getting to Germany needed +supplies. He organized and financed Labor's National Peace Council in an +effort to bring about an embargo on the shipment of munitions of war, +tried to bring about strikes, &c. + +[Sidenote: Conspiracy to wreck vessels and blow up railroad tunnels.] + +XIV. Consul General Bopp, at San Francisco, Vice Consul General von +Schaick, Baron George Wilhelm von Brincken (an employe of the +consulate), Charles C. Crowley, and Mrs. Margaret W. Cornell (secret +agents of the German Consulate at San Francisco) have been convicted of +conspiracy to send agents into Canada to blow up railroad tunnels and +bridges, and to wreck vessels sailing from Pacific Coast ports with war +material for Russia and Japan. + +[Sidenote: Spies sent to Canada.] + +XV. Paul Koenig, head of the secret service work of the Hamburg-American +Line, by direction of his superior officers, largely augmented his +organization and under the direction of von Papen, Boy-Ed, and Albert +carried on secret work for the German Government. He secured and sent +spies to Canada to gather information concerning the Welland Canal, the +movements of Canadian troops to England, bribed an employe of a bank for +information concerning shipments to the Allies, sent spies to Europe on +American passports to secure military information, and was involved with +Captain von Papen in plans to place bombs on ships of the Allies +leaving New York Harbor, &c. Von Papen, Boy-Ed, and Albert had frequent +conferences with Koenig in his office, at theirs, and at outside places. +Koenig and certain of his associates are under indictment. + +[Sidenote: Attempt on Welland Canal.] + +XVI. Captain von Papen, Captain Hans Tauscher, Wolf von Igel, and a +number of German reservists organized an expedition to go into Canada, +destroy the Welland Canal, and endeavor to terrorize Canadians in order +to delay the sending of troops from Canada to Europe. Indictments have +been returned against these persons. Wolf von Igel furnished Fritzen, +one of the conspirators in this case, money on which to flee from New +York City, Fritzen is now in jail in New York City. + +[Sidenote: Revolt in India plotted.] + +XVII. With money furnished by official German representatives in this +country, a cargo of arms and ammunition was purchased and shipped on +board the schooner _Annie Larsen_. Through the activities of German +official representatives in this country and other Germans a number of +Indians were procured to form an expedition to go on the steamship +_Maverick_, meet the _Annie Larsen_, take over her cargo, and endeavor +to bring about a revolution in India. This plan involved the sending of +a German officer to drill Indian recruits and the entire plan was +managed and directed by Captain von Papen, Captain Hans Tauscher, and +other official German representatives in this country. + +[Sidenote: False affidavit about the _Lusitania_.] + +XVIII. Gustav Stahl, a German reservist, made an affidavit which he +admitted was false, regarding the armament of the _Lusitania_, which +affidavit was forwarded to the State Department by Ambassador von +Bernstorff. He plead guilty to an indictment charging perjury, and was +sentenced to the penitentiary. Koenig, herein mentioned, was active in +securing this affidavit. + +[Sidenote: Interference with manufacturers.] + +XIX. The German Embassy organized, directed, and financed the Hans Libau +Employment Agency, through which extended efforts were made to induce +employes of manufacturers engaged in supplying various kinds of material +to the Allies to give up their positions in an effort to interfere with +the output of such manufacturers. Von Papen indorsed this organization +as a military measure, and it was hoped through its propaganda to +cripple munition factories. + +[Sidenote: Newspapers financed.] + +XX. The German Government has assisted financially a number of +newspapers in this country in return for pro-German propaganda. + +[Sidenote: Mexican difficulties increased.] + +XXI. Many facts have been secured indicating that Germans have aided and +encouraged financially and otherwise the activities of one or the other +faction in Mexico, the purpose being to keep the United States occupied +along its borders and to prevent the exportation of munitions of war to +the Allies; see, in this connection, the activities of Rintelen, +Stallforth, Kopf, the German Consul at Chihuahua; Krum-Hellen, Felix +Somerfeld (Villa's representative at New York), Carl Heynen, Gustav +Steinberg, and many others. + +[Sidenote: Relief ships plainly marked.] + +When the Commission for Relief in Belgium began its work in October, +1914, it received from the German authorities, through the various +Governments concerned, definite written assurances that ships engaged in +carrying cargoes for the relief of the civil population of Belgium and +Northern France should be immune from attack. In order that there may be +no room for attacks upon these ships through misunderstanding, each ship +is given a safe conduct by the German diplomatic representative in the +country from which it sails, and, in addition, bears conspicuously upon +its sides markings which have been agreed upon with the German +authorities; furthermore, similar markings are painted upon the decks +of the ships in order that they may be readily recognized by airplanes. + +Upon the rupture of relations with Germany the commission was definitely +assured by the German Government that its ships would be immune from +attack by following certain prescribed courses and conforming to the +arrangements previously made. + +[Sidenote: Unwarranted attacks.] + +Despite these solemn assurances there have been several unwarranted +attacks upon ships under charter to the commission. + +On March 7 or 8 the Norwegian ship _Storstad_, carrying 10,000 tons of +corn from Buenos Aires to Rotterdam for the commission was sunk in broad +daylight by a German submarine despite the conspicuous markings of the +commission which the submarine could not help observing. The _Storstad_ +was repeatedly shelled without warning and finally torpedoed. + +[Sidenote: Men killed on torpedoed relief ships.] + +On March 19 the steamships _Tunisie_ and _Haelen_, under charter to the +commission, proceeding to the United States under safe conducts and +guarantees from the German Minister at The Hague and bearing conspicuous +marking of the commission, were attacked without warning by a German +submarine outside the danger zone (56 degrees 15 minutes north, 5 +degrees 32 minutes east). The ships were not sunk, but on the _Haelen_ +seven men were killed, including the first and third officers; a port +boat was sunk; a hole was made in the port bunker above the water line; +and the ships sustained sundry damages to decks and engines. + +[Sidenote: Consular officers suffer indignities.] + +Various Consular officers have suffered indignities and humiliation at +the hands of German frontier authorities. The following are +illustrations: + +Mr. Pike, Consul at St. Gall, Switzerland, on proceeding to his post +with a passport duly indorsed by German officials in New York and +Copenhagen, was on November 26, 1916, subjected to great indignities at +Warnemuende on the German frontier. Mr. Pike refused to submit to search +of his person, the removal of his clothing, or the seizure of his +official reports and papers of a private and confidential nature. He was +therefore obliged to return to Copenhagen. + +Mr. Murphy, the Consul General at Sofia, and his wife, provided with +passports from the German legations at The Hague and Copenhagen, were on +two occasions stripped and searched and subjected to great humiliation +at the same frontier station. No consideration was given them because of +their official position. + +[Sidenote: Outrageous behavior of German officials.] + +Such has been the behavior on the part of German officials +notwithstanding that Consular officials hold positions of dignity and +responsibility under their Government and that during the present war +Germany has been placed under deep obligation to American Consular +officers by their efforts in the protection of German interests. + +[Sidenote: Neutrals on the _Yarrowdale_ held as prisoners.] + +On January 19, Mr. Gerard telegraphed that the evening papers contained +a report that the English steamer _Yarrowdale_ had been brought to +Swinemuende as prize with 469 prisoners on board taken from ships +captured by German auxiliary cruisers; that among these prisoners were +103 neutrals. + +After repeated inquiries Mr. Gerard learned that there were among the +_Yarrowdale_ prisoners seventy-two men claiming American citizenship. + +On February 4 Mr. Gerard was informed by Count Montgelas of the Foreign +Office that the Americans taken on the _Yarrowdale_ would be released +immediately on the ground that they could not have known at the time of +sailing that it was Germany's intention to treat armed merchantmen as +ships of war. + +Despite this assurance, the prisoners were not released, but some time +prior to February 17 the German Minister for Foreign Affairs told the +Spanish Ambassador that the American prisoners from the _Yarrowdale_ +would be liberated "in a very short time." + +[Sidenote: A formal demand for release of _Yarrowdale_ prisoners.] + +Upon receipt of this information a formal demand was made through the +Spanish Ambassador at Berlin for the immediate release of these men. The +message sent the Spanish Ambassador was as follows: + +[Sidenote: American prisoners must be released.] + +"If _Yarrowdale_ prisoners have not been released, please make formal +demand in the name of the United States for their immediate release. If +they are not promptly released and allowed to cross the frontier without +further delay, please state to the Foreign Minister that this policy of +the Imperial Government, if continued, apparently without the slightest +justification, will oblige the Government of the United States to +consider what measures it may be necessary to take in order to obtain +satisfaction for the continued detention of these innocent American +citizens." + +[Sidenote: _Yarrowdale_ men reach Switzerland.] + +On February 25 the American Ambassador at Madrid was informed by the +Spanish Foreign Office that the _Yarrowdale_ prisoners had been released +on the 16th inst. The foregoing statement appears to have been based on +erroneous information. The men finally reached Zurich, Switzerland, on +the afternoon of March 11. + +[Sidenote: Treatment cruel and heartless.] + +Official reports now in the possession of the Department of State +indicate that these American sailors were from the moment of their +arrival in Germany, on January 3, subjected to the most cruel and +heartless treatment. Although the weather was very cold, they were given +no suitable clothes, and many of them stood about for hours barefoot in +the snow. The food supplied them was utterly inadequate. After one cup +of coffee in the morning almost the only article of food given them was +boiled frosted cabbage, with mush once a week and beans once a week. One +member of the crew states that, without provocation, he was severely +kicked in the abdomen by a German officer. He appears still to be +suffering severely from this assault. Another sailor is still suffering +from a wound caused by shrapnel fired by the Germans at an open boat in +which he and his companions had taken refuge after the sinking of the +_Georgic_. + +[Sidenote: Drowning preferred to German prison.] + +All of the men stated that their treatment had been so inhuman that +should a submarine be sighted in the course of their voyage home they +would prefer to be drowned rather than have any further experience in +German prison camps. + +It is significant that the inhuman treatment accorded these American +sailors occurred a month before the break in relations and while Germany +was on every occasion professing the most cordial friendship for the +United States. + +[Sidenote: Mr. Gerard is deprived of means of communication.] + +After the suspension of diplomatic relations the German authorities cut +off the telephone at the embassy at Berlin and suppressed Mr. Gerard's +communication by telegraph and post. Mr. Gerard was not even permitted +to send to American Consular officers in Germany the instructions he had +received for them from the Department of State. Neither was he allowed +to receive his mail. Just before he left Berlin the telephonic +communication at the embassy was restored and some telegrams and letters +were delivered. No apologies were offered, however. + +[Sidenote: The German note to Mexico.] + +The Government of the United States is in possession of instructions +addressed by the German Minister for Foreign Affairs to the German +Minister to Mexico concerning a proposed alliance of Germany, Japan, and +Mexico to make war on the United States. The text of this document is as +follows: + + "BERLIN, January 19, 1917. + +"On the 1st of February we intend to begin submarine warfare +unrestricted. In spite of this it is our intention to endeavor to keep +neutral the United States of America. + +[Sidenote: Basis of alliance proposed to Mexico.] + +"If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on the +following basis with Mexico: That we shall make war together and +together make peace. We shall give general financial support, and it is +understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, +Texas, and Arizona. The details are left to you for settlement. + +[Sidenote: Japan to be included.] + +"You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of the above in +the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain there will be an +outbreak of war with the United States, and suggest that the President +of Mexico on his own initiative should communicate with Japan suggesting +adherence at once to this plan; at the same time offer to mediate +between Germany and Japan. + +"Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that the +employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises to compel England +to make peace in a few months. + + "(Signed) ZIMMERMANN." + + * * * * * + +The United States was, to a large extent, unprepared for war on the +outbreak of hostilities with Germany. But when the step finally was +taken, all the industrial, economic, and military resources, of the +country, were mobilized. An account of how this was accomplished and the +results of these efforts are described in the pages following. + + + + +PREPARING FOR WAR + +NEWTON D. BAKER + +SECRETARY OF WAR + + +[Sidenote: State of war formally declared.] + +[Sidenote: Neutrality had delayed military preparations.] + +[Sidenote: Great armies necessary.] + +[Sidenote: Organization of finance, agriculture and industry.] + +On the 6th day of April Congress declared "That the state of war between +the United States and the Imperial German Government which had been +thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared." By this +declaration and the proclamation of the President pursuant thereto, the +United States entered the great conflict which had raged in Europe from +August, 1914, as a belligerent power, and began immediately to prepare +to defend the rights of the Nation, which for months had been endangered +and denied by high-handed and inhuman acts of the German Government both +on land and sea. The peaceful ambitions of our people had long postponed +our entrance into the conflict; and adherence to a strict neutrality +through long months of delicate situations delayed the beginning of +active military preparation. At once, however, upon a declaration of a +state of war, Congress began the consideration of the measures necessary +for the enlargement of the military forces and the coordination of the +industrial strength of the Nation. It was understood at the outset that +war under modern conditions involved not only larger armies than the +United States had ever assembled, but also more far-reaching +modifications of our ordinary industrial processes and wider departures +from the peace-time activities of the people. The task of the United +States was not only immediately to increase its naval and military +forces, not only to order the agricultural and industrial life of the +Nation to support these enlarged military establishments, but also to +bear an increasing financial, industrial, and agricultural burden for +the support of those nations which, since 1914, have been in arms +against the Imperial German Government and have borne not only the full +force of the attack of its great military machine, but also the +continuing drain upon their economic resources and their capacity for +production which so titanic and long-continued a struggle necessarily +entail. + +[Sidenote: The whole people wish to help.] + +[Sidenote: Benevolent and philanthropic societies.] + +The first response from the country to the act of Congress in declaring +a state of war came in the form of offers of services from the people, +and for weeks there poured into the War Department an almost bewildering +stream of letters and visitors offering service of every kind. Without +distinction of age, sex, or occupation, without distinction of +geographical location or sectional difference, the people arose with but +one thought in their mind, that of tendering themselves, their talents, +and their substance for the best use the country could make of them in +the emergency. Organizations and associations sprang up over night in +thousands of places, inspired by the hope that collective offers and +aggregations of strength and facilities might be more readily +assimilated by the Government; and benevolent and philanthropic +societies began to form for the purpose of taking up as far as might be +the vicarious griefs which follow in the train of military operations. +There was at the outset some inevitable crossing of purposes and +duplication of effort, and perhaps there may have been some +disappointment that a more instantaneous use could not be made of all +this wealth of willingness and patriotic spirit; but it was a superb and +inspiring spectacle. Out of the body of a nation devoted to productive +and peaceful pursuits, and evidencing its collective spirit only upon +occasions for the settlement of domestic and institutional questions, +there arose the figure of a national spirit which had lain dormant until +summoned by a national emergency; but which, when it emerged, was seen +to embody loyalty to our institutions, unity of purpose, and willingness +to sacrifice on the part of our entire people as their underlying and +dominant character. + +[Sidenote: Great national strength in a free people.] + +Those who believed that the obvious and daily exhibition of power which +takes place in an autocracy is necessary for national strength, +discovered that a finer, and freer, and greater national strength +subsists in a free people, and that the silent processes of democracy, +with their normal accent on the freedom of individuals, nevertheless +afford springs of collective action and inspiration for self-sacrifice +as wide and effective as they are spontaneous. The several Government +departments, the Council of National Defense, and other agencies of a +more or less formal character subdivided the work of organization. +Congress rapidly perfected its legislative program, and in a few weeks +very definite direction began to appear in the work of preparation. + +[Sidenote: Act to increase Military Establishment.] + +The act of May 18, 1917, entitled "An act to authorize the President to +increase temporarily the Military Establishment of the United States," +looked to three sources for the Army which it created: + +[Sidenote: Regular Army to be increased.] + +1. The regular Army, of which the actual strength on June 30, 1917, was +250,157 men and officers. The provisions of the act, however, +contemplated an increase of the Regular Army to 18,033 officers and +470,185 enlisted men, the increase being effected by the immediate call +of the increments provided in the National Defense Act of 1916, and the +raising of all branches of the service to war strength. + +[Sidenote: National Guard to be reorganized.] + +2. The National Guard, reorganized under the National Defense Act, and +containing on the 30th of June, 1917, approximately 3,803 officers and +107,320 enlisted men. The National Guard, however, by recruiting of its +numbers and the raising of all arms to war strength, contemplated a +total of 13,377 officers and 456,800 enlisted men. + +[Sidenote: National Army to be raised by Selective Draft.] + +3. In addition to this, the act provided for a National Army, raised by +the process of selective conscription or draft, of which the President +was empowered to summon two units of 500,000 men each at such time as he +should determine wise. + +[Sidenote: National Guard training camps.] + +On the 3d day of July, 1917, the President by proclamation called into +the Federal service and drafted the National Guard of the several States +and the District of Columbia. And 16 divisional camps were established +for their mobilization and training, as follows: + +Charlotte, N. C.; Spartanburg, S. C.; Augusta, Ga.; Anniston, Ala.; +Greenville, S. C.; Macon, Ga.; Waco, Tex.; Houston, Tex.; Deming, N. +Mex.; Fort Sill, Okla.; Forth Worth, Tex.; Montgomery, Ala.; +Hattiesburg, Miss.; Alexandria, La.; Buena Vista, Cal.; Palo Alto, Cal. + +[Sidenote: Voluntary enlistment in the Regular Army and National Guard.] + +[Sidenote: A spirit of cooperation.] + +The principle of voluntary enlistment to fill up the ranks of the +Regular Army and the National Guard, and to raise them to war strength +was preserved in the act of May 18, 1917, the maximum age for enlistment +in both services being fixed at 40 years. Even before the passage of the +act, however, very great recruiting activity was shown throughout the +country, the total number of enlistments in the Regular Army for the +fiscal year 1917 being 160,084. The record of National Guard enlistments +has not yet been completely compiled, but the act authorizing a +temporary increase in the military establishment provided that any +deficiency remaining in either the Regular Army or the National Guard +should be made up by selective conscription. The introduction of this +new method of enlistment so far affected the whole question of selection +for military service that any deductions, either favorable or +unfavorable, from the number of voluntary enlistments, would be +unwarranted. It is entirely just to say that the States generally showed +a most sympathetic spirit of cooperation with the National Government, +and the National Guard responded with zeal and enthusiasm to the +President's call. + +[Sidenote: No exact precedent to follow.] + +[Sidenote: England finally resorted to draft.] + +[Sidenote: Organized industry back of armies.] + +In the preparation of the act providing for the temporary increase in +the Military Establishment, very earnest consideration was given by the +committees of the two Houses of Congress and by the Department to the +principles which would be followed in creating a military establishment +under modern conditions adequate for the tremendous emergency facing the +Nation. Our own history and experience with the volunteer system +afforded little precedent because of the new conditions, and the +experience of European nations was neither uniform nor wholly adequate. +Our adversary, the German Empire, had for many years followed the +practice of universal compulsory military training and service, so that +it was a nation of trained soldiers. In France the same situation had +existed. In England, on the other hand, the volunteer system had +continued, and the British army was relatively a small body. The +urgency, however, of the British need at the outbreak of the war, and +the unbroken traditions of England, were against even the delay +necessary to consider the principle upon which action might best be +taken, so that England's first effort was reduced to that volunteer +system, and her subsequent resort to the draft was made after a long +experience in raising vast numbers of men by volunteer enlistment as a +result of campaigns of agitation and patriotic appeal. The war in +Europe, however, had lasted long enough to make quite clear the +character of the contest. It was obviously no such war as had ever +before occurred, both in the vast numbers of men necessary to be engaged +in strictly military occupations and in the elaborate and far-reaching +organization of industrial and civil society of the Nation back of the +Army. + +Our military legislation was drafted after very earnest consideration, +to accomplish the following objects: + +1. To provide in successive bodies adequate numbers of men to be trained +and used as combatant forces. + +2. To select for these armies men of suitable age and strength. + +[Sidenote: Universal obligation to service.] + +3. To distribute the burden of the military defense of the Nation in the +most equitable and democratic manner, and to that end to recognize the +universality of the obligation of service. + +[Sidenote: Necessary men to be kept in industry.] + +4. To reserve to the public authorities power so to control the +selection of soldiers as to prevent the absorption of men indispensable +to agriculture and industry, and to prevent the loss of national +strength involved by the acceptance into military service of men whose +greatest usefulness is in scientific pursuits or in production. + +5. To select, so far as may be, those men for military service whose +families and domestic obligations could best bear their separation from +home and dependents, and thus to cause the least possible distress among +the families of the Nation which are dependent upon the daily earnings +of husbands and fathers for their support. + +These considerations, shortly stated, amount to a policy which, +recognizing the life of the nation as a whole, and assuming both the +obligation and the willingness of the citizen to give the maximum of +service, institutes a national process for the expression of our +military, industrial, and financial strength, all at their highest, and +with the least waste, loss, and distress. + +[Sidenote: Regular Army and National Guard increased.] + +The act of Congress authorizing the President to increase temporarily +the Military Establishment of the United States, approved May 18, 1917, +provided for the raising and maintaining by selective draft of +increments (in addition to the Regular Army and National Guard) of +500,000 men each, together with recruit training units for the +maintenance of such increments at the maximum strength, and the raising, +organizing, and maintaining of additional auxiliary forces, and also for +raising and maintaining at their maximum strength, by selective draft +when necessary, the Regular Army and the National Guard drafted into the +service of the United States. + +[Sidenote: Male citizens between 21 and 30 years liable to military +service.] + +It also provided that such draft "shall be based upon liability to +military service of all male citizens, or male persons not alien +enemies, who have declared their intention to become citizens, between +the ages of 21 and 30 years, both inclusive"; that the several States, +Territories, and the District of Columbia should furnish their +proportionate shares or quotas of the citizen soldiery determined in +proportion to the population thereof, with certain credits allowed for +volunteer enlistments in branches of the service then organized and +existing. + +The Nation was confronted with the task of constructing, without delay, +an organization by which the selection might be made for the entire +country by means of a uniform and regulated system. + +[Sidenote: The Provost Marshal General begins registration.] + +A suggestion of administration, incomplete because of entirely different +conditions, arose from the precedent of the Civil War draft; and on May +22, 1917, the Judge Advocate General was detailed as "Provost Marshal +General" and charged with the execution, under the Secretary of War, of +so much of the act of May 18 "as relates to the registration and the +selective draft." Plans had already been formulated for the operation of +the selective draft, and with the formal designation of the Provost +Marshal General the work of organization began. + +[Sidenote: State organization utilized.] + +It was obvious that to build up a new Federal organization would require +a greater period of time than was afforded by the military necessity. +The existing governmental organizations of the several States presented +an available substitute, and the statute authorized their use. This +expedient was unprecedented, but its practice has abundantly justified +its adoption. + +[Sidenote: State registration boards.] + +The immediate need was for a comprehensive registration of every male of +draft age. To effect this registration each State was divided into +districts containing a population of approximately 30,000, in each of +which a registration board was appointed by the governor. Usually this +board consisted of the sheriff, the county health officer, and the +county clerk; and where the county's population, exclusive of cities of +more than 30,000 inhabitants, exceeded that number, additional +registration boards were appointed. Cities of over 30,000 were treated +as separate units. The election district was established as the actual +unit for registration in order that the normal election machinery might +be utilized, and a registrar for every 800 of population in each voting +or election precinct was appointed by the registration board. In cities +approximating 30,000 of population, the registration board was made up +of city officials, and where the population exceeded the unit number +additional registration boards of three members were appointed, one a +licensed physician. + +[Sidenote: The scheme of organization.] + +Governors and mayors were given considerable latitude in making +geographical divisions of the States and cities for the purpose of +defining registration jurisdictions; the only limitation being that +approximately 30,000 inhabitants should be included within the confines +of a district. The general scheme was that the board of three should +exercise supervision over the precinct registrars, the governors +supervising the work of the registration boards, while the mayors of +cities containing 30,000 or more inhabitants acted as intermediaries +between governors and registration boards. Each State was constituted a +separate unit and each governor was charged with the execution of the +law in his State. + +[Sidenote: Ten million young men register.] + +By proclamation of the President, dated May 18, 1917, Tuesday, June 5, +1917, was designated as registration day throughout the United States, +with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico; and, due to the +fact that registration organization of the States had been so quickly +and thoroughly completed, about 10,000,000 male citizens of the +designated ages were registered on the day set, and the first step in +the operation of the selective service law was accomplished. + +Registration consisted in entering on a card essential facts necessary +to a complete identification of the registrant and a preliminary survey +of his domestic and economic circumstances. + +[Sidenote: Citizens carry out registration.] + +It is noteworthy that this registration throughout the entire country +was carried out in the main by the voluntary and energetic efforts of +citizens, and the Government was thereby saved a very great expense +through the efficient organization which had been constructed and +furnished with all necessary materials during the short period of +sixteen days. + +[Sidenote: Examination, selection, and mobilization.] + +[Sidenote: Representative citizens of each community employed.] + +With registration completed there followed the operation of examination, +selection, and mobilization. The unit jurisdiction of approximately +30,000 of population was maintained as far as possible, and for each +district or division a local board of three members was appointed by the +President upon the recommendation of the governor. The board members +were residents of the districts they served, and the personnel comprised +representative and responsible citizens of the community, including +usually a licensed physician. In many cases registration boards were +reappointed local boards. Such boards exercised original jurisdiction in +all cases except claims for discharge on account of engagement in +industry or agriculture. + +In every Federal judicial district one or more district boards were +organized, consisting usually of five but in some cases of a larger +number of members, comprising leading citizens of the community and +appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the governor. +District boards exercised appellate jurisdiction over local boards and +original jurisdiction in industrial and agricultural claims. + +[Sidenote: The order of liability of registrants.] + +[Sidenote: Numbered cards.] + +[Sidenote: The drawing in Washington on July 20, 1917.] + +The initial step in the process of examination and selection was to +establish the order of liability of each of the 10,000,000 registrants +to be called for service. The cards within the jurisdiction of each +local board, taken as a unit, had been serially numbered when completed +and filed; and duplicates of the cards so numbered were deposited with +the governor and with the district boards. The average number of +registrants within the jurisdiction of a local board was about 2,500, +the highest being 10,319. In order to establish the order of liability +of each registrant in relation to the other registrants within the +jurisdiction of the same local board, a drawing was held July 20, 1917, +in the Public Hearing Room of the Senate Office Building in Washington, +as a result of which every registrant was given an order number and his +liability to be called for examination and selection determined by the +order number. + +The official lists of the numbers drawn by lot were furnished to every +local board and from these lists the boards made up the availability +order list of all registrants within their respective jurisdictions. + +[Sidenote: Physical examination and elimination.] + +The determination of the order of availability left only the process of +physical examination and elimination. The War Department, through the +Provost Marshal General's Office, had already determined and given +notice of the number of men to be furnished by each State, and at the +date of the drawing practically every State had ascertained and notified +its local boards of the number required to complete their respective +quotas for the first draft. The calculations of the War Department and +of the States for the quotas were based upon section 2 of the act of May +18. + +Immediately upon the completion of the order of call lists, the local +boards began to summon for physical examination, beginning with the man +who was No. 1 on the list, and continuing in numerical sequence, a +sufficient number of registrants to fill their quotas. The average +number summoned for the first examination was about twice the number +required--i. e., if a board's quota was 105, the first 210 registrants +of that jurisdiction were called for physical examination. + +[Sidenote: Certain officials and classes exempted.] + +The Selective Service Law required certain persons to be exempted from +military service, including Federal and State legislative, executive, +and judicial officers, ministers of religion, students of divinity, +persons in the military or naval service of the United States, and +certain aliens. The law further authorized the discharge from draft, +under such regulations as the President might prescribe, of county and +municipal officers, customhouse clerks and other persons employed by the +United States in certain classes of work, pilots and mariners, and, +within prescribed limitations, registrants in a status with respect to +persons dependent upon them for support, and persons found physically or +morally unfit. Exemption from combatant service only was authorized in +the case of persons found to be members of any well-recognized religious +sect or organization whose existing creed or principles forbid its +members to participate in war in any form, and whose religious +convictions are against war or participation therein. + +[Sidenote: Rules governing discharges.] + +On June 30, 1917, the President promulgated rules and regulations as +authorized by the law prescribing the reasons for and manner of granting +discharges, and the procedure of local and district boards. + +The selective service system required the 4,557 local boards to conduct +the physical examination of registrants within their jurisdictions, and +to determine and dispose of claims of exemption and discharge in the +first instance, excepting industrial and agricultural claims. + +[Sidenote: The power of the district boards.] + +The 156 district boards which were established as above stated, proved +to be the fulcrum of balance between the local boards and the +registrants. In practically every instance their members have been +chosen from among the most able and conspicuous representatives of the +legal and medical professions, and from the fields of industry, +commerce, and labor. + +[Sidenote: Appeal agents appointed.] + +By regulation the case of every person discharged from the operation of +the selective service law by a local board on the ground of dependency +was automatically taken to the district board for review, the appeal +being noted by Government appeal agents appointed by the Provost Marshal +General. + +[Sidenote: Dependency cases the most difficult.] + +Registrants whose claims were disallowed by local boards appealed in +large numbers to district boards. Thus was obtained a high degree of +uniformity of decisions in dependency cases, which were by far the most +difficult of determination and disposition, as well as the most +numerous, of the classes of cases throughout the first draft. + +Cases involving claims for discharge on agricultural and industrial +grounds, of which district boards have original jurisdiction, are +appealable to the President, and to date approximately 20,000 of these +have been received and indexed, of which about 80 per cent are claims +for discharge based on agricultural grounds and 20 per cent on +industrial grounds. Of cases already disposed of on appeal from the +district boards less than 7 per cent have been reversed. The pending of +an appeal to the President does not operate as a stay of induction into +military service except where the district board has expressly so +directed, and the number of such stays is negligible. + +[Sidenote: The total cost of the draft.] + +The total cost of the draft can not be estimated accurately at this +time, but, based upon the data at hand, the total registration and +selection of the first 687,000 men has amounted to an approximate +expenditure of $5,600,000, or about $8.11 unit cost. + +[Sidenote: Universal willingness to serve.] + +[Sidenote: High quality of men obtained.] + +The unprecedented character of this undertaking is a matter of common +knowledge. Congress, in the consideration of the act which authorized +it, entertained grave doubts as to whether a plan could be devised which +would apply so new a principle of selection for national service without +much misunderstanding and unhappiness. But the results have been of a +most inspiring kind and have demonstrated the universal willingness of +our people to serve in the defense of our liberties and to commit the +selection of the Nation's defenders to the Nation itself. The men +selected have reported to the camps and are in course of training. They +constitute as fine a body of raw material as were ever trained in +military science. They are already acquiring the smartness and soldierly +bearing characteristic of American troops, and those who once thought +that the volunteer spirit was necessary to insure contentment and zeal +in soldiers now freely admit that the men selected under this act have +these qualities in high degree and that it proceeds out of a patriotic +willingness on the part of the men to bear their part of the national +burden and to do their duty at the Nation's call. + +[Sidenote: Ability of Provost Marshal General.] + +[Sidenote: This mode of selection made necessary by conditions of modern +war.] + +[Sidenote: The democratic fairness of the plan.] + +The success of this great undertaking is, of course, primarily due to +the painstaking forethought and the statesmanlike breadth of view with +which the Provost Marshal General and his associates organized the +machinery for its execution. But other elements have contributed to its +success, and first among these was the determination to rely upon the +cooperation of the governors of States and State agencies in the +assembling of the registration and exemption boards. By reason of this +association of State and local agencies with the National Government the +law came as no outside mandate enforced by soldiers, but as a working +of the home institutions in the hands of neighbors and acquaintances +pursuing a clear process of selection, and resulting in a gift by the +States to the Nation of a body of men to be trained. The press of the +country cooperated in a most helpful way, drawing the obvious +distinctions between this mode of selection and those punitive drafts +which have sometimes been resorted to after the failure of volunteering, +and pointing out the young men of the country that the changed +conditions of warfare made necessary a mode of selection which would +preserve the industrial life of the Nation as a foundation for +successful military operations. Indeed, the country seemed generally to +have caught enough of the lessons of the European war to have realized +the necessity of this procedure, and from the very beginning criticism +was silenced and doubt answered by the obvious wisdom of the law. +Moreover, the unquestioned fairness of the arrangements, the absence of +all power of substitution, the fact that the processes of the law were +worked out publicly, all cooperated to surround the draft with +assurances of fairness and equality, so that throughout the whole +country the attitude of the people toward the law was one of approval +and confidence, and I feel very sure that those who at the beginning had +any doubts would now with one accord agree that the selective service +act provides not only a necessary mode of selecting the great armies +needed under modern conditions, but that it provides a better and more +democratic and a fairer method of distributing the burden of national +defense than any other system as yet suggested. + +[Sidenote: Fundamental questions settled.] + +[Sidenote: Unity of spirit of American people.] + +This does not mean, of course, that the law is perfect either in its +language or in its execution, nor does it mean that improvements may not +be made as our experience grows and as the need for more intense +national efforts increases; but such amendments as may hereafter be +required will proceed with the fundamental questions settled and we have +now only to consider changes which may be required to a better ordering +of our military strength and a more efficient maintenance of our +industrial and agricultural life during the stress of war. The passage +and execution of this law may be regarded as a milestone in our progress +toward self-consciousness and national strength. Its acceptance shows +the unity of spirit of our people, and its operation shows that a +democracy has in its institutions the concentrated energy necessary to +great national activities however much they may be scattered and +dispersed, in the interest of the preservation of individual liberty, in +time of peace. + +[Sidenote: The Officer's Reserve Corps.] + +[Sidenote: Physicians commissioned in the Medical Department.] + +[Sidenote: Men from the Plattsburg training camps.] + +The problem presented involved not merely the selection of forces to be +trained into armies but officers to do the training. By the provisions +of the national defense act of June 3, 1916, Officers' Reserve Corps had +been authorized. Rules and regulations for their organization were +promulgated in July, 1916, and amended in March, 1917. Immediately upon +the passage of the act, the building up of lists of reserve officers in +the various sections of the Military Establishment was undertaken, with +the result that at the end of the fiscal year some of the branches of +the service had substantial lists of men available for duty in the event +of call. The largest number of commissions were issued in the technical +services, for which professional nonmilitary training was the principal +requisite. The largest reserve corps was that in the Medical Department, +in which more than 12,000 physicians were commissioned. The expansion of +these technical services proceeded easily upon the basis of the reserve +corps beginning, but the number of applicants for commissions in the +strictly military or combatant branches of the service was relatively +small. They consisted of men who had had military experience either in +the Regular Army or the National Guard, and men who were graduates of +schools and colleges affording military training, and of the training +camps which for several years had been maintained at Plattsburg and +throughout the country. Their number, however, was wholly inadequate, +and their experience, while it had afforded the elements of military +discipline, had not been such as was plainly required to train men for +participation in the European war with its changed methods and +conditions. The virtue of the law authorizing the Officers' Reserve +Corps, however, became instantly apparent upon the declaration of war, +as it enabled the department to establish officers' training camps for +the rapid production of officers. + +[Sidenote: A series of officers training camps.] + +[Sidenote: Officers commissioned.] + +Accepting the Plattsburg experiment as the basis and using funds +appropriated by Congress for an enlargement of the Plattsburg system of +training, the department established a series of training camps, sixteen +in number, which were opened on the 15th of May, 1917. The camps were +scattered throughout the United States so as to afford the opportunity +of entrance and training with the least inconvenience and expense of +travel to prepare throughout the entire country. Officers previously +commissioned in the reserve corps were required to attend the camps, +and, in addition, approximately 30,000 selected candidates were accepted +from among the much greater number who applied for admission. These +camps were organized and conducted under the supervision of department +commanders; applicants were required to state their qualifications and a +rough apportionment was attempted among the candidates to the several +States. At the conclusion of the camp, 27,341 officers were +commissioned and directed to report at the places selected for the +training of the new army. By this process, we supplied not only the +officers needed for the National Army but filled the roster of the +Regular Army, to which substantial additions were necessary by reason of +the addition of the full number of increments provided by the National +Defense Act of 1916. + +[Sidenote: The second series of officers' training camps.] + +[Sidenote: Officers needed also for staff duties.] + +[Sidenote: Constant experimentation necessary.] + +[Sidenote: Victory rests on science as much as on soldiers.] + +The results of the first series of camps were most satisfactory and, +anticipating the calling of further increments of the National Army, a +second series of camps was authorized, to begin August 27, 1917, under +rules for the selection of candidates and their apportionment throughout +the country which were much more searching and embodied those +improvements which are always possible in the light of experience. +Approximately 20,000 candidates are now attending this second series of +camps, and those found qualified will shortly be commissioned and +absorbed into the Army for the performance of the expanding volume of +duties which the progress of preparation daily brings about. It is to be +remembered that the need for officers exists not only in connection with +the actual training of troops in camp and the leadership of troops in +the field, but a vast number of officers must constantly be employed in +staff duties, and great numbers must as constantly be engaged in +military research and in specialized forms of training associated with +the use of newly developed arms and appliances. In other words, we must +maintain not merely the special-service schools which are required to +perfect the training of officers in the special arms of the service, but +we must constantly experiment with new devices and reduce to practical +use the discoveries of science and the new applications of mechanical +and scientific arts, both for offensive and defensive purposes. It +would be out of place here to enumerate or describe in any detail the +service of science in this war, but when the history of the struggle +comes to be written it will be found that the masters of the chemical +and physical sciences have thrown their talents and their ingenuity into +the service, that their researches have been at the very basis of +military progress, and that the victory rests as much upon a nation's +supremacy in the researches and adaptations of science as it does upon +the number and valor of its soldiers. Indeed, this is but one of the +many evidences of the fact that modern war engages all of the resources +of nations and that that nation will emerge victorious which has most +completely used and coordinated all the intellectual, moral, and +physical forces of its people. + +[Sidenote: Fundamentals of military discipline do not change.] + +[Sidenote: Professional soldiers still needed.] + +It would be a national loss for me to fail to record in this place a +just estimate of the value to the Nation of these training camps for +officers. They disclosed an unsuspected source of military strength. +Nobody will suppose that, with the growing intricacy of military science +and the industrial arts related to it, a country can dispense with +trained professional soldiers. The fundamentals of military discipline +remain substantially unchanged and, in order that we may assemble +rapidly and effectively adequate military forces, there must always be +in the country a body of men to whom the life of a soldier is a career +and who have acquired from their youth those qualities which have, from +the beginning, distinguished the graduates of the Military Academy at +West Point: the disciplined honor, the unfaltering courage, the +comprehension of sacrifice, and that knowing obedience which proceeds +from constant demonstrations of the fact that effective cooperation in +war requires instant compliance with the command of authority, the sort +of obedience which knows that a battle field is no place for a +parliament. Added to these mental and moral qualities, the body of +professional soldiers must devote themselves unremittingly to the +development of the arts of war, and when the emergency arises must be +familiar with the uses of science and the applications of industry in +military enterprise. But these training camps have taught us that, given +this relatively small body of professional soldiers, the Nation has at +hand an apparently inexhaustible body of splendid material which can be +rapidly made to supplement the professional soldier. + +[Sidenote: Athletes from the colleges.] + +[Sidenote: Adaptability of American youth.] + +[Sidenote: Atmosphere of industrial and commercial democracy.] + +[Sidenote: Many officers assigned to training of troops from their +homes.] + +When the first camp was opened, the colleges, military schools, and high +schools of the country poured out a stream of young men whose minds had +been trained in the classroom and whose bodies had been made supple and +virile on the athletic field. They came with intelligence, energy, and +enthusiasm and, under a course of intensive training, rapidly took on +the added discipline and capacities necessary to equip them for the +duties of officers. They have taken their places in the training camps +and are daily demonstrating the value of their education and the +adaptability of the spirit of American youth. A more salutary result +would be impossible to imagine. The trained professional soldiers of the +Army received this great body of youthful enthusiasm and capacity with +hospitality and quickly impressed upon it a soldierly character. The +young men brought to their training habits which they had formed for +success as civilians, but which their patriotic enthusiasm rendered +easily available in new lines of endeavor for the service of the +country. They brought, too, another element of great value. They were +assembled from all parts of the country; they were accustomed to the +democracy of the college and high school; they recognized themselves as +new and temporary adventurers in a military life; and they, therefore, +reflected into our military preparation the fresh and invigorating +atmosphere of our industrial and commercial democracy. This has +undoubtedly contributed to the establishment of a happy spirit which +prevails throughout the Army and has made it easy for the young men +chosen under the selective service act to fall in with the training and +mode of life which the military training camp requires. An effort was +made by the department as far as possible to assign these young officers +to the training of troops assembled from their own homes. By this means, +a preexisting sympathy was used, and admiration and respect between +officer and man was transferred from the home to the camp. + +[Sidenote: The three divisions of the Army.] + +[Sidenote: Enlistments may be for the period of the war.] + +[Sidenote: Men anxious to get to France soon.] + +[Sidenote: Traditions of military organizations preserved.] + +The three divisions of the Army, namely, the Regular Army, the National +Guard, and the National Army, were very different organizations as we +contemplated them at the time of the passage of the act for the +temporary increase of the Military Establishment. The Regular Army was a +veteran establishment of professional soldiers; the National Guard a +volunteer organization of local origin maintained primarily for the +preservation of domestic order in the several States, with an emergency +duty toward the national defense; the National Army an unknown quantity, +made up of men to be selected arbitrarily by tests and rules as yet to +be formulated, unorganized, untrained, existing only in theory and, +therefore, problematical as to its spirit and the length of time +necessary to fit it for use. Congress, however, most wisely provided as +far as possible for an elimination of these differences. Enlistments in +the Regular Army and National Guard were authorized to be made for the +period of the war rather than for fixed terms; the maximum and minimum +ages of enlistment in the Regular Army and National Guard were +assimilated; the rights and privileges of members of the three forces +were made largely identical. Indeed, the act created but one army, +selected by three processes. The wisdom of Congress in this course +became instantly apparent. Spirited young men throughout the country +began at once to enlist in the Regular Army and National Guard who might +have been deterred from such enlistment had their obligation been for a +fixed period rather than for the duration of the war. Many men asked +themselves but one question: "By which avenue of service will I earliest +get to France?" The men in the National Army soon caught this spirit +and, while the department is endeavoring to preserve as far as possible +in the National Guard and the National Army those intimacies which +belong to men who come from the same city or town, and to preserve the +honorable traditions of military organizations which have histories of +service to the country in other wars, the fact still remains that the +army is rapidly becoming the army of the United States, with the sense +of origin from a particular State, or association with a particular +neighborhood, more and more submerged by the rising sense of national +service and national identity. + +[Sidenote: Sites selected for cantonments.] + +[Sidenote: Sixteen divisional cantonments.] + +[Sidenote: Emergency construction division established.] + +I have described above the process of the execution of the selective +service law. The preparation of places for the training of the recruits +thus brought into the service was a task of unparalleled magnitude. On +the 7th of May, 1917, the commanding generals of the several departments +were directed to select sites for the construction of cantonments for +the training of the mobilized National Guard and the National Army. The +original intention was the construction of 32 cantonments. The +appropriations made by Congress for this purpose were soon seen to be +insufficient, and further study of the problem seemed to show that it +would be unwise so seriously to engage the resources of the country, +particularly in view of the fact that the National Guard was ready to be +mobilized, that its training by reason of service on the Mexican border +was substantial, and that its early use abroad in conjunction with the +Regular Army would render permanent camps less important. The number +was, therefore, cut to 16 divisional cantonments, and the National Guard +was mobilized in camps for the most part under canvas, with only certain +divisional storehouses and quarters for special uses constructed of +wood. Because of the open weather during the winter months, the National +Guard camps were located in the southern States. The National Army +cantonments were located within the lines of the military division. A +special division of the Quartermaster General's Department was +established, known as the emergency construction division, and to it was +given the task of erecting the cantonment buildings and such buildings +as should be necessary for the National Guard. + +On May 17, 1917, Col. I. W. Littell, of the Regular Army, was detailed +to assemble and direct an organization to be known as the cantonment +division of the Quartermaster Corps, whose duties were to consist of +providing quarters and camps for the training and housing of the New +National Army, which was to be selected by conscription as provided in +the act of Congress dated May 18, 1917. + +Able assistance was rendered by the following members of the committee +on emergency construction and contracts, a subcommittee of the +Munitions Board of the Council of National Defense: + +Major W. A. Starrett, chairman; Major William Kelly; C. M. Lundoff; M. +C. Tuttle; F. L. Olmsted; J. B. Talmadge, secretary. + +[Sidenote: Specialists in purchasing and constructing secured.] + +Inquiries were immediately made and all available means used by +telegraph, correspondence, and consultation to get in touch with the +ablest constructors, engineers, draftsmen, purchasing agents, and other +specialists of broad experience in their respective vocations from which +an efficient and experienced organization could be selected. + +All of those selected who became attached to the organization in an +official capacity gave up responsible and remunerative positions to give +the Government the benefit of their services. They all being over the +draft-age limit and representative technical men of repute and standing +in their community, a splendid precedent of patriotism was established. + +The assembling of an organization and the planning and execution of the +work was undertaken with a view of accomplishing all that human +ingenuity, engineering, and constructing skill could devise in the brief +time available. + +[Sidenote: The plans formulated.] + +[Sidenote: Magnitude of the task.] + +Plans were formulated by engineers, architects, and town planners who +had given much thought to the particular problems involved. Camp sites +comprising from 2,000 to 11,000 acres each were selected by a board of +Army officers under the direction of the department commanders. Names of +responsible contracting firms were secured and every effort made to +perfect an organization competent to carry out the work of completing +the camps at the earliest possible moment. The magnitude of assembling +an organization for carrying on the work and securing the labor and +materials therefor can in some measure be realized by reference to the +following table, showing quantities of the principal materials +estimated to be used in the construction of the National Army +cantonments. + +[Sidenote: Approximate quantities of materials.] + +The approximate quantities of principal materials used in the +construction of the various National Army camps are shown in the +following tables. This does not include National Guard, embarkation, or +training camps. + + Quantity. + Lumber (feet b. m.) 450,000,000 + Roofing paper (square feet) 76,000,000 + Doors 140,000 + Window sash 700,000 + Wall board (square feet) 29,500,000 + Shower heads 40,000 + Water-closet bowls 54,000 + Tank heaters and tanks 11,000 + Heating boilers 1,800 + Radiation (square feet) 4,200,000 + Cannon stoves 20,000 + Room heaters 20,000 + Kitchen stoves and ranges 10,000 + Wood pipe for water supply (feet) 1,000,000 + Cast-iron supply pipe (feet) 470,000 + Wire, all kinds and sizes (miles) 5,500 + Wood tanks (aggregate capacity) 8,300,000 + Hose carts 600 + Fire engines 90 + Fire extinguishers 4,700 + Fire hose (feet) 392,500 + Fire hydrants 3,600 + Hand-pump tanks 12,700 + Fire pails 163,000 + Cots 721,000 + +Sixteen National Army camps were constructed in various parts of the +United States at points selected by the War Department. The camps were +carefully laid out by experienced town planners and engineers to give +best results considering all viewpoints. + +[Sidenote: Extent of a typical National Army cantonment.] + +[Sidenote: Roads constructed and improvements installed.] + +A typical cantonment city will house 40,000 men. Each barrack building +will house 150 men and provide 500 cubic feet of air space per man. Such +a cantonment complete contains between 1,000 and 1,200 buildings and +covers about 2,000 acres. In addition, each cantonment has a rifle +range, drill, parade, and maneuver grounds of about 2,000 acres. In many +cases all or a large part of the entire site had to be cleared of woods +and stumps. The various military units were located on principal or +primary roads--a regiment being treated as a primary unit. About 25 +miles of roads were constructed at each cantonment, and sewers, water +supply, lighting facilities, and other improvements installed. + +[Sidenote: The special buildings required.] + +An infantry regiment requires 22 barrack buildings, 6 for officers' +quarters, 2 storehouses, 1 infirmary building, 28 lavatories, with hot +and cold shower baths, or a total of 59 buildings. In addition to the +buildings necessary for the regimental units, each cantonment has +buildings for divisional headquarters, quartermaster depots, laundry +receiving and distributing stations, base hospitals having 1,000 beds, +post exchanges, and other buildings for general use. + +[Sidenote: Remount stations.] + +At several of the cantonments remount stations have been provided, some +of them having a capacity to maintain 12,000 horses. + +[Sidenote: Other necessary camps.] + +In addition to the National Army camps, plans were made for the +construction of 16 National Guard, two embarkation and one quartermaster +training camp, but the construction of these items did not involve so +large an expenditure as the National Army camps, as provision was made +for fewer units and only tentage quarters for the men in the National +Guard camps was provided. Modern storehouses, kitchens, mess shelters, +lavatories, shower baths, base hospitals, and remount depots were +built, and water, sewerage, heating, and light systems installed at an +expenditure of about $1,900,000 for each camp. + +[Sidenote: The demand for construction and supplies.] + +[Sidenote: Savings effected by standardization.] + +With the advent of the United States into the war, there has appeared +not only one of the world's greatest builders, but the world's greatest +customer for supplies and human necessaries. We have not only to equip, +house, and supply our own army, but meet the demands arising from the +drainage of the resources of the entente allies. Small shopping and +bargaining are out of the question. Enormous savings were, however, +effected, due to the fact that materials were purchased in large +quantities and consequently at a much reduced price. Standardization of +sizes saved from $5 to $6 per thousand feet b. m. on lumber, and a +further saving of from $3 to $11 over prevailing prices was effected by +the lumber subcommittee of the Council of National Defense. The Raw +Materials Committee effected similar savings in prepared roofing, nails, +and other construction materials. The lead subcommittee procured 500 +tons of lead for caulking pipe at 3 cents less than market price. When +it is considered that this construction work is, next to the Panama +Canal, the largest ever undertaken by the United States, the country is +to be congratulated on having available the men and materials to +accomplish the feat of providing for the maintenance of the newly +organized army in so short a period. + +[Sidenote: Extensive construction work for National Army.] + +I have described at length the work of building necessary for the +National Army camps, but at the same time extensive building was +necessary at the 16 sites selected for the mobilization and training of +the National Guard. While the National Guard troops were themselves +quartered under canvas, many wooden buildings and storehouses had to be +constructed for their use and, of course, the important problems of +water supply, sewage, and hospital accommodations required substantially +as much provision upon these subjects as upon those selected for the +National Army. + +[Sidenote: Labor assembled from great distances.] + +[Sidenote: The assistance rendered by Mr. Gompers.] + +At the very outset of this hurried and vast program, it became apparent +that labor would have to be assembled from great distances, and in +wholly unaccustomed numbers, that the laboring men would be required to +separate themselves from home and family and to live under unusual and +less comfortable circumstances than was their habit. It was also clear +that no interruption or stoppage of the work could be permitted. I +therefore took up with Mr. Samuel Gompers, President of the American +Federation of Labor, the question of a general agreement which would +cover all trades to be employed in assuring continuity of work, provide +just conditions of pay, recognize the inequalities which exist +throughout the country, and yet avoid controversy as between the +contractor and his employees, which, wherever the justice of the dispute +might lie, could have only a prejudicial effect upon the interests of +the Government, by delaying the progress necessary to be made. Mr. +Gompers and those associated with him in the building trades promptly +and loyally entered into a consideration of the whole subject, with the +result that the following agreement was made: + +[Sidenote: Commission for labor adjustment.] + + "WASHINGTON, D. C., June 19, 1917. + +"For the adjustment and control of wages, hours, and conditions of labor +in the construction of cantonments, there shall be created an adjustment +commission of three persons, appointed by the Secretary of War; one to +represent the Army, one the public, and one labor; the last to be +nominated by Samuel Gompers, member of the Advisory Commission of the +Council of National Defense, and President of the American Federation of +Labor. + +[Sidenote: Consideration given to scales in locality.] + +"As basic standards with reference to each cantonment, such commission +shall use the main scales of wages, hours, and conditions in force on +June 1, 1917, in the locality where such cantonment is situated. +Consideration shall be given to special circumstances, if any arising +after said date which may require particular advances in wages or +changes in other standards. Adjustments of wages, hours, or conditions +made by such board are to be treated as binding by all parties." + + * * * * * + +[Sidenote: Labor difficulties easily adjusted.] + +[Sidenote: Early completion of cantonments.] + +The contractors throughout the country were notified of the existence of +this agreement and of the determination of the Government to carry it +out faithfully. The scope of the agreement was subsequently enlarged so +as to include other emergency construction done by the War Department, +and a board of adjustment was appointed which, at the beginning, +consisted of General E. A. Garlington, formerly General Inspector of the +Army, Mr. Walter Lippmann, and Mr. John R. Alpine, to whom all +complaints were referred, and by whom all investigations and +determinations in enforcement of the agreement were made. The personnel +of this board was subsequently changed, and its activities associated +with a similar board appointed by the concurrent action of the Secretary +of the Navy and Mr. Gompers, but I need here refer only to the fact +that, by the device of this agreement, and through the instrumentality +of this board, labor difficulties and disputes were easily adjusted, and +the program of building has gone rapidly forward, with here and there +incidental delays due sometimes to delay in material, sometimes to +difficulties of the site, and doubtless to other incidental failures of +coordination, but in the main, the work has been thoroughly successful. +When its magnitude is appreciated, the draft it made upon the labor +market of the country, the speed with which it was accomplished, and the +necessity of assembling not only materials but men from practically all +over the country, it seems not too much to say that the work is out of +all proportion larger than any similar work ever undertaken in the +country, and that its completion substantially on time, is an evidence +of efficiency both on the part of those officers of the Government +charged with responsibility for the task and the contractors and men of +the trades and crafts employed to carry on the work. + +[Sidenote: Camps for training military engineers.] + +This great division of the War Department in times of peace devotes the +major part of its energy to works of internal improvements and to the +supervision of, improvement, and maintenance of navigable waters; but in +time of war it immediately becomes a fundamental part of the Military +Establishment. It was, therefore, called upon not only to render +assistance of an engineering kind in the establishment of training +camps, but had to establish camps for the rapid training in military +engineering of large additions to its own personnel, and to undertake +the rapid mobilization and training of additional engineer troops, of +which at the beginning of the war there were but two regiments. + +[Sidenote: Importance of railroad transportation in war.] + +[Sidenote: Regiments of engineers sent to France.] + +One of the earliest opportunities for actual assistance to the countries +associated with us in this war was presented to this department. In the +war against Germany transportation, and particularly railroad +transportation, is of the utmost importance. It was easily foreseen that +our own army in France would require large railroad facilities both in +the operation of permanent railroads for the handling of our equipment +and supplies and in the construction and operation of temporary roads +behind our Army. In the meantime regiments of engineer troops, if +speedily organized and dispatched to Europe, could both render valuable +assistance to the British and French Armies and acquire the training and +experience which would make them valuable at a later stage to us. +Accordingly nine such regiments were organized and have for some months +been rendering active and important service along the actual battle +front. In addition to these, a tenth regiment, composed of men skilled +in forestry and lumbering, was organized and sent abroad, and is now +operating in a foreign forest cutting out lumber supplies for the use of +our associates and ourselves. + +[Sidenote: Arrangements to operate our own railways in France.] + +[Sidenote: Creation of entire transportation system.] + +Concurrently with the formation of these special engineer troops the +department undertook the collection of material for the establishment +and operation of our own lines of supply abroad. The railways of France +have been maintained in a state of high efficiency by the French people, +and they are performing the tremendous transportation task imposed upon +them by the French and English military operations with complete +success; but in order not to impose a burden which they were not +designed to meet, by asking them to expand to the accommodation of our +services, it has been found necessary for us ourselves to undertake the +accumulation of railroad material for our own use in the theater of war. +This work is on a large and comprehensive scale. Any detailed +description of it would be inappropriate at this time, but it involves +the creation of entire transportation systems and the actual +construction and operation of railroads with the elaborate terminal +facilities needed for the rapid unloading and dispatch of supplies, +equipment, and troops. + +[Sidenote: The Quartermaster General's problem.] + +[Sidenote: Vast equipment needed.] + +[Sidenote: Intensive production of food and clothing.] + +[Sidenote: Associated nations must be supplied.] + +[Sidenote: Emergency appropriation.] + +[Sidenote: Great extent of purchases.] + +The problem facing the Quartermaster General has been serious. For the +small Regular Army of the United States a well-defined and adequate +supply system had been created. It was large enough and flexible enough +to permit us to make gradual accumulations of reserve as Congress from +time to time provided the necessary money; but when the mobilization of +the National Guard on the Mexican frontier took place, such reserves as +we had were rapidly consumed, and the maintenance of the military +establishment on the border required an increase which quite equaled the +entire capacity of those industries ordinarily devoting themselves to +the production of military supplies. When the present enlarged military +establishment was authorized it involved an enlarged Regular Army, an +enlarged National Guard and the new National Army, thus bringing upon us +the problem of immediate supply with adequate reserves for an Army of +2,000,000 men; and these men were not to be stationed about in Army +posts, but mobilized into great camps under conditions which necessarily +increased the wear and tear upon clothing and equipment, and +correspondingly increased the reserves needed to keep up the supply. In +addition to this these troops were assembled for overseas use, and it +therefore became necessary to accumulate in France vast stores of +clothing and equipment in order to have the Army free from dependence, +by too narrow a margin, upon ocean transportation with its inevitable +delays. As a consequence the supply needs of the department were vastly +greater than the capacity of the industrial organization and facilities +normally devoted to their production, and the problem presented was to +divert workshops and factories from their peace-time output into the +intensive production of clothing and equipment for the Army. Due +consideration had to be given to the maintenance of the industrial +balance of the country. Industries already devoted to the manufacture of +supplies for the nations associated with us in the war had to be +conserved to that useful purpose. Perhaps some aid to the imagination +can be gotten from the fact that 2,000,000 men constitute about +one-fiftieth of the entire population of the United States. Supply +departments were, therefore, called upon to provide clothing, equipment, +and maintenance for about one-fiftieth of our entire people, and this in +articles of uniform and of standardized kinds. The great appropriations +made by Congress tell the story from the financial point of view. In +1917 the normal appropriation for the Quartermaster Department was +$186,305,000. The emergency appropriation for this department for the +year 1918 was $3,000,000,000; a sum greater than the normal annual +appropriation for the entire expenses of the Federal Government on all +accounts. Another illustration can be drawn from the mere numbers of +some familiar articles. Thus of shoes more than 20,000,000 pairs have +already been purchased and are in process of delivery; of blankets, +17,000,000; of flannel shirting, more than 33,000,000 yards; of melton +cloth, more than 50,000,000 yards; of various kinds of duck for shelter +tents and other necessary uses, more than 125,000,000 yards; and other +staple and useful articles of Army equipment have been needed in +proportion. + +[Sidenote: Resources, industry and transportation mobilized.] + +To all of this it has been necessary to add supplies not usual in our +Army which, in many cases, had to be devised to meet needs growing out +of the nature of the present warfare. It was necessary, therefore, to +mobilize the resources and industry, first to produce with the greatest +rapidity the initial equipment, and to follow that with a steady stream +of production for replacement and reserve; second, to organize adequate +transportation and storage for these great accumulations, and their +distribution throughout the country, and then to establish ports of +embarkation for men and supplies, assemble there in orderly fashion for +prompt ship-loading the tonnage for overseas; and to set up in France +facilities necessary to receive and distribute these efficiently. + +[Sidenote: Civilian agencies cooperate with government.] + +The Quartermaster General's Department was called upon to set up rapidly +a business greater than that carried on by the most thoroughly organized +and efficiently managed industrial organization in the country. It had +to consider the supply of raw materials, the diversion of industry, and +speed of production, and with its problem pressing for instant solution +it had to expand the slender peace-time organization of the +Quartermaster Department by the rapid addition of personnel and by the +employment and coordination of great civilian agencies which could be +helpful. + +[Sidenote: The Council of National Defense is aided by men of great +ability.] + +The Council of National Defense, through the supply committees organized +by it, afforded the immediate contact necessary with the world of +commerce and industry, while men of various branches of business and +production engineers brought their services freely to the assistance of +the Department. The dollar-a-year man has been a powerful aid, and when +this struggle is over, and the country undertakes to take stock of the +assets which it found ready to be used in the mobilization of its +powers, a large place will justly be given to these men who, without the +distinction of title or rank, and with no thought of compensation, +brought experience, knowledge, and trained ability to Washington in +order that they might serve with patriotic fervor in an inconspicuous +and self-sacrificing, but indispensably helpful way. + +[Sidenote: Sound beginnings made.] + +The problems of supply are not yet solved; but they are in the course of +solution. Sound beginnings have been made, and as the military effort of +the country grows the arrangements perfected and organizations created +will expand to meet it. + +[Sidenote: The American Railway Association's special committee.] + +In this general connection it seems appropriate to refer to the +effective cooperation between the department and the transportation +agencies of the country. For a number of years the Quartermaster +General's Department has maintained close relations with the executives +of the great railway systems of the country. In February, 1917, a +special committee of the American Railway Association was appointed to +deal with questions of national defense, and the cooperation between +this committee and the department has been most cordial and effective, +and but for some such arrangement the great transportation problem would +have been insoluble. I am happy, therefore, to join the Quartermaster +General in pointing out the extraordinary service rendered by the +transportation agencies of the country, and I concur also in his +statement that "of those who are now serving the Nation in this time of +stress, there are none who are doing so more whole-heartedly, +unselfishly, and efficiently than the railroad officials who are engaged +in this patriotic work." + +[Sidenote: Codes established for the garment industry.] + +One other aspect of the work of the Quartermaster General's Office has +engaged my particular attention, and seems to me to have been fruitful +of most excellent results. The garment working trades of the United +States are largely composed of women and children, and of men of foreign +extraction. More than any other industry in the United States it has +been menaced by the sweatshop system. The States have enacted codes and +established inspection agencies to enforce sanitary conditions for +these workers, and to relieve the evils which seem everywhere to spring +up about them. To some extent the factory system operated under rigid +inspection has replaced home work, and has improved conditions; but +garment making is an industry midway in its course of being removed from +the home to the factory, and under pressure of intensive production, +home work in congested tenements has been difficult to eradicate. + +[Sidenote: Dangers in home work system.] + +The vice of this system is not merely the invasion of the home of the +worker, and the consequent enfeeblement of the family and family life. +Work done under such circumstances escapes the inspector, and the +crowded workers in the tenement are helpless in their struggle for +subsistence under conditions which are unrelieved by an assertion of the +Government's interest in the condition under which these workers live. +Moreover, wide distribution of garments made under such conditions tends +to spread disease, and adds another menace from the public point of +view. + +[Sidenote: Standards inserted in contracts.] + +The department determined, therefore, to establish minimum standards as +to wages, inspection, hours, and sanitation. These standards were +inserted in the contracts made for garment production, and a board was +appointed to enforce an observance of these standards. The effect of +this has been that it is now possible to say that no uniform worn by an +American soldier is the product of sweatshop toil, and that so far as +the Government is concerned in its purchases of garments it is a model +employer. + +[Sidenote: The worker feels a national interest.] + +This action has not delayed the accumulation of necessary supplies, and +it has added to our national self-respect. It has distributed national +interest between the soldier who wears and the worker who makes the +garment, regarding them each as assets, each as elements in our +aggregated national strength. + +[Sidenote: The Ordnance Department.] + +On the 1st day of July, 1916, there was a total of 96 officers in the +Ordnance Department. The commissioned strength of this department +increased substantially 2,700 per cent, and is still expanding. The +appropriations for ordnance in 1917 were $89,697,000; for 1918, in view +of the war emergency, the appropriations for that department aggregate +$3,209,000,000. + +[Sidenote: Most difficult problems of the war.] + +This division of the War Department has had, in some respects, the most +difficult of the problems presented by the transition from peace to war. +Like the Department of the Quartermaster General, the Ordnance +Department has had to deal with various increases of supply, increases +far exceeding the organization and available capacity of the country for +production. The products needed take longer to produce; for the most +part they involved intricate machinery, and highly refined processes of +manufacture. In addition to this the industrial agencies of the country +have been devoting a large part of their capacity to foreign production +which, in the new set of circumstances, it is unwise to interrupt. + +[Sidenote: Organization of the Council of National Defense.] + +[Sidenote: An advisory body.] + +[Sidenote: Advisory function should not be impaired.] + +[Sidenote: The council supplements the Cabinet.] + +Legislation enacted on August 29, 1916, as a part of the National +Defense Act provided for the creation of a Council of National Defense. +Shortly thereafter the council was organized, its advisory commission +appointed, a director chosen, and its activities planned. It +appropriately directed its first attention to the industrial situation +of the country and, by the creation of committees representative of the +principal industries, brought together a great store of information both +as to our capacity for manufacture and as to the re-adaptations possible +in an emergency for rapid production of supplies of military value. +Under the law of its creation, the Council of National Defense is not an +executive body, its principal function being to supervise and direct +investigations and make recommendations to the President and the heads +of the executive departments with regard to a large variety of subjects. +The advisory commission is thus advisory to a body which is itself +advisory, and the subordinate bodies authorized to be created are +collectors of data upon which advice can be formulated. There was no +intention on the part of Congress to subdivide the executive function, +but rather to strengthen it by equipping it with carefully matured +recommendations based upon adequate surveys of conditions. The extent of +the council's powers has been sometimes misunderstood, with the result +that it has been deemed an inapt instrument, and from time to time +suggestions have been made looking to the donation to it of power to +execute its conclusions. Whatever determination Congress may hereafter +reach with regard to the bestowal of additional executive power and the +creation of agencies for its exercise, the advisory function of the +Council of National Defense ought not to be impaired, nor ought its +usefulness to be left unrecognized. In the first place, the council +brings together the heads of the departments ordinarily concerned in the +industrial and commercial problems which affect the national defense and +undoubtedly prevents duplications of work and overlappings of +jurisdiction. It also makes available for the special problems of +individual departments the results attained in other departments which +have been called upon to examine the same problem from other points of +view. In the second place, the council supplements the activities of the +Cabinet under the direction of the President by bringing together in a +committee, as it were, members of the Cabinet for the consideration of +problems which, when maturely studied, can be presented for the +President's judgment. + +[Sidenote: The council directs the aroused spirit of the nation.] + +[Sidenote: The General Munitions Board.] + +[Sidenote: Field of priorities in transportation and supplies.] + +With the declaration of a state of war, however, the usefulness of the +Council of National Defense became instantly more obvious. The +peace-time activities and interests of our people throughout the country +surged toward Washington in an effort to assimilate themselves into the +new scheme of things which, it was recognized, would call for widespread +changes of occupation and interest. The Council of National Defense was +the only national agency at all equipped to receive and direct this +aroused spirit seeking appropriate modes of action, and it was admirably +adapted to the task because among the members of the council were those +Cabinet officers whose normal activities brought them into constant +contact with all the varied peace-time activities of the people and who +were, therefore, best qualified to judge the most useful opportunities +in the new state of things for men and interests of which they +respectively knew the normal relations. For the more specialized +problems of the national defense, notably those dealing with the +production of war materials, the council authorized the organization of +subordinate bodies of experts, and the General Munitions Board grew +naturally out of the necessities of the War and Navy Departments, which +required not only the maximum production of existing munition-making +industries in the country, but the creation of new capacity for +production and its correlation with similar needs on the part of the +foreign governments. The work done by the General Munitions Board was +highly effective, but it was soon seen that its problem carried over +into the field of transportation, that it was bound up with the question +of priorities, and that it was itself divisible into the great and +separate fields of raw material supply and the production of finished +goods. With the growth of its necessary interests and the constant +discovery of new relations it became necessary so to reorganize the +General Munitions Board as both to enlarge its view and more definitely +recognize its widespread relations. + +[Sidenote: The War Industries Board.] + +[Sidenote: Knowledge of war needs of the United States and Allies.] + +[Sidenote: The Council of National Defense a natural center.] + +Upon the advice of the Council of National Defense, the General +Munitions Board was replaced by the War Industries Board, which consists +of a chairman, a representative of the Army, a representative of the +Navy, a representative of labor and the three members of the Allied +Purchasing Commission through whom, under arrangements made with foreign +Governments by the Secretary of the Treasury, the purchasing of allied +goods in the United States is effected. This purchasing commission +consists of three chairmen--one of priorities, one of raw materials, and +one of finished products. By the presence of Army and Navy +representatives, the needs of our own Government are brought to the +common council table of the War Industries Board. The board is thus +enabled to know all the war needs of our Government and the nations +associated with us in war, to measure their effect upon the industry of +the country, to assign relative priorities in the order of +serviceableness to the common cause, and to forecast both the supply of +raw material and our capacity for completing its manufacture in such a +way as to coordinate our entire industrial capacity, both with a view to +its maximum efficiency and to its permanent effect upon the industrial +condition of the country. Under legislation enacted by Congress, the +President has committed certain definite problems to special agencies. +The food administration, the fuel administration, and the shipping +problem being each in the hands of experts specially selected under +appropriate enactments. In large part, these activities are separable +from the general questions considered by the Council of National Defense +and the War Industries Board, but there are necessary relations between +them which it has been found quite simple to arrange by conference and +consultation, and the Council of National Defense, with the Secretary of +the Treasury added as an important councilor, has seemed the natural +center around which to group these agencies so far as any common +activity among them is desirable. + +[Sidenote: The War Department indebted to the council.] + +[Sidenote: Unremunerated service of able citizens.] + +[Sidenote: Business confidence in the Government.] + +In the meantime the Advisory Commission of the Council of National +Defense and the council itself have continued to perform the original +advisory functions committed to them by the National Defense Act. The +War Department is glad to acknowledge its debt to the council and the +commission. I refrain from specific enumeration of the services which +the department has received through these agencies only because their +number is infinite and their value obvious. The various supply +committees created by the Supply Commission, the scientific resources +placed at the disposal of the department, the organization of the +medical profession, the cooperation of the transportation interests of +the country, the splendid harmony which has been established in the +field of labor, are all fruits of the actions of these bodies and +notably of the Advisory Commission. It has been especially in connection +with the activities of the council and the commission that we have been +helped by the unremunerated service of citizens who bore no official +relation to the Government but had expert knowledge of and experience +with the industries of the country which it was necessary rapidly to +summon into new uses. Through their influence, the trade rivalries and +commercial competitions, stimulating and helpful in times of peace, +have been subordinated to the paramount purpose of national service and +the common good. They have not only created helpful relations for the +present emergency but have established a new confidence in the +Government on the part of business and perhaps have led to clearer +judgments on the part of the Government in its dealings with the great +organizations, both of labor and of capital, which form the industrial +and commercial fabric of our society. The large temporary gain thus +manifest is supplemented by permanent good; and in the reorganizations +which take place when the war is over there will doubtless be a more +conscious national purpose in business and a more conscious helpfulness +toward business on the part of the Government. + +[Sidenote: General Pershing goes to France.] + +[Sidenote: The Navy transports troops without any loss.] + +[Sidenote: Terminal facilities organized.] + +[Sidenote: Cooperation of the Shipping Board.] + +[Sidenote: Reserve equipment and food.] + +As a result of the exchanges of views which took place between the +military missions to the United States and our own Government, it was +determined to begin at once the dispatch of an expeditionary force of +the American Army to France. This has been done. General John J. +Pershing was selected as commander in chief and with his staff departed +for France, to be followed shortly by the full division, consisting +entirely of Regular Army troops. Immediately thereafter there was formed +the so-called Rainbow Division, made up of National Guard units of many +States scattered widely throughout the country. The purpose of its +organization was to distribute the honor of early participation in the +war over a wide area and thus to satisfy in some part the eagerness of +these State forces to be permitted to serve in Europe. The Marines, with +their fine traditions and honorable history, were likewise recognized, +and regiments of Marines were added to the first forces dispatched. It +would, of course, be unwise to attempt any enumeration of the forces at +this time overseas, but the Army and the country would not have me do +less than express their admiration and appreciation of the splendid +cooperation of the Navy, by means of which these expeditionary forces +have been safely transported and have been enabled to traverse without +loss the so-called danger zone infested by the stealthy and destructive +submarine navy of the enemy. The organization and dispatch of the +expeditionary force required the preparation of an elaborate transport +system, involving not only the procurement of ships and their refitting +for service as troop and cargo transports, but also extensive +organizations of terminal facilities both in this country and France; +and in order to surround the expeditionary force with every safeguard, a +large surplus of supplies of every kind were immediately placed at their +disposal in France. This placed an added burden upon the supply +divisions of the department and explains in part some of the shortages, +notably those of clothing, which have temporarily embarrassed +mobilization of troops at home, embarrassments now happily passed. In +the organization of this transport the constant and helpful cooperation +of the Shipping Board, the railroads, and those in control of +warehousing, wharfing, lighterage, and other terminal facilities has +been invaluable. Our activities in this regard have resulted in the +transporting of an army to France fully equipped, with adequate reserves +of equipment and subsistence, and with those large quantities of +transportation appliances, motor vehicles, railroad construction +supplies, and animals, all of which are necessary for the maintenance +and effective operations of the force. + +[Sidenote: Technical troops cooperate with British and French.] + +The act authorizing the temporary increase of the military establishment +empowered the department to create special organizations of technical +troops. Under this provision railroad and stevedore regiments have been +formed and special organizations of repair men and mechanics, some of +which have proceeded to France and rendered service back of the British +and French line in anticipation of and training for their later service +with the American Army. No complete descriptions of these activities can +be permitted at this time, but the purpose of the department has been to +provide from the first for the maintenance of our own military +operations without adding to the burdens already borne by the British +and French, and to render, incidentally, such assistance to the British +and French Armies as could be rendered by technical troops in training +in the theater of operations. By this means the United States has +already rendered service of great value to the common cause, these +technical troops having actually carried on operations for which they +are designed in effective cooperation with the British and French Armies +behind hotly contested battle fronts. + +[Sidenote: The Red Cross organizes base hospital units.] + +[Sidenote: Doctors and nurses aid British and French armies.] + +[Sidenote: The medical profession rallies around the service.] + +[Sidenote: Convalescent and reconstruction hospitals.] + +[Sidenote: Physical fitness necessary for military service.] + +Working in close association with the medical committee of the Council +of National Defense and the Red Cross and in constant and helpful +contact with the medical activities of the British, French, and other +belligerents, the Surgeon General has built up the personnel of his +department and taken over from the Red Cross completely organized +base-hospital units and ambulance units, supplemented them by fresh +organizations, procured great quantities of medical supplies and +prepared on a generous scale to meet any demands of our Army in action. +Incidentally and in the course of this preparation, great numbers of +base hospital organizations, ambulance units, and additional doctors and +nurses have been placed at the disposal of the British and French +armies, and are now in the field of actual war, ministering to the +needs of our Allies. Indeed, the honor of first participation by +Americans in this war belongs to the Medical Department. In addition to +all this preparation and activity, the Surgeon General's department has +been charged with the responsibility for the study of defense against +gas attack and the preparation of such gas masks and other appliances as +can be devised to minimize its effects. The medical profession of the +country has rallied around this service. The special laboratories of the +great medical institutions have devoted themselves to the study of +problems of military medicine. New, effective, and expeditious surgical +and medical procedures have been devised and the latest defensive and +curative discoveries of medical science have been made available for the +protection and restoration of our soldiers. Far-reaching activities have +been conducted by the Medical Department here in America, involving the +supervision of plans for great base hospitals in the camps and +cantonments, the planning of convalescent and reconstruction hospitals +for invalided soldiers and anticipatory organization wherever possible +to supply relief to distress and sickness as it may arise. Moreover, the +task of the Medical Department in connection with the new Army has been +exacting. Rigid examinations have been conducted, in the first instance +by the physicians connected with the exemption boards, but later at the +camps, in order to eliminate from the ranks men whose physical condition +did not justify their retention in the military service. Many of the +rejections by the Medical Department have caused grief to high-spirited +young men not conscious of physical weakness or defect, and perhaps +having no weakness or defect which embarrassed their usefulness in +civilian occupation; but both the strength of the Army and justice to +the men involved require that the test of fitness for military service +should be the sole guide, and the judgments of the most expert +physicians have been relied upon to give us an army composed of men of +the highest possible physical efficiency. + + * * * * * + +The capture of Jerusalem by the British under Allenby on December 8th, +1917, sent a thrill throughout the civilized world. The deliverance of +the Holy City from the Turks marked another great epoch in its history, +which includes possession by Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, +Arabs, and Turks. The entrance of the British troops into Jerusalem is +described in the following narrative. + + + + +THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM + +GENERAL E. H. H. ALLENBY + + +[Sidenote: General Allenby's instructions.] + +When I took over the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force at the +end of June, 1917, I had received instructions to report on the +conditions in which offensive operations against the Turkish Army on the +Palestine front might be undertaken in the autumn or winter of 1917. + +After visiting the front and consulting with the Commander of the +Eastern Force, I submitted my appreciation and proposals in a telegram +dispatched in the second week of July. + +[Sidenote: Situation on the Palestine front.] + +The main features of the situation on the Palestine front were then as +follows: + +The Turkish Army in Southern Palestine held a strong position extending +from the sea at Gaza, roughly along the main Gaza-Beersheba Road to +Beersheba. Gaza had been made into a strong modern fortress, heavily +entrenched and wired, offering every facility for protracted defence. +The remainder of the enemy's line consisted of a series of strong +localities, viz.: the Sihan group of works, the Atawineh group, the Baha +group, the Abu Hareira-Arab el Teeaha trench system, and, finally, the +works covering Beersheba. These groups of works were generally from +1,500 to 2,000 yards apart, except that the distance from the Hareira +group to Beersheba was about 4 1/2 miles. + +[Sidenote: Turks have good communications.] + +The enemy's force was on a wide front, the distance from Gaza to +Beersheba being about 30 miles; but his lateral communications were +good, and any threatened point of the line could be very quickly +reinforced. + +My force was extended on a front of 22 miles, from the sea, opposite +Gaza, to Gamli. + +[Sidenote: Lack of water on the British front.] + +Owing to lack of water I was unable, without preparations which would +require some considerable time, to approach within striking distance of +the enemy, except in the small sector near the sea coast opposite Gaza. + +My proposals received the approval of the War Cabinet, and preparations +were undertaken to enable the plan I had formed to be put into +execution. + +[Sidenote: To strike on Turk's left flank.] + +I had decided to strike the main blow against the left flank of the main +Turkish position, Hareira and Sheria. The capture of Beersheba was a +necessary preliminary to this operation, in order to secure the water +supplies at that place and to give room for the deployment of the +attacking force on the high ground to the north and north-west of +Beersheba, from which direction I intended to attack the Hareira-Sheria +line. + +[Sidenote: Necessary to take Beersheba.] + +This front of attack was chosen for the following reasons. The enemy's +works in this sector were less formidable than elsewhere, and they were +easier of approach than other parts of the enemy's defences. When +Beersheba was in our hands we should have an open flank against which to +operate, and I could make full use of our superiority in mounted troops, +and a success here offered prospects of pursuing our advantage and +forcing the enemy to abandon the rest of his fortified positions, which +no other line of attack would afford. + +[Sidenote: Attacked Gaza to deceive enemy.] + +[Sidenote: Assurance of naval cooperation at Gaza.] + +It was important, in order to keep the enemy in doubt up to the last +moment as to the real point of attack, that an attack should also be +made on the enemy's right at Gaza in conjunction with the main +operations. One of my Commanders was therefore ordered to prepare a +scheme for operations against Gaza on as large a scale as the force at +his disposal would permit. I also asked the Senior Naval Officer of +Egypt, Rear-Admiral T. Jackson, C.B., M.V.O., to afford me naval +cooperation by bombarding the Gaza defences and the enemy's railway +stations and depots north of Gaza. Rear-Admiral Jackson afforded me +cordial assistance, and during the period of preparation Naval Officers +worked in the closest cooperation with my staff at General Headquarters +and the staff of the G.O.C. troops operating in that region. + +[Sidenote: Difficulties regarding water and transport.] + +The difficulties to be overcome in the operations against Beersheba and +the Sheria-Hareira line were considerable, and careful preparations and +training were necessary. The chief difficulties were those of water and +transport, and arrangements had to be made to ensure that the troops +could be kept supplied with water while operating at considerable +distances from their original water base for a period which might amount +to a week or more; for, though it was known that an ample supply of +water existed at Beersheba, it was uncertain how quickly it could be +developed or to what extent the enemy would have damaged the wells +before we succeeded in occupying the town. Except at Beersheba, no large +supply of water would be found till Sheria and Hareira had been +captured. + +[Sidenote: No good roads south of Gaza-Beersheba line.] + +[Sidenote: Railway lines to be laid.] + +The transport problem was no less difficult; there were no good roads +south of the line Gaza-Beersheba, and no reliance could therefore be +placed on the use of motor transport. Owing to the steep banks of many +of the wadis which intersected the area of operations, the routes +passable by wheeled transport were limited, and the going was heavy and +difficult in many places. Practically the whole of the transport +available in the force, including 30,000 pack camels, had to be allotted +to one portion of the eastern force to enable it to be kept supplied +with food, water, and ammunition at a distance of 15 to 20 miles in +advance of railhead. Arrangements were also made for railhead to be +pushed forward as rapidly as possible towards Karm, and for a line to be +laid from Gamli toward Beersheba for the transport of ammunition. + +A railway line was also laid from Deir el Belah to the Wadi Ghuzze, +close behind the sector held by another portion of the eastern force. + +[Sidenote: Rushing up artillery and supplies.] + +Considerable strain was thrown on the military railway from Kantara to +the front during the period of preparation. In addition to the normal +requirements of the force, a number of siege and heavy batteries, +besides other artillery and units, had to be moved to the front, and +large depots of supplies, ammunition, and other stores accumulated at +the various railheads. Preparations had also to be made and the +necessary material accumulated to push forward the lines from Deir el +Belah and Shellal. + +[Sidenote: The enemy determined to maintain Gaza to Beersheba line.] + +During the period from July to October, 1917, the enemy's force on the +Palestine front had been increased. It was evident, from the arrival of +these reinforcements and the construction of railway extensions from El +Tine, on the Ramleh-Beersheba railway, to Deir Sineid and Belt Hanun, +north of Gaza, and from Deir Sineid to Huj, and from reports of the +transport of large supplies of ammunition and other stores to the +Palestine front, that the enemy was determined to make every effort to +maintain his position on the Gaza-Beersheba line. He had considerably +strengthened his defences on this line; and the strong localities +mentioned had, by the end of October, been joined up to form a +practically continuous line from the sea to a point south of Sheria, +except for a gap between Ali Muntar and the Sihan Group. The defensive +works round Beersheba remained a detached system, but had been improved +and extended. + +[Sidenote: Date of attack on Beersheba.] + +The date of the attack on Beersheba, which was to commence the +operations, was fixed as October 31, 1917. Work had been begun on the +railway from Shellal towards Karm, and on the line from Gamli to El +Buggar. The development of water at Ecani, Khalasa, and Asluj proceeded +satisfactorily. These last two places were to be the starting point for +the mounted force detailed to make a wide flanking movement and attack +Beersheba from the east and north-east. + +[Sidenote: The Turks make a strong reconnaissance.] + +On the morning of October 27 the Turks made a strong reconnaissance +towards Karm from the direction of Kauwukah, two regiments of cavalry +and two or three thousand infantry, with guns, being employed. They +attacked a line of outposts near El Girheir, held by some Yeomanry, +covering railway construction. One small post was rushed and cut up, but +not before inflicting heavy loss on the enemy; another post, though +surrounded, held out all day, and also caused the enemy heavy loss. The +gallant resistance made by the Yeomanry enabled the 53rd (Welsh) +Division to come up in time, and on their advance the Turks withdrew. + +[Sidenote: Bombardment of Gaza defenses.] + +The bombardment of the Gaza defences commenced on October 27, and on +October 30 warships of the Royal Navy, assisted by a French battleship, +began cooperating in this bombardment. + +On the evening of October 30 the portion of the eastern force, which was +to make the attack on Beersheba, was concentrated in positions of +readiness for the night march to its positions of deployment. + +[Sidenote: Imperial Camel Corps, Infantry and Cavalry.] + +The night march to the positions of deployment was successfully carried +out, all units reaching their appointed positions up to time. The plan +was to attack the hostile works between the Khalasa road and the Wadi +Saba with two divisions, masking the works north of the Wadi Saba with +the Imperial Camel Corps and some infantry, while a portion of the 53rd +(Welsh) Division further north covered the left of the corps. The right +of the attack was covered by a cavalry regiment. Further east, mounted +troops took up a line opposite the southern defences of Beersheba. + +[Sidenote: Enemy's advanced works taken.] + +As a preliminary to the main attack, in order to enable field guns to be +brought within effective range for wire-cutting, the enemy's advanced +works at 1,070 were to be taken. This was successfully accomplished at +8.45 a.m., after a short preliminary bombardment, by London troops, with +small loss, 90 prisoners being taken. The cutting of the wire on the +main line then proceeded satisfactorily, though pauses had to be made to +allow the dust to clear; and the final assault was ordered for 12.15 +p.m. It was successful all along the front attacked, and by about 1 p.m. +the whole of the works between the Khalasa road and the Wadi Saba were +in our hands. + +Some delay occurred in ascertaining whether the enemy still occupied the +works north of the road; it was decided, as they were still held by +small parties, to attack them from the south. After a preliminary +bombardment the works were occupied with little opposition by about 7.30 +p.m. + +[Sidenote: British casualties light.] + +The casualties were light, considering the strength of the works +attacked; a large proportion occurred during the advance towards the +positions previous to the assault, the hostile guns being very accurate +and very difficult to locate. + +[Sidenote: The road toward Beersheba.] + +Meanwhile, the mounted troops, after a night march, for part of the +force of 25 and for the remainder of 35 miles, arrived early in the +morning of the 31st about Khasim Zanna, in the hills some five miles +east of Beersheba. From the hills the advance into Beersheba from the +east and north-east lies over an open and almost flat plain, commanded +by the rising ground north of the town and flanked by an underfeature in +the Wadi Saba called Tel el Saba. + +A force was sent north to secure Bir es Sakaty, on the Hebron road, and +protect the right flank, this force met with some opposition and was +engaged with hostile cavalry at Bir es Sakaty and to the north during +the day. Tel el Saba was found strongly held by the enemy, and was not +captured till late in the afternoon. + +[Sidenote: Rapid advance of Australian Light Horse.] + +Meanwhile, attempts to advance in small parties across the plain towards +the town made slow progress. In the evening, however, a mounted attack +by Australian Light Horse, who rode straight at the town from the east, +proved completely successful. They galloped over two deep trenches held +by the enemy just outside the town, and entered the town at about 7 p. +m., capturing numerous prisoners. + +The Turks at Beersheba were undoubtedly taken completely by surprise, a +surprise from which the dash of London troops and Yeomanry, finely +supported by their artillery, never gave them time to recover. The +charge of the Australian Light Horse completed their defeat. + +[Sidenote: Prisoners and guns taken.] + +A very strong position was thus taken with slight loss, and the Turkish +detachment at Beersheba almost completely put out of action. About 2,000 +prisoners and 13 guns were taken, and some 500 Turkish corpses were +buried on the battlefield. This success laid open the left flank of the +main Turkish position for a decisive blow. + +[Sidenote: Complete success of Beersheba operations.] + +[Sidenote: The attack on Gaza.] + +The actual date of the attack at Gaza had been left open till the result +of the attack at Beersheba was known, as it was intended that the former +attack, which was designed to draw hostile reserves towards the Gaza +sector, should take place twenty-four to forty-eight hours previous to +the attack on the Sheria position. After the complete success of the +Beersheba operations, and as the early reports indicated that an ample +supply of water would be available at that place, it was hoped that it +would be possible to attack Sheria by November 3 or 4. The attack on +Gaza was accordingly ordered to take place on the morning of November 2. +Later reports showed that the water situation was less favorable than +had been hoped, but it was decided not to postpone the attack. + +[Sidenote: The works on Umbrella Hill principal objectives.] + +The objective of this attack were the hostile works from Umbrella Hill +(2,000 yards south-west of the town) to Sheikh Hasan, on the sea (about +2,500 yards north-west of the town). The front of the attack was about +6,000 yards, and Sheikh Hasan, the furthest objective, was over 3,000 +yards from our front line. The ground over which the attack took place +consisted of sand dunes, rising in places up to 150 feet in height. This +sand is very deep and heavy going. The enemy's defences consisted of +several lines of strongly built trenches and redoubts. + +As Umbrella Hill flanked the advance against the Turkish works further +west, it was decided to capture it by a preliminary operation, to take +place four hours previous to the main attack. It was accordingly +attacked, and captured at 11 p. m. on November 1 by a portion of the +52nd (Lowland) Division. This attack drew a heavy bombardment of +Umbrella Hill itself and our front lines, which lasted for two hours, +but ceased in time to allow the main attack, which was timed for 3 a. +m., to form up without interference. + +It had been decided to make the attack before daylight owing to the +distance to be covered between our front trenches and the enemy's +position. + +[Sidenote: Success of the attack on Umbrella Hill.] + +[Sidenote: Capture of the south-western defenses.] + +The attack was successful in reaching all objectives, except for a +section of trench on the left and some of the final objectives in the +centre. Four hundred and fifty prisoners were taken and many Turks +killed. The enemy also suffered heavily from the preliminary +bombardment, and subsequent reports from prisoners stated that one of +the divisions holding the Gaza sector was withdrawn after losing 33 per +cent of its effectives, one of the divisions in general reserve being +drawn into the Gaza sector to replace it. The attack thus succeeded in +its primary object, which was to prevent any units being drawn from the +Gaza defences to meet the threat to the Turkish left flank, and to draw +into Gaza as large a proportion as possible of the available Turkish +reserves. Further, the capture of Sheikh Hasan and the south-western +defences constituted a very distinct threat to the whole of the Gaza +position, which could be developed on any sign of a withdrawal on the +part of the enemy. + +Our losses, though considerable, were not in any way disproportionate to +the results obtained. + +[Sidenote: Water and transport difficulties.] + +Meanwhile on our right flank the water and transport difficulties were +found to be greater than anticipated, and the preparations for the +second phase of the attack were somewhat delayed in consequence. + +On the early morning of November 1 the 53rd (Welsh) Division, with the +Imperial Camel Corps on its right, had moved out into the hills north of +Beersheba, with the object of securing the flank of the attack on +Sheria. Mounted troops were also sent north along the Hebron Road to +secure Dhaheriyeh if possible, as it was hoped that a good supply of +water would be found in this area, and that a motor road which the Turks +were reported to have constructed from Dhaheriyeh to Sheria could be +secured for our use. + +The 53rd (Welsh) Division, after a long march, took up a position from +Towal Abu Jerwal (six miles north of Beersheba) to Muweileh (four miles +north-east of Abu Irgeig). Irish troops occupied Abu Irgeig the same +day. + +[Sidenote: Advance on Kohleh and Khuweilfeh.] + +On November 3 we advanced north on Ain Kohleh and Tel Khuweilfeh, near +which place the mounted troops had engaged considerable enemy forces on +the previous day. This advance was strongly opposed, but was pushed on +through difficult hill country to within a short distance of Ain Kohleh +and Khuweilfeh. At these places the enemy was found holding a strong +position with considerable and increasing forces. He was obviously +determined not only to bar any further progress in this direction, but, +if possible, to drive our flankguard back on Beersheba. During the 4th +and 5th he made several determined attacks on the mounted troops. These +attacks were repulsed. + +[Sidenote: Hostile cavalry between Khuweilfeh and Hebron Road.] + +By the evening of November 5 the 19th Turkish Division, the remains of +the 27th and certain units of the 16th Division had been identified in +the fighting round Tel el Khuweilfeh, and it was also fairly clear that +the greater part of the hostile cavalry, supported apparently by some +infantry ("depot" troops) from Hebron, were engaged between Khuweilfeh +and the Hebron Road. + +[Sidenote: Enemy tries to draw forces north of Beersheba.] + +The action of the enemy in thus employing the whole of his available +reserves in an immediate counter-stroke so far to the east was +apparently a bold effort to induce me to make essential alterations in +my offensive plan, thereby gaining time and disorganizing my +arrangements. The country north of Beersheba was exceedingly rough and +hilly, and very little water was to be found there. Had the enemy +succeeded in drawing considerable forces against him in that area the +result might easily have been an indecisive fight (for the terrain was +very suitable to his methods of defence) and my own main striking force +would probably have been made too weak effectively to break the enemy's +centre in the neighborhood of Sheria Hareira. This might have resulted +in our gaining Beersheba, but failing to do more--in which case +Beersheba would only have been an incubus of a most inconvenient kind. +However, the enemy's action was not allowed to make any essential +modification to the original plan, which it had been decided to carry +out at dawn on November 6. + +[Sidenote: Effort to reach Sheria.] + +By the evening of November 5, all preparations had been made to attack +in the Kauwukah and Rushdi systems and to make every effort to reach +Sheria before nightfall. + +The mounted troops were to be prepared in the event of a success by the +main force to collect, as they were somewhat widely scattered owing to +water difficulties, and push north in pursuit of the enemy. Tel el +Khuweilfeh was to be attacked at dawn on the 6th, and the troops were to +endeavor to reach line Tel el Khuweilfeh-Rijm el Dhib. + +[Sidenote: The plan of attack.] + +At dawn on the 6th the attacking force had taken up positions of +readiness to the S.E. of the Kauwukah system of trenches. The attack was +to be commenced by an assault on the group of works forming the extreme +left of the enemy's defensive system, followed by an advance due west up +the railway, capturing the line of detached works which lay east of the +railway. During this attack London and Irish troops were to advance +towards the Kauwukah system, bringing forward their guns to within +wire-cutting range. They were to assault the southeastern face of the +Kauwukah system as soon as the bombardment had proved effective, and +thence take the remainder of the system in enfilade. + +[Sidenote: All objectives of the attack captured.] + +The attack progressed rapidly, the Yeomanry storming the works on the +enemy's extreme left with great dash; and soon after noon the London and +Irish troops commenced their attack. It was completely successful in +capturing all its objectives, and the whole of the Rushdi system in +addition. Sheria Station was also captured before dark. The Yeomanry +reached the line of the Wadi Sheria to Wadi Union; and the troops on the +left were close to Hareira Redoubt, which was still occupied by the +enemy. This attack was a fine performance, the troops advancing 8 or 9 +miles during the day and capturing a series of very strong works +covering a front of about 7 miles, the greater part of which had been +had and strengthened by the enemy for over six months. Some 600 +prisoners were taken and some guns and machine-guns captured. Our +casualties were comparatively slight. The greatest opposition was +encountered by the Yeomanry in the early morning, the works covering the +left of the enemy's line being strong and stubbornly defended. + +[Sidenote: Mounted troops are ordered to take up the pursuit.] + +During the afternoon, as soon as it was seen that the attack had +succeeded, mounted troops were ordered to take up the pursuit and to +occupy Huj and Jemmamah. + +The 53rd (Welsh) Division had again had very severe fighting on the 6th. +Their attack at dawn on Tel el Khuweilfeh was successful, and, though +they were driven off a hill by a counterattack, they retook it and +captured another hill, which much improved their position. The Turkish +losses in this area were very heavy indeed, and the stubborn fighting +of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, Imperial Camel Corps, and part of the +mounted troops during November 2 to 6 drew in and exhausted the Turkish +reserves and paved the way for the success of the attack on Sheria. The +53rd (Welsh) Division took several hundred prisoners and some guns +during this fighting. + +[Sidenote: Bombardment of Gaza continues.] + +The bombardment of Gaza had meanwhile continued, and another attack was +ordered to take place on the night of the 6th-7th. + +The objectives were, on the right, Outpost Hill and Middlesex Hill (to +be attacked at 11.30 p. m. on the 6th), and on the left the line Belah +Trench-Turtle Hill (to be attacked at dawn on the 7th). + +[Sidenote: Airmen observe enemy movements.] + +During the 6th a certain amount of movement on the roads north of Gaza +was observed by our airmen and fired on by our heavy artillery, but +nothing indicating a general retirement from Gaza. + +The attack on Outpost Hill and Middlesex Hill met with little +opposition, and as soon, after they had been taken, as patrols could be +pushed forward, the enemy was found to be gone. East Anglian troops on +the left also found at dawn that the enemy had retired during the night, +and early in the morning the main force occupied the northern and +eastern defences of Gaza. Rearguards were still occupying Beit Hanun and +the Atawineh and Tank systems, from whence Turkish artillery continued +to fire on Gaza and Ali Muntar till dusk. + +[Sidenote: The Turks evacuate Gaza.] + +[Sidenote: Turkish rearguard makes counterattacks.] + +As soon as it was seen that the Turks had evacuated Gaza a part of the +force pushed along the coast to the mouth of the Wadi Hesi, so as to +turn the Wadi Hesi line and prevent the enemy making any stand there. +Cavalry had already pushed on round the north of Gaza, and became +engaged with an enemy rearguard at Beit Hanun, which maintained its +position till nightfall. The force advancing along the coast reached the +Wadi Hesi by evening, and succeeded in establishing itself on the north +bank in the face of considerable opposition, a Turkish rearguard making +several determined counterattacks. + +On our extreme right the situation remained practically unchanged during +the 7th; the enemy made no further attempt to counterattack, but +maintained his positions opposite our right flank guard. + +[Sidenote: London troops take Tel el Sheria.] + +In the centre the Hareira Tepe Redoubt was captured at dawn; some +prisoners and guns were taken. The London troops, after a severe +engagement at Tel el Sheria, which they captured by a bayonet charge at +4 a. m. on the 7th subsequently repulsing several counterattacks, pushed +forward their line about a mile to the north of Tel el Sheria; the +mounted troops on the right moved towards Jemmamah and Huj, but met with +considerable opposition from hostile rearguards. + +[Sidenote: Charge of the Worcester and Warwick Yeomanry.] + +[Sidenote: Reports of the Royal Flying Corps.] + +During the 8th the advance was continued, and interest was chiefly +centred in an attempt to cut off, if possible, the Turkish rearguard +which had held the Tank and Atawineh systems. The enemy had, however, +retreated during the night 7th-8th, and though considerable captures of +prisoners, guns, ammunition, and other stores were made during the day, +chiefly in the vicinity of Huj, no large formed body of the enemy was +cut off. The Turkish rearguards fought stubbornly and offered +considerable opposition. Near Huj a fine charge by some squadrons of the +Worcester and Warwick Yeomanry captured 12 guns, and broke the +resistance of a hostile rearguard. It soon became obvious from the +reports of the Royal Flying Corps, who throughout the 7th and 8th +attacked the retreating columns with bombs and machine-gun fire, and +from other evidence, that the enemy was retiring in considerable +disorganization, and could offer no very serious resistance if pressed +with determination. + +Instructions were accordingly issued on the morning of the 9th to the +mounted troops, directing them on the line El Tine-Beit Duras, with +orders to press the enemy relentlessly. They were to be supported by a +portion of the force, which was ordered to push forward to Julis and +Mejdel. + +[Sidenote: Enemy pursued toward Hebron by the Yeomanry.] + +The enemy opposite our right flank guard had commenced to retreat +towards Hebron on the morning of the 8th. He was pursued for a short +distance by the Yeomanry, and some prisoners and camels were captured, +but the Yeomanry were then recalled to rejoin the main body of the +mounted troops for the more important task of the pursuit of the enemy's +main body. + +[Sidenote: The problem of water and forage.] + +By the 9th, therefore, operations had reached the stage of a direct +pursuit by as many troops as could be supplied so far in front of +railhead. The problem, in fact, became one of supply rather than +man[oe]uvre. The question of water and forage was a very difficult one. +Even where water was found in sufficient quantities, it was usually in +wells and not on the surface, and consequently if the machinery for +working the wells was damaged, or a sufficient supply of troughs was not +available, the process of watering a large quantity of animals was slow +and difficult. + +[Sidenote: Enemy organizes a counterattack.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy's losses heavy.] + +On the evening of November 9 there were indications that the enemy was +organizing a counterattack towards Arak el Menshiye by all available +units of the force which had retired towards Hebron, with the object of +taking pressure off the main force, which was retiring along the coastal +plain. It was obvious that the Hebron force, which was believed to be +short of transport and ammunition, to have lost heavily and to be in a +generally disorganized state, could make no effective diversion, and +that this threat could practically be disregarded. Other information +showed the seriousness of the enemy's losses and the disorganization of +his forces. + +[Sidenote: Imperial Camel Corps ordered to Tel de Nejile.] + +Orders were accordingly issued to press the pursuit and to reach the +Junction Station as early as possible, thus cutting off the Jerusalem +Army, while the Imperial Camel Corps was ordered to move to the +neighborhood of Tel de Nejile, where it would be on the flank of any +counter-stroke from the hills. + +[Sidenote: The Turkish Army makes a stand.] + +Operations on the 10th and 11th showed a stiffening of the enemy's +resistance on the general line of the Wadi Sukereir, with centre about +El Kustineh; the Hebron group, after an ineffective demonstration in the +direction of Arak el Menshiye on the 10th, retired north-east and +prolonged the enemy's line towards Beit Jibrin. Royal Flying Corps +reports indicated the total hostile forces opposed to us on this line at +about 15,000; and this increased resistance, coupled with the capture of +prisoners from almost every unit of the Turkish force, tended to show +that we were no longer opposed to rearguards, but that all the remainder +of the Turkish Army which could be induced to fight was making a last +effort to arrest our pursuit south of the important Junction Station. + +[Sidenote: Troops suffer from thirst.] + +In these circumstances our progress on the 10th and 11th was slow; the +troops suffered considerably from thirst (a hot, exhausting wind blew +during these two days), and our supply difficulties were great; but by +the evening of the 11th favorable positions had been reached for a +combined attack. + +[Sidenote: Forces far from their railhead.] + +[Sidenote: Water supply slow to obtain.] + +The 12th was spent in preparations for the attack, which was ordered to +be begun early on the morning of the 13th, on the enemy's position +covering Junction Station. Our forces were now operating at a distance +of some 35 miles in advance of their railhead, and the bringing up and +distribution of supplies and ammunition formed a difficult problem. The +routes north of the Wadi Hesi were found to be hard and good going, +though there were some difficult Wadi crossings, but the main road +through Gaza and as far as Beit Hanun was sandy and difficult. The +supply of water in the area of operations, though good and plentiful in +most of the villages, lies mainly in wells 100 feet or more below the +surface, and in these circumstances a rapid supply and distribution was +almost impossible. Great credit is due to all concerned that these +difficulties were overcome and that it was found possible not only to +supply the troops already in the line, but to bring up two heavy +batteries to support the attack. + +[Sidenote: The enemy's position from El Kubeibeh to Beit Jibrin.] + +The situation on the morning of November 13 was that the enemy had +strung out his force (amounting probably to no more than 20,000 rifles +in all) on a front of 20 miles, from El Kubeibeh on the north to about +Beit Jibrin to the south. The right half of his line ran roughly +parallel to and only about 5 miles in front of the Ramleh-Junction +Station railway, his main line of supply from the north, and his right +flank was already almost turned. This position had been dictated to him +by the rapidity of our movement along the coast, and the determination +with which his rearguards on this flank had been pressed. + +The advanced guard of the 52nd (Lowland) Division had forced its way +almost to Burkah on the 11th, on which day also some mounted troops +pushed across the Nahr Sukereir at Jisr Esdud, where they held a +bridge-head. During the 12th the Yeomanry pushed north up the left bank +of the Nahr Suhereir, and eventually seized Tel-el-Murreh on the right +bank near the mouth. + +[Sidenote: One part of enemy retires north, the other east.] + +The enemy's army had now been broken into two separate parts, which +retired north and east respectively, and were reported to consist of +small scattered groups rather than formed bodies of any size. + +In fifteen days our force had advanced sixty miles on its right and +about forty on its left. It had driven a Turkish Army of nine Infantry +Divisions and one Cavalry Division out of a position in which it had +been entrenched for six months, and had pursued it, giving battle +whenever it attempted to stand, and inflicting on it losses amounting +probably to nearly two-thirds of the enemy's original effectives. Over +9,000 prisoners, about eighty guns, more than 100 machine guns, and very +large quantities of ammunition and other stores had been captured. + +[Sidenote: Capture of Junction Station.] + +After the capture of Junction Station on the morning of the 14th, our +troops secured a position covering the station, while the Australian +mounted troops reached Kezaze that same evening. + +[Sidenote: Turks fight New Zealand Mounted Rifles.] + +The mounted troops pressed on towards Ramleh and Ludd. On the right +Naaneh was attacked and captured in the morning, while on the left the +New Zealand Mounted Rifles had a smart engagement at Ayun Kara (six +miles south of Jaffa). Here the Turks made a determined counter-attack +and got to within fifteen yards of our line. A bayonet attack drove them +back with heavy loss. + +Flanking the advance along the railway to Ramleh and covering the main +road from Ramleh to Jerusalem, a ridge stands up prominently out of the +low foot hills surrounding it. This is the site of the ancient Gezer, +near which the village of Abu Shusheh now stands. A hostile rearguard +had established itself on this feature. It was captured on the morning +of the 15th in a brilliant attack by mounted troops, who galloped up the +ridge from the south. A gun and 360 prisoners were taken in this affair. + +[Sidenote: Mounted troops reach Ramleh and Ludd. Jaffa taken.] + +By the evening of the 15th the mounted troops had occupied Ramleh and +Ludd, and had pushed patrols to within a short distance of Jaffa. At +Ludd 300 prisoners were taken, and five destroyed aeroplanes and a +quantity of abandoned war material were found at Ramleh and Ludd. + +Jaffa was occupied without opposition on the evening of the 16th. + +The situation was now as follows: + +[Sidenote: Airmen report enemy likely to leave Jerusalem.] + +The enemy's army, cut in two by our capture of Junction Station, had +retired partly east into the mountains towards Jerusalem and partly +north along the plain. The nearest line on which these two portions +could re-unite was the line Tul Keram-Nablus. Reports from the Royal +Flying Corps indicated that it was the probable intention of the enemy +to evacuate Jerusalem and withdraw to reorganize on this line. + +On our side the mounted troops had been marching and fighting +continuously since October 31, and had advanced a distance of +seventy-five miles, measured in a straight line from Asluj to Jaffa. The +troops, after their heavy fighting at Gaza, had advanced in nine days a +distance of about forty miles, with two severe engagements and continual +advanced guard fighting. The 52nd (Lowland) Division had covered +sixty-nine miles in this period. + +[Sidenote: Railway is being extended.] + +The railway was being pushed forward as rapidly as possible, and every +opportunity was taken of landing stores at points along the coast. The +landing of stores was dependent on a continuance of favorable weather, +and might at any moment be stopped for several days together. + +[Sidenote: One good road from Nablus to Jerusalem.] + +A pause was therefore necessary to await the progress of railway +construction, but before our position in the plain could be considered +secure it was essential to obtain a hold of the one good road which +traverses the Judaean range from north to south, from Nablus to +Jerusalem. + +[Sidenote: Road damaged in several places.] + +[Sidenote: Water supply scanty.] + +On our intended line of advance only one good road, the main +Jaffa-Jerusalem road, traversed the hills from east to west. For nearly +four miles, between Bab el Wad (two and one-half miles east of Latron) +and Saris, this road passes through a narrow defile, and it had been +damaged by the Turks in several places. The other roads were mere tracks +on the side of the hill or up the stony beds of wadis, and were +impracticable for wheeled transport without improvement. Throughout +these hills the water supply was scanty without development. + +On November 17 the Yeomanry had commenced to move from Ramleh through +the hills direct on Bireh by Annabeh, Berfilya and Beit ur el Tahta +(Lower Bethoron). By the evening of November 18 one portion of the +Yeomanry had reached the last-named place, while another portion had +occupied Shilta. The route had been found impossible for wheels beyond +Annabeh. + +[Sidenote: Infantry begins its advance.] + +[Sidenote: Attempt to avoid fighting near Jerusalem.] + +On the 19th the Infantry commenced its advance. One portion was to +advance up the main road as far as Kuryet el Enab, with its right flank +protected by Australian mounted troops. From that place, in order to +avoid any fighting in the close vicinity of the Holy City, it was to +strike north towards Bireh by a track leading through Biddu. The +remainder of the infantry was to advance through Berfilya to Beit Likia +and Beit Dukka and thence support the movement of the other portion. + +[Sidenote: Saris defended by rearguards.] + +After capturing Latron and Amnas on the morning of the 19th, the +remainder of the day was spent in clearing the defile up to Saris, which +was defended by hostile rearguards. + +On the 20th Kuryet el Enab was captured with the bayonet in the face of +organized opposition, while Beit Dukka was also captured. On the same +day the Yeomanry got to within four miles of the Nablus-Jerusalem road, +but were stopped by strong opposition about Beitunia. + +[Sidenote: Difficult advance of infantry and Yeomanry.] + +On the 21st a body of infantry moved north-east by a track from Kuryet +el Enab through Biddu and Kolundia towards Bireh. The track was found +impassable for wheels, and was under hostile shell-fire. Progress was +slow, but by evening the ridge on which stands Neby Samwil was secured. +A further body of troops was left at Kuryet el Enab to cover the flank +and demonstrate along the main Jerusalem road. It drove hostile parties +from Kostul, two and one-half miles east of Kuryet el Enab, and secured +this ridge. + +By the afternoon of the 21st advanced parties of Yeomanry were within +two miles of the road and an attack was being delivered on Beitunia by +other mounted troops. + +[Sidenote: Period of organization and preparation necessary.] + +The positions reached on the evening of the 21st practically marked the +limit of progress in this first attempt to gain the Nablus-Jerusalem +road. The Yeomanry were heavily counter-attacked and fell back, after +bitter fighting, on Beit ur el Foka (Upper Bethoron). During the 22nd +the enemy made two counter-attacks on the Neby Samwil ridge, which were +repulsed. Determined and gallant attacks were made on the 23rd and on +the 24th on the strong positions to the west of the road held by the +enemy, who had brought up reinforcements and numerous machine-guns, and +could support his infantry by artillery fire from guns placed in +positions along the main road. Our artillery, from lack of roads, could +not be brought up to give adequate support to our infantry. Both attacks +failed, and it was evident that a period of preparation and organization +would be necessary before an attack could be delivered in sufficient +strength to drive the enemy from his positions west of the road. + +Orders were accordingly issued to consolidate the positions gained and +prepare for relief. + +[Sidenote: Position for final attack is won.] + +Though these troops had failed to reach their final objectives, they had +achieved invaluable results. The narrow passes from the plain to the +plateau of the Judaean range have seldom been forced, and have been fatal +to many invading armies. Had the attempt not been made at once, or had +it been pressed with less determination, the enemy would have had time +to reorganize his defences in the passes lower down, and the conquest of +the plateau would then have been slow, costly, and precarious. As it +was, positions had been won from which the final attack could be +prepared and delivered with good prospects of success. + +By December 4 all reliefs were complete, and a line was held from Kustul +by the Neby Samwil ridge, Beit Izza, and Beit Dukka, to Beit ur el +Tahta. + +[Sidenote: Severe local fighting.] + +[Sidenote: Enemy pierces outposts near Jaffa.] + +[Sidenote: Attacks costly to Turks.] + +During this period attacks by the enemy along the whole line led to +severe local fighting. On November 25 our advanced posts north of the +river Auja were driven back across the river. From the 27th to the 30th +the enemy delivered a series of attacks directed especially against the +high ground north and north-east of Jaffa, the left flank of our +position in the hills from Beit ur el Foka to El Burj, and the Neby +Samwil ridge. An attack on the night of the 29th succeeded in +penetrating our outpost line north-east of Jaffa, but next morning the +whole hostile detachment, numbering 150, was surrounded and captured by +Australian Light Horse. On the 30th a similar fate befell a battalion +which attacked near El Burj; a counter-attack by Australian Light Horse +took 220 prisoners and practically destroyed the attacking battalion. +There was particularly heavy fighting between El Burj and Beit ur el +Foka, but the Yeomanry and Scottish troops successfully resisted all +attacks and inflicted severe losses on the enemy. At Beit ur el Foka one +company took 300 prisoners. All efforts by the enemy to drive us off the +Neby Samwil ridge were completely repulsed. These attacks cost the Turks +very dearly. We took 750 prisoners between November 27 and 30, and the +enemy's losses in killed and wounded were undoubtedly heavy. His attacks +in no way affected our positions nor impeded the progress of our +preparations. + +[Sidenote: Improvement of roads and water supply.] + +Favored by a continuance of fine weather, preparations for a fresh +advance against the Turkish positions west and south of Jerusalem +proceeded rapidly. Existing roads and tracks were improved and new ones +constructed to enable heavy and field artillery to be placed in position +and ammunition and supplies brought up. The water supply was also +developed. + +[Sidenote: Advances of British troops.] + +The date for the attack was fixed as December 8. Welsh troops, with a +Cavalry regiment attached, had advanced from their positions north of +Beersheba up the Hebron-Jerusalem road on the 4th. No opposition was +met, and by the evening of the 6th the head of this column was ten miles +north of Hebron. The Infantry were directed to reach the Bethlehem-Beit +Jala area by the 7th, and the line Surbahir-Sherafat (about three miles +south of Jerusalem) by dawn on the 8th, and no troops were to enter +Jerusalem during this operation. + +It was recognized that the troops on the extreme right might be delayed +on the 7th and fail to reach the positions assigned to them by dawn on +the 8th. Arrangements were therefore made to protect the right flank +west of Jerusalem, in case such delay occurred. + +[Sidenote: Three days of rain make roads almost impassable.] + +On the 7th the weather broke, and for three days rain was almost +continuous. The hills were covered with mist at frequent intervals, +rendering observation from the air and visual signalling impossible. A +more serious effect of the rain was to jeopardize the supply +arrangements by rendering the roads almost impassable--quite impassable, +indeed, for mechanical transport and camels in many places. + +[Sidenote: Artillery support difficult.] + +The troops moved into positions of assembly by night, and, assaulting at +dawn on the 8th, soon carried their first objectives. They then pressed +steadily forward. The mere physical difficulty of climbing the steep and +rocky hillsides and crossing the deep valleys would have sufficed to +render progress slow, and the opposition encountered was considerable. +Artillery support was soon difficult, owing to the length of the advance +and the difficulty of moving guns forward. But by about noon London +troops had already advanced over two miles, and were swinging north-east +to gain the Nablus-Jerusalem road; while the Yeomanry had captured the +Beit Iksa spur, and were preparing for a further advance. + +[Sidenote: Enemy defences west of Jerusalem captured.] + +As the right column had been delayed and was still some distance south +of Jerusalem, it was necessary for the London troops to throw back their +right and form a defensive flank facing east towards Jerusalem, from the +western outskirts of which considerable rifle and artillery fire was +being experienced. This delayed the advance, and early in the afternoon +it was decided to consolidate the line gained and resume the advance +next day, when the right column would be in a position to exert its +pressure. By nightfall our line ran from Neby Samwil to the east of Beit +Iksa, through Lifta to a point about one and one-half miles west of +Jerusalem, whence it was thrown back facing east. All the enemy's +prepared defences west and north-west of Jerusalem had been captured, +and our troops were within a short distance of the Nablus-Jerusalem +road. + +[Sidenote: Operations isolate Jerusalem.] + +Next morning the advance was resumed. The Turks had withdrawn during the +night, and the London troops and Yeomanry, driving back rearguards, +occupied a line across the Nablus-Jerusalem road four miles north of +Jerusalem, while Welsh troops occupied a position east of Jerusalem +across the Jericho road. These operations isolated Jerusalem, and at +about noon the enemy sent out a _parlementaire_ and surrendered the +city. + +At noon on the 11th I made my official entry into Jerusalem. + + * * * * * + +There were many encounters between American ships and German submarines +in the months of 1917, following the Declaration of War. Official +accounts of the most important of these encounters are given in the +following pages. + + + + +AMERICAN SHIPS AND GERMAN SUBMARINES + +FROM OFFICIAL REPORTS + + +[Sidenote: The destroyer _Cassin_ sights a submarine.] + +On October 15, 1917, the U. S. destroyer _Cassin_ was patrolling off the +south coast of Ireland; when about 20 miles south of Mine Head, at 1.30 +p. m., a submarine was sighted by the lookout aloft four or five miles +away, about two points on the port bow. The submarine at this time was +awash and was made out by officers of the watch and the quartermaster of +the watch, but three minutes later submerged. + +The _Cassin_, which was making 15 knots, continued on its course until +near the position where the submarine had disappeared. When last seen +the submarine was heading in a south-easterly direction, and when the +destroyer reached the point of disappearance the course was changed, as +it was thought the vessel would make a decided change of course after +submerging. At this time the commanding officer, the executive officer, +engineer officer, officer of the watch, and the junior watch officer +were all on the bridge searching for the submarine. + +[Sidenote: Torpedo sighted running at high speed.] + +[Sidenote: Torpedo strikes destroyer and depth charges also explode.] + +At about 1.57 p. m. the commanding officer sighted a torpedo apparently +shortly after it had been fired, running near the surface and in a +direction that was estimated would make a hit either in the engine or +fire room. When first seen the torpedo was between three or four hundred +yards from the ship, and the wake could be followed on the other side +for about 400 yards. The torpedo was running at high speed, at least 35 +knots. The _Cassin_ was maneuvering to dodge the torpedo, double +emergency full speed ahead having been signaled from the engine room and +the rudder put hard left as soon as the torpedo was sighted. It looked +for the moment as though the torpedo would pass astern. When about +fifteen or twenty feet away the torpedo porpoised, completely leaving +the water and shearing to the left. Before again taking the water the +torpedo hit the ship well aft on the port side about frame 163 and above +the water line. Almost immediately after the explosion of the torpedo +the depth charges, located on the stern and ready for firing, exploded. +There were two distinct explosions in quick succession after the torpedo +hit. + +[Sidenote: Ingram's sacrifice saves his comrades.] + +But one life was lost. Osmond K. Ingram, gunner's mate first class, was +cleaning the muzzle of No. 4 gun, target practice being just over when +the attack occurred. With rare presence of mind, realizing that the +torpedo was about to strike the part of the ship where the depth charges +were stored and that the setting off of these explosives might sink the +ship, Ingram, immediately seeing the danger, ran aft to strip these +charges and throw them overboard. He was blown to pieces when the +torpedo struck. Thus Ingram sacrificed his life in performing a duty +which he believed would save his ship and the lives of the officers and +men on board. + +Nine members of the crew received minor injuries. + +After the ship was hit, the crew was kept at general quarters. + +[Sidenote: Port engine still workable.] + +The executive officer and engineer officer inspected the parts of the +ship that were damaged, and those adjacent to the damage. It was found +that the engine and fire rooms and after magazine were intact and that +the engines could be worked; but that the ship could not be steered, +the rudder having been blown off and the stern blown to starboard. The +ship continued to turn to starboard in a circle. In an effort to put the +ship on a course by the use of the engines, something carried away which +put the starboard engine out of commission. The port engine was kept +going at slow speed. The ship, being absolutely unmanageable, sometimes +turned in a circle and at times held an approximate course for several +minutes. + +[Sidenote: Radio officers improvise temporary wireless.] + +Immediately after the ship was torpedoed the radio was out of +commission. The radio officer and radio electrician chief managed to +improvise a temporary auxiliary antenna. The generators were out of +commission for a short time after the explosion, the ship being in +darkness below. + +When this vessel was torpedoed, there was another United States +destroyer, name unknown, within signal distance. She had acknowledged +our call by searchlight before we were torpedoed. After being torpedoed, +an attempt was made to signal her by searchlight, flag, and whistle, and +the distress signal was hoisted. Apparently through a misunderstanding +she steamed away and was lost sight of. + +[Sidenote: Another submarine fight.] + +At about 2.30 p. m., when we were in approximately the same position as +when torpedoed, a submarine conning tower was sighted on port beam, +distant about 1,500 yards, ship still circling under port engine. Opened +fire with No. 2 gun, firing four rounds. Submarine submerged and was not +seen again. Two shots came very close to submarine. + +[Sidenote: American and British vessels stand by.] + +At 3.50 p. m., U. S. S. _Porter_ stood by. At 4.25 p. m., wreckage which +was hanging to stern dropped off. At dark stopped port engine and +drifted. At about 9 p. m., H. M. S. _Jessamine_ and H. M. S. _Tamarisk_ +stood by. H. M. S. _Jessamine_ signalled she would stand by until +morning and then take us in tow. At this time sea was very rough, wind +about six or seven and increasing. + +[Sidenote: Attempts to tow the _Cassin_ fail.] + +H. M. S. _Tamarisk_ prepared to take us in tow and made one attempt +after another to get a line to us. Finally, about 2.10 a. m., October +16, the _Tamarisk_ lowered a boat in rough sea and sent grass line by +means of which our eight-inch hawser was sent over to her. At about 2.30 +a. m. _Tamarisk_ started towing us to Queenstown, speed about four +knots, this vessel towing well on starboard quarter of _Tamarisk_, due +to condition of stern described above. At 3.25 hawser parted. + +[Sidenote: The _Tamarisk_ succeeds in getting out a line.] + +Between this time and 10.37 a. m., when a towing line was received from +H. M. S. _Snowdrop_, various attempts were made by the _Tamarisk_ and +two trawlers and a tug to tow the _Cassin_. An eleven-inch towing hawser +from the _Tamarisk_ parted. All ships, except her, lost the _Cassin_ +during the night. The _Cassin_ was drifting rapidly on a lee shore, and +had it not been for the _Tamarisk_ getting out a line in the early +morning, the vessel would have undoubtedly grounded on Hook Point, as it +is extremely doubtful if her anchors would have held. + +About thirty-five feet of the stern was blown off or completely +ruptured. The after living compartments and after storerooms are +completely wrecked or gone, and all stores and clothing from these parts +of the ship are gone or ruined. About forty-five members of the crew, +including the chief petty officers, lost practically everything but the +clothes they had on. + +At the time of the explosion there were a number of men in the after +compartments. How they managed to escape is beyond explanation. + +The officers and crew behaved splendidly. There was no excitement. The +men went to their stations quietly and remained there all night, except +when called away to handle lines. + +[Sidenote: Efficiency of officers and men.] + +The work of the executive officer, Lieutenant J. W. McClaran, and of the +engineer officer, Lieutenant J. A. Saunders, is deserving of especial +commendation. These two officers inspected magazines and spaces below +decks and superintended shoring of bulkheads and restaying of masts. +Lieutenant (Junior Grade) R. M. Parkinson did excellent work in getting +an improvised radio set into commission. W. J. Murphy, chief electrician +(radio), and F. R. Fisher, chief machinist's mate, are specifically +mentioned in the commanding officer's report for their cool and +efficient work. + +Twenty-two enlisted men are mentioned by name as conspicuous for their +coolness and leadership. + +[Sidenote: Luck in favor of the submarine.] + +From the statement of all the officers it is evident that luck favored +the submarine. The destroyer probably would have escaped being hit had +not the torpedo broached twice and turned decidedly to the left both +times--in other words, failed to function properly. + +[Sidenote: The results of the explosion.] + +The equivalent of 850 pounds of T. N. T. is estimated to have exploded +in and upon the _Cassin's_ fantail; this includes the charges of the +torpedo and of both depth mines. No. 4 gun, blown overboard, left the +ship to port, although that was the side which the torpedo hit. The gun +went over at a point well forward of her mount. The mass of the +wreckage, however, went to starboard. Explosion of the depth charges, +rather than that of the torpedo outward or in throwback, supposedly +effected this. About five seconds elapsed between the torpedo's +detonation and those of the mines. They probably went off close +together, for accounts vary as to whether there were in all two or +three explosions. + +[Sidenote: The bulkhead buckles.] + +Of the two after doors, that to port threatened to carry away soon after +the seas began to pound in. The main mass of the wreckage which dropped +off did so upward of an hour after the explosions. It was at this time +that the bulkhead began to buckle and the port door and dogging weaken. +It was shored with mattresses under the personal direction of the +executive. Up to this time and until the seas began to crumple the +bulkhead completely, there was only a few inches of water in the two P. +O. compartments; and even when the _Cassin_ reached Queenstown, hardly +more than three feet. None of the compartments directly under these +three on the deck below--handling room, magazine, and oil tanks--were +injured at all. The tanks were farthest aft, and were pumped out after +docking. + +[Sidenote: Freaks of flying metal.] + +One piece of metal entered the wash room and before coming to rest +completely circled it without touching a man who was standing in the +center of the compartment. Another stray piece tore a six-inch hole in +one of the stacks. + +The destroyer within signal distance at the time of the attack was the +U. S. S. _Porter_. It is believed that she saw the explosion, at least +of the two depth charges, and thinking that the _Cassin_ was attacking a +submarine, started off scouting before a signal could be sent and after +the radio was out of commission. + +[Sidenote: The _Alcedo's_ last voyage.] + +[Sidenote: Low visibility hides convoy.] + +At 4 p. m., November 4, 1917, the U. S. S. _Alcedo_ proceeded to sea +from Quiberon Bay on escort duty to take convoy through the war zone. +Following the northbound convoy for Brest, when north of Belle Ile +formation was taken with the _Alcedo_ on the starboard flank. At 5.45 p. +m. the _Alcedo_ took departure from Point Poulins Light. Darkness had +fallen and owing to a haze visibility was poor, at times the convoy not +being visible. About 11.30 visibility was such that the convoy was seen +on the port bow of the _Alcedo_, the nearest ship, according to the +commanding officer's estimate, being about 1,200 yards distant. Having +written his night order, the commanding officer left the bridge and +turned in. + +The following is his report of the torpedoing: + +[Sidenote: "Submarine, Captain."] + +[Sidenote: Attempts to avoid the torpedo.] + +At or about 1.45 a. m., November 5, while sleeping in emergency cabin, +immediately under upper bridge, I was awakened by a commotion and +immediately received a report from some man unknown, "Submarine, +captain." I jumped out of bed and went to the upper bridge, and the +officer of the deck, Lieutenant Paul, stated he had sounded "general +quarters," had seen submarine on surface about 300 yards on port bow, +and submarine had fired a torpedo, which was approaching. I took station +on port wing of upper bridge and saw torpedo approaching about 200 feet +distant. Lieutenant Paul had put the rudder full right before I arrived +on bridge, hoping to avoid the torpedo. The ship answered slowly to her +helm, however, and before any other action could be taken the torpedo I +saw struck the ship's side immediately under the port forward chain +plates, the detonation occurring instantly. I was thrown down and for a +few seconds dazed by falling debris and water. + +[Sidenote: Submarine alarm sounded on siren.] + +Upon regaining my feet I sounded the submarine alarm on the siren, to +call all hands if they had not heard the general alarm gong, and to +direct the attention of the convoy and other escorting vessels. Called +to the forward guns' crews to see if at stations, but by this time +realized that gallant forecastle was practically awash. The foremast had +fallen, carrying away radio aerial. I called out to abandon ship. + +I then left the upper bridge and went into the chart house to obtain +ship's position from the chart, but, as there was no light, could not +see. I then went out of the chart house and met the navigator, +Lieutenant Leonard, and asked him if he had sent any radio, and he +replied "No." I then directed him and accompanied him to the main deck +and told him to take charge of cutting away forward dories and life +rafts. + +I then proceeded along starboard gangway and found a man lying face down +in gangway. I stooped and rolled him over and spoke to him, but received +no reply and was unable to learn his identity, owing to the darkness. It +is my opinion that this man was dead. + +[Sidenote: Dories and life rafts are cut away.] + +I then continued to the after end of ship, took station on aftergun +platform. I then realized that the ship was filling rapidly and her +bulwarks amidships were level with the water. I directed the after +dories and life rafts to be cut away and thrown overboard and ordered +the men in the immediate vicinity to jump over the side, intending to +follow them. + +[Sidenote: The ship sinks--Captain reaches a whaleboat.] + +Before I could jump, however, the ship listed heavily to port, plunging +by the head, and sunk, carrying me down with the suction. I experienced +no difficulty, however, in getting clear, and when I came to the surface +I swam a few yards to a life raft, to which were clinging three men. We +climbed on board this raft and upon looking around observed Doyle, chief +boatswain's mate, and one other man in the whaleboat. We paddled to the +whaleboat and embarked from the life raft. + +[Sidenote: Rescuing men from the water.] + +The whaleboat was about half full of water, and we immediately started +bailing and then to rescue men from wreckage, and quickly filled the +whaleboat to more than its maximum capacity, so that no others could be +taken aboard. We then picked up two overturned dories which were nested +together, separated them and righted them, only to find that their +sterns had been broken. We then located another nest of dories, which +were separated and righted and found to be seaworthy. Transferred some +men from the whaleboat into these dories and proceeded to pick up other +men from wreckage. During this time cries were heard from two men in the +water some distance away who were holding on to wreckage and calling for +assistance. It is believed that these men were Ernest M. Harrison, mess +attendant, and John Winne, jr., seaman. As soon as the dories were +available we proceeded to where they were last seen, but could find no +trace of them. + +[Sidenote: Submarine of _U-27_ type approaches.] + +About this time, which was probably an hour after the ship sank, a +German submarine approached the scene of torpedoing and lay to near some +of the dories and life rafts. She was in the light condition, and from +my observation of her I am of the opinion that she was of the _U-27-31_ +type. This has been confirmed by having a number of men and officers +check the silhouette book. The submarine was probably 100 yards distant +from my whaleboat, and I heard no remarks from anyone on the submarine, +although I observed three persons standing on top of conning tower. +After laying on surface about half an hour the submarine steered off and +submerged. + +[Sidenote: Boats leave scene of disaster.] + +I then proceeded with the whaleboat and two dories searching through the +wreckage to make sure that no survivors were left in the water. No other +people being seen, at 4.30 a. m. we started away from the scene of +disaster. + +The _Alcedo_ was sunk, as near as I can estimate, 75 miles west true of +north end of Belle Ile. The torpedo struck ship at 1.46 by the officer +of the deck's watch, and the same watch stopped at 1.54 a. m., November +5, this showing that the ship remained afloat eight minutes. + +[Sidenote: A French torpedo boat rescues the Captain's party.] + +The flare of Penmark Light was visible, and I headed for it and +ascertained the course by Polaris to be approximately northeast. We +rowed until 1.15, when Penmark Lighthouse was sighted. Continued rowing +until 5.15 p. m. when Penmark Lighthouse was distant about 2 1/2 miles. +We were then picked up by French torpedo boat _275_, and upon going on +board I requested the commanding officer to radio immediately to Brest +reporting the fact of torpedoing and that 3 officers and 40 men were +proceeding to Brest. The French gave all assistance possible for the +comfort of the survivors. We arrived at Brest about 11 p. m. Those +requiring medical attention were sent to the hospital and the others +were sent off to the _Panther_ to be quartered. + +[Sidenote: Crews of two other dories safe.] + +Upon arrival at Brest I was informed that two other dories containing +Lieutenant H. R. Leonard, Lieutenant H. A. Peterson, Passed Assistant +Surgeon Paul O. M. Andreae, and 25 men had landed at Pen March Point. +This was my first intimation that these officers and men had been saved, +as they had not been seen by any of my party at the scene of torpedoing. + +[Sidenote: The destroyer _Jacob Jones_ is torpedoed.] + +At 4.21 p. m. on December 6, 1917, in latitude 49.23 north, longitude +6.13 west, clear weather, smooth sea, speed 13 knots zigzagging, the U. +S. S. _Jacob Jones_ was struck on the starboard side by a torpedo from +an enemy submarine. The ship was one of six of an escorting group which +were returning independently from off Brest to Queenstown. All other +ships of the group were out of sight ahead. + +[Sidenote: Attempts to avoid the torpedo.] + +I was in the chart house and heard some one call out "Torpedo!" I jumped +at once to the bridge, and on the way up saw the torpedo about 800 yards +from the ship approaching from about one point abaft the starboard beam +headed for a point about midships, making a perfectly straight surface +run (alternately broaching and submerging to apparently 4 or 5 feet), at +an estimated speed of at least 40 knots. No periscope was sighted. When +I reached the bridge I found that the officer of the deck had already +put the rudder hard left and rung up emergency speed on the engine-room +telegraph. The ship had already begun to swing to the left. I personally +rang up emergency speed again and then turned to watch the torpedo. The +executive officer, Lieutenant Norman Scott, left the chart house just +ahead of me, saw the torpedo immediately on getting outside the door, +and estimates that the torpedo when he sighted it was 1,000 yards away, +approaching from one point, or slightly less, abaft the beam and making +exceedingly high speed. + +[Sidenote: Lieutenant Kalk acts promptly.] + +After seeing the torpedo and realizing the straight run, line of +approach, and high speed it was making, I was convinced that it was +impossible to maneuver to avoid it. Lieutenant (Junior Grade) S. F. Kalk +was officer of the deck at the time, and I consider that he took correct +and especially prompt measures in maneuvering to avoid the torpedo. +Lieutenant Kalk was a very able officer, calm and collected in +emergency. He had been attached to the ship for about two months and had +shown especial aptitude. His action in this emergency entirely justified +my confidence in him. I deeply regret to state that he was lost as a +result of the torpedoing of the ship, dying of exposure on one of the +rafts. + +[Sidenote: Torpedo strikes fuel-oil tank below water line.] + +The torpedo broached and jumped clear of the water at a short distance +from the ship, submerged about 50 or 60 feet from the ship, and struck +approximately three feet below the water line in the fuel-oil tank +between the auxiliary room and the after crew space. The ship settled +aft immediately after being torpedoed to a point at which the deck just +forward of the after deck house was awash, and then more gradually until +the deck abreast the engine-room hatch was awash. A man on watch in the +engine room, D. R. Carter, oiler, attempted to close the water-tight +door between the auxiliary room and the engine room, but was unable to +do so against the pressure of water from the auxiliary room. + +[Sidenote: Effects of the explosion.] + +The deck over the forward part of the after crew space and over the +fuel-oil tank just forward of it was blown clear for a space +athwartships of about 20 feet from starboard to port, and the auxiliary +room wrecked. The starboard after torpedo tube was blown into the air. +No fuel oil ignited and, apparently, no ammunition exploded. The depth +charges in the chutes aft were set on ready and exploded after the stern +sank. It was impossible to get to them to set them on safe as they were +under water. Immediately the ship was torpedoed, Lieutenant J. K. +Richards, the gunnery officer, rushed aft to attempt to set the charges +on "safe," but was unable to get further aft than the after deck house. + +[Sidenote: Impossible to use radio.] + +As soon as the torpedo struck I attempted to send out an "S. O. S." +message by radio, but the mainmast was carried away, antennae falling, +and all electric power had failed. I then tried to have the gun-sight +lighting batteries connected up in an effort to send out a low-power +message with them, but it was at once evident that this would not be +practicable before the ship sank. There was no other vessel in sight, +and it was therefore impossible to get through a distress signal of any +kind. + +[Sidenote: Confidential publications are weighted and thrown overboard.] + +Immediately after the ship was torpedoed every effort was made to get +rafts and boats launched. Also the circular life belts from the bridge +and several splinter mats from the outside of the bridge were cut adrift +and afterwards proved very useful in holding men up until they could be +got to the rafts. Weighted confidential publications were thrown over +the side. There was no time to destroy other confidential matter, but it +went down with the ship. + +[Sidenote: Men jump overboard.] + +The ship sank about 4.29 p. m. (about eight minutes after being +torpedoed). As I saw her settling rapidly, I ran along the deck and +ordered everybody I saw to jump overboard. At this time most of those +not killed by the explosion had got clear of the ship and were on rafts +or wreckage. Some, however, were swimming and a few appeared to be about +a ship's length astern of the ship, at some distance from the rafts, +probably having jumped overboard very soon after the ship was struck. + +[Sidenote: The ship sinks stern first. Depth charges explode.] + +Before the ship sank two shots were fired from No. 4 gun with the hope +of attracting attention of some nearby ship. As the ship began sinking +I jumped overboard. The ship sank stern first and twisted slowly through +nearly 180 degrees as she swung upright. From this nearly vertical +position, bow in the air to about the forward funnel, she went straight +down. Before the ship reached the vertical position the depth charges +exploded, and I believe them to have caused the death of a number of +men. They also partially paralyzed, stunned, or dazed a number of +others, including Lieutenant Kalk and myself and several men, some of +whom are still disabled but recovering. + +[Sidenote: Rafts and boats float.] + +Immediate efforts were made to get all survivors on the rafts and then +get rafts and boats together. Three rafts were launched before the ship +sank and one floated off when she sank. The motor dory, hull undamaged +but engine out of commission, also floated off, and the punt and wherry +also floated clear. The punt was wrecked beyond usefulness, and the +wherry was damaged and leaking badly, but was of considerable use in +getting men to the rafts. The whaleboat was launched but capsized soon +afterwards, having been damaged by the explosion of the depth charges. +The motor sailor did not float clear, but went down with the ship. + +[Sidenote: Submarine appears and picks up one man.] + +About 15 or 20 minutes after the ship sank the submarine appeared on the +surface about two or three miles to the westward of the rafts, and +gradually approached until about 800 to 1,000 yards from the ship, where +it stopped and was seen to pick up one unidentified man from the water. +The submarine then submerged and was not seen again. + +[Sidenote: The captain's boat steers for the Scillys.] + +I was picked up by the motor dory and at once began to make arrangements +to try to reach the Scillys in that boat in order to get assistance to +those on the rafts. All the survivors then in sight were collected and I +gave orders to Lieutenant Richards to keep them together. Lieutenant +Scott, the navigating officer, had fixed the ship's position a few +minutes before the explosion and both he and I knew accurately the +course to be steered. I kept Lieutenant Scott to assist me and four men +who were in good condition in the boat to man the oars, the engine being +out of commission. With the exception of some emergency rations and half +a bucket of water, all provisions, including medical kit, were taken +from the dory and left on the rafts. There was no apparatus of any kind +which could be used for night signaling. + +[Sidenote: Survivors are picked up.] + +After a very trying trip during which it was necessary to steer by stars +and by the direction of the wind, the dory was picked up about 1 p. m., +December 7, by a small patrol vessel about 6 miles south of St. Marys. +Commander Randal, R. N. R., Senior Naval Officer, Scilly Isles, informed +me that the other survivors had been rescued. + +One small raft (which had been separated from the others from the +first) was picked up by the S. S. _Catalina_ at 8 p. m., December 6. +After a most trying experience through the night, the remaining +survivors were picked up by H. M. S. _Camellia_, at 8.30 a. m., December +7. + +[Sidenote: The number lost.] + +I deeply regret to state that out of a total of 7 officers and 103 men +on board at the time of the torpedoing, 2 officers and 64 men died in +the performance of duty. + +The behavior of officers and men under the exceptionally hard conditions +is worthy of the highest praise. + +[Sidenote: Lieutenant Scott's valuable services.] + +Lieutenant Norman Scott, executive officer, accomplished a great deal +toward getting boats and rafts in the water, turning off steam from the +fireroom to the engine room, getting life belts and splinter mats from +the bridge into the water, in person firing signal guns, encouraging and +assisting the men, and in general doing everything possible in the short +time available. He was of invaluable assistance during the trip in the +dory. + +[Sidenote: Calmness and efficiency of other officers.] + +Lieutenant J. K. Richards was left in charge of all the rafts, and his +coolness and cheerfulness under exceedingly hard conditions was highly +commendable and undoubtedly served to put heart into the men to stand +the strain. + +Lieutenant (Junior Grade) S. F. Kalk, during the early part of the +evening, but already in a weakened condition, swam from one raft to +another in the effort to equalize weight on the rafts. The men who were +on the raft with him state, in their own words, that "He was game to the +last." + +Lieutenant (Junior Grade) N. N. Gates was calm and efficient in the +performance of duty. + +[Sidenote: Men recommended for commendation.] + +During the night, Charlesworth, C., boatswain's mate first class, +removed parts of his own clothing (when all realized that their lives +depended on keeping warm) to try to keep alive men more thinly clad than +himself. This sacrifice shows his caliber and I recommend that he be +commended for his action. + +At the risk of almost certain death, Burger, P. J., seaman second class, +remained in the motor sailer and endeavored to get it clear for floating +from the ship. While he did not succeed in accomplishing this work +(which would undoubtedly have saved 20 or 30 lives) I desire to call +attention to his sticking to duty until the very last, and recommend him +as being most worthy of commendation. He was drawn under the water with +the boat, but later came to the surface and was rescued. + +Kelly, L. J., chief electrician, and Chase, H. U., quartermaster third +class, remained on board until the last, greatly endangering their lives +thereby, to cut adrift splinter mats and life preservers. Kelly's +stamina and spirit were especially valuable during the motor dory's +trip. + +Gibson, H. L., chief boatswain's mate, and Meier, E., water tender, were +of great assistance to the men on their rafts in advising and cheering +them up under most adverse conditions. + +The foregoing report is made from my own observations and after +questioning all surviving officers and men. + + * * * * * + +The American naval authorities early recognized that the swift +destroyers were the most effective instruments for hunting down German +submarines, and the most efficient guardians for the loaded troop and +food ships crossing the Atlantic. Life on board one of these swift and +powerful boats is described in the following narrative.[1] + + * * * * * + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Transcriber's Note: This narrative will be found in Vol. III of this +series. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 18, double word "being" removed (without being able) Original +read: (without being being able) + +Page 33, word "with" was originally italicised. These italics were +removed. (_Nerissa_, with _Moorsom_ and _Morris_) + +Page 39, "squaddron" changed to "squadron" (his magnificent squadron) + +Page 59, "I" inserted into text (men than I could) + +Page 86, "Fregicourt" changed to "Fregicourt" (Rancourt, and Fregicourt) + +Page 143, "Candian" changed to "Canadian" (Canadian lines and had) + +Page 151, "Hobenzollerns" changed to "Hohenzollerns" (upon the +Hohenzollerns) + +Page 158, "frome" changed to "from" (came from the sentries) + +Page 178, "Meopotamia" changed to "Mesopotamia" (empire--Mesopotamia, +Syria) + +Page 238, "Wheras" changed to "Whereas" (_Whereas_, The Imperial German) + +Page 267, "dramtically" changed to "dramatically" (was dramatically +tense) + +Page 294, "Consulor" changed to "Consular" (to American Consular) + +Page 346, "depots" changed to "depots" to match rest of article (and +depots north of) + +Page 367, Sidenote: "defenses" changed to "defences" to match rest of +text (Enemy defences west) + +Page 375, "foremost" changed to "foremast" (The foremast had fallen) + +Page 381, "other" changed to "others" (number of others) + +Many words were hyphenated or not depending on the article. Examples: +battlefield, battle-field; bridgehead, bridge-head; varied forms of +cooperate, co-operate, cooperate. + +At times manoevre was spelled with an oe-ligature. This is indicated in +the text by enclosing the ligature in brackets [oe]. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of World's War Events, Vol. II, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORLD'S WAR EVENTS, VOL. 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