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diff --git a/old/65976-0.txt b/old/65976-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8a07579..0000000 --- a/old/65976-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6428 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Archangel, by John Cudahy - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Archangel - The American War with Russia - -Author: John Cudahy - -Release Date: August 1, 2021 [eBook #65976] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Al Haines - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHANGEL *** - - - - - - -[Frontispiece: Sergeant William H. Bowman, 339th United States -Infantry (missing from source book) - - - - - ARCHANGEL - - THE AMERICAN WAR WITH RUSSIA - - By - - A Chronicler - (John Cudahy) - - - _Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice._--OTHELLO - - - - CHICAGO - A. C. McCLURG & CO. - 1924 - - - - - _Dedicated to the memory_ - _of_ - - SERGEANT WILLIAM H. BOWMAN - - who died of wounds - received in the action of - 1st March, 1919 - near Toulgas, Russia - - - - -CONTENTS - - -Archangel and Gallipoli - -Russia and the Vast Unknown - -Objects of the Expedition - -The Plan of Campaign - -The Railway - -Onega - -Kodish - -The River - -The Vaga - -Pinega - -Retreat - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - -Sergeant William H. Bowman, 339th United States Infantry (missing -from source book) ... _Frontispiece_ - -Archangel, where the East comes abruptly face to face with the West - -Patrols with webfoot snowshoes went forth on the snow - -Where a mill flaps its awkward wings - -The blockhouses where men were crippled and maimed and shell-shocked -so far away from gala Archangel - -An outpost on the railway - -The fighting Canadians - -A Bolshevik scout - -The only means of transportation after the rivers were closed - -When the snow mounted high the fortifications had been made safe -against any projectile save a six-inch shell - -Patrols were often clad in white smocks - -Major General Sir William E. Ironside - - -MAPS - -Archangel Province - -The Murman and Vologda Railways - -Situation Map - - - - -ARCHANGEL AND GALLIPOLI - - -"This war was one of the most unjust ever waged. It was an instance -of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies." - -_From Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant._ - -Commenting on the war with Mexico. - - -ARCHANGEL - -THE AMERICAN WAR WITH RUSSIA - -I - -ARCHANGEL AND GALLIPOLI - - "_Theirs not to reason why; - Theirs but to do and die._" - - -Many people have asked me about the Russian campaign, why American -soldiers went to Siberia, and what they did after they got there, for -the general notion seems to be that Russia and Siberia are -synonymous, and that the Russian Expedition, whatever its hazy -purpose was, was centered about Vladivostok, and that in this far -eastern port, a few American and Allied soldiers "marked time," while -their comrades on the Western Front fought out, and eventually -conquered, in the greatest of all wars. - -One American officer was actually ordered to join his command at -Archangel, "via Vladivostok," and the order was issued by the War -Department of the United States. Six thousand miles of inaccessible -territory separated these two Russian ports, and the average American -soldier who went out from Archangel in the fall of 1918, and, during -the desolate winter months that followed, fought for his life along -the Vologda railway, or far up the Dvina river, or in the snows of -Pinega and Onega valleys, never knew that Brigadier General William -S. Graves of the United States army, with thirteen hundred -eighty-eight regulars and forty-three officers, had landed at -Vladivostok on 4th September, 1918, and remained there after the -Archangel fiasco had terminated. There was no conscious liaison -between this American company of the far East and that of the far -North, each performing burlesque antics in fantastic sideshows, while -in the West, the greatest drama of all time was in its denouement, -and a tense world trembled as it watched. - -Whether there was any political connection between the Archangel -Expedition and the Vladivostok Expedition is for the statesmen to -answer. Surely there never was any military connection. Obviously, -there never could be any support or communication between the two -forces, and the American soldier at the Arctic Circle who was not -told the reasons why he faced death and unknown dangers there, and -why he was weakened and broken, and made old by privation and intense -cold, never knew that there was a Siberian Expedition, and does not -know even to this day. - -So I have thought it worth while to tell, as faithfully as I could, -the story of this strange war of North Russia, an insignificant -flickering in the glare of the mighty world conflict, but inspiring -in its human significance, its exploits of moral strength and sheer -resolution and godlike courage. I have considered the campaign as a -trial by ordeal of American manhood, that tested our souls to the -depths, like Gallipoli tested the British. It was like Gallipoli in -the hopeless odds encountered at every turn, in the vague outline of -the commitment at the outset; in its distressing losses; its -hardships and privations; its tragical ending. - -But it was very vitally unlike Gallipoli, because in the war with -Russia the soldier never knew why. The Australians, in their effort -to force the Dardanelles, were exalted by the belief that theirs was -an important operation in the war, and the British soldier went to -battle the Turks, convinced that if he died, it was to save some -little spot in a Cheshire or Sussex village, which to him meant -England. It was a holy war, and men were fired with the high, -selfless devotion of the Crusaders. An arrogant, brutal power -swaggered abroad, menacing liberty, and the home and all things of -the spirit. If German Imperialism engulfed civilization, there would -be nothing left to live for anyway. - -But there were no such reflections to sustain the soldier in Russia. -The Armistice came, and he remembers the day as one of sanguinary -battle, when his dwindling numbers suffered further grievous losses, -and he was sniped at, stormed with shrapnel and shaken by high -explosive shells. He heard of the cessation of blood-letting in -France and Belgium, but for many desolate, despairing months, he -stood to his guns, witnessing his comrades killed and mutilated, the -wounded lying in crude, dirty huts, makeshifts of dressing stations, -then in sledges, dragged many excruciating miles over the snow to the -rear, where often they got little better attention than at the front -lines. He knew his physical strength was failing under the -unrelieved monotony of the Arctic exploration ration; he saw others -with scabies and disgusting diseases of malnutrition, and wondered -how long before he too would be in the same way. He felt his sanity -reeling in the short-lived, murky, winter days, the ever encircling -menace of impending disaster and annihilation. He asked his officers -why he fought, and why he was facing an enemy vastly superior to him -in strength and equipment and armament, and why he was separated from -his family and home and the ways of life, and when the end would -come. But his officers were silent under this inquisition. They -asked the same questions themselves, and got no reply. The colonel -who commanded this fated regiment told his soldiers that he could -give no reason for them to oppose the enemy other than that their -lives and those of the whole expedition depended upon successful -resistance. - -So soldierlike, he "carried on," while the dreary skies above him -menaced death, and death stalked the encompassing forests of the -scattered front lines, and the taint of death was in the air he -breathed. - -In the end, and when nearly all hope had fled, he returned homeward, -stricken in health and dazed in spirit, where people moved as before, -and were agitated by the same concerns, as if nothing had occurred to -upset the whole scheme of things and uproot forever the old standards -of values and ambition and morality. They noticed a queer look in -his eyes and that he was customarily silent, often introspective. -They manifested a casual interest in his great adventure. They never -could understand. - -Both expeditions were conceived by the British High Command and both -were conducted by the execution of British military orders. Perhaps -therein is the underlying philosophy of North Russia and Gallipoli; -this attachment of the British mind to an astricted faith in England -and her imperial destiny to rule the peoples of the world, -contemptuous of obstacles and difficulties and perils in unknown, -alien lands that appear very real to other than British mental -processes. - -"We'll just rush up there and re-establish the great Russian -army--reorganize the vast forces of the Tsar," said an ebullient -officer in England, wearing the red tabs and hatband of the General -Staff. "One good Allied soldier can outfight twenty Bolsheviks," was -the usual boast of the Commanding Officer in the early days of the -fighting. - -And it was a boast that was made good in the furious winter combats, -when, standing at bay, the scattered companies, with no place to -retreat, save the open snow, stood off many times their number of the -enemy. In these decisive trials, the spirit of the Anglo-Saxon ever -asserted its superiority, but one to twenty is not a very comfortable -ratio upon which to form an offensive campaign. And the war against -Russia was conceived as an offensive campaign, whatever it turned out -to be. - - - - -RUSSIA THE VAST UNKNOWN - - -"The Emperor fully realized the nature of the task he had before him. -To defend himself in Italy, Germany or even Poland against the Tsar -was one thing; to invade the vast empire of Russia, was another task -altogether--a task colossal, if not appalling. And arrayed against -him were two fearful enemies--the Russian Army and winter." - -WATSON'S _Napoleon_. - - -II - -RUSSIA THE VAST UNKNOWN - -Sometimes we are amused by foreign littérateurs and commentators, who -come to our great country for a few crowded weeks of teas and -symposia, gatherings of the intelligencia in our metropolis, and -perhaps a dash into the mushroom dilettantism of Chicago, to set sail -and compose screeds and screeds of America, her ways and her people, -their manners and their customs. - -Superficial vaporings, but far better composed and built by far on -firmer ground than the idle opinions of those few Americans who have -gone to the vast, far stretching empire of the Slavs, and glibly -vouchsafed their ex cathedra views thereon. - -The dominions of Great Russia were spread from the Baltic east to the -Japan Sea, and from above the Arctic Circle far south to the Caspian -and the Black Sea and Lake Baikal in Siberia. They comprised eight -million six hundred and fifty thousand square miles of varied -territory, nearly three times that of the United States, and were -peopled by heterogeneous people, numbering one hundred and eighty -million, as estimated, for no census or even approximate count has -ever been attempted. - -There were the Finns and the Letts, the Lithuanians, the Jews, the -Mordvinians, the Estonians, the Siberians, the Great Russians, the -Little Russians, the Red Russians, and the White Russians of the -Central Provinces, the Cossacks of the south, and the Tartars of the -Caucasus; all with no conscious unity, no national identity, not a -single common impulse or purpose or interest. In many instances, -without a communion of language. - -The total length of railways in 1917 was thirty-four thousand miles, -or less than one-eighth of that of our country. Of these one hundred -and eighty million Russians, nearly eighty per cent are moujiks, -docile, patient serfs, liberated scarcely sixty years ago by -Alexander II, and still shackled by the shackles of their serfdom, -woeful ignorance, cowed spirit and afflicting poverty. - -The remaining twenty per cent are survivors of the fading nobility -and the bourgeoisie, or middle class, who have acquired wealth and -consequent social rank without claim to nobility of birth. These -last are hated with an intense, irrational hatred by the Bolsheviki. - -The noble class, the Russian of Turgenev, supersensitive, highstrung, -supercultivated, almost to the point of degeneration, is fast -vanishing with the passing of the last vestige of the Romanoff -regime, and soon will be a thing of the past. This intolerant caste -for centuries had dwelt in idleness on great landed estates. It was -as alien to the poor moujik as if of an entirely distinct race. I -met a few of these highborn on the streets of Archangel, whence they -had fled from the murderous Reds in the cities of Moscow and -Petrograd. Elegant gentlemen they were, in all the glittering -panoply of Imperial army officers, and manners the extreme in -politesse; very pompous, extremely impressive. They did not conceal -their contempt of the crawling moujik; he was a swine, and when the -word was hissed in Russian, it sounded very swinish. - -The serf and the highborn, the swaggering, objectionable bourgeoisie, -the moujik and his animal ignorance, the intelligencia, and his -superculture, each separated from the other by an abysmal unspanable -gulf; and the various Russian races so dissimilar in thought and -living, in customs, even in language, all nevertheless were kept in -some semblance of cohesion by the brutal, disciplinary methods of the -Tsar and the cooperating spiritual guidance of the Russian State -Catholic Church, of which the Tsar was the Little Father. - -San Francisco is as acutely conscious of national affairs in -Washington, as New York, and more so. But this is because the finest -transportation system in the world makes it possible to journey from -one city to the other in a few days, and because every American is an -ardent disciple of our great public press. - -But Vladivostok knows nothing of Petrograd, and Petrograd knows -little of Archangel, and in the little villages, where the people -live, the world beyond is clothed in impenetrable mystery; for there -are no railways to these villages. No news comes in, and if news -came, there are few among the moujiks who could read it. - -It is well to keep these things in mind when men speak of Russia, as -if overnight it could formulate a concerted policy and engage in a -purpose backed by preponderant control of the Russian people. Russia -is not a nation, it is an immense, unwieldy empire, a giant of -tremendous strength, with undreamt-of potentialities, capable of -colossal deeds, but without authoritative, united control or -direction; entirely unconscious of any national entity. - -When Nicholas abdicated in March, 1917, it was an anxious world that -viewed the experimental government of Prince Lvoff. Russia was an -important ally, but she had made heroic sacrifices and had lost five -millions of men; if she faltered now, the world might be lost. And -there were rumors of a separate peace. - -A few months after the downfall of the Tsar, Kerensky, as Premier, -issued a manifesto expressing undying allegiance to the sacred cause -of the Allied Nations, and shortly delivered to the army his famous -Prikaz, which: - - -a. Abolished the penalty of death for disobedience of essential -military discipline. - -b. Abolished soldierly courtesy and the salute. Officers were -henceforth to be known as tvarishi, comrades, and all social -distinctions between them and the common soldier were abrogated. - -c. Meetings of soldiers to discuss the conduct of military affairs -were permitted. - - -Officers were simply unmanned of any effective authority. They were -permitted to administer and instruct their organization, but all -disciplinary measures were passed upon by a committee of soldiers, -and so obedience to any order was a matter for ultimate ruling by -such a soldier committee and not by an officer. This was democracy -run riot, individual liberty gone stark mad. A few weeks after -Kerensky took command, one million five hundred thousand Russian -soldiers, grown weary of the tedium and the hazards of the front, -quit the army and returned to their homes. - -Thus by one foolhardy, ill-advised measure, an army became a rabble. -Discipline, as essential to the military as blood is essential to -sustain a physical body, vanished, and the collapse of Russia began -with Kerensky. - -[Illustration: Archangel, where the East comes abruptly face to face -with the West] - -After the entry of the United States into the war in April, 1917, -President Wilson was uneasy about Russia and her future course -against the common enemy. Emissaries were therefore sent to learn of -conditions first hand. Headed by the Honorable Elihu Root, as -Ambassador Extraordinary, these reached Petrograd on the 13th June, -1917. Charles P. Crane, Cyrus H. McCormick of Illinois, and General -Scott, the American Chief of Staff, accompanied Mr. Root. The -emissaries met Kerensky, talked with several military and labor -leaders, attended many banquets, made as many good speeches, and -reported to the President in Washington on 12th August of the same -year. - -This report was made in confidence to the President, and even at the -late date of the present writing, all requests to examine it have -been denied by the State Department, on the grounds that "Divulgence -is incompatible with the public interests." - -But shortly afterwards, Mr. Root gave out an interview, which -purported to express the views of the delegation: that they had come -back with faith in Russia; faith in Russian qualities of character -that are essential tests of competency and self government; faith in -the purpose, the persistence and the power of the Russian people to -keep themselves free. - -Many American bankers, believing in Mr. Root, manifested kindred -faith by the exchange of good American dollars for Russian rubles, -despite the fact that the Russian government was hopelessly bankrupt -and was showing an operating deficit of milliards of rubles. - -General Scott visited the Russian front and witnessed the offensive -which resulted in the taking of Kovel and Lemberg. He conferred with -Generals Brussiloff, Korniloff, and Erdeli and their staffs, and -reported to the American Secretary of War that Russia would stay in -the war "if given even a part of the aid she asks." - -Three months before the debacle, the Secretary of State, Mr. Lansing, -assured the American people that Russia was stronger than she had -been for some time, both from the government point of view and the -military point of view. - -The government point of view? The outstanding feature of the Russian -Government "point of view" has always been the venal disposition of -the High Command; the shameful, heartless, conscienceless corruption -of persons in authority. Everyone knew this who knew Imperial -Russia. At the trial of General Sukhomlinov, Minister for War, -General Yanushkevitch, former Chief of Russian General Staff, -testified that in the retreat from Galicia, during the summer of -1915, there was only one rifle for every ten soldiers. The soldiers -in the rear had to wait until their comrades on the firing line were -killed so that they might have their rifles. The Russians had no -shells, and the Germans knowing this, set their guns two thousand -yards off and shot down one helpless regiment after the other. - -Many other examples of pitiful defenselessness could be cited at a -time when the Allies loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Russia -for arms and military equipment, and Russia had these munitions, but -far back of the front lines. - -We have viewed Russian affairs as we have viewed Mexico, with -American provincial eyes instead of attempting to judge from a -Russian angle. Gladstone said that a nation guided by provincial -statesmen was doomed for perdition, and, by reason of our -provincialism, American statecraft striving to cope with Russia was -hopelessly handicapped at the outset. This wholesale scandal and -shameless corruption in high circles was typically Russian, an -essential premise upon which to form a judgment of the Russian -situation, but a premise totally unknown to persons unfamiliar with -Russian character and Russian conditions. - -Democracy assumes intelligence, but most important of all, -self-control. Had we been familiar with the Russian people, is it -likely that our State Department would have given such unstinted -confidence to the dreamer, Kerensky? For like all countries where -ignorance stifles the progress of struggling national life a strong -unhesitant hand was needed to guide the nascent Russian democracy, -and instead of resolution Kerensky presented oratory and by his -Prikaz and vacillating policies rapidly lost his grip upon the army. -General Korniloff attempted to rally the demoralized forces, restored -the death penalty and strove to bring out of the chaos created by -Kerensky, some likeness of coordination, but there was a division in -adherence to the Premier and the General, and in the end both -Korniloff and Kerensky failed. Probably no man could have succeeded; -the seeds of destruction had germinated and struck root. It was too -late. - -The revolution of the Bolsheviks took place on 7th November, 1917, -and in February following was announced the Peace Treaty of -Brest-Litovsk, whereby the provinces of Russian Poland, Courland, -Lithuania, and Estonia came under German control, giving Germany an -important Baltic littoral. Turkey, the ally of Germany, was to -receive back all territory in Asia Minor occupied since the war, and -in addition the districts of Kars and Erivan and Batum. Germany and -Turkey controlled the Caucasus, the boundaries of which were to be -restored as they existed before the Russian-Turkish War of 1877. -During the civil war that followed in the Ukraine, the Germans -occupied the port of Sevastopol, and the Austrians took Odessa. -Germany got vast stores of guns and war material, thirteen thousand -three hundred fifty miles of railway, more than one-third of the -entire Russian rail system, a large amount of rolling stock, -seventy-three per cent of Russian iron fields and eighty-nine per -cent of her coal. - -The war in the East was over, one hundred and forty-seven German and -Austrian Divisions were released for the Western Front. - - - - -OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION - - -"Shall the military power of any nation or group of nations be -suffered to determine the fortunes of peoples over whom they have no -right to rule except the right of force?" - -WOODROW WILSON--27th September, 1918. - - -III - -OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION - -It is said of the Bolsheviks, that they are a terrorist, minority -party, rode to power by the seizure of every available machine gun in -Russia and maintain their sway by the same forceful persuasion. - -One of the _intelligencia_ once told me, that of every hundred -Russians, only two were Bolsheviks, and the remaining ninety-eight -were cowed into submission by the methods of the desperado. - -This, to enlightened, high-spirited America is a preposterous -statement, but Russia is not America. Nor has she America's schools, -nor America's great railways, nor the public press of America. - -At Brest-Litovsk, Russia was stripped of nearly all war supply and -munitions by the unsparing Germans, and what was left was seized by -the belligerent Soviets. - -Now, even in proud America, a resolute man back of a six shooter has -been known to hold up an entire train load of people. And whether -the Soviets are backed by the sanction of the masses, or whether as -the Imperialists would have us believe, they are an unprincipled, -bullying minority, they are in truth and fact the de facto government -and represent the sovereignty of Russia in the comity of nations. - -For six years Lenine and Trotsky have ruled, while the ministries of -America, France, England and Italy have undergone complete -transformation with the changing judgments of these troublous times, -and now, begrudgingly, Russia; Russia of the Soviet Party, -proletarian Russia, anarchistic, "nihilistic" Russia is given a seat -at the international conference table of Lausanne, Great Britain has -officially recognized the Soviets, and clamorous politicians in this -country (even one statesman), are emphatically demanding recognition -by the United States. - -The Bolsheviks derived their inspiration from the Russian anarchist, -Bakunin, an apostle of terror and violence. Bolshevik comes from the -Russian word _bolshinstvo_, the majority. The name was used for the -first time in 1903, when Nicolai Lenine split the Social Democratic -party in two and assumed leadership of the majority. Lenine's real -name was Zederblum, that of Trotsky, Bronstein. - -The moving purpose of Bolshevism is to organize a great international -revolution, affecting all countries. A revolution that will -eradicate forever the hated capitalist class, and the despised small -proprietors and entrepreneurs, known as bourgeoisie. Bolshevism is -openly an enemy of democracy. It has no tolerance for any class save -the proletarian. In the Bolshevik era, only the proletariat has any -claim. Bolshevism is autocracy, autocracy of the proletariat. A -ruthless autocracy that would utterly destroy every social group -except this favored one. - -Directly he assumed power, Lenine put into effect the Land Decree, -which abolished the title of landlords to real estate and confiscated -all landed estates, except the small holdings of the peasants. All -employers of labor were suppressed, the six-hour day was established -in industrial enterprises, and all employees were to have a voice in -the management. - -There is naught in this program which can be reconciled with German -Imperialism, yet many statesmen and soldiers in Allied councils were -convinced that an alliance existed between the Bolsheviks and -Germany. But it is impossible to conceive of two more extreme -opponents in political philosophy, for the Prussian Junkers believed -devoutly in the divine commission of kings, as enunciated by the -Kaiser himself; and the Bolsheviks, hating every suggestion of -imperialism with an intense, raging hatred, threatened death to every -king, and recognized, as qualified to rule or govern, none save the -proletariat. - -Only one tenet did Bolshevism and Prussian militarism have in common, -i.e., they were both invincibly opposed to democracy. Both -archenemies of political justice, as we Americans understand -political justice. - -The military leaders and statesmen at Berlin beheld with serious -alarm the Revolution of November, 1917. They loathed the Bolsheviks -and feared the effect of their insidious propaganda on the German -masses. The German Chancellor, Von Bethmann, was obsessed with the -fear of Bolshevism, and Ludendorff writes bitterly of the grave error -in failing to crush the Soviet Party and to openly take sides with -its opponents in Russia. He speaks of the lowered morale of the -Eastern German Divisions; how several of them proved utterly -worthless in the battles of France, as a consequence of coming in -contact with the Bolsheviks; how the Bolshevik revolutionary ideas -corroded the spirit of the people at home, and had more to do, than -the military defeat, with the downfall of the German Government. - -And the Soviet leaders returned the venom of Berlin with even greater -virulency. They denounced the Brest-Litovsk agreement, stigmatizing -it as: "The rape of Russia," and in their propaganda repeatedly -expressed imperishable hatred of the German Imperialists. Lenine -withdrew from the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk on 11th February, -1918, and refused to accede to the harsh demands of Germany. -Thereupon, the Ukraine was immediately invaded, and on 1st March, the -Germans occupied Kiev, the capital, holding a line to Reval on the -Gulf of Finland, through Estonia, Pskov, Vilebsk and Mogilev. The -helpless Russians could do nothing but submit, and under duress -signed the treaty on 3rd March, 1918. - -Still has it been affirmed by Allied statesmen time and repeatedly -that the Bolsheviks were a willing party to the Brest-Litovsk pact, -and that Moscow and Berlin were conspiring for the destruction of all -Western civilization. - -In his Fourteen Point address to Congress on 8th January, 1918, -President Wilson expressed deep sympathy with Russia and enunciated -Point VI as one of the cardinal principles for which the Allies -fought: - - -VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of -all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest -cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an -unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent -determination of her own political development and national policy, -and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations -under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, -assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself -desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the -months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their -comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests. - - -[Illustration: Archangel Province] - - -On 11th March, 1918, on the eve of its meeting to pass upon the -question of the acceptance or rejection of the Brest-Litovsk terms, -the President sent a message of friendship to the all Russian -Congress of Soviets, which contained this pledge: - - -Although the government of the United States is unhappily not now in -a position to render the direct and effective aid it would wish to -render, I beg to assure the people of Russia, through the Congress, -that it will avail itself of every opportunity to secure for Russia -once more complete sovereignty and independence in her own affairs -and full restoration in her great role in the life of Europe and the -modern world. The whole heart of the people of the United States is -with the people of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever -from autocratic government and become masters of their own life. - - -Many contend that if the Allies had stood by the de facto government -of Russia, as President Wilson's words gave promise of doing, the -disastrous treaty would never have been accepted. - -Questions have been addressed to the then American Secretary of State -asking: Did the administration know at the time of the Brest-Litovsk -negotiations: - - -1. That the Soviet government represented by Lenine and Trotsky was -opposed to the projected treaty and signed it only because of the -physical impossibility of resisting German demands unless some of the -Allies came to its aid? - -2. That Lenine and Trotsky gave a note to Colonel Raymond Robbins of -the Red Cross, stating to the President of the United States that -they were opposed to the treaty and would not sign if the United -States would give food and arms to the Russians? - - -The reply of Mr. Lansing was that answers to these questions were not -compatible with the public interest. - -On 12th December, 1918, Senator Johnson asked this question in the -United States Senate: - - -Is it true that the British High Commissioner, sent to Russia after -the Bolsheviki revolution because of his knowledge and experience in -the Russian situation, after four months in Russia, stated over his -signature that the Soviet government had cooperated in aiding the -Allies, and that he believed that _intervention in cooperation with -the Soviet government was feasible as late as the fifth of May, 1918_? - - -No spokesman for the administration, or anyone else, ever answered or -attempted to answer this question. - -After Brest-Litovsk, it was generally believed that the ambitions of -Germany in Russia were: - - -1. To recruit her war wasted divisions from the great number of -Austrian and German prisoners in Russia. - -2. To exploit the great natural resources of the Ukraine, Courland, -Lithuania and Estonia. - -3. To align on her eastern frontier buffer states from Finland to -the Caucasus with Persia as the last link in the chain. - -4. To seize great stores of war munitions at Archangel and -Vladivostok. - - -There was also some credence in the rumor that Germany sought to -establish submarine bases at Murmansk and Petchenga in Finland. - -Murmansk, on the Kola Peninsula, is the only port of North Russia not -closed for nearly half the year. During the months of winter, from -December until the middle of June, Archangel, Kem, Onega and -Kandalaksh on the White Sea are sealed by effective barriers of ice, -and even Petrograd, several hundred miles further south on the -Baltic, is closed until late in April. But the Cape current of the -Gulf Stream swings around the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula, -and at Murmansk there is an excellent natural harbor, which is always -open, with thirty-two feet of water in shore, and a high coast line, -giving splendid protection against storm. From this valuable ice -free port, the Murman railway extends three hundred miles to Kem and -continues through Petrozavodsk on the west shore of Lake Onega, six -hundred miles further to Petrograd. - -The completion of this, the most northern railroad, is a triumph of -imagination and courage and invincible resolution. The Russian -engineer, Goriatchkovshy, inspired by the necessity of his country -having a means of inlet for munitions and supplies during the war -(for the Trans-Siberian railway could carry only about one-seventh of -such supplies), laid the tracks over seemingly bottomless tundra and -conquered in the face of most disheartening discouragements. - -A great number of German prisoners and one hundred thousand Russian -laborers worked to complete the heroic enterprise. Experts predicted -that with the melting of the ice in spring, the tracks would -disappear in the marshes, but Goriatchkovshy had reckoned with the -elements. The Murman railway is operating today. It has a hauling -capacity of thirty-five hundred tons a day, the maximum handling -facilities of Murmansk port, and many a lonely soldier, snowbound in -North Russia, during the tragic winter of 1919, has the Murman -railway and its creator, Goriatchkovshy, to thank for the messages -from far off America, that came to Murmansk and were brought to -Archangel by Obozerskaya on the Vologda railway, and then relayed by -droshky and the faithful Russian pony to a solitary sentinel post -somewhere in the great white reaches of the interior. - -Very close to the Murman road is Finland, which, because of its -remoteness from the Russian capital, had always exercised a limited -autonomy, and following the Kerensky Revolution of March, 1917, -announced by the action of the Finnish Diet, its complete -independence. - -A civil war between Red Guards and White Guards for the control of -the government followed. It was no secret that from the beginning of -the European war the sympathies of the Finns were with Germany, and -now at the outbreak of this internal conflict in Finland, Germany -aligned with the White Guards against the revolutionary Reds who were -supported by the Bolsheviks. - -At the beginning of April, 1918, three regiments of German rifles, -two batteries and three battalions of Jagers, under General von der -Goltz, landed at Hanko, and, cooperating with the White Finns, -suppressed the revolutionists, took possession of the port Viborg and -were in control of railway communication to Petrograd. But this -small expeditionary force never left the southern part of Finland, -and in August, when every German was needed in France, the greater -part of it left for the Western Front. - -The campaign in Finland had no effect on the course of the war. Its -significance was unduly magnified by both sides. - -It was a firm conviction in Allied Councils that the Germans had -immense forces in Finland, while the German Imperial Staff thought -that the insignificant hundreds that the British landed at Murmansk -in April, almost at the same time that the Germans entered the south -of Finland, were in large numbers, perhaps several Divisions. - -Thus there existed a blindman's buff in Finland; both Commands in -startling ignorance of enemy salient facts, which is often the case -in the game of war where "uncertainty is the essence"; each supposed -the other was actively engaged in "recreating an Eastern Front," -which, in concrete application, meant the recruiting of hundreds of -thousands of Russians to press on from the East and fill in the -war-wasted gaping ranks of Germany or the Allies. - -To effect this object and gain access to the interior of Russia, the -Murman railway, therefore, assumed a momentous significance; but in -truth the "Eastern Front" remained a figment of the military -imagination. Russia had poured out the life blood of her sons in the -Allied defense till she staggered weak and exhausted, so spent that -she swayed in a moral lethargy from which nothing on earth could -arouse her, and those Russian soldiers who survived returned to their -villages or else were conscripted for the Red army by the amazingly -effective methods of Trotsky. - -Still, in the spring of the year 1918, the situation in Finland -appeared so fraught with grave potentialities of decisive -consequence, that on 27th May, the Allied military attaches of Italy, -France, England and the United States met at Moscow and unanimously -agreed that these nations should intervene in the affairs of Russia. - -Shortly after this, the Supreme War Council at Versailles decided in -favor of intervention in the northern Russian ports, and the United -States gave its consent. - -Brigadier General F. C. Poole had been in Petrograd in command of the -technical war mission of the British in Russia. Thoroughly familiar -with Russian character and Russian conditions, he was chosen to -command the Northern Expedition. - -The advance party of the Americans landed in Archangel on 3rd August, -1918. On the same day, this statement was cabled to the Russian -Ambassador from the State Department at Washington: - - -In the judgment of the government of the United States, a judgment -arrived at after repeated and very searching considerations of the -whole situation, military intervention in Russia would be more likely -to add to the present sad confusion there than to cure it, and would -confuse rather than help her out of her distresses, as the government -of the United States sees the present circumstances, therefore -military action is admissible in Russia now only to render such -protection and help as is possible to the Czecho-Slovaks against the -armed Austrian and German prisoners who are attacking them, and to -steady any efforts at self-government or self-defense in which -Russians themselves may be willing to accept assistance. Whether -from Vladivostok or from Murmansk and Archangel, the _only present -object for which American troops will be employed will be to guard -military stores_ which may be subsequently needed by Russian forces, -and to render such aid as may be acceptable to the Russians in the -organization of their own defense. - - -The importance of guarding the Arctic ports from the Germans passed -with the signing of the Armistice, but armed intervention continued, -and the most sanguinary battles in North Russia were fought in the -dark winter months that followed. - -When the last battalion set sail from Archangel, not a soldier knew, -no, not even vaguely, why he had fought or why he was going now, and -why his comrades were left behind--so many of them beneath the wooden -crosses. The little churchyards and the white churches and the -whiter snow! Life will always be a crazy thing to the soldier of -North Russia; the color and the taste of living have gone from the -soldier of North Russia; and the glory of youth has forever gone from -him. - -It is a fearful thing to contemplate the deliberate taking of a life. -All consciousness recoils at the dreadful, irretrievable consequences -of murder; yet when nations engage in extensive killing, there is no -malice in the act on the part of individuals. Killing then has an -impersonal character and becomes an heroic contemplation. - -In Western trenches, the enemy was called "Jerry" in a spirit of -grotesque comradery and sportsmanship, and the finest soldiers had -little hatred in their hearts for those across the twisted, shell -gashed acres, who sought to maim and kill them, but with no malice -aforethought. - -The mildest men, and men of highest culture and intelligence, -recently made a profession of killing, and could practice their newly -found profession with keen, cold, ghoulish precision and the -comprehensive analysis of trained minds. War is not murder, and the -business of killing loses its infamy and much of its obscenity by the -united impulse of millions striving with selfless purpose, pure -devotion and heroic sacrifice for a nation's goal. War shears from a -people much that is gross in nature, as the merciless test of war -exposes naked, virtues and weaknesses alike. But the American war -with Russia had no idealism. It was not a war at all. It was a -free-booter's excursion, depraved and lawless. A felonious -undertaking, for it had not the sanction of the American people. - -During the winter of 1919, American soldiers, in the uniform of their -country, killed Russians and were killed by Russians, yet the -Congress of the United States never declared war upon Russia. Our -war was with Germany, but no German prisoners were ever taken in this -lawless conflict of North Russia, nor, among the bodies of the enemy -killed, was there ever found any evidence that Germans fought in -their ranks or sat in the councils of their Command. And in the -conduct of the whole campaign there was no visible sign of connection -between the Bolsheviks and the Central Powers. - -The war was with the Bolsheviki, the existing Government of Russia, -and a few weeks after the arrival of American troops in Archangel, -Tchitcherine, Soviet Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, handed a note -to Mr. Christiansen, Norwegian diplomatic attache, which was -delivered to President Wilson, in which the Bolsheviks offered to -conclude an armistice upon the removal of American troops from -Murmansk, Archangel and Siberia. - -This note was ignored. The Soviets had no recognition as the -government of Russia, and there was no "war" in Archangel or Murmansk -or Siberia. - -No war, but in the province of Archangel, on six scattered -battlefronts, American soldiers, under British command, were -"standing to" behind snow trenches and improvised barricades, while -soldiers of the Soviet cause crashed Pom Pom projectiles at them, and -shook them with high explosive and shrapnel, blasted them with -machine guns, and sniped at any reckless head that showed from cover. - -The objects of the Expedition, as defined in a pamphlet of -information given out by British General Headquarters, in the early -days of the campaign, were: - - -1. To form a military barrier inside which the Russians could -reorganize themselves to drive out the German invader. - -2. To assist the Russians to reorganize their army by instruction, -supervision and example on more reasonable principles than the old -regime autocratic discipline. - -3. To reorganize the food supplies, making up the deficiencies from -Allied countries. To obtain for export the surplus supplies of -goods, such as flax, timber, etc. To fill store ships bringing food, -"thus maintaining the economical shipping policy." - - -The Bolshevik government is entirely in the hands of the Germans, who -have backed this party against all others in Russia owing to the -simplicity of maintaining anarchy in a totally disorganized country. -Therefore, we are definitely opposed to the Bolshevik-cum-German -party. In regard to other parties, we express no criticism and will -accept them as we find them, provided they are for Russia, and -therefore "out for the Boche." Briefly, we do not meddle in internal -affairs. It must be realized that we are not invaders, but guests, -and that we have not any intention of attempting to occupy any -Russian territory. - - -Later, this proclamation was issued to the troops by the military -authorities: - - -Proclamation: There seems to be among the troops a very indistinct -idea of what we are fighting for here in North Russia. This can be -explained in a few words. We are up against Bolshevism, which means -anarchy pure and simple. Look at Russia at the present moment. The -power is in the hands of a few men, mostly Jews, who have succeeded -in bringing the country to such a state that order is non-existent. -Bolshevism has grown upon the uneducated masses to such an extent -that Russia is disintegrated and helpless, and therefore we have come -to help her get rid of the disease that is eating her up. We are not -here to conquer Russia, but we want to help her and see her a great -power. When order is restored here, we shall clear out, but only -when we have attained our object, and that is the restoration of -Russia. - - -At about the same time that this proclamation was spread among -British soldiers in Russia, the Inter-Allied Labor Conference met in -London and sent an expression "of deepest sympathy to the labor and -socialist organizations of Russia, which having destroyed their own -imperialism, continue an unremitting struggle against German -Imperialism." - -Still later, there was broadcasted among the soldiers, headed "Honour -Forbids," an exposition of the campaign by Lord Milner, British -Secretary of State for War, who defined its objects: - - -1. To save the Czecho-Slovaks. Several thousand of which under -command of General Gaida were believed to be strung along the -Siberian railway from Pensa to Vladivostok. - -2. To prevent the Germans from exploiting the resources of -Southeastern Russia. - -3. To prevent the northern ports of European Russia from becoming -bases for German submarines. - - -When these objects were accomplished, the British statesman declared -that to leave Russia to the unspeakable horrors of the Bolshevik rule -would be an abominable betrayal of that country, and contrary to -every British instinct of honor and humanity. - -During the winter months of 1919, when Senator Johnson was demanding -in the United States Senate the reasons for the American war with -Russia, Senator Swanson, of Virginia, of the Foreign Relations -Committee, and one of the spokesmen of the administration replied -that American troops were needed to protect great stores of Allied -ammunition at Archangel, and to hold the port until terms of peace -were signed with Germany. That Germany wanted Archangel to establish -a submarine base there, and it would be cowardly to forsake Russia. - -During the peace negotiations at a meeting of the Council of Ten at -Quai D'Orsay, on 21st January, 1919, President Wilson, in discussing -the Russian problem, stated that by opposing Bolshevism with arms the -Allies were serving the cause of Bolshevism, making it possible for -the Bolsheviks to argue that imperialistic, capitalistic governments -were seeking to give the land back to the landlords and favor the -ends of the monarchists. The allegation that the Allies were against -the people and wanted to control their affairs provided the argument -which enabled them to raise armies. If, on the other hand, the -Allies could swallow their pride and the natural repulsion which they -felt for the Bolsheviks, and see the representatives of all organized -groups in one place, the President thought it would bring about a -marked reaction against Bolshevism. - -Mr. Lloyd George, earlier in the discussion, said that _the mere idea -of crushing Bolshevism by a military force was pure madness_. Even -admitting that it could be done, who would occupy Russia? If he -proposed to send a thousand British troops to Russia for that -purpose, the armies would mutiny. - -It was agreed by the Council of Ten, then Four, that President Wilson -should draft a proclamation inviting all organized parties in Russia -to attend a meeting in order to discuss with the representatives of -the Allied and Associated Great Powers the means of restoring order -and peace in Russia. Participation should be conditional on a -cessation of hostilities. This meeting was to take place on -Prinkipos Island in the Sea of Marmora. - -The President issued the proclamation, but the French were opposed to -it and communicated with the Ukrainians and the other anti-Soviet -groups in Russia, to whom, as well as to the Bolsheviks, the proposal -was addressed, telling them that if they refused to consider the -proposal, the French would support them and continue to support them, -and not allow the Allies, if they could prevent it, to make peace -with the Russian Soviet government. The time set for the gathering -at Prinkipos was on 15th February, 1919, but no party acted in a -definite way and it never took place. - -At the time of the Bolshevik revolution, the national debt of Russia -was 700,000,000,000 of rubles. The interest and sinking fund charge -was 4,000,000,000 of rubles annually. There was a deficit in the -annual budget of one milliard. Of this total debt, _15,500,000,000 -of rubles were owing to France_, and France felt the prospective loss -far more than any of the other creditor nations, for the French -government had encouraged the purchase of rubles by her nationals, -and these now nearly worthless securities were held by the peasants -from Artois to Gascony. - -[Illustration: The Murman and Vologda railways] - -Like the Prinkipos proposal, nothing came of a Soviet proposal for -peace which was brought to the Paris Peace Conference by an emissary -dispatched by the American commissioners to obtain from the -Bolsheviks a statement of the terms upon which they were ready to -stop fighting. This was in February, after the desperate situation -of the troops near Archangel was brought to the attention of the -Conference by the Allied Military commanders. These Soviet peace -terms were approved by Colonel House at Paris, who referred them to -the President, "but the President said he had a one track mind and -was occupied with Germany at the time, and could not think about -Russia, and that he left the Russian matter all to Colonel House." - -The sessions at Versailles adjourned without day [delay?]. If we -were at war with Russia in 1919, we are still at war with her. Peace -was never made with Russia; and peace never will be made in the -hearts of those plain people in the Vaga and Dvina villages, who saw -their pitifully meager possessions confiscated in the cause of -"friendly intervention," their lowly homes set ablaze and themselves -turned adrift to find shelter in the cheerless snows. - -Friendly intervention? All too vividly comes to mind a picture -during the Allied occupation of Archangel Province while the -statesmen at Paris pondered and deliberated in a futile attempt to -find dignified escapement from this shameful illegitimate little war. -Military necessity demanded that another village far up the Dvina be -destroyed. As the soldiers, with no keen appetite for the heartless -job, cast the peasants out of the homes where they had lived their -uncouth, but not unhappy lives, the torch was set to their houses, -and the first snow floated down from a dark, foreboding sky, dread -announcer of the cruel Arctic winter. Within these crude, log walls, -now flaming fire, had they lived, these gentle folk, as their fathers -had lived before them, simple, unsophisticated lives, felicitously -unmindful of petty vanities and corroding ambitions. Who can say -theirs was not the course of profoundest wisdom? For had they not -known in these humble homes those candid pleasures, the only genuine -ones, those elemental joys, springing like hope and the unreasoning -urge of life from the heart of humanity, oblivious of all artificial -environment? Here in these mean abodes had they tasted the ecstasy -of love, known the full poignancy of sorrow, wept in natural grief -and laughed loud with boisterous, unrestrained, rustic laughter. In -a corner hung the little ikon, where the lamp burned on holidays, and -they worshipped their God with a devotion so genuine, so deep and -reverent, that only a fool could scoff. - -Outside now, some of the women ran about, aimlessly, like stampeded -sheep; others sat upon hand fashioned crates, wherein they had -hastily flung their most cherished treasures, and abandoned -themselves to a paroxysm of weeping despair; while the children -shrieked stridently, victims of all the visionary horrors that only -childhood can conjure. - -Most of the men looked on in spellbound silence, with a dumb, wounded -look in their eyes. Poor moujiks! They did not understand, but they -made no complaint. _Nitchevoo_, fate had decreed that they should -suffer this burden. - -Why had we come and why did we remain, invading Russia and destroying -Russian homes? The American consul at Archangel sent us the -Thanksgiving Day message of our President, rejoicing in the -Armistice, and the end of the carnage of war. But the consul -announced that we would remain steadfast to our task until the end. -The end! What was the end? - -The British General Finlayson of Dvina Force said: "There will be no -faltering in our purpose to remove the stain of Bolshevism from -Russia and civilization." Was this, then, our purpose through the -dismal night of winter time, when we burned Russian homes and shot -Russian people? And was this still our purpose when we quit in June -with Bolshevism strengthened by our coming, and more than ever before -the government of Russia? - -The only stain was the stain of dishonor we left in our retreating -path. But a deep, red, burning stain of shame is on the foreheads of -those men who sit on cushioned seats in the high places, chart armed -alliances in obscure international commitments, and, with careless -gesture of their cigar, send other men to some remote forsaken -quarter of earth, where there is misery and suffering, and hope dies, -and the heart withers in cold, black days. - -Now it was of small concern to Ivan whether the Allies or the -Bolsheviks won this strange war of North Russia. What he heard was -some vagary of "friendly intervention"; of bringing peace and order -to his distracted country. What he saw was his village a torn battle -ground of two contending armies, while the one that forced itself -upon him, requisitioned his shaggy pony, took whatever it pleased to -take, and burned the roof over his head. - -He asked so little of life, this gentle moujik, with his boots and -his shabby tunic, and his mild, bearded face, only to be left alone. -In peace to follow his quiet ways, an unhurrying, unworrying disciple -of the philosophy of _nitchevoo_. - - - - -THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN - - -"I consider it my duty to inform you in plain language that unless -considerable reinforcements are sent before the end of October, the -military situation both at Archangel and the Murman Peninsula will, -in my opinion, become very serious." - -ADMIRAL KEMP, in command of British warships at Murmansk, to the -Admiralty, 26th August, 1918. - - -IV - -THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN - -The Province of Archangel stretches from the Norwegian frontier -across the Arctic Ocean east of the Ural Mountains of Siberia. It -includes the Kola Peninsula, which lies well north of the Arctic -Circle, and the further-most point south is below sixty-two degrees -latitude. The total area is six times that of the average American -state. - -It is a poverty distressed and cheerless, destitute region, which, -during the reign of the Romanoffs, like Siberia, was often a place of -exile and asylum for political dissidents. War accentuated the -poverty of the province, and the only remanent sign of former -industry is at the port of Archangel, where large timber mills, owned -mostly by British capital, line both sides of the harbor. - -The port was founded by Ivan the Terrible during the Sixteenth -Century, and ever since then has been a British trading post. At -Onega, Kem and Kamdalaksh on the White Sea, there is, or was, before -the war, some small traffic in timber products, furs and flax. But -this commerce is of small consequence. Prenatally, Archangel was -destined for pauperism, for it lies in the far north, where life is -poor and hard struggling, and there is little soft sunshine to woo -riches from the earth. Nor are treasures concealed beneath its sear -and barren surface. The curse of sterility taints the air, and it -was never written in the Divine Plan that man should dwell in this -fortuneless, forsaken region. He was banished there, or driven by -the pitiless pursuit of his own misdeeds. For nearly half of the -year, the White Sea is an impenetrable ice barrier, and then -communication with the world beyond can be had only through the -Murman railway to the far north port of Murmansk. - -In the city, the East comes abruptly face to face with the West. The -exotic colors of the great domed cathedral were brought from ancient -Byzantium, when the Greek church was made the faith of his country by -Vladamir; and bearded, sad-faced priests, with their black robes, -glide through the streets like nether spirits, and the mysticism of -the ancient, mystic East. - -This is the native atmosphere of Archangel, and it will not be in a -generation that the city will, without consciousness, take on the -soft adornments and the practical utilities of Occidental -civilization. The glaring electric lights, the incongruous, modern -buildings and the noisy tramway that clangs down the street--these do -not belong to Archangel. They are a profane encroachment on her -ageless, dreaming tranquillity and eternal repose; her enigmatical, -perhaps profound philosophy of _nitchevoo_. - -Fundamentally, Archangel is a primitive center of primitive beings. -Instinctively, it is a dirty hole. Hopelessly, it is a filthy place, -where noxious stenches greet the nose and modern sanitation is -unknown. - -In the days of peace, there were perhaps three hundred fifty thousand -people in the province, and sixty thousand of them dwelt in -Archangel. The only other cities of importance are Pinega, with -three thousand persons, some one hundred miles to the east, and -Shenkurst, two hundred miles south on the Vaga River, where there -were four thousand. But as a whole, the inhabitants are moujiks, -dwelling in little villages of two or three hundred log huts, that in -structure and design bear close resemblance to the cabins of our -frontier civilization. - -About these villages, the peasants have cleared the forest for a few -hundred yards, and in the brief, hot months of the midnight sun, they -raise meager crops of wheat and flax and potatoes. When winter -comes, they are continually indoors, gathered about great ovens of -fireplaces, and long through the dismal, cold, black days they sit -and dream, or merely sit. They are unsophisticated folk, incredibly -ignorant, but gentle, quiet mannered, sweet natured souls, despite a -harsh, uncouth life; and very responsive to kind treatment. - -Cholera visits them with recurrent, devastating plagues, and takes -fearful toll, for they live in the midst of nauseating squalor, with -total disregard to sanitation, and drink from surface wells, that in -the sudden spring are reservoirs of sewage and all manner of obscene -refuse. - -All along the rivers and roads of the interior, at intervals of five -to ten miles, are strung these moujik villages. - -There is, among these people, no agriculture as we practice it in our -country, with a set of prosperous looking farm buildings for the -cultivation of two hundred and five hundred broad, fertile, American -acres. In Russia, I never saw more than five hundred cleared acres -for an entire village. - -Yet, from these small, unfecund patches, the peasants, somehow, wrung -the means of sustaining life, and those who toiled in the fields -divided the scanty harvest with the aged and the weak, and the -children who were fatherless: so that there was no mendicancy among -the moujiks, and no affluence either. - -There are two railways in Archangel Province, the Murman road, which -begins at Murmansk on the Arctic Ocean, extends south to Kem through -Petrozavodsk, and forms a juncture fifty miles east of Petrograd with -the Trans-Siberian, nine hundred miles from the point of beginning; -and the Archangel-Vologda railway, which reaches from Archangel four -hundred miles south to Vologda, where the Siberian road comes in from -Viatka on the east and leads to Petrograd. Both railways have the -standard five feet gauge single track. During the winter of 1919, -the Murman road, with a theoretical capacity of thirty-five hundred -tons, had an actual hauling capacity of only five hundred tons a day, -and its rail connections were in very poor condition and badly in -need of repair. The Vologda road had a single track, but with -sidings every five miles. Both roads had obsolete rolling stock, -rickety, tumbled down cars and wood-burning locomotives of a type -used in our country fifty years ago. - -During the war with Russia, the Allies, with a medley force of -friendly Russians, British, Canadians, French, a battalion of -Serbians and a battalion of Italians, held the Murman railway as far -south as sixty miles beyond Soroka, which is a little south of -Archangel and two hundred miles to the east. - -There were no Americans on this Murman railway front, except two -companies of railway transportation troops, which reached Russia in -April and were the last to leave in July, 1919. - -[Illustration: Patrols with webfoot snowshoes went forth on the snow] - -Beyond the Murman and the Vologda railways, the only other highway to -the interior is the Dvina, a dirty colored, broad spreading river, -which from its beginning, as the Witchega, at the base of the Timan -Range in Vologda province, follows a swift flowing course one -thousand miles northwest to the sea at Archangel. - -Sometimes, when its banks are low and it sprawls out in play, its -waters glide noiselessly with a look of gentleness and peace, and the -Dvina puts one in mind of our Mississippi; but usually its cold -depths are freighted with grave mystery and melancholy foreboding, -and then it is the spirit of Russia, hurrying by forested shores and -high, desolate bluffs, where a mill, near a huddle of soiled log -houses, flaps its clumsy, wooden wings, and a white church, with -fantastic minaret, rears aloof, chaste and austere, in the midst of -squalor. - -During the period of navigable water, in the days of peace, the Dvina -was plied by steamers and barges and watercraft of every description, -but the freeze commences in early November, and then, until the last -days of May, its waters have become a bed of thick ice. - -Then, except by the Vologda railway, the only method of -transportation between Archangel and the interior is by sledges, -drawn over the snow by little shaggy ponies that can perform miracles -of labor and seem impervious to the terrible, cold winds. These -ponies are the embodiment of the moujik temperament, docile and mild -mannered, very patient and long suffering, and never resentful of the -most severe chastisement. - -The whole province is a plain of low, gentle slopes, covered with -small fir trees and several varieties of dwarfed pine. A long, -dormant season and the severity of winter preclude any luxuriant, -ligneous growth. Even the underbrush is sparse and thinly scattered, -and commercially, about the only value of the Archangel forests is -for the manufacture of pulp. The bottom of this spindly pine woods -is covered with a tundra. Sometimes, there are patches of waist deep -water, and in other places, a morass that seems bottomless. - -Such is the character of all the North Russian forests. The natives -tell stories of men, unfamiliar with the country, who have lost their -way and floundered in these treacherous marshes until they passed -from sight without a sign of their passage. - -During the rains of fall, and when summer bursts upon winter, in -June, is the season of _rasputitsa_. The wagon roads then are -sloughs of deep mire, and little travel is attempted. The first snow -falls in November and gradually mounts, until in January it has a -uniform height of three feet, except in the open places where there -are great drifts much higher. No thaw comes until late February, and -so moving for any distance on foot is impossible without skis or -snowshoes. Cold follows the snow, gradually increasing in intensity -until there are January days of forty-five and fifty degrees below -zero Fahrenheit. - -When the wind is high and the air filled with great, white blasts, -this cold of Russia presses on the diaphragm like a ponderous weight -and breathing becomes a gasping effort. In the depth of winter, the -sun is banished, and during the latter part of December, only a few -hours of pale, anemic glimmering separates the black Arctic night; a -shadowy gloaming, like shortlived, desert twilight. - -Splendid, fighting men were made weak cowards by the cumulative -depression of the unbroken, Russian night and its crushing influence -on the spirit; for the severest battles of the campaign were fought -during the cold, black months of winter time. - -Preparations for opening hostilities in the war with Russia were made -in April, 1918. The Allied Supreme War Council had been alert to the -presence of German troops in Finland and their fanciful menace to the -Murman railway; and in the quiet harbor of Murmansk, British and -French battleships had been idling purposelessly since early spring. -In April, one hundred fifty Royal Marines landed from the British -ships and were followed in a few weeks by four hundred more, also a -landing party of French sailors. On 10th June, the United States -warship, _Olympia_, appeared at Murmansk, and one hundred American -bluejackets disembarked. These Allied forces penetrated down the -Murman railway to Klandalaksh, some two hundred fifty miles south, -and, in addition to holding Murmansk, seized the port of Petchenga on -the coast of Finland. - -Then the scene of intervention shifted southward, and on the 1st -August, General Poole, with a party of five hundred fifty French, -British and a few American marines, escorted by a British cruiser, a -French cruiser and a trawler fleet, attacked Archangel, which, after -a bombardment, was surrendered next day by the weak Bolshevik rear -guard. - -The main body of the enemy had carried with them far up the river to -Kotlas and down the railway to Vologda, rations, rifles, guns and -ammunitions, American manufactured. Likewise, they had seized and -carried off nearly all available means of transportation; and when -the Allied troops examined the vast storehouses in the harbor and at -Bakaritza, they found that the Bolsheviks deliberately, -systematically and with great thoroughness had stripped the shelves -of every conceivable thing of value. If the object of the Archangel -Expedition was to safeguard the vast munitions and stores there, it -had failed signally and at the outset. - -Still the enemy had fled, for, by some occult form of necromancy the -Bolsheviki had now become "the enemy," and it is a major premise of -the military that a fleeing enemy must always be followed up. Small -heed that little was known of the strength or disposition of the -retiring army. They had fled. Two forces were immediately -dispatched in pursuit, up the river and down the railway; and, to -augment the strength of the invaders, new troops were sent from -Europe. - -The 339th American Infantry arrived at Archangel on 4th September, -1918. It was composed of Wisconsin and Michigan men, mostly the -latter; men from our farms and from our cities, who had been drafted -for war against Germany. - -Like most of our civilian soldiers, they had no exuberant ecstasy for -the grim business ahead, but still possessed a remarkable -appreciation of the war and its deep significant issues. And they -had a quiet courage that was good to see, and a quiet resolution -shorn of sentimental heroics to give their lives for their country if -the sacrifice was necessary. Not one of them was deeply agitated by -the emotion of "Making the world safe for Democracy," which is the -desiccated war cry of the academician and never could reach the heart -depths of any people; but they did feel in some vague, yet definite -way, that a soulless military system, which had trampled brutal, -iron-clad boots through the gentle fields of Belgium, might some day -carry its hateful spate to the Michigan village or green-hilled -Wisconsin farm, where an old lady with spectacles sat behind the -window of a white cottage, and near lilac bushes growing fragrant in -the lane a wholesome faced girl waited. - -These soldiers of Russia were of the same type as our men who fought -in France--no better and no worse; another way of saying that they -were the best soldiers in the world. They were all drawn from the -Eighty-fifth Division of the National Army, and came from all the -races and shades and grades and trades of our many colored American -society. - -Many of them had had only a few weeks of crowded military training, -and were still civilians in physique and bearing. Most important of -all, they were civilian in mental constitution. - -With the 339th Infantry, came the 337th Field Hospital Company, the -337th Ambulance Company, and the 310th Engineers, a splendid, -upstanding, competent battalion, that in the approaching ordeal -upheld the best in our American traditions, showed extraordinary -power of adaptitude, extraordinary resourcefulness, no matter the -difficulties, were ever cheerful and undaunted, and altogether -splendid. - -Roughly, the entire force of the Americans aggregated forty-five -hundred men. It was augmented about a month later by five hundred -replacements, snatched here and there from the infantry companies of -the Eighty-fifth Division in France. - -That September day the Americans landed at Archangel, and the fagged -engines of the troop ships _Somali_, _Tydeus_, and _Nagoya_ came to -rest, those who looked from the decks breathed in the oppressive air -a haunting presentiment of approaching evil. - -Halfway from camp at Stoney Castle, England, five hundred of the -little company had been stricken with the dreaded Spanish influenza. -Eight days out at sea, all medical supplies were exhausted, and -conditions became so congested in the ships' quarters that the sick, -running high fever, were compelled to lie in the hold or on deck -exposed to the chill winds. - -At Archangel, there was little improvement. Soldiers were placed in -old barracks, there they lay on pine boards. They had insufficient -bedding, and for warmth had to keep on their clothing and boots. In -this way many died and many more were enfeebled for many months, but -"stuck it" with their companions and went to the front. - -Had the Fates placed a curse on the Expedition from the beginning? - -There was an air of inscrutable haunting sorrow in the lowering -skies, glinted limpid with a sinister, bronzed light from a sun that -flamed to crimson death among the dark trees over the bay. - -Across the harbor projected the tiny red roofs of the city, the -venerable cathedral, ghostly with great white dome, grotesque -fantastic spires and minarets, garish in the fading light with -startling pigments of green and gold. A mournful stillness brooded -over a scene weird and alien to the men from far off Michigan and -Wisconsin, who had a feeling that they had left behind forever the -stage of tedious factory days and prosy farm life, and moved to -another sphere, shrouded in mystery, filled with unparalleled, dread -adventure. - -Besides the American regiment, there was a British brigade of -infantry nearly the same strength as the Americans, in the main -composed of Companies of Royal Scots, most of them catalogued by the -War Office as Category B2 men; unqualified for the arduous, -exhausting tasks of an active field campaign, but fit enough to -safeguard stores in Archangel, "light garrison duty." - -Many wore the bronze wound stripe, and many had two and even three of -these honorary decorations. These war-tired soldiers, wearied to the -point of cruel exhaustion, had given freely and without stint of -their body on the Western battlefields for King and Country; but the -great Empire was backed to the wall and fighting for her life in an -insatiable conflict, she exacted the last draining dregs of their -gasping strength. That these "crocked" Category B men performed -prodigies of fortitude and miracles of endurance, and acted deeds of -stirring, spiritual courage in this war of the Far North is a -permanent tribute to a manhood that England breeds, and imperishable -glory to British arms. - -The French sent eight hundred and forty-nine men and twenty-two -officers, a battalion of the 21st Colonial Infantry, two machine gun -sections and two sections of seventy-five millimetre artillery. - -On the railway front, there was an armored train, with one eighteen -pounder, one seventy-seven millimetre and one hundred fifty-five -millimetre Russian naval howitzer. Then came early in the campaign -the Sixteenth Brigade Canadian Field Artillery consisting of the 67th -and 68th Batteries, each with six eighteen pounders and tough gunners -seasoned and scarred by four years of barrages and bombardments in -France, rather keen for the adventure of North Russia while the -fighting was on, and thoroughly "fed up" when there was a lull in the -excitement. - -These Canadians, in peace, had probably been kindly disposed farm -folk, gathering the rich bronzed harvests of Saskatchewan fields. - -But four years of war had wrought a transfiguration of many things -and no longer did life have its exalted value of peace times. No, -life was a very cheap affair, but, cheap as it was, its taking often -made exhilarating sport. At the end of a battle these quiet -Saskatchewan swains passed among the enemy dead like ghoulish things, -stripping bodies of everything valuable, and adorning themselves with -enemy boots and picturesque high fur hats, with abounding glee, like -school boys on a hilarious holiday. - -Yet there was nothing debased or vicious about these Canadians. They -were undeliberate, unpremeditated murderers, who had learned well the -nice lessons of war and looked upon killing as the climax of a day's -adventure, a welcomed break in the tedium of the dull military -routine. Generous hearted, hardy, whole-souled murderers; I wonder -how they have returned to the prosy days of peace, where courage -counts for little, and men are judged not by the searching rules of -war, but by the superficial standards of secure being; and living is -soft and slow, an affair of rounding chores, with few stirring -moments to illumine the dull routine of most of us. - -At the outset, the Canadians and a few inaccurate Russians were our -only artillery. Two months after the commencement of the campaign, -two Four Point Five howitzers, with British personnel, joined the -Allied Forces, and there were several airplanes, considered obsolete -for use in France, but good enough for the Arctic sideshow. - -The air pilots were daring and courageous men, but, besides being -hopelessly handicapped by defective machines, they complained that -the forests of North Russia made definite discernment of the ground a -very difficult thing. The facts are that they dropped several bombs -on our own lines, and twice with tragic disaster. There was never -any apparent reason to believe that the airplanes caused the enemy -even passing uneasiness, but we were always agitated as their -menacing drone approached, always grateful when they trailed off to -distant skies. - -The complete combat command of the Commanding General of the Allied -North Russian Expedition at the outset of the campaign was then: - - One regiment of American Infantry, - One brigade of British Infantry, - One battalion of French Infantry, - Two sections of French Seventy-Fives, - Two sections of French machine gunners, - One brigade (487 men) Canadian Field Artillery, - One armored train, - One 155 millimetre and - One 77 millimetre Russian howitzers. - - -There were a few groups of Russian Infantry with the Allied troops, -but at the outset these did not number over three hundred men. In -all, there were approximately nine thousand five hundred combat -troops. - -With this force, the Allied Commander proposed to engage in an -aggressive campaign, to drive the enemy before him and follow up -along the two main ways of ingress to the interior. Troops were at -once dispatched down the railway to penetrate as far as the city of -Vologda four hundred miles to the south, and other troops were sent -by tug and barge up the Dvina River, with Kotlas, three hundred miles -southeast, as their immediate objective. From Kotlas, there is a -branch railway leading two hundred fifty miles further south to the -Trans-Siberian at Viatka. - -When their missions were accomplished, the Railway Force at Vologda -would be nearly due east of the Dvina Force at Viatka, and distanced -four hundred miles across the Trans-Siberian railway. - -Beyond this stage, the Allied plan was somewhat hazy. It -contemplated rather vagrantly a fusion with the Czecho-slovaks along -the Siberian railway, after penetration south to this trunk line. - -A volunteer brigade of these adventurous soldiers who had been -Austro-Hungarian prisoners, but whose whole-souled sympathy was with -the Allies, organized in their native Bohemia and Moravia, and joined -General Broussiloff in the spring of 1917 to take part in the victory -of Zborow near Lemberg. Moving to the railway between Kiev and -Poltava in the Ukraine, the brigade recruited more Czech prisoners in -Russia until it had grown to the strength of two divisions. - -After the peace of Brest-Litovsk, this army corps pushed forward to -the middle Volga in the direction of Kazan and Samara intending to -reach Vladivostok and sail from there to join the Allied Command in -France. - -The Soviet authorities promised them safe convoy over the Siberian -railway, but instead, treacherously attacked at Irkutsk in Siberia on -26th May, 1918, and the Czechs then divided into two groups, one -determined to fight through to Vladivostok, the other under General -Gaida bent upon joining the Allied invasion from Archangel. - -Although this last aim was not realized (and would have profited -little if it had been) the Czechs performed a service of inestimable -consequence to the Allies by acting in conjunction with the -Anti-Bolshevik Siberian troops, and with the small Allied Eastern -Expedition of Great Britain, Japan and the United States, in holding -the Trans-Siberian open from Omsk to the coast, so preventing the -transportation of many thousands of German prisoners back to Germany. -When the Archangel fiasco was brought to a close they withdrew to -their own country in October, 1919. And, reviewing the whole -unproductive Russian effort in retrospect, the Czechs came closest -towards a realization of the mythical "Eastern Front," for, while -they could not engage in aggressive action, they did much by negative -methods, denying Germany great numbers of returning soldiers that -might have been welded into a considerable effective combat force for -the Western theatres of war had they been free to enter their country -from the Eastern frontier. - -The hopelessness of a junction between the Archangel Expedition and -the Czechs became certain at the beginning of the northern campaign, -and General Poole was advised by the British War Intelligence that -Gaida had been driven back in Samara five hundred miles from Viatka -and could advance no farther before the commencement of winter. - -Still the optimistic Allied Staff clung tenaciously to the belief -that all the Anti-Bolshevik Russians could be joined, the Czechs, the -Cossacks that General Denekin had organized between the northern -Caucasus and the sea of Azov, and a group of loyal officers of the -Imperial Army with General Korniloff along the Don. It was within -the Allied range of possibilities that all these scattered groups -might join the British, French and Americans on the Siberian railway, -and after the Staff was thoroughly committed to an offensive -campaign, there arose the hope of cooperation from the friendly -Russian forces in Siberia. On 18th September, 1918, at Ufa, there -was a meeting of representatives from the Governments of Archangel, -Eastern and Western Siberia, Samara and Vologda, which purported to -form a Central government of all Russia, and to restore the -Constituent Assembly. - -On 25th October, this group moved to Omsk, created Admiral Kolchak -Military Dictator 18th November, and proposed to raise a strong armed -force to purge Russia of Bolshevism for all time. - -The Allied governments were quick to recognize this Omsk group as the -de facto government of Russia. - -It was hoped that the armies of Admiral Kolchak could get in -communication with the Allied Forces working down from the Arctic. - -This, then, was the culmination of the first stage of the campaign: -There was to be a junction of the Americans, French and British from -the North; Czecho-Slovaks, and the armies of Kolchak from the East; -Korniloff and Denekin from the South. Tens of thousands of patriotic -Russians were to join the colors of these armies, converging -somewhere on the Trans-Siberian, between Perm and Vologda; from -Vologda the way would be unopposed to Petrograd, and from Petrograd -the Allied-Russian legions would move on and reconstruct the Eastern -front, threatening Germany from the northeast! - -There was nothing lacking in the imagination of the plans of the -Allied High Command, whatever else might be said about them. - -The Northern Expedition with great combative esprit set forth -vigorously to traverse Archangel the whole length of the province by -river and railway with two "Columns" which were even to penetrate -well into Vologda Province. Starting from Archangel, the Dvina river -and the Vologda railway rapidly diverged east and west, so that at -the first point of contact with the enemy, the two main bodies of the -invader were seventy-five miles apart; and if their object, i.e., to -reach the Trans-Siberian had been realized, they would have been four -hundred miles apart on that railway. - -There was no wire communication between these Allied Railway and -River Forces, and of course liaison over the lateral terrain -impassable swamp in fall, and a field of deep floundering snow in -winter, was impossible. - -As the invasion developed, the two columns of necessity operated as -independent expeditions, with no attempt at establishing connection. - -To reach their joint objective, the Siberian railway, it was -necessary for the River Force to travel one hundred fifty more miles -than the Railway Force. Moreover ice was expected during the first -part of November, and if Kotlas was to be taken by the river, it was -necessary to advance the three hundred miles in scarcely six weeks -from the time of leaving Archangel. - -When forced to assume the defensive in the late fall, the Dvina -Column was nearly fifty miles in advance of the Railway front -position, and the Vaga Column, an intervening force that was found -necessary to prevent an enemy rearward movement on the river, was -fifty miles in advance of the Dvina Column. - -Lacking any effective communication between bodies of troops, the -military incursion was expected to penetrate an unknown alien -country, where there proved to be far more hostile sentiment than -friendly cooperation. - -There was no reconnaissance of the country; no physical inventory of -the lay of the land; no reliable military maps; no knowledge of the -paths through the swamp-bottomed forests; no information of the -roads. Many an early attack was lost because the frontal advance -failed to get support of the flanking party that became hopelessly -mired in the deep marshes and never got to the fight. - -The climatic conditions were a permanent obstacle to an offensive -campaign. When the snow came and the weather grew intensely cold, -even if we had possessed the necessary men, it would have been -madness to think of an offensive in the open. Then it was possible -only to dig in and hold on. - -Yet despite the intense sub-zero weather there was little trouble -with the field guns which during the most severe days recoiled and -ran up without any jar. Moreover, there was not so much suffering -from the cold as might be supposed. The Command thought that the -Siberian railway would be reached before the serious winter set in, -nevertheless the expedition was excellently well equipped for the -Arctic weather. Soldiers were issued long fur lined coats, fur hats -and had an abundance of other good warm clothing and plenty of -blankets. The men from Northern Wisconsin and the Michigan peninsula -did not mind greatly the severe winter days. There was some frost -bite from unavoidable exposure, and much terrible privation in the -defensive actions; but on the whole the Allied soldiers withstood the -cold as well as the Bolsheviks. - -The strength of the enemy was an unknown factor. So were his -positions and his dispositions. There were no supports, no reserves. -The base of the invading army in Russia was Archangel, a fortnight's -journey from the far-most front and nearly three thousand miles from -the main base in England; Archangel, in complete isolation during the -six months of winter. - -There were no reinforcements at Archangel ready to relieve the jaded -soldiers so far away, who had to continue doing double duty and -fighting against greatly superior numbers with no promise of relief. -More important than the objective fact was the thought of being thus -forsaken that froze the soldier's heart and numbed his brain and -never left him through the long blackness of the days. It was the -same feeling of palsied hopelessness that comes over the city bred -man who finds himself lost in the wilderness. The soldier felt he -was abandoned by his country, that he was forgotten and left to his -fate in the grisly plain of pitiless, white Russia. - -Then there was no diversion, no break in the gloomy, monotonous, -despairing hours; no relaxation from the ceaseless vigilance in the -guard against surprise attack; no respite from the constant threat of -annihilation. The drear, sorrow freighted clouds menaced death. -There was the message of Death across the bleak, endless, desolate -snows. Death haunted the shrouded, hopeless days, and in the shadow -of the encircling forests, Death waited. It was the most severe -strain to which human intelligence could be subjected. - -Many lessons were learned in the war, and none so clearly as the one -that human endurance cannot be taxed beyond capacity without a -resultant of diminishing military returns. - -In France it soon became a corollary, universally accepted by all the -Staffs, that men could not be subjected to the strain of continuing -horrors and uninterrupted drain of physical resources without a -pronounced lowering of fighting morale. It was calculated to a -nicety how long a soldier could endure mental shocks and suffer -hardships until his nervous system snapped and his distraught brain -could tolerate no more. - -These things were all weighed in the precise scales at the -laboratories of the war establishment and provision was made for -human limitations, so that there grew up three units in every combat -army. One of them attacking, or standing the brunt of enemy assault; -another in the supporting trenches, to be used in great emergency, -but most important of all to become accustomed to the terrifying -effect of the big guns; and a third that was far back, where there -was a warm bath and clean clothes, peace in the sky and the soft -grass still grew green, where men drank deep their little day of -life, and found oblivion from the animal filth and unspeakable -griefs, the awful hideousness of modern warfare. It came to be -recognized that reliefs of troops on the combat first lines were as -necessary as ammunition and ration supply. - -But there were few and in some cases there were no reliefs for -fighting men in North Russia, because there was no support unit from -which to draw reliefs, and no reserve unit to call forth from the -rear for those at the front. - -The Russian Expedition, if its object was to drive the Bolsheviks -clear of Archangel Province and south of the Siberian railway, -required for execution of this object an army corps with entire -component of artillery, and in this war with Russia, Great Britain -and France and the United States failed because of: - - -1. Inadequate forces in the Allied Command. - -This was not only true with respect to numbers, but also with respect -to armament and equipment. - -We had no artillery support. We were outgunned from the outset and -continued to have marked artillery inferiority throughout the -campaign. Time after time, the infantry, after gallant success, was -shelled out of position, while our own guns were silent because -outranged. The effect on the morale was most disastrous. - -On the River Front, there were three Allied gunboats which cooperated -effectively during the first days, but during the latter part of -October, when the fight began, these withdrew to Archangel in fear of -becoming caught by the ice which formed at the mouth of the Dvina, -and then moved slowly upstream against the strong current. - -It took a week for this ice barrier to travel one hundred miles -against the course of the river, so that the enemy had unhindered -opportunity to bring up his artillery mounted on watercraft, which he -did, and blasted our positions for two weeks after the Allied boats -had gone back to winter quarters. - -Nothing was more discouraging than this hopeless inferiority in long -range guns. Assaulting troops, no matter how spirited and -courageous, cannot hold their advance in the teeth of a bombardment -that scatters emplacements like chaff before the wind and shocks men -into a state of insensibility. The stunning effect of massive, high -explosives is more important than the casualties caused by direct -hits. Nerves are palsied, then fly from control under unremitting -blasting salvos. Fortifications are blown to atoms, and debris -thrown up like vomit in a deafening belch, a bolt of hottest hell; -while the earth quivers like a frightened living thing. And if -modern warfare has demonstrated one thing more than any other, it is -the prime necessity of artillery support, especially during the -attack. After three years' experience, the French and British Staffs -laid down the rule that for an offensive to be made with any hope of -success, there should be a field gun covering every ten yards of the -objective and a heavy gun every thirty yards. - -The British provided fifty-six heavy guns and howitzers per division, -and of these twenty-nine were six inch and over. - -The French had fifty-eight guns in each division, forty-six of which -were six inch and over. - -These divisions were made up of two brigades of two regiments each, a -total of fourteen thousand four hundred men. - -The Americans in France had two regiments of 75 mm. guns and one -regiment of 155 mm. guns for every combat division on the first -lines. At Archangel there was not a six inch gun in the Allied -Command until the late days of spring when the Americans were -evacuated. There was only the Russian naval howitzer on the armored -train. And the only other heavy guns were two Four Point Five -howitzers of the 41st Royal Field Artillery. - -Besides this fatal lack of artillery, the Allied Command was -miserably supplied with other armament. In the early days we had -only a few machine guns and these were Vickers, with water cooled -system, that became frozen and would not function in the severe cold. -We had few Trench Mortars and no rifle grenades or hand grenades. -But most disheartening of all were the Russian rifles issued to the -infantry. They were manufactured in our country by the million for -use of the Imperial Army; long, awkward pieces, with flimsy, bolt -mechanism, that frequently jammed. - -These weapons had never been targeted by the Americans, and their -sighting systems were calculated in Russian paces instead of yards. -They had a low velocity and were thoroughly unsatisfactory. The -unreliability of the rifle, prime arm of the infantry, was an -important factor in the lowering of Allied morale. - - -2. Underestimation of the enemy forces and his military capacity. - -The Allied military authorities looked with contempt upon the -Bolshevik movement, and viewed it as simply a sporadic outburst of -outlawry that would pass like all disorganized brigandry. - -The facts were that this war was waged against the government of the -Russian people. The de facto authority was in the hands of Lenine -and Trotsky at Moscow. The Omsk group was distinctly an expression -of the minority and the ancient Imperialists who were obstinately -impervious to the new Russia flaming in revolution against age long -abuses and tyrannies of the old order that could never be returned. -The Omsk group never quickened any popular response. It lacked -essential authority. The spectacular success of Admiral Kolchak -before Perm was not followed through, and his government waned while -the Bolsheviks grew in strength every day. - -The Soviet army was despised as an undisciplined rabble, without -equipment or officers or commissary organization. But the Bolshevik -soldier was as well equipped as we were, and incomparably superior in -the larger arms. He was often better rationed, and sometimes led -better. - -During the winter of 1919, Trotsky, an outstanding military genius, -raised from the Kerensky rabble an army of one million men, which -William C. Bullit of our State Department saw in March of that year -at Moscow, and described as thoroughly soldierly looking, thoroughly -trained, well rationed, and well provided for. - -From Moscow to Vologda, is less than three hundred miles by the -railway which continues straight to Archangel. Why the Soviets did -not concentrate a division on the railway, move straight to Archangel -and leave the scattered Allied battalions bottled up in the interior -is one of the many mysteries of the Expedition. - -In February, Omberovitch, the Commander of the Bolshevik Northern -army, announced that he would hurl the foreign invader into the White -Sea and concentrated over seven thousand men in an attack on -Shenkurst, the Allied position on the Vaga river. This force was ten -times the strength of the defenders, who were driven back verst by -verst over the deep snows to Kitsa, sixty miles down the river, and -the Allied Staff prepared rearward positions in anticipation of -withdrawal about Archangel and a last stand there a few weeks later. -The enemy struck again with overpowering numbers at Bolshie Ozerki -near the Railway. - -But he never consolidated his success. For some inscrutable reason -withheld the knockout blow, and, before he could reorganize for -another advance, spring came with the _nasta_ or thaw, and he had to -pull back his artillery or abandon it in the bog. He also brought -great forces in November to the assault of the River position, and -attacked the Railway in spring with large numbers and with great -vigor; but despite his vast superiority in guns, and his great -advantage in strength, he could not, or _did not_, break through to -complete victory and destroy our scattered, weakened battalions. - -Perhaps one reason the Bolsheviks did not massacre the puny Allied -forces was because the nature of conditions in North Russia did not -permit the concentration of great masses for the attack. The little -villages, even with greatest crowding, could only house a few hundred -men. Except at Shenkurst, where the most ambitious thrust was made, -there was shelter for only a few thousand soldiers, and shelter was -as essential as rations in this war of the Arctic. - -Another reason may have been that Lenine had sagacity and imagination -enough to know that a complete massacre would have fired the people -of Great Britain and France and America with burning indignation and -a demand for revenge which their governments could not deny. Better -to whittle away the little Allied company by methods of attrition. -There was no prize in Archangel. The Bolsheviks had stripped that -city of everything valuable long before the Allies came to Russia. - - -3. Ignorance of the military commitment. - -The difficulties of conducting an offensive campaign in Archangel -province were at the outset not understood or realized by Allied -Headquarters. - -Military men have asked me why the Commanding General did not, if -determined upon an aggressive warfare, concentrate his small numbers -for an advance on the Vologda railway, leaving a cordon of well -fortified outposts about Archangel, sufficiently distant to protect -the city from artillery bombardment. - -By such a method, he could have held his little force well in hand, -would have safeguarded Archangel and fulfilled the real mission of -the expedition (if guarding Archangel was the mission), with small -cost and few casualties. - -The answer to this is that British Headquarters was determined upon -an offensive program, and committed itself to a punitive chase of the -Bolsheviks, regardless of the nature of such an undertaking, heedless -of where it led, blind to consequences. - -As the Allies pushed into this unknown country, it became apparent -that between the two Columns advancing by the Dvina river and by the -railway, there stretched a great, unsounded territory, entirely -unreconnoitered, and through which by many routes, the enemy could -threaten the tenuous unguarded lines of communication with Archangel. - -It was necessary to put out flanking parties and to keep an eye to -the rear. At Kodish, fifty miles east from the Railway and also on -the Vaga river, which forms a junction with the Dvina one hundred and -fifty miles from Archangel, it was imperative to organize invasions -auxiliary to the two main bodies. Likewise, from east and west, -threats were made upon the security of the city of Archangel, and it -became necessary to establish detached outposts in Pinega Valley, one -hundred miles on the left flank, and Onega Valley, about the same -distance on the right flank. - -Also, isolated garrisons were installed in villages in the rear--at -Seletskoe on the Emtsa, and at Emetskoe, where this small tributary -flowed into the Dvina; at Morjagorskaya, midway between Emetskoe and -Bereznik, and Bereznik itself, fifty miles farther south on the -Dvina, where there was an important subsidiary base; at Shred -Mekrenga, where there was an important road, and at other villages in -the interior, little groups of soldiers were stationed, and often -lieutenants short from civil life found themselves "Officers -Commanding," faced with the problems and responsibilities of Field -Officers. - -By December, the Allied fighting forward stations in Archangel -Province were extended in the form of a huge horseshoe, and a line -drawn from flank to flank and covering the forward position would -have reached out five hundred miles. - -There were six principal American battlefronts: Pinega, Onega, the -Vologda Railway, Kodish, the Vaga River, and the Dvina. Each of -these in the war of North Russia formed a distinct episode quite -apart from the others. The soldiers on the Dvina were entirely in -ignorance of the fate of their companions on the Railway. At other -points in the interior many did not even know that there were -American outposts at Onega and Pinega; and so the history of the -expedition must of necessity be a series of disjointed apparently -fragmentary accounts of each separated battleground--in truth a -description of six little campaigns with only one point of contact, -that all Americans went out from Archangel in the fall of 1918 and in -spring the following year those who still lived _quit_ (under -orders), from the same quarter. - -Twice during the expedition an attempt at liaison was made between -the Railway and its theoretical supporting flanks, Onega and Kodish, -and Shred Mekrenga, but both occasions demonstrated that cooperation -was impossible. The other forces on the rivers and at Pinega were as -unrelated as if they had been situate at opposite poles. Each -operated an independent, unconnected war, learning about the other -fronts only through wild and distorted rumors of disasters, and -hearing from far off Archangel only intermittently. - -Thus the Allied North Russian Expedition melted away in the snows, -and the first flushed extravagant egoistic ambition of conquest and -aggression was followed by a sober appraisal of the grave peril of -annihilation. - -When the policy of aggression had been carried so far that it was too -late to change, General W. E. Ironside assumed command. He was a -great tower of a man, the embodiment of soldierly force and -resolution. He directly announced that all ideas of a further -offensive were abandoned and that all fronts from thenceforward would -be content to hold their ground. - -General Ironside has been criticised adversely for not withdrawing -his scattered troops to Archangel to await the breaking up of ice in -spring, when ships could enter the harbor and the fiasco be -terminated by evacuation of Russia. But this criticism is unfair and -unwarranted. - -It was too late for such a change of policy. It would have been -disheartening to the defenders of these distant fronts after the -costly toll of the defense to have abandoned their hard fought posts. -It would have been a giving of ground that would have heartened the -enemy and thrilled him with new life; for the Bolsheviks were never -exalted by victory, they paid dearly for every inch they gained, and -our men, except when overwhelmed on the Vaga, never retreated from a -position which they had fortified and determined to hold. - -There were no prepared defenses on the outskirts of Archangel, and -the defensive garrisons between the front lines and the city were far -separated and inadequately fortified to withstand an extensive -assault. Transportation of the retreat over the deep snowed roads -would have been beset with terrible and afflicting hardship. There -were long, cruel snow spaces between the villages that lay along the -backward way and very scanty opportunities for shelter. - -The task given to General Ironside, to retrieve the North Russian -Expedition, was not within the range of human accomplishment. He did -the best he could with the means at hand, which was to hold grimly on -until those who directed from far off Europe, and who knew nothing of -the gravity of the situation, or did not appear concerned if they did -know, came to some sort of decision. - -General Ironside conducted his defensive campaign with inspiring -leadership, with unfailing heartsome courage; and he won the sympathy -of all by his rare tact and understanding, and the affection of all -by his consideration for the men, his efforts to stay the casualty -lists. - - -4. The want of a definite moral purpose. - -Since the days of Thermopylae, the effect of spiritual stimulus upon -the fighting qualities of fighting men has been known the world over. -The military people make a concrete thing of this, and attempt to -diagram it, analyze and classify it in their treatises, where they -call it morale. - -As well might one try to reach out and touch any other manifestation -of the soul. This exaltation that comes over soldiers and makes them -glad to die, firm in their faith of the sacred character of their -cause is above all finite measurements. - -It is the purging light of the spirit that floods men's souls and -raises them aloft from the restraining imprisonment of physical being -to the heights of the gods. On no other grounds can one explain the -superhuman valor of the lone Cheshire Company of the "Contemptibles," -which, in the retreat from Mons, held up until dusk a German column -of three battalions. - -The French had morale at Verdun when they said, "They shall not -pass," and fulfilled the eloquence of their words by the offering of -their bodies. - -The Americans had morale at Chateau-Thierry. - -[Illustration: SITUATION MAP--Showing principal battlefronts] - -The British at Mons, the French at Verdun, and the Americans at -Chateau-Thierry, fought as they did because they knew, or thought -they knew, the cause of the fight. - -But in Russia, the soldier was never told why he fought. At first, -this was not thought necessary. Then the High Command, remembering -the importance of morale, and recognizing the need of some sort of -explanation, if only for the purpose of regularity when men were -asked to risk their lives, issued proclamations that puzzled and -confused the soldier more than if a course of silence had been -followed. - -While all this time to the Americans came newspapers from home with -accounts of speeches by politicians and demagogues who fired -Bolshevik bullets from the rear and extolled the Soviet cause, -hailing it as an heroic progression in human effort. - -There is another axiom in the military books, that soldiers fight -best on their native soil and in defense of their homes; but here was -a company taken fresh from civil occupations, with a civilian mental -outlook, set adrift in an alien country, six thousand miles from -home, engaged in a desperate, sanguinary war, and asked to undergo -privation and hardship, to face untold perils for unmentionable -reasons. - -Still, though the expedition was committed to no definite moral -purpose, there was a morale in North Russia. A morale that arose -from comradeship in a fated enterprise, a morale of seeing the bitter -game through, taking risks and meeting perils that must be borne by -others if even one shirked his share. A noble, selfless devotion, -playing the man's part in a lottery with Death, where Life was the -stake. The upholding of some elemental metaphysical creed that could -be definitely felt but never understood, a code of challenged manhood -that had come down through many generations of warring -ancestors--this was the morale of North Russia; it brought forth the -best and the purest in our manhood, and recorded deeds that no -survivor can recall without quickening heart beats, and a profound -belief from what he saw, that the spirit is supreme and triumphs over -the body of man. - - -5. The Russian people did not rally to the Allied Cause. - -If the fight was for Russia, the Russian people were cold and -apathetic, the worst of ingrates. Many Russians had the impression -that we had come to restore another Romanoff to the throne. - -The statement of the American government, with respect to the reasons -for military intervention, put the case as if the Allies were engaged -in a high-minded, selfless service for Russia, but the great mass of -moujiks were indifferent to our immolation, and showed undisguised -relief when we finally and ignominiously quitted their country. - -During early August, a government of the north had been installed at -Archangel by a coalition of Cadets, Minimalists, members of the -People's Party and Social Democrats, with a bourgeois cabinet and -with an old man, Nicolai Tschaikovsky, as President of the province. -But it was a fact known to all that the Allies determined the -policies of this government, that it was in fact merely a guise for -an Allied Protectorate. - -This government of the North it was that had invited military -intervention; but had a plebiscite been called, the people would have -registered their voice in unmistakable terms and volubly Russian "Let -us alone. _Nitchevoo_." - -Thus the campaign was another effort of England to impose her will -upon an inferior people, and bring them for their own good to a -higher order of things, disregardful of their volition in the -premises. It was an echo of South Africa and Egypt, Mesopotamia and -India, inspired by that lofty faith in Britain and the immortal -commission of the Empire to rule an afflicted world and bring the -blessings of sustained order, where only trouble and chaos prevailed -before. - -In Archangel, an ambitious attempt was made to recruit Russians under -the high sounding name of The Slavo British Allied Legion, and after -most energetic efforts, about two thousand starved moujiks, seeking -something to eat, joined the ranks; indifferent mercenaries never to -be trusted in the tight positions. They were given the khaki of the -Tommy, but there all resemblance to the British men of war ended. -Their pay was in worthless rubles. They were given an inferior -ration, were treated patronizingly. Between them and the Allied -soldiers there never was that generous comradeship that leaps the -restraints of divergent language and manners when men fight shoulder -to shoulder for life and some things that are more dear than life -itself. It was a case of alien spirit above all else. British -officers never could understand why the Russian officers, with the -acute, sensitive nature of the Slav, were quick to feel and keen to -resent, seemingly studied slights and snubs and discourtesies. -Russians of culture and refinement never could penetrate the -unfailing reticence and frigid unsympathetic exterior in which -gentlemen of England have been schooled for generations beyond -memory, habitually to conceal the emotions. - -When the utter failure of the volunteer system became certain, -thousands of Russians were coerced into the army by a draft system; -but these failed too, because their hearts were cold to Russian -patriotic British appeals; because there was no great moral issue, no -moving cause for the fight. - -The war with Russia was in fact a typical British show, conducted by -that conquering people who have spread the dominions of the mother -country to every shore of the far seas. A war that was waged with -the invincible will, that noble effacement of physical comfort; that -indomitable purpose and masterful determination; that courage and -careless naivete, and contempt of danger and risk; that splendid -sportsmanship, that love of fair play; and all the sublime self -sufficiency, all the muddling, blundering and fuddling, the lack of -understanding, the brutal arrogance and cold conceit, and apparent -heartlessness and want of sympathy that are forever British. - -Naturally, the British assumed direction, just as in France when the -first Americans came Clemenceau and the Earl Haig demanded that they -be fed piece meal to the French and British front divisions; but the -soldier, Pershing, sensing the important moral value of having his -men go to battle under the American flag and directed by American -officers, waited and would not yield to the strongest pressure. And -it was an American army that brought us to glory at Saint Mihiel and -Chateau-Thierry and the Argonne forest; an all-American army led by -American divisional commanders. - -There are racial differences, racial prejudices, racial disparities, -and racial asperities that cannot be gainsaid even under the -influence of impersonal military discipline, and experience has shown -that soldiers yield a more ready obedience to leaders who speak their -own language; understand the philosophy of their daily lives, and at -no other time did General Pershing so demonstrate his greatness, his -complete understanding of the perplexities in Allied military -organization as by his courageous insistence upon the solidarity of -the American army on the battlefields of France. - -But in Russia the American regiment was at once merged with the -British Command, and from first action until the end of the campaign, -British Headquarters directed and controlled the dispositions and -conduct of the Americans. - -At Archangel there is a modern, spacious white building, and here -from steam-heated headquarters Colonel George W. Stewart commanded -the United States 339th Infantry, here were quartered his staff -officers, the unemployed "brains" of our Northern American army. He -never saw any part of his regiment in action. For a long time I -believe he had not even a vague notion regarding the location of his -British dissipated troops. - -Embassies of France and Serbia, Poland, and Italy were in Archangel, -and the American Ambassador, David R. Francis, came from Vologda -there early in August, and stayed until sickness compelled him to -leave for England during the winter. And there was an American -Military Attache who developed into a Military Mission with Colonel -James A. Ruggles as chief, and a staff of officers to assist him. -Also there was an American Consulate, with an American Consul -General, Dewitt C. Poole, who at times appeared to take over a -supervision of the American share in this strange, strange war with -Russia. - -And over across the harbor at Bakaritza, a well-fed Supply Company -watched over mountains of rations and supplies that had been brought -all the way from far off America; supplies and little good things and -comforts that would have heartened and brought new life and hope to -the lonely, abandoned men on the far fighting lines in the snow. -These supplies never reached the front, but the Supply Company, with -American business shrewdness and American aptitude for trading, -acquired great bundles of rubles, and at the market place converted -these into stable sterling, and came out of Russia in the springtime -with pleasant memories of a tourist winter; likewise a small fortune -securely hid in their olive drab breeches. But there were others who -ate their hearts away, fretting and chafing, in Archangel, whose -petitions to go to the front to play the man's game were denied by -those in command. - -British G.H.Q. brought six hundred surplus officers and forty -thousand cases of good Scotch whiskey. Some of the officers had come -frankly in search of a "cushy job" in a zone they thought safely -removed from poison gases and bombardments and all the hideous muck -of the trenches. Others, much to their disgust, had been sent to the -polar regions because some one in Headquarters had thought they -possessed some peculiar qualification to command or "get on" with -imaginary Russian regiments that were to spring to the Allied -Standard. - -So it was that Archangel became a city of many colors, as gallant, -uniformed gentlemen strode down the Troitsky Prospect, whipping the -air with their walking sticks, and looking very stern and commanding, -as they answered many salutes, in a bored, absent-minded way. - -There were officers of the Imperial Army, weighed down with -glittering, ponderous honor medals, and dark Cossacks with high gray -hats, and gaudy tunics, and murderous noisy sabers. Handsome -gentlemen of war from England, from Serbia, Italy, Finland, France, -and Bohemia, and many other countries, all arrayed in brilliant -plumage, and shining boots, and bright spurs, and every other kind of -"eye wash." And, of course, there were large numbers of batmen to -shine the boots and burnish the spurs, and keep all in fine order, -and other batmen to look after the appointments of the officers' -club, and serve the whiskey and soda. - -In the afternoons there were teas, and receptions and matinees, and -dances in the evening, when the band played and every one was flushed -with pleasure and excitement. Such flirtations with the pretty -_barishnas_, such whispered gossip and intrigue and scandal in -light-hearted Archangel! - -At Kodish, at Onega on the Vaga, and at Toulgas, far off across the -haunting snows, sick men and broken men, men faint from lack of -nutrition, and men sickened in soul, were doing sentry through the -numbing, cold nights, because there were none to take their places in -the blockhouses, and no supports to come to their relief, no reserves -to hearten them and give them courage. - -The blockhouses so far away, where men were maimed and crippled and -shell shocked, and the black hopelessness that crept into men's -hearts, and strangled men's hearts, and overcame their soldier -spirit--in the blockhouses--far, so far off from gala Archangel. - - - - -THE RAILWAY - - -"We are not declaring war, nor making war on the Lenine and Trotsky -government, because it is not our affair." - -SENATOR HITCHCOCK, Chairman of _Foreign Relations Committee_ in the -Senate of the United States. - -13th February, 1919. - - -V - -THE RAILWAY - -When the troops of Poole's first expedition divided at Archangel, and -one group was sent up the Dvina; another which was a part of the -French Colonial battalion was told off for pursuit of the Bolsheviks -down the Archangel-Vologda railway. - -Hot and eager for first blood, the French hurried forward until the -Kayama River was reached, where the enemy made an unexpected stand. -There was a sharp engagement, the Bolsheviks were severely punished, -and one hundred and fifty prisoners fell to the Allies. - -But a little further, at Obozerskaya, some hundred miles south of -Archangel, the despised fugitives turned again and displayed an -amazing disposition for combat, entirely at variance with the cowed -spirit of the feeble rear guard that had surrendered Archangel. - -They came back in force and greatly outnumbered the Allies, and there -was in the defiant attitude of the Red troops reason to believe that -the Soviet chieftains had taken stock of the military situation, had -verified the preposterous intelligence that the Three Great -Powers--Great Britain, France, and the United States--were definitely -bent upon war and seriously intended to invade the great domain of -Russia with scarcely two infantry combat regiments! - -Reports came of fast gathering Bolshevik armies at all fronts massing -for attack, prepared to take offensive action on a grand scale, and, -hardly had the campaign entered upon its initial phase, when the -utter inadequacy of General Poole's numbers made egregiously evident -the impossibility of the proposed investment by River and Railway. - -The two "Columns" were in simple truth little patrol parties, and, as -they drove further into the interior, the ridiculous audaciousness of -their ambition to sweep the enemy from Archangel Province, and south -even beyond Vologda Province, seemed almost beyond the purview of -sane contemplation. - -Highways for flank envelopment, and byways for encirclement, -commenced to appear with discouraging frequency the further the -advance developed in this unknown, speculative, shadowy hinterland, -and all of these avenues for surprise attack had to be watched and -safeguarded. One of these was the Vaga river, which meets the Dvina -near the Allied subsidiary base at Bereznik; where an auxiliary, -flanking expedition was detailed from the River Column, for this -tributary is capable of floating substantial craft that could -transport artillery and many infantry from the Bolshevik stronghold -at Velsk in Vologda Province, and north of Velsk is Shenkurst, the -second city of Archangel, with a political significance that could -not be neglected by this politico-military excursion into the -interior of Russia. - -If left unguarded, the Vaga would be an open invitation for the -Bolsheviks to capture this supply depot, Bereznik, and gain the rear -of the Allied Dvina forces. - -Many other routes for enemy movement developed as the invasion -paused, undecided whether to retire for consolidation, or to try to -plug up these many openings for enemy movement, and as the Command -stood hesitant, still other approaches by flank and rear were -revealed. - -It was (or became) known that the headquarters of the Sixth Bolshevik -Army was stationed at the city of Vologda, from which its commander -could send troops north along the railway, and assail the Allied -frontal position, or detrain, and move his men on roads and trails -that took off along this route and led to the Allies' flanks and rear. - -One of these roads follows down the Onega valley north to the port of -Onega. - -At Chekuevo, it is nearly opposite the Allied advanced railway -position, Obozerskaya, and these two villages are joined, fifty miles -cross-country, by a good roadway that in winter is capable of -supporting artillery carriage. Some fifteen miles west from -Obozerskaya, on the same road, Bolshie Ozerki, several groups of -moujik huts, lies in sprawling confusion. - -Late in the winter, a pitiful little outpost of French and friendly -Russians, an immolation to this campaign of invincible folly, was -destroyed at Bolshie Ozerki in a massed enemy effort that sought to -annihilate the whole Expedition. - -A few platoons of American infantry were stationed at Onega to shield -Archangel from the west, and to watch this Onega, Chekuevo, Bolshie -Ozerki, Obozerskaya communication line, which linked up Archangel -with Murmansk, and, during the frozen months, was the only outlet to -the world beyond the Arctic Sea. - -The main Bolshevik stronghold north of Vologda was at Plesetskaya, -some fifty miles south of the furthermost position of the Allies on -the railway, from which an Imperial Government highway reached out -through Archangel Province northeast as far as Emetskoe, on the -Dvina, passing through the villages Kochmas, Avda, Kodish, and -Seletskoe, near the Emtsa river. At Kochmas, another road branched -east to Tarasovo, thence north through Gora and Shred Mekrenga. - -From Shred Mekrenga and Seletskoe, the enemy could have access to the -lower Dvina, head off all supply convoys for the Dvina and Vaga -columns; and hold the Allies trapped far up stream. Therefore, two -more auxiliary expeditions were organized, and, instead of two -invading "Columns," the Allied forces, woefully insufficient at the -outset, were operating in seven columns, separated detachments, -advance parties, outguards, outposts, flanking forces, and all along -the Dvina, from Kholmogora to Bereznik, a stretch of one hundred -miles, were still other detached soldier groups watching the -treacherous way from Archangel, a Cossack Post in one village, a -squad in another, in still another a platoon, all without -communication and completely undefended in case of real attack. - -There was unlimited chance for rear movements along that tenuous, -unprotected, communication line. General Ironside would have -massacred the Bolsheviks had positions been reversed. The Germans -would have annihilated the Allied North Russian Expedition with half -the numbers that the Bolsheviks had. - -During the winter, several circling movements were essayed, but never -on a scale of comprehensive organization; at Morjagorskaya, in -February, and at Shred Mekrenga, the enemy came closest to success, -but at both places was stopped by the gallant British, and when -spring came his chances vanished, the bogging quagmire precluded any -further offensive. But while the Bolsheviks did not destroy the -Expedition, they soon reduced the invasion to a series of desperate, -detached, outguard actions, and the River and Railway Columns that -were to have entered Kotlas and Vologda with the coming of the first -snow, were flung far and broad over vast Archangel, as the effort "to -stage a real show with two men and an orange" wilted with the first -snow, a dismal, ghastly "washout." - -Even when the Americans reached Archangel in September, the campaign -had already assumed a defensive character. Indeed, so serious was -the outlook that they were rushed from the troop-ships, shunted off -to Russian box cars, and consigned with expeditious haste to the -Railway Front. - -Nothing of this was known to these new zealous soldiers off from a -brief military training encampment to the very heart of war's purple, -glamourous adventure. And it is doubtful whether they could have -realized the significance of the military situation, even had it been -communicated to them. In a few crowded weeks, so many stirring -events had thronged their heretofore placid lives that these recruits -from Michigan and Wisconsin were buried beneath a bewildering -wilderness of amazing impressions through which confused, alien -scenes and persons and places trooped in phantom and fantastic -multicolored parade, until their minds were stunned beyond the power -of further reception. - -During the long voyage, a few still civilian in mind, had recovered -sufficient equipoise to inquire about the connection between a war in -Russia against Germany, but the inquiry was so unproductive, so -futile, and there were so many eccentric twists and turns to this -stupendous world madness that in most part they soon fell into that -fatalistic philosophy of all soldiers; most of them were content to -place their unbounded trust in those who sat in the high places and -whose omniscience guided from afar. It was far more quieting, vastly -more satisfactory. - -Once, during that swaying night journey, from Archangel to the battle -line, the decrepit Russian locomotive gasped convulsively and stood -still by an old station of huge logs, and, under the lurid light of a -flaming torch, was revealed a trainload of prisoners, passing north -from the scene of hostilities somewhere below. They made an unheroic -spectacle, with their shrinking countenances and unsoldierly, -nondescript uniforms, so that some American wag, in a spirit of -bantering patronage, called them "Bolo wild men," a name that clung -to the enemy throughout all the days of the campaign. - -But the shabby prisoners, first living sign of real battle, sent a -thrill up and down the spines of these young men, who were so ardent -for war and knew so little about it. They sniffed the air of -conflict, yearned to give the "Bolos" a taste of their quality, and -promised themselves that the folks back home would have nothing to be -ashamed of when they came under fire. - -The next morning the depressing aspect of the dirty, unkempt group of -huts where the soldiers detrained almost passed unnoticed alongside -the captivating spectacle that stood on the track nearby, a ferocious -war monster, with massive plates of steel like dragon's scales, huge -funneled naval guns, and locomotive set in rear of trucks which were -piled with sand bag barricades where Lewis automatics poked out -murderously, manned by a hodge-podge Polish-Russian crew, who were -themselves manned by competent appearing, war-weathered British -N.C.O's. - -A narrow threadlike swath trailed through the stunted starveling -forest to the lowering gloom of dull, laden skies, and the hearts of -the fresh, battle eager soldiers swelled big as they gazed far down -the gleaming rails to the murky mystery of No Man's Land. - -There was in the air a peculiar, dispiriting quality, a brooding, -pensive, Russian note that cannot be made known except to those who -have felt it. Stillness, heavy almost to the point of suffocation, -the shroud of skies that hover mourning on the trees, and the shadow -of unlifted gloom that reaches out from the forest and bears down -upon the spirit with deep intangible melancholy. - -Suddenly the quiet was broken by the distant boom of a heavy gun. -Then an ominous whine circled from the ground, approached snarling -stridently high in air, and fell with a crumbling roar seemingly very -near the new soldiers, who, on command, scampered to cover from their -erect column of twos on the naked embankment. - -A cordon of strongpoints had been constructed around the village, -Obozerskaya, and these the Americans took over, tensed for the -impending battle. - -But inexplicable days passed, and the Bolo did not come. There was -not even a feint of attack, and the Allied Command, with short memory -for the hazardous nature of its extended position, the apprehension -it had felt only a little while before, began to chafe for action, -became impatient; again the military fetish of an "offensive -campaign" grew, waxed strong, became assertive once more, and again -the ambitious vision arose to take Vologda before the snow. - -"All patrols must be aggressive," directed a secret order of the -officer in command, "and it must be impressed on all ranks that we -are fighting an offensive war and not a defensive one." - -So American officers, directed by ranking British officers, moved -their companies forward to the "offensive war," and four miles beyond -Obozerskaya, where a post on the railway bore the Russian characters -"Verst Four Sixty Six," they closed with the Bolos and drove them -beyond the bridge at Verst Four Sixty Four. - -In the counter-attack that soon followed, one platoon of the -Americans, separated in the swamps of the woods, was nearly -enveloped. It fought until all ammunition was exhausted, and then -the officer, Lieutenant Gordon Reese, had no thought of submission. -After the last cartridge was gone, the bayonets still remained, and -after the bayonet, came doubled fists. At word of command, the -platoon fixed bayonets, went forward with a yelling charge, broke -down the Bolsheviks by their sheer courage and impetuosity, and the -endangered men were able to join the main body of their comrades, -repulsing the attack. - -Before Verst Four Fifty Eight, Allied aggressive operations were -resumed when one of the French companies came back from Archangel to -assist in moving against the strong enemy works. There was a bridge -at Verst Four Fifty Eight. If this was destroyed, it would take a -long time to rebuild and seriously impede the "offensive war" down -the Railway. It was, therefore, intended to drive the Bolos back so -violently that they would have no chance to detonate the important -bridge. - -The plan of attack was for a three-fold movement: front, right flank -and rear. The French company, supported by the artillery of the -armored train, an American machine gun section, and twenty-one -Americans, with three Stokes mortars (who were not entirely sure of -the use of these weapons) were to hit out at front. The rest of the -Americans, two infantry companies, were to form as many detachments -and rush the enemy from his east flank and rear at his furthermost -trench back at Verst Four Fifty Five. - -The frontal assault would wait on these circling movements; a bivouac -in the woods, and at dawn, timed together, the three parties would -move to the three-quartered battle. The distance through the woods -to the enemy rear was "estimated at from six to eight miles." - -But, in execution, the plan failed dismally, like many an operation -that carries through flawlessly around the military council table, -for "estimates" are of little use in the service of battle conduct, -where time is reckoned in seconds, and victory measured in minutely -fluctuating scales. - -The contemplated operation was to approach the enemy flank through -one of those lofty, forest aisles, which were cut with masterful, -precise woodcraft by the engineers of Peter the Great, entirely -transverse Archangel Province. Regularly, narrow lanes intersect -these forest aisles, and it seemed to the officer planning this -attack a simple thing to follow one of these lanes, and take the -course of a north and south aisle until a point was reached opposite -the enemy position. He did not know that those forest paths were -deep with clinging, slimy morass, and bog that gave no footing, that -frequently the main cuttings opened before shallow lakes of open -water. There was no reliable map to show these things, and no native -would admit that he knew the way. - -So the attackers went forth over unknown ground, and soon were -stumbling in a blackness so dense that one file could not see even -the outline of the preceding file. The sinking bog made the march -distressingly arduous, yet for hours the company kept resolutely on, -when, without warning, the forest parted and the sodden way -terminated in a wide sheet of open water. - -It is impossible in the night blindness to know position or location, -or how far the exhausting, laborious pace has made. Startlingly near -comes the coughing exhaust of a locomotive, doubtless the armored -train standing by the Bolshevik defenses on the tracks. - -In their jaded and spent condition, the men are ill fit to engage in -battle, yet there is nothing to do but have a go at it, so plowing -through waist deep swamp and awful, oozing quagmire, they lurch on. -Struggling forward, still forward, they are caught and tripped, and -sprawl splashing in the cold water and the bog, but they get up and -drag on until all are breathing with heavy, sobbing gasps; and under -the strain of terrible exertion, all are weakened, some so done in, -that they lie in the water like wounded animals on their haunches, -and have to be helped forward by others of more physical strength or -greater will. - -In this agonizing way, perhaps a few hundred wallowing yards are -made, but it is clear that the company cannot go on, and there is no -hope of end to the miserable, sinking marsh; so the officers hold -council, and decide, not without great reluctance, to abandon their -mission, and the word is passed on to the scattered troops to follow -back over the way they came. - -In the darkness and the trackless morass, this is not easy, as -through the endless black night the lost company struggles -flounderingly and with little hope, until the heart of all is cold -with despair; but more blighting than the knowledge of being lost in -the wilderness of Russian swamps, and the depression of abject, -physical exhaustion, is the mordant disappointment of failing the -expectant French in the coming fight. - -At dawn, two soldiers, who, in days of peace, had been timber -cruisers in the pine woods of the Michigan Peninsula, led their -comrades to ground firm enough for footing, and half dead from -fatigue, brought them back to the railway, but too late, for hours -before the tumult and shots of battle had reverberated from far -advanced ground on the railway tracks; for, at the appointed hour, -hoping that the cooperating actions would still develop, the French -went in to the attack, supported by the American trench mortars and -machine guns, and smashed the enemy from his foremost lines. -Directly he rallied and returned in force to the counter-attack in -which many French were killed, the trench mortar section was -decimated and lost most of the guns, the machine gunners put out of -action, and the whole little force was shoved back over much of the -freshly won ground to the bridge at Verst Four Fifty Eight, where the -Americans stood with braced backs and would not yield. - -For two days, the Bolo armored train showered them with shrapnel, and -upcasted tons of high explosives that tore glaring, wide wounds in -the railway track, till theoretically they were hammered into -submission, but when the Bolshevik infantry, in the gray hours of -dawn and dusk, approached to take the crucial position, they were -always driven to cover by a heroic defense that never failed. So the -bridge was held under difficulties that would have shaken ordinary -troops and caused them to fall back, but not in Russia, for that was -the way of this queer little war. Priceless lives would be lost, -much blood run, and stirring exploits of courage and noble sacrifices -be performed, to safeguard a little bridge like Verst Four Fifty -Eight, or a dirty village that objectively meant nothing. Yet what -sacrilege to have breathed this to the soldiers who bled for them; -for to those who risked their lives and yielded up their lives, -rather than desert some little bridge or moujik village, these -signified the shibboleth of North Russia. - -For inordinate stress was placed upon these inconsequential, hard -contended spots; they became graphic in the imagination, cardinal -precepts in some strange soldier creed, altars upon which friends had -given all as proof of a comradeship triumphant over self and self -desire. Indeed, with the fresh recollection of courageous comrades -now dead, their abiding faith in him, and the thought of those far -back at home, whose eyes watched from afar with undimmed loyalty, did -he not stamp himself as a craven if he failed, a mongrel thing -unfaithful to his breeding? - -Thus has it always been. The race has carried on by dimly -understood, irrational traditions that move men to the profoundest -depths and challenge elemental impulses that have descended in -transmuted ancestral determinism, we know not how or why. And if we -are to endure, it must be by these same primal emotions, that cause -men the world over to scorn soft ease and security for the sake of a -vague, inexplicable ideal; inchoate conceptions of service; -passionate, stirring impulses lacking definition, which are born with -life itself, reach down to the bottommost depth of nature and -transcend all feeble efforts of analysis and artificial ratiocination. - -So it came that the momentous bridge at Verst Four Fifty Eight stood -fast, and the Bolshevik attack beat against an unyielding rock until -it spent itself by its own fury. Then the position was consolidated, -Allied headquarters moved nearly three miles down the railbed, and -the dead, in order that there might be no interruption of the renewed -offensive, were laid away in white Obozerskaya churchyard, beneath -rough crosses of wood, such harsh emblems of life's surcease, and so -fitting in this inflexible, cold, repellent north world. - -After a fortnight of more scheming and preparation, the forest was -carefully reconnoitered, a path that could be traversed was found -through the swamps, in a three cornered attack, the Allied position -advanced to Verst Four Fifty Five; and pressing on, the Americans and -French went forward to still further battle. But now occurred an -event more baneful to the Expedition than all the enemy attacks. The -month was only October, but in some mysterious way, the French had -already received word of the pending Armistice, and entirely unmoved -by the disaster that might befall their abandoned comrades, the whole -French company quit the front and went back to Obozerskaya in an ugly -mood. - -"The war is over in France," they argued, "why should we be fighting -here in Russia when France has declared no war on Russia or the -Bolsheviki?" - -Ninety of the mutineers were placed under arrest, and returned to -Archangel for confinement. - -It is not known whether or not the Bolsheviks were directly apprised -of the mutiny, but hardly had the French retired, when the enemy -artillery laid down a shaking barrage, and when night came, the lone -group of Americans were standing off a great horde of Bolo infantry -that only waited for dawn to continue an overwhelming assault. - -Clearings occurred at intervals of several miles all along the -Vologda railway. Usually they were in the shape of large squares, a -half mile or more across, with log stations, several woodchoppers' -houses in the center, and near them piles of corded pine to feed the -wood burning locomotives. The next day when the supports came up -they nearly blundered on a large Bolshevik force massed for a -surprise attack in one of these clearings. - -With unerring, quick-witted appraisal, the American officer saw that -he was outnumbered three to one, but losing no time, he divided his -company into three parts and struck out from three directions of the -woods, firing rapid fire, making a great commotion and noise, to give -the impression of great numbers. - -Most of the enemy troops were poorly disciplined and poorly led in -these days of the Fall campaign, and this ruse of the three-cornered -attack was carried through with such colored theatrical effect that -it scored complete success. There was a brief fight, some good -Americans shooting at open, closely grouped targets, and the -frightened Bolshviks fled in disorder. Not only were the Americans -able to relieve their threatened comrades, but the scattered -Bolsheviks were followed up to Verst Four Forty Five. - -[Illustration: Where a mill flaps its awkward wings] - -This was the furthermost point of the advance, for soon General -Ironside assumed the office of Commander-in-Chief, and the "offensive -war" was heard of no more. The campaign became a stalemate, each -side awaiting the opponent's next move, and not till November did the -Bolsheviks become aggressive again. Then they stormed the positions -with great determination, but all posts held and they were thrown -back with frightful loss. - -The succeeding month, it was decided by the Allied Command to capture -Plesetskaya, so that the enemy might be denied a base for winter -movement, and the divergent Allied forces of the Railway brought -together. But the effort failed. The Russian contingent that was to -go on skis around the left, fifteen miles to Emtsa, floundered -helplessly, became exhausted and funked out in the deep snow many -miles from their objective; also the auxiliary force at Shred -Mekrenga could not gain its ground; but most of all, the failure was -caused by the members of the Slavo-British Allied Legion, who -faithlessly deserted in large numbers and went over to their -countrymen, the Bolsheviks, with full information of the Allied plans. - -This marked the collapse of the invasion of Archangel, and when the -cold of winter had settled, the Red leaders set busily about the task -of planning the destruction of the over-extended Allied lines on six -unsupported fronts, which could neither retire beyond Archangel, nor -be reinforced until the remote coming of spring. It looked as if the -great military machine which Trotsky assembled, would speedily crush -Ironside's men, and the Moscow newspapers announced that a million -Red bayonets would hurl the foreigners to the White Sea, and into it -(although the sea was then solid ice), but inexplicably strange, -after the failure of Plesetskaya, there were few stirring, winter -days on the Railway Front, except once, when a daring Bolshevik -raiding excursion on skis snatched one of the rear guns from the -French (who had been shamed into returning to the front), destroyed -it, and got away in the snow. - -Major J. B. Nichols was at this Railway Front, a civilian officer, -and the only one of the Americans in senior authority who appeared to -possess a heart, and courage, and unfogged discernment. He early -grasped the vain futility of the whole campaign and no cajoling or -flattery or threats from Archangel could sway his refusal to engage a -single man in unavailing patrols through the ambushed forests or in -hazardous "blow-offs" between the contested lines, that accomplished -nothing save the sacrifice of life. So for the most part the winter -defense was a routine of work on the defenses, the dugouts and the -fortifications, and necessary reconnaissance parties over the trails, -to watch the flank approaches and to keep an eye on dangerous Bolshie -Ozerki. - -With ready methods of quick transportation, and an increase in the -garrison by the coming of the King's Own Liverpools, it became -possible to arrange spells of relief, and in March the Americans went -back to Archangel. - -At the front it was different. There was a tautness, a hushed, dread -expectancy in the air, and life, an uncertain thing, was to be lived, -like the Hedonist, for the day; there was no time to analyze the -causes of one's misery or even to be more than dully conscious of it; -pressing urgencies, actual or imaginary, were always occurring, and -they crowded out all opportunities for contemplation and -introspection. - -But there was no pressure in careless Archangel, where harrowing care -and disgusting, swinelike filth vanished with a wave of fairy wand -and lo, the war with Russia became a magical heroic pageant. Large -numbers of unemployed officers strolled the Troitsky Prospect, very -merry and bright, an array of bright, varicolored ribbons, like -flower gardens, flourishing on their well-arched military chests. - -There was the American Supply Company at full strength, which looked -very sleek and smug, and groomed well, and well fortified to -withstand the rigors of the Arctic winter, who displayed -extraordinary capacity for trading with the natives and astounding -dexterity in the acquisition of an affluent wealth of Russian rubles. - -It made a soldier sick at heart to see the good things stacked high -at Bakaritza, the sweets and dainties and tobacco that would have -meant so much to the homesick Vaga men and the far Dvina men who were -never relieved--the cases and cases of whisky piled in mountainous -piles in the warehouses at Bakaritza! - -There were other cases (empty ones) outside the Officers' Club. And -in the happy city, parties were held, with sparkling jollity, and -entertainments, and dances, and jingling sleigh rides, and down the -long toboggan run near the domed cathedral roistering funmakers with -screaming laughter would glide through the exhilarating Arctic air to -the white world below. The varied military were having a rather -unique and amusing time of it in jaunty galliard Archangel, and none -of the impassive Slavs there seemed agitated or even interested in -this war to bring peace to "sad, distressed, and afflicted Russia," -which had ended life for many Americans and broken the lives of many -more. Russian soldiery was everywhere, Russian officers, with gaudy -uniform and restored Imperialistic hauteur; and Russian soldiers -drilling on the parade grounds, with a snap and a smartness that was -oddly British, all fit and well-fed looking, capable of destroying -untold American rations, with the appearance of being able to -shoulder a musket in defense of their country if they were so minded, -but with no apparent intention of being so disposed. - -Every soldier knew of the scene at Alexandra Nevsky Barracks, where -American machine guns were turned on the S.B.A.Ls. to put down the -revolt that occurred when our Russian allies were ordered to the -fighting front. And poignantly fresh was the memory of the faithless -conduct that had lost Plesetskaya in December. Treachery at the -front, and treachery stabbing in rear! Why should American soldiers -die and suffer exposure and hardship for these heedless, indifferent -people? - -And if the fight was not for Russia, what was it for? - -There were persistent rumors of a war to collect imperialistic claims -and money obligations, and other passing rumors as errant and -disordered as the Red Bolo Bolshevik propaganda that begot them. But -was it altogether strange, that after this had gone on for months and -months, when the soldier asked for the facts and the facts were -denied him, that he should begin to wonder, and to grow almost -embittered; that, in fact, one of the companies should give audible -expression to its turbulence? - -During the last part of March, a convoy of sleighs drew up before -Smolny Barracks to carry this company and its equipment over the -frozen bay of Archangel to the station where a train was waiting to -take them to the Railway Front. But the men did not stir from their -barracks, and the equipment was not loaded, so that the colonel of -the American regiment came (somewhat hastily) from his warm quarters -to learn the reason for the delay. - -The colonel assembled his soldiers in a large Y.M.C.A. hall, and read -them that Article of War which pronounces death as the penalty for -mutiny. Then, following an impressive stillness, he asked if there -were any questions. There were no inquiries concerning the Article -of War, which is terse, succinct and unequivocal, but one soldier -arose very respectfully and said: - -"Sir, what are we here for, and what are the intentions of the U.S. -Government?" - -The colonel very frankly replied he could not give a definite answer -to the question, but added, that regardless of the purposes of the -Expedition, it was now in acute jeopardy of extinction, and the lives -of all depended upon successful resistance. More silence followed. - -There is a favorite disciplinary method of the military based upon -basic, elementary psychics. It is invoked by all, from the drill -sergeant to the general officer. The principle is the antithesis of -mob psychology, and goes upon the presumption that man is a -gregarious being. - -At the first rumor of incipient disorder, soldiers are assembled at -attention, and any man holding to minority views is commanded to step -forward (usually three paces) from the ranks and expound his -convictions. - -Great heroes and those capable of the highest, unparalleled courage, -quail at this test, for it is one thing to rebel in company, or in -the secret counsels of one's inner conscience; quite another to stand -out stark alone and unsupported against the strong arm of the -military, the harsh, punitive, martial law of an intolerant warring -nation, that can brook no infringement of combat discipline. - -Therefore, when the colonel had finished, no one accepted his -invitation to stand forth and declare his opposition, and the meeting -was dismissed with an order to load packs and proceed to the railway. - -The next day, the fury of the Bolshevik offensive which swept the -Vaga, and strove to realize Moscow's boast of annihilation for the -Expedition, burst at Verst Four Forty Five where this "mutinous" -company took the brunt of the attack and never wavered during the -ceaseless, storming battles that followed, until, at the end of the -third day, the enemy sullenly retired, repulsed and defeated, and -another company relieved the exhausted American line. - -And often before had these same men proved their mettle. There was -no finer company in the regiment than this, and no more gallant -officer than its commander. It is not the nature of the American to -become "cannon fodder" without a question. Theirs was only the voice -of sanity raised in this madman's war; yet when they saw that all in -Russia were in the same plight, that no one knew the reason why, that -all were caught in the same meshes of inextricable folly, they were -soldiers, and played the soldier's part unfalteringly until the -untried Russian conscripts came in May. - -Many Russians had been killed as enemies; so like these simple -peasants in soldier uniform that came to relieve the contested lines -in May; so like the bearded host under whose foul-smelling roof the -American dwelt. They did not seem soldiers; so spiritless, so -immobile, so unmoved by firing emotions in this civil war wherein -foreign defenders had died for Russia. If they felt any gratitude, -it was covered beneath an exterior of impenetrable, Slavic lethargy, -that defied all effort to disrobe. Life had been a thing of rote -with these moujiks, as constant as the law of seasons and of stars, -and the violent change from opaque darkness to the dazzling light, -left them blinded, befuddled, groping for moral support. Before they -had commenced to grasp the tremendous significance of the Revolution, -swift came the Bolsheviks, crashing to earth every vestige of law, -stability, the social structure, property rights. - -Now followed these foreign invaders, warring upon the Bolsheviks and -speaking with high sounding, noble phrases of saving Russia, as they -burned moujik homes and turned moujik women and children out upon the -cold snows. It was too much for the poor serf's imagination. From -fatalistic refuge he looked out on a howling storm-tossed universe -and abandoned all hope of comprehension. - -_Nitchevoo_. There was no reason left on earth. All had gone crazy; -all were stark, raving madmen in a madman's world! - - -So did the curtain fall on this lurid melodrama and its fretful -Railway scene, and now that the heyday of the fight was done, -disquieting reflections took possession of the Americans. Their dead -had died for a scant few miles on this Railway battle ground, but -what the paltry little gain meant now not one could tell, nor why the -fearful price was paid, and ever came distracted thoughts of the -futility of it all, thoughts like howling, evil genie that ever -recurred to haunt and taunt those that came away. - - - - -ONEGA - - -13th Feb., 1919 - -"Americally Sowest London for H A E F France. Due to primitive -conditions of life and continuous service in the field under Arctic -conditions, officers and men are beginning to feel the strain. -Practically the whole Allied Command has been on continuous duty in -the field all winter with no reserves in Archangel. Limited Allied -reserves are now being supplied from Murmansk, a few coming on ice -breakers and others by rail to Kem and then by horses and sleighs to -destination. Recommend present force be entirely replaced as early -as practicable in the spring, with an adequate force commensurate -with its mission, supplied and equipped so that it can operate in an -American way." - -STEWART - - -VI - -ONEGA - -General Ironside became Commander-in-Chief of the North Russian -Expedition at the commencement of winter, and the "offensive war" -forthwith came to an abrupt termination, without ceremony. - -At that time, one company of Americans and ninety-three Slavic -Legionaires composed the Onega or right wing of the Allied army which -was at Chekuevo, some hundred and forty miles from Archangel on the -Onega River. - -A landing party of the original Poole force, expert rifle marines -from the United States warship, _Olympia_, had taken the port of -Onega after a noisy fight in September, and a few days later, gave it -over to this Russo-American detachment, three hundred strong, whose -object was to accord right lateral support to the Railway Column, and -above all to safeguard the significant winter road connecting the -Railway with Onega, along which the winter mail came sporadically, -and the only reinforcements, three companies of British Yorks, were -brought from Murmansk during the cold days of February. - -As the Americans, verst post to verst post, fought their way south -along the Railway line, so this detachment went forward at bloody -experience and kept abreast, until the Bolsheviks, following the -Railway victory at Verst Four Forty Five, grew cautious, and drew -back up the Onega Valley to Turchasova. - -And when winter came, the forty miles between Turchasova and -Chekuevo, were a shadowy No Man's Acre along the twisting, snow -highway of the river, where hostile patrols prowled, and life was -held by uncertain tenure; but the disputed ground was narrowed by -half when the Americans moved up part of their small number nearly -midway to the Bolshevik village, and took station at Kyvalanda, in -order to watch a southern trail inlet to the important Railway road, -along which were regularly dispatched visiting patrols to the -scattered villages of Bolshie Ozerki, that they might hearten and -keep contact with the few pathetic Frenchmen and Allied Russians who -made an audacious pretense of maintaining a post there, and far off -on the snow, deserted many miles from the Railway, reminded one of a -choice morsel of tenderloin, baited for puma. - -The Onega detachment joined in the operation for Plesetskaya, which -the new Commander-in-Chief, in furtherance of his defensive policy of -consolidation, was anxious to take before the intense cold. - -Plesetskaya was an important base, and had they lost it, the -Bolsheviks would have encountered great, almost insurmountable -obstacles, in bringing troops from Vologda, and concentrating them in -an aggressive winter warfare, for this point was a junction of the -principal highways leading from the Railway line to Onega, Kochmas, -Tarasovo and Shenkurst. - -But this Allied advance failed, primarily for the same cause that the -whole Expedition failed, through ridiculous paucity of numbers, and -in the second instance (although there were several more), because it -was impossible to maintain any semblance of liaison over the -difficult lateral terrain which separated the five Columns, -theoretically converging in the push for Plesetskaya. - -So on New Year's day, after they had met the enemy and soundly -punished him in two sharp engagements, and standing to, were about to -drive him from his Turchasova stronghold, the Onega Americans were -given the disappointing order to fall back and resume post at -Chekuevo, where long, black months followed, and life took on a -grinding, monotonous, drab, depressing atmosphere, lifted only by an -occasional, welcomed brush or "wind up," till lo, in March, the sun -shone high and streamed in extravagant, effulgent light on the -glaring snow fields, the days grew longer and still longer, in this -eccentric, topsy-turvy, North world, and finally there were as few -hours of darkness as there had been of light a few months before. - -Late in the month, a patrol was driven off from Bolshie Ozerki by the -shot from many rifles, and a combat party the next day ran counter -machine gun emplacements, was extricated only by adroit leadership, -and after worming a long distance through the piling drifts. - -It was learned then that the little garrison at Bolshie Ozerki had -been annihilated, but it was thought by a strong raiding party, bent -upon capture of the ration and ammunition convoys between Onega and -the Railway. Not yet was there a suspicion of the enemy's -surprising, gigantic manoeuvre, which with incomparable, superior -force, sought to turn the Allied flank at Obozerskaya, carry through -to the Dvina, fuse with the Bolshevik Vaga army, then sweep on to -Archangel and make good the Moscow boast to cast every foreigner in -North Russia into the White Sea. - -The British Colonel, irritated by the enemy resistance at Bolshie -Ozerki, was determined to chastise "the raiders" thoroughly, and felt -very confident when his seventy Americans were joined by the three -companies of Murmansk Yorks, which had marched one hundred and -seventy miles from Soroka on the Murman railway in the hope of -reaching the hard pressed Vaga Column, before it was too late. - -The only access to Bolshie Ozerki from the west is a wagon road, -eighty feet wide, which cuts a swath through the ambient forest. -Passing sleighs had packed this road so that it gave good going, but -at either side among the trees was a hopeless, floundering snow bog -nearly four feet, and two miles out from the village, the Bolsheviks -had improvised an outguard, which swept this only approach with -machine guns that had the concentrated fire of three battalions. - -At dawn, on the twenty-fourth day of March, the Americans, supported -by the Yorks on either flank, crept through the trees by the roadside -to the attack on Bolshie Ozerki. At five hundred yards, the enemy -opened fire, a murderous plunging storm of steel and lead that must -completely quell all thought of further approach, still none turned -back; dragging and pushing themselves through the snow by knees and -feet and elbows, the men made four hundred yards; here the American -officer was killed, two of the British officers were hit and went -down as if struck by lightning, and it was seen by volume of the fire -that the odds were hopeless, yet the little company, facing utter -massacre, burrowed in the deep snow, and, in the stiffening cold, -hung on to the last round, till the retirement order came at dusk; -the sacrifice was a heavy one, but not in vain, for by this devoted -stand the stupendous nature of the enemy operations to overwhelm the -whole Expedition at Bolshie Ozerki was fully revealed, and every man -at the rear position, vividly conscious of the desperate character of -the fight, steeled himself for the grim business in hand. - -Back in Archangel, General Ironside saw in a flash that the life of -his army fluttered in the balance. He scoured the city for every -available fighting man, collected the few he could, a varicolored -assemblage of Americans, British, Allied Russians and a platoon of -French mounted on skis--Le Legion Courier du Bois--all counted, five -hundred eighty men, and rushed with them to the battle. There, this -iron General, well knowing himself to be faced by great unknown -numbers, tossed caution high to the four winds. He dragged his -artillery over the snow from the railway at Obozerskaya, and set it -twelve miles off in the woods, daring the enemy to capture it. He -brought out his handful of divergent troops, and, smashing down -trees, built up rough barricades, a cordon about his guns; then, cut -off from all hope of accessible retreat, this fighting man, whose -fighting stuff had been welded among the Northwest Mounted Police of -the Canadian frontier, threw down the challenge of wild death battle -to the Slavs. - -Very close, not even a mile away, down the Bolshie Ozerki trail, the -Bolsheviks had concentrated their artillery and thrown out their -advance works, and now commenced a blasting duel between the opposing -batteries that tossed skyward mountainous geysers of snow, made -fragments of the trees, and, through every lighted hour, shook the -forest end to end with a ceaseless, reverberating roar, that pounded -upon the ear with the vindictive echoes of tortured damned souls. - -Fortune is a fickle mistress, but she loves the strong and smiles her -favor on the brave, and in this strange mad Arctic forest fight, the -Briton gained her countenance by thus handsomely risking all at a -throw, and by his dashing courage, his magnificent, irresistible, -reckless courage. - -The Slav, more cautious, and overestimating the strength opposing him -(as the Bolsheviks did time after time), did not strike while the -iron was hot, but held off until he had gathered together three -regiments; the 2nd Moscow, the 96th Saratov, the 2nd Kasan and -several companies of ski troops; and the road that paralleled the -Railway line to the Bolshevik camp at Shelaxa, near Plesetskaya, -became a pitiful trailing havoc of dead and dying horses, driven to -exhaustion in hysterical haste to bring still more artillery, more -supplies, more ammunition to the waiting assault. - -But every day spent by the Bolshevik chief, in fortifying his attack, -was bringing victory to Ironside. In this winter campaign, with lack -of transportation and dwelling quarters, it was always impossible to -concentrate overmastering numbers of troops without costly -postponement of the striking assault. The most troops that could be -assembled were assembled by the Bolsheviks at the Vaga and Bolshie -Ozerki--probably eight thousand to ten thousand at each place, and -these were brought together with enormous labor, incredible striving, -heroic suffering in the cold, which plundered the soldiers' strength, -so that they were weakened by privation and shaken by much exposure, -and in the case of Bolshie Ozerki, came to the fight too late. - -So this battle that might have taken the life of the Allied North -Russian Expedition was lost, the fleeting opportunity for success -sped away when after the first fell stroke the precious element of -surprise was profligately squandered. And the Americans, bracing -themselves for the storm, fell to under the engineers, and working -night and day, erected a citadel in the woods, strengthened the -barricades and actually finished two bullet proof blockhouses before -the first battle shock. Immense stores of ammunition were stacked -high about the guns, and as the men labored, their confident -enthusiasm grew; every soldier, under the stimulating, mesmeric -influence of his great chief, knew, with unwavering faith, that the -fight was won, grew impatient in the blood lust, and whetting his -bayonet, waited like a primitive savage, serene in the unshakable -conviction "that one Allied soldier was the equal of twenty -Bolsheviks." So, in truth, he had to be in the battles of Bolshie -Ozerki. - -It was a tactical custom of the enemy to attack the front and rear -positions, sometimes he struck both simultaneously, but seldom the -flanks. Therefore, General Ironside placed his Americans forward and -back, where the gun emplacements were, and then stood poised for the -onslaught. If the law of averages traversed its orbital course, all -might be well, but if the Bolsheviks forsook their usual custom, -these dispositions might well prove fatal; for although the Yorkmen -were scattered among them as bolsters, the green, Russian, Archangel -troops on the flank positions were as yet untried, and the -presumption was against them in the pending death fight that would -give no quarter. - -But when the enemy came at last, on the seventh day, he came just as -the General had speculated he would come in an attack on the rear -guns; then in greater strength followed through at the front -barricades. The next dawn, at three thirty o'clock, the full fury of -the assault was uncovered, as three swaying rows of men hurled -themselves forward like swelling, tidal waves, and when this forward -attack was at its climax, a wild horde stormed the rear. - -In such an encounter, the great chance of success is in overwhelming -the weaker adversary by sheer preponderance of numbers, to palsy his -intelligence by bearing down on him with an awesome multitude, and -before he has recovered, sweep him off his feet. But with these -Americans, there was no such terror wrought hiatus, for the very -intensity of the situation seemed to electrify their fiber, and fire -their brains with the steady, blue flame of coordinated intelligence; -under these overwhelming tidal attacks these fighting men were never -so alert, never so keenly and appraisingly aware of every event, -never so thoroughly mindful of every tense situation as it -transpired; for they knew that piling cumbersomely through those -bogging snow depths, the oncoming Bolsheviks were shackled nearly as -effectually as if bound with ankle ropes, and they were acutely -conscious of the verity, that in the circumstances, one steady man -behind a bullet proof barricade, deliberately directing a functioning -machine gun, had the weight of three hundred rifles. - -So now it was a glorious thing to be in the blockhouses and the log -barriers and to witness those human multitudes surge on, then -slacken, and falter and fail and shrivel as they came, while machine -guns swept them line to line, and flank to flank, and piled the dead -and left crumpled, moaning heaps of men, where red, ugly blotches -widened on the snow. - -[Illustration: The blockhouses where men were crippled and maimed and -shell-shocked, far away from gala Archangel.] - -By noon, the fury of the storm had nearly subsided, the Commander of -the Saratov Regiment, thinking his troops had won their ground, rode -on his white horse nearly into the defenses and was shot down as he -came, and from this time, the firing became desultory, except when -some violent commissar drove small groups forward to be killed, or -others, made desperate by despair, sneaked creeping out, and so were -killed, and the rest lay flattened on the snow, not daring to go -forward or back. - -At nine, the sun went down upon the tumult of a bloody, grewsome day; -it became cold again, and there followed dusky, unnatural silence, -shattered occasionally by the rasping crack of snipers' shots, where -in that night of horrors, the unfortunate Bolsheviks passed the acme -of mortal misery. For if defeated, they returned to their own camp, -death was waiting for them, and ahead were the remorseless Americans -ready to shoot on sight, without stint of mercy. So, fairly caught -between two fires, they lay out through the endless, black hours of -terrible cold and frost, and gangrene took a greater toll than all -the gunshot wounds. - -Yet great as was the enemy distress, all knew that when the next day -dawned, new forces would come up and press on to another determined -assault, and it was to divert as many of these reinforcements as -possible, that General Ironside ordered the Onega Detachment to move -against Bolshie Ozerki from the west. - -That same night, one of the York companies left the Onega Detachment -and followed an unreconnoitred trail through the forest to strike -again the hostile village from the north at daybreak; but long before -dawn, became confused in the darkness and was hopelessly lost when -the attack began on the road where another British company was to -move against the village. A Polish company of Archangel volunteers, -who were to execute a corresponding south flank movement, came from -Chekuevo too late, so that the brunt of the fight fell upon the -unsupported Yorks on the road. - -Thirty minutes after the first faint light, dogs, tied to trees by -the Bolsheviks, sighting the approaching front attack, gave -boisterous, barking alarm, and, on the instant, the woods were made -hideous with the rasping rattle of many machine guns. Many of the -little band were hit in this first storm, but the rest kept on, -dragging themselves through the yielding, four foot snow, while -inches over their heads, the air howled hideously with the passage of -flying death. In the snow, rifles became clogged in the breeches, so -that the bolts would not drive home, and men had to dig them clean -with fingers stiffening from cold, but still, a little at a time, the -attack wormed on and on. At one hundred yards, the gallant, British -captain rose to lead a rush at the machine gun positions and was -killed in his tracks; then the second officer was hard hit, and when -the delayed Polish company came forward in support, and two of its -number got shot through the bowels, the others bolted like sheep and -could not be driven to the battle again. - -Then the Yanks went in and stood manfully to the fight by the side of -their distressed comrades, but against heart sickening, desperate, -despairing odds, as the merging Bolsheviks came from both sides and -massed in a vicious, determined counter attack that would have -overcome all, but when doom seemed certain, the lost York Company -emerged from the woods, by some act of a benevolent Providence, to -meet and stay the fullness of the thrust, until darkness came down to -save the valiant, little band on the snows. - -This last, noble effort of the Onega Detachment had been made with a -single thought--that of baring their breasts to the blow that -otherwise would have fallen on their tired comrades in the barricades -out in the forest from Obozerskaya; and great as the cost, its effect -had been the final discouragement to the Bolsheviks who made one more -ineffectual effort to gain the Allied Railway flank, then drew back -in full retirement to the south. - -The enemy sustained great losses in these battles of Bolshie Ozerki, -upwards of two thousand casualties, many of them from the frost, for -the villages could shelter but a fraction of the large forces, and -many had to live in such makeshift quarters as could be devised. - -Time was of the essence in this undertaking of the Bolshevik -commander, and he had paused when he should have struck out with -every man in his control, but by his dalliance, spring joined the -league of his enemies. Soon the freezing clutch of winter would be -broken in the warm sun, and, unless he hastened to withdraw to the -south, his artillery would be mired in the yielding roads. - - -In June, the new, conscripted, Russian soldiers came to take Onega's -posts, and the heavily-tired Americans went back to assembly at -Archangel, buoyant and bright-eyed at the prospect of home, till they -met on the city streets a few invalided Category B Scots going back -to the battle lines, because the Bolo droves were gathering again and -every man was needed there. Then the light smile passed from the -lips of the Americans, a blush came to their cheek, home was -forgotten and all thought of home; for there was a man's work out in -the forest swamps far to the south--where death lurked and misery -waited; and hardly a man who would not have chosen the swamps with -their physical suffering and their ambushed death than escape and -bear the stinging reproach of deserting a mate in distress. Better -to play the wretched game through to the uttermost end than to be -faithless to the traditions of one's blood, to quit the field with -the honor of a nation stained and shamed in burning disgrace. - -For was this such a flagitious, disgraceful brawl in which their -mates had bled their manhood blood away that American soldiers should -sneak from it thus, like cuffed and beaten mongrel curs? - -Time, soothing time, will smooth with gentle, cooling fingers, the -harsh lines of fretful hardship, the distressful burdens of campaign -and trying vigils of sleepless peril, and even burn a purple halo of -romance about this miserable, petty, little war, but some hurts the -assuaging balm of time can never heal. - -Many had cast off at the call of country and given all with generous -unstinting affection, and those who were coming back did not begrudge -the sacrifice; but rankling deep forever in the living consciousness -of every Archangel soldier is the thought of this ignoble quitting -and the weak abandonment by his country of everything to which he had -pledged his manhood faith.--The causelessness of it all--Alarming, -unbalancing reflections, a moral devastation that will not be -quieted--Corroding grief for those who flushed with promise were -"taken from life when life and love were young" in a shabby brawl for -nothing.--A dangerous cynical bitterness is with the soldier of North -Russia, mordant and enduring, that grows ever more bitter with the -years. - - - - -KODISH - - -January 30, 1919. - -MEMORANDUM FOR COLONEL HOUSE. - -SUBJECT: _Withdrawal of American troops from Archangel_. - -Dear Colonel House: - -The 12,000 American, British and French troops at Archangel are no -longer serving any useful purpose. Only 3,000 Russians have rallied -around this force. - -Furthermore, they are in considerable danger of destruction by the -Bolsheviki. - -The appended memorandum and map which General Churchill has prepared -show that unless the ice in the White Sea suddenly becomes thicker, -it is possible at present, with the aid of six icebreakers, which are -now at Archangel, to move these troops by water to Kem on the -Murmansk Railway, whence they may be carried by train to Murmansk. - -The situation at Archangel is most serious for the soldiers, but it -is also serious for the Governments which seem to have abandoned -them. Unless they are saved by prompt action, we shall have another -Gallipoli. - -Very respectfully yours, - -WILLIAM C. BULLITT. - -Abridgment of communication from William C. Bullitt of the American -State Department, delivered to Colonel E. M. House at the Paris Peace -Conference, on 30th January, 1919. - - -VII - -KODISH - -Kodish was the epitome of North Russia. Bought with toiling effort, -incredible privation and cruel losses, to be lost and won again time -following time in the bitter-most winter days with moving heroism and -a moral grandeur that at times reached a sublime estate--it was in -the end abandoned as "of no especial military significance." - -The village lay in the course of the Imperial road from Petrograd -that parted from the Vologda railway at Plesetskaya and cut a -diagonal lane through the province north-easterly to Emetskoe on the -Dvina. Both Commands stressed its importance. In the early days of -the campaign the Allied leaders, bent upon conquest, seized upon it -as an opportune route to support the railway invasion by surprising -the enemy in rear, while the Bolshevik Staff saw a chance to drive a -wedge between the two advancing Columns and effectually deny the -River forces all communications. - -A typical polyglot group of French, British, friendly Russians, and a -few American marines, some two hundred in all, had gone out from -Archangel in the first days of the Expedition to Seletskoe on the -Emtsa river determined to drive south from this subsidiary base along -this Petrograd road to Plesetskaya. This group, designated "D Force" -to distinguish it from "A Force" on the Railway and "C Force" on the -Dvina, and the Vaga, had hardly commenced its daring operation when -an urgent call for succor caused British, French and Americans to -hurry across a trail through the swamps to Obozerskaya, leaving the -loyal Russians as rear guard before Kodish. But the former never -reached their goal. Days passed and nothing was heard from them -until a relief contingent, out a day's journey from the Railway front -in the forest swamps, found in the midst of scattered infantry gear -and other signs of desperate encounter the soiled diary of an -American sailor with the epitaph of this illfated "B Force" written -on 30th August. - -The rescue party continued east through the swamps to Seletskoe as -the pursuing Bolsheviks closed in on that village, but the Americans, -reinforced by a slender garrison, drove them south over the Emtsa, -where they stood their ground behind a destroyed bridge. It was -suicidal to attempt a passage of the open river in the face of -machine guns, so the Americans dug in the cold sodden ground, and in -the grim siege that followed the suffering was intense; no doctor was -at hand to care for the many casualties who were given crude first -aid (when they were reached), and bumped and jolted thirty torturing -miles to Seletskoe, yet, in the face of all these things, none at -Kodish knew thought of weakening or turning back. - -On the ninth day, long awaited supports came up, a crossing was -effected at an unexpected point below the Bolshevik position, and -Kodish succumbed to a courage that would not be denied. Exposed -baldly in a broad clearing and flanked by three dominating hills, -this moujik village was helpless against modern artillery. The -French colonel pronounced it "strategically untenable," but the worst -feature was its opportunity for complete encirclement. This was -brought vividly to the consciousness of the Americans soon after -their occupation when great Bolshevik bands converged on them from -villages to the south and the Shred-Mekrenga trail, and following a -four days' battle, they fought for their lives in a night flight -nearly two miles along the road back across the river. - -There the old familiar siege tactics were resumed. The engineers -with a genius of adaptitude built a fortress of blockhouses on the -north Emtsa embankment, and in these, one company of Americans, -augmented by a few British infantry and a section of Canadian Field -Artillery, stood off the Bolsheviks from the crucial Petrograd road. -In December, with Plesetskaya the objective of three Allied fronts, -this little group, now 450 strong, led by the impetuous "Major Mike" -Donaghue forced twenty-seven hundred Bolsheviks out of Kodish, but -could make little progress on the road beyond. So the contested -village was held as an advanced post for the main Allied force on the -Emtsa, and exposed to unremitting bombardment from many superior -guns, became an inferno of bursting shells. - -Once on a black January night, it was abandoned by the little outpost -and set aflame, but before dawn, Donaghue was back with his men to a -chaos of charred ruins, like the skeleton of a beast of prey in a -desert of snow, through which the bitter, chill winds wailed -dolefully. In these deserted Kodish streets of abject desolation, -the American soldier knew the uttermost depths of physical misery -experienced during the whole winter campaign. - -The Commander-in-Chief came to the Kodish front when British soldiers -evinced a truant disposition and would not "carry on" unless certain -interrogatories concerning this evasive war with Russia were -answered. The interrogatories were addressed to Premier Lloyd George -and were such as might arise from the mental consciousness of any men -who still have well poised, wholesome regard for life and the pursuit -of happiness as they understand it. These British soldiers had come -from the winter murk of Murmansk, had emerged from four years' hell -in France, and saw themselves the hapless forfeit in a confused -international melee without wit or reason at a time when all were -thoroughly sickened with war and thought they merited restoration to -their homes. But when the soldier Ironside, six feet four, with "an -eye like Mars to threaten and command" had spoken, the -interrogatories were all forgotten and these disgruntled men, who had -uttered mutiny, returned to the fight with a matchless valor; with a -steadfastness that gave never ceasing wonderment that they could so -freely offer all with every instinct and inclination opposed. - -[Illustration: An outpost on the Railway] - -It was at Kodish that the Bolsheviks strove their uttermost with -propaganda, that insidious, warring weapon of which so often they -have revealed themselves the masters. Thousands and thousands of -pamphlets, leaflets, circulars, manifestoes, announcements, -proclamations, appeals--an amazing collection of vitriolic, eloquent -literature, were left along the patrol routes in the snow forests. -This was true at all fronts, but especially at Kodish, where these -persuasive methods were concentrated like a great verbal bombardment, -a veritable war of scarifying words, Russian, French, German and -English. Many messages of hate and fire, with frank artlessness, -urged the Allied soldier to desert and join the Soviet; others, more -subtle, displayed a masterful knowledge of human weakness and human -passions and prejudices. - -The following is taken from _The Call_ published in Moscow and -printed in English: - - -Do you British working men know what your capitalists expect you to -do about the war? They expect you to go home and pay in taxes -figured into the price of your food and clothing, eight thousand -millions of English pounds or forty thousand millions of American -dollars. If you have any manhood, don't you think it would be fair -to call all these debts off? If you think this is fair, then join -the Russian Bolsheviks in repudiating all war debts.... - -Do you realize that the principal reason the British-American -financiers have sent you to fight us for, is because we were sensible -enough and courageous enough to repudiate the war debts of the -bloody, corrupt old Tsar?... - -You soldiers are fighting on the side of the employers against us, -the working people of Russia. All this talk about intervention to -"save" Russia amounts to this, that the capitalists of your countries -are trying to take back from us what we won from their fellow -capitalists in Russia. Can't you realize that this is the same war -that you have been carrying on in England and America against the -master class? You hold the rifles, you work the guns to shoot us -with, and you are playing the contemptible part of the scab. -Comrade, don't do it!... - -You are kidding yourself that you are fighting for your country. The -capitalist class places arms in your hands. Let the workers cease -using these weapons against each other, and turn them on their -sweaters. The capitalists themselves have given you the means to -overthrow them, if you had but the sense and the courage to use them. -There is only one thing that you can do: Arrest your officers. Send -a committee of your common soldiers to meet our own workingmen, and -find out yourselves what we stand for. - - -The following is from the same publication: - - -The Bolshevik Revolution marked the culmination of the world struggle -to set us all free. Strike off your shackles, comrades, we are your -friends not enemies, and the only reason we seek to stamp out the -parasitical capitalists by force is because force is the only -language they can understand. This is the beginning of a great world -revolution which knows no national limitations. It will set the -producers free. Join the Soviet Party. We are fighting your fight -against the unprincipled capitalistic class. Comrades, you know the -meaning of "scab," well, that is the part you are acting in Russia. -For shame, comrades! Kill your officers, then shoulder your rifles -and come over to our lines which are your own. - - -These extracts have been taken at random from a hundred others of -like incendiary tenor, most of which had little effect on the -Americans except to impress them with the coincidence of a striking -similarity in style and sentiment between them and many public -addresses of American politicians printed in the newspapers that came -from home, where a soft going government tolerated perversions of -free speech, as hostile to American soldiers in Russia as the most -violent preachments from the enemy. - -A huge bulletin board was erected on the Bolshevik bank of the Emtsa -river, which conducted daily classes in doctrines of International -Revolution, and the first confirmation of the Armistice news came in -a weird preternatural voice which startled the night stillness of -Kodish by announcing in sonorous tones the cessation of infamous war -and the restoration of peace to the afflicted peoples of earth. -There on the Emtsa bridge, a Bolshevik orator, shrouded by the -phantom shadow of a waning moon, delivered in excellent English, -almost academic in polish, a rhetorical harangue on the glories of -communism, the injustice of soldiers suffering in cold swamps while -others sat back in Archangel in soft ease. Also the speaker -described most persuasively the abundant, bountiful hospitality -awaiting all within the Soviet lines. It was all very diverting, but -nevertheless gave audible utterance to many of the disquieting -reflections which rankled deep in the heart of every man in the -Allied ranks and did not go towards helping Allied morale. Later -that same night, when this extraordinary speech was ended, two -captives, a Scot and an American, came out on the bridge to tell -their comrades of benevolent treatment at the hands of the -unspeakable enemy; in the darkness their voices were like those from -the grave, for many soldiers were led to believe that the barbarous -Bolos killed all prisoners after torturing them with frightful -savagery. - -In the first stages of the campaign, the French on the Railway killed -those that could not be carried off the field to spare them the -grewsome horrors which would have been visited upon them by the -enemy, yet at Ust Padenga, volunteers brought in wounded not a -hundred yards in front of Bolshevik machine guns, and at Toulgas, -after a disastrous ambush, the enemy mysteriously withheld his fire -from a relief party that was entirely exposed. There was, in fact, -only one recorded instance of atrocity. This was on the Vaga where -the bodies of an officer and several Americans were found hacked and -mutilated with hideous debauchery, but there was nothing to show that -this barbarism was approved by the Bolshevik leaders, and it may have -been only an uncontrollable manifestation of primal cruelty which -underlies all war. - -Several months after the last troops left Archangel, a number of -Americans "missing in action" were expatriated through the efforts of -the Red Cross by way of Finland, and these men spoke very favorably -of their considerate treatment in Moscow. - - - - -THE RIVER - - -"There ought to be an efficient American Hell Raiser from one end of -the front to the base, with a rank of lieutenant colonel." - - DOCTOR JOHN HALL (_Major Medico 339th U.S. Infantry_). - 21st October, 1918. - - -"The Government of the United States has never recognized the -Bolshevik authorities and does not consider that its effort to -safeguard supplies at Archangel or to help the Czechs in Siberia have -created a state of war with the Bolsheviki." - - Cablegram, State Department, Washington, D.C., to David - R. Francis, American Ambassador, Archangel, Russia. - 27th September, 1918. - - -VIII - -THE RIVER - -Half of the original Poole Expedition was selected for the punitive -pursuit down the railway, a garrison was left to guard Archangel, and -the trifling group that remained followed the dark course of the -Dvina into the unknown region of the interior. There were told off -for this river expedition two depleted companies of the Tenth Royal -Scots Regiment, and twenty-five of the American marines crowded into -merchant barges and towed slowly up-stream by small tugs. The only -escort was an armored British monitor, and seen from the shore, as -they made their toilsome struggling way against the swift racing -river course, conspicuous, unshielded targets on its broad surface, -the dauntless little band looked tempting ambush prey. - -At Chamova, some one hundred and eighty miles from Archangel, the -enemy gave sign of having abruptly recovered from his first stampede. -He turned and showed his fangs, and the pursuit stopped short. - -It now grew apparent that the retreat had not been as riotous as -first supposed; in fact, there was good reason to believe that it was -a part of Bolshevik strategy, and evidence was accumulating that -Trotsky had ordered the withdrawal from Archangel to make certain of -the millions of American made supplies and ammunition, had taken a -careful appraisal of the military situation, and elected to give -battle in the interior. When the Americans arrived they were met at -the wharf by an agitated Brass Hat who said the Allies at both fronts -were standing at bay and the situation had assumed a very precarious -phase. - -The Third Battalion was rushed to the Railway, and the First -Battalion, in dirty, ill-smelling barges, followed the pioneer Poole -Expedition up the river one hundred and fifty miles to Bereznik. -These barges had carried many cargos on Dvina's waters, cargos of -livestock and flax and other agricultural produce, but were new to -human freight, and in their cramped, miserable, dank quarters, the -scourging influenza broke out afresh among the troops, and those who -had already been weakened by the disease grew fainter and fainter as -they followed up the unknown waterway till a day came when one after -one they quietly passed to the bourne of that country of gentle -unwaking sleep, and sometimes off on the gloomy foreboding river the -passage of this antic caravel seemed more a funeral processional than -an aggressive expedition of war. - -The tired comrades who were even denied the vibrant thrill of the -fight, and its doubtful glory, were with simple soldier ceremonials -given to the soil of Russia, ceremonials, moving because of their -simplicity and that wholesome, fullhearted sentimentalism which has -always marked the American character--and always must be of our -America. - -Here in these little churchyards, tragic death seemed robed in sorrow -more sacred with the brown, barren embankments like a shroud of -mourning, the grave skies drooping and disconsolate and the sombre -recesses of the forest where taps trailed in grieving cadences and -echoed within the soldier's spirit long after its last note had been -lost in the gloom. Laden with inarticulate depression and confused -melancholy, thoughts of life's crazy theatre, the crushing power and -immensity of fate, the tragedy of all, these men fresh from the -fields and shops of Michigan and Wisconsin groped their dazed way -back to the barges where dark shadows with ominous fingers reached -over the waters and death, in this haunting, melodramatic land -waited, suspended in the alien air like a pestilential vapor. - -The first stop was five days out from Archangel at Bereznik, near the -junction of the Dvina and its main tributary, the Vaga. Here there -was a group of commodious, well constructed log buildings, which had -served as hunting lodges for the Tsar Nicholas and his retinue during -the days of the Romanoff dynasty. It was decided to make use of -these buildings for storage purposes, and to have Bereznik as the -subsidiary base of the Dvina expedition until progress was made so -far up the river that practical considerations would impel the -movement of the subsidiary base to a more advanced position. - -So from the time of the arrival of the Americans on the 13th -September, until the close of water at the end of October, rations, -munitions, clothing and other accouterments of war, in value over one -million pounds sterling, which had been brought all the way from -England, were loaded on every craft that could be commandeered at -Archangel and transported the one hundred and fifty miles to Bereznik. - -One of the American companies was left to guard these precious -supplies and the others hurried on to take up the gage of offensive -campaign. There was a brush at Chamova, but the enemy did not make -his first stand until he came to Seltzo, nearly thirty miles further -upstream, and now well over two hundred miles from far away -Archangel. Except on the Vaga, this was the furthermost south -achieved by the Allied troops. - -At Seltzo, it became clear that the Soviets had no intention of -running further, and that the foreigners would be fortunate if they -held the ground already gained. The tactical abandonment of -Archangel having accomplished the effective seizure and retention of -everything of value in that port and extended the invader far into -the interior, revealing with obliging frankness his numerical -weakness, had realized the ends sought by the Bolsheviks, and the -signs were now many that they intended to strike back and strike back -hard. - -Why did not Poole retire to Archangel? - -The futility of the attempt to reach the distant Siberian railway -with the ridiculously small force at the disposal of the Allied -Commander was glaringly apparent to every common soldier. - -Why did not Poole, like Joffre at the Marne, shift his policy to meet -the exigencies of the military situation, draw in his far scattered -fronts to Archangel, construct an enceinte of defenses about the -city, and hold on until help came in the spring, or until some -definite action was determined for Russia? - -Many lives would have been spared and much misery averted had this -been done, but the lives of a few men, and the permanent impairment -of the lives of many more, do not weigh heavily in the scales with -those who sit in the councils of the inner sanctum at General -Headquarters and think nothing of the spending of divisions and even -army corps. Perhaps it would have been too galling to Anglo-Saxon -pride to admit being on the defensive before an inferior people like -these poor Slavs who were to be chastised with thoroughness and -dispatch. Then, too, it was always safer for Archangel to have the -outposts far into the country, and flattered the Allied Command in -the belief of still being the aggressor. - -When Ironside took command he not only conceded that the Allies were -conducting a defensive campaign, but with soldier bluntness declared -that the Expedition was in gravest peril. It was too late then to -draw in the far dispersed battalions. They would have to fight it -out on the wide separated snowbound fronts, and show by deeds the -superiority of the Anglo-Saxon. If they failed, if they were faint -hearted and even so much as faltered, the entire force was doomed. - -On the morning of 19th September battle was joined at Seltzo. A mile -of open marsh lies outside, through which the stream at the border of -the village meanders from the forest to pay tribute to the mighty -Dvina. The only easy approach is along a narrow road that parallels -the river and crosses a bridge over this deep icy stream. On this -morning of battle the Americans waded the swamp until within fifteen -hundred yards, when suddenly from the scattered concealment of the -houses there burst such a furious fusillade of musketry and machine -guns and Pom Pom guns that they dropped low in their tracks and could -go no further. - -Two other companies moved through the woods on the flank to assist -the frontal attack, but their location was determined by the enemy -batteries, and his infantry laid down such a withering fire, that the -battalion, exhausted from a day of fighting and a heart-breaking -march, without rations and with no cover from the cold and the -drizzling rain, was compelled to bivouac that night in the soaking -morass, hopeful that with next morning would come promised artillery -support, for without it further advance was unthinkable. - -All through the night the Bolshevik guns searched for the Americans -who were new to combat, ignorant of the ground, and had not an -inkling of the enemy strength or his fortifications or dispositions. -And at dawn a reconnaissance patrol stumbled into a large enemy -force, was scattered and came back with no information, save that the -Bolsheviks had assembled in superior numbers and were well supplied -with ammunition. As daylight broadened, the shelling from the river -became so violent that the attackers had to choose between a further -advance or complete retirement; to stay where they were meant -destruction. - -So with grave misgivings the attack was renewed, although there was -still no sign of promised artillery support; machine guns guarding a -trench system in the woods killed and wounded many Americans, but the -advance would not give ground, and supporting comrades at flank and -rear kept up such a sustained unfailing fire that the Bolsheviks were -led to believe that the attack had been replenished during the night. - -During the fight the American lieutenant colonel "caught in a -bracket" had stayed in the rearward village, Yakovlevskaya, but at -dusk he emerged with the important Field Pieces which laid down an -effective _feu de barrage_ on Seltzo. Hardly had it lifted when the -battalion arose and with splendid dash and gallantry stormed forward -to the village, entered it and took possession. But the story of -Seltzo is the story of the whole campaign. After the infantry, with -inspiring display of courage and at great cost, had gained a -position, its small forces would be drafted for some other distant -hard-pressed front, or the position would be left to the mercy of the -Bolshevik guns until no course was left except evacuation. - -The monitor which had convoyed the battalion up the Dvina, fearful of -being caught by the ice that was expected to creep upstream from -Archangel at the beginning of October, but did not actually come -until mid-November, went back before the battle and was gone for the -duration of the winter. A few days after the battle, the artillery -left and was seen no more at Seltzo. Also Headquarters ordered two -of the companies to proceed to Shenkurst on the Vaga, the second city -in the Province, where it was alleged a large number of Russians in -sympathy with the Allied cause were anxious to have a garrison of -American troops during the approaching winter. - -So it came that there was no artillery to avenge the smashing havoc -of the enemy heavy guns in this furthermost Dvina village where one -infantry company of Scots, a like number of Americans, and a few -Allied Russians held on under terrific shell fire that from river and -forest racked and battered them. - -The enemy had a complete battery of three inch pieces, which he was -free to bring up to the edge of the woods beyond the village, and -down the river on rafts and improvised gunboats he floated three six -inch guns and two Nine Point Two naval pieces, and for days with this -combined armament he smashed and blasted until many of the houses -became a riot of shredded and splintered timbers, and it was only a -question of time before the garrison would be decimated utterly. - -On 14th October the Bolsheviks attacked the defensive positions with -great vigor, but were thrown back in complete repulse with many -killed; yet that night and in the first morning hours the defenders -slipped away in the darkness, for under unhindered bombardment the -place had become a death's trap where all must eventually perish. - -After this escape in the night there was a heart-breaking drag -through the mud, until late the next day the tired Allied soldiers -found harbor in Toulgas some fifteen miles back. Toulgas is typical -of the North Russian village, a group of bedraggled log houses -huddled together on a hill, which bends down in a long easy slope to -the plain, where, like Seltzo, a stream comes out of the forest and -margins another cluster of huts on the flat ground which the moujiks -call Upper Toulgas. - -This stream is deep and numbingly cold, and has cut an abrupt channel -through the yielding soil so that fording it is a difficult feat at -best. For an enemy to make the attempt in daylight would be -suicidal. In darkness, any considerable numbers cannot fail to give -the alarm. A road comes down from the hill and crosses a wooden -bridge to the forward village. Watching the bridge is the inevitable -white church, and its gaudy minarets, consciously aloof and superior -in the poverty of the scene. In the setting of dun barren ground the -white edifice flashes in undefiled purity against a low shrouding -sky, more black than gray, which rests upon the darker tufted forest. - -[Illustration: The fighting Canadians] - -Across the road is the priest's house, like the others of bark -stripped logs, differing from the others only in its greater size. -With a little barricading the walls of the priest's house were secure -against the lead of small guns, but it was death to stay there during -the avalanche of high explosive shells that was poured out by the -Bolshevik gunboats. - -After the battle of Armistice Day, the bearded priest of Toulgas -Church was found amid the hideous battle litter of his wrecked home, -the crown of his head cut clean as with a scalpel, exposing the naked -brains. Near him were two children, a boy and a girl, sleeping by -the guardian who from infancy had taught them of a Providence who -watched over the good of earth, and surely would not desert them -through this malignant turmoil that had descended to the quiet moujik -country with terrible death and indescribable misery like the -recurrent plagues. So sleeping, a shell had found the unconscious -children, and lulled them to that everlasting sleep. The big shells -had a way thus, of stealthily sniping their victim's life away with -no mark of their dread approach, as if disdaining the brutality of -violence. But again they would pounce down with the atrocity of a -fiend, smash head from trunk, and members from the torso, and leave -great gaping wounds gushing black blood with unspeakable, horrible -ghastliness. - -Back of the church, on the same side of the road, is a moujik house -with the customary stable attached in rear. A platoon used this as -billeting quarters. It was shielded by the church forward, and gave -shelter to the little reserve that would replenish the blockhouse at -the bridge with men and ammunition, and, if the blockhouse was -knocked out, would stand off the Bolsheviks from crossing the bridge. - -From the billet house to the church is about thirty yards. The -priest's house is nearly opposite the church across the road. The -blockhouse was built just before the Armistice fight and stands on -the bank of the stream guarding the bridge about twenty yards forward -of the priest's house. It is thirty yards over the bridge, and in -front of the first line of Upper Toulgas houses, a field, shorn of -all cover, stretches one hundred yards to the stream. - -Back of the center village on the hilltop the ground undulates almost -unnoticeably in a series of folds and reaches a shallow draw. A -little beyond this, perhaps two hundred fifty yards, is still another -clump of huts known as Lower Toulgas. In this draw, the Canadians -built emplacements for their two Field Pieces, which during the first -battles were the only artillery for the defense of Toulgas. - -The forest gives way for nearly a half a mile before Upper Toulgas. -From Upper Toulgas to Lower Toulgas is an ample two miles. From -Toulgas, itself, the center village, to Lower Toulgas is a scant -three-quarters of a mile. - -On the forest flank the ground has been cleared for a space, varying -from three hundred to less than sixty yards. This clearance is -greatest opposite the upper village. In the lower village it -narrows, until in rear the trees close in on the road that leads back -to Bereznik and Archangel, affording excellent opportunity of -concealment and surprise attack for an enemy that would have the -endurance and the hardihood and the courageous daring to march -through the deep swamps of the woods. - -On the left the Dvina spreads out in a wide expanse, two miles. -Opposite the rear and center villages the river banks are high and -steep, nearly precipitous, but at the forward village on the flat -ground the level is only a few feet above that of the water. Across -the river there is not the slightest sign of cover as far as the -distant embankment on the opposite shore. The chances for surprise -from this quarter are practically none, and without surprise, -infantry advancing over the waist-deep snow against machine guns, -would have to be possessed of fanatical courage and be in -overwhelming strength. The river could be nearly neglected as a -source of danger. - -To defend the three Toulgas villages we had: One company of American -infantry; one company of Royal Scots infantry, and one section of -Field Artillery, manned by fifty-seven Canadians. - -In command of this force was Robert P. Boyd, an American civilian, -who, scarcely a year before, had graduated with the rank of captain -of infantry from a three months' officers' training school at Fort -Sheridan, Illinois. - -Shortly after occupation of Toulgas, ice choked off navigation of the -lower river, and replenishments of supplies and ammunition had to be -brought by small one pony sleighs from Bereznik. The distance was -some fifty miles, and the journey by Russian pony was usually two -days, but when the snow was deepest, the weather bitterly cold, and -the days had but few hours of light, it took three days. - -There was a field hospital at Bereznik, vicariously supplied, and -attended by a medical personnel of changing nationality, British, -Russian and American by turns. - -We converted one of the huts of Lower Toulgas village into a dressing -station, where first aid was given the wounded; but we had no -facilities, no operating equipment, or surgeons, or surgical -instruments to care for the serious cases. If a soldier was hard hit -and lived, he had to be brought to Bereznik. - -Following the retreat down river from Seltzo, there was hardly time -for a tactical survey of the situation, for the construction of -temporary redoubts on the forest flank and at the crucial bridge, -when enemy gunboats opened fire on our positions and for three days -kept up a determined bombardment. When dusk came on the third day, -the shelling lifted, and when the night grew black there was a roar -of many rifles and a mad yelling from the woods as a horde of -Bolsheviks fell on the center village. In the darkness and wild -confusion, the tumult of battle made by the roar of musketry, the -shouting and screaming of many foreign voices sounded like the -onslaught of a Division. - -But, even with the advantage of overpowering numbers, a night attack -to succeed, demands most accurate knowledge of the enemy position, -and most rigid control by a leader of his men. The Bolsheviks were -not thoroughly trained in these early days, although later they -displayed impressive military skill and the utmost cooperation -between officers and men; now their lead went high and shrieked -through air several feet above the heads of the unscathed Americans, -who had concealed Lewis guns in a dugout at the point of the enemy -rush and turned these loose upon the massed Bolsheviks, felling them -like cattle in a slaughter pen. One American private, swinging an -automatic rifle from his hip, shot until there was a semi-circle of -prostrate forms before him, some of them fifteen yards away; and once -a few of the enemy came so close that they were spitted at the end of -the bayonet. - -At the height of the fight the Canadians opened up their guns and -rained the woods with shrapnel which threw the wavering Bolsheviks -into worse commotion and disorder, for while the Lewis guns scattered -death in front, rattling shrapnel bullets threatened death in rear, -and thus, huddled together in the darkness like stampeded sheep, they -were shot down until the fierce exulting battle yells were changed to -moans of the wounded and appealing cries for mercy. - -At a signal, the Canadian guns ceased firing, the Royal Scots, -shooting low and true, went into the counter, and the disorganized -Bolsheviks, seized with blind animal terror, lost all semblance of -order and fled in violent flight, each man for himself, to the -sheltering recesses of the forest. - -After this night attack there was nearly a fortnight of quiet on the -Dvina, with no outward sign to show the enemy intentions. Patrols -went out into the woods and came back with the report that Zastrovia, -the nearest village upstream, was clear of hostile troops; but, while -the Allied Command took under advisement the opposing contentions of -retirement and holding on, the Bolsheviks were assembling large fresh -forces of infantry, and bringing heavy guns from Krasnoborsk, -preparatory to striking the most ambitious blow yet attempted. - -All at Toulgas were aware that the lull was ominous. All knew that -this phase of security was a very transient one, and directed by the -American engineers, every man who was not on guard duty, worked -building log blockhouses, at tactical strong points about the center -village, one of them to guard the bridge over the stream to the upper -village, where there was a small outpost, which in case of frontal -attack was to give the alarm, then retire to the defenses. - -The defense centered around the middle village. There were no -fortifications to protect Lower Toulgas, and the Canadians in the -draw in front of Lower Toulgas had for their protection only a squad -of Americans under a sergeant, with a Lewis gun. The great danger in -the situation lay in the threat of the capture of the rear village by -an attack from the close-edging forest. If this lower position was -taken, the garrison would be trapped, starved and cut off from all -communication with Bereznik and Archangel. Customarily, there were -kept on hand rations sufficient to last from two to three weeks. - -When the British Brigadier General R. G. Finlayson inspected the -Toulgas area, on 10th November, apprehension of such a rear attack -was expressed by some of the officers, but the general could see no -real menace from that quarter, and said that it was a military -impossibility for a large body of troops to successfully execute a -flank movement through the heavy swamps of the woods. - -The day following, Armistice Day, at dawn there was a crackling of -rifles in Upper Toulgas, then the crash of guns from the river, as a -great number of Bolsheviks swarmed from the forest, deployed in -perfect order, and advancing in squad rushes, drove the little -outpost back to our main lines. Timed, it seemed almost to the -moment, came the roar of musketry far at rear, the staccato rattle of -machine guns and dominating all the din and tumult, the ringing -Cossack _Hourra! Hourra!_ - -Our surprise was complete. Hundreds of dark figures sprang from the -woods and closed in on Lower Toulgas. - -[Illustration: A Bolshevik scout] - -Had the Bolsheviks been Germans, they would have immediately rushed -the Canadian guns, and the story of Toulgas would have been one of -massacre. They did rush the guns, but not until it was too late. -The march through the forest had been an exhausting one, and the -Bolshevik soldiers were very tired and very hungry. A few critical -moments were spent searching the houses of the captured village. One -of the Commanders, Melochofski, a stalwart giant of a man, with a -high, black fur hat, entered our hospital billet, and flourishing his -arms, gave a loud-voiced order to kill the invalided soldiers. The -British medical N.C.O., with rare tact and extraordinary presence of -mind, placed rations and two jugs of rum before the big Bolshevik -leader, who helped himself liberally to the spirits and under their -benign influence momentarily forgot about the execution. - -Probably in this way and in ransacking Lower Toulgas, not over three -minutes were lost, but never were three minutes more costly, for -during that time the Canadians swung round their guns, and, when the -Russians rallied to renew the attack, they were met by muzzle bursts. - -Nearly a hundred years before, at Wilma, the iron veterans of the -Grand Army had been shaken by that blood chilling _Hourra! Hourra!_ -of charging Russians; but now it only made those leather faced men at -the guns laugh with the wild, delirious delight that comes only to -the born fighting man, then only when the fight is at its height. -They swore fine, full chested, Canadian blasphemies that were a glory -to hear, crammed shrapnel into their guns, and turned terrible blasts -into the incoming masses that exploded among them and shattered them -into ghastly dismembered corpses and hurled blood and human flesh -wide in the air in sickening, splattering atoms. While all the time -the American sergeant and his single squad kept up an incessant fire -with his Lewis automatic, and those Canadians who were not hit, and -were not needed at the guns, worked the bolts of their rifles with -the energy of fiends, so that the crackling of small arms sounded -like the bursts of machine gun fire from the emplacements, and -deceived the Bolsheviks, who thought it was the fire of machine guns. -These Canadians had used the rifle often in the untracked places of -the Western World, were well schooled in marksmanship, and now when -the target loomed big and at extremely short range, they covered the -ground with dead. - -The mere weight of those approaching great numbers would have shaken -and turned ordinary troops, for the onslaught was not stopped until -less than fifty yards from the guns; but the Canadians were not -ordinary men and they gave not the slightest hope of being turned. -They would have stood by with their bayonets to the last, and when -the Bolsheviks saw the unyielding determination of these Western -savages, to whom fear seemed unborn, and knew that more devastating -death storms of shrapnel awaited further advance, their morale broke -down, the front wave hesitated, panic spread with telepathic -swiftness, and in the control of overpowering fear, the whole force -bolted and scampered like rabbits to the covering trees. There they -were rounded together by the remaining commissars, and from places of -concealment directed a hot fire on the guns. - -So quickly were they reorganized that fifteen minutes after the -assault had been turned back, the Company of Royal Scots, hurrying -across an open field to the support, were subjected to such a -blighting fire that the ground was strewn with the huddled figures of -their dead and wounded. - -As the day advanced the chief commander of the Bolsheviks was killed -and three other commissars were picked off and killed. The march -through the marshy forests had been made at tremendous toll in -vitality, the advantage of surprise had now passed, rations were -running low, and, unless the attack could be pressed with renewed -forces, there would be another bivouac in the wet and cold, for the -Canadian devils watched Lower Toulgas, and, at the first sign of -occupancy, hammered and pounded and shook the houses with high -explosive until they were untenable utterly. During the afternoon an -American force from the center village pushed back a band of riflemen -that hung at the fringe of the woods, and, as evening fell, the enemy -fire grew less sustained and it was evident that unless -reinforcements arrived, the attack would fail. But hours passed and -no reinforcements. The rifle reports sounded more and more erratic, -and, as the night wore on, there was only the sporadic crack of a few -snipers in the rear woods, who held on hopefully waiting for the -supports that never came. - -Prisoners said there were six hundred and fifty in this rear attack -and an equal number had taken the upper village, where they kept up a -steady volley fire, but seemed to wait upon success of the rear party -before storming our fortifications. Therefore, far forward in the -blackness of the night, the Canadians sent forth two salvos, to let -this frontal attacking force know that the guns were intact and that -a fight was waiting beside them. - -So ended the first day of the battle of Armistice Day. There was -firing all through the night from Upper Toulgas, and luminous flares -burst startlingly from unexpected places in the blackness, but after -the failure of the rear movement, no further sustained and determined -attack was attempted. - -When a patrol from the garrison entered Lower Toulgas the next -morning, men nerved themselves for a fearful grewsome spectacle in -the hospital billet; but lo, their comrades were unharmed, and a -woman in the uniform of a Bolshevik soldier was caring for them as -well as the enemy wounded. She had come with her sweetheart, -Melochofski, the thirty miles from Seltzo--Lady Olga, as the soldiers -called her--and had bivouacked the two cold nights with the soldiers -in the woods and swamps. She saved the lives of our injured men by -pleading with Melochofski. Later she ministered to him as he died in -the same hospital room where he would have witnessed his helpless -enemies die. - -She was a member of the Battalion of Death, this extraordinary woman, -of intelligent, almost beautiful appearance. Madame Botchkoreva also -had been a member of the Battalion of Death, so named because it -chose to die rather than betray Holy Russia. Madame Botchkoreva, who -had come with the American soldiers on the transports from America, -and had spoken to them on shipboard so eloquently and so movingly of -her country and its sacred, unshakable loyalty to the Allied cause, -was said to have interceded with President Wilson, urged the sending -of American troops to succor afflicted Russia, and prevailed upon the -President. - -American soldiers had already witnessed grotesque inconsistencies in -this strange campaign. After the first fight they picked up shell -fragments with the letters "U.S.A.," and learned that all, or nearly -all, the Bolshevik ammunition was manufactured in their own country. -They were told that they had been commissioned to safeguard valuable -war supplies, and, coming to Archangel, had seen the great warehouses -there destitute of those supplies. Now they were mystified by Lady -Olga, who fought against Madame Botchkoreva in this baffling Russian -war. Who was the greater patriot? Each a soldier in the uniform of -her country, each had plighted her heart to beloved Russia, each had -taken solemn oath to defend her country until death; and both now -thought they were offering their lives for the defense of that -country! - -In this rear attack, one hundred Soviets were killed, many more -wounded, many taken prisoners, a few rejoined their comrades at Upper -Toulgas, and the rest faded in the forest and were lost. Weeks -afterwards, the villagers at Nitzni Kitsa, fifty miles to the west, -told of three Bolshevik soldiers who came to their village in a -crazed condition, clad in rags, and half starved, babbling an -incoherent story of the frightful battle of Toulgas on Armistice Day, -and of hundreds of their comrades, lost in the woods and perishing in -the treacherous quagmire of the swamps. - -Following Armistice Day, early the next morning there was a flash at -the bend of the river beyond Upper Toulgas, then the screaming -passage of a shell, and the dull, vibrating, smashing roar of high -explosive as it struck near the bridge. Two enemy gunboats were seen -mounted with three inch and six inch guns. Further up the river and -beyond sight was still another craft with six inch guns. Concealed -among the trees, just on the edge of the clearing before Upper -Toulgas, was a complete Bolshevik Field Battery, and these combined -cannon now concentrated on the blockhouse that guarded the bridge. -Shells, tossing geysers of dirt and debris, struck all around, and -ploughed a deep circular furrow within a radius of five yards of the -death house, where seven Americans sat with blanched faces and set -teeth, counting the seconds between the hideous successive whine of -the plunging shells, and waiting silently for certain destruction. -At the edge of Upper Toulgas, Bolshevik infantry stood crouched for -the dash, watching for the strongpoint to collapse under the terrific -pommeling bombardment. - -A stack of hay was near the important post, where a shell smashed, -scattered the hay to right and left, and clogged the loophole that -outlooked to the enemy position. The American sergeant in command -sprang from the blockhouse, snatched the obscuring hay, and was back -again, while bullets from the amazed Bolsheviks spurted inches over -his head. - -Again the same thing happened, and again the sergeant, Floyd A. -Wallace, with as noble an exhibition of cool, deliberate courage as -man is capable, went out to clear the covered loophole, and did clear -it, but he crawled back with a hole in his tunic from a machine gun, -and his drab coat was soaked deep red from a grievous wound. - -It was noon when the blockhouse was hit. It crumpled like paper -under the impact, and one man, drenched with a welter of blood, was -seen to drag himself from the wreckage and crawl back to the priest's -house. I saw this man on the deck of the transport when the -Americans were leaving Archangel in June, every soldier radiant at -the prospect of farewell to the army and Russia, and going home, but -he had not yet learned to smile, and written on his face and deep in -his eyes was the look of one who has gazed at hell. - -When the bridge post was knocked out, one American, carrying a -reserved Lewis gun, followed by two more each with panniers of -ammunition, rushed from the house back of the church, and the three, -dashing a few yards at a time, then throwing themselves flat on their -faces, made the cover of a trench by the side of the priest's house, -and, when the Bolsheviks came forward to the bridge, scattered them -with a heavy fire. - -In the emergency, a Vickers gun was hastily barricaded against a -church window that looked down on the bridge. A platoon had come -down the hill from the center village when it was seen that the -blockhouse could not survive, and, using the skirmish tactics of the -Indian, had passed through a tempest of rifle and machine gun bullets -to the billet house, and reached the church. These were only a few -instances of brilliant initiative. Nowhere than at Toulgas during -the battle of Armistice Day was there better truth of that French -saying during the war: "Every American private soldier is an officer." - -Several times the Bolsheviks felt out the bridge, and the commissars -in rear could be heard urging their men to the attack, but each time -they drew back before the heavy, well directed fire of the Americans, -and, although the artillery smashed the white church and made of the -priest's house a rent and tattered ruin, the defense held at every -point till with merciful darkness the gunboats ceased their cursed -belching, the guns in the forward woods subsided to blessed silence, -and, screened by the shielding night, the Americans were able to -bring in their wounded and send relief to those who had stood at the -most exposed posts without rations or water for many long hours. - -On the third day of battle, the Bolshevik batteries were augmented by -two six inch guns brought down river from Seltzo to Andreevskaya, and -all guns as throughout the first two days stayed safely beyond the -furthermost range of our feeble three inch pieces. Despairing of -breaking down the obstinate defense of the bridge, the bombardment -shifted to our fortifications on the forest flank of the center -village, and here for hours high explosive projectiles and clouds of -shrapnel fell at the rate of one shell every fifteen seconds, ranging -from the strongpoints that guarded attack from the direction of the -woods, to a row of huts on the side hill close by, where a platoon -was quartered as a reserve for these outposts. - -Hardly had the Americans withdrawn from one of these huts, when its -roof was smashed with deafening explosion, and then bolts struck -right and left with stunning rapidity like raging messages from hell, -flinging debris and dirt and fragments of wood in wild disorder that -fell down upon the prostrate men crouching in a nearby fold of -ground. The houses on the hill were raked through and through and -many became a chaos of splintered timbers; the air was stabbed by the -sibilant, vindictive snarl of the shells, fluttered and throbbed with -their violent passage, the ground trembled in quaking travail; -shrapnel burst in gray clouds, fell rattling on the house roofs or -plumped down to the wet ground with suggestive vicious thuds, and the -cumulative effect of successive thunderclap detonations was like a -physical pommeling on the brain. - -But through it all the Americans held fast, clinging to sanity by -sheer point of a desperate wilfulness and facing the Bolshevik -infantry men with unwavering front, so that they dared not show -themselves and were still back in the forest when night came to heal -the hideous turmoil of the day and still the shaking salvos that -stormed through every hour of light, and would be renewed at first -dawn, for the Bolsheviks never relented in their determination to -take the village Toulgas. - -The great Trotsky himself directed the attack. Prisoners said that, -stationed like Napoleon on one of the river craft, he watched the -battle from afar. The Soviet leader made an address to his soldiers -and told them that he intended to keep hammering at Toulgas if it -took all winter to break down resistance of the garrison. The battle -was fought on the first birthday anniversary of the Bolshevik -revolution, and its objective was to sweep through the Allies' lines -to Bereznik, where the soldiers were promised many gifts from the -valuable stores there. - -On the evening of this third day we took an appraisal of our fast -failing resources and estimated the prospect of a further stand. If -the attack had settled to a siege, it looked as if there was small -hope ahead, for a quarter of the little company had been hit, and -those who remained were hollow-eyed from fatigue, so weary that they -staggered like drunken men. All night long, enemy patrols prowled -about the defenses, sounding them for a weak point, rifles cracked -and snapped and through the black sleepless hours, machine guns beat -the devil's own tattoo. - -There was a tacit understanding in the way each man eyed his mate -that when the fortifications fell there would be a street fight in -the center village and the Bolsheviks would take no prisoners. These -men from Michigan and Wisconsin had come from Camp Custer, and, when -the trial came, Custer's spirit would triumph over flesh and live -again the glory of the Little Big Horn. Likewise in those fighting -ranks were heirs of Cromwell's men and a host of sires whose -imperishable battle deeds have risen to the heights of gods the -strength of mother England's fighting men. So there was no thought -of surrendering Toulgas, and evacuation was entirely out of the -question. If the Bolsheviks were bent upon a determined siege, they -could bring fresh levies of men and new guns from their Dvina -Headquarters at Krasnoborsk, a short distance from Seltzo; but -Toulgas had no new guns to draw upon, and there were no supports and -no reserves for Toulgas. - -Our Command decided that the only hope lay in a bold counterstroke. -The Scots relieved the Americans at the outposts, and in the murk of -early morning, on the fourth day of battle, the American company -crept through the noiseless forest and surrounded an observation post -in the woods on the flank off Upper Toulgas. Several Bolsheviks were -killed and the rest fled to the enemy village in panic, with the -report of a great force which had overwhelmed them. The observation -post with many rounds of small arms ammunition was set afire, the -explosions sounded like the musketry of a regiment, and the tired and -discouraged Bolsheviks thought it was a fresh regiment firing unseen -from the unknown depths of the forest. - -Fortune plays a great part in war, and uncertainty accounts for many -things that appear inexplicable reviewed from the comfortable -distance of peace; perhaps the most important information that can -come to a commanding officer is knowledge of enemy strength and his -fighting morale, and the Bolsheviks had no such information. They -had lost their Chief Commander Foukes in this forest counter-attack, -and a message from him, found on the body of a runner who was trying -to reach Upper Toulgas, read: - - -We are in the lowest village. One steamer coming up river--perhaps -reinforcements. Attack more vigorously. Melochofski and Murafski -are killed. If you do not attack I cannot hold on, and retreat is -impossible, 11th November, 1918. 12:30 P.M. - -FOUKES. - - -With Foukes, four of the five commissars had been killed, and now -when the frightened survivors of the detached outpost spread the -alarm of overwhelming numbers of Americanskis in the forest, the -Bolsheviks were seen fleeing Upper Toulgas in skeltering disorder. - -The Americans dared not pursue, for to do so would have revealed -their true strength, and they were outnumbered four to one. Besides, -they were too elated at being rid of the enemy to give him the chance -to return to the attack. They contented themselves with taking -prisoner those stragglers who could not keep pace with the leaderless -rabble that dispersed into the forest. - -A row of houses isolated near the stream at the edge of Upper Toulgas -was suspected of being the dwelling place of unfriendly peasants. -The Bolsheviks used these houses as vantage points for sharpshooters, -and in the counter combat a number of prisoners were taken from them, -so now, when we gained the upper hand, "sniper's row" of huts was -condemned, the peasants were cast out with their scanty possessions, -and as the first snow filled the air and spread an apron over the -drab colored ground, the homes of their fathers became a sea of -crackling flames, and the poor moujiks, women and children sobbing -hysterically, and men with mute sadness and uncomprehending -resignation on their bearded faces, set forth to begin life anew. - -The prisoners taken in this battle of Armistice Day, all except one, -expressed no martyr's devotion to the cause of the Soviets. Some -spoke of being impressed in the Red army at the point of the bayonet, -and being kept in the ranks by the same argument. Others said that -they had joined to escape starvation, and there appeared to be -something plausible in this assertion for as far as we had gone into -the interior the people of the Archangel villages were in desperate -want. The Bolsheviks had commandeered all available food supplies -which at best were not bountiful, barely sufficient to sustain the -life of the villages through the long cold winter; a few potatoes -with a little wheat which the peasants had cached in forest dugouts -sustained life in some manner. Later had not the Allies doled out -rations of flour and other food stuffs from Archangel, many in the -Province would have perished of slow starvation during that winter of -1919. - -The ration of the Bolshevik army was ample enough; a portion that -looked princely to the moujik: a _funt_ (fourteen ounces) of meat, -one and three-quarters _funts_ of bread, with tea, sugar and tobacco -for every soldier. - -If the stories of the prisoners were true and not inspired by motives -of gaining sympathy, one could believe those Russians of the -_intelligencia_ who asserted that the Bolshevik party was a minority -party of terrorism, and that very few Russians were ardent Soviets. - -Even Lenine himself, once said that of every one hundred Bolsheviks -fifty were knaves, forty fools, and probably only one a sincere -follower. - -Two highly cultivated artillery officers, who had held commissions in -the Imperial Army, gave themselves up shortly after the battle of -Armistice Day and told a tale of being forced into the Bolshevik army -by the threat to kill their families if they refused. They said that -all Bolshevik officers were ceaselessly observed by spies who were -quick to report to Staff Headquarters the slightest symptom of a -wayward disposition, or the suspicion of any gesture of mutiny. - -Few of the prisoners wore any regulation military uniforms. In -appearance there was nothing, except the carrying of firearms, to -distinguish them from the moujiks of the villages. Both were clad in -like _valenkas_, or felt boots, dirty, gray, curled, high fur hats, -shapeless dun-colored tunics. Many of the villagers were in sympathy -with the Soviets, and despite all vigilance, there was an active -system of espionage between many moujiks and the Bolshevik leaders -with which it was impossible to cope. Our Intelligence received -information that the rear attacking party had been conducted to our -lines by a prominent resident of Toulgas, and sometimes the enemy -showed amazing knowledge of our forces and the state of our -fortifications that must have come from those in whose houses we -dwelt as unwelcome guests. - -There was but brief respite after the four days' battle of Armistice -Day, for the American engineers set all hands vigorously to work on -the winter defenses. Around the center village, blockhouses were -built on the forest flank, and at front and rear at points distanced -from two to three hundred yards one from the other. Coils of barbed -wire were transported over the snow from Bereznik and strung in wire -aprons between the strong points. Every blockhouse had an automatic -rifle or a machine gun, and some at the more important posts had two, -all targeted and trained to lay down a devastating, enfilade fire -along the connecting wire barriers. A few Colt machine guns that -were air cooled arrived, and helped the morale immensely, for they -had no difficulty functioning in the very low temperatures. Then, -when there was more time, the blockhouses were reconstructed with -heavy timbers and piled high with sand so that they became bomb proof -to anything except the explosion of a six inch shell, and even along -the unfeared river bank there were placed two small blockhouses with -machine guns. - -When the snow mounted high and icy winds stung with the sting of -wasps, Toulgas had become a fortress, well nigh impregnable, unless -her defenses were penetrated from within, or the attack came in -hopelessly overpowering numbers. - -But scarce had all this preparation commenced, when came glorious -news of the Armistice. The war was ended, and it was taken as a -matter of course that the coming peace would extend to the war of the -Arctic Circle. - -From the outset the soldiers never had any rampant enthusiasm in this -strange conflict with its motives of mystery, but while the struggle -in France went on they stilled their questioning doubts and followed -the work set out for them by their officers in the uncertain belief -that somewhere back of the scenes at Paris or London or Washington -those in the high places had charted a wise policy beyond the -comprehension of a common soldier; and that in some devious, -undisclosed way the campaign in Russia was necessary, was playing its -inexplicable part in completing the defeat of the Germans. Even when -weeks elapsed and no announcement of change in policy was -forthcoming, the men were patient and did not complain. But when at -the end of November, Consul General Poole sent word from Archangel -that the Americans in North Russia would continue at their tasks to -the end, knowledge came to the soldier with stunning reality that the -great struggle in which he was prepared to die had no relation to the -war with Russia, in which he probably would die, that he was engaged -in a war which had no assignable reason for its being, in which many -of his companions had already been killed, and the end was not in -sight. - -The uncertainty, the isolation of the distant snowbound fronts, the -ever present prospect of being trapped by enemy occupation of the -villages along the extended communication line, and now that the -excitement of the fight had waned, the depressing monotony of the -days ground down the spirit of the men. They commenced to lose -heart. Life became a very stale, flat, drab thing in the vast -stretches of cheerless snow reaching far across the river to the -murky, brooding skies and the encompassing sheeted forests, so -ghostly and so still, where death prowled in the shadows and the -sinking realization came home of no supports or reserves along the -two hundred miles of winding winter road to Archangel. - -Week follows week, and November goes by, and December, and no word -comes from the War Department. No reassuring message to the -perplexed Commander-in-Chief, defining the purposes of the war, its -duration, when relief will come. No word comes and the soldier is -left to think that he has been abandoned by his country and left to -rot on the barren snow wastes of Arctic Russia. - -Men move about wintered Toulgas emitting great clouds of vapored -breath, shuffling over the snow in the clumsy Shakleton Arctic boots, -wrapped in great coats against the bitter, deadly cold; on their -faces the condemned look of felons from whom all hope has fled. - -In the dismal huts of the village soldiers are packed with the -crowded moujik families like herded animals, where the atmosphere is -dank and pestilent with an odor like stale fish. Filth is on the -floor and vermin creep from the cracks and crevices of the log walls. - -In December and January there are only a few hours of feeble -shadowing light, then tragic blackness blots out the snows and the -mournful woods and the skies of melodrama. With night the tiny -windows are shrouded with board coverings, a candle flickers in the -low ceiling room, unless the issue is exhausted, then a bully beef -can is produced, filled with bacon grease and an improvised rag wick -which flutters a hesitant glimmering through the heavy gloom. - -There through the long dark unwholesome hours, the Americans sit and -think thoughts more black than the outside night. Red, hateful, -revolutionary thoughts like those of the maddened mob that rushed -Louis Seize to the guillotine, and that would threaten the stability -of any nation. Black thoughts of their country and the smug, pompous -statesmen who with sonorous patriotic phrases had sent them to exile; -of the casual people at home and their damned complacency and their -outlook on war as a gorgeous heraldry of youth, a gay, romantic -adventure. - -Sometimes it almost seemed as if malignant Bolshevism had poisoned -the air, for once in February when the situation looked worst and -nothing seemed certain except annihilation for the whole garrison, -the American soldiers at Toulgas threatened, unless promised early -relief, to walk out like disgruntled factory hands. The same thing, -but with a more serious aspect, occurred in an American company at -Archangel; and the French on the Railway had, at first rumor of the -Armistice, flatly deserted and returned to Archangel. At Kodish a -company of British refused to fight further in this indefinite war, -and among the first conscripted Russian troops there was serious -mutiny resulting in much bloodshed. - -But there was nothing mutinous in this expression of opinion at -Toulgas. It seemed the only course to civilian soldiers who were -schooled in strikes under an industrial system where the strike has -always been the concerted expression of disapproval by those who toil -in the ranks. When the nature of a mutiny was explained to these -men, they felt a burning shame for what they had done so unwilfully, -and never again, throughout the many discouraging, hopeless days that -followed, was there the smallest hint of protest from these civilian -American soldiers. - -When the days were shortest, the commissary transport broke down, and -for a time the principal ration was corned beef that was frozen in -the tin, and a nauseating mixture of vegetables and stewed meat that -had been alternately frozen and thawed in the tin, and when eaten, -gave some loathsome skin diseases and others dysentery. - -Cooking and eating were the only breaks in the melancholy monotony; -there was no diversion, no relaxation, no recreation, and the divine -gift of humor which was the salvation of the Western soldier, was -denied to the soldier of North Russia, for humor springs from buoyant -spirits, the wells of radiant health, and the Americans on the Dvina -were so physically depleted that in February the medical officer of -the First Battalion reported that one-third of all those on active -duty should be committed to the hospital without delay. But these -sickened soldiers could not be sent to the hospital without -abandoning the undermanned posts that guarded the garrison. - -Robbed of physical resistance and broken in spirit it was pitiful to -see strong men and brave men become shrinking cowards, filled with a -vague, sapping dread, under the uninterrupted strain and the -depressing influence of the long nights. Fidgety sentinels were -constantly seeing lurking Bolsheviks conjured by their morbid -imagination from the menacing shadows of the woods, and there was an -epidemic of accidental self-inflicted wounds, which always occurred -at the ticklish, unsupported, advanced positions. - -The doctors pronounced many as cases of neurasthenia induced by much -loss of sleep, unbroken fatigue, and continual drain upon the nervous -forces. They looked solemn and dubious and said it was demanding too -much of human endurance to expect the defense to hold on without -relief through the many winter days that stretched ahead. - -One January night, terrible in the severity of its cold, all hands -"stood to" and waited for the rush from the woods, for sentinels had -heard the muttering of many voices and had caught the movement of -bodies among the trees; but no attack developed, and in the morning -the tracks of timber wolves were found approaching almost to our -wire, where the pack had stopped to sniff the scent from these -strange tenanted loghouses, standing apart on the snow, like outcasts -of the village. - -The few sentinels kept far in advance at the front village were -always having jumping nerves, and robbing exhausted men of precious -sleep; but once in truth they were nearly surrounded during the night -and escaped by a miracle. So it was decided to burn the houses, as -"sniper's row" had been burned in November. Some two hundred -peasants were turned out in the snow, and Upper Toulgas became a -dirty smudge on the whitened plain over which our range of visibility -extended far to the forward woods, and our field of fire was -increased comfortingly. - -The High Command passed out word that Arctic conditions would -preclude any active fighting, but the prisoners spoke differently. -They said that the Bolshevik Staff expected the Allied soldiers to -die like flies in the cold winter, that the enemy intended to strike -when the cold was most bitter, the snow deepest, and so they did. - -In January, with a temperature forty degrees below zero Fahrenheit, -at midnight, Bolshevik batteries from across the Dvina commenced -shelling Toulgas, and continued for fifteen minutes a bombardment -that went wild in the dark and struck harmlessly far from our works. - -Directly the last shell had been fired, enemy infantry advanced in -the open and rushed our front posts. In the darkness there was -frantic, wild fighting and struggling in the deep snow, shrill yells -and a confused babble in a foreign language, the hideous moans of the -wounded, the ringing commands of the commissars in rear, urging their -men forward to sure death, and the prolonged explosions of machine -guns spurting a rain of bullets over the heads of the attackers to -warn them of a death that waited in rear if they turned back. - -In two hours the force of the assault was spent, the last shot had -been fired, and the snow before one of the blockhouses, where -enfilading fire had cut up the attack, was covered with Bolshevik -bodies. The fight was an uneven one, for the Americans in the -blockhouses fired from bullet proof cover and were sheltered from the -weather; but the Bolsheviks had to advance against barbed wire, -struggle in the snow against targeted machine guns and had no -protection from paralyzing cold. Many of the prisoners were so badly -frostbitten that arms and feet were amputated to save their lives. - -In February, acting in cooperation with the enemy offensive on the -Vaga, a large force of fresh troops composed mainly of the -Eighty-second Tarasovo regiment, who knew nothing of the reputation -of Toulgas and the fate of other attacking parties, waded through the -cold snow forests, clad in white smocks to blend with the color of -the ground, floundered up to our lines in the impenetrable night, and -were not discovered until they were engaged in cutting the wire -between two blockhouses. They were fairly trapped then between the -enfilading fire of two sets of machine guns and suffered fearful -carnage before they fought their bloody way back wading ponderously -through the deep snow to the forest. - -Some of the dead came abruptly to life and gave themselves up when a -search was made of the bodies next morning; horribly frozen by -exposure, they said they preferred an uncertain chance of life at the -hands of the Englishskis and Americanskis, to the certain chance of -death in a further attempt to conquer Toulgas. - -After this sanguinary fight, the Bolshevik soldiers met in a great -assemblage, made bitter speeches against the Commander who had led -them to disaster, and resolutions were passed which threatened death -to any commissar who insisted on another assault of Toulgas and the -fighting fiends who defended it. - -So this village, far up the Dvina, was no longer the prey for wild -midnight sorties and desperate melodramatic clashes in the deep snow, -and there might have been comparative peace for the garrison were it -not for adherence to those cardinal precepts of military orthodoxy -that aggressive contact with the enemy must be always maintained and -reconnaissance is vital to a successful combat campaign. It was to -conform to these inflexible precepts of the military that patrols -left Toulgas seeking for Bolsheviks. Sometimes they went forth on -webfooted snow-shoes, and scouted the forest far on the threatening -flank to discover whether the enemy had found some new method to -approach our positions, and then they served a useful purpose. But -the customary patrol party was the one that went out every day, a -band of three or four, along a trail of padded snow just wide enough -for a single file, that led through the front forest, five miles to -the nearest enemy position at Zastrovia. - -A hunter can understand this tracked snow trail. It was like a game -runway that leads to a salt lick, fresh signs show that deer pass -every day, and it is only a question of time until the hunter gets -his chance for the fatal shot. - -Sometimes, by the mere coincidence of fate, a patrol would turn about -in the trail and start back towards friendly lines, when a machine -gun would snap and crack and a rush of bullets sing harmlessly high, -where another hundred yards meant death from the ambuscade; and often -the scouts would come to the hidden waiting spot where imprints in -the snow left the story of a large Bolshevik force that had stayed -long, but, overcome by the cold, had been forced to quit the death -hunt. - -Often the Bolsheviks would leave bundles of propaganda on these -patrol paths, much of it written in English, inciting British and -American soldiers to mutiny, to kill their officers and join the -Soviets in a revolution for the world wide supremacy of the -proletariat. - -Death walked these white runways. Death, and his romantic partner, -Chance. But the color of youth had vanished before dour, wan reality -with the soldier of North Russia, and the romance of Chance was lost -on him. Yet it was strange how often men could walk these suicidal -paths and escape unscathed. The goddess was kind, she visited them -with benevolent mood, save a few times such as once in March, when -from a party of seven, only one got back to tell of the fatal ambush. - -When a platoon hurries out to pick up some sign of the others, it is -caught in the open at Upper Toulgas, pocketed from the supporting -fire of our own lines. There in the open snow, and denied all cover, -the men are trapped like condemned animals. They flatten on the snow -and fire at an unseen foe that pelts a withering fire from behind -trees three hundred yards on a quartering forward flank; bullets whip -the snow beside them and sweep by in such a storm that the air -whimpers and cries aloud like a tortured living thing. At the end of -three hours snow clogging in rifle breeches has frozen solid and they -can shoot no more. Then, when it looks as if all were lost, the last -man on the line gets back to the artillery, but is so winded and -funked by his experience that his directions are a confused babble -and the artillery opens up at risk of hitting our own men, shrapnel -bursts in front of the platoon, the murdering fire from the clump of -trees slackens, and the officer is able to withdraw his men to a -God-given dip in the ground, all that are left of them, for out on -the white snow still stretches a crumpled drab colored line; some lie -very still, others writhe in the agony of grievous or fatal wounds. - - -Two days after this shambles of the snows, an officer and three men -were met, on the forest runway to Zastrovia, by the fire of a large -force of Bolsheviks, but until the day the Americans left Toulgas, -there was no abatement of the perilous policy of patrols in this -undefined war, where the loss of every life seemed sacrilegious -sacrifice. - -And this amazing campaign so prodigal of men's lives continued -through the lengthening winter days. - -At the end of March the sun had mounted high, and the snows were -fields of myriad dazzling diamonds. A new fresh fragrance filled the -air, and brought the promise of vague, perceptible hope. Spring was -coming with the sun, and the renewal of youth would not be denied. - -Then the Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force took -cognizance of the war with Russia and sent a general officer to -command the forces from Archangel. - -Then the Secretary of War announced that no more troops would be -sent, and the units there withdrawn. - -This was the end, but the Americans did not know it. The Royal Scots -came to take over the defenses, the old Category Bs, with their wound -stripes, their traditional, cockney jauntiness and just a hint of -superiority in their eyes for the Yanks who were leaving the show. - -It was strange how that night the winter's harshness relented in the -gentle lulling wind, and in the luminous spell of the limpid moon, -weary, war-worn Toulgas was at peace, sleeping, in unbroken white -stillness. - -Far up the sloping hill the rude silhouette of the center village is -etched against a starlighted sky. Forward the church, shell gashed -and mutilated, with its grotesque minarets, and the moon, a pendulous -globe of living fire. Clear in the lucid light is the hard contested -bridge, that means so little and yet so much; beyond, the charred -ruins of the sacrificed village, and, still farther, the somber, -gloomy forest. Vividly white gleams the church beneath the steely -mystic moon, but whiter than the church or moon are the endless -wastes of immaculate, unmarred snows that reach across the great -river to the lurking darkness of the distant shore and abroad to the -sinister shadows of crested trees. - -This is Russia of the American soldier--a cluster of dirty huts, -dominated by the severe white church, and, encircling all, fields and -fields of spotless snows; Russia, terrible in the grasp of -devastating Arctic cold; the squalor and fulsome filth of the -villages; the moujik, his mild eyes, his patient bearded face--the -gray drudgery and gaping ignorance of his starved life; the little -shaggy pony, docile and uncomplaining in winds, icy as the breath of -the sepulcher; Russia, her dread mystery, and that intangible quality -of melodrama that throngs the air, and lingers in the air, -persistently haunts the spirit, and is as consciously perceptible as -the dirty villages, the white church, and the grief-laden skies. - - -It was not until nearly June the Americans were told that their -bizarre service to their country was at an end. They were to go by -slow stages back through the Dvina villages, always within call in -case of dire need. But at last the purple day comes, and they are -going home. A troop ship off among the ice floes of the White Sea -toils westward, and upon its decks is a throng of soldiers who gaze -with equivocal valediction upon the failing Russian coast, which -mingles imperceptibly with the distant haze, and so passes like this -shameful war to the bourne of memory's empire. The fairy rumor has -come true, the Americans are going home. - - - - -THE VAGA - - -27th Oct., '18 - -Dear Colonel Stewart: - -I understand you have very little information of the situation up -here. I have very little myself, and what I get is usually from -rumors unless I go to British Hdqrs and ask for it which I do not -care to do. - -.... The commander of Force C has my Bn scattered so much there is -only one company in a place. Have two companies under my orders Co A -is up the river about 25 versts from here Co C is at this place and -one Plt of Co A. Co B is over on the Dvina and Co D is with Force D -about half way to Archangel between the river and the railroad. - -.... Suppose part of us will winter here, but do not know yet.... - - -Excerpts from letter written from Shenkurst on the Vaga, by -Lieutenant Colonel John B. Corbley to Colonel George E. Stewart, -Commanding Officer, 339th United States Infantry, Archangel, Russia. - - -"In North Russia, Shenkurst has been abandoned and the Allies are in -a precarious position. The country is apt to hear much of these -American battalions of North Russia, whether they live or die. If -they live, it will be only after an heroic struggle with two fierce -enemies--man and nature. If they die, it will only be after they -have expended the last ounce of strength and the last cartridge." - -_The Washington Post_, 28th January, 1919. - - -"Shenkurst has been evacuated and we are greatly outnumbered, but -there is not the slightest reason for anxiety. New positions have -been occupied a little further north. The Archangel expedition is -quite safe, and always has been safe." - -_The London Times_, 28th January, 1919. - - -IX - -THE VAGA - -The meagre numbers of the Railway had been irreparably spent by the -establishment of the Onega force, on the west, and a like outguard at -Seletskoe on the east, with its right and left wings, Kodish and -Shred Mekrenga. - -Now, as it followed up the Dvina, in the same manner, the dubious, -striking power of the River Column was lost by the output along the -tenuous, weaving waterway of many communicating posts, that like -great drops of heart blood from a mortal hurt, wasted its vitality -and drained its strength, until it could go no further. - -These posts, like Indian blockhouses of frontier days, were strung -along the river course nearly to far Archangel, and in them, -insignificant detachments, with the grim, quiet resolution of the -frontier men, and the steady, reliant nerve of the frontier men, -safeguarded the backward way, where always silent, winter darkness -held ceaseless, dire, ominous threats. - -In the Shred Mekrenga offensive of January, when the enemy sought to -cut off the River Column from its base, he launched a venomous attack -at one of these river posts far back at Morjagorskaya, but the -British garrison held without flinching and saved the communications -by a narrow margin. - -By this process of dispatching numerous, guarding detachments -throughout the province, the Allied forces, utterly trivial at the -outset, became so dispersed that the "offensive war" swiftly -degenerated into a disjunctive, raiding excursion, and the invasion, -instead of striking the Red Bolos with terror and chasing them like -scurrying quail to cover, was regarded by the enemy with contempt, -even derision. The Bolshevik soldiers, at first panicky, soon -overcame their fear, and when their leaders saw that no -reinforcements could come through the frozen north port, they assumed -an attitude of aggressive defiance, and were ever conducting raids, -ever menacing the long, basal lines, the flanks and rear of the far -separated, uncoordinated, unsupported Allied fronts. On the Dvina, -hardly had the detached American company taken over the defense of -the costly stores at Bereznik, when friendly natives from Shenkurst -directed the observation of our Command to the danger of a rear -flanking movement from that quarter, so half of the garrison was -detailed up the Vaga to take possession of this city of Shenkurst in -the name of "friendly intervention." - -It must be said that for the most part the city welcomed, with a -genuine, welcoming spirit, the coming of the foreign liberators, for -many people had fled north to Shenkurst from the violent Reds at -Moscow and Petrograd, who hated the _intelligencia_ and everything -else that was unproletarian, with a destructive, vehement hatred. - -These people were the Russians of literature, cultivated and mannerly -in appearance, soft spoken in approach, and accustomed to the -niceties, the softer things of life. They wore shoes and stockings, -and with a revealing hint of gawkiness, most of the rest of our -unimaginative, Western habit; also they had a few of the simple -delicacies on their tables that seemed like fairy gifts to the -homesick, American soldiers. - -The Vaga is noticeably smaller than the Dvina, and seldom exceeds a -breadth of a half mile, more often it is five hundred yards, even -less, and the soil through which it plows a tumid trail is soft, -sandy loam, so that high, commanding bluffs have been eroded by its -waters, where the villages group in almost neighborly proximity. On -one of these bluff heights, stood effete Shenkurst, a generation -removed from moujik poverty and enchaining ignorance, and consciously -superior to the humble log huts that below north and south trailed -the river. The dominating buildings, a monastery, a barracks of the -Tsar, and five conspicuous churches were white as Russia's snows, and -in the fall, made Shenkurst flaringly garish in its frame of -tenebrious, surrounding forest. - -Nearly a week of tranquillity passed with the Americans at Shenkurst, -when the Staff, chafing at this prolonged unbelligerency, issued -orders "to stir up the enemy," and some one hundred Americans, with -fifty Allied Russian soldiers, embarked to reconnoitre the upper -river. - -All was uneventful, until ten miles out from Shenkurst, when suddenly -an unseen fire poured from both high river embankments on the steamer -bearing the unsuspecting, scouting party; there was no method of -gauging the ambuscade, which judged by the volume of fire, most of -which screeched harmlessly high, was far stronger than the Americans; -but on the instant, the officer beached his craft on the nearest -ground, the eager men scrambled over the side into the water waist -deep, and engaged the enemy, who was so taken back by this unexpected -action that he wilted into the forest; then, entirely undaunted, the -little party moved on down the forest road, which wound south with -the river, and into the sinister shadows of an unexplored, uncharted, -alien country, where many signs pointed to certain, overpowering -resistance, and the law of probabilities pointed to extinction. - -The American in command, Captain Odjard, was more an antique Viking -than a city-bred modern, and as the intrepid march continued, he -never wavered in his purpose to penetrate the heart of the Bolshevik -stronghold; for twenty days he kept on, despite distressing hardship, -and short, iron rations, and most grievous of all, the utter absence -of comforting tobacco. Reports came constantly that the enemy was -intent upon the capture or destruction of the little band, Bolsheviks -thronged the forward way through the forest, and every day -information reached Captain Odjard that the villages in his rear were -heavily garrisoned with enemy forces; most serious of all, the fast -vanishing ration supplies would soon be all gone. Situations such as -this search the innermost fiber of the stuff that makes for -leadership. There are no precedents. A man of courage and valiant -will would face about and fight his way back and perhaps die -fighting. A coward would vacillate and falter in a mortal terror of -indecision, and thus perish. - -[Illustration: The only means of transportation after the rivers were -closed] - -Stonewall Jackson and Forrest would do the genius born, unexpected -thing. The Viking pressed onward, met the hostile Russians, forced -them to a savage engagement, in which they lost in killed and wounded -twice the number of the entire reconnoitering force, then turned -about and backtracked the cleared way to the south, hastily abandoned -by the Bolsheviks, in every reasonable fear of meeting the -outnumbering reinforcements that surely must be coming up in support -of such a bold and confident advance. - -But at Ust Padenga, fifteen miles from Shenkurst, the party was -stopped by a dispatch from Headquarters. It would go no farther -downstream, but would act as an advanced outguard for the main Vaga -position, a barricade to serve as a distant, delaying obstacle, and -so render the inner post more easily defended. - -For when the notion of an offensive war languished with the General -Staff, and had nearly expired, it was revived a little by the theory -of "an offensive defense," in which the six, widely scattered, battle -fronts acted as protective tentacles, each of them in turn -establishing an "offensive" outguard for Archangel, since once this -virus of the "offensive defense" was inoculated in the Allied -Command, it would not rest dormant, but persisted, assertive to the -ultimate. - -Meanwhile, Nature, flagrantly disrespectful of the military, swung -the seasons in their immutable cycle. Fall made her parting -courtesy, and winter with dread message and icy breath waited on the -threshold. - -The hope was not yet dead of the Railway Column gaining Plesetskaya, -and the present objective of the Vaga force was to penetrate some -eighty miles to Velsk, an important junction point of roads -converging from the area of Plesetskaya, from the city of Vologda and -from the Dvina. - -The Railway got little further than Obozerskaya, and the little River -Column, by the end of October, was at bay, fighting for life nearly -two hundred miles from Kotlas, its first objective. - -But before these forces had been halted, already the Vaga Expedition -had gone too far, thrust out nearly one hundred miles from the -Railway, and fifty miles further south than the River party, it -presented inviting opportunity for enemy encirclement--a dangerous -salient, projected midway between the two main Columns, and nearly -three hundred miles from Archangel, by the tortuous course of the -road. - -The British are a bold people and it did not seem to weigh heavily -with them that Shenkurst, the base of this Vaga Column, was flanked -by hostile villages, where vain attempts had been made to drive out -the Bolsheviks, that the city was garrisoned by locally recruited -Russians, who had been tried and found wanting under fire, and whose -loyalty might wane when the tide of Allied fortunes ebbed low, as -soon it did. - -Shenkurst must be held, and so the reconnaissance patrol, which had -eluded doom only by the splendid dash of the men and brilliant -leadership, stayed at Ust Padenga as an advanced outpost, and the -theorists of the "offensive defense" were satisfied. - -Captain Odjard took main station in a village on a precipitous cliff, -that reared high from the river, and posted his Russian retainers in -huts that clustered on the flat bank of the Vaga, nearly midway down -the long valley that spread south to the forest. - -Quartering from this second village, and much further down the valley -was a third, conspicuous on another abrupt bluff, which when seen -from the distance of the main post, the house tops had the -picturesque appearance of toy roofs, sculptured on a pedestal. - -The houses on the flat river bank stood out naked on the snow, and in -case of attack, could be supported from the main position, for they -were well within effective shooting range; but the other, the -elevated village, was nearly a mile away, and beside it, on the west, -the forest crowded perilously near; gullies were at the base of the -bluff which made "dead ground" there, a series of natural trenches -for an attacking party. It was a hazardous spot, the Russians would -not stay in this distant, treacherous "Death's snare" on the heights; -and they wagged their heads lugubriously over the few Americans who -persisted in holding it. From the steep side of Headquarters' cliff, -the usual wagon road descended, sent offshoots to the two south -villages, and trailed off to the concealment of the lower forest. - -Week succeeded week in lonely Ust Padenga, where the sad -disgarnishment of this tragical, little war was seared vivid in the -living consciousness of American soldiers. The Armistice came, but -with it no word of enlightenment, until they were led to believe that -in the general rejoicing, the stirring movement of momentous events, -no heed could be given to the trifling performances of their -fantastic, Arctic side show, long since forgotten in France. - -Yet strange, the soldiers did not grow deeply embittered, a stoic -calm came over all and they became worshippers of the Russian -philosophy, _nitchevoo_, votaries of the Fates, burning frankincense -at their shrine, praying favor, yet unmoved by their displeasure, -indifferent to their whimsical caprice. They became atrophied men, -asking nothing of the future and expecting nothing. The doctors said -many were cases of neurotic disorder, and others suffered from -enteritis and scabies, and ordered rest and the hospital, but the -Staff waved the medical men brusquely aside and sarcastically asked -who was to hold off the Bolsheviks. - -During November, and shortly following the Armistice, two patrols -"seeking contact," were waylaid in ambush, and from the first, only -one man came back. The officer of the second might have escaped, but -to do so he would have had to leave a detachment in distress, -surrounded in the forest. He rather chose the hazard of death, and -leading the fight, he laid down his life for his friends. - -During the weeks of December and January, with their bitter cold and -dismal, somber days, trees were felled about the defenses to widen -the field of fire, and long, intersecting lanes were laid through the -forest like swaths through a standing grain field, so that the -machine guns and the automatics might hurl their spray of death at -longer range, where skulked shadowed and grisly, white forms. When -in the dead and quiet of the night, rockets burst from unknown -quarters, flared with ghostly glare and faded in mystery behind inky, -plumose silhouettes. - -In the cold and the long darkness of winter, there was time for -reflection for any one who would be so idle, on the defenselessness -of the position, the remoteness from the base, the hordes that were -massing on the road north to Shenkurst and meant soon to make "the -big push." - -Our Intelligence reported that in January the Sixth Bolshevik Army of -the north numbered forty-five thousand seven hundred, and the -dribbling replenishment of our forces that had come down the railway -from open Murmansk, had far from kept pace with attrition by sickness -and gunshot wounds. Disregarding our Russian Allies, we did not have -six thousand men at all fronts. - -By the middle of January, a blighting influence, a devastating, -nether presence filled the air, like the spell of an evil spirit, and -as capable of being finitely recorded as the testimony of eyes and -ears. There was in the atmosphere something closely akin to that -heavy, stifling calm, that in the summertime hangs over all, before -the wind swoops down and the first, big, pelting raindrops fall from -blackened thunder clouds, the advance guard of the drenching storm -that descends to earth in howling, unrestrained fury. - -All at lone Ust Padenga knew the storm was coming, it was only a -question of where it would strike. On the 19th day of January, the -dispositions were these: a platoon of Americans held the village on -the pedestal, fifty-four allied Russians were in the village on the -flat below, and the main body of Americans, some two hundred strong, -two Field Pieces, one One Pounder of Russian design, one Pom Pom and -forty Russian artillerymen (who funked in the first fight and were -relieved by Canadians), were in the backward village on the high -bluff. - -At dawn, for one hour, enemy batteries from across the Vaga shelled -the foremost position on the elevated ground, then suddenly ceased -firing, and like grotesque Jacks in the Box, swarms of white-clad -Bolsheviks arose by magic from the concealment of the ravines. A -succession of long, white lines came from the close forest, and -across the open snow of the Vaga came still more advancing, -white-clothed men. - -Against such bulked masses, resistance was impossible. Three machine -guns, burst after burst, tore rending gaps in the coming lines, but -they merely welded and kept on. - -When the last pannier of ammunition was gone, word was given to blaze -a path through to the rear--and double time! And now down the steep -hillside the trapped company charged, tumbling and fighting like -maddened, cornered animals, until they gained a foothold on the road -which stretched out bleak and coverless eight hundred yards to the -main village. Some tried to make a run of it over the bottomless, -intervening snows, where they struggled piteously like hobbled -animals and were killed. But in most part, they dashed in frantic -relays down the open road, sprinting forward a score of yards, then -flattening on the ground, and so on, rushing and sprawling flat, -until the fatal course was run, while every rifle from the abandoned -village on the height, and the flanking forest and across the Vaga -spurted death, and machine guns rattled rasping death, and bullets -lashed the air with the furious cracking of ten thousand whips, or -sped fluttering through the snow, and went off whimpering into space, -or felled men with sledgelike blows, until the doomed way was strewn, -end to end, with the prostrate forms of the fallen ones, and a -pitiful few, by some fluke of luck, had gained the shielding hill. - -Not ten minutes had been taken in that terrible dash through that -valley of Death's shadow, and of the forty-seven who began the -journey, six reached the goal of the main village. In the fearful -sub-zero temperature, all of the wounded would have perished by -freezing, had not a volunteer party, braving the unspeakable, -barbarous Bolos (who for some reason held their fire), gone out in -the open snow and brought them to shelter. Fifteen were thus -accounted for, and the rest lay somewhere beyond sight, "missing in -action," that ambiguous, impersonal expression of the War Department, -so fraught with mingled hope and dread, harrowing fear. - -[Illustration: When the snow mounted high the fortifications had been -made safe against any projectile save a six-inch shell] - -When night screened the battle scene, the Allied Russians, upon their -own inspiration, evacuated the village on the flat, and the next day, -the unwitting Bolsheviks began the second phase of their investment -of Ust Padenga. Again the artillery, even more violently than the -first day, flung hurtling blasts at the deserted village, and late at -day, the infantry, grotesque, bobbing objects out on the wide snow -stretches, stormed the uncontested position. It was like rifle -practice to shoot down those living targets, glaringly open on the -white snow, and they were downed by tattering bursts of shrapnel, -downed by musketry, downed by awful devastating bursts from machine -guns, that moved them row upon row, until the last man had passed to -the cover of this village of costly folly, and the snow was dotted -with dead and wounded, which, from the distant hill, looked -grotesquely like raisins stuck in an immense rice pudding. - -On the third day, the surviving village, lying bare on the -unsheltered top of the cliff, was the target of a barrage that -searched it house to house, until many of the moujik homes were -wrecks of smashed timbers, and the trail of human wreckage was a -ghastly, unsightly thing. The American doctor went to death, a -victim of the shells, because he would not have his wounds bound up -while a single, private soldier was not relieved, but he lives with -Vaga men as long as life endures, a symbol of moral grandeur and -noblest self abnegation, that will ever inspire faith in the -immortal, spiritual entity of man. - -It was not the Viking Captain who ordered retreat from Ust Padenga. -Half of his little company was gone, but he had no thought of -yielding. He would have held on until the last dog was hung, if -superior directions had not come from Shenkurst. He loved a fight, -this antique Norseman, loved the wild, esoteric fury of it. Three -times, his men threw back the Bolsheviks, and caught in a contagion -of blood lust, they craved still more, maddened by battle, they took -hilarious delight in seeing "the Bolos bite the snow banks." - -They did not know that pitted against them was the vanguard of an -army that by every objective rule of warfare should have crushed this -rash, little group to utter destruction; but if Ust Padenga did not -know, all at Shenkurst were fully alert to the gravity of the -situation. This was the much proclaimed Bolshevik offensive, with -its object, the annihilation of the Allied North Russian Expedition; -and now as the full fury of the gigantic, impending assault unfolded, -the "offensive defensive" theory found vindication, for at the Ust -Padenga, little more than one company had stood off a regiment of the -enemy. - -There seemed small hope of escape for the valiant Vaga men who -remained after the fourth night of the attack, when an incendiary -shell fell upon the village, sending hungry, devouring flames athwart -the curtain of the Russian night, till naught was left of the moujik -homes save the gray ashes of "friendly intervention"; but in the -confusion of concentration, the assemblage of large numbers and -numerous troop movements, the retreating company glided in darkness -down the center of the frozen, white covered Vaga, through the very -midst of unsuspecting, enemy hosts, and two nights later, reported at -Headquarters tired and half starved, the Viking leader among the -casualties with a serious wound. - -In Shenkurst, the beleaguered city, in point of numbers, the Slavic -Battalion, nearly twelve hundred strong, was the mainstay of the -garrison, but on trial in a previous attack for one of the two -flanking villages, it had made a sorry showing, and in a last stand, -was estimated as of uncertain, staying quality. Besides these -Russians, there was one full company of American Infantry, the -exhausted half company from Ust Padenga, one section of the -Thirty-Eighth Canadian Field Artillery, four Two Point Nine mountain -pieces, and three trench mortars. - -The Bolsheviks had surrounded Shenkurst in an immense, unnumbered -multitude. They had mounted one nine inch gun, two six inch guns, -four Four Point Sevens and a Battery of Field Artillery, and from -three-quarters of the forest commenced to batter down the buildings. - -It could be only a brief time before the city would be in ruins, but -even more serious was the question of provisions. They were already -limited, and in case of siege, no new supply could be brought up -until the breaking of the river in May. - -The Bolsheviks, confident that the garrison would try to escape from -Shenkurst, waited in great masses on the main north road, eager for -the coming slaughter; but a native had informed the Allied Command of -a secret path through the deep, snow covered swamps, and at midnight, -along this unknown route, evacuation was silently effected. - -Before the retreat, the Allied Russians were sent as a protective -screen along a flanking trail, but scarce had the retiring movement -begun, when what remained of them came rushing back in frantic haste, -that was altogether unsoldierly, gasping an excited, incoherent story -of how two entire companies had deserted to the enemy lines and the -rest had fled in desperate fear for their lives. - -Many civilians joined this bizarre, midnight march through the snow -forest and swamps, and made the retreat a spectacle of wantonous -disorder, as stoical men and wailing women strove heavily on, bent -under the torturing weight of bundled treasures, which, under duress -of fatigue, one by one were reluctantly abandoned, leaving a pathetic -havoc of cluttering waste in the trail; and soldiers, weakened by -much fasting and sleepless battle nights, lurched in the darkness, -fell and lay in the cold snow, and had to be struck and urged on by -violent means, so grateful was any surcease from further excruciating -effort. - -Late the next day, a merciful halt for the night was made at -Shaguvari, where a rear detached outpost of Shenkurst had been -maintained, and which outnumbering, advance enemy patrols had vainly -striven to dislodge. But the disheartening march was resumed in the -morning, when the Bolsheviks were reported collecting in force to cut -off retreat downstream. So Shaguvari was added to the sum of Russian -villages fed to fires of the Allied cause and became another charred -ruin on the Vaga. - -At villages outside of Kitsa, twenty miles further, trenches were dug -in the snow, and barricades improvised of trees, in order that the -driven troops might catch their breath. And on the Dvina, now only a -few miles away, new positions were taken, where the imperiled River -Column could be drawn back, and the consolidated Allied forces stand -embattled in a desperate last defense of Bereznik, for if Bereznik -fell, all knew it meant the beginning of the siege of unfortified -Archangel. - -But the delaying action was prolonged beyond the most sanguine dream -of hope, and at Vistafka and Yeveevskaya, Maximofskaya and -Ignatevskaya, the neighboring villages of Kitsa, the Americans held -out, relieved in turns by British troops, and the remaining Slavic -allies, who atoned for much by a heaven bestowed blunder that saved a -surrounded post of the Americans. - -These places, with their unpronounceable Slavic names, will be -remembered always by the Vaga men, for here during Arctic February -and March days, they fought savage, bloody fights in the mounting -snowdrifts, and performed deeds of sublime sacrifice and courage, -that will never be known save by those who were there. - -They were still at Kitsa, and had not given ground, when the first -redolence of spring softened the rasping, winter winds, and made the -Bolshevik Commander draw back his artillery in fear of being mired in -the yielding snow roads. - -Not one of the Vaga men, in the innermost counsel of his heart, had -ever expected to live through that winter onslaught, and when all -with quiet courage stood ready for the end, lo, the enemy abandoned -the field where victory awaited, and left the battle when it had been -won. This petty, strange and inexplicable war was freighted deep -with countless things of mystery, but none so beyond understanding as -the failure of the Bolshevik Command to follow up the capture of -Shenkurst. - -The feeble, Allied remanent on the Vaga was reeling from the stunning -blows of the massed attack, and thought of resistance all hung on the -hope of saving Archangel and the life of the Expedition; but when all -tensed themselves for the crucial shock, it did not come, the -Bolshevik advance weakened and faltered and held back, so that the -defenders, panting in terrible exhaustion, were able to suck in the -air of reviving strength and hold on. When later the attacks of -February and March came, they were sporadic, and lacked the fury, the -sustained and vehement driving power of the first assault. Now in -spring, it was too late, for Nature with sun and gentle breath had -definitely won the battle for the Vaga men, and they crossed the -river to safety, leaving in the black, despairing night, two villages -flaming, a recessional of ill-will and destruction. - -The first boast of "one Allied soldier against twenty Bolsheviks" had -been made good, and the Expedition was saved, but by a precariously -close margin. In no respect did the Allied Command so underestimate -the enemy as in his power of military organization. The miserable -"Bolo brigands" that were to have disbanded with the first punishment -of Arctic cold, had raised an enormous army, which now, in late -winter, exceeded one million soldiers, and the regiments that took -Shenkurst must have laughed contemptuously at the undisciplined, -untrained troops of the early days of the campaign. - -Perhaps it will never be known why the Allies were not destroyed by -these Vaga attacks. There were many villages capable of housing -great numbers of soldiers south of Shenkurst, and probably in the -January thrust, seven thousand five hundred to eight thousand hostile -troops were quartered in them, a force that should have swept the -Vaga Column before it like chaff in the storming wind, but it did not -do so, and one may conjecture that the reason was because Trotsky did -not care to hazard the risk of stirring the American people and the -British people to an avenging and genuine war by the annihilation of -the lone Allied battalions. Greater wars have been brought about by -more trivial causes; but the stronger probability is that the -Bolshevik soldiers revolted at the staggering slaughter of the -attacks over the deep snows. - -"Our losses are terrible," said one of the prisoners, "the commissars -cannot understand your resistance. We are twenty to one and have -many guns. Our Commander expected to take Bereznik in three days, -but the soldiers will not attack any more over the snow against your -awful machine guns." - -The troops at the Vaga battles could not be compared with the unruly, -Bolo rabble of the early days. They shot low and were well officered -by officers, mostly Letts, who had been trained in Trotsky's military -schools at Moscow. - -Another explanation might have been in the story of some of the -prisoners, but which was never confirmed, that the soldiers had met -in a solemn, protest meeting, following the last costly, Vaga -offensive, and shot their Commander for his persistence in pushing -on, despite the heavy casualties. The fatal potion of Kerensky's -Order still poisoned the blood of the Russian army, and although the -Soviet soldiers gave exhibition of great bravery, and were well led, -they were not great soldiers; they failed in the ultimate trial, and -did not go through to victory when stamina and resilience for the -last lap would have won. - -As the Vaga men had gone furthest in fulfillment of a vain and futile -mission, had parried the heart thrust, and beat back its violence, so -were they the last to leave, and were still in battle at Malo -Bereznik at the close of May, six months after the Armistice, that -proclaimed Peace to an afflicted World, and poured cooling balm on a -million wounds, so far from feverish, strife torn Russia. - -Not until June did they meet their regimental comrades, coming from -every compass point of the wide province, save the seabound, -impassable north, to assemble at Economia for the homegoing. There -the battles of Kodish and the Railway, Onega, the Vaga and Dvina and -Pinega Valley were fought again, until the white, Russian snows were -hued rose red with blood of recounted slain, until American soldiers -sailed away, bewildered still at this gambling murder game, and -sacred life--the most contemptible stake in the mad lottery. - -Not the Vaga men to idly speculate on causes! They knew full well -the colonel's words, and were exalted still by the fervor of their -sacrificial avowal, the noblest of mankind--to lay down life for a -friend. - - - - -PINEGA - - -19th March, 1919. - -C. G. Tours. - -HQ: 3407, Following telegram repeated from Archangel quote -Information as to future possible relief for this expedition would -materially improve the morale of troops after their long winter of -Field Service, and it would also assist me in making arrangements for -the future. So far I have not received any official information as -to prospects. - -_Signed_ Stewart unquote. - -Repeated to G.H.Q. and Agware. - -Wheeler. - - -"It has always been a cardinal axiom of the Allied and Associated -Powers to avoid interference in the internal affairs of Russia. -Their original intervention was made for the sole purpose of -assisting those elements in Russia which wanted to continue the -struggle against German autocracy, and to free their country from -German rule, and in order to rescue the Czecho-slovaks from the -danger of annihilation at the hand of the Bolshevik forces." - - G. CLEMENCEAU. - D. LLOYD GEORGE. - WOODROW WILSON. - V. E. ORLANDO. - SAIONJI. - -From note, dated 26th May, 1919, Allied and Associated Powers to -Admiral Kolchak. - - -[Illustration: Patrols were often clad in white smocks] - - -X - -PINEGA - -The Orthodox Church of Russia is hated by the Soviets with an intense -and vehement hatred, for the institution of kings was sustained by -religion even more effectively than by the Imperial Guards. -Therefore, no opportunity to deride reverend personages and sacred -objects is ever neglected by the Bolsheviks, or to violate with -leering and uncouth pleasure, the hallowed worship places. - -Under the nimbose influence of Red Moscow, the religious precepts of -the people will be snatched ruthlessly from them. Harsh and -unyielding though these precepts be, they are the only note of -spirituality in the life of the moujik, and without them he wallows -in a mire of crass animalism. There was in Holy Russia many a homily -in patience and honesty and humility; but will these homely virtues -endure in the arid waste and the spiritless air of agnosticism? - -At Pinega, some ninety miles east of Archangel (and nearly one -hundred fifty on the devious road), the cleric party was well -fortified, and the outstanding civic feature of the city was the -ancient monastery, standing commandingly at the edge of Lake Soyla. - -The Pinega monks were quite naturally opposed to the Bolsheviks, but -the mayor was a Soviet, and the city was divided in allegiance -between White Archangel and Red Moscow when the detachment of -Americans came in October. - -The Americans' presence shepherded the wavering ones to the fold. A -company of Home Guards was organized, and from outward signs the -cause of the Allies had ascended to triumph. But the surrounding -Bolsheviks were far from disbanded. They gathered in much strength -under the leadership of Kulikoff, a competent horsethief, and -commenced to plunder the slender, household larders of the peasants -in the lower Pinega valley, to whose succor a police force of -thirty-five Americans and two hundred White Russians were dispatched -in mid-November. This police party penetrated eighty miles southeast -and took Karpagora, after an engagement, but early in December was -overpowered by the returning Bolsheviks. A few of the Americans were -killed, more wounded, and the rest went back to Pinega, posting the -White Russians in outlying villages as they retired. - -So critical was the outlook that another American detachment came the -one hundred and fifty miles from Archangel, ten days' journey in the -darkness and the cold. But, more important to Pinega than these -Christmas reinforcements, was Joel R. Moore, who came with them, -wearing the shoulder straps of an infantry captain for the time in -being, but whose life profession was that of college instruction, as -skilled in applied humanity as the classical Humanities, and -possessed of tact and understanding and sympathy, and that -indefinable gift of leadership. He organized the Russians for their -own defense in this bloody internecine fight, and shamed their -leaders to vivid consciousness of dreadful responsibility to their -pitifully dependent people. - -In February, a vicious and prolonged attack in conjunction with the -great Vaga offensive was made on Pinega, but the defense was well -held, and when the situation looked most strained, and the fall of -the city almost sure, the Bolsheviks slackened and fell back without -overt cause or reason for relenting in their fierce assault, just as -they did on the Vaga when the life of the Expedition was the stake. - -No soldier who was in it will ever forget that mid-winter march from -Archangel in gray days and cold, when the spruce trees cracked in the -frost with the report of rifle shots; when the wind, a blearing -blast, swept down and piled great billowy swells on the whitened -trail, covered men head and foot like powdered, clownish figures, -plastered their eyelids and nostrils grotesquely white with hoary -frost, and flicked snow particles under headgear where they stung -with the sting of pelting sand; other days when oppressive calm would -stifle the air with the mystery of eternal stillness, jarringly -profaned by the crunch of heavy, marching feet, the shambling of the -little convoy ponies; and the tenacious trail would lower to great -sheeted space, that swelled to the summit of long hills where village -roofs were etched in steel on a burnished background, where the -ineffectual sun strove vainly to thrust back imprisoning cloud -curtains, slate hued and black. - -Sometimes the way brought the soldiers through the phantom glade of a -fairy forest, where delicately spun aigrettes and fragile, filmy -plumes held by doubtful tenure on a limb would wave precariously in -the wind and be lost in shapeless, irretrievable chaos of crumpled -snow, but tens of thousands of others would fill their places, and -inconceivable, bizarre festoons would spring to magic life, countless -balloons and garlands and wreaths, and massive, ponderous globes, all -shaped by the infinite artistry of the frost in an endless profusion -of enchanting wonderment. - -Sometimes their canopy would be a lilac sea, with islands of suave -saffron, and slender, garish emerald reefs, which could never escape -the tristful quality of the haunting Russian skies, where tragedy and -melodrama ever unfolded till night clasped in blackness the brief -twilight of those doleful winter days. - -Under their humble roofs, the patient people revealed a hospitality -that was moving in its utter absence of guile. The cherished samovar -would be brought forth from a covert trove to kindle the uninvited -guests with steaming tea, and in the evening all the villagers would -troop to the crowded huts to doff their hats and cross themselves -with pious orisons, and gaze with never wearying gaze at the -strangers from the far fabled land of miracle and hope. Years from -now moujik grandmothers will group rapt children around the oven -stoves to tell them of the strange Americanskis who once came so many -miles in the dread winter cold to help afflicted Russia. - -Out in the frigid night, the aurora of the north swung swaying -evanescent curtains, now fluttering with faint ethereal light, now -springing to flowing, colorful life again, and one could fancy that -Thalia signaled from the night heavens a playful spectral heliograph, -mocking these silly little men so far below, that strove to conquer -the dread elements of that gaunt Northland. - -But, if in the whole campaign the somber veil of tragedy was ever -lifted, it was at this front where the altruistic intention of the -Allies seemed to have caught the consciousness of the people (whether -or not this intent was in fact altruistic), they bore not only -benevolence, but even humble touching gratitude towards their -deliverers, and even undertook the burden of their own battles. Many -Russians were lost in these battles for Pinega, but after the first -expeditionary engagements not one American fell. - -In January there was a massed assault, and when the fall of the city -seemed almost sure, the Bolsheviks slackened and fell back, with -their blade poised for the heart thrust. - -But in March the defenses were safe in the competent hands of a -regiment of White Russians, who were the defenders of their own -towns, and the "Allied Legion" of no nation. Likewise there were two -field guns with a Russian personnel of artillery, a unit of Russian -machine gunners, carefully trained in the service of these rapid, -death-dealing instruments of specialized modern war, and all these -soldiers of Russia raised their heads high and proud as eagles, -wearing no man's collar. - -So it came that the Americans were free to take their leave for more -pressing fronts and were given "Farewell and come again" from the -hearts of the Pinega people, with generous, overflowing good will, -abounding grateful acknowledgment of their genuine, upbuilding -service. Perhaps this was more the conceived purpose of the -Expedition to sustain the foundling democracy of Russia, to -strengthen and instill solidarity and faith in the hearts and -counsels of the Russian people, and to achieve such end by -unsanguinary means. Perhaps the means might have been different and -the melodrama never enacted if a college professor, with methods of -applied humanity, had directed from the outset. But it is to offend -the military to consider thus, and to be guilty of shameful -heterodoxy. - - - - -RETREAT - - -"There is no use people raising prejudice against this expedition. -Every one knows why it was sent. It was sent as part of our -operations against Germany. It was vitally necessary to take every -measure in regard to Russia during the war which would keep as many -German troops as possible on the Russian front, and reduce that -formidable movement of the German armies which carried more than a -million men to the Western Front, and which culminated in that -immense series of battles which began on the 21st March last year -(1918)." - -WINSTON CHURCHILL, _Secretary of State for War_, in the House of -Commons, 3rd March, 1919. - - -XI - -RETREAT - -When the appeal to patriotism failed, Archangel Province, under -British direction, invoked conscription, and by the middle of June, -twenty-two thousand Russian soldiers had been assembled by coercive -means. - -They thronged the backward villages through which the Americans -passed on their way to disembarkation, and looked very fresh, like -college youths, as they sauntered up and down to an eternal serenade -of wheezing accordions, or with sacerdotal, marching chants, went -swinging by in platoons and companies, these young conscripts, who -knew so little of war and its harrowing disillusionment. - -For the moment all breasts were filled with that contagious ardor -that springs from every massed effort, no matter its end, but not one -in a hundred knew or felt the call of patriotism for the coming -conflict of Russian against Russian. - -There was cause enough for the fight had it only been revealed to -these pliant, guileless, peasant folk. For their country, weakened, -helpless and faint from many war wounds, was being debased by vile -and vicious poltroons who had stamped out the holy fires of the -Revolution, nullified the Constituent Assembly, and stifled every -voice of liberty with hands more remorseless than the cruel manacles -of the Tsars. - -The cause was there, but if their mentors sensed it, they manifested -almost incredible obtuseness in failure to impart these moving -eloquent reasons for the fight. They were silent about the odious -exploitation of the masses under the crafty, artful guise of -proletarianism; they said nothing of the wicked violation of sacred -property rights, the unprincipled plundering, the trampling down by -power maddened feet on all revolutionary enlightenment, the -desecration of all things spiritual, the wanton derision of the -church which had been the faith of the people and of their venerated, -sainted fathers. - -Here was reason enough for any Russian with exalted, holy devotion to -lay down his life for his stricken country. But instead of such -scathing and unequivocal indictment, the British dwelt upon the -conduct of the Bolsheviks, shameful and faithless towards the -Czecho-Slovaks, and gave out, with venomous vituperation, highly -colored stories of enemy atrocities and cruel treatment of prisoners -so patently over-extended that they failed to make a convincing -impression even on the moujik mind. - -So soon as navigation opened, there commenced an exodus of Russian -officers to Archangel, sent by the British Command to lead the newly -formed native legions. These officers came from the old Imperial -Army, many were titled, proud of their high birth, and by every -thought and training, and by every instinct, irreconcilably opposed -to every notion of social equality; in short, irredentists of that -heartless, arrogant, military class which a worn afflicted world had -cast off in a travail of four years' agony and afflicting grief, and -long suffering Russia had driven forever from her temples. - -So the fresh formed conscript ranks were made conveniently vulnerable -for Bolshevik propaganda, this new weapon of warfare, invisible and -treacherous, that on the Eastern Front had scored such havoc with the -boasted discipline of the Germans. Soviet agents were everywhere, -mingling with the people on the streets of Archangel, wearing the -khaki of the newly organized soldiers, living with them, going -through their drills, and fatigue and exercises, and ever with the -passionate zeal of fanatics, feeding them the poisonous doctrines of -Reddest Moscow, ceaselessly, night and day. - -Now the innuendo was very plausible that these aristocrats of the Old -School had returned to restore the Romanoffs, and that the British -capitalists were leagued with them for the conquest of Russia and the -enslavement of the common people. It was easy to argue that the -British, always interested in the trading possibilities of Archangel, -had come to exploit its resources. Otherwise why should they be so -vitally concerned in this civil war of Russians? British officers -were freely mingled with these Imperial officers, British -Intelligence supervising the staff work and dispositions, and a -liberal spreading of reliable British N.C.O.'s among the ranks, to -keep a watchful eye on things and bolster the recruits in the stern -trial of first battle. - -The great majority of the British officers had no appetite for the -business ahead. They were tired and homesick, weary and fed up with -war for all time after four racking years of it. Moreover, they -disliked everything Russian with a withering aversion, and in their -forced association with the Russians, treated them with a disdainful -condescension and that impersonal, inhuman lack of tolerance which is -British beyond all imitation. Openly they distrusted their allied -comrades, and sometimes when tired and irritable and nerve frayed, -they said so, which did not make towards the establishment of an -enthusiastic and permanent entente, for the educated Slav is an -accomplished linguist, and sometimes he understood and did not easily -forget when he was abused in English, and vehemently cursed as a -"bloody Bolo." - - -It had been determined before the opening of navigation that all -American forces should be withdrawn and the campaign abandoned. The -reason for this was not revealed to the troops just as the cause of -the Expedition had never been mentioned, and every man in American -uniform sensed a gaping moral void on the part of his Country. -Certain death from the Bolsheviks awaited those loyal Russians who -had placed their trust in the promised salvation of the Allied -leaders and the American authorities at least seemed blind to their -manifest duty to the Archangel government. It was an awkward -situation for the statesmen, but unavoidable under the -circumstances--and Archangel was a long distance removed from -Washington. Anyway, the British held on--they would have to attend -to uncomfortable details. We were going to clear out, and clear out -we did. - -The problem of evacuation was a disturbing one. There was a clamor -in England as insistent as that which echoed from America to get out -of Russia and get out without delay. This might have been done, and -the British might have abandoned these thousands of Russian people -who, trusting in the courage, the steadfastness, and the honor of the -Allies, had cast their lot with them for better or for worse. But, -instead of deserting the country without ceremony as we did, a frank -disclosure of the situation was made to the press in England, and a -call was issued for volunteers to rescue British soldiers at -Archangel. A mixed brigade of venturesome men who were wearied by -peace time tedium and longed again for the thrill of war, and others -who were out of work and could get no other employment, was raised by -this method, but to muster the full quota for relief it was necessary -to add a like number of Regulars, in all approximately eight thousand -men. Each brigade had two infantry battalions, units of artillery, -airplanes, machine gun corps and engineers, and the first echelon, -commanded by Brigadier General G. W. Grogan, Victoria Cross, reached -Archangel at the end of May. The rest, under Brigadier L. W. Sadleir -Jackson, came on the 10th June, and the ships that brought them -carried away the Americans. - -To the civil mind an evacuation, especially by sea, seems a simple -matter. The civilian thinks of it merely as a packing off to the -ships, disregarding the losses involved to make short shift and get -away. But in complicated, modern war, there are countless perplexing -details in the final movement of an army. Massive, ponderous -ordnance and munitions and supplies must be assembled with prodigious -labor, transported or destroyed. And it is necessary to hold the -enemy off till the last retreating file has mounted the gang plank -and put off far to sea. Also, in the case of Archangel, it was an -involved problem to attend to the civilian population. - -The British government laid open the offer to transport every -Archangel resident apprehensive of the Bolsheviks, and to provide -employment for them in other lands. It was expected that vast -numbers would avail themselves of this opportunity and would flee -from the approaching reign of horrors, but when the time came only -sixty-five hundred and thirty-five came forward for expatriation, and -these were all sent to South Russia and the Baltic States. - -When all was in readiness, General Ironside planned to safeguard the -retreat by administering a sharp "disengaging blow," like Sir John -Moore dealt the French at Corunna one hundred years before, which -would shake the enemy's morale and disabuse him of any notion of -following the retreating troops to the waterside. - -The Czechs had fused with Admiral Kolchak's armies. Under the -leadership of General Gaida, they formed his right wing and were -beyond Perm, some three hundred miles east of Viatka. It was thought -that these friendly Siberian forces could take Viatka, advance up the -railway to Kotlas, and join there with the Archangel Russians. -Thereupon the British, leisurely and in security, could return down -the river to the waiting transports and sail homeward. - -So Kotlas, which had been the original objective of the River Column, -became the objective once more. The Admiralty dispatched to -Archangel a flotilla of gunboats, monitors, mine sweepers and many -other craft for the transportation of troops and supplies to act as -auxiliaries for the infantry, and again the Dvina became a scene of -skeltering preparations for war. - -On the 20th June, the disengaging offensive began; the British and -Archangel troops attacked across the river from the Allied position -at Toulgas, and gained complete victory, capturing two hundred -prisoners, many machine guns and three field guns. But now word came -from the south that the Bolsheviks there had concentrated in great -forces against Kolchak and had utterly routed him, that he was -fleeing east, had already retired as far as Yetakerinburg, and all -hope would have to be given up of effecting a junction with the -Siberian army. - -So the importance of taking Kotlas waned, but even if Kolchak had not -failed the advance could have gone little further, for it was found -that due to the light snowfall of the previous winter, the waters of -Dvina were low, beyond all precedent, and the British flotilla could -follow no farther upstream. - -Most discouraging of all, treachery broke out in all quarters from -the allied Russian troops. On the 7th July a battalion held in -reserve on the river mutinied in the night and murdered three British -and four Russian officers as they slept; four other officers were -seriously wounded. On the 22nd July the whole Onega detachment went -over to the Bolsheviks, and the safety of Archangel became seriously -jeopardized from this west port. Nearly at the same time British -firing squads suppressed a revolt on the Railway front before the -Russian mutineers gained the upper hand. - -Many of the British officers had passed through all the harrowing -fires of France, but here was a form of peril new in the experience -of the most hardened ones--base betrayal by the sentinel who kept the -black watches of the night, and treachery in the heart of the citadel -from hands stretched forth in friendship. The brave man, standing on -his feet and facing the end, does not fear advancing death; but now -it lurked in hiding, it descended in the night and struck from the -dark upon unconscious sleep, so that tired soldiers dared not rest, -and the strain snapped nerves of steel. - -A few weeks before these outrages, Toulgas was given over to a -defense that was entirely Russian. Shortly afterward, in the -uncertain light of early morning, on the 25th April, there was a wild -commotion, and, following interminable confused firing that sounded -from all quarters of the village streets, a lamp message flashed -across the Dvina to the Allied position at Kurgoman: "We are -completely surrounded; the Bolos are attacking in five places." -Shortly thereafter, through a fusillade of bullets, a Russian -officer, with two men, effected a passage of the river in a small -boat, and told the shameful story of how nine officers had been -murdered as they slept and bloody Toulgas delivered by faithless -Russian soldiers to the waiting Bolsheviks in the woods. Through a -prodigy of bravery by a handful of loyal artillery men, the guns were -pulled back to Shusiga, ten miles downstream, but it was not until -the middle of May that Toulgas was retaken, and while it stayed in -enemy hands, the Allied position was alarmingly critical with the -right flank over the Dvina completely turned. - -[Illustration: Major-General Sir William E. Ironside] - -Thus, with mutiny breaking out in all quarters, the virulent -propaganda of the Bolsheviks bore malignant fruit beyond their most -sanguine hopes, and the situation was menacing enough to alarm the -most conservative in Allied Councils. Had it not been for the two -splendid reinforcing brigades, the often imperiled life of the -Expedition would have been destroyed at last. The British War Office -for once became thoroughly apprehensive. General, Lord Rawlinson was -sent to preside over the leavetaking, and fresh reinforcements, two -battalions of infantry, two machine gun companies, two batteries of -Royal Field Artillery, one engineer company, and five tanks were -rushed to Archangel from England. - -The intention had been to complete the evacuation just before the -closing of navigation in late October, but now it was seen that this -might be too late, and in the present urgency no time could be lost. -"The disengaging blow" was delivered on the 10th August by Jackson's -sterling brigade, a little beyond Seltzo, the furthermost south -achieved on the Dvina by the little River Column almost a year -before. Two thousand prisoners were captured, eighteen guns and many -machine guns, and the rout was complete. With the enemy now safely -at bay, the British turned the defenses over to the Archangel -authorities, who persisted in staying, although they were advised -that it was suicidal to do so, and "friendly intervention" was -brought to an inglorious, albeit an unbloody, close on the 27th -September, eleven months after the Armistice that had outlawed the -rule of warring strife as the arbitrament of discordant nations. - - -When the last troop ships trailed off to drooping skies, a bearded -moujik sat in the stern of a flat boat directing four broad backed -women at the oars. The recumbent coxswain waved a languid gesture -across Archangel Bay where tiny ships were bearing off to the north; -and four oars poised in mid-air as the laboring crew turned with dull -Slavic contemplation to regard the parting foreigners, and the end of -their peculiar expedition. But only for a moment, there was more -important business in hand than idle gazing at Englishskis, however -queer they might be. A gruff command, and the freighted craft -continued its slow toiling course to the market place, the overlord -resumed his interrupted smoke of good Allied cigarettes and the -Englishskis were dismissed from memory. This was the leave-taking. - -On the evening of 12th October, 1919, the last of the Allied forces -set sail from Murmansk for England; four months afterward, on the -20th February, the Bolsheviks recaptured Archangel. - -Nearly four months earlier the last of the Americans set sail on the -26th day of June, 1919, and as the paling shores mingled with the -distant sky line and faded from sight, so too the fever of this -troublous, little war with Russia abated, yielding to the gentle -ministrations of memory's cooling twilight. - -With the Americans, at least, there remained no shred of illusion. -When Winston Churchill told the Commons that Archangel, with one lone -American regiment, the few battle retrieved soldiers of England, and -a single battalion of disaffected Frenchmen, had kept many German -divisions in the East, and played an important part in the last -battles, he laid a flattering unction to the soul of British -statescraft; but his insincere words did not deceive the American -soldier, for the American soldier was mentally and emotionally -paralyzed beyond deception, and a conviction of blunder was only -strengthened by this and other clumsy explanations vouchsafed by -Allied statesmen; by the guilt-laden silence of America. - -Germany was never concerned with Archangel. There was no evidence of -German participation in the campaign; no evidence that our petty -hostilities with the Bolsheviks had ever benefited Foch on the -Western theater. - -We had waged war upon Russia. Whether willfully or unwillingly, our -country had engaged in an unprovoked intensive, inglorious, little -armed conflict which had ended in disaster and disgrace. Perhaps -this was a laudable thing to do. Perhaps it is always idealistic and -praiseworthy to intervene for self-conceived righteousness in the -internal affairs of another nation, as England might have done in the -case of the American Confederacy, and as we did in the case of this -civil war among the Russians. It is easy enough to enter the battle -lists, but, once in, it is not so easy to withdraw from the fight -with self-respect unsullied and honor undefiled. - -So Archangel proved, with its sullied record to blight forever the -good name of America when soldiers gather to tell of the Great War, -and, great as the cost of the campaign had been with 2,485 -casualties[1] of killed and wounded and sickened men, its financial -loss, over ten times the price paid Russia for the vast dominions of -Alaska, there was not a man in the ranks who did not sense the -disgrace in our ignoble desertion, there was not an American officer -who would not have chosen to have left his bones bleaching white -beneath Archangel snows, than been a living witness to the -ignominious way in which his country quit and slunk away. - - -[1] Chief Surgeon's Report. - - -All felt a personal sense of poignant shame for the failure to see -the game through to its uttermost bitter end, or else seek expiation -by honest avowal of wrong and humble contrition. It was an -inexorable dilemma, one that took the staunchest courage, no matter -which course was followed. Perhaps the higher courage would have -been the admission of culpable fault. But we took neither course. -We merely wilted from Archangel and came away. - -On the homeward troopships, among the ice floes of the White Sea, the -taunting unspoken reproach galled most bitterly of all, for we left -our British allies to extricate themselves from the miserable mess as -best they could, and with no explanation and never a sustaining word -we left them. - -Many trying things in the campaign had aroused the Americans to -intemperate speech, which now to recall they would have surrendered -all they possessed. Incompetence and tactlessness, and seeming lack -of understanding and sympathy by those in power, to which the -soldiers of England appeared indifferent, never failed to draw the -intense, iconoclastic fire of the Americans. The difference lay in -the national atmosphere of the two countries, the divergence in -character and traditions, born and nurtured under the republican and -the older order. They are a different people from us, the British, -though the blood strain be the same. The glory of baseball is lost -on them; they play the tedious cricket; but, when the fight is on, -the quality of the bulldog, once at grips to hang on with set teeth -till death, is British; blinded to all save the solid grimness of the -task in hand, their brains seem dull to those imaginative flights -which are the curse of the Western soldier. - - -Thus ended America's share of the war with Russia. At Brest the -"mutinous" regiment was shunted in fragments over the seas to -America, and in the homeland, these soldiers who had borne arms in -conflict six months after the Armistice, were shooed off to civilian -life, and the whole embarrassing matter was expunged from the war -record. - -All inquiry concerning the Expedition has been met by specious pleas -in evasive avoidance. No peace was ever made with Russia, as no -state of war had ever been recognized, and the legalists might well -contend that all who engaged in it are open to indictment for -manslaughter, for the enterprise will always remain a depraved one -with status of a freebooters' excursion. - - -At Corbela sat an aged woman with ghastly face, gray as the dirty -_platok_ that framed it, her gaunt chin resting on a hand, bony and -hideous from relentless toil. With failing despairing eyes, she saw -in the dwindling snows only the dissolution of winter, quite blinded -to buoyant spring that with tufts of brown turf bursts boisterously -through the southern hill slopes, like heedless youth that with -surging, eager, passionate desire presses on the reluctant heels of -death to life's fulfillment. - -Outside the hut a young moujik, with the handsome physique of first -unsullied manhood, and the credulous eyes of a child, curiously -watching the north marching Americans; a giant of masked strength, -needing only the key of trained intelligence to unloose immeasurable -dynamic force that might some day rule the world. - -Kindle the liberating torch of enlightenment in the nether regions of -the Slavs, strike from the millions the shackles of serfdom -ignorance, and from the pestilential ashes of present degrading -Bolshevism, Russia, the giant, in stupendous power, rises phoenixlike -to Jupiter. - -To the Russian people we owe a debt that can never be paid except in -deepest and very humble gratitude; for, when those gray hosts swept -over Belgium and Northern France, Russia invaded Prussia, threatened -the gates of Koenigsberg, routed the Austrians in a smashing blow at -Lemberg, and, when the German aggressive movement was at its -culminating height, drew off to the east two Army Corps and a Cavalry -Division from von Kluck's right wing, a fatal diversion of the German -forces which enabled Joffre, closing in the breach at the Marne, to -save Paris and turn the advance into a complete retirement. - -This great battle of the Marne marked the initial phase of the war, -and completely frustrated the cherished Berlin plan of gaining quick -victory by tactics of overwhelming surprise. - -Many anxious months followed as England slowly transformed her -energies from peaceful pursuits to those of war, and during this -prolonged, crucial time the Russians never wavered from the attack. -They massed for repeated hammering offensives in Poland, in Masturia -and east of the Vistula in Galicia, so that the German Imperial Staff -could never develop full strength, but had to be content with a -holding campaign in the West while marshalling most forces to oppose -the menacing East. - -Not until the beginning of 1916, because of the Russians, could -another effort of masses be made. Then every available man was -concentrated with the Crown Prince's army as he smashed at Verdun to -bring France to her knees, but when the assault was at its height, -again obedient to her trust, and faithful, Russia sprang to the -attack with such heroism and such devoted and reckless courage, that -the controlling German combat divisions which might have gained the -fortress had to be diverted from Verdun to Galicia. - -Yet again at the commencement of 1917, at Mitau, and, in the summer -of that year, when the British Empire assembled its legions at the -Somme, Brussiloff struck south to the Carpathian passes, and it was -only when Russia collapsed exhausted, and ghoulish Bolshevism looted -the prostrate stricken gladiator, that the united German armies -marshalled in full strength for a crushing blow. _Only then did -Germany have numerical superiority in the West_. - -We can gain an impression of what might have happened from the fury -of that La Fere-Arras offensive, which shocked the world by its -blighting trail of spectral horrors; hardly a British Division was -left intact, and France reeled and staggered in a nausea of mortal -weakness until Clemenceau in agony cried out to the Allies for -sustaining support. - -All might have ended then, had it not been for America, but America -could never have come, had it not been for the Russian sacrifice in -the early days, when the German Divisions, fresh and recklessly rash, -were filled with the lust of battle conquest, and the German leaders, -careless of casualties, flung their men to death with a high and free -hand. - -It is well to remember these things when we boast (a little noisily) -that American arms won the great war. No one nation won this -appalling contest of the nations embattled at Esdraelon, and, great -as our offering was, how small it was and how feebly comparable to -that of Russia who laid down the lives of more men than all we sent -to France, and paid a ghastly toll in crippled, maimed and battle -losses, a million souls beyond the sum of our whole military effort! - - -_A joint Resolution, providing for any needed explanations and -reparations which may be due from this country for our invasion of -Russian territory was introduced in the United States Senate at the -second session Sixty-sixth Congress by Senator France, 27th February, -1920._ - - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHANGEL *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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