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THE ORPHANS’ FRIEND AND MASONIC JOURNAL

SELECTED COLUMNS 1919-1920

Excerpts from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal

as they relate to North Carolina in World War I.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Please click on the title below to jump to the appropriate article

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................................2 EXPLOITS OF THE 30TH ............................................................................................................................3 THE 120TH REGIMENT...............................................................................................................................6 STATE'S WAR HISTORY...........................................................................................................................12 THE 119TH INFANTRY..............................................................................................................................15 THE OLD HICKORY DIVISION ..................................................................................................................17 CAPTAIN FLETCHER TELLS THE STORY OF THE 113TH FIELD ARTILLERY .....................................19 THE HINDENBURG LINE FROM A DOUGHBOY'S POINT OF VIEW ......................................................22 WINS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS...............................................................................................24 CHIEF OF THE "WILDCATS" GENERAL C. BATLEY, PENNSYLVANIAN, COMMANDED THE 81ST IN FRANCE .....................................................................................................................................................26 MAJ. GEN. GEORGE WINDLE READ .......................................................................................................28

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. February 21, 1919.

EXPLOITS OF THE 30TH

CRACK DIVISION BROKE THE HINDENBURG LINE AND THE BACKBONE OF GERMAN RESISTENCE

By Fred A. Olds

One of the numerous "treasures" in the North Carolina Hall of History is the story of the operations of the Thirtieth ("Old Hickory") Division of the United States army in France and Belgium, for it fought in both and made a record which will stand as long as men have memories and admire courage and devotion.

The story is all the work of the pen and the typewriter and it is a gift from Bryce Little of the 30th, through Secretary of State Grimes. On the cover, in color, is the emblem of the 30th, three letters "X", in black on a field of maroon, and these words: "Belgium—Ypres, Vooremezelle; the Hindenburg Line—Bellicourt, Nouroy, Fremont, Brancourt, Busigny, Escaufourt, Vaux Audequy." Inside are illustrations, in color, one showing the Kaiser getting a big “jolt" by the 30th, with the title "It happened on the Hindenburg Line.” F. H. Simonds, the greatest military writer of the war, is quoted: "What we have had is a military decision of the war. That decision was had in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line," and Lloyd George is also quoted, saying, "The smashing of this vast defensive system, claimed by the enemy to be impregnable, is a feat of which we are justly proud."

Next comes the roster of the officers of the division, Maj. Gen. E. M. Lewis being its commander, Col. John H. Herr chief of staff (the latter antographing (sic) this story as "official"), Then follows the roster of officers of the 59th brigade, Brig. Gen. Lawrence D. Tyson (born in North Carolina) composed of the 117th and 118th infantry (Tennesseans); the 60th brigade, Brig. Gen. Samuel L. Faison, composed of the 119th and 120th infantry. The 119th is commanded by Col. John van Bokkelen Metts (Wilmington), Lt. Col. B. B. McCrosky, Majors Graham K. Hobbs, John H. Manning, H. C. Bays, each commanding a battalion. The 120th is commanded by Col. Sidney W. Minor (Durham), Lt. Col. Don R. Scott, Majors James A. Leonard, Hilliard Comstock, James W. Jenkins, each commanding a battalion. The 115th machine-gun Battalion, Maj. Whitworth W. Pierce commanding. The 105th Engineers, Col. Joseph Hyde Pratt (of Chapel Hill) commanding; . Lt. Col. Perrin C. Cothran, Majors George L. Lyerly and George W. Gillette commanding battalions.

The 30th is a distinctively American division, for over 95 per cent of its officers and enlisted men are of American-born parents. It is composed of National Guard Troops of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, augmented by many thousands of selective draft troops from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It is named for Andrew Jackson, soldier and resident, whose "pet name" was Old Hickory", and who was closely identified with the history of the states which furnished most of the personnel.

This division landed at Calais, France, May 24, 1918, and was first billeted (that is quartered or encamped) in the Eperlecques Training Area, and there its officers re-connoitered the German line south of Cassel and plans were made to occupy it, if necessary, by forced marches. The division was next transferred to the 11th British corps, of the British Second Army, in the Ypres (Belgium) sector, so as to be in close support in case of the expected German offensive. It was the first American division to enter Belgium, into which it marched July 4, took post at Watou, to closely support the 33rd and 49th British divisions, and completed the building of a strong defense system in rear of these two divisions, doing an immense amount of trench and wire construction. It was under orders to hold this system in case the two British divisions had to fall back. It was trained with the latter divisions; first as individuals, then by platoons and last by entire battalions, and August 22 it took over all the sector of front which the 30th British division had occupied, to rest the latter. The 60th brigade, Gen. Faison, was in the front line, with the 59th, Gen. Tyson, in support. This was known as the "canal sector"; it was 2,400 yards long, from the suburbs of Ypres to Vooremezelle.

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August 31 the 30th division attacked the German Line, in conjunction with the 30th British division (on its left), and the 27th U. S. division, New York National Guard troops (on its right) and captured all its objectives, advanced 1,500 yards, took 15 prisoners, two machine-guns and 35 rifles, these belonging to the 236th German division. This was the first offensive and the 30th "made good". September 4th it was transferred to the British general headquarters reserve, at Roellecourt, France, and there it was trained to attack in conjunction with British "tanks". September 17th it was moved further south, to Herissart and September 22nd to the British Fourth Army at Bois de Buire, near Tricourt taking over a front line sector which the 1st Australian division had been holding.

The 30th division attacked September 29th the famous "Hindenburg Line", which that German leader said "could not be taken". In this assault the 46th British division was on the right, the 27th U. S. division on the left of the 30th. This line was thought by the Germans to be “untakable" because it curved in front of the St. Quentin tunnel; had three main trench systems, protected by vast fields of very heavy barbed wire entanglements, skillfully placed, this wire having been damaged but little by the artillery fire of the Allies; the higher ground occupied by the Germans gave them a devastating machine-gun fire on all approaches; their lines had many concrete emplacements for machine-guns and a great number of "dug-outs" lined with wooden timbers like those used in mines, with wooden steps leading down 30 feet under the ground level to small rooms, each holding half a dozen men and wired for electric lights.

The big tunnel through which the canal passed under the little mountains was big enough to hold 20,000 men and it was lighted electrically and filled with flat boats. Numerous smaller tunnels connected this big one with the Hindenburg trench system and one of these ran from the main tunnel straight to the basement of a large stone building which was German headquarters. Yet other tunnels ran to the city of Bellicourt and other places, so this strange and almost unearthly subterranean system, With its carefully hidden entrances and exits, unknown of course to the Allies, made a wonderfully complete and safe underground way of communicating and sending reinforcements to any threatened point on all that German sector.

Very early in the morning of September 29th the 60th brigade, with some units of the 117th regiment, assaulted this terrible line on a front of 3,000 yards, captured the whole Hindenburg system, then advanced still further and took the tunnel system with all the German troops hidden in it and next captured the towns of Bellicourt, Nouroy, Riqueval, Carriere, Etricourt, the Guillaine Ferme (farm) and Ferme de Riqueval; in this part of the assault advancing 4,200 yards and defeating two German divisions of average quality and taking from these (the 75th and 185th) 47 officers and 1,434 men.

October 8th the 30th by another big drive and in four days advanced 17,500 yards, captured 20 strategic points, 45 officers and 1,889 men, from 14 German divisions, some of them crack troops. Then the 30th was relieved by the 27th division, but October 16th it was back again on the front line and beat three German divisions, advanced 9,000 yards and captured 6 officers, and 412 men, also five towns and a fortified farm. The country is very rough there, the large towns offered special opportunities for machine-gun defence and of this fact the Germans took every advantage. Yet the advance kept up, often without artillery support, and was made possible only by the absolute determination of the troops and the skillful use of all arms of the service combined. The advance could not be stopped, and the German naval division was decimated when it was hastily thrown in to attempt to check the onrush of the victorious Americans.

The division was withdrawn to the Heilly Training Area, near Amiens, to allow replacements to fill the gaps, numerous indeed, in the ranks, and for a well-earned rest, and two weeks later, November 11th, the armistice was signed. The fighting having thus ended the 30th was released from the British Expeditionary Force with which it had been associated since its arrival in France, and transferred to the American Expeditionary Force, in the Le Mans area, with division headquarters at Ballou, November 21.

During the heavy fighting and the advances described the push was so fast and the troops so quickly withdrawn after their victories that there was no chance to gather and save the great amount of supplies and guns captured; this part of the business being therefore left to the salvage troops of the British Fourth Army. It is, however, known that the 30th took at least 72 field artillery cannon, 26 trench mortars, 426 machine-guns

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and 1,792 rifles, these representing only a part of the captures. In many cases field guns taken were turned over to the Allies' artillery and used by the latter upon the fleeing Boches.

The total number of prisoners captured by the 30th division from September 29 to October 20th was 98 officers, 3,750 men, and it lost 3 officers and 24 men as prisoners, 44 officers and 1,011 men killed, 113 officers and 4,823 men wounded; including those slightly wounded and slightly gassed.

In this admirably prepared story of which the above is a running summary, prepared by the writer there is a capitally drawn map, showing the advance of the 30th day after day There is also a general order by Major General Lewis, in which he say "To be given the task, in its very first effort, to play the vitally important role of breaking through the Hindenburg Line, the strongest defence on the Western front, was great honor nor was the honor misplaced in being given to the 30th division. It is a credit to the fighting efficiencv of the division, of the command of which I have every reason to be proud." Gen. John Monash, commanding the Australian corps, says in a letter to General Read of the second corps. U. S. A.: “The splendid gallantry and devotion of the American troops have won the admiration of their Australian comrades". Gen. Sir Henry Rawlinson, commanding the British Fourth Army, reported the gallant conduct to Field Marshal Haig, and the latter expressed to General Read his warm appreciation of the work done by the 27th and 30th American divisions, "in attack which proved irresistible.”

The mayor of Busigny, France, wrote to General Lewis: "As a representative of this commune and in its name and that of a part of France, I express to its liberator and to the gallant troops under your command our feelings of deepest and eternal gratitude. For those who have not borne, as we have, for four long years, the intolerable and abhored German yoke it is impossible to realize how great were the relief, the joy, the inexpressible happiness all of us felt when the first Allied troops made their way through our village. This great event has been for us like the dawn of a resurrection." The 30th division liberated 2,900 civilians held by the Germans, in its advance.

In a general order General Lewis names the following officers for untiring zeal and entire devotion to the responsible duties of their respective positions during, the operations of the 30th division from September 29th to October 20th: Brigadier Generals Tyson and Faison, Colonels Minor, Metts and Pratt.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. January 16, 1920.

THE 120TH REGIMENT HISTORY OF ONE OF FINEST OF THE MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS

By Fred A. Olds

There had to be such infinite secrecy, yes mystery, during the cataclysm we call the World War that only now are some of the most interesting things beginning, to appear, popping out like the cuckoo in the front of the clock. For example, how many people want to know how our troops "got there," in other words reached France.

A little book, of only fifty-six pages, is the official history of the 120th infantry, U, S. A., the old Third North Carolina Regiment of the National Guard, which in the 30th Division immortalized itself between the two dates of its mobilization, August 5, 1917, and its demobilization, April 17, 1919; immortalized itself in the breaking of the Canal Sector in Belgium and then fought in the Ypres Lys Offensive and in the Somme Offensive.

This book was written by Major John O. Walker, assisted by Major William A. Graham and Capt. Thomas Fauntleroy, under authority from Col. Sidney W. Minor, commander of the 120th. Major Walker, designated as the official historian of the regiment, says in his preface that great care was exercised in its preparation and that nothing was claimed for the regiment which cannot be substantiated by the records of the 30th Division. The book is dedicated "To the Mothers and Wives of the Men of this Regiment, who died in France."

The regiment went into the United States service August 5, 1917, with Col. Minor in command, Claude McGhee, Lt. Colonel; battalion majors Don E. Scott, William A. Graham and Wade H. Phillips. The companies were commanded as follows: A, Lexington, Capt. James A. Leonard; B, Raleigh, Walter Clark Jr.; C. Henderson, James W. Jenkins; D, Louisburg, Samuel P. Boddie; E, Oxford, Elbert E. Fuller; F, Franklinton, James E. Whitfield; G, Reidsville, James H. Motley; H, Warrenton, Edward U. Price; I; Burlington, James C. Freeman; K, Asheboro, Ben F. Dixon; L, Thomasville, Carleton H. Newby; M, Durham, Walter E. Page; Headquarters Company, Thomas Fauntleroy; Machine Gun Company, Charles F. Lumsden; Supply Company; Stephen E. Winston; Sanitary Detachment, Abram R. Winston.

The men of the original regiment came from the central and piedmont sections and it was filled up later by men from Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. It was thoroughly American, inheriting the best traditions of a fighting stock who had proved their worth in the Revolution and in the War Between the States. the regiment, with the First and Second Regiments of the North Carolina National Guard, had served on the Mexican border in 1916-17, but when mobilized at Camp Sevier, Greenville, S. C., the old First Regiment was broken up, part of its men going to the 120th. The 60th Brigade, of which the 120th was a part, was commanded by Brig. General Sampson L. Faison, a North Carolinian of the regular army, declared by historian Walker to be "The Maker of the 30th Division;" a splendid compliment no doubt deserved.

To Camp Sevier there came a number of newly graduate officers, known as "Sears-Roebuck lieutenants" and these found a regiment which was trained to the utmost and quickly absorbed its traditions. Then came the arrival of French and British instructors in bayonet fighting, bombing, scouting, etc., training being largely centered around trench warfare, but fortunately open fighting was not overlooked and this very forethought on the part of the commanding officers proved of great value later and saved many lives in the fighting. The bayonet training developed fighting spirit and confidence as nothing else could have done.

Col. Minor and Lt. Col. McGhee were sent to a field officers' school and while they were away Col. Cochran of the regular army, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, was in command and gained the admiration and confidence of all. The regiment was filled to its limit by men from Camp Taylor, Kentuckians and Indianians, a splendid lot both mentally and physically, and as fighters without superiors, who took their places in the regiment with a vim.

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The first day of May, 1918, found the regiment ready for any service, the discipline splendid, the spirit of the men high and all "on edge" to depart. An advance party left May 7 and a few days later the regiment followed. Thousands of visitors had come to bid it farewell and the passage through North and South Carolina was a continuous ovation, every village, town and city turning out to greet the men. Half the 120th went north by way of Raleigh and the other half by way of Greensboro, the Red Cross handling admirably the feedings of the troops all the way to Camp Merritt, a few miles north of New York city. There new clothing were issued to the whole command and practically everyone was given a chance to see something of New York city; a great experience for most of the men.

The regiment embarked for overseas at Boston, on two British vessels, the Bohemia and the Miltiades. The voyage was perfect as far as weather was concerned and uneventful except for the usual attacks by submarines, the latter being unsuccessful and in fact some of the submarines were sunk. The troops on the Bohemia debarked at Liverpool, went across England and thence to France. Those on the Miltiades debarked near London, went by rail to Dover and thence to France and on the 5th of June the whole regiment was in France. Upon its first landing in England all the officers and men were given an autographed letter of welcome from King George.

At Calais, in France, the troops were marched to a British rest camp and reequipped with British equipment, helmet, gas mask and rifle, and entrained as part of the British Army. The distant thunder of the guns could be heard and there were nightly air raids by the Boches, these killing women and children with bombs dropped from the airplanes and Zeppelins, showing the regiment the inhuman breed of enemies it was about to fight. From Calais the regiment went to Audriucq and training for the second time began. British officers and sergeants from the Bedfordshire Regiment were assigned to the 120th and this training was of great value. Details of officers and men were sent to the front from a week to two weeks with the 23rd and 49th British Divisions, which were holding the Ypres Salient, these details being transported by motor omnibuses which in peace time had been in use in London.

Some of the best stories of the regiment were gathered in and around Ypres. The supply service was reorganized to conform with that of the British Army and worked without a hitch. All hands were shown the actual handling of a barrage artillery fire and it certainly had the desired effect. While at Audriucq Sir Douglas Haig and General Pershing inspected the 30th division and the former asked that it be one of the two to remain with the British Army, the other being the 27th. At this point many new officers joined the regiment, these being part of what was nicknamed "Pershing's traveling circus" and they proved to be some of the ablest the regiment ever had. The regiment became part of the 11th British corps, of the Second Army, commanded by Gen. Plummer. July 2, 1918, it moved towards Belgium, and on the 4th of July the 30th Division crossed into that country, the first American troops to enter the plucky little kingdom. It first went to Herzeele and on entering that village found Belgian and French flags flying in honor of the great American holiday. At Herzeele the advance party which had been sent from the United States a few days before the regiment rejoined it. The regiment was sheltered in sheet iron huts and these were found very comfortable. The place was kept dark at night because Boche bombing planes came over every favorable night and yet these camps were not bombed. The regiment was holding what is known as the "Blue Line" on the night of the 16th of July, expecting an attack every second, when suddenly there was a burst of hand grenades. Everyone turned out like a flash, expecting to find the Boches coming up to the barbed wire, but found that Private Ball, tired on his lonely post, had gathered a quantity of hand grenades and for his own amusement was putting down what he called a "hand grenade barrage."

The Machine Gun Company, the Trench Mortar Battery, the 37- Millimeter gun platoon, the Pioneers, the Signal Platoon and the Sanitary Detachment were all up at the front, but the band was not allowed to go there, because musicians were too hard to replace and of too great value in maintaining the morale of the men. There were several successful skirmishes with the enemy, who failed on several occasions to rush the outpost lines.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. January 16, 1920.

THE 120TH INFANTRY

SECOND INSTALLMENT, OF THE HISTORY OF THIS FAMOUS ORGANIZATION

By Fred A. Olds

This is the second installment of the history of the 120th Regiment of Infantry, U. S., of service in the World War.

In Belgium, in July, 1918, at "Road Camp," King George V inspected the American troops, who were formed without arms, that being the British custom, but a lot of the Americans, not knowing this rule, thought the British were afraid some of them would take a "pot shot" at their ruler. The King was accompanied by noted British and American officers and after the inspection departed amidst cheers of the troops. Another notable visitor was Elsie Janis, a popular actress, who put on a wonderful show at Watou; a performance never to be forgotten; the only bit of such cheer brought to the regiment between June and November, 1918, and at the time when it was most needed. This daring actress went to the very front.

During this period Major General E. M. Lewis took command of, the 30th Division, Gen. Faison returned to the 60th Brigade and, Col. Minor to the 120th Regiment, Lt. Col. McGhee being transferred to Calais, and Capt. Walter Clark, Jr., to the staff college. Capt. Newby and Lts. Stegall, Gray and McRae, of the 120th, were promoted and sent back to the United States to train a new division; Major Phillips went to the claims department and Capt. Boddie took command of the 3rd Battalion. The training of the Division was now complete and it was ready to fight alone, so it took over the Canal Sector of the Ypres Salient from the 33rd British Division.

This sector extended from a lake about 2,400 yards to the town of Voormezeele, the ground being low and the water so near the surface that every hole made by the immense Boche shells became a pool, the Germans holding all the high ground and observation points. The salient was so deep and so narrow, like a V, that it was subject to shell fire from the front, the flanks and even the rear, and sometimes the men in the forward positions believed they were being shelled by their own artillery, while as a matter of fact the shells came from enemy guns on their right and rear.

The history says this whole sector was a ghastly monument to the tenacity and courage of the British soldiers, who for four long years had held it against bitter attacks by the determined enemy; that today it is consecrated ground, made sacred by the bodies of some 400,000 of Britain's finest sons, and that the few Americans who lie there, "where poppies blow," died not for humanity alone, for in death they brought closer the bonds of blood which unite the two great nations.

The relief of the British troops by the 30th Division was to be made on the night of August 17, 1918, and the 120th regiment took over the ground occupied by the 100th British Brigade. Advance parties had become familiar with this sector, for the night was frightfully dark, but thanks to the careful arrangements at 1 o'clock in the morning the bloody salient, so long British, became in part American. The first capture was of a Chinaman, and he only knew two English words, "Yes" and "Calais," so be was sent to the rear, accompanied by the following note by battalion commander Boddie: "Here is a Chinaman, captured near post No. 5. He is either on leave or A. W.O.L. In either case he picked a damn bad place to spend it."

On the night of August 29th a cloud gas attack was made by the 105th Engineers, the 120th Infantry furnishing 400 men to assist, and 2,520 cylinders of phosgene and chlorine gas, on nine trains, each of seven three-ton trucks, were carried on a light railway to a certain point and from there the cars were pushed by hand to the front. The gas was released at the same time from all the cylinders. The Germans at once sent up hundreds of lights of all sorts and opened fire from machine guns by the hundred, but this died out as the gas cloud rolled over them. Bitter fighting followed for the next few days and the first battalion of the 120th got the first fourteen

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prisoners taken by the regiment. These furnished valuable information for the attack. On September 1st the attack was made and the 119th Infantry took Voormezeele.

September 5, the whole regiment was deloused and bathed at "Kill-bug Station," each man getting clean underwear, for after a period in the line the little bugs known as "cooties" were plentiful. The regiment was at this time transferred to the Third British Army, and then it went to St. Pol, the most beautiful area in which it was ever billeted. There it learned to fight in connection with heavy tanks, such an opportunity rarely falling to American troops and being of great value. Next the regiment went to a point near Albert. Here Capt. Chapman, the regiment's only regular army officer, reported for duty, was assigned to F Company and was killed in his first action. Lieutenant Colonel Don Scott was promoted Colonel, but at his special request was permitted to remain in command of his battalion until after its next great action.

September 23 the Division was transferred to the Fourth British Army, motor busses by hundreds rolled into place and the troops were moved in these all night, Australian officers joining them the next day and giving valuable instruction. The regiment found that in front of it lay the hitherto untaken "Hindenburg Line," attacked so many times in vain, that the British army of which it was a part, had been given the task of fighting the only decisive battle in the World War; that the place of honor in this attack had been given the Fourth British Army; that the 30th Division as part of this army would attack in the center, with the 46th British Division on the right and the 27th American on the left; that the 119th and 120th Infantry had been selected to do the job; that is to cross the canal, with the 117th Infantry to follow and attack to the right, the 118th Infantry being the divisional reserve.

The 120th and the 119th attacked the Hindenburg system, which consisted first of three rows of heavy barbed wire woven so thick as to look like a mass of mingled briers and vines, with each row thirty or forty feet deep and which the artillery fire had little damaged; second three rows of the Hindenburg trenches, on which four years of work had been spent; third the backbone of the whole system, Bellicourt, the St. Quentin Canal tunnel, though which the canal passed underground 6,000 yards, having been built by the great Napoleon and being in some places 190 feet below the level of the ground.

The Germans had filled this canal with barges, lighted it with electric lights and had hospital dressing stations in it. On the barges they had accommodations for 15,000 troops, secure from any shell fire, and had closed the end of the tunnel with reenforced concrete walls, with small openings for machine guns. To their trench system and to the town of Bellicourt overhead ran concrete tunnels through which their troops could move to reenforce the front line or occupy the prepared positions in Bellicourt. In addition the Germans had another defense line and also the village of Nauroy, which they had prepared for a strong defense, machine guns by the thousand being on these lines. The Germans were so sure this position could not be taken that even after the Americans had captured it the prisoners would not believe it to be possible and laughed at those who told them.

It required four hours for the Division to reach its final objective, following one of the most frightful barrage fires ever known. Just before the attack Capt. Ben Dixon called his company together and they gave a solemn pledge to "carry through" to the objective, though only one man be spared alive. Captain Leonard counted some eggs in his haversack and gave them to Peter, one of his trusted men; a brave fellow who once so far forgot the war, as to chase crippled partridges right in the midst of the German counter-barrage fire. Major Graham, who always called loudly for hot coffee saw that he got it then and there.

For forty-eight hours before the attack there was continuous bombardment of the enemy and prisoners said they had never seen anything like. it. It was at 4:30 in the morning that the troops stood in line on the "tape" which had been laid by the 105th Engineers, and away went the troops and the tanks, following a barrage from fourteen brigades of artillery; besides the heavy guns and an enormous number of machine guns. At 7:25 in the morning the main Hindenburg system had been crossed in dense fog and smoke and the "mopping-up" battalion which followed sent a constant stream of Boche prisoners to the rear. At 11:30 a. m. Nauroy was occupied and the regiment stood on its objective and then the Australians passed through as planned.

The 60th Brigade was the first unit on the entire British front to break through the entire Hindenburg Line, and the 120th regiment was the only unit which took all of its objectives in this great attack on time. German officers

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captured, when convinced that their line was broken, said in despair; "All is lost! There is nothing between you and the Rhine!" The piles of empty shells at each machine gun emplacement and the heavy casualty list testified to the bitterness of the fighting. The regiment had proved its fighting worth and earned the confidence of its allied comrades, British and Australians. The spoils captured were enormous.

Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. January 16, 1920.

THE 120TH INFANTRY THIRD INSTALLMENT OF HISTORY OF FAMOUS ORGANIZATION

By Fred A. Olds

The following is the third installment of the admirably told story of the services of the 120th regiment of infantry U. S. A., the old Third North Carolina Regiment of the National Guard, a part of the 60th Brigade, 30th Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, Col. Sidney W. Minor commanding. After the breaking of the Hindenburg Line, which was accomplished completely Sept. 29, 1918, the Division was withdrawn from the front October 1st. and marched to a point near Peronne, making camp in an area which had been fought over for four years, changing hands time and time again and which was a perfect example of complete destruction, since of many towns nothing remained and the only signs of their existence were signboards marking the sites. Yet this was the Somme country, which had been the most productive part of France. The regiment and division relieved the Second Australian Division and at 2 a. m. on the night of Oct. 8th orders came for an attack which was to launched in three and a half hours, that is at 5:30 in the morning, yet in this brief time the orders were prepared and distributed. The 118th Infantry was to lead in this attack and the 120th was to pass through it when the 118th had reached its objective, but the 118th was held up by terrible machine gun fire and not until 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon did the 120th pass through. Then three towns were taken and a battalion aided in capturing another.

On the 10th the advance continued and after severe fighting the town Vaux Andigny was captured and the regiment got in touch with the Sixth British Division. Major Boddie was wounded. The country was hilly, with woods and hedges, the Germans had no end of machine guns and gave up no ground without a hard fight.

On the 16th of October the regiment moved near Becquigny and that night was shelled with some casualties. An attack was made on the Germans behind a creeping barrage and the regiment took the town of Mazingheim and the heights overlooking the Sambre Canal, the Germans making such a desperate resistance that no prisoners were taken, practically all of them having to be killed.

The Division had lost so many men by death and wounds that it was with drawn on the night of October 29, to be refilled and refitted, the 120th going to St. Souplet, thence to Busigny, to Nauroy and Pencourt, thence to a camp near Amiens. At the latter place the regiment got 300 replacement men, the first it had received, and a good many of its men who had been wounded at Ypres returned to it. Here the regimen gave the only "regimental party" it ever had and it was a very jolly social affair. It was given to the officers of the regiment by those of its officers that had been promoted in France, Col. Metts of the 119th being one of the three outside officers present. Training at this camp began after a very brief rest. While every man felt that the end of the war was not far off, the regiment fully expected to "jump off", that is attack, at least once more before the collapse came, and so on the 11th of November was hard at work preparing for an attack to be made a few days later, when suddenly a message came announcing the signing of the armistice. A holiday was declared.

After the armistice and until the regiment embarked for home work was being carried on and the division was tranferred from the British Army to the American Army at Le Mons (sic). The regiment entrained at Corbie, detrained at Beaumont and its quarters were in the villages of St. Christopher, St. Sabine and Lille, this area being the most unsatisfactory in which the regiment was ever billeted. On January 21st, 1919, General Perishing inspected the division and reviewed it and three days later it marched to Montigny. Captains Leonard and Jenkins were promoted majors. Many other changes were made and a large number of officers went to

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the Army of Occupation to march into Germany. Lieutenant Col. Don Scott was, promoted to colonel and took charge of the regiment. Colonel Minor assumed command of the 60th Brigade. Major McLendon took command of the 3rd battalion and Major Walker of the 2nd. Early in March the regiment went to the best camp it ever had, at St. Nazaire.

The final decision to land the 30th Division at Charleston, S. C., instead of New York, delayed the sailing and it was not until April 1st that the last of the regiment cleared for home. The regiment after it had been filled to strength had been broken into detachments and every State in the Union except three was represented in its ranks. Half the regiment sailed on the Powhatan, the other half on the Martha Washington. The voyage home was uneventful. The naval officers and men made the return very pleasant. The troops landed at Charleston and the Red Cross there took splendid care of them during the hour of their stay, for after that brief time the first train left for Camp Jackson, at Columbia, S. C.

April 16th the regiment paraded at Charlotte, where the people gave it a royal welcome and their unstinted hospitality will forever be a cherished memory to every officer and enlisted man in the command.

On the 17th of April all the men had received the red war chevron and honorable discharge and these men who had lived, suffered and fought together were going home. There were tears in all eyes as hands were clasped for the last time. These men had written the history of their regiment, a record of their successes; a record which needs neither explanation or apology.

Here is the splendid, closing paragraph of this most interesting history of a unit of which North Carolina may ever be proud: "For our British Comrades-in-Arms the regiment has the highest regard. We often disagreed, but they accepted us and treated us as one of their own. They gave us their splendid Australian artillery, they fed us, they equipped us, they clothed us, they protected us in the air, and we profited by their four years of hard experience in warfare. We feel honored in having been selected to serve with them; we feel that their generals were our generals, their army our army, and their successes our successes. The only places in France which hold the affections and loving memory of this regiment are those bits of hallowed ground in Flanders Field, and the desolate country of the Somme, where those of it who gave their lives heroically for humanity sleep side by side with the brave men of many lands, in the most glorious death that comes to man."

The history gives the battle casualties of the regiment as follows: Ypres Sector, July 4th and Sept 6th, killed 3 officers and 31 men, wounded 6 officers and 210 men, prisoner 1; Hindenburg Line, Sept. 29-Oct. 1; killed 8 officers and 194 men, wounded 22 officers and 737 men; in the fighting Oct. 7-12, killed 2 officers, 36 men, wounded 12 officers and 307 men; prisoner 1 man; in the fighting Oct. 16-20, killed 2 officers and 26 men, wounded 2 officers and 216 men. The grand total was killed 302, wounded 1,512, prisoners 2. Three officers and 23 men died of their wounds.

The regiment captured 1,253 German prisoners, 132 machine guns, 10 artillery guns and 4 trench mortars and released 375 civilians who were prisoners by the Germans. It faced 17 German Divisions between Aug. 31 and Oct. 19, the quality of five of these being very good. It advanced as a front line attacking unit 16,000 yards out of a total of 29,500 yards by the division and it marched as a regiment 330 kilometers while in France. Each man in the regiment is entitled to wear a star for the Canal Sector, the Ypres-Lys Offensive and the Somme Offensive.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. September 10, 1920.

STATE'S WAR HISTORY HOW A REAL "HISTORY FACTORY" WILL PRESERVE NORTH CAROLINA'S WAR RECORDS

By Fred. A. Olds

In the State Administration building, on the south side of the Capitol Square, there is a real "history factory," to use the expression of a little Raleigh school girl. On the fourth floor Dr. D. H. Hill, son of Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill, and for many years a professor and then president of the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, is hard at work on what will be a real history of the War Between the States, 1861-65. He expects to finish the work next year.

On the second floor Mr. Robert B. House, of Halifax county, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and of Harvard University, and who served in France with the American Expeditionary Forces, in the 103d Infantry, 26th division, is collecting a mass of material covering North Carolina's part in the World War, 1917-18. This State is preserving its war records through a special Department of World War Records created within the North Carolina Historical Commission by the General Assembly of 1919. This department did not spring up fullgrown in the Historical Commission, nor did the work of preserving war records await the creation of this department. The whole enterprise is a development from work instituted within the Historical Commission itself, carried on by the Historical Committee of the North Carolina Council of Defense, and eventually turned over to the Department of World War Records, under Mr. House as the special collector employed under the law by the Historical Commission. The general work of the Historical Commission, until the appointment of the Collector of War Records, has been, first, to teach the people of the state just what war records ought to be preserved, and, secondly, to organize the various counties of the state in such a way as to make this' collection of war records systematic. Gratifying success has met the efforts of the Historical Commission so far, which has organized sixty-five counties to carry on the work.

The general plan is collecting as fully as possible documents, reports, records of all kinds; will use these documents for the publication of a history as soon as possible; but will continue collecting records which will serve to revise this history as it may be necessary. Collector House has as his duty the survey of all probable sources of war records and materials; to assemble these in the archives of the Historical Commission; to classify and arrange them; and eventually to publish from them a complete history of North Carolina in the great World War, which will treat of the following general heads:

A. Operations of the United States government in North Carolina. b. Operations of the North Carolina State government in war c. Operations of county and governments. d. War work of volunteer organizations. e. Military, naval, and air service of North Carolina units and of individual North Carolina soldiers, sailors, and airmen. f. Organization and services of the Home Defense. g. A roster of North Carolina soldiers, sailors, and airmen. h. Services of North Carolinians in national affairs. i. Effects of the war on agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, finance, trade, and commerce in North Carolina. j. Social and welfare work among the soldiers and their dependents. k. Contributions of schools and churches to the war and the effect of the war on education and religion. l. Such other phases of the war as may be necessary to set forth the contributions of the State and its people to this momentous event in the world's history.

The watchword of the Historical Commission is documents. A document is anything which preserves a record, and the documents which preserve North Carolina's World War records are sought under two general heads (1) Statistics, reports and histories to be compiled of individuals and organizations which performed any kind of war service. Complete records of soldiers, sailors, airmen, doctors, nurses, etc., are of course sought as paramount. Likewise reports are sought of work done by such organizations as the Council of Defense, Food Administration, Fuel Administration, Draft Board, Red Cross, etc., organizations that operated in every county

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in the State. The above organizations grew out of the war itself, but also organizations such as women's clubs, local churches, the Masons, chambers of commerce, etc., added to their normal activities some form of war work. Accurate reports of this work are sought.

(2) Documents of the time that preserve the life, color, feelings, and tone of the war.

They exist in four great classes. (a) Printed matter, such as books, newspapers, sermons, addresses, etc.; (b) Manuscripts, such as letters, diaries, minutes of proceedings, reports, etc; (c) Pictures, such as photographs of people, places, and events, posters of all sorts, maps, sketches, etc.; (d) Mementoes, such as service flags, pennants, insignia, etc. Too much emphasis cannot be laid on the importance of preserving these sources. An examination of an great historical work will show how its author has depended on letters, posters, diaries, etc. There is probably no historical record more important than a letter, and certainly none so hard to obtain. People deem their letters both too commonplace and too personal to be of historical value. Herein they err, because the records of the most historical value are accurate, commonplace, personal, records of a time. People moreover hesitate to give their letters to a historian because of reluctance to subject their affairs and emotions to public scrutiny. They should remember, however, that in years to come these features of a letter fade out, while the document as a type of individual experience remains invaluable.

Documents given are arranged and filed, and those lent temporarily are copied and returned to the lenders.

In the process of this work every effort is made to give due recognition to the negro's participation in the war. Representatives for the negro race are being secured in each county, and the records pertaining to the North Carolina negro's participation in the war are filed in a special department.

Judged by results accomplished, the plan of the Historical Commission bids fair to succeed. Sixty-four counties have representatives at work gathering data for the white race, and sixty-four for the colored race. Of these counties, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Bertie, Bladen, Cumberland; Columbus, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hoke, Nash, Orange, Pasquotank, Richmond, Tyrrell, Wake, Warren, and Washington have not only active representatives at work, but also committees of citizens formed in associations for systematic canvass of all county sources of information. These associations are increasing. In a number of the counties the school teachers and the school children are giving valuable assistance, notably in Columbus. In some counties, notably Bladen and Bertie, definite work is progressing on a county history. The Daughters of the American Revolution, the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the American Legion are co-operating with the Historical Commission in compiling military records.

The official records which the Historical Commission must explore are of three classes. First, the national archives, in Washington. Several states have found it convenient to associate themselves in an organization for research and co-operation, called the National Association of State War History Organizations. The following are the charter members of this organization: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and they are now endeavoring to bring all other states in the Union into this organization. Allowing for the time necessary to compile the records, materials needed from the archives of the national government are sure to be obtained. For instance, definite provisions have been made to secure the full records of the 83,000 North Carolina men who served in the army, the navy, or the marine corps.

The next class of records is that of the several state departments, the Council of Defense, the Food Administration, the Fuel Administration, the Department of Education, etc.

The last, and in many respects the most important, class of official records exists in the several counties of the state. The counties of the state presented in their war organization a type of the entire organization for war used by the national government. For instance, there was in each county a Council of Defense, a Food Administration, a Fuel Administration, a Local Exemption Board, a Red Cross Chapter, and so on.

The Historical Commission is meeting one of its severest tasks in securing reports from these county organizations. In the first place, they kept no accurate records. In the second place, they have for the most part

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destroyed what records they did keep, because the officials of these organizations deemed the records to be of no value after the termination ' of the war. Quite naturally these county officials did not look upon their duties as including that of a historian, and as soon as these documents had served their practical uses, they destroyed them. It has, therefore, been the work of the Historical Commission in many instances to compile these anew.

The materials that give life, color, tone, to history are found not in statistical reports, but in the manifold experiences of the people. People will remember the letters of Bill to his "Dere Mable" Long after they have forgotten the amount Bill's compatriots subscribed in Liberty Bonds. They will treasure stories of Sergeant York and Kiffin Rockwell long after they have forgotten the number of soldiers who went across. Every home in North Carolina has a "Private Bill" as an inmate or neighbor. Every community has its own quiet hero. Every man, woman, and child in the state did something in the war, felt something in the war, which, if it could be recorded, would make the war's history a living, breathing thing.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. September 24, 1920.

THE 119TH INFANTRY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF WILMINGTON WILL PRINT ITS HISTORY AS A COMPLIMENT

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

Members, and friends of the 119th Infantry will be interested to learn that the history of this regiment has been written by Coleman B. Carnway and George A. Shuford. The Chamber of Commerce of Wilmington, North Carolina, is going to print this history as a compliment to the regiment. An advance copy of the history has been deposited with the North Carolina Historical Commission by Colonel J. Van. B. Metts, formerly of the 119th Infantry, now Adjutant-General of North Carolina.

The history is written in clear and accurate style, with particular attention to the technique of the training, movement and operations of the regiment. It lacks the animation and fullness of the history of the 113th Field Artillery, however, and the completeness of documentary material that characterizes the history of the 105th Engineers. A roster of the 119th Infantry, complimentary letters, citations, reprints of publications showing the life of the regiment would make attractive appendices to the narrative which alone makes up the volume in its present shape. The story of the regiment is, however, an impressive record of achievement.

The Second North Carolina Infantry was sent to the Mexican Border June 16, 1916. It was never mustered out of service, but was sent to Camp Sevier August 1, 1917, when it became the 119th Infantry of the newly-organized 30th Division. Although it was added to from other states, the regiment remained always a North Carolina unit by a large majority.

At Camp Sevier the regiment built its company streets and cleared its parade grounds from the virgin forest, settled down to work under Colonel Metts, and made good in spite of poor equipment and the severity of the winter of 1917-1918.

On May 11, 1918, the regiment sailed from the United States on the British ships, Ascania from Hoboken, Haverford from Boston, and Laomadon from Boston. Assembling in convoy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, they sailed across the Atlantic safely to Liverpool. The voyage was marked by little sickness and the appearance of only one submarine, which was promptly squelched by the torpedo boat convoy. Landing in Liverpool May 27, 1918, it went at once across England and the Channel, through Calais to the Racques training area in France, arriving there May 29, and being bombed by airplanes that same date. The regiment was assigned to the British armies, having to use both British equipment and British methods. The famous Black Watch Regiment, and the Gordon Highlanders became the teachers of the 119th Infantry. Sir Douglas Haig and General Pershing reviewed the regiment, commended it for its military accomplishments, and signalized the superb physique of its men. July 2nd saw the regiment moving up to the sector near Watou, Belgium, presumably to complete their training in a quiet sector of the front, but recent shifting of the German plans had changed this into an active sector. So it is that the 119th plunged into the thick of combat at once, losing many men, but succeeding in a drive on Mount Kemmel, on August 31.

On September 7, the regiment withdrew from the lines and began to re-organize itself and to practice attacking with the support of tanks. Hitherto the regiment had been with the 2nd British Army. It now became a part of the 4th British Army, and September 22 moved into the lines before the St. Quentin Canal. Here it was to attack the Hindenburg Line.

On September 29, the 119th Infantry, supported on the right by the 120th Infantry and on the left by the 27th American Division, broke through the Hindenburg Line at Nauroy. The 27th American Division was unable to

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keep pace with the 119th Infantry and to protect the regiment's left flank thus exposed, a battalion of the 118th Infantry was employed. Gaining its objective, however, the 119th withdrew from the line to reorganize.

On October 6 the regiment was back again, ready for the assault which they launched on October 8, and continued through October 10, taking in succession Busigny, St. Souplet, Escaufort, and St. Benin. Relieved by the 27th Division after this attack, the 119th Infantry again withdrew to reorganize for a third attack. This third attack it made October 17, 18 and 19, and took Rebeauville, Ecaillon, Catillon and Mazingheim.

The regiment then moved to a camp near Amiens to rest and train. While here it was selected as the best regiment in the division to compete in a contest for the Second Corp rating. Subsequently the regiment won, rating as being one of the crack regiments of the A. E. F.

On November 17, 1918, the 119th moved back to the American Armies at Le Mans. On March 16, it sailed from St. Nazaire on the American ships Madawaska and Huron, landing in Charleston April 2, 1919. After a parade in Columbia, S. C., April 5th, the regiment disbanded at Camp Jackson April 6, 1919.

The 119th Infantry lost a total of 1,746 men in action. It never spent a day in a quiet sector of the front. It never failed to capture its objective, and took eight towns from the Germans. It was rated as first class by General Pershing. And a private of this regiment, Robert Lester Blackwell, won the only Congressional Medial of Honor won by a North Carolinian in the late war. The 119th Infantry also won forty Distinguished Service Crosses, the largest number gained by any North Carolina unit.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. October 1, 1920.

THE OLD HICKORY DIVISI0N IT RANKS HIGH AMONG CRACK AMERICAN DIVISIONS

IN PERSONNEL, SERVICE AND EXPLOITS

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

September 29th is the anniversary of the smashing of the Hindenburg Line by the boys of the 30th or Old Hickory Division, a feat of arms unsurpassed in the World War, and paralleling the proudest achievements of our race. Since the 30th Division was composed primarily of boys from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, the anniversary of this great fight is the time when the men of the 30th Division reunite in some one of these states. This year in Asheville, N. C., last year in Greenville, S. C., and next year they will meet in some city of Tennessee.

The 30th Division was organized in the summer of 1917, with the National Guard of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee as a nucleus. This nucleus was, of course, made up of volunteers, many of whom had just enlisted for the World War. As will be readily recollected, however, the whole nation volunteered for service by putting into operation the Selective Service Law, which from its very inception beat out the volunteer system as a wiser and more effective means of getting recruits, finally causing the authorities to discontinue the system of recruiting by the volunteer system so that in the last days of the war the army was recruited altogether by the draft.

In September, 1917, the first contingents of the draft or the National Army, as it was then called, met at Camp Jackson, S. C. At the same time the volunteers of the National Guard met at Camp Sevier, S. C. Immediately the War Department began to fill the incomplete ranks of the National Guard from the inexhaustible reservoir of the National Army at Camp Jackson. Thus it was that the draft and the volunteer systems combined to make up the Old Hickory Division.

Moreover, after the trained divisions had gone to France in the spring of 1918, the War Department devised yet another system of training, this time not to make new divisions, but to keep the old divisions recruited to full strength. This was the Replacement Camp system, which drew its recruits wholly through the draft system. Camp Jackson, Camp Gordon, Camp Lee, for examples, became replacement training centers, drawing men from all over the country, so that when these replacements were sent into the old divisions, they changed the division personnel from local to national. Thus it came about that the Old Hickory Division left the State as a unit from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and came back from the war with men in its ranks from every state in the Union and from several foreign countries. Thus also came about that this division started out as a volunteer National Guard organization, but transformed to an organization representing every system of recruiting employed during the war.

But it remained, nevertheless, primarily a division representing the best fighting blood of the three states which now take turns in honoring the exploits of the Old Hickory Division.

The 30th Division and the 27th (New York) Division formed the 2nd American Army Corps, which Corps operated altogether with the British armies. In the following account it must be borne in mind that the exploits of the 30th Division took place in conjunction with the 27th Division at times, and always in conJunction with elements of the British However; It should likewise be borne in mind that while a division may act in conjunction with other divisions, it nevertheless has a definite job of its own to do, by the performance of which its success or failure is judged. And therefore the work the 30th Division was called upon to do on September 29, 1918 is singled out so that we may see just wherein honor is due to its men. Every statement is based on official records.

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On March 21, 1918, the German armies debouched from their trench system known as the Hindenburg Line, and advanced continuously on one front or another until the first days of July, when they were halted by the Allies never to advance again. On July 18, 1918, Foch began the series of allied offensives that were to continue until Germany was beaten. All through July, August and September the Allies drove back the Germans on every front until on September 29th they found themselves back again behind the hitherto impregnable Hindenburg Line. The question now agitating the world was this: "Can Germany halt the Allies at the Hindenburg Line?" This question was answered in the negative on the British front. The men who answered it were the soldiers of the 30th Division.

On the night of September 23-24 the 30th Division took over what was known as the Nauroy sector, with a front of 3,700 yards. About 1,000 yards in front of them lay the main defenses of the Hindenburg Line. The Hindenburg Line at this point was a belt of fortified villages and trenches 7,000 to 10,000 yards in width, including the St. Quentin tunnel 6,000 yards in length, the mouth of which opened on the Nauroy sector. Beyond these defenses lay Nauroy, which the 30th Division was to take and hold until relieved. On September 27th, the Division succeeded in a preliminary effort to straighten out its lines. This put the 30th Division squarely on the start line for the attack to be launched simultaneously at 5:50 a. m., September 29th, by the 2nd American Corps and the 2nd and 3rd British Corps. Starting in perfect harmony with its artillery barrage, therefore, the 30th Division attacked the Hindenburg Line with the 60th Brigade leading and elements of the 59th Brigade in support.

By the afternoon of the 29th, the 30th Division pierced the Hindenburg Line, stormed Bellicourt, and took Nauroy. Beyond it lay the open country filled with retreating Germans, and here it was relieved by the Australians. In this fight the 30th Division carried out exactly its plans, co-operating exactly with the Divisions on its right and left, and breaking the Hindenburg Line first of all the Divisions engaged in the fight.

General Faison thus stated the importance of this fight in his battle order to the 60th Brigade:

"It is deemed a special honor that our Corps should have been selected to break through the Hindenburg Line at this point, which, if successful, should almost certainly lead to decisive results. Upon our success depends the entire movement of the Australian Division, which has been designated to exploit and carry forward our lines. It is a point both of duty and honor that all should succeed, and this Brigade is called upon to push through at all costs. The Brigade Commander feels and knows that he is not calling upon the Brigade in vain."

After the break through, General Lewis, the Division Commander, comments as follows:

"To be given the task, in its initial effort (this was the first divisional action) to play an important role in breaking through the Hindenburg Line, the strongest defense on the Western Front, was a great honor, and the fact that the breakthrough was actually made on the Divisional front is ample evidence that the honor was not misplaced."

The 30th Division ranks among the first divisions of our army in personnel, length of service, losses sustained, distance advanced against the enemy, and prisoners captured. Of the 78 Congressional Medals of Honor won by the whole American Expeditionary Forces, 12 went to individuals of the 30th Division, more than to any other division. But the proudest distinction of the Old Hickory Division is that on September 29, 1918, it broke through the Hindenburg Line first of all the Divisions in the Allied offensive.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. October 8, 1920.

CAPTAIN FLETCHER TELLS THE STORY OF THE 113TH FIELD ARTILLERY

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

Among recent valuable acquisitions of the North Carolina Historical Commission is the History of the Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery, by the Historical Committee of that regiment, a beautifully printed and illustrated volume of two hundred and sixty-two pages. The volume presents the history proper and several appendices, giving a facsimile of The Tar Baby, sketches of each company and battery, an appreciation of the regiment by their French adviser, Lieutenant Jacques J. L. Poppelin, Carryings on About Carrying On, by George Graham, and interesting personal and statistical information. The Roster of the 113th F. A. by States, counties and foreign countries is of particular historical value. Though the work is the result of intelligent and enthusiastic co-operation among the several members of the committee and of the regiment in general, the animated, convincing style of its narrative is due to the talent of Captain A. L. Fletcher of Raleigh, chief historian of the regiment, and commander of the Supply Company from the start to very near the finish of the organization.

The One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery began as a strictly North Carolina organization, and though the fortune of replacements brought into the regiment men from every state in the Union, and from several foreign countries, it always remained by preponderating majority a North Carolina regiment. It was a part of the 55th F. A. Brigade of the Old Hickory (30th) Division. But is so happened that the artillery brigade of the 30th Division was sent to St. Mihiel and the Argonne, while the infantry was sent to co-operate with the British. The result is that an Old Hickory organization took part in every major engagement of the 1918 campaign after July of 1918.

When at last in the summer of 1917 North Carolina was informed that a regiment of light field artillery would be accepted from North Carolina, Captain Wiley C. Rodman of Washington, received the first recruit on June 13, to what was known at that time as the First North Carolina Light Field Artillery. On July 13, the regiment was completely organized and under the command of Albert L. Cox, newly commissioned Colonel. On July 25, the regiment assembled by batteries at the call of the President; on August 5, it was formally drafted into the Federal service, and September 16, 1917, it became the 113th Field Artillery of the newly-formed 30th Division.

Every trade and profession was represented in the regiment, and the personnel was superb, but it was an artillery regiment in name only; not even the Colonel had received artillery training. . The enlisted and officer personnel were for the most part infantrymen where they had any experience at all.

The winter of 1917-1918 is remembered as terrific by everyone, particularly by those men who lived in the tended camps of the (for that time) frozen South. Camp Sevier at Greenville was a typical newly-built, mud swamped, frozen proving ground of endurance and discipline. Here the 113th F. A. cleared away the forest to make a camp and a parade ground, improvised wooden guns and instruments for drill, and boned up theory around their sputtering Sibley stoves. Drills, schools, mud, cold, sickness, death, profanity, joking, marked the course of training thru which they went. Some resigned positions of responsibility too great for them, some fell by the way, some rose to higher position during this time, until May, 1918, saw the regiment intact for the most part, inured to hardship and discipline, ready for France.

Great Britain took them across the water in the converted freighter, Armagh. The voyage was marked by seasickness and disgust at the English ration of mutton. One boy remarked that the 113th wouldn't be worth a damn in the navy, and all the boys dissented from the English opinion of mutton, which it seems they had every day. The total impression of England itself, it seems, was disagreeable, though the scenes around Winchester were lovely, and the regiment was glad to cross the Channel, get out of La Havre and get into Brittany to Camp de Coetquidan, to learn some real artillery work with real artillery.

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Camp de Coetquidan was all that Camp Sevier was not, though it must be remarked here that Greenville, the city, did not share in the distaste felt for Sevier, the camp. The history pays tribute to the spirited hospitality of the people there. At Camp Coetquidan and the nearby city of Rennes, however, the men found the proper introduction to both artillery and French life. By August 22, the regiment was fully equipped and trained fit for any duty on any sector.

This duty came at once near Toul with the 89th Division at Ansonville, Hamonville, and Beaumont, first in defensive work against the Boche, and secondly in the drive on the St. Mihiel salient made by the American First Army. From September 12, through September 14, the regiment advanced continuously in support of the 89th Division. St. Mihiel a victory, they moved at once toward the Argonne, taking up position at the Bois de Brocourt September 22, and fighting continuously through October 7, with first the 37th (Ohio Division) and second the 32nd (Wisconsin-Michigan). Division.

Depleted of horses to the danger point, they moved their guns across to the plain of the Woevre and went into support of first the 79th Division and second the 33rd Division, fighting continuously till the armistice. After the armistice they marched thru Luxemburg into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation.

The preceding operations were not as simple as they appear on paper. But it is impossible to describe fully the obstacles of supply terrain, and enemy opposition that had to be overcome at each step of advance. Feeling tribute is paid to the poor dumb beasts slaughtered by thousands, by fire, gas, underfeed and overwork. Instance after instance of personal and organization efficiency and courage is recalled, especially how on one occasion the regiment flatly refused to consider abandoning their guns should the Boche counterattack in mass, as then seemed likely. On another occasion, at Montfaucon, the regimental chaplain, Benjamin R. Lacy, organized a battery of captured German 77's and turned them on the enemy. Nor was this time of stress without consolations. A herd of cows was captured from the Germans, of which Majors Bulwinkle and Stem each took one. Major Stem's cow soon succumbed to the hazards of the campaign, but Major Bulwinkle's private dairy served through the campaign, daily "wearing her gas mask and four gallons of milk in alert position." She became a part of the Army of Occupation.

After many wanderings in Luxemburg, Germany, and northwestern France, however, the 113th F. A. finally came back to the 30th Division at Le Mans, where after "many delayed orders and ordered delays" they entrained for Brest, boarded the U. S. S. Santa Teresa, landed safely at. Newport News March 18, 1919, paraded in Raleigh March 23, and passed on via Camp Jackson to civies.

"With the last formalities duly attended to, the last bit of red tape adjusted, and hasty goodbyes spoken, the men of he regiment turned their faces homeward, and the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery ceased to exist, save in the hearts and memories of the splendid body of men who had made it a great fighting machine, a resourceful; courageous organization. Viewed from any angle, the One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery was a great regiment, self-reliant and dependable because it was an aggregation of self-reliant and dependable men. No matter how trying the situation, the One Hundred and Thirteenth always stood, squarely and firmly on its own feet, was always able to take care of itself and lend a helping hand to less hardy outfits. It bore no stain upon its record. There were no reprimands from high authority, no complaints, no criticism to be explained away. It was a regiment of no regrets.

"The One Hundred and Thirteenth Field Artillery was seventy-eight days at the front. Eleven days of this time was spent in hiking from one sector to another. At no time, after August 23, 1918, up to Armistice Day was the regiment out of range of German artillery. The time spent in moving from one sector to another may well be counted active front line service, for the movement in every case skirted the American front lines.

"The regiment has the unique distinction of having served longer at the front than any other North Carolina organization. The War Department officially credits the 30th Division with fifty-six days of service in active sectors. Deducting the eleven days in which it was on the march and during which no fighting was clone, the One Hundred and Thirteenth was occupying active sectors and actually firing sixty-seven days, or eleven days longer than the infantry unit of the 30th Division. Only two divisions, the First and the Third, are officially credited with longer service in active sectors than the One Hundred and Thirteenth experienced. Two divisions,

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the Second and the 77th, all one day under the One Hundred and Thirteenth's record, each being credited with sixty-six days.

"As has already been stated, the One Hundred and Thirteenth served in all three of the American armies, the First, the Second, and the Third, and in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth American Army Corps. Five of the six divisions with which the regiment served are credited with making advances of thirty kilometers or more against enemy resistance. Two of the divisions it supported, the 89th and the 33rd, stand third and fourth among the combat divisions of the A. E. F. in the number of German prisoners captured. The 30th Division was fifth. Two other divisions that the One Hundred and Thirteenth supported, the 37th and the 32nd, also stand high among the fighting divisions in the taking of prisoners. The regiment was always fortunate in the divisions to which it was assigned and can always be proud of the company it kept in the World War."

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. October 15, 1920.

THE HINDENBURG LINE FROM A DOUGHBOY'S POINT OF VIEW

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

Among the many records of the 30th Division now on file with the North Carolina Historical Commission is the following description of his experiences by Corporal James E. Gregory, Company M, 119th Infantry. Corporal Gregory, the son of Mr. And Mrs. W. J. Gregory, was born in Newland township, Pasquotank county, N. C. May 15, 1896. He was called into service through the draft September 20, 1917, as one of the first men in his county to go, and was transferred from the National Army at Camp Jackson, S. C., to the National Guard at Camp Sevier, S. C. Corporal Gregory's experience typifies that of thousands of young North Carolinians who waited for the call to service with full faith in the system of Selective Service, and eager courage for action. His story follows:

"On the second day of July, 1918, we began our hike for the front. After five days of hiking with eighty-pound packs, we stopped within ten miles of the Ypres front in Belgium at Kemmel Hill. Here for two weeks we trained and got somewhat acquainted with the sound of big guns and German air raids.

"On the 24th of July we went to the front and with the British 4th Army helped to hold the front line. The first day was fairly quiet, but the second was rough. When I saw two of my best pals killed and I had to help carry one of them out with his head blown off, I decided Sherman was right when he said 'War is hell.' That night we were relieved by another company of our boys and we went out to rest-a few days later and the Division was out for a rest. After five days of rest we were sent back to the lines to relieve the British. This time we let 'Old Jerry' know who was there. The 27th American Division at our right went over the top and captured Kemmel Hill. Our Division went over with them and advanced the line even with the 27th, which was about one thousand yards. Then being relieved by the Scotch Highlanders, we went out for another rest and were sent to the Somme front in France to help the Australians break the famous Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt. Here we learned we were used as storm troops for the English 4th Army.

"At 5:50 a.m., September 29th, our Division attacked the Hindenburg Line on a front of three thousand yards. For four long hours the barrage continued without one minute of let up from both sides. It looked to me as if the destruction of the world had begun. I couldn't hear myself think, shells were falling everywhere, and shrapnels filling the air with their horrible whistles, and men were moaning and groaning at every side, pleading for someone to help them. German prisoners were coming over with hands up yelling 'Kamerad,' enemy aeroplanes whizzing low to the earth and sending showers of bullets down on us, friends everywhere falling dead and wounded. I was in a continuous struggle for life and almost unconscious of what was really happening, when the hardest of the battle was over and we had reached our objective, the tunnel of St. Quentin and the entire Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt. We spent the night in a German dugout seventy feet under ground, where the night before Hindenburg's men never dreamed of having to give up.

"On the morning of the 30th we began to gather up the remainder of the dead and wounded. Horrible sights were to be seen. I saw men piled beside the shell-torn road in piles of from two to a dozen, and Australians hauling men to bury in wagons like we haul wood-a dozen or fifteen to a load. At the burying ground some of the men could not be identified for only half a man could be found, sometimes his body being blown to pieces and the identification tag lost.

"On October 1st we were relieved by the Australians, having captured 1,434 men and 47 officers and advanced 4,200 yards. We went out to back areas for a well-earned rest which we never got. On the 5th we were started back to the front to relieve the Australians. On October 9th I went over the top twice. We captured two small villages. One I remember was Busigny. Just before we entered the village we ran into a machine gun nest and several of our boys were killed. H. L. Myers of my squad fell severely wounded and called for help. I

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[was] not supposed to aid him but he begged so I could not refuse, took off his first aid pouch and began to dress his wound as best I could. While busy at work on him three bullets struck the ground behind us within four feet of us. I said to him 'Crawl behind me, if you can, to this hill.' While he was crawling a bullet passed through the overcoat on his pack.

"When we had routed the machine gun nest, we advanced through Busigny and came within sight of the enemy's artillery and began to fire on the fleeing enemy. While moving the artillery back as fast as they could some of the enemy's guns were firing on us at open sight in our ranks. I could see the fire belch from the mouth of the gun when it was fired in our ranks. This was just at night. Orders came to dig in and prepare for the night. About six o'clock in the morning of the 10th, a barrage was put down on St. Souplet and we went over the top again and drove the enemy just outside the town; advancing our line about a mile, leaving both right and left flanks open to the enemy. While driving the enemy out of the town they were firing on us from behind houses, out of windows, in church towers, from behind doors, and every place imaginable. I discovered one firing at me out of the open door in a large brick house about two hundred yards away. I took steady aim at the door and when he came to the door again I fired at him and he at me. He struck within two feet of me. I don't know how near I came to him but I did not get him. We exchanged three shots at each other and I called two other fellows and went to the place where I saw him but he had gone to the rear. Late in the afternoon a counter attack was made by the enemy but without success. We strewed the ground with German dead. While the attack was on, one of our boys ran up against five 'Jerries' in the cemetery. He shot down three of them; the other two shot him to the ground but he never stopped firing on them until they turned heels to the rear.

"The next day, October 11th, we were relieved by the 27th American Division and came out for a rest. But our rest was very short, for on the 16th we were called back to the lines, taking over the lines at the same point we had left them when relieved by the 27th Division.

"The attack began on the 17th and lasted three days, capturing several small villages and towns. We were relieved on the 20th by the British. Our company then consisted of between forty and fifty fighting men, all the others dead or wounded in hospital.

"This time we went out to Behencourt, about forty or fifty miles from the lines, to recruit and fill our ranks with new men. While out there the armistice was signed, November 11th. We never had to return to the lines again.

"After a few weeks at Behencourt our regiment moved to Beaumont. There we stayed and drilled until late in February. Then we hiked about forty miles with a pack of about seventy pounds to forwarding Camp Lemans. Here we stayed five weeks, then boarded on American box cars, sixty men to the car, and went to St. Nazaire. Here on March the 21st we embarked on the U. S. S. Huron at five o'clock and bid old France goodbye. A voyage of twelve days and we landed April 2nd at Charleston, S. C. Spent the night on board, unloaded early next morning, the 3rd, and boarded the train for Camp Jackson, the same old camp I started from. Saturday the 5th we gave a parade with fixed bayonets, steel helmets, and gas masks, at the alert position, for the benefit of the people of Columbia. After the parade the Red Cross, with the ladies of Columbia, served refreshments.

"Monday, April the 7th, 1919, I signed an honorable discharge, and reached home two days later, April 9th."

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. October 22, 1920.

WINS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS LIEUT. W. O. SMITH, OF "WILDCAT" DIVISION, DECORATED FOR GALLANT SERVICE

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

To the records of the one hundred and seventy-eight North Carolina boys who won the Distinguished Service Cross in the World War, we are proud to add the citation of First Lieutenant Willam Oliver Smith, of Raleigh. Official notice of his decoration has just reach the Historical Commission from the War Department. Lieutenant Smith was a member of the 81st Division, and at the time of his gallant action this division was part of a French Army Corps. Consequently it was by the French that his action was first cited. On January 21, 1919, he was cited as follows:

DECORATION Croix de Guerre with Palm Citation

"With the approbation of the Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, The Marshal of France, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies of the East, cites in the Order of the Army:

"Lieutenant William O. Smith, of the 318th Machine Gun Battalion, United States Army: An officer brave and full of dash. On the 9th and 10th of November, 1918, he led his section with the waves of Infantry. Capturing a position in the German lines, he defended the conquered ground against forces superior in number during a violent counter-attack, in the course of which he was wounded two times."

At General Headquarters, "January 21, 1919. "The Marshall, Commander-in-Chief of the French Armies of the East, (Signed) PETAIN."

This French corps, however was a part of the American Field Army that was engaged in the Meuse-Argonne drive. Therefore, the citation of Lieutenant Smith by the French Corps was the beginning of recognition that extended to the American army headquarters. The recognition of his brave act is in the following citation carrying the Distinguished Service Cross as the decoration:

"Award of distinguished service cross.--By direction of the President, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, (Bul. No. 43, W. D., 1918) a distinguished service cross was awarded by the War Department to the following named officer:

"William Oliver Smith, first lieutenant, Company D, 318th Machine Gun Battalion, 81st Division. For extraordinary heroism in action north of Haudimont, France, November 9-10, 1918. Lieut. Smith courageously led his machine gun platoon in an attack on the afternoon of November 9th, and later assisted in organizing a position for defense. On November 10th, the enemy launched a counter-attack and the infantry withdrew under cover of the machine gun fire. Later, when attacked by greatly superior numbers, Lieut. Smith defended his position an hour. Although wounded three times he persisted in his resistance, holding his position until his ammunition was exhausted, when he was taken prisoner by the enemy. Residence at appointment, 529 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh, N. C.

"A. G. O. 201."

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It will be noted that the French citation states that Lieutenant Smith was wounded twice, and that the American citation states that he was wounded three times. These statements reflect the confusion of battle and that following Lieutenant Smith's capture by the Germans. From later reports by participants in the action the fact has developed that Lieutenant Smith received five wounds during the engagement. The following report of the action gathered from participants recounts one of the most brilliant episodes of the closing days of the war.

On Saturday, November 9th, 1918, the 81st Division began a drive on the German positions near Haudimont, France. Company D, of the 318th Machine Gun Battalion, moved forward in support of the 1st Battalion of the 324th Infantry. Of this company Lieutenant Smith commanded the first platoon. After a desperate all-day fight, Saturday night Lieut. Smith attached the only machine gun left in his platoon and four other guns from other platoons of his company to what was left of a company of infantry. The party then numbered twenty-five men of Lieut. Smith's company and forty infantrymen, together with two captains and a lieutenant. At the time they were three miles inside the German position. There they captured a large concrete machine gun emplacement and being separated from the battalion in a seemingly impenetrable forest filled with mines, wire entanglements, and every known device of hell, they stayed there through the night.

Sunday morning two companies of Germans, numbering five hundred men, discovered them and attacked their position. Death or capture seemed inevitable. The Americans fought desperately. In the course of the fight, the two captains, the lieutenant, and twenty men made their escape, while Lieutenant Smith and a member of his company, a New York ex-policeman, Murphy, each operating a machine gun, successfully covered their get-away, choosing themselves to face certain death or capture in order that their comrades might gain their way to freedom. Lieutenant Smith and Murphy fought their guns against overwhelming odds until all their ammunition was exhausted. They then joined the infantrymen who were fighting with automatic rifles and grenades. When the German called on the Americans to "throw up their hands," Lieutenant Smith, though severely wounded, refused, but the German officers, declaring he was too brave a man to be killed, made him a prisoner and showed him every possible attention, sending him to a base hospital in Metz.

In this fight, Lieutenant Smith received five wounds--on cheek, hand, knee, foot, and thigh. After the signing of the armistice on the 11th, four German officers came over to the American lines full of praise for the bravery of the little garrison and for their gallant lieutenant.

Lieutenant Smith was one of the first Raleigh boys to go to the officers' training camp at Fort Oglethorpe. He was commissioned second lieutenant in, August 1917, and promoted to first lieutenant January 1, 1918. After receiving his commission he was sent to Camp Jackson and later to Camp Hancock, in both of which he was instructor in machine gun schools. In August, 1918, he was assigned to Company D, 318 Machine Gun Battalion, of the Wildcat Division, and sent to France, where he took part in every battle in which the division participated. From September 29 to 12 o'clock November 10, when he was captured, he was continuously in action.

Lieutenant Smith, a son of Dr. Charles Lee Smith of Raleigh, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina of the class of 1916, and had been out of college less than a year when he joined the colors.

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. October 29, 1920.

CHIEF OF THE "WILDCATS" GENERAL C. BATLEY, PENNSYLVANIAN, COMMANDED THE 81ST IN FRANCE

By R. B. House N. C. Historical Commission

One of the men best known to North Carolinians who served in the war is General Charles Justin Bailey, who commanded the 81st or Wildcat Division. The North Carolina Historical Commission is glad to preserve the record of this Pennsylvanian who is now a North Carolinian also in the affections of this State. The important dates in his record follow:

Born in Pennsylvania, June 21, 1859; entered the U. S. Military Academy from New York, September, 1, 1876; graduated June 12, 1880, standing eighth in his class; 2nd lieutenant June 12, 1880; 1st lieutenant January 14, 1888; captain, March 2, 1889; Major June 4, 1905; lieutenant colonel September 1, 1908; colonel March 11, 1911. Appointed brigadier general by President Wilson October 10, 1913.

Up to the date of his appointment as brigadier general General Bailey, served in the artillery branch of the army. He served as President of the Artillery Board at Fort Monroe, Virginia, for some years and went from there to Washington in 1907 for service on the General Staff: He was made the Secretary of the Army War College and later the principal assistant to the Chief of Coast Artillery in the War Department. On being promoted to a general officer, he was sent to the Philippines in 1914, where for three years he first commanded the fortifications of the Islands and later the Philippine Department itself.

In August, 1917, he was made a major general in the National Army, brought back to the United States and sent to Camp Jackson, Columbia, S. C., to organize and command the 81st Division. He joined the division in October, 1917. In December of that year he was ordered abroad, with other division commanders, for an inspection of our own and foreign methods of fighting, and visited, during the next three months, the British, French and American fronts. Returning in March, 1918, he took the division to Camp Sevier, Greenville, S. C., in May, and in July, 1918, embarked with it, at Hoboken, N. Y., for service in France.

After a month's training there the division was sent to a Trench Sector in eastern France, and then to join the 1st Army at Verdun, where it participated in the fighting immediately preceding the armistice. The 81st Division was made up at first principally of men from North and South Carolina and Florida, but men from the other southern states soon joined in large numbers, together with some from New York. Later many came from other northern states, and at its demobilization every state and territory was represented. It was, however, a Southern Division to the last, and North Carolina was one of the states contributing most largely to it. What credit was given it was due to the character and qualifications of its officers and men, and to this North Carolina contributed to an eminent degree.

For his services as Division Commander General Bailey received the following decorations:

1. Distinguished Service Medal, United States.

"For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services. He commanded the 81st Division with distinction throughout its operations, beginning October 1, 1918. The excellent conduct of this division was due in a large measure to his great military knowledge, energy and zeal. He has shown qualities of able leadership and has rendered services of great value to the American Expeditionary Forces."

2. Officer, Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre with Palm, France.

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"He was able to make his Division a remarkably instructed unit which participated in the last American offensive at Woevre."

3. Commander, Order of Leopold, Belgium.

"In recognition of meritorious service rendered the Allied cause."

Shortly before leaving France, the Commander-in-Chief, General Pershing, reviewed the Division and as a result sent the following letter to the Division Commander. General Bailey considers it a splendid and well-deserved commendation of the 81st.

"France, April 13, 1919.

"Major General Charles J. Bailey, "Commanding 81st Division, "American E. F.

"My dear General Bailey:

"It gives me great satisfaction to extend to you, and the officers and men of the 81st Division, my compliments upon their appearance at the review and inspection on April 10, at Chatillon-sur-Seine. The transportation and artillery of the division was in good shape, and the general bearing of the men was up to a high standard, and worthy of a division which, though in France for a comparatively short time, has made a splendid record.

"Arriving in this country toward the middle of August, your period of training in the area near Tonnerre was interrupted by the necessity of sending the division into the line, to relieve for the active battle veteran organizations. The 81st was in the St. Die sector from the 18th of September to the 19th of October, when it was withdrawn and prepared for its participation m the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

"It entered the line in this operation on the night of November 6th, relieving the 35th Division as the right flank division of the 1st Army, and attacking on the morning of November 9th against heavy artillery and machine gun fire. The attack was continued November 10 and 11, and was resolutely pushing against strong enemy resistance, the, advance covering five and a half kilometers.

"The bearing of the division in this, its first experience, showed the mettle of officers and men, and gave promise of what it would become as a veteran. With such a record, the division may return home proud of service in France as apart of the American Expeditionary Forces.

"JOHN J. PERSHING."

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Column from The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal. November 5, 1920.

MAJ. GEN. GEORGE WINDLE READ SKETCH OF MIILITARY LIFE OF OFFICER WHO COMMANDED "THIRTIETH" A WHILE

By R. B. House

N. C. Historical Commission

Major General George Windle Read, though an Iowan by birth, is intimately connected with the military record of North Carolina, because he commanded the Thirtieth Division for a while, and then the Second American Corps, of which the Thirtieth Division was a part. General Read has served actively in the army for forty-one years, in six campaigns, and in capacities as varied as the army affords.

Born in Iowa November 19, 1860, he graduated from West Point in 1883, receiving assignment to the Sixteenth Infantry. Transferring to the Fifth Cavalry September 1883, he served continuously with that regiment till 1889, during which time it was stationed in Wyoming, Kansas, and Indian Territory. Leaving his regiment in 1889, he served as Professor of Military Science and Tactics in Iowa State University till 1893, when he rejoined his regiment in Texas.

In 1897 he became Aide de Camp to General J. F. Wade in the Department of the Lakes, with St. Paul, Minnesota, as headquarters. From here he went with General Wade to Havana, Cuba, in 1898, served there on the Evacuation Commission till 1899 and returned to St. Paul at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. In the meantime he had been promoted to First Lieutenant. In 1899 he was promoted to Captain, assigned to the 9th Cavalry in the West, and sent with it to the Philippine Islands in 1900. In the Philippines he served successively as Regimental Adjutant, Squadron Commander, Adjutant General of Brigade, and Judge Advocate of the Department South Luzon.

Returning to the United States in command of troops on the transport Sheriden in 1902, he commanded the First Squadron, Ninth Cavalry, at Presidio of Monterey till 1903. During this time he was a member of the Horse Purchasing Board for Cavalry in the Northwestern States, and in 1903 he helped make a military survey of the Hawaiian Islands. From June, 1905, till June, 1909, he was on the General Staff, during which time he was on the General Staff of the Army of Cuban Pacification from 1906 till 1908, president of the Claims Commission in 1908, and Military Governor of Pinar del Rio, 1908. Relieved from the General Staff in 1909, he served with the Seventh Cavalry in Kansas till April 1, 1910, when he was promoted to Major and assigned to the Eighth Cavalry. While in Kansas in 1910 he was Chief Umpire of Maneuver Camp, Fort Riley, Kansas. He went for a second tour in the Philippines in 1910, where he stayed until 1912. He then returned to the United States for assignment to the Ninth Cavalry, his old regiment. 1913-'14 he studied in the War College, receiving rank as Lieutenant Colonel in 1914, and serving in the Adjutant-General's Department until 1915. July, 1916, he was promoted to Colonel, and August, 1917, to Brigadier General in the National Army and assigned to command the 152nd Depot Brigade at Camp Upton, New York. On November 28, 1917, he was again promoted, this time to Major General, N. A., and assigned to command the Fifteenth Cavalry Division, El Paso, Texas.

In April, 1918, he was assigned to command of the Thirtieth Division, and embarked for France in May of that year. But in June, 1918, he was assigned to command the Second Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth Divisions. General Read commanded this corps in Belgium and in France in the great fighting. After the armistice he commanded the Le Mans area, February, 1919, and the Forty-second Division, March and April, 1919. In the Forty-second or Rainbow Division he again commanded a unit of North Carolina troops in the Engineer train of that Division. he returned to the United States in April, 1919. In the meantime, in November, 1918, General Read had received permanent appointment to the rank of Brigadier General, Regular Army, and on July 3, 1920, he was promoted to Major General, Regular Army, and assigned to command the Fifth Corps Area with headquarters at Fort Benjamin, Harrison, Indiana.

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General Read's varied and distinguished services are testified to by the following decorations: Distinguished Service Medal, United States; Knight Commander of the Bath, England; Commander, Legion of Honor, France. Also he wears the Gold Medal, M. S. I.; Croix de Guerre with palm; and the Victory medal. In a speech at Asheville at the Old Hickory Reunion, 1920, General Read said: "I can't say that I had much to do with making the Thirtieth Division, but I can say that the Thirtieth Division had a lot to do with making me."