Vermont, the Green mountain state (Volume 4) online

the United States on August 5, 1917, having a total
enrollment of fifty-five officers and two thousand and
forty-nine enlisted men. It was ordered from Fort
Ethan Allen to Camp Bartlett, at Westfield, Mass., on
August 28 and left on September 2, arriving on Septem-
ber 3. Here the regiment was broken up. Seven hun-
dred enlisted men, one Major, six Captains, three First
Lieutenants and three Second Lieutenants were assigned



TflE PERIOD OF THE WORLD WAR 483

to the small arms ammunition secticMi of the One Hun-
dred and First Ammunition Train (jf the Twenty-sixth
Division. One hundred and ninety-six enlisted men, two
First Lieutenants and two Second Lieutenants were
assigned to the One Hundred and First Machine Ciun
Battalion of the Twenty-sixth Division. Two hundred
and thirteen enlisted men, one First Lieutenant and two
Second Lieutenants were assigned to the One Hundred
and Second Machine Gun Battalion, Fifty-first Brigade,
Twenty-sixth Division. Two hundred and twenty-nine
enlisted men, two First Lieutenants and one Second Lieu-
tenant were assigned to the One Hundred and Third
Machine Gun Battalion, Fifty-second Brigade, Twenty-
sixth Division. Chaplain Paul D. Moody of St. Johns-
bury, a son of Dwight L. Moody, the famoue evangelist,
and two hundred and seventy-seven enlisted men, were
transferred to the One Hundred and Third Infantrv,
forty-eight men to the One Hundred and First Ammuni-
tion Train, and twenty-four enlisted men to the Fourth
Field Hospital, Twenty-sixth Division.

Officers were assigned as follows:

For the Ammunition Train :

Major Jerold M. Ashley; Capt. Charles E. Pell, Com-
pany B, St. Albans ; Capt. Haroll M. Howe, Company F,
Northfield ; Capt. Dowe E. McMath, Company H, Mont-
pelier; Capt. William N. Hudson, Company M, Burling-
ton; Capt. Richard T. Corey, Company L, Newport;
Capt. John L. Shanley, Company G, Winooski; First
Lieut. Roy B. Miner, Company L Brattleboro; First
Lieut, Perley B. Hartwell, Battalion Adjutant, St. Johns-
bury; First Lieut. Curtis L. Malaney, Company C,



484 HISTORY OF VERMONT

Barre; Second Lieut. Earl H. Lang, Company D, St.
Johnsbury ; Second Lieut. Thomas J. Brickley, Company
E, Bellows Falls; Second Lieut. Erwin H. Newton,
Company M, Burlington.

For the Machine Battalion, Twenty-sixth ]3ivisif)n:

First Lieut. Chester C. Thomas, Company A, Rut-
land; First Lieut. Joseph A. Evarts, Machine Gun Com-
pany, St. Albans; Second Lieut. Gustaf A. Nelson,
Company C, Barre; Second Lieut. Charles A. Pellett,
Company I, Brattleboro.

For the Machine Gun Battalion, Fifty-first Brigade :

First Lieut. Harold P. Sheldon, Battalion Adjutant,
Fair Haven; Second Lieut. William H. Morrill, Com-
pany F, Northfield; Second Lieut. Walter M. Tenney,
Machine Gun Company, St. Albans.

For the Machine Gun Battalion, Fifty-second
Brigade:

First Lieut. William H. Munsell, Company K, Spring-
field; First Lieut. Henry J. Homeister, Company G,
Winooski; Second Lieut. Jack B. Wood, Machine Gun
Company, St. Albans.

The Vermont troops made up the greater part of the
ammunition train and the machine gun battalion of the
Twenty-sixth Division.

Vermont spent more than one hundred and thirty
thousand dollars to equip the National Guard regiment
before it was called into the United States service, and
it had the deserved reputation of being one of the best
equipped regiments at Camp Bartlett. The Twenty-
sixth, or Yankee Division, composed of the National
Guard regiments of New England, were fully equipped



THE PERIOD OF THE WORLD \Vy\R 485

by their own States, and sailed for France during Sep-
tember and October, 1917, on ships intended for the
Rainbow Division, which was compelled to wait six
weeks for equipment from the Federal Government.
The Twenty-sixth Division contained twenty-four offi-
cers and 1,837 enlisted men from the First Vermont.
This was the first United States Division in France and
the first National Guard division on the firing line.

The remainder of the First Vermont regiment, about
three hundred men, was ordered from Camp Bartlett,
November 22, 1917, and arrived at Camp Greene, N. C,
two days later. Here the Vermonters were assigned as
a part of the Fifty-seventh Pioneer Infantry, on Feb-
ruary 9, 1918. This was used as a replacement regiment
and went abroad in October, 1918, where it was used in
France for replacement purposes.

Governor Graham tried in vain to keep this Vermont
regiment intact and filled to modern war strength with
volunteers, but the War Department declined to accede to
his wishes. Thus Vermont lost that individuality which
had been her glory in previous wars. The task of the
historian is made more difficult on account of the scatter-
ing of Vermont soldiers. It is a gratifying fact that
not a National Guard officer from Vermont was found
wanting and that Vermont soldiers were among the
earliest in the contest and were in the thickest of the
fighting in the great battles in which American troops
saved the Allied cause in Europe.

The draft called more Vermonters into the service.
There were so many volunteers in this State that the
number of drafted men was not large. Windham



486 HISTORY OF VERMONT

county furnished so many that it was not called upon
to raise any men for the first draft. Nine Vermont
counties were required to furnish fewer than fifty men
each, owing to the large number who had volunteered.

The drafted men who left their homes in September,
1917, were honored with patriotic demonstrations similar
to those given Vermont soldiers in 1861 and in 1898.
The Lamoille county men were given a supper at Hyde
Park, a public meeting was held in the Opera House
with speeches by Lieut. Gov. Roger W. Hulburd, Secre-
tary of State Frederick G. Fleetwood and Justice George
M. Powers of the Supreme Court. The crowd assembled
at the station was the largest brought together at the
county seat since the days of the Civil War. A banquet
was given to the Caledonia county soldiers at St. Johns-
bury with speeches by Alexander Dunnett and Father
Drouhin. A banquet was given the Chittenden county
men at Burlington and speeches were made by Col.
Arthur Thayer, commanding officer at Fort Ethan Allen,
and others. The next morning the soldiers marched to
the station while bells were rung and whistles were
blown. Gen. T. S. Peck presented the men with two silk
flags.

The Addison county soldiers were given a rousing
farewell at Middlebury on Tuesday evening, September
18. The speakers included Judge Frank L. Fish and
President John M. Thomas. The next morning five
thousand people assembled to say farewell to the sol-
diers. Stores and dwellings were decorated with flags
and bunting. The Windsor county soldiers were given
a banquet on Tuesday evening, September 18, and a pub-



THE I'ERIOI) oi- rWE WOlxM.I) WAR 4S7

lie meeting followed, at which State Food Coniniissioner
James Hartness was one of the speakers. A chicken pie
supper was served to the Rutland county soldiers on
Tuesday evening, after which Judge Stanley C. Wilson
and others spoke. There was a parade on Wednesday
morning in which two thousand persons, many of them
children from the schools, carrying flags, participated.
More than five thousand persons assembled at the
station, and baskets of fruit, cigars and cigarettes were
given to departing soldiers. A parade was formed at
the Soldiers' Home in Bennington, led by three hundred
and sixty- four veterans of the Civil War, which escorted
the Bennington county quota to the station. Nearly five
thousand persons assembled for farewell greetings. All
the industries of the village were closed for the occasion.
There was a great patriotic demonstration in favor of
national preparedness and conservation in Burlington on
May 9, with nearly four thousand, five hundred persons
in line. This number included one thousand cavalry re-
cruits from Fort Ethan Allen, soldiers of the \^ermont
National Guard, the University of Vermont battalion,
veterans of the Civil War in automobiles, five hundred
women, one thousand children, and many business and
professional men. The parade was reviewed by Gov-
ernor Graham, Mayor Jackson, army officers and prom-
inent citizens, and after the marching organizations had
passed the reviewing stand. Governor Graham addressed
the citizens. There was a patriotic parade in Mont-
pelier on May 11, in which three thousand persons, men,
women and children, participated. Speeches were deliv-
ered in the City Hall by Governor Graham, P. M. Mel-



488 HISTORY OF VERMONT

don of Rutland and Rev. Fraser Metzger of Randolph.
Marshal Joffre, the French hero, who was in this coun-
try on a mission for his native land, while on the way
from Montreal to New York, made a brief stop at Rut-
land on the evening of May 13, where five thousand
people gave him an enthusiastic welcome. He spoke
briefly and shook hands with the few persons who were
able to approach his car.

A Vermont Committee of Safety was appointed in
March, 1917, and organized with Col. Ira L. Reeves,
President of Norwich University, as chairman and Fred
A. Howland of Montpelier, head of the National Life
Insurance Company, as secretary. A great war con-
ference was held at Rutland on September 27 and 28
under the auspices of the Greater Vermont Association
and the Committee of Public Safety. President F. H.
Babbitt of the Greater Vermont Association presided at
the Thursday afternoon meeting. Governor Graham
spoke briefly. Other speakers were Dr. Toyokichi
lyenaga, Alexander Thompson, representative of Her-
bert Hoover, and James M. Beck, a prominent New York
lawyer. Governor Graham presided in the evening.
The speakers were Gen. Emilie Guglielmath, representing
Italy; Congressman Julius Kahn of California, member
of the Committee on Military Afifairs; M. Edward
deBilly, Deputy High Commissioner of France, and
Maj. George Adam, the British representative.

At the meeting held on Friday morning the presiding
officer was James Hartness of Springfield, who had
succeeded Col. Ira L. Reeves as president of the Com-
mittee of Public Safety, when the latter went into serv-



THE PERIOD OI^ THE WORLD WAR 480

ice. The speakers were Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart
of Plarvard University, Prof. Robert McElroy of the
University of Pennsylvania, Alexander Thompson of
the National P'ood Administration and Henry L. West
of the National Security League. Following the State
meeting, county meetings were held.

The Vermont Committee of Public Safety consisted of
fifty-seven members and it appointed forty-six com-
mittees. Less than six weeks after war was declared
these committees conducted a patriotic campaign in every
township in the State.

Increased food production and conservation of food
Were two of the important war activities. A Farmers'
War Council w^as organized and the State Department
of Agriculture and the Extension Service of the College
of Agriculture of the University of Vermont cooperated
to aid in increasing food production. Practically every
man enrolled as a student in the College of Agriculture
left early in the season, either for war, or for farm work.
James Hartness of Springfield was appointed State Food
Commissioner and he was assisted by John T. Cushing,
editor of the St. Albans Messenger. Hugh J. M. Jones,
a prominent granite manufacturer of Montpelier, was
appointed State Fuel Administrator and he was assisted
by Mason S. Stone, former State Superintendent of Edu-
cation. Later Mr. Hartness w^ent to Europe as member
of a National Aircraft Board.

Like the people of other States, Vermonters did their
best to produce all the food that could be raised. Thou-
sands of bushels of wheat w^ere produced, although grow-
ing of that cereal in the State had been practically



490 HISTORY OF VERMONT

abandoned for many years. The Department of Edu-
cation enrolled thirty thousand boys and girls as mem-
bers of the Green Mountain Guard, for food production.
The first year they produced sixty-five thousand bushels
of potatoes, seven thousand bushels of beans, nearly
seventy-five thousand bushels of other garden products,
and canned more than fifty thousand quarts of vege-
tables and fruits.

The use of sugar was carefully restricted in this and
the other States. Flour substitutes were required and
many other expedients were willingly adopted by Ver-
monters.

The women of no State were more zealous than those
of Vermont in patriotic service. Much work was done
for the comfort of the soldiers and relief was given to
sufifering children in the war area.

A District Exemption Board was organized, in which
George Gridley of Windsor represented manufacturing;
Willis N. Cady of Middlebury, agriculture: Dean H. C.
Tinkham of Burlington, medicine; Judge Henry Conlin
of Winooski, law; and Alexander Ironside of Barre,
labor. Capt. S. S. Gushing of St. Albans was appointed
military aide to the Governor and Dr. John B. Wheeler
of Burlington was appointed medical aide. Later Doc-
tor Wheeler resigned and was succeeded by Dr. J. H.
Woodrufif of Barre. Governor Graham, in his retiring
message, said: "In one of my interviews with General
Crowder (Provost Marshal General) he told me that
the machinery of the law was as well organized in Ver-
mont as in any other State and had given his department
the least trouble." Two Vermonters served in General



'JMIJC \'E\<1()[) (jl' Tlli': \V(JR1J) WAR 49J

Crowder's oflice, Lieut. Col. Joseph Fairbanks of St.
Johnsbury and Maj. Harry li. Shaw of Burhngton.

Considerable dii'liculty was experienced in securing
the transfer of certain Vermont soldiers to the Fifty-
seventh (Pioneer) Infantry in accordance with promises
made by army ofiicials. Only urgent and aggressive
action by Governor Graham brought the desired change.

An order issued by the National War Industries Board
would have suspended all operations in the marble and
granite industries of Vermont, but Governor Graham
was able to secure a modification of this order.

When Adjt. Gen. Lee S. Tillotson went into service
in December, 1917, Col. H. T. Johnson of Bradford was
ap])ointed Acting Adjutant General. At the suggestion
of the National (government a Home Guard regiment
of twelve companies was organized, with fifty-three offi-
cers and men in each company. When the V'^ermont
troops left Fort Ethan Allen the sum of one thousand
dollars was put into the hands of Maj. J. M. Ashley to
assist soldiers as they might need.

In a statement issued by the Vermont Committee of
Public Safety at the end of the first year of the war, it
was asserted that in proportion to population Vermont
had more soldiers in France than any other State, and
that the ratio of enlistment credits for the first draft
gave V^ermont fifth place among the States. In July,
1917, Adjutant General Tillotson stated that Vermont
ranked ninth among the States in recruiting activity.

In a "chart of patriotism" issued by the Chicago
Tribune in February, 1918, it was shown that in refusal
to claim exemption from service Vermont ranked second.



492 HISTORY OF VERMONT

R. W. Simonds, State Industrial Commissioner, issued
a report showing that at the end of the first year of the
war, Vermont had lost 35 per cent of the labor supply
of the State. The marble and granite industries had
lost about 59 per cent of their workmen.

During the first year of the war Vermont exceeded her
quota in three Liberty Loans and in funds raised for
the American Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., and Knights
of Columbus, War Camp Recreation, Armenian and
Syrian Relief, the Salvation Army and the United
States Public Service Reserve.

The Knights of Columbus building erected at Fort
Ethan Allen by the Vermont Society is said to have been
the first in the United States built by that organization.

The Fifty-seventh Pioneer Infantry left Camp Greene,
N. C, February 16, 1918, and arrived at Camp Wads-
worth, S. C, on February 20. On September 28, 1918,
the regiment which contained many Tennessee recruits,
left for overseas with Col. F. B. Thomas of the First
Vermont in command. Vermont assisted other New
England States in furnishing a sawmill unit for service
in England.

The first American ofificer wounded in France was
Lieut. Devere H. Harden of Burlington, a regular army
officer.

It is not easy to chronicle the exploits of Vermont
soldiers, lacking, as they did, any distinctive State
organization, but all the qualities of daring and endur-
ance that have characterized the fighting men of this
State from the days of the Green Mountain Boys to
modern times, were exemplified by Vermonters who



THE PERIOD OE THE WORLD WAR 491^

participated in the World War. In a letter to Governor
Graham, Maj. Gen. Clarence Edwards, Commander oi
the Twenty-sixth Division, said:

"Your Vermont boys went into the Ammunition Train
and the Machine Gun Battalion, and they have done
splendidly. The whole division carried on, after six
months in the trenches without a bit of rest, for eight
days' advance and went eighteen and a half kilometers.
I do not believe it is beaten by anybody. Two days
and two nights, they marched and fought all the time.
The Artillery and Ammunition Train stayed in with the
two divisions that relieved us and went 40 kilometers
and I do not believe there are better in France. I am
proud of them. No men have stood the iron better than
these fellows."

In a public address delivered after the close of the war
Lieut. Col. W. J. Keville, U. S. A., commander of the
One Hundred and First Ammunition Train, related some
interesting facts concerning that organization from
which the following quotations were made :

"It became, soon after the breaking up of my regi-
ment, my duty to command the One Hundred and First
Ammunition Train. There were assigned to me thirteen
officers and one hundred men of the First Vermont
Infantry, some two hundred men and officers of the
Massachusetts Coast Artillery and I, an infantry officer,
was given the job of making an ammunition train out
of the personnel sent to me. In the history of the United
States Army never before had an ammunition train been
organized, and I knew of no one in the army who was
competent to teach the function of ammunition supply



494 HISTORY OF VERMONT

beyond the bare fact that the train had to deliver ammu-
nition of the various branches of the organization served,
in this case a division. * * *

"The latter part of August, 1917, the One Hundred
and First Ammunition Train came into being, com-
posed of the units as I have stated. On October second,
after struggling to get our equipment, except our mobile
equipment, delivery of which was promised when we
arrived in France, we left Westfield for New York and
sailed on the third of October for Halifax, where we met
the balance of the convoy, consisting of the sixteen ships.
After a zig-zag course across the ocean, in company with
these vessels — I have no remembrance that anyone saw
a submarine, a rather unusual experience, and singularly
fortunate — we arrived at Liverpool on October 17, 1917.
I will not bother you with a history of the rest-camps
and will pass on to France, where we arrived on the
twenty-fourth of October, 1917. We reached Coet-
quidan, an artillery camp, and were assigned to the Fifty-
first Field Artillery Brigade, the artillery of the Twenty-
sixth Division."

Colonel Keville endeavored, without success, to put in
force a system of theoretical and practical instruction, in-
cluding the services of an officer familiar with the de-
tails of ammunition train duty, to assist in training the
men, and the assignment of several officers to similar
organizations in the capacity of observers. Owing to
illness General Edwards was unable to give this matter
his personal attention, and on his return to duty he
explained the seeming neglect, suggesting the possibility
of getting permission to send officers to familiarize




Admiral Henry T. IMayo



THE PERIOD OF TIIE WORLD WAR 495

themselves with the ammunition trains of the Highland
and Irish divisions of the English army.

Colonel Keville continued: "Before the plan could be
put into action the Headquarters and the Motor Bat-
talion were ordered to Chemin des Dames front. When
we arrived at Neuf chateau I was informed there were
no horses or caissons to be had at that time and that
the horse battalion under Major Ashley, which had pre-
ceeded us by about two months, were building barracks
and had to remain in the vicinity of Neufchateau. In
the Chemin des Dames sector Vermont and Massa-
chusetts men worked side by side with the French and
there we learned the practical lessons of ammunition
supply under fire, applying the theory evolved in more
peaceful surroundings. There we were able to get the
information that we might have obtained earlier, if per-
mitted by the powers that be. We came through that
sector in pretty good shape and back we came again to
the vicinity of Neufchateau. We then got our horses,
mules, wagons and caissons and Major Ashley and other
officers of the horse battalion with myself began the work
of preparing it for service at the front. * * *

"We went into the Toul sector with eighteen kilo-
meters of front to serve with ammunition. The first
experience of the horse battalion, composed largely of
Vermont men, under fire was carried through admirably,
in the best way that the most critical could have hoped
for."

He then quotes the following comment of Gen. Wil-
liam Lassiter on the first real test of the Vermonters of
the Ammunition Train at the Battle of Seicheprey :



496 HISTORY OF VERMONT

''Headquarters 51st Fieed Artii^lKry Brigade

"April 25th, 1918.
"From Hqs. 51st F. A. Brigade
"ToC O. 101st A. T.
"Subject, Action of April 20th-21st, 1918.
"1. The Brigade Commander desires to express his
appreciation of the work performed by the 101st Ammu-
nition Train during the action of April 20th-21st, 1918.
The conditions under which officers and men performed
their tasks, carrying ammunition to the batteries under
heavy shell and gas fire, were most exacting, and all
ranks showed the greatest courage, endurance and devo-
tion to duty.

"By Command of Brigadier General Lassiter,

"Stuart McLeod,
"Captain Field Artillery, Adjutant."

Colonel Keville further says:

"Thus General Lassiter shared my confidence in the
Ammunition Train and as it carried on the Train proved
its worth wherever it served. I say that with pride,
not because I commanded the organization, but because
I am always willing and happy to concede publicly to
these men credit for whatever was gained by the Ammu-
nition Train in glory of achievement.

"And so we went on to Chateau Thierry. I do not
think there is anything I can add to what you already
know about the work of the 26th Division at Chateau,
but I would like to read you a letter which was sent to
me after that battle about the work of the 101st Ammu-
nition Train :



THE PERIOD OF THE WORLD WAR 497

" 'Headquarters 51st Field Artillery Brigade
" 'American Expeditionary Forces,

" 'France, August 8. 1Q18.

" 'From Commanding General, 51st F. A. Brigade,

" *To Commanding Officer, 101st Ammunition Train.

" 'Subject, Operations during Second Battle of the
Marne.

" '1. For the first time in the present struggle, Ameri-
can Units have been engaged in ofifensive warfare. The
ability to supply ammunition under these conditions is
the final test of any ammunition service. This test was
fully met at all points by the 101st Ammunition Train
with the result that at no time was ammunition lacking
for any branch of the service, notwithstanding the fact
that the daily consumption of the Artillery was extremely
heavy.

" '2. To state these facts is perhaps a sufficient com-
mendation for the work of the officers and men who
made this condition possible. The Commanding Gen-
eral desires to express, however, his appreciation of this
work and his belief that the spirit of the organization
as already displayed will continue to be a fine example
for any military organization and a matter of lasting
pride for the members of the 101st Ammunition Train.

" 'By Command of Brigadier General Aultman.

" 'W. B. Luther.
" 'Captain, Field Artillery, Acting Brigade Adjutant.'

"After the battle of Seicheprey the train was cited in
General Orders No. 34, Headquarters, Twenty-sixth
Division, dated May 3rd, 1918, and as far as possible



498 HISTORY OF VERMONT

the Train commander furnished each man with a copy
of the Divisional citation.

"After the Champagne-Marne defensive and the
Chateau Thierry offensive in which the Train was en-