USA > New Jersey > Camden County > History of Camden County in the Great War, 1917-1918 > Part 5
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CAMDEN COUNTY IN THE GREAT WAR.
When Camp McClellan was completed the First Bat- talion, N. J. Engineers, was made into a regiment by adding three companies of picked infantry and was given the name of the 104th Regiment Engineers. It was then composed of six companies, A, B, C, D, E and F, con- sisting of 250 men to a company. The winter and the following spring were spent at Anniston, while the men were instructed in work essential to a sapper regiment. On June 19, 1918, the regiment sailed for France on the transport "Northern Pacific," and the trip across was without incident except on the third day out, Sunday, June 3, when guns fore and aft fired on a supposed sub which turned out to be a buoy.
On Wednesday, June 26, the transport dropped anchor in the harbor at Brest. This was 5 o'clock in the after- noon and the landing took place the following day, the regiment marching to the Pontanezan Barracks where it camped for seven days. On July 3 the people of Brest presented the regiment with the American colors and these were carried by the engineers in the Fourth of July parade. On Friday, July 5, the regiment left Brest and by easy stages traveled across France toward Alsace, billeting at the towns of Coublanc, Giromagny, Chever- mont and Grosne and arriving at Courtlevant, Alsace, Saturday, July 27. Company B immediately took up the work of constructing dugouts on the Swiss border. On August 19 Company B left Courtlevant and proceeded to Montreaux Vieux, arriving at the front on Friday, August 30, where it was split into two detachments-two platoons going to Hagenbach, the remaining three being sent to Ballersdorf. Both towns were constantly under shell fire from the enemy during the stay of the detach- ments, but there were no casualties. The work was con- fined to the construction of machine gun emplacements and observation posts in the front line trenches.
Saturday, September 21, Company B marched out of Hagenbach and Ballersdorf, proceeding to Nouvillard
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and then to Belfort where the command entrained with the regiment and proceeded to Mussy, thence to Marrot le Grande and by auto to Avocourt on the western front, arriving September 27. The transportation section pro- ceeded to Avocourt by way of Mallancourt and arrived three days later, having been caught in the traffic jam. At Avocourt the command was under enemy shell fire while constructing and maintaining highways necessary for the advance of the artillery, infantry and ammuni- tion. Saturday, October 5, the company marched to Samogneux, north of Verdun sector, arriving four days later. The work of restoring and maintaining the road- ways was resumed in addition to reconstructing bridges and filling in mine holes made by enemy shells. Constant firing from the enemy often destroyed the work as soon as it was finished.
While at Samogneux two platoons of Company B, in- cluding eighty men and three officers, were sent to the Bois du Consenoye and from there proceeded to a point near the Molleville Farm, about 700 yards from the enemys trenches, carrying German spiral wire for the construction of entanglements. On the night of October 30 the company left this point and marched to Hauden- ville, proceeding from there to Mongeville by auto. The command then marched to Sommelonne, leaving that town Monday, November 18. The regiment proceeded to Nant le Grande, then to Ligny and then entrained and proceeded to Jussy. On detraining Company B marched to Blondefontaine, arriving Wednesday, November 20. The company was later billeted in several towns includ- ing Bourbonne les Baines, Fresnes sur Aspance and Bour- beville. Saturday morning, April 29, 1919, the company marched from the latter town to Jussy, entrained and marched to Montoir (Camp Gutherie), neart Saint Nazaire. Here the regiment was deloused and prepared for embarkation to the United States. On the morning of May II the regiment marched from Montoir to St.
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Nazaire, a distance of eight miles, where the boys board- ed the transport Manchuria, which pulled out for home at 2 p. m. Ten days of a very calm voyage and the Sta- tue of Liberty was greeted with glad acclaim. The regi- ment landed at Hoboken May 22 and proceeded to Camp Merritt where it remained for four days. On Monday, May 26, the regiment paraded in Newark and Trenton and then proceeded to Camp Dix, remaining several days. Company B was honorably discharged Thursday, May 29, 1919.
Of those who went overseas all returned save First Class Private William C. Ablett, who was killed in action in the Meuse-Argonne offensive; First Class Private Frank Randle, who died of disease on furlough in Eng- land, and First Class Private George A. Bowers, who died of disease while on furlough at Aix-les-Bains.
When the company returned the officers were : Captain Percy H. Ridgway, of Washington; First Lieutenant Beale M. Schmucker, First Lieutenant Frank Errico, Jr., First Lieutenant William W. Schultz and Second Lieu- tenant Coleman B. Burdette, all of New Jersey, and Sec- ond Lieutenant Louis P. Veil, of Ohio.
112TH FIELD ARTILLERY.
Sailing from New York, on the H. M. S. Melita, June 28, 1918, the 112th Heavy Field Artillery, includ- ing Battery "B" of Camden, arrived at Liverpool, England, on the morning of July 12. Immediately en- training they traveled throughout the day, arriving at Southampton at midnight, where they went into camp. On July 13 they boarded the swift steamer, Prince George, which turned her nose toward the submarine invested English Channel shortly before dusk and raced desperately for safety during the night, arriving at dawn July 15, in the port of Le Havre, France.
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TWENTY-NINTH DIVISION IN FRANCE.
After resting twenty-four hours in the camp on the heights beyond the port of Le Havre, the Camden artil- lerymen entrained on July 15 and proceeded to Poitiers, in the Department of Vienne, where they arrived at mid- night July 17. The men here experienced their first French billets, being quartered in a huge and very old stone barn located in the village of Biard, two kilometers from Poitiers.
Completing a month of preliminary training, during which elementary knowledge of French artillery was gained, the organization entrained on Sunday, August 22, for Camp de Meucon, near Vannes, in the Depart- ment of Morbihan, where they arrived at dawn on August 24.
Six weeks training in the intricacies of artillery support, augmented by daily practice and frequent assumed warfare problems, here made the regiment ready for the battle line.
Having completed the course, the men idled until Sunday, November 10, when they entrained for an unknown destination. Word was received enroute of the armistice being signed and on November 13, during the frigid early morning, they were ordered to detrain at Liefold le Grande, in the Department of Haute Soane, and the Camden battery was billeted with regimental headquarters in the tiny hamlet Trampot. The second battalion of the regiment was quartered at Chambron- court, two kilometers distant.
While the training at Camp de Meucon had been in progress word was definitely received that the 54th Field Artillery Brigade, of which the 112th Regiment was a part, had been discontinued as a part of the 29th Division. During the stay at Trampot the brigade was independent.
Orders were received late in November re-assigning the organization to the Blue and Gray Division, and in the driving rain of a French winter the 112th H. F. A.
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began a five day overland hike on December 6, 1918, for the Bourbone les Baines area, where the division was stationed.
Jussey, in the Department of Haute Soane, was allo- cated as the regimental area and headquarters were established there on December 11, 1918. The Camden men were billeted in the village of Condrecourt, two kilometers from Jussey, where First Battalion headquar- ters were set up.
A vigorous training schedule was followed at this village until April 1I, 1919, when the regiment was ordered to the Le Mans area for preparation to return home. Battery B did not accompany the regiment to Le Mans, but was designated to remain in the billeting area until April 25, 1919, when they proceeded directly to St. Nazarine, the port of embarkation.
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CAMDEN COUNTY IN THE GREAT WAR.
.
SELECTIVE SERVICE
T HE Seventy-eighth Division, which became known as the Lightning Division and won fame in the capture of St. Mihiel and in the Argonne Forest by the capture of Grand Pre, was organized under the Selective Service Law passed by Congress on May 18, 1917. The men drafted under this law became part of the National Army. The majority of the men called under the Selec- tive Service Act or Draft Law, were sent to Camp Dix and assigned to the Seventy-eighth Division.
After this law was passed it was necessary for the War Department to arrange for the registration of every male citizen between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one inclusive. On June 5, 1917, every citizen of the ages prescribed in the law, not in the army, navy or marine corps, was compelled to register under the law. The mayor of each city was held responsible for the registra- tion of every man in his city. The men registered at the polling booth of their district with the election board in session and the chairman of the board as registrar. Under the act the mayor of each city named division boards sub- ject to the approval of the Governor of the State.
On May 25, 1917, Mayor Ellis named the following division boards :
First Division-First, Second and Tenth Wards : Judge Frank T. Lloyd, chairman; Harry R. Humphreys, secretary ; Dr. E. A. Y. Schellenger, medical examiner.
Second Division-Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Wards : Ralph W. E. Donges, chairman; Rev. Holmes F. Gravatt, D. D., secretary; Dr. Marcus K. Mines, medical examiner.
Third Division-Seventh, Eighth and Thirteenth Wards: Rev. John B. McCloskey, chairman; Baptist S. Scull, secretary; Dr. Grant E. Kirk, medical examiner.
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Fourth Division-Eleventh and Twelfth Wards : George W. Kirkbride, chairman; Samuel Wharton, sec- retary; Dr. Charles F. Hadley, medical examiner.
Disorder was threatened throughout the country by those who opposed the draft but Camden was ready. City firemen were sworn in as special officers by the mayor and every member of the Public Safety Commit- tee called on to stand ready to assist the police in quelling any riots. The day passed off without disorder. It was a general holiday and 11,299 registered in the city and 4,269 in the county. Camden was the first city in the State to complete its returns and report them to the ad- jutant general of the State. The entire registration in Camden was in charge of William D. Sayrs, Jr.
On July 20 the serial numbers were drawn at Wash- ington and the first number drawn was 258. The men were called for service in order of their serial numbers. The draft boards sat on August 7 for the first to examine men called both for dependencies and physical fitness. This plan was later changed when the Government issued questionnaires in which the men subject to the draft were permitted to answer all questions as to their dependencies and physical fitness and file other claims with affidavits attached. These questionnaires were passed on by the draft boards and saved considerable time.
The division boards which compiled the registration of men eligible to army service were named by Mayor Ellis as Draft or Exemption Boards. Judge Frank T. Lloyd and Harry R. Humphreys resigned from the First City Exemption Board and were succeeded by Thomas E. French as chairman and Joseph H. Forsyth. Dr. J. Lynn Mahaffey succeeded Dr. Schellenger as medical examiner after the latter's death. Ralph W. E. Donges resigned from the Second City Board and was succeeded by Rev. Holmes F. Gravatt as chairman and John F. Griffee was appointed to fill the vacancy on the board. Dr. A. B. Reader succeeded Dr. Grant E. Kirk, who enlisted in the
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SELECTIVE SERVICE.
army, as medical examiner for the Third City Draft Board. Judge Lloyd became Food Administrator, Harry R. Humphreys assumed a responsible official position with the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and Ralph W. E. Donges was commissioned in the army. Oswin D. Kline succeeded Samuel Wharton on the Fourth City Board and Dr. Lee K. Hammitt succeeded Dr. Hadley as examining physician. Two county boards were named as follows: First County Board-W. Penn Corson, chairman ; Francis F. Patterson, secretary, and Dr. Frank O. Stem, medical examiner; Second County Board : Henry J. West, chairman; Maurice B. Rudderow, sec- retary; Dr. Edward S. Sheldon, medical examiner. The clerks of the boards were: First City, Albert McAllister ; Second City, Albert Austermuhl; Third City, Miss Julia M. Carey; Fourth City, Miss Maude Hicks ; First Coun- ty, Howard E. Truax; Second County, Edgar R. Holme.
The appeal agents for the boards were as follows : First City District, James H. Long; Second City District, Howard J. Dudley; Third City District, Ralph D. Chil- drey; Fourth City District, Francis B. Wallen; First County District, Ephraim T. Gill, of Haddonfield; Sec- ond County District, Thomas W. Jack, Collingswood.
The first men were sent to Camp Dix on September 5, 1917. They were followed on consecutive days by sev- eral more men. A parade was given in honor of the selec- tive service men on September 4 and Battery B, First New Jersey Field Artillery, came down from Sea Girt to participate in the demonstration.
Before the armistice was signed 43,516 had been reg- istered and 3,333 men were accepted at army camps. The available records show that 1,067 men enlisted in the army, navy and marines. The records also show that 4,960 men of Camden county were in the service.
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CAMDEN COUNTY IN THE GREAT WAR.
SEVENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION.
T HE Seventy-eighth Division was formed from the units of Selective Service men sent to Camp Dix from New Jersey and New York. To be exact there were 11,806 from this State and 11,064 from New York. On August 24, 1917, the first companies of the 311th Infantry were organized at Camp Dix and by September there were two companies from Camden. As other regi- ments were formed the Camden city and county boys became scattered through the division. The following units were organized : 309th, 310th, 311th and 312th In- fantry; 307th, 308th and 309th Field Artillery, 303d Trench Mortar Battery, 303d Engineers, 303d Ammuni- tion Train, 303d Sanitary Train; 307th, 308th and 309th Machine Gun Battalions, beside Field Hospital and Am- bulance Corps.
The division remained at , Camp Dix under intensive training until the following spring, receiving additional men continually from New Jersey and New York com- munities. Under command of Major General J. H. McRae, the division began sailing for France in May. The infantry and artillery sailed on separate transports. The artillerymen left Camp Dix for Hoboken, the port of embarkation, on May 6 and boarded the great British liner Cedric, which was then being used as a transport. The infantry followed a few days later. Both the artillery and infantry landed at Liverpool. The infan- try proceeded across England and boarded a transport, crossing the English Channel and landed at Calais, France. The artillery reached Liverpool May 14 and left for Southampton. They made the trip across the channel from this port to La Havre. The infantry and
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MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES H. McRAE Commander of Seventy-Eighth Division
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SEVENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION.
artillery never joined as a division until the famous battle in the Argonne Forest.
INFANTRY AT ARRAS.
The doughboys, as the infantry was termed, went to a rest camp two miles from Calais. They stayed there four days and during their sojourn at this camp enemy aeroplanes made an attack. None of the soldiers was killed but several coolies, employed as laborers, were slain. From here the infantry was sent to Belquine in northern France, from which place the roar of cannon could be heard. The division stayed at Belquine for a month under intense training. They were moved to Framecourt toward the Arras sector. They stayed there for a month and then hiked twenty miles full pack for two days to a place called Duisans, three miles from Arras, on the British front.
Officers and non-commissioned officers were sent into the lines for observation and experience. The 78th In- fantry expected to go in any day with the British. On August 5 they got orders that they would go south to the American sector at St. Mihiel. The doughboys were visited by King George on August 8.
Six weeks of training in every kind of warfare made the Seventy-eighth one of the crack units of the American Expeditionary Forces and it became known as the Light- ning Division.
The first battle in which the 78th Division Infantry participated was in the St. Mihiel sector. This drive opened on the morning of September 12, and the Lightning Division troops were given one of the most important sectors on the line. They went into the bat- tle with a will, fought in the open area and emerged victorious. They had met the enemy and conquered, but it was hard fighting.
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The infantry stuck to its guns and for seventeen days held the foe and pushed him back in one of the greatest battles in history. An appropriate word picture of the battle in this sector is hardly possible. At one time the Germans were not more than fifty feet from the Amer- icans, the enemy steadily retreating before the onslaughts of the infantry.
The 311th Infantry lost two officers and fifty-four men, killed in action in this sector, while eight officers and 221 men were wounded. Forty-six men were gassed and one was reported missing.
The boys came out of the lines on October 5, worn and muddy, but with spirits running high. They missed the comrades who fell before the enemy fire.
ARTILLERY MOVEMENTS.
Brigadier General Hern commanded the 153d Field Artillery Brigade, made up of the 78th Division's artil- lery regiments. When these gunners reached Le Havre on May 17, 1918, they were sent to Camp De Meuchon for six weeks training, after which the three regiments were sent to the Toul sector. They remained in position for three weeks, but did not get into action.
The 307th, 308th, and 309th Artillery first went into action on the morning of September 12 in front of St. Mihiel. They supported the goth Division. It was one o'clock in the morning when that sensational artillery duel opened. The 307th and 308th were termed as Light Artillery and they manned the famous French 75's, or 75 millimeter guns, while the 309th was designated as heavy artillery and they fired 155 millimeter guns. It was one o'clock on that famous morning that the whole sector, which prior to that time had been a quiet one for four years, belched forth the greatest cannonading the world has ever known. The Lightning Division gun- . ners were firing three shells per minute from their pieces.
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SEVENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION ARTILLERY IN ACTION Photograph taken by Signal Corps, U. S. A., of Seventy-eighth Division Field Artillery Firing on the Enemy
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SEVENTY-EIGHTH DIVISION.
At five o'clock they began to pour their shells over at the rate of six per minute from each cannon and it seemed as though all of the powers of hell had let loose. And at five o'clock under the cover of this terrible fire the dough- boys, with rifles in hand, went over the top. They were from the north, south, east and west. They advanced in skirmish line formation, after the custom of the Amer- ican indians, and in those ranks of freedom were whites, indians, negroes and mongolians. They advanced on St. Mihiel and captured it and for two weeks battered the enemy back until they reached a position nine kilometers from the supposed impregnable fortress of Metz.
The Germans had fortified Metz for years and it was the main bulwark against the Rhineland. The Ameri- cans were eager to capture the city and could have done so but for the strategy of the Germans. All of the Amer- icans taken prisoners by them were gathered in Metz, and when American aviators learned this, the assault on the city was not pressed with vigor. During this action the 78th's Artillery made a two-day raid on Limy in this sector with success. The barrage laid down by the Light- ning gunners pleased the commanding officer of the goth Division so well that he sent word back to General Hern that it was the most perfect barrage he had ever received and he had participated in four other big drives
But the assault on Metz and the capture of St. Mihiel proved only to be a feint to keep the enemy busy while General John J. Pershing was mobilizing his great army in the Argonne for the greatest battle in the world's his- tory, and last battle in the world war, which caused the crushing defeat of the German autocracy and its great military machine.
The Lightning Division's Artillery was withdrawn from the St. Mihiel sector and sent to the Argonne to support the 78th Division Infantry for the first time.
.
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MEUSE-ARGONNE.
One of the last and most decisive battles was that of these Meuse-Argonne sector. The Lightning Division became the corps reserve on October 13, and the follow- ing day received orders to be ready on one hour's notice to advance into the line. October 15 dawned with the receipt of orders to relieve the 308th Infantry of the Seventy-seventh Division and in the relief process three men were incapacitated by the gas sent over unmerci- fully by the Germans.
On October 16, following orders to advance, the troops moved in utter darkness and the attack was com- menced without an artillery barrage, but accompanied by counter battery artillery fire. The men could not advance owing to the hostile shelling and machine gun fire, but the enemy withdrew north of the Aire river. Orders were received on October 22 to capture Grand Pre and to establish positions in the woods north and northwest of Grand Pre. The Third Battalion of the 31Ith Infantry was designated to assist the 312th In- fantry in this operation. Company C, forming a part of the First Battalion, was ordered to remain in position and continued to prepare for a general attack along the entire corps front.
MILLION DOLLAR BARRAGE.
What gained fame afterward as the "Million Dollar Barrage" was laid against a wooded hill near Grand Pre. This hill stood between the 78th Division and the town. It was filled with German machine gunners, whose dugouts were so constructed as to withstand the terrible high explosives the Lightning Artillery was pouring into them. For eighteen hours the 307th Field Artillery shelled the German machine gun nests with mustard gas, and when they finished, the doughboys had
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no trouble in taking the woods for there was not a live German left in the vicinity. So much gas was used that it was estimated that the attack cost a million dollars.
The fighting continued each day until November 5, when orders were issued for the relief of the Lightning Division by the 42d or Rainbow Division. When the 78th men relieved the soldiers of the 77th Division, the town of Grand Pre was still in the hands of the Germans, with the exception of a few houses on the extreme southern edge. The capture of the town itself was of no importance to the American Army unless the heights beyond it also came into Yankee possession and the 78th Division was called upon to accomplish the feat.
The 78th Division kept after the Germans. When re- lieved by the Rainbow Division on November 5, the latter division complained that they were compelled to march without rest to catch up.
On November 6, after the troops came out of the lines, they marched back over the same route traversed when they advanced toward the enemy. The regiments stopped at a rest camp at Camp Mahont, along the line, which was formerly occupied by Germans. The huge camp, housing the Germans for four years, showed every evidence of their long occupation, for all the dug- outs were built and furnished elaborately. The suite of dugouts formerly occupied by the Crown Prince and his high command evoked much interest among the troops and the grand fountain and bath rooms built for the Crown Prince were made good use of. Narrow gauge railway tracks, huge tanks of water, electric power plants and many other conveniences gave proof that the enemy was well situated in this camp.
The troops believed then that they were on their way to shell Metz again, but their orders were changed when the armistice was signed on November II. They were
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sent to a point north of Verdun and stayed in posi- tion for four days to make sure the Germans were com- plying with the terms of the armistice. Then they were moved into a French barracks at Verdun, where they remained for two weeks. They were next moved to Cote de Ore, "county of gold," where the division remained until it sailed for home. Division headquarters were established at Semur.
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