USA > New York > The Minute men of '17 - a history of the service rendered during the recent world war by the Ninth Coast Artillery Corps, New York Guard and the Veteran Corps of Artillery, state of New York > Part 8
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ferred to the New York Guard, entering it without any special customary or ancient privileges; Second: That it give up its scheme of anti-aircraft defense.
These decisions were a bitter disappointment. The men loved the old organization; the older men particularly had strong feel- ings of loyalty to it, for only by means of it had they been able to enter the active service they loved; only by means of it had they been able to wear the uniform of which they were so proud, but they were soldiers-they had offered to serve, promising to obey the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.
To give up the anti-aircraft defense work was also a bitter disap- pointment. It was a distinguished service; it was a chance to get under fire; it was a possible opportunity to shoot at our country's foes, but the members of the Corps were soldiers, these were orders. They swallowed their disappointment-set their teeth- and obeyed orders. As one of them has said, "Now that the war is over, sitting in our homes in front of the fire in the silence of the night, we can say to the grim old warriors who served under Washington and Scott, whose faces look down on us from the walls, 'We obeyed orders, Sir.'"
The following order attaching the Veteran Corps of Artillery State of New York, to Headquarters, First Brigade, New York Guard, and transferring the Provisional Batteries with Field and Battalion Staffs to the Ninth Coast Artillery Corps was drafted by the venerable Commandant of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, Brevet Major-General Asa Bird Gardiner, and by him submitted to the Adjutant-General of the State, who forwarded it to Brigadier-General George Rathbone Dyer, commanding the First Brigade, for his approval. It was approved by these officers and signed by the Governor, October 8, 1917, without change from its original form as drafted by the Commandant. After the order had been approved by the Governor, it was conveyed to Brigadier- General George R. Dyer over the telephone, who immediately ordered over the telephone "Lieutenant-Colonel John Ross Dela- field, then Vice-Commandant, to assemble his men and transfer the
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Twelve Provisional Batteries of the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York, with all their equipment and property, as soon as possible to the Armory of the former Ninth Coast De- fense Command at 125 West 14th Street, New York City, and there to hold such property subject to the order of the Command- ing-General of the First Brigade:"
"STATE OF NEW YORK, THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE ALBANY Albany, October 8, 1917.
GENERAL ORDERS) No. 46 S
I. The Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., is hereby attached to headquarters, Ist Brigade, New York Guard.
II. The provisional batteries, with field and battalion staffs, attached to said Corps and organized for National emergency under confirmatory orders dated General Headquarters, Adjutant-General's Office, Albany, July 16, 1917, are hereby detached from said Corps, and will be consolidated into a regiment of not more than six hun- dred officers and men, which will be known as the 9th Coast Artillery Corps, New York Guard, and is hereby assigned to the Armory at 125 West 14th Street, New York City, lately occupied by the 9th Coast Defense Command, N. G., N. Y. Any enrolled man in any of these provisional batteries thus transferred who is a qualified enrolled member in the Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., and who may so elect prior to November Ist, 1917, shall not be taken up on the muster roll of the said 9th Coast Artillery Corps but his name and residence will be promptly communi- cated to the Commandant of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y.
III. Lieutenant-Colonel John Ross Delafield, Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., is hereby detached from the same and appointed Colonel of the 9th Coast Artillery Corps, hereby organized, and will consolidate and arrange the same into companies to meet the requirements of this order, and report to these headquarters any officers or men made supernumerary by so doing.
IV. Until further orders the 9th Coast Artillery Corps will perform duties as Infantry.
By Command of the Governor:
Official :
CHARLES H. SHERRILL, The Adjutant-General.
(Seal) EDWARD J. WESTCOTT,
Major, Assistant to the Adjutant-General."
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A few of the duly qualified members signified their desire not to be taken up on the rolls of the Ninth, and resumed their old time drills with the obsolete Gatlings and sabres under order No. 20 printed below.
The following officers remained with the Detachment:
Brevet Major-General Asa Bird Gardiner, Commandant,
Captain Chandler Smith, Adjutant,
Captain Benjamin Rush Lummis, Commissary,
Captain Norman Bentley Gardiner, Quartermaster,
Captain Edmund Banks Smith, Chaplain,
First Lieutenant Bryce Metcalf, Sixth Battery,
Second Lieutenant Electus T. Backus, Fourth Battery.
There were in all eleven hundred eighty-one officers and men in the Field, Staff and Provisional Batteries. Of these eight hun- dred and thirty-one served in the New York Guard-of whom two hundred and twelve became commissioned officers. There were also one hundred and sixty-seven who served in the Army and Navy, of whom ninety-two became commissioned officers. Many more served in the Red Cross and Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation both at home and overseas and many others served the Federal Government in various civilian capacities. One hundred and thirty-seven served both in the New York Guard and the Federal services.
The story of the subsequent services rendered by the officers and men in other commands will be found in the following pages and in the histories of the Thirteenth, the Twenty-Third Regiments of the New York Guard, and the Army and Navy of the United States.
General Gardiner having asserted that, pursuant to order No. 46, which he drafted, members of the Veteran Corps of Artillery attached to Brigade Headquarters were to enjoy the alleged special rights and privileges which the Veteran Corps of Artillery had heretofore claimed to enjoy, the following telegram on October 9 was sent by the Adjutant-General to Brigadier-General George R.
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Dyer to be called to the attention of General Gardiner, the Com- mandant of said Corps:
"STATE OF NEW YORK THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE ALBANY
October 9, 1917.
General George R. Dyer, 66 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
Am just in receipt of a telegram reporting that none of the six hundred men of the Veteran Corps of Artillery who are entering the New York Guard as the Ninth Regiment has any desire to go in with any more rights than other members of the New York Guard. The order that you recommended in regard to the Veteran Corps of Artillery has been issued by this office and in regard to paragraph first thereof you will please call the attention of General Gardiner, Commandant, that his Corps is being attached to the headquarters of the First Brigade, New York Guard, on exactly the terms that every other member enters that guard, which means that they do so upon the express waiver of all and any special rights and privileges here- tofore enjoyed, second that the officers commanding the body so attached to your headquarters will be commissioned with no higher rank than that appropriate to the number of men he brings in, and that all rules and regulations governing the officers and men of the New York Guard will apply to the officers and men of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, third, and that hereafter no military organization will be allowed headquarters in any New York Armory unless and until they join the New York Guard.
CHARLES H. SHERRILL, The Adjutant-General."
The telegram referred to in the above was as follows:
"Brigadier-General Charles H. Sherrill,
The Adjutant-General, Albany, N. Y.
I wish to acknowledge receipt of your telegram of this date. None of the six hundred men who would go into the New York Guard has any desire to go with any more rights than any other members of the Guard and I will bring your telegram strongly to their attention so that there can be no misunderstanding in this regard.
GEORGE W. BURLEIGH."
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which was in reply to the following:
"STATE OF NEW YORK THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE ALBANY October 8, 1917.
"Captain George W. Burleigh, 52 Wall St.,
New York, N. Y.,
You will please make it clear to your associates in the Veteran Corps of Artillery that the six hundred men who come into the New York Guard as a result of negotia- tions now nearing conclusion with General Dyer will enter that Guard with no more special rights and privileges than any other member of the Guard. It is necessary to make this very clear because of misunderstandings in this regard which have been constantly arising during the last fortnight.
CHARLES H. SHERRILL, The Adjutant-General."
These telegrams were despatched because of an order issued by Brevet Major-General Asa Bird Gardiner, Colonel-Commandant, on October 4, 1917, which was as follows:
"THE VETERAN CORPS OF ARTILLERY of the STATE OF NEW YORK 1790-1917 Commandant's Office
ARMORY
Park Avenue and 34th Street Orders, ¿ No. 205
New York City, October 4, 1917.
I. In consequence of the National Guard of this State having voluntarily entered the military service of the United States and been discharged from the Militia, Gen- cral Orders No. 37 of August 3, 1917, and No. 40 of September 1, 1917, from General Headquarters, Albany, require the organization of a New York Guard under the general provisions of Section 120 Military Law, and that Depot Units of the Guard be established throughout the State, not to exceed 15,000 rank and file.
Pursuant, therefore, to orders from superior authority, the duties of anti-aircraft gun preparedness devolved on the Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., by confirma- tory orders from A. G. O. of July 16, 1917, are discontinued.
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II. The Artillery Service Detachment of this Corps will resume its original Field Artillery Organization of date March 13, 1917, composed of those duly enrolled and qualified by statute for membership in the same under Chapter 91, Laws of 1895, or Chapter 513, Laws of 1913.
Any such member, however, who may desire to remain in a Provisional Battery by this order detached from the Service Detachment, will make the request to these Headquarters on or before November 1, 1917, and the transfer will then be regularly made.
In like manner, any enrolled member of a Provisional Battery not actually quali- fied for statutory Corps membership will, on his application, be forthwith transferred to the Service Department to complete his term of enlistment. The Provisional Battery Commanders will, respectively, without delay, send to Captain Benjamin Rush Lummis, Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., at his office, 25 West 33rd Street, New York City, for the information of the Commandant, a list of the enrolled mem- bers in his Battery who elect to be transferred to the Coast Artillery Organization or to remain in the Artillery Service Detachment of this Historic Corps.
The Service Detachment will, as a Field Artillery Organization, resume machine gun drill, sabre and pistol practice and perform the prescribed number of drills.
III. The several Provisional Batteries in this Corps, excepting those enrolled rank and file above excepted. are hereby detached from The Veteran Corps of Ar- tillery, S. N. Y., and will be consolidated into a regiment of not more than 600 offi- cers and soldiers for the purpose, on receipt of orders from superior authority to that effect, to be designated the Ninth Coast Artillery Corps and assigned to the Armory, 125 West 14th Street, New York City, formerly occupied by the Ninth Coast Defense Command, N. G. N. Y.
IV. Lieutenant-Colonel John Ross Delafield is relieved of the command of The Artillery Service Detachment of The Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., and de- tached from Corps Service, and hereby assigned to the charge and command of these several Provisional Batteries, and will consolidate and rearrange the same into a regiment so as to comply with forthcoming orders from the Adjutant-General's Of- fice, and will act as Colonel commanding these Batteries until the pleasure of the Governor shall be known, and will report them to Brigadier-General George R. Dyer, commanding First Brigade District, subject to the foregoing exceptions as to duly enrolled members retained before November 1, 1917, in the Artillery Service Detachment of this Corps.
V. Majors Edward C. Delafield, Francis Russell Stoddard, Jr., and William L. Hodges and Captains Chandler Smith, Adjutant, and Howard Thayer Kingsbury, Paymaster, and the several Battalion staff officers, are hereby transferred and as- signed to said Coast Artillery Organization and will report to Colonel Delafield for duty with the same.
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VI. The Field Music of The Artillery Service Detachment and Band will con- tinue on duty with the Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y.
VII. Captain Chandler Smith will at once, on receipt of this order, procure from the office of George W. Burleigh, 52 Wall Street, New York City, the records of this Corps, together with the card catalogues and all enlistment papers of the Corps, and send them to the office of Captain Benjamin Rush Lummis, Veteran Corps of Artillery, S. N. Y., 25 West 33rd Street, New York City, which will be, until further orders, the office to which communications for the commandant will be sent.
When Lieutenant-Colonel Delafield has consolidated and arranged his command, a list of the enlisted rank and file thereof hereby transferred will be sent to these Headquarters. The enlistment papers of such rank and file will then be turned over for permanent file in the records of said Coast Artillery Organization.
VIII. The Commandant cannot close this order without expressing deep regret at severance of official relations with the Provisionally engaged members of the Corps.
The manner in which duty has been performed, the high character of such mem- bership and the harmony, courtesy and good feeling which has prevailed during duty at City Island Camp of Instruction, or on the active, important and exacting service guarding the City of New York's water supply, have brought highest encomiums from military men and from civilians who witnessed how the duty was performed.
The Commandant hopes that these gentlement will have as pleasant and profitable experience in a military sense in the Coast Artillery Corps service as in the Historic Corps of Field Artillery we all love, which still under all organizing Militia Acts of Congress from the first of May 8, 1792, to the latest of June 3, 1916, both inclusive, has been continued with the same organization as the Continental Corps of Artillery of the War of the Revolution and directly authorized by the same statutes to retain its accustomed and ancient privileges.
ASA BIRD GARDINER, Colonel-Commandant, Bvt. Major-General S. N. Y."
The above purporting to be an order reorganizing the Artillery Service Detachment without the authority of the Adjutant-General, led to the following letter from the Adjutant-General:
STATE OF NEW YORK
THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE
ALBANY Major-General Asa Bird Gardiner, October 11, 1917. Suffern, N. Y.
My dear General :
I have read your Circular of October 4th, and feel constrained to call your at- tention to a few errors.
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We are not organizing depot units, nor are we proceeding under Section 120 of the Military Law.
The last sentence of your order may be misleading, because no men from your organization are coming into the New York Guard except upon a special waiver of all 'accustomed and ancient privileges.' It would be highly improper and entirely un-American to have a privileged class in the New York Guard, and whoever comes into it must come into it on exactly the same terms as all the others.
Very Sincerely, (Signed) CHARLES H. SHERRILL, The Adjutant-General."
The reason the batteries in the V. C. A. were termed "provision- al" was because they had not been mustered in in accordance with the direction of the Adjutant-General. The Headquarters Com- pany had the lists ready and were waiting the decision of the Com- mandant on the forms to be used.
In order that there should be no misunderstanding, General Dyer sent Colonel Delafield the following letter, which ended the matter as far as the officers and men who were transferred to the Ninth were concerned.
"HEADQUARTERS Ist PROVISIONAL BRIGADE, N. Y. G. Park Avenue and Thirty-Fourth Street
New York, October 15, 1917.
Colonel John Ross Delafield,
27 Cedar Street,
New York City.
Dear Colonel Delafield :
I am informed that Colonel Gardiner has issued orders to certain officers for- merly of the Veteran Corps of Artillery in regard to their batteries. You will please advise all your officers that all the batteries of the Veteran Corps of Artillery are now members of the Ninth Coast Artillery Corps, New York Guard, under your command, as Colonel, by order of the Adjutant-General and they may dis- regard any orders they may have received or may hereafter receive from Colonel Gardiner, except those men who are qualified, enrolled members of the Veteran Corps of Artillery who may before November Ist elect to remain in the Veteran Corps of Artillery, which is by the same order attached to Headquarters Ist Brigade, N. Y. That the members so electing are attached on exactly the terms that every
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other member enters the New York Guard, which means that they do so upon the express waiver of all and any special rights and privileges heretofore enjoyed. That the officers commanding such body so attached to Headquarters will be commissioned with no higher rank than that appropriate to the number of men he brings in, and that all rules and regulations governing the officers and men of the New York Guard will apply to the officers and men of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, and that hereafter no military organization will be allowed headquarters in any New York Armory unless and until they join the New York Guard. Yours very truly,
(Signed) GEORGE R. DYER."
A TOAST
I give you the health of the Veteran Corps, To the sturdy hearts of the days of yore, Of the men that answered the Liberty Bell, And those of the War of Eighteen Twelve, I give you the Veteran Corps.
I give you the health of those to-day Who serve in a humbler sort of way; To those whose blood 'gainst their temples beat At the sound of the drafted marching feet; Who chafe at the years or the chains that bind Them to their kin and holds behind The men of the Veteran Corps.
I drain to the health of the men to-day Who have done a bit and called it "play," Who have guarded the line by night and day, And released a man for the actual fray, I give you the Veteran Corps.
I snap the stem of my crystal glass, To the lips of the "slacker" it shall not pass; For he that couldn't find the time To guard with them, with me shan't dine, But stays without my tight-closed door While I drink the health of the Veteran Corps. -James H. Pinckney.
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CHAPTER TEN THE NINTH COAST-COLONEL DELAFIELD IN COMMAND
O N October 10, 1917, the Provisional Batteries assembled for the last time in the Seventy-First Regiment Armory. The First, Second, Fourth and Sixth Batteries were formed in a Provisional Battalion, and, under orders of the higher military au- thorities were marched with all the arms and equipment, rifles, machine guns and ammunition to the new Armory in 14th Street, leaving only the obsolete Gatling guns with which the Detach- ment drilled in the quiet days before the War. The legal owner- ship of the Krags and the ball and other cartridges for the same was vested still in the Rifle Club. Immediately began the work of reorganization. Although the members of the Corps bitterly regretted the decision of their superiors that the anti-aircraft work should be given up, they proceeded with all the energy and en- thusiasm they possessed to perform the new tasks allotted.
Many men had volunteered on the understanding that their service was to be local, expecting that they would be assigned to anti-aircraft stations near their homes. The authorities had also de- cided that all drill work must be done in the Armory. This would work great hardship on the members of out-of-town Batteries. These had been drilling near their homes in Staten Island, Brook- lyn, Flushing, Richmond Hill, Kew Gardens, Woodhaven, etc. These matters complicated the situation, made the work of reor- ganization exceedingly difficult, and greatly prolonged the labor. Those who, by reason of the changes alluded to, desired to leave the Regiment, received their honorable discharge. A large number of officers and men who lived in Brooklyn and Queens, and who wanted to remain in the Guard, were transferred from the Ninth to the Twenty-third Infantry, Thirteenth Coast Artillery and Squadron C. The Corps was indeed to part with such officers as Captain Praeger, who became Lieutenant-Colonel and later Col-
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onel; Lieutenant William L. Sayers, who became Captain; Lieu- tenant Taft, who became Captain; and Sergeant Wilkes, Sergeant Wynkoop and Sergeant Hadden, as well as Fisher, MacDwyer, Wilde and others who became officers in the Twenty-third and Thirteenth. These had shown themselves to be efficient and capa- ble, and had, in the hard, earnest work in the Detachment, won the esteem and regard of all.
A large number forming the Tenth and Twelfth Batteries went into the Thirteenth Coast Artillery. Few people realize what a school and preparation for the Guard the Artillery Service De- tachment of the V. C. A. was while under the command of Colonel Delafield. The Artillery Service Detachment during the early months of the War gave a splendid training for officers and men who later distinguished themselves in the military forces of the State and Nation.
The building up of a new Regiment, the fusing of all the diverse elements, into a united well-coordinated body, full of esprit de corps is no easy task. It's a man's job. One element helped won- derfully, an unseen spiritual one. That was the incentive and stim- ulous of the great history of the Ninth Regiment. The oldest military unit in the State, one whose past is full of achievement, the men were inspired with a will to be worthy of its great name, and to make the Ninth of our time equal to the Ninth of other days.
That history is a long and glorious one, a brief account of it is here given.
By virtue of an order from John Jay, Governor of the State of New York, dated Albany, June 24, 1799, the preliminary organization of the Sixth New York In- fantry took place. The Sixth was composed of companies of existing regiments which were transferred to it as follows: Four companies from the First, three com- panies from the Second, five companies from the Third, two companies from the Fourth Regiments. All these Regiments had been organized March 4, 1786. Three companies from the Fifth organized May 11, 1789, and the Independent Rifle Com- pany organized August 28, 1799. The Sixth Regiment was permanently organized with Sixteen Companies May 8, 1800, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob Morton. The name of this regiment was changed March 27, 1805, to Second
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New York State Artillery, and to the Ninth Regiment New York State Artillery on June 13, 1812. Dating back through its component parts, the companies of the original First, Second, Third, and Fourth New York Regiments to 1786, the Ninth has had not only an interesting history, but has achieved a record for gallantry in action and efficiency in service second to no Regiment in the United States. It has served continuously since its organization. It was on active duty during the War of 1812 in the service of the United States. During the Civil War it formed part of the Army of the Potomac. During this service it was known as the Eighty- third New York Volunteer Infantry (Ninth New York State Militia). During this service it participated in twenty-eight battles and engagements. It served through the Spanish-American War, 1898. On July 15, 1917, it was ordered out of the State Service and was mustered into the service of the United States. During the World War the companies composing the Ninth were assigned to several different commands. Its men were present in practically every engagement from the Marne to the end of the Argonne offensive. When the Armistice was signed some were close to Sedan. See Adjutant-Generals report, 1916. Article by Major Charles A. Clinton, Ninth Coast News, September, 1918.
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