Knox County in the World War, 1917-1919, Part 1

Author: Knoxville Lithographing Company; Amis, Reese T
Publication date: 1919]
Publisher: [Knoxville
Number of Pages: 462

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NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 3433 05022 1740

JFF 74-286 Knoxville Lithographing Company Knox County in the World War, 1917-1918-

KNOX COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

AGRIC

YORK

ASTOR

TILDE

LENOX FOUNDATIONS

السيبعد

Trent

KNOX COUNTY IN THE WORLD WAR

1917. 1918.1919

JFF 74-286

COMPILED AND PUBLISHED -BY- KNOXVILLE LITHOGRAPHING COMPANY KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 1919

Commemorating

T "HE heroic deeds, the unselfish devotion, the eager and willing sac- rifices made by the men and women of Knox County that justice and liberty might reign and free government might be perpetuated throughout the whole world. s

TOTOLA

LIBRARY

THOES

LENOX FOUNDATIONS

STAFF

CAPT, REESE T. AMIS, Managing Editor CAPT. J. WALKER LEACH LIEUT. HOWARD P. WATSON Associate Editors

ADVISORY COUNCIL

GEN. L. D. TYSON COL. CARY F. SPENCE COL. JAS. A. GLEASON LT .- COL. T. J. WYRICK

W. S. SHIELDS T. A. WRIGHT DR. H. E. CHRISTENBERY

RUSSELL KENT WILEY L. MORGAN

J. LEONARD JONES

E. W. OGDEN

WVM. M. EPPS

E. D. LANGLEY

MRS. E. W. OGDEN MRS. S. G. SHIELDS

I WANT YOU FOR U. S.ARMY

408 411 MORY

TENN. INFA">

2:15

THE CALL TO THE COLORS

INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL survey of the splendid contribution made by the men and women of Knox County toward winning the recent world war constitutes a record of which every citizen may and should feel proud. It is no idle boast that no city or county in Tennessee gave more in proportion to population and wealth, while there were few that responded so readily and so whole-heartedly to every call of every kind that was made by either the state or the federal government.

This unstinted contribution of men, money and materials was the challenge of a great democratic people to the forces of world autocracy, a notice that liberty was more precious than life, freedom more dear than all the gold the world pos- sessed. Blood and money were poured out with the same lavish hand that this city and county gave of their dearest treasures in 1861-5 for what they believed to be right. The men, who in 1918 stormed the well nigh impregnable ramparts of the Hindenburg line or made charge after charge in the Argonne Forest or braved the constant dangers of the sea to destroy the submarine scourge, shed their blood as freely and were animated with the same patriotic fervor as their ancestors who climbed King's Mountain in 1780 and put the British Tories under Ferguson to bloody rout.

This contribution to the war, in cold figures, amounted roughly to more than 4,000 able-bodied men in the army, navy, marine, air, and other branches of the service, of whom over 150 made the supreme sacrifice; subscriptions of close to $14,000,000 to the five Liberty Loans and over $2,000,000 to the War Savings campaign; donations of $220,000 in cash to the Red Cross; gifts of approximately $100,000 to the Y. M. C. A. and $50,000 to the United War Work Committee for home and foreign work; and weeks and months of patriotic work without compensation by thousands of unselfish men and women at home, doing their bit that those who did go across or who were in army camps in the United States might have every comfort and attention that was possible away from home. There was never a campaign of any kind, whether for volunteers to fill up the ranks or for money for war work, that Knox County did not more than "go over the top."

The bigness, the extent of this patriotic sacrifice, toil and endeavor is the justification of this volume. In it the attempt has been made to bind together in lasting form, commensurate with these achievements, the record of all war

activities, both military and civilian, of Knox Countians. Every effort has been made to make it absolutely fair and impartial, without particle of bias or pre- judice in any respect.

Inevitably errors have been made, but every source of information available has been sought and carefully consulted to reduce these mistakes to a minimum. The records of the War and Navy Departments at Washington, the military archives of the State of Tennessee, the books and records of the draft boards, the columns of the daily newspapers, personal letters and diaries, together with other historical sources, have been pored over and delved into for months to get every shred of information possible in regard to the war activities of Knox Countians.

Every effort was exhausted to obtain the photographs of all men who saw service, realizing that in after years these, with their records attached, will be of incalculable interest and value to those of later generations. If the name, record of service, or photograph of any man has been omitted, it has been unin- tentional and not because every effort has not been made to obtain them. Two men of the editorial staff canvassed the city and county for more than two months, while advertisements and news notices appeared frequently in the newspapers, requesting that this information be given.

The attempt also was made to give to those who were not privileged to see something of the war, as well as to preserve for those who did, a panorama of the most striking scenes and events in which the American army engaged. Of the several thousand photographs, taken in battle by the representatives of the United States Signal Corps, the choicest ones, some two hundred in number, which were obtained for illustration of this history, give such a vivid insight into the machin- ery of war and how battles were fought that study of them will be more instruc- tive than many pages of descriptive matter. They cover nearly every phase of warfare on all of the battle fronts.

It has been a matter of deep regret that most of those who went forth in the multifarious branches of government service were so widely scattered that a sketch of each of their particular units was impossible. It was found necessary to limit these sketches to those organizations which contained a large number of men from the city and county.

This volume, written and compiled with the sole desire to give the historical facts by word and picture, both of the war abroad and of the civilian activities at home, is the product of months of labor. It is neither perfect nor complete. Such a volume can never be. Yet it is more accurate, we believe, than any history that can be written or any volume that can be compiled in the future when mem- ory has faded, many of the participants in these stirring events have moved away or died, and the records either have been lost or have crumbled to dust.

OFF TO WAR

MY COUNTRY, TIS OF THEE SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY.

長期:

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ILLUMINATION OF THE CAPITOL ON THE NIGHT OF THE ARMISTICE, NOVEMBER 11, 1918

E PLURIBUS UNUM

Woodrow Wilson

ASKING CONGRESS FOR A DECLARATION OF WAR

AMERICA IN THE WAR

MERICA'S entrance into the bloodiest conflict of all ages was not, as in the case of England and France, a hasty step of the moment. It came as the culmination of a long series of incidents and national injuries at the hands of the Imperial German Government. Its roots may be traced back almost three years to the beginning of the world war. Since the early days of August, 1914, when the Germans shamelessly violated the neutrality of Belgium, ruthlessly put her men, women and children to the sword, and brazenly declared that treaties were but scraps of paper, many in the United States realized that the day must come sooner or later when our government must throw its tremendous strength and resources into the balance and take its part in the fight in behalf of humanity and civilization.

This feeling gained strength steadily in the succeeding months with Germany's use of the submarine as an offensive weapon of war. On February 10, 1915, President Wilson sent the first of his many notes of protest to the German Gov- ernment, declaring that he would hold it strictly accountable for the sinking of any American merchant vessels. Less than two months later, on May 7, the nation was shocked by the sinking, absolutely without warning, of the great passenger liner, the Lusitania, with the loss of 1,154 lives, of which 114 were American. National sentiment rose to the point of almost demanding a sus- pension of diplomatic relations with the German government.

However, an open break was averted by the latter's promise not to sink passen- ger ships in the future without proper warning and without giving their occupants an opportunity to escape. The attack on merchant ships, however, was continued, aggravating sorely the already inflamed public opinion. This led the State De- partment, after President Wilson had laid all the facts before a joint session of Congress, to send a direct ultimatum to Berlin, stating that diplomatic intercourse would be severed immediately unless its method of submarine warfare was aban- doned. Immediately a reply was returned, agreeing in the main to these demands.

After the peace negotiations in the fall of 1916 proved fruitless, the German government, yielding to the advice of its military party that this course would put the war to a speedy end, announced on January 31, 1917, that unrestricted submarine warfare would be carried on in specified zones. Four days later Ambassador Bernstorff was handed his passports and our friendly relations with Germany ceased. On February 26 President Wilson asked for authority to arm merchant vessels as a protection against submarine attacks. A few days after, he appeared before a memorable joint session of the Congress, set forth the attempts he had made to maintain friendly relations with Germany, and asked that the existence of a state of war between the two nations be declared.

On April 4, 1917, the Senate passed the war resolution by a vote of 82 to 6, while the House of Representatives, after a wild and stormy session which lasted until 3 o'clock on the morning of April 6, also adopted it by a vote of 373 to 50. The president affixed his signature to the resolution the same day. Its text was as follows:

"Whereas, the Imperial German government has committed repeated acts of war against the government and the people of the United States, therefore, be it

"Resolved, by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, that the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German government, which has thus been thrust upon the United States, is hereby formally declared; and that the President be and is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the re- sources of the government to carry on war against the Imperial German government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, and all the resources of the government are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States."

The whole energy of the government from that day was devoted to war measures and war demands. Our army and navy were pitifully inadequate. In the belief that we were independent of European broils, they had been maintained upon a peace basis and used merely for purposes of policing our home and island possessions. With 3,000 miles of water between us and the nearest great nation, they were thought amply sufficient to guard us from all aggression.

Our army, scattered over thousands of miles, numbered about 190,000 men, while our annual appropriation for its maintenance reached a little more than $100,000,000. In the nineteen months between the declaration of war and the conclusion of the armistice, it grew in numbers to 3,665,000 men, of whom more than 2,000,000 were in France. The fiscal appropriation for the maintenance of this military establishment from June 30, 1918, to June 30, 1919, aggregated $15,300,000,000. The growth of the navy was almost in proportion to that of the army. On April 5, 1917, about 250 vessels were under the control and operation of the navy department. At the close of the war, this number had grown to 1,990 vessels. There were 5,000 officers and 70,000 enlisted men of the navy serving in European waters alone when the war ended. This was a greater number than the full strength of the navy before we commenced hostilities. Our merchant marine, an adjunct of the navy, was even more marvelous in its growth under the stress of national necessity and war conditions. The production of merchant ships was at the rate of about 70,000 gross tons monthly in April, 1917. Most of these flew the flags of other nations. Nineteen months later our ship yards along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts had expanded under governmental management until their production was at the rate of 350,000 gross tons a month. Our tonnage threatened England's supremacy of the seas.

To furnish an ample supply of men and officers for the land forces, the national guards of the different states of the union were called into federal ser- vice, fifteen camps for the special training of officers were established, enlistment

PHOTO C BY INTERNATIONAL FILM SERVICE

"SIGNING THE PEACE TREATY"

Historical scene in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919. President Wilson, sitting at table in front of third mirror from left, is shown affixing his signature first of all.

of men to increase the strength of the regular army and navy was speeded up, while the passage of the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, provided millions of men to follow in the national army divisions.

Nearly 10,000,000 men between the ages of 21 to 30 registered under the first call on June 5, 1917; the second registration on June 5, 1918, provided 744,865 men; the third on August 24, 1918, yielded 157,963 men. By a later enactment, the draft ages were extended to include all men between the ages of 18 and 45. None of the latter, however, was ever called to the colors, though about 13,000,000 registered on September 12, 1918. The end of the war came before they were needed. Thirty-six camps and cantonments were erected at suitable locations throughout the country to house, train and equip the men in the various branches of the military and naval service.

Shortly after the declaration of war, John J. Pershing, then a brigadier-general in charge of the American forces operating against the Mexican bandit, Villa, was called to Washington and made commander-in-chief of the American Expe- ditionary Forces. With a small staff of picked officers, he reached France early in June, 1917, and set about the tremendous task of laying the broad foundation for the army of millions which was to follow. Vice-Admiral Sims, who was in- trusted with supreme command of our naval forces in European waters, had arrived in England somewhat earlier, accompanied hy a fleet of American destroy- ers, stripped for action against the German undersea terrors. His task was to cooperate with the British fleet in the elimination of the submarines, then at the high water mark of their nefarious warfare, and to work out a convoy system for the troop transports bearing American soldiers to French ports.

After a thorough study at first hand of the British and French systems of warfare and the organization of their armies, General Pershing revised the com- position of our forces, increasing the strength of a division from about 14,000 to 28,000 men, and adding to it units made necessary by the refinements of four years of intensive fighting. He obtained French and British officers and non- commissioned officers to assist in the training of the American forces which had not yet been brought over. He also built up his general staff system, so necessary to the efficient functioning of large bodies of troops.

Meanwhile, American engineers had begun the construction of great docks at the ports of St. Nazaire, Brest, Bordeaux and Le Havre; miles of railroads were laid; machine shops and storage depots were constructed, while training areas for the divisions as they arrived from America were laid out back of the battle zone. It was found beneficial for them to spend six weeks to two months in these areas in intensive training before going into quiet sectors for their first taste of actual warfare.

The eastern front of the battle line, extending roughly from the western edge of the Argonne Forest to the Swiss border, was agreed upon as the sector which the American army should occupy when it had grown to its full strength and received its proper training. The plan was that the Belgians should defend the northern end of the line, the British, with the Channel ports at their back for supplies from England, were to hold a wide stretch southward and join the French forces, which, with Paris at their rear, were to link up with the Amer- icans east of Rheims.

Of some of the necessary implements of modern warfare, the new American army had practically nothing in the way of equipment. This was particularly true of artillery, aviation and tanks, all of which were highly essential for offen- sive operations. By arrangement with the French government, General Persh- ing obtained from its factories enough artillery to furnish thirty divisions. These guns were the 75 and 155 millimeter rifles and the 155 millimeter howitzers.

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- 427 -

"SIGNATURES AND SEALS OF THE PEACE TREATY"

Photograph shows last page of the original copy of the treaty, printed in both English and French. The American delegates, Woodrow Wilson, Robert L. Lansing, Henry White, E. M. House, and Tasker H. Bliss, headed the list of signatories.

IN FALIT WAEHLOF the above named Plempotentiaries have agard the proval Treaty

Manufacture of these guns was started almost simultaneously in American fac- tories, but few more than 100 had been completed and passed all tests before the war ended. In aviation, the situation was little better. Our program, which started off with bright prospects, fell down. The French came to our rescue and supplied our aviators with the different kinds of planes necessary for warfare until our reorganized air program had materialized. The first squadron, com- pletely equipped with American planes, took the air early in August, 1918. The Liberty motor, designed by American engineers, made our planes of certain de- signs the best on the front. Had the war lasted a few months longer, our suprem- acy in the air would have been overwhelming. The same condition applied in regard to tanks as in aviation and artillery. The French supplied our bare needs until American factories could furnish them in quantity production.

While General Pershing was engaged abroad in these preparations for our army, equally strenuous efforts were being made at home on a large scale during the summer and fall months of 1917. All agencies and departments of the gov- ernment were organized for the building of an efficient war machine, while the business interests of the nation were reorganized on a war basis. Huge contracts for supplies of all kinds were let; the output of hundreds of factories was taken as a whole by the government; the iron and steel mills of the country were con- verted virtually into great ordnance arsenals for the manufacture of powder, guns, shells, and other war munitions. A great ship building program was launched to provide vessels to carry our soldiers and supplies to France; many vital agencies, including the railroad, telegraph, telephone and cable lines were put under governmental control; the food and fuel control bill, designed to con- serve our supply of food and coal so as to meet both our own domestic needs and the requirements of our allies, was passed. More than a million men were in training camps, learning the fundamentals of military discipline and tactics.

The first Liberty Loan in June, 1917, provided $2,000,000,000 for war needs; the second in October, of the same year, yielded an additional $3,000,000,000; the third in May, 1918, provided the same amount of revenue; the fourth in October, 1918, provided $6,000,000,000; while the final one in May, 1919, yielded $4,500,000,000. All of these were largely oversubscribed on each call from the Treasury. In addition to these sources of revenue. the congress passed income, excess profits, and other forms of tax bills which yielded other billions directly for the support of the war.

Before the end of 1917, five full American divisions had reached France. They were the First and Second Regulars, the Twenty-sixth National Guard Division from New England, the Forty-first National Guard Division from the Pacific coast, and the Forty-second Division, made up from the national guards of 26 states. By the end of October, some of the more seasoned men, who had come across as early as June, were sent into a quiet sector in the Vosges Mountains near the Swiss border. There in the early days of November, the first American blood was spilled in a clash with German soldiers. Privates Enright, Gresham and Hay were killed in a patrol encounter. During the latter part of the same month, American engineers, armed with spades and rifles, helped to repel the German counter-attacks in the operations around Cambrai.

The latter part of 1917 and the spring months of 1918 were dark days for the allied cause. Russia, which had been a bulwark on the eastern frontier by attacks on the Central Powers whenever the latter pushed forward in the west, definitely dropped out of the war. Italy crumbled under the assaults of the Austrians and fell back far into her own territory. France and England had their backs to the wall with the cream of the German army pitted against them. The German submarines were playing havoc with their shipping upon the seas and threatening them with starvation. The European members of the allied cause,

C UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD

PEACE CONFERENCE IN SESSION, PARIS

President Wilson is seated at the head of the table, on the right of the man who is standing and reading.

therefore, were ready to quit or to accept almost any kind of a compromise in order to obtain peace. Their fighting morale, their resources in men, money, and supplies were at low ebb. German propaganda, sifting through in insidious ways, had nearly sapped their fighting vitality.

Under these depressing circumstances General Pershing worked day and night to bolster up the situation until his army arrived. Tremendous pressure was brought to bear upon him by both the English and French, who were apprehensive of the fighting qualities of the American soldiers, to consolidate his divisions and their organizations, as they arrived in France, with units of their armies, to use his forces as replacements for their own troops, and not to train an indepen- dent army which should have a definite sector of the battle front. Each of them was striving to obtain certain advantages which would accrue to them by union of the Americans with them. Each was still acting independently of the other in operations against the common foe, for necessity had not yet driven them to selection of Marshal Foch as Commander-in-Chief of all the allied armies.

To this policy of consolidation General Pershing gave a decidedly negative answer. He was determined that the American army should not play "second fiddle" to any in Europe. He believed it best to avoid such an entangling alliance. He knew that by the summer or fall of 1918 he would have sufficient troops, trained under battle conditions, to constitute an integral force, able to take the offensive in every respect, and to cope with any class of foe they drew sword against.

The storm of the supreme German offensive, heralded in Berlin as the begin- ning of the end of the war, and announced on the battle front with an artillery preparation that blew everything in front of it to atoms, broke in Picardy on March 21, 1918. The English were overwhelmed, and the wedge between the British and French armies, which was the objective of the drive, came near becoming an actuality. Under the stress of the situation which this crisis produced, occupation of a definite American sector was postponed temporarily. On March 28, General Pershing tendered to Marshal Foch, who had been agreed upon the day previous as supreme commander of the allied forces in France, his whole army, consisting of 343,000 men, for use as the need of the hour demanded. During April and the early part of May, the majority of them were sent to quiet sectors to relieve veteran French and English divisions, which were needed at the more critical points of the German attack. As they quickly showed their mettle, and the need for fresh troops became more acute, the Americans were thrust into the thickest and hottest of the battle in late May and June, when the Germans launched their drive to reach Paris.

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Knox County in the World War, 1917-1919, Part 1

Author: Knoxville Lithographing Company; Amis, Reese T Publication date: 1919] Publisher: [Knoxville Number of Pages: 462

Author: Knoxville Lithographing Company; Amis, Reese T
Publication date: 1919]
Publisher: [Knoxville
Number of Pages: 462