USA > Tennessee > Knox County > Knox County in the World War, 1917-1919 > Part 10
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No finer testimony to the bravery of both officers and men can be found than in the number of medals and decorations with which they were honored. Three men won the coveted Congressional Medal of Honor, while 126 other men and officers were awarded the American Distinguished Service Cross, the British Dis- tinguished Service Order, the British Military Cross, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Medal. While statistics are not available now, it is doubt- ful whether any regiment in our army surpassed this record in the same period of time.
Major-General Lewis, commanding general of the Thirtieth Division, decor- ated the colors of the regiment for participation in the following engagements:
Canal Sector, July 16-August 30. Ypres-Lys Offensive, August 31-September 2. Samme Offensive, September 20-October 20.
He also cited the regiment in divisional orders for its distinguished conduct in battle. Colonel Cary F. Spence, its commanding officer, was cited by General Pershing for his distinguished leadership in action. The regiment also shared equally in the ten citations conferred upon the whole Thirtieth Division by the English and Australian High Command.
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COLONEL JAMES A. GLEASON
All the way from a "huck" private to a full colonel is the gamut that Col. Gleason's military career has run in a period of twenty-five years of almost continuous service. He enlisted in the Tennessee national guard in 1894; saw service in the Spanish-American War with the Third Tennessee Volunteer Infantry ; commissioned successively, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain and lieutenant-colonel of it between 1904-12; and served with it on the Mexican border until he resigned on January 29, 1917.
During all these years he was very active in state national guard circles and spent much time in keeping alive the military spirit, especially in East Tennessee. He was often a competitor at national rifle matches and was inspector of small arms for the state guard.
After the declaration of war on Germany, Col. Gleason was largely instrumental in raising the Second Tennessee Infantry and received a commission as its lieutenant-colonel. On its dismemberment at Camp Sevier, he was transferred to the 114th Field Artillery with the same rank. He served through all of its campaigns on the Western Front-the St. Mihiel, Argonne Forest and Woevre Plain offensives and the Torl and Woevre de- fensives. For his military leadership and his outstanding ability as a handler of military men he received his promotion to full colonel in 1919 at Le Mans, France, just before he sailed home to be mustered out. During his army career he commanded at different times four regiments-the Second and Third Tennessee Infantry and the 114th and 115th Field Artillery.
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SECOND TENNESSEE INFANTRY
No Knoxville organization of men made a more commendable record or par- ticipated more actively in the operations in Belgium and against the Hindenburg Line in Flanders than those who went to Camp Sevier as members of the Second Tennessee Infantry. Yet because this regiment was merged with others in the organization of the Thirtieth Division and its officers and men scattered through several different units of the division, it has never received the credit and the glory it should have for its splendid record both in training camp and on the battlefield.
The Second Tennessee was raised largely through the efforts of Colonel James A. Gleason, of Knoxville, who was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, with Charles B. Rogan, adjutant general of Tennessee, as colonel and commander of the or- ganization. The majority of General Rogan's time was needed in the adminis- tration of his state office, and so the burden of organizing most of the companies and the task of equipping and whipping them into military units fell largely to Colonel Gleason during the summer of 1917. The state was aflame with the war spirit and so little difficulty was experienced in raising the new regiment, the companies of which were liberally distributed over the three grand divisions of the state.
The formal organization of the regiment was: Charles B. Rogan, of Nash- ville, colonel and commander; James A. Gleason, of Knoxville, lieutenant-colonel; Roane Waring, of Memphis, Hal Holmes, of Trenton, and James W. Birks, of Livingston, majors; Headquarters Company, of Nashville and Memphis, Captain George Hedge; Supply Company, of Nashville, Captain Harry Manners; Regi- mental Infirmary, of Knoxville, Major Robert H. Newman; Company A, of Dover and Cumberland City, Captain Thomas Miller; Company B, of Nashville and Fayetteville, Captain John L. Craig; Company C, of Livingston, Captain Timothy E. Stephens; Company D, of Crossville, Captain David Sonthard; Com- pany E, of Newport, Captain Joseph Gaffney; Company F, of Bristol and Har- riman, Captain Thomas Fauntleroy; Company G, of Knoxville, Captain William H. Beckner; Company H, of Rockwood, Captain T. Asbury Wright, Jr .; Company I, of Trenten, Captain William W. Wade; Company K, of Dyersburg, Captain William G. Green; Company L, of Memphis, Captain Frazier Hinton; Company M, of Memphis, Captain William F. Murrah, Machine Gun Company, of Mur- freesboro, Captain Thomas Y. English.
In addition to Company G and the Regimental Infirmary, of Knoxville, there were scores of Knoxville men who, after their enlistment at home, were trans- ferred to other companies of the regiment to fill them up to the necessary strength. In all, a fair estimate of the number of Knox County men who en- listed in the Second Tennessee would be between 400 and 500. They were stout, vigorous men, most of whom had never been in a military organization before. and who came straight from civil life to serve during the period of the emer- gency.
The regiment entrained and departed with the other organizations of the state national guard to Camp Sevier in the early days of September, 1917. A short time after its arrival, the reorganization of the regiments of the national guard of Tennessee and North and South Carolina took place under the direction of Major-General John F. Morrison, commander of the Thirtieth Division. The First Tennessee Infantry was converted into the 115th Field Artillery; the Third Tennessee Infantry became the 117th Infantry; the First Tennessee Field Artil- lery was numbered the 114th Field Artillery; Troops A, B, and C, of Cavalry, were converted into the 114th Machine Gun Battalion, while Troop D, of Knox-
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ville, became the Trench Mortar Battery of the division. The hardest luck fell to the lot of the Second Tennessee, the last Tennessee organization, which was made a part of the Fifty-ninth Depot Brigade, destined later to furnish many of the replacements for the new organizations of the division, all of which were he- low the new war strength.
The transfer of the men and officers of the depot brigade did not take place immediately, however. Drilling was continued daily, and the same vigorous schedule that was outlined for the rest of the division was kept by all the com- panies and battalions of the brigade. In spite of the certainty that the sepa- ration would come in a few days or weeks, the esprit de corps of the Second Ten- nessee was kept at the highest mark, and many of the men and officers refused voluntary transfers to other organizations. They held the faint hope that some change might he made by which they might be held together as a unit and go overseas together.
The order for the compulsory transfer of the officers and men of the regi- ment came on October 22, 1917. The large majority of the men were sent to the 119th and 120th Infantry regiments of the Sixtieth Brigade, some few to the three machine gun battalions of the division, while still others went to the artil- lery regiments and the other units of the division. The officers were more widely scattered than the men. Col. Rogan was placed on the unassigned list; Lieuten- ant-Colonel Gleason went to the 114th Field Artillery with the same rank, but later received his promotion to a full colonelcy; while the line officers mainly stayed with the infantry regiments, though some few transferred to the artil- lery. The majority of them went with their men into the Sixtieth Brigade, the 119th and 120th regiments.
The history of the Sixtieth Brigade is largely that of the Fifty-ninth Bri- gade, the story of which has been told in previous pages. They fought side by side in Belgium and Flanders, each relieving the other to take up the drive against the German forces. The Sixtieth, together with units of the Fifty- ninth, made the assault upon the Hindenburg Line. The Fifty-ninth had the honor of launching the attack on October 8, while the Sixtieth took up the at- tack two days later. The Fifty-ninth also started the drive on October 17, which was taken up a day later by the Sixtieth.
Of the honors and decorations they won, the deaths and wounds they sus- tained, the battles and engagements in which the individual men and officers of the Second Tennessee Infantry from Knox County took part, only their individual records, which are given elsewhere, will tell fully. They will show that these men won their share and did their part to the utmost. All commanders under whom they served paid tribute to their courage, fidelity, and soldierly qualities. Had they been allowed to remain together as the unit in which they were or- ganized, there is no doubt they would have made the same illustrious record which other Tennessee regiments did during the great war.
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"BIVOUACED FOR THE NIGHT"
An American battery of heavy field artillery in a rest camp on a hillside in France.
"A NIGHT BARRAGE"
American battery of 75 mm. guns firing a barrage at 4:15 a. m. near Reberry, France.
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55th ARTILLERY BRIGADE
While the infantry of the Thirtieth Division was operating with the British armies around Ypres in Belgium and near St. Quentin in France, the artillery, composed of the 113th, 114th, and 115th Field Artillery Regiments and the Trench Mortar Battery, making up the Fifty-fifth Artillery Brigade, was attached to the American divisions on the southern end of the battle line and took part in the St. Mihiel, Argonne Forest and Woevre Plain offensives.
The separation of the artillery and infantry took place at Camp Sevier, South Carolina, in May, 1918, when the Thirtieth Division was ordered overseas. They were never together again until early in 1919, when both moved into the Le Mans area, France, preparatory to coming home. The artillery received its training for battle at Camp Coetquidan, near Rennes, France, while the infantry went through its preparation for fighting in the extreme northern part of France. The British needed infantry badly, their artillery was more plentiful. On the other hand, General Pershing was in greater need of artillery than of infantry for the operation in the St. Mihiel salient. Therefore, the Fifty-fifth Brigade was ordered to Toul to take part in the first All-American offensive instead of going to Belgium to support the two infantry brigades of the Thirtieth Division. It was used from the latter part of August, 1918, up to the close of the fighting on November 11 as army, or "shock" artillery, being moved from sector to sector as the needs of the hour for artillery were greatest.
The majority of the men from Knox County in the artillery brigade were in Battery "C", of the 114th Field Artillery, and the Trench Mortar Battery. There were quite a few men, however, who were scattered through the other organiza- tions of the 114th, while perhaps a dozen were members of the 115th Artillery Regiment. Battery "C" was recruited by Captain Roy V. Myers in the summer of 1917, while Captain Ambrose Gaines raised at the same time Troop D, of cavalry. Upon the organization of the Thirtieth Division in the fall of 1917, Troop D was converted into the Trench Mortar Battery of the artillery brigade. On the promotion of Captain Myers to be a major at Camp Sevier, the command of his battery was taken over by Captain Reese Amis, who remained at its head until it was mustered out of service in April, 1919. After his arrival in France, Captain Gaines was compelled by illness to relinquish command of the Trench Mortar Battery to Lieut. Flem Hazen, who was later promoted to the rank of captain, and who handled it in the engagements in which it took part upon the front.
For variety of experiences, observation of the many phases of fighting, and actual participation in the number of battles, these two Knoxville units saw ser- vice second to none. They were in the line fighting from the latter part of August, 1918, when they entered the Toul sector, until the hour of the armistice on the morning of November 11. They were in three major engagements-the St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Woevre Plain offensives-and two minor opera- tions-the defense of the Toul and Woevre sectors. They were a part, at dif- ferent times, of the First, Second, Third American armies and the Fourth French army. They were attached to six American and French corps and served with seven American divisions, supporting the 89th, 37th, 32nd, 79th, and 33rd in battle operations.
The first large engagement in which they took part was the attack on the St. Mihiel salient, September 12 to 14, 1918. They were in the very van of the fighting, their positions being just behind the infantry lines at Flirey in the cen- ter of the drive on the right side of the pocket. They lost no men in the initial attack, and followed the infantry forward to Bouillonville as soon as the engi-
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neers could build a road across the old German trenches. On the third day after the fighting began, when they had penetrated as far forward as Beney, the order came for the whole brigade to leave the sector and move to the Argonne Forest to take part in the offensive there.
This move of about 100 miles was the bitterest test to which the brigade was subjected. The horses for pulling the guns had been exhausted in the prepara- tion for and participation in the previous fighting, the men were worn out, their nerves were frayed from lack of sleep and rest, and rations were pitifully short. All marching was done by night, beginning at sundown and continuing until day- light the next morning. The nights were cold and clammy, and many of the men became sick. The woods in which they often slept by day were little better than swamps.
They arrived, however, by forced marches and went into position on the night of September 24. By working most of the day and part of the following night in digging trail pits and bringing up ammunition, all batteries were ready and took part in the huge bombardment over a 20-mile front on the morning of Sep- tember 26, signalling the opening of the greatest and longest battle in which American arms ever took part. That afternoon they followed the infantry for- ward through Avocourt toward Montfaucon, the German strong-point of the Argonne sector. They went forward again the following day, taking positions just back of and to the left of Montfaucon, remaining there for several days be- cause the infantry had trouble in advancing the lines against the German resis- tance. This was overcome after two or three days and the artillery moved into the vicinity of Ivoiry and Epinonville. There it remained until withdrawn on October 6.
The Woevre sector was held then until November 8, when the preparations be- gan for the great offensive of the Second American Army to outflank Metz with the aid of the First American Army. All units of the brigade moved forward into the Woevre Plain on the night of November 10 and were ready for the drive toward Conflans, when the announcement of the armistice put an end to the fighting the next morning after a few rounds had been fired. It was a very fortunate termination for the brigade, for most of its batteries were out upon an open plain, with little protection, and subject to direct fire by the enemy's artillery. Had the fighting continued during the day of November 11, the casualties undoubtedly would have been very heavy.
In December, 1918, about a month after the close of hostilities, the brigade moved forward with the 33rd Division as a part of the Army of Occupation. Their route lay through Conflans, Longwy, Luxemburg, and on to the German border. There they were halted, but before the orders to turn back into the center of Luxemburg arrived, Battery "C", which was at the head of the brigade, drove over the bridge into Germany. Thus it was the only unit of the 30th Di- vision which actrally got into Germany. Shortly after January 1, the brigade was ordered to rejoin the division at Le Mans. The march was made back through Luxemburg and France to Trondes, near Toul, where special trains carried the regiments to the Le Mans area. Enroute the worst accident of the months in France befell the brigade. A train wreck occurred in which twenty-three men were killed and many more injured near Chaumont. Two of the men killed were members of Battery "C".
The Trench Mortar Battery received orders to return home ahead of the rest of the division. It went to Brest for debarkation, reached Newport News on March 6, 1919, and was mustered out a week later. The remainder of the bri- gade, including Battery "C", left France early in March and reached America some two weeks later. The mustering out took place at Fort Oglethorpe, after parades through Knoxville, Nashville, and Chattanooga, where the regiments were greeted with tremendous crowds. The discharges were handed the men on April 7, 1919.
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1.LECK
SURE
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"READY FOR CAMP"
These groups are of the 280 men, inducted into service May 24, 1918, at Knoxville. It was the lar- gest single group inducted into service from Knox County through the draft call and they were given a great send-off at the federal building and a parade to the railroad station. Most of them were assigned later to the Second Corps Artillery Park.
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SECOND CORPS ARTILLERY PARK
Pursuant to a special call issued by the War Department for an additional 55,000 men, 280 young men of Knoxville and Knox County were formally mus- tered into the service of the United States on Tuesday, May 21, 1918. Exactly two months later a large proportion of these men steamed into the harbor of Brest, France, as members of the various units of Second Corps Artillery Park. Before the signing of the armistice, this Knox County contingent had actively participated in four of the greatest battles of the war-a record achieved by few units of the American Expeditionary Forces and excelled by still fewer.
The Second Corps Artillery Park was known as an artillery auxiliary unit. At no time was it attached to any division, but was placed where its services were most needed. This meant its labor scarcely lapsed from the time the unit landed in France July 21, 1918, until its broken remnants set sail for home in July, 1919. From August 10-15, the Second Corps Artillery Park served with the American forces in the latter part of the Aisne-Marne offensive, which com- prised all fighting in the famous Chateau-Thierry district and is commonly known as the Second Battle of the Marne. September 12-15 it was engaged with the American First Army in the St. Mihiel drive. For weeks previous to this battle, however, the organization worked tirelessly on the Toul front in prep- aration for the offensive. September 17 to October 17 it was attached to the Second French Army and actively engaged in the Oise-Aisne offensive. October 17 to November 11 it did valiant work with the Fifth Army Corps of the Ameri- can First Army in the historical battle of the Argonne Forest. Three times the organization was cited by the ranking generals of the American and French armies for valuable results accomplished during these offensives.
Boarding a special train at Knoxville Friday, May 24, 1918, after one of the most patriotic and enthusiastic demonstrations ever accorded a departing unit, the men reached Fort Thomas, Kentucky, the following day, were quickly examined and outfitted, and at 10:30 o'clock Sunday morning started for Camp Jackson, South Carolina, as field artillery replacements. Reaching Camp Jackson early Monday evening, they were assigned to a field artillery replacement depot and during that week received their first training in the rudiments of soldiery. How- ever, their experience as field artillery replacements was destined to be of short duration.
Saturday, June 1, the men were ordered to move to another part of the camp and there were assigned to the new organization known as the Second Corps Ar- tillery Park. This unit, destined to be a motorized outfit, was composed of six truck companies of 140 men each and one company of 250 men known as the Park Battery, making a total of approximately 1,100 men, and comprising a majority of the 280 Knox County boys and about 100 from Louisville, Ky. Practically the entire remainder of the new unit hailed from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel H. H. Rogers, of New York. Knoxville and Louisville men were assigned entirely to Companies A, B and the Park Battery. The original duties of the organization in the battle area was to repair and replace disabled artillery pieces, but, after reaching France, the work assigned to the six truck companies was almost wholly that of hauling ammunition. The Park Battery was placed in charge of various am- munition depots and of loading and unloading trucks, a gruelling labor contin- ually beset by the danger of enemy artillery and aeroplane attacks.
After one month of intensive military training, the Second Corps Artillery Park entrained July 1 for Camp Stuart, Newport News, Virginia. The or- ganization was reoutfitted, received its final overseas examination and early on
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the morning of July 10 boarded the former Pacific liner Matsonia, which was accompanied by four other transports and escorted by two torpedo boat chasers. On July 13, they were joined by six transports, a cruiser and two destroyers that had embarked from the port of New York. Reaching the war zone July 18, all men were required to assemble at their respective life rafts at 7:30 o'clock each evening and remain there until dark-about 10:30 o'clock in that latitude during the summer. They were assembled there again at 2:30 o'clock in the morning and remained until breakfast, such precautions being taken because of the likelihood of submarine attack during either twilight or dawn. However, the voyage was made wholly without incident and the dawn of July 21 brought the joyful sight of the dim outlines of Brest, France.
After enduring the rain, mud, and flies of the celebrated Pontanazen Barracks until Wednesday morning, July 24, the men boarded a train that was to carry them to their work on the battle front. After riding 22 hours, however, they awakened to find themselves once more in Brest, a change in orders having turned them about and brought them again to their starting point. For the next week the members of the regiment were used on the docks of Brest as stevedores. On Angust I, part of the men were ordered to Havre and Bordeaux for trucks, while the remainder started overland in trucks that were to be part of the reg- iment's equipment and driven by its own men. Friday, August 9, the overland contingent, after traveling 425 miles, reached the destroyed village of Mont St. Pere, nine kilometers east of the famous city of Chateau-Thierry and situated on the north bank of the beautiful Marne River. Here the remainder of the regiment was awaited and to the east of Mont St. Pere the first work in the battle areas was done. The fighting in this vicinity was known as the Aisne- Marne offensive.
Wednesday, August 14, camp was broken and, with its 167 steel-bodied am- munition trucks, the regiment traveled to a point seventeen kilometers west of Chateau-Thierry. There it remained until the following Tuesday, when once more a long trip overland was started which ended near the city of Toul, August 24. After three days of work towing artillery and transporting French troops, the regiment moved its camp into a dense forest several miles north of Toul and only a short distance from the German front lines. During the stay here the men received their first real taste of actual warfare. Continually beset by the dangers of artillery and aeroplane fire, ammunition was hauled nightly for two weeks in pitch darkness over dangerously slippery roads, heavy with war traffic of all kinds. On the afternoon of August 29, two well-placed German artillery pro- jectiles touched off an ammunition dump several acres in area, which was main- tained by the organization, and to which its trucks had been hauling shells. Two terrific explosions rocked the earth and the sound of bursting shells continued all through the night. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
During the great St. Mihiel offensive which followed on September 12, many of the trucks continued to supply the big guns with ammunition all through the night of the opening attack. The following day a hundred Second Corps Artil- lery Park trucks loaded with shells started a slow trail in the wake of the swiftly advancing Yanks. Over roads blown to atoms by artillery fire and through a maze of traffic, travel was slow, indeed, and it was the evening of September 15 before they reached a point southwest of Metz, unloaded and re- turned to camp. This ended the work in the St. Mihiel offensive.
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