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A History of Pittsburg and Western Pennsylvania Troops in the War
By John V. Hanlon (Copyright 1919 by The Pittsburg Press)
Chapter XX
(The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 22, 1919, page 82)
Names in this chapter: Jadwin, Faust, Israel
THE FIFTEENTH ENGINEERS WAS RECRUITED IN PITTSBURG AND MADE UP FOR THE MOST PART
OF THE VERY FLOWER OF OUR MANHOOD. IT WAS A JUSTLY FAMOUS UNIT AND WAS AMONG THE
FIRST OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES TO BE SENT OVERSEAS.
To the famous Fifteenth engineers, A.E.F., organized in
Pittsburg early in 917 and then known as the Fifth engineers, U.S.A., goes the
glory of being the first complete regiment to leave the Steel City for that then
mystically far away place, “Over There.” This may be said without in the least
detracting from credit due other units that went later, or due the individual
men by the dozens who rushed coincidentally with the embryo engineers to the
local recruiting offices, but entered the regular army, the signal corps, the
navy or the marines – marched away with only a couple of non-coms or boatswain’s
mates to see them safely aboard a train at the Pennsylvania station. It was only
natural that the Fifteenth engineers, after nearly two years’ of service and
with a glorious record should have been widely acclaimed and sent away by the
Pittsburg populace with a might ovation. They were the very flower of Western
Pennsylvania’s young manhood, most of them college or university men and all
imbued with the spirit that made them first to respond when “war’s wild alarm”
sounded. During their brief training period at Oakmont, the engineers’ camp was
visited each Sunday by monster throngs of loving friends and relatives, who were
amazed even by the first stage of the transition which was to turn their boys
from care-free laughing youths into disciplined, dependable veterans, fit to
challenge the admiration of Europe.
Col. Edgar Jadwin, long before Uncle Sam entered the
world war, had conceived the notion that Pittsburg would be an ideal city in
which to recruit a regiment of engineers. When he was told by Washington to “go
ahead,” he wasted no time, but recruited several hundred more than enough men to
fill the regimental roster, then selected the best of what material he had and
started with it for France. That was characteristic of the way Col. Jadwin, then
and for some years previous in charge of the United States engineers’ office in
Pittsburg, did things. He has since been promoted to be a brigadier general. He
and several other officers of the regiment had served in the Spanish-American
war.
Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio
were well represented in the Fifteenth. Thousands of young men from towns near
Pittsburg swamped Col. Jadwin’s office. Little was said about it a the time,
nothing at all for publication, but it is an open secret not that the surplus
problem left behind by Col. Jadwin caused regular army recruiting officers and
others to cudgel their grey matter and tear their hair. Some of the things they
said, at first, were unprintable, anyway. The boys who had “joined the
engineers,” but had been left behind, couldn’t be taken into any other branch of
the service until a lot of red tape had been cut. Eventually, this was done.
Meanwhile, they chafed because some of them thought their friends regarded them
as slackers.
CAMP NEAR OAKMONT
From the Pyle farm, near Oakmont, where they pitched
their camp May 22, 1917, and where they were augmented by other companies up to
June 6, the engineers came into Pittsburg July 4, and joined in a parade which
was one of the greatest pageants ever seen here.
Knowing that these brave lads were soon to go overseas,
the Pittsburg stay-a-homes, those who could not enlist and those who intended to
enlist or be drafted later, spared no effort to make this farewell review all
than any event of its kind possibly could be. Enthusiasm was boundless and it is
scarcely too much to say that at this juncture came the first real thrill that
brought home to the common people with unmistakable force that fact that the
country was at war. Jarred a little in their peaceful pursuits, the people had
not yet comprehended the enormity of the task Uncle Sam had undertaken. As
George Ade says, the war in Europe seemed too much like a close finish in the
Pacific coast league, “interesting, but too far away to arouse local
excitement.”
The example set by the engineers, as they prepared,
under Col. Jadwin’s orders, for action, was powerful. It was a great stimulus to
recruiting. The more local boys joined the colors, the better the Red Cross and
other like agencies were supported. The engineers and the old National Guard
units led the way. Thousands of brave boys enlisted and opposition to the
selective draft died away to a whisper. Pro-German sensed the change in public
opinion and changed their laud clamor to a subtle and cringing propaganda, and
even that became hazardous when the fighting spirit of the Workshop of the World
was fully aroused.
From the time the regiment broke camp at Oakmont, July
6, 1917, until it returned to Pittsburg for a welcome-home parade on May 7,
1919, the interval was filled with activity of many kinds. Disconnected reports
of its work have been gathered from many sources and every word printed
concerning it has been read with interest.
OFF FOR FRANCE
On the morning of July 6, Col. Jadwin issued orders
that the regiment would entrain that night for an Atlantic port of embarkation.
The destination of the engineers was not announced, but it was understood they
soon would be “going over.” Special trains were sent over the Pennsylvania
railroad to Oakmont. Camp was broken and the camp site was so thoroughly
“policed” that scarcely a trace of the big military maneuver ground remained
visible. Several hours’ wait in the stuffy coaches ensued and quite naturally
the men became inpatient to be on their way.
Suddenly notice came from the war department at
Washington to delay the start from here for 48 hours. A strike by stevedores in
the New York harbor was given as the reason for the delay. The men of the
regiment were enjoined to secrecy about it, but they knew then that Gotham was
to be the embarkation point from which they would jump off for the great
adventure.
Not wishing to have the razed camp rebuilt, Col Jadwin
took the troop trains to the Pennsylvania railroad yards at Verona and the men
were told to remain aboard the trains. These coaches were their only homes for
48 hours and the discomfort was great, but the spirit of the men showed they had
understood from the beginning that they were not out for a pleasure jaunt.
In the early part of Sunday, July 8, orders came for
the regiment to move east. Trains bearing the heroes, for they were already
that, left the Verona station at 6:15 a.m., amid the cheers of hundreds of
spectators.
Few events of importance transpired during the long
rail journey to New York. There was a prisoner in one of the baggage coaches,
closely guarded by Corp. Gordon Faust of Co. F, son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Faust
of Monaca. The identity of the prisoner has since been kept secret “for the good
of the regiment.” It also came out, after the armistice was signed, that an
attempt to bomb the engineers’ coaches and kill all on board was made while the
regiment was enroute from Verona to New York. Details of the alleged plot are
scarce, except such as might be gleaned from the more or less fevered
imagination of a hectic and excited “correspondent.”
After their arrival at Hoboken, M.J., the engineers
were held for several hours and there was another delay at Jersey City, where
the regiment arrived July 9 at 5: 45 a.m. On the Pennsylvania railroad
ferryboat, the Washington, the engineers’ train next transferred to the White
Star line pier on the New York side of the Hudson river. About 3 p.m., the men
boarded the White Star liner Baltic, from whose broad decks they obtained their
first glimpses of New York’s skyline before they entered the awful conflict in
which great nations and millions of men were struggling for existence.
Sea sickness was one of the terrors encountered by the
brace Pittsburg district lads on the voyage across the ocean to France. July 10,
at 6:45 a.m., most of the boys were on deck. The Baltic was then 200 miles from
New York and a school of whales attracted the attention of the soldiers aboard
shortly before time for luncheon. Life boat drills started at 2 p.m. that day
and were continued throughout the remainder of the ocean trip.
The Baltic took a northerly course about 30 miles off
shore and maintained it until the waters in the vicinity of Newfoundland were
reached. The boys studied the manual of arms while the Baltic headed directly
for the English coast.
Cheerfulness and good humor marked the demeanor of the
engineers, who endured the rigors of seasickness with a fortitude which caused
Col. Jadwin to say he was proud to be in command of such a capable and
uncomplaining outfit. The ship’s hold contained a cargo of copper wire, wine,
etc., valued at about $50,000,000. Guarding against U-boar surprise attacks was
one of the most constant activities of the gunners aboard the Baltic.
Talks and sermons to the men were given daily by Bishop
Israel of Erie, Pa. Timed when the boys were not studying, drilling or at target
practice they spent as ease on the decks, and being plentifully supplied with
books and magazines, they read a great deal.
The engineers were compelled to scurry for cover when a
heavy rain storm came up on July 14 but there was an abundance of entertainment
during the afternoon. Boxing matches were hastily arranged and the engineers
took great delight in watching the leather slingers. When a great ship bound for
New York, passed the Baltic, about four miles away, the boys of the Fifteenth
watched it until it disappeared below the western horizon, it being regarded by
them as a connecting link with the beloved land left behind.
Warning was given that night by the ship’s officers
that the Baltic was approaching the submarine zone and there was great danger.
The boys spent a wakeful and anxious night, but nothing happened out of the
ordinary. Communion service was administered by Bishop Israel, after which the
engineers retired to their berths below, being driven from the decks by rain
following a dense fog.
LAND IN ENGLAND
A coast patrol boat, which turned back on the first
morning out from New York, escorted the Baltic at the start. Late in the
afternoon of July 18 the coast of Ireland was in view, according to the Baltic’s
lookouts. The engineers first set foot in England, July 20, 1917, after which
they were entrained at the docks and transferred to Camp Borden, in the southern
part of England. After a review by a British general, while thousands of
Canadians, Australians and other British soldiers looked on, the engineers
listened to a brief address by the reviewing general. He expressed his pleasure
at welcoming the first armed forced of the American Expeditionary Forces and the
first armed legionary forces of a foreign power to land on Great Britain’s
shores, since the Norman conqueror, William I, landed at Hastings while defying
Harold’s lances.
The engineers a short time later boarded the channel
steamer Viper and crossed the English channel without mishap. They landed in the
port of Le Havre, France, July 27, 1917. Strange sights met their gaze on every
hand, but they were soon too busy to take much notice of the outlandish aspect
of their surroundings.
GREETED BY FRENCH
As the boys reached the docks of Le Havre, they let go
a real American yell and were cheered loudly in response by thousands of
peasants, French soldiers and British Tommies, gathered there to welcome them.
Equipment was hurriedly packed and at 9 a.m. the march to the railroad station
was begun. The engineers hiked 10 miles, from 10 a.m. until 12:10 p.m.
In the camp where they had rested at the end of the
hike the engineers met and mingled with about 1,000 British soldiers. The camp
overlooked the bay of Le Havre, and although it was 210 miles from the firing
line, it had a warlike aspect because of the presence of so many soldiers and
the almost daily arrival of more troops.
Rising at 5:45 a.m. the next day, the boys of the
Fifteenth packed up and left the Le Havre camp, hiking three miles to station
where they entrained about noon on the Etate railroad for “somewhere.”
Forty-four coaches were in the train, which was first class and well equipped.
It traveled slowly, owing to the railroad congestion, and passed through
Yootot,Rouen and Roudon. Rouen was a big railroad center and the Pittsburg boys
witnessed many sights similar to those enacted daily in the Conemaugh or other
yards of the Pennsylvania railroad. Much of the work then in progress there
consisted of repairing many engines and cars that had been damaged while in use
near the battle front. When the train stopped at Mantos and the Pittsburgers
were enjoying their mess, they also had their first glimpse of the strange
troops Great Britain had called under her banner from the far outlands. More
than 1,000 Hindustanese, on a train enroute to the front, passed the Fifteenth
engineers and waved a cheery greeting.
The remarkable chalk hills of France, really mountains
and in many places as high as the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania, formed the next
scene which confronted the eager gaze of the engineers. These were a short
distance from Mantos. The boys passed within eight miles of Paris when they went
through Versailles, which they reached at 1 a.m. while most of the boys were
asleep in their train berth.
More than 350 miles the engineers traveled and then a
bugle sounded at 5 a.m., July 28. The boys next gazed upon the city of Vierzon,
which afterwards was frequently referred to in many official dispatches, being
at various times the site of a dozen different division headquarters. After
spending 19 hours aboard the train, the engineers were indeed glad to hear an
order to detrain, even though that meant that there was more work to be done.
Inspection followed , then the boys marched to the camp outside Vierzon, which
they reached about 10 a.m. and where they found 160 new tents pitched and
awaiting occupancy. Co. F was assigned to pitch other tents in the camp.
The day was very hot and the men suffered from the
effects of the heat. The camp was in a pink and white clover field. When the
mess time came each man was served with two potatoes, plenty of green corn, some
tomato soup, the usual hard bread and good coffee.
The French peasants brought light red wine from their
vineyards and the boys enjoyed this, besides feasting on plums in a nearby
orchard. Everyone was granted leave at 11 a.m. and until 9 p.m. the engineers
spent their time getting acquainted with the neighborhood and the natives,
although the latter was a difficult task because the boys could not speak French
and the natives could not understand much English.
A fifth inoculation against disease was administered to
the men of the regiment on July 30. Co. D was withdrawn from the camp and sent
to another camp, “somewhere.” From this time forward there was no time when the
regiment was together intact again until after the armistice was signed and the
boys were ordered to assemble at Bordeaux.
ASSIGNED TO DUTY
Early on July 31, Co. E was summoned and assigned for
duty elsewhere. Co. F was placed on guard duty. On Aug. 1, Co. F was doing
detail and Co. C was on guard duty. Twenty-four members of Co. F went to Vierzon,
catching rides on army trucks toward town. They were set to work in Vierzon,
loading and unloading vegetables in cars. Fifty German prisoners, minus the
arrogant air they formerly had assumed, were sweeping the platform and doing
other menial work. Some of them, talking with the Pittsburgers, said they had
been forced into the kaiser’s army and that they never had wanted to fight. Rain
fell that day and the air was cool but, after finishing their labors about the
depot, the engineers doffed their uniforms at a stream close by and enjoyed a
refreshing swim. Co. F had 14 hours’ leave the nest day, while Cos. A, B, C, and
Headquarters were very busy with routine work. The boys of Co. F went to Vierzon,
where they demonstrated their expertness as wielders of billiard cues.
On Aug. 3 it was rainy and cold and all the men of the
regiment were off duty part of the day. They were then supplied with books
treating on the construction of railroads, barracks and docks. Most of the day
was spent in studying these.
Chapter XX (cont.)
(The Pittsburg Press, Sunday, June 29, 1919, page 98)
SHORTLY AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIFTEENTH ENGINEERS IN FRANCE THE REGIMENT WAS
BROKEN UP AND THE VARIOUS COMPANIES SENT OFF TO DIFFERENT SECTIONS WHEREVER
THERE WAS THE MOST PRESSING NEED OF THEIR HELP. COMPANY B EXPERIENCED
CONSIDERABLE TRAVELING AND PERFORMED MANY DUTIES IN THE SERVICE OF SUPPLY.
As previously stated, at no time after the arrival of
the Fifteenth engineers in France were the companies all together. Some were
assigned one task, others were sent to different supply centers and depots and
still others to railroad centers, hence a continuous narrative of the adventures
of the famous regiment on the battlefields of France is impossible. However, by
taking up the activities of the companies separately a slight conception of the
great work it wrought can be obtained. Mention of various companies will be made
throughout this account and efforts exerted to correlate the work and adventures
of the entire regiment.
The work of a regiment of engineers is vastly different
from the work of the combating forces. However, it must not be concluded that
the Pennsylvania engineers saw a service that was devoid of thrills and the
wildest of adventures, for even if they were not supplied with the combating
equipment, oftentimes their work was ahead of the infantry in the very thick of
the fighting, and upon hundreds of occasions they were menaced by airplane bombs
and shells from enemy guns. It was a particular delight, and, of course, one of
the stratagems of war, for the German airmen to pick out the regiment of
engineers and harass them continually. The work of the engineers was to remove
the obstacles of advance by building bridges, repairing roads, constructing
dugouts for shelter, erecting hospitals, supply centers, laying railroads and
repairing those destroyed by shellfire. Within the regiments were men fit to do
every kind of engineering work, from the repairing of a broken motor lorry to
the digging of trenches. Without the aid of the engineers war would be an almost
impossible thing. The same can be said of all other units of an organized
fighting force, for each has separate tasks, which, when timely performed,
connected and organized, make war a business. A mail order concern would be
useless without a shipping department. An army would be useless without its
regiments of engineers. Realizing the part they were to play in the greatest of
all war dramas, the Fifteenth engineers vigorously entered upon their duties and
performed them in a commendable manner under the careful guidance and control of
Col. Jadwin.
GETS SEPARATE TASK
Like a huge family the Fifteenth regiment lived for a
few days at Vierzon, absorbing the conduct of the war from various experienced
teachers, when suddenly of Aug. 15 Co. B received orders to pack up and entrain.
Whither they were going was not known to them. They were placed under sealed
orders. The men of Co. B, while not unwilling to meet their task, disliked the
idea of separation from their comrades, but bravely packed up without a murmur
of objection, marched into Vierzon and entrained for their unknown destination.
Co. B was one of the busiest companies of the regiment throughout the war, and
its work was of a highly varied nature. It was transferred from one place to
another, and during the whole period in France was in more than a dozen
different places. Sometimes it would be just starting a project when it would be
ordered to leave. In its path other companies of engineers followed and
completed the job it had begun. Sometimes it completed a task before moving on,
but more often it was used as an advance company. Occasionally, however, it took
up a bit of work that had been left by other companies and completed it.
Before boarding the train under their sealed orders,
members of the company solemnly took leave of their pals who had been with them
ever since the training period at Oakmont. Wishes of good luck and safety went
with Co. B, which, after two days of hot, sultry traveling in a French train,
detrained at Laneuville, where over a month was spent in arduous work.
WENT INTO BARRAKCS
At Laneuville the men went into barracks, much more
comfortable than the tents they had occupied at Vierzon. Military authorities of
the United States had selected Laneuville as one of the base supply centers and
Co. B was given work in which is familiarly known in army circles as the S.O.S.,
or service of supply. New men from the states were arriving here almost daily.
Huge ships were arriving at distant ports laden with supplies of every
description assigned to Laneuville. Warehouses had to be built, additional
barracks must be erected, new roads made, old roads repaired – and these tasks
fell to Co. B of Pittsburg’s pioneer Fifteenth regiment. In a comparatively
short time new barracks took form, but the work that mostly engaged the
Pittsburg lads was the repairing of the roads about Laneuville. These were in an
almost impassable condition. They were not fit for travel, nor the arteries over
which men and supplies for the conflict raging in the north must pass. It was
labor that the men of Co. B indulged in while preparing these roads, and as day
after day passed the existence became monotonous. The heat was grueling, but the
rain was worse. At times it rained torrents, which swept along the roads, making
work on them impossible. But every shower that came and went wasn’t a signal to
halt. The men kept at it, sometimes in mud almost knee deep, toiling away like
veterans. There were a few occasions when they studied books in regard to war
engineering, but for the most part their days were filled with labor. Whatever
the feeling in the men’s hearts as they worked, none showed an unwillingness to
continue their task until completion. From romping boys they were suddenly
transformed into hardened men, who worked with a seriousness and a determination
that was insurpassable [sic]. Had mothers and fathers from Pittsburg chanced
upon their sons while engaged in this work they would have noticed and been
amazed at the wonderful transformation wrought by the realization of duty which
gripped every man of them and impelled them to do their best.
French poilus [sic] watched the work of the Americans
in amazement. Their methods were new, and the rapidity with which they completed
one thing and went to another was to them startling. They were the first
engineering unit from America to actually engage in work in France. Hampered by
a lack of material, the French methods were slow, and when they did materialize
the transformation had been so slow that nothing out of the ordinary was thought
of it. Even the hardened British Tommies took notice of the work the Americans
were doing, and through the part Co. B was playing came to realize most suddenly
that American had entered the war in earnest.
FRENCH METHODS SLOW
Members of the Fifteenth who have returned to this
country scoff at the methods of engineering used in France and England. Although
these countries contain words bearing the admiration of the whole world, they
employed antiquated tactics in hasty work of the war nature and did not seem to
work with the same zeal and determination as did the Americans. London, it is
asserted by the returning boys, is 100 years behind the times. America is the
new world, and industry has advanced in rapid stride here. It should be realized
that the old cities of the world are much harder to transform into places with
all modern conveniences such as are had here. The railroad system in France and
England has been severely criticized. No great moguls hauled all-steel coaches
over the roads in France until American’s engineers reached there. It was an
ever source of wonder to the French peasantry and villagers to see the Americans
lay the great steel rails and operate huge trains over them. All of the material
necessary for building these roads, of course, was brought from America. So it
is not a matter for much consideration that the French were astounded when they
saw the power America meant to expend in their behalf.
There wasn’t any lolling around in the American camp at
Laneuville. The Americans were absorbed with two thoughts: First, to make it
possible for the combating forces to wager a winning war, and, second, to get
the thing over with and get back to the U.S.A. The men had long since become
aware that war was no play. It was serious business and far from pleasant. The
desire to get back to their homes was a natural one and sufficient to stimulate
them to their greatest efforts.
Occasionally passes for a few hours’ leave of absence were granted the boys by
their commanding officers. On such occasions the fortunate recipients of the
slip of paper that gained them admittance through the lines went to Laneuville
and took part in what amusements the little city afforded. And Laneuville always
know when a bunch of Americans was in the city.
BREAKS CAMP AGAIN
And so the days at Laneuville passed until finally on
the night of Sept. 19, after repeated rumors had been received concerning
another move, orders came to break camp and move elsewhere. This time they went
to Neufchateau, accompanied by what seemed to them the whole French army.
Laneuville had profited much by their little visit and they left it in a far
better condition that they found it. The stay at Neufchateau was short, lasting
only one day, during which the company rested. On Sep. 22 they again moved, and
after an all-day trip arrived at Certilleaux, which is situated in the
mountainous country of France. Here the pretty green hills met their gaze for
the first time and for seven days they enjoyed the relief from the chalk country
they had been in for almost a month and a half. The mud was of a different
variety and this, too, was a source of delight to the Pittsburg troopers.
The seven days was replete with work for the service of
supply. Every day found them busy repairing roads and building a new small
structures for the housing of supplies. Again orders came to move. The
destination was Jonchery. Early on the morning of Sept. 30 the company set out
on one of the most tiresome hikes it ever experienced. By nightfall it reached
Liffol-le-Grand.
The next morning it commenced a hike to Rimacourt,
which was in the Haus-Marne sector. Arriving in Rimancourt after nightfall, the
company enjoyed a real night of rest, but was hiking again at daybreak on the
following morning. Bologne was reached that day, and then it was hike for
another day until Jonchery was reached on Oct. 2 at noon. The hikes were
tiresome to the Pittsburgers, but they did much to condition them for the work
that lay ahead.
Separated from their comrades, but a family within
themselves, the men made Jonchery their home for eight long, wearisome months.
They were only one unit of a great heterogeneous mass of engineers which had
been brought to Jonchery to convert it into one of the greatest center of
military supplies in France. Although far from the battlefields, the city was
the scene of intense activities. Great barracks were constructed, huge
warehouses arose rapidly and were filled with stores and supplies of all sorts;
military railroads in the vicinity were given attention and new roads were
built, over which passed horses, wagons, huge guns, ammunitions, ford and every
article needed by the men who were stemming the advancing German tide to the
northward in its desperate effort to reach Paris. The same determination in
which Company B had worked was in evidence throughout the long winter in
Jonchery. The deep significance of the important work they were performing had
penetrated the hearts of the heroic Pennsylvania men and they worked from
morning until night, desperate in their purposes to do everything within their
power for the brave fighters facing death on the firing lines.
WINTER AT JONCHERY
It was in Jonchery that Co. B saw the summer die,
winter come on with its bleak coldness, spring dawn with the effulgence of youth
and the hills and valleys again take on their new dress of verdure. They
declared it was the longest and worst winter they had ever spent.
The long stay at Jonchery and the noble work they had
done won warm admiration in the hearts of the French residents of the city, who
did everything possible to make the visit of Co. B a pleasurable one, but not
withstanding their generosity the hearts of the men rejoiced when on March 5,
1918, they received orders to break camp and move to Villers-le-Sec. The order
was carried out the same day it was received. Villers-le-Sec was only a few
kilometers from Jonchery, but the little change was what the boys needed, and
they were tired of the grueling work at Jonchery amid the same surroundings week
after week. Already the men had begun to itch for real action. The feeling was
just commencing to gain a foothold, although it was not until after they had
been at Villers-le-Sec for a few weeks that the fever broke out in such
earnestness that officers, influenced by the storm of requests, attempted,
through appeal to higher authorities, to have the boys assigned to duty near the
front lines. All the appeals they made, however, were refused, and the men of
Co. B being denied what they wanted, resigned themselves to their fate.
MORE WORK IN THE S. O. S.
From May 5 until Aug. 6 Co. B working at Villers-le-Sec,
but here they were engaged more generally in the service of supply. Every day
news from the front line trenches filtered back to them and fired their veins
with the fierce desire to win themselves more glory. But they never reached the
front line until Nov. 11, the day on which the armistice was signed, and many
times the brave lads cursed their luck. On Aug. 7 the company moved out of
Villers-le-Sec and went to Is-Sur-Tille and Lux, where it worked until Aug. 27,
and then began a series of trips from one place to another, which kept the lads
for the most part on the hike, the trains, or in motor transports. They called
themselves the “traveling engineers.” August 30 they arrived at Sorcy; Sept. 6
they went to Menil-la-Tour, then came back again to Sorcy, and from there on
Sept. 7, went to Ansauville. The latter trip was made in huge army transports
and was described later as being one of the roughest rides the boys had ever
had. At Ansauville the company commenced work on some barracks. They had hardly
started them when they moved again on Sept. 11 to Sampigny.
AT SAMPIGNY
During the trip from Ansauville to Sampigny some of the
members of the company were forced to walk, while others rode in motor trucks.
This was necessitated by a lack of a sufficient number of trucks. While en route
to Sampigny a short stop was made at Vadonville, where some little work was
done. Sampigny was reached on Sept. 15. Here the boys were enthused over the
smell of powder, which floated back to them on the winds of sunny France. They
were a good deal closer to the front lines now, and they believed they would get
to see some real action. On Sept. 18, orders came to prepare for a trip to the
Argonne.
Secretly exhilarating, the men prepared to leave with
considerable feverishness. It was in the Argonne that the infantry and artillery
regiments of the Eightieth were spilling their life’s blood for the cause, and
Co. B was eager to help. The long hike was commenced of the following morning
and despite weariness from the weight of the heavy packs the men carried they
were light of heart and whistled as they trudged along.
The big drive was to start on Sept. 26, but none of the
boys of Co. B knew it, or their hearts would have been lighter than ever.
HIKING TO THE ARGONNE
The proximity of the battle line, and the danger of
being seen by enemy aviators now necessitated that all marching be done at night
and the sleeping during the day, under cover of a friendly clump of trees. On
and on the company hiked, through Rupt, Beauzee, Rarecourt, Clermont, and
finally it reached the Beauchamp woods on Sept. 22. In the Beauchamp woods the
lads of Co. B worked until Sept. 27, repairing the roads over which hundreds of
wagons of ammunitions, heavy artillery, supplies of all nature, and men were
passing almost continuously. In the meantime the great battle to the north had
begun. The allies launched the famous Argonne-Meuse drive, the death-blow of
German autocracy, on Sept. 26. Co. B itched for a chance to go on . On Sept. 27
orders came to move again.
DISAPPOINTED TROOPS
They felt certain this march was to take them far into
the front, but it only lasted a half day, and the company came to a stop again,
this time at Neuvilly. And here it remained until Oct. 8, while the conquering
comrades from Pittburg, who to them were fortunate enough to get in the real
fighting forces, kept in hot pursuit of the fleeing Hun. It was a glum bunch of
lads that remained at Neuvilly. According to them they had reason to be glum,
but their work was just as important to the success of the great drive as was
the work of the men who faced the bullets of the Germans at bay.
GO TO VARENNES
On Oct. 8 the company quit Neuvilly and marched to
Varennes. Here they were on recently conquered territory. All around them were
the marks of a terribly conflict. The little town of Varennes had been one of
the big points in the battle line, and it was here that the combating
organizations of the Eightieth had wrested meter after meter of territory from
the Germans. Co. B was wide awake, but as one member put it, “it seemed like
mockery to arrive after all the fighting there was over, and see the place where
many of their pals had bled and died.” At Varennes all sorts of rumors reached
their ears. They heard the Kaiser had abdicated, that Hindenburg would have to
surrender in a few days, that the war wouldn’t last a week longer, but as they
worked they hoped and prayed it would last long enough for them to at least see
one gun shoot. But it didn’t. The company worked at Varennes repairing roads,
packing supplies in motor lorries for the front, and doing a hundred other jobs
until Nov. 11, when it was ordered to Verdun.
THE ARMISTICE
“Verdun” – that was the work they had waited for. They
hurried preparations for the march, but it was folly, for on that very day the
armistice was signed and the great guns of the allies ceased firing. The
beginning of the end of the war had come. The cheer that burst from the throats
of the boys of Co. B, when the order to proceed to Verdun was received, died out
in almost the same breath, for simultaneously news of the armistice reached
them. The company, however, proceeded to Verdun, where it found everything in a
dilapidated state and needing repairs. It was assigned to the task of rebuilding
the railroads in and about the famous sector which the Crown Prince’s armies
couldn’t take. Day after day, even if the war was over, the men of the company
stuck to their tasks of repairing the railroads. The rapidity of which they
worked was marvelous to the French. The Army of Occupation was moving rapidly
forward over the roads the company was repairing. It was at Verdun that Co. B
and other engineering companies from American regiments won the reputation of
being real railroad builders. But at the work neared completion thoughts of home
permeated the minds of the soldiers and they gradually developed a longing that
materialized Jan. 18. At Verdun practically the whole Fifteenth regiment had
been brought together. On the day news they were really going to sail for home
reached them they were working on the Verdun-Sedan railway.
ORDERS TO SAIL
The orders to sail first leaked out when the men were
commanded to police up the entire neighborhood in which they were stationed.
News that they were to sail reached America before it reached the boys, but
finally the engineers were ordered to entrain for Saulmory. Next the regiment
arrived at Camblanes, where it was billeted. Anxiety to get back home died here,
for the men waited until March 15 before more orders came to move. The
speculation concerning when they would reach America at first was hot and heavy,
but it soon died out as they saw regiment after regiment reach Camblanes and
march on to embarkation camps. To make the waiting a little easier officers were
lenient in the matter of granting passes and furloughs to the men, but they
didn’t help the boys much, because most of them didn’t have enough money to go
anywhere, even if they did get a furlough. Finally, on March 15, the regiment
moved up to Embarkation Point No. 1 at Geincart. On March 16 it moved to
Embarkation Point No. 2, and was given an examination which, in the words of the
soldiers, “consisted largely of red tape.” It took until March 19 to complete
this episode, and then orders were received to move. The regiment went to
Bassens, on the coast, boarded the boats and was taken to Paullac, the sailing
point. Day after day passed here, and almost hourly the Pittsburgers saw huge
transports dock and pull out again for the States with their cargoes of human
freight. Bordeaux was near, and considerable time was spent there during the
waiting days. It was on Saturday, April 12, that the boys got word they were
really to sail. On the following day at 10 a.m., after all preparations had been
made, the regiment boarded the huge transport Santa Clara, and with a last
farewell wave at the land wherein many days of hard work had been spent, it
sailed for “God’s country.”
IMPORTANT WORK FOR CO. C
Co. C was another company of the Fifteenth engineers
which saw an unusual amount of activity. Shortly after its arrival at Vierzon,
like Co. B it was detached from the regiment and sent out on separate tasks in
conjunction with engineering units from other American and French regiments,
although it was sometimes detailed to a job alone. It worked throughout the war
on many important projects, and like Co. B, won singular praise from the French
and English for its splendid efforts. A few days after the regiment arrived at
Vierzon, orders were issued to Co. C to move out on Aug. 7, and proceed toward
the coast. During the company’s stay at Vierzon it made numerous visits to the
city, which boasted of a population of 30,000 and consequently when the order
came for it to leave the people of the village turned out to bid them farewell.
The Americans were more or less idolized by the French, and the Fifteenth
engineers especially, for their work kept them back of the lines for the greater
part, and thus they were almost daily thrown in contact with the French people.
The fact that the Fifteenth engineers were the first American soldiers to be
seen by thousands of French people had much to do with the great and hearty
manner in which the French received them. At times they even seemed to be
regarded with awe.
So it was when Co. C took leave of Vierzon on Aug. 7.
Carrying their packs, they boarded a train early in the morning, amid the
plaudits of thousands of the townspeople, and set off. None of the members of
the company knew their destination. As the train rolled through the beautiful
valleys, magnificent in the summer grandeur, French people in many places were
lined up along the tracks to gain a fleeting glimpse of the Americans.
Occasionally the train stopped at small villages through which it passed. The
French, especially the girls at work in vineyards, would gather about the
windows of the long, low coaches and hand the boys fruits and sweetmeats, for
which they disdained to accept remuneration of any sort. Their generosity was
greatly appreciated. Finally, on Aug. 8 at noon, the company arrived at Bassen,
a few miles from Bordeaux, where it detrained, pitched tents and prepared for a
stay. Orders for duty came on Aug. 9, when the company was detailed to assist in
constructing a railroad along the river to Bordeaux, over which supplies could
be hauled for the construction of the great docks which had to be built there to
take care of the enormous amount of materials and supplies which was arriving
daily from America, across the seas.
Bassens at first was only a small bunch of houses in a
huge field of clover. Shortly after Co. C arrived it took on an entirely
different appearance. Barracks sprang into existence like magic and soon Co. C
was well quartered. In the meantime work on the railroad was begun and the
soldiers received their first real taste of what being a member of the engineers
was like. They worked in the hot sun throughout the long days keeping to their
task like well-trained veterans of the railroad building industry. But it was
new work to the most of them, and there were many complaints from lame backs and
calloused hands brought on by the work with the pick and shovel. The
construction of a railroad bed is not the easiest thing in the world. This face
became impressed upon their minds very quickly. But the realization that the war
was a serious thing, and they had been picked out for this individual task,
predominated in their minds and spirits, and it was with dauntless morale and
determination that they stuck to their laborious tasks day after day.
PASSES TO BORDEAUX
Occasionally the soldiers would be given passes to
Bordeaux. Here great numbers of French wounded were seen, and the sight of
legless and armless men, horribly disfigured faces, and blind soldiers sent the
boys of Co. C back to their road building tasks with new vigor, for they wanted
such outrages to humanity stopped forever.
[Transcriber’s Note: The conclusion of this chapter in
the July 6, 1919 issued is not available. The issue of July 13, 1919, the
beginning of chapter XXI is also not available.]
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