May 26-June 23, 1918: “The war will be ended by the first of 1919.”

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

As dawn broke on May 26, 1918, more than two months had passed since the 151st Machine Gun Battalion had suffered a casualty. The Soldiers in front line positions looked forward to relief. Company A and B remained in position in the front lines with the 167th Infantry Regiment at Neuviller while Company C and D remained on duty with the 168th at Ville Negre. The men of Company D were rotating out of front line positions that evening and would be replaced in the line by the machine gun company of the 168th Infantry Regiment after a front-line tour of more than two weeks. Just days before Companies C and D had repelled German probing attacks and dodged strafing fire from a low flying German plane.[i]

Map of the Baccarat Sector. Americans All: The Rainbow at War., F. J. Heer Printing Company, 1936, 228A

May 1918: “Trust In God. Hold Your Head High and Fly the Service Flag.”

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

By May, the grim reality of trench warfare had set in for the men of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion. In the two and a half months the 151st spent occupying the relatively quiet Baccarat sector they were exposed to regular direct and indirect fire as well as gas attacks and probing actions. Life in the trenches was unsanitary, boring and terrifying.

Letters from home provided the only relief from the dull routine and tense waiting while reminding the Soldiers that a world existed outside the scarred landscape of France. Corporal Robert Gober Burton’s aunt Mary Eulalia Gober wrote frequently to him and the other Soldiers in the 151st from Monroe, Ga. One of the Monroe Soldiers, Sgt. Tom Hensler, wrote back:

In the Trenches

Gas-proof shelters for dressing stations, near Badonviller, Baccarat Sector,
April 29, 1918. Photo from The Medical Department of the United States Army
in the World War, 1925.

April 28, 1918

Mrs. W. H. Nunnally

Monroe, Ga,

My very dear Mrs. Nunnally

Received your card yesterday and was glad to know that there was still one in my old home town that hadn’t forgotten me altogether.

The Georgia Volunteers in the Spanish American War

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

On April 25, 1898, the United Stated declared war on Spain following the destruction of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor. The Treaty of Paris ended the war December 10, 1898. The conflict sandwiched between those dates would be referred to by Col. Theodore Roosevelt as a “splendid little war.” Indeed, the Spanish American War is in large part remembered for the flourish of Roosevelt’s Rough Riders who fought side-by side with the African American Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. The war marked the emergence of the United States as an international power. Victory granted the United States the Spanish colonies of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam and heralded the political rise of Theodore Roosevelt and the progressive movement. But despite the glory of Roosevelt’s “crowded hour,” the Spanish American War would have a deleterious effect on many of the Citizen Soldiers from Georgia who volunteered for service.

Brig. Gen. Phill G. Byrd. Georgia's Adjutant
General, 1900. Georgia Guard
History Archives

On October 17, 1900, the report of the Adjutant General of the State of Georgia for 1899 to 1900 was delivered to Georgia Governor Allen D. Candler. Brigadier General Phill G. Byrd, Adjutant General of the Georgia State Troops, in his foreword to the Governor noted: “…on January 1st, 1899, because of the demoralization growing out of the Spanish-American War, and other causes, the State Troops had become so badly disorganized as to exist in name only.” It is worth exploring what events caused the great demoralization the adjutant general lamented. What organizational ennui befell the Georgia State Troops as a result of their involvement in the Spanish American War?

Background

As 1898 dawned, the modern concept of the National Guard was in its infancy. In Georgia, the military establishment was known as the Georgia Volunteers and would be known thus until a December 21, 1899 act changed the name to the Georgia State Troops. The Volunteers had an authorized strength of more than 12,000 men, but an organized strength of less than 5,000. The Volunteers were organized into six regiments and four battalions of infantry; one regiment, one battalion (not squadron) and one troop of cavalry; three batteries of artillery, a machine gun battery and four companies of Naval Reserve Artillery. African American Citizen Soldiers constituted  three of the infantry battalions, one troop of cavalry and one battery of artillery in the then segregated Volunteer structure.

April 1918, Back to Baccarat: “They are putting our names down in history it looks like.”

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

When the units of the 42nd Division pulled out of the trenches March 23, 1918 they were initially dispatched for further training in the Rolamport area. (MWW, 91) These orders were countermanded due to the spring German offensive and the 151st MGB instead marched to Badmenil March 28, 1918. They did not have long to wait. On March 30th, the 151st received orders to move with its supported units to new positions in the Baccarat Sector. Major Cooper Winn established battalion headquarters at Neufmaison with the 84th Brigade HQ while Company A and B marched with the 167th Infantry Regiment and took up support by fire positions at Vacqueville. From there, they rotated into front line positions near Neuviller or Grand Bois. Companies C and D, moving with the 168th Infantry moved to Pexonne and entered front line positions in Badonvillier and Village Negre.

Upon arriving in Vacqueville, Cpl. Robert Burton humorously advised his family about life in the trenches in spring.

March, 1918, First Contact: “The Boche haven’t got me yet!!”

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

On March 7, Private Robert Addleton stepped through the door of his home at 6 Holt Avenue in Macon for the first time in more than six months. He was the first member of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion to return from the war. After enlisting April 17, 1917, Addleton had traveled to France with the battalion and ultimately to within 10 miles of the Western Front. Mere days before the 151st entered the front-line trenches, it was discovered that Addleton had been underage at the time of his enlistment. He was sent home with an honorable discharge. While his comrades were overseas receiving their baptism of fire, Addleton went back to work at the Willingham Cotton Mills in Macon. 

Somewhere in France (The trenches near Ancervillier)

March 14, 1918

My dearest daddy,

Your letter received today. I was surely glad to hear from you. I am getting along well and fine. Tom Hensler is getting along just as nicely as can be. So is (Private Weymon Guthrie, Company B; Pvt. Leonard Chandler, Company B) and old Moore (Emory Moore, Company C.) You couldn’t kill him. Tom is just as full of life as ever, keeps you laughing all the time. (Sergeant Ed Williamson, Company A) is with us now. He rejoined us about a month ago I suppose. I was as glad to see him as if he had been my own brother.

Corporal Robert G. Burton’s March 14th letter offers a reassuring version of the war in which he and his fellow soldiers are happy and in high spirits. Perhaps knowing that any correspondence sent home would be widely distributed among family members and shared with the local paper, Burton provides no hint of his location or the fact that Soldiers of his unit had been in the trenches for nearly a week. in the Luneville and Baccarat sectors.

Sectors in the Vosges Front, 1918. Map by Capt. William Carraway from
American Battle Monuments Commission data.

"Don’t worry for a minute about me." Training for the Trenches: January-March 1918

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

Private Joseph Tucker obituary
Atlanta Constitution, Jan. 25, 1918

The 151st Machine Gun Battalion trained at Viller sur Suize for five weeks enduring more severe cold. Weather and hardship took a toll. Private Joseph E. Tucker of Company C died of pneumonia shortly after the battalion reached Viller sur Suize. A resident of Brinson, Ga., Tucker told recruiters he was 18.5 years old when he enlisted in Company E, 2nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry June 25, 1917. When he died January 10, 1918, Tucker was just nine days short of his 16th birthday.

While at Viler sur Suize, the Soldiers familiarized themselves with gas mask drills and practiced emplacing and firing their Hotchkiss machine guns. The Mle 1914 Hotchkiss Machine Gun was capable of firing 600 eight-millimeter rounds per minute. A squad of nine men was required to maintain and serve a Hotchkiss in combat. The squad was led by a corporal and consisted of eight privates. The gunner carried the 53-pound weapon in action while an assistant loader bore the 41-pound tripod. A third man was responsible for carrying the 18-pound traversing rod along with an ammunition box containing 30-round strips of ammunition. Three men served as ammunition carriers and two more were detailed to handle mules who hauled the gun cart and ammunition cart. These carts would be driven as close as possible to firing positions before the guns were carried forward by hand. In practice, road and terrain conditions often necessitated long maneuvers carrying the weapons and ammo distributed amongst the squad members.

In this 1918 Signal Corps photo, Major Cooper Winn, commander of the 151st
Machine Gun Battalion reviews machine gun squad drill with officers of the French Army.

Burdened with more than 100 pounds of weapon system in addition to ammunition crates, the Soldiers were not assigned individual weapons systems. Their lives on the battlefield would depend on how fast they employed their machine guns and how accurately they could place fire.

The companies of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion consisted of three platoons, each commanded by a lieutenant along with a headquarters section. The platoons had two sections composed of two squads. A sergeant led each section while corporals were responsible for the squads. On January 23, Robert Burton was promoted to corporal and placed in charge of one of those squads. The occasion prompted his first letter home since January 6, 1918.

Somewhere in France (Viller sur Suize)

January 23, 1918

My dearest mama,

As I haven’t received a letter from you in sometime will drop you a line.

I am getting along just as nicely as possible.

I had a letter from Mildred some two or three days ago. She said that she heard from you quite often. Good work. Keep it up. She also said that she sent me an Xmas present but so far it hasn’t been received yet.

Tomorrow I am taking out $5,000 more of insurance. I am doing it mostly to do my bit in saving the government money. Not that I think that I am going to be hurt in the war. I am also going to notify the man in charge of the war risk insurance to send the policy to you That means the first $5,000 I took out but after a while you will get the policy on the second $5,000.

How is everything and how are everybody at home? Write me with the news.

Don’t worry for a minute about me. With heaps of love,

Your Devoted Son,

Gober

Private Homer Terry's grave marker, Meuse Argonne
Cemetery. Photo courtesy of Jack Solomon

By mid-February the battalion was ordered to prepare to move to the front. The Soldiers entrained February 18, 1918 for transport initially to Giriviller, about 20 miles southeast of Nancy. Five days later, Pvt. Homer Terry of Company B was run over by a machine gun cart and killed. Terry was from Porterdale, Ga. He had enlisted in The Jackson Rifles, Company A, 2nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry June 16, 1916 and had traveled with Burton to Camp Cotton on the Mexican border that year. He was 23 years old.

At Giriviller, the companies of the 151st were attached to the infantry regiments of the 84th Brigade, 42nd Division. Company A and B were attached to the 167th Infantry Regiment comprised mostly of National Guard Soldiers from Alabama while Company C was attached to the 168th Infantry Regiment composed of Iowa National Guard Soldiers. The newly assigned Company D was attached to a reserve element of the 168th.

Major Cooper Winn, commander of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion was assigned as machine gun officer for the 84th Brigade in addition to his battalion command duties. The 27-year-old native of Macon enlisted as a private in the Macon Volunteers March 2, 1899 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the same unit three years later. He served with the Macon Volunteers until 1912 when he was appointed adjutant of the 2nd Georgia Infantry Regiment, parent unit of the Macon Volunteers. Promotion to major followed in November 1912. Major Winn traveled with the Georgia Brigade to El Paso, Texas in 1916 and was stationed at Camp Cotton at the same time as Cpl. Burton. Winn assumed command of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion in August 1917 after the Georgians returned from Texas.

The Macon Volunteers in 1903. Lieutenant Cooper Winn stands center.
Georgia National Guard Archives

For now, Winn’s focus was on rotating his companies through front line positions in the Luneville and Baccarat Sectors, relatively quiet sections of the front but still part of an active combat zone. These sectors occupied gently rolling terrain north of the mountainous Vosges Region near the Swiss border. Here, the 151st and their supported infantry regiments would begin working with the French 128th Division prior to conducting a battle-handoff of sector responsibility.

On March 8, the first elements of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion entered the trenches near Badonvillier beginning the first of 167 days in front-line combat positions.

Next Chapter: First Contact

"Today, a year ago, I was in Texas. Today I am in France." November 1917-January, 1918.

by Captain William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

When the U. S. S. Agamemnon sailed out of Hoboken it carried not only the 570 officers and men of the 151st Machine Gun Battalion but the hopes and prayers of thousands of family members back home who would wait, pray, and scan the newspapers for casualty reports. News would come days late, if at all through letters back home, heavily censored by company officers to remove referenced to specific locations, times and casualties. 

The voyage of the Agamemnon was largely uneventful for the crammed Soldiers who passed the time smoking, playing cards and listening to music on a handful of gramophones. The only event of note took place on the evening of November 9 when the transport Von Steuben collided with the Agamemnon burying her bow in the Agamemnon’s port side. Fortunately, the hole caused by the collision was above the water line and repairs were swiftly made. The majority of the men likely had no idea at the time what incident had befallen their ship and would only learn of the events through the second-hand gossip.

U.S. Navy troop transports at sea, November 10, 1917. These ships, steaming in convoy from New York City to Brest, France, are (from left to right): USS Mount Vernon (ID 4508), Agamemnon and USS Von Steuben (ID 3017). Note the damage to Von Steuben's bow, the result of a collision with Agamemnon on the previous day. U.S. Navy Photo NH 57750

Three days later, November 12, 1917, land was sighted, and the Agamemnon and other ships of her convoy sailed into Brest Harbor. Due to the shortage of resources to unload the ships and lack of transportation and lodging, the Soldiers remained aboard the Agamemnon an additional five agonizing days.

Finally, on November 17, 1917, the men disembarked and crowded forty at a time into railroad cars. Issued three days rations, the men remained in the cars until the 22nd of November when they detrained at Vaucouleurs. Without issue of rations, the battalion was split up and elements marched in a pouring rain, Company C going to Vaux la Petite while Company A, B and Headquarters marched to Uruffe.

Having arrived at their initial training stations, the companies of the 151st MGB conducted nearly a month of training before beginning a 110-kilometer foot march to their new station in the Rolamport sector. Marching in heavy snow on December 14, the entire Battalion assembled at Manois where it remained through Christmas, 1917.

Nov 21-Dec 26, 1917: The 151st MGB arrived by train in Vaucouleurs Nov. 21, 1917. Detraining on Nov. 22, the Bn. split with Co. C taking station in Vaux La Petite while HQ, A, and B moved to Uruffe. The companies remained in place until Dec. 12, when they began a 150 kilometer march to the Rolamport Area. Company C marched from Vaux la Petite to Bure while HQ, A and B marched from Uruffe to Verseignes (location estimated. On Dec. 13, HQ, A and B advanced to Domremy while Co. C marched to Germisay. On Dec. 14, during a heavy snow storm, the battalion assembled in Manois.
Battalion movements shown in yellow.  White indicates Co. C while Green shows the movements of HQ, A and B.
Source:  “Vaucouleurs.” 48 00’15.49”N 6 16’01.44”E. Google Earth. Landsat/Copernicus. Dec. 31, 2017.

.

Burton’s correspondence is uncharacteristically spotty from the time the 151st MGB boarded the Agamemnon to Christmas with only three letters making their way home to Monroe. The first letter was a post card informing his family that he was shipping and would write soon. The second letter would not come until Company A had completed its march to Uruffe. Writing thus on November 28, Gober noted that he was well and asked for his family to send soap and tobacco.

When next he had a chance to write, Gober was in Manois.

Somewhere in France

December 18, 1917

My dearest mama,

Well, I have another chance to write. I am getting along fine. Sleep warm at night and get to stay around a stove when we are not at work in the daytime.

I have received about three or four letters from you since I have been over here. I have written to you three times since we sailed. I suppose you have gotten all those by now and I hope that you have started me a box for Xmas. Please send me plenty of tobacco.

Write a check on me and buy a Ingersol Junior watch and send it to me. I have broken the crystal on mine and haven’t got a chance to get one.

Mildred wrote me that she was coming up in Ga. Xmas and that she might come by Monroe. I hope that she does because I want you to know her.

Don’t worry for a minute about me for I am getting along just as fine as can be. Uncle Sam is taking care of me.

Will write to you every chance I get. Write every week.

Your devoted son,

Gober

The day after Christmas the 151st MGB was again on the march. For these Georgian soldiers, the constant snow storms and freezing temperatures added a particular layer of misery to an otherwise tedious affair of endless marching with heavy packs and blanket rolls. 

Dec 26 1917-Jan 4, 1918: HQ, A, and B marched to Treix Dec. 26, 1917 while Co. C moved to Blancheville. The next day, Co. C advanced to Crenay by way of Chaumont. On Dec. 28, 1917, HQ, and Co. A marched to Vieux Moulins while Co. C and B congregated at Leffonds. On January 14, the battalion was reunited at Villers-sur Suize where they received an additional company from the Penn. National Guard, Company B, 149th MGB.  This company became Co. D, 151st MGB.
Battalion movements shown in yellow.  White indicates Co. C while Green shows the movements of HQ, A and B.
Source:  “Vaucouleurs.” 48 00’15.49”N 6 16’01.44”E. Google Earth. Landsat/Copernicus. Dec. 31, 2017.

By January 1, 1918, Burton was able to write home.

Corporal Burton's letter home Jan 1, 1918. Georgia Guard archives.

Somewhere in France (Vieux Moulin)

January 1, 1918

My dearest mama,

Well! Today a year ago I was in Texas. Today I am in France. I am getting along just as fine as possible. The Xmas boxes haven’t been given out yet, but we will get them before long.

How is everything at home? Write to me as often as you can, and I will do the same, but my chances are not so good as yours.

I had a nice letter from Mildred on Xmas day. Also, two or three from you. One from Rache (Burton’s brother) saying that he was sending me some cigarettes.

I wrote you telling you to send me some toilet articles and tobacco. Here is what I want. Don’t send them too often. Don’t forget the Ever Ready safety razor blades. That is the only thing I am short on now. When you send me tobacco send Prince Albert smoking tobacco. Cigarettes are too hard to carry about and Prince Albert don’t get damp so quickly as cigarettes. That doesn’t mean to say not to send any cigarettes. Mix them up.

Don’t you worry about me for I shall be OK.

Wish that I could have been at home during Xmas. Did Mildred come by Monroe during Xmas? She wrote me that she was coming up into Ga. Xmas and that if possible she was coming by Monroe.

I am sitting in the middle of the floor writing this by candlelight. The place is warm, and I am comfortable. You know how I used to write …. On the floor at home.

Write me soon.

Your devoted son,

Gober

On January 4, 1918, the 151st Machine Gun Battalion assembled at Viller sur Suize with the addition of a company from the 149th Machine Gun Battalion. This company of Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers formed Company D of the 151st MGB. That same day, the 151st lost its first Soldier, Private Edgar Coots. While the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Coots death was due to gunshot wounds, it is far more likely that Coots was killed in an accident as reported by the battalion in the post-war account The 151st Machine Gun Battalion, Rainbow (42D) Division.  

Viller sur Suize would prove to be a more or less permanent training station until the battalion was called to move into the trenches. Here the battalion received their Hotchkiss machine guns, helmets, gas masks and final equipage. The men also received overdue Christmas packages from home as Burton related in his letters back home.

Corporal Burton's letter home Jan. 6, 1918.

Somewhere in France (Viller sur Suize)

January 6, 1917 (1918)

My dearest mama,

Well, I received the Xmas boxes last night. All of them came together. They were surely appreciated. From what you and Auntie sent you had not received the letter that I wrote you on the boat. I wanted some razor blades, but you can send them later.

I am getting along just as nicely as possible. Haven’t been sick yet.

Two letters came last night from Mildred. She said that she had had a nice letter from you. I like to hear about that.

I haven’t cut the first cake yet, but I can tell by the smell that it is fine. I gave a lot of the boys some of the candy and they seemed to enjoy it very much and I know that I did.

I don’t know how much truth there is to it, but we have been hearing peace rumors over here. Here’s hoping that it is so.

I received a box of cigarettes from Rache a day or so ago. Please when you write to him, thank him for me.

Mildred’s letter said that she was sending me a package. I can’t imagine what it is.

I think that it won’t be long before we come back to the States. Don’t you for a moment worry about me.

Write me as often as once a week anyway,

As ever,

Your devoted son,

Gober

Burton paints a cheery picture for his family at home. At no point does he relate the misery of the train ride to Vaucoulers or the extended road marches, first in freezing rain and then in deep snow, clad in only wool uniforms and a great coat. The next few weeks would pass in relative safety 70 miles from the front, but the 151st would presently enter the front lines, and suffer their first casualty.

Next Chapter:  Training For the Trenches