HISTORY
OF THE 304th FIELD ARTILLERY
by
James M. Howard
1920
CHAPTER
XIV
HOMEWARD BOUND
That was a frightful journey from Latrecy to the Le Mans
area. The weather was horribly cold, and the men were
packed closely in freight cars where, if they tried to
have ventilation, they froze, and if they went without
fresh air they coughed and sneezed in each other's faces.
Influenza was rampant when the end of the journey was
reached, and the ambulances were kept busy for some days
taking men to the hospital, where several of them
developed pneumonia and died. It seemed a shame to have
to travel under such conditions, and yet every one knew
that the transportation was the best available, and
though they grumbled the men "bore it with a patient
shrug," glad to endure almost anything so long as
they were going toward home.
It had been fully expected that the 77th Division would
embark early in March. In fact, it had been officially
announced in New York that the date for sailing was fixed
as March 5th. But necessary repairs to some of the
largest transports, including our old friend Leviathan,
had delayed the troop movements, and we were obliged to
settle down to another trying period of uncertain
waiting. February dragged by and March came on apace, but
no news of departure was forthcoming. The divisions which
were to proceed us were still awaiting their turn, and
disconcerting rumors of further indefinite delays did
their best to dampen the men's spirits.
Moreover, the regiment was now scattered as it had never
been scattered before. The Colonel and his staff and
Battery B were quartered in the Chateau Vauloge; about a
mile away, in the village of Ferce, were Headquarters and
Supply Companies and Battery F; a half a mile to the east
was Battery D, in another chateau; Battery E was sent to
a holding camp in La Suze, a mile or two farther on, to
work on the roads; while in the opposite direction, four
miles to the west of Ferce, were Batteries A and C in the
village of Pirmil. There were no entertainment halls, no
pianos, no anything, except that in Ferce and Pirmil were
small rooms where the Y. M. C. A. had maintained canteens
for the casual troops who had preceded us.
Nevertheless, with the prospect of a departure for
America, which was eventual if not immediate, the men
took things as they found them and, backed by their
officers from Colonel Enos down, (not to mention the
enthusiastic new brigade commander, General Glassford),
they did their utmost to make the time pass as quickly
and as happily as possible.
The schedule ordered by the division commander now
provided for close order drills during, the morning hours
and every form of movement was worked over in order that
the units should make a good appearance on their return
to the United States. The afternoons were devoted to
athletics.
There were splendid fields available, and games of
baseball, soccer, basketball, and all forms of outdoor
sports were of daily occurrence. The question of
entertainments was made a matter of military concern,
with the idea of having something doing on every night to
which the men could go. By hook or by crook, shacks,
halls or tents were provided, and while the ideal of
nightly shows was not attained, the men were amused and
interested fairly well. General Glassford persuaded a
French Count to open his chateau f or a brigade dance.
The Glee Club was worked overtime, and the band did more
playing than it had ever done before. A piano was bought
(this also from the "tobacco money" sent by the
home Association), and the orchestra blossomed forth to
help along the music of every show that was produced. B
Battery's Minstrels were called upon at first, and with
various modifications 'the show was repeated in whole or
in part on several occasions. Battery A produced a
two-act musical skit entitled "Here and There"
which showed great originality and unearthed a lot of
hitherto undiscovered talent. They gave several
performances in Ferce, and another for the 306 F. A. in
Noyen, where the show was enthusiastically received.
The most elaborate spectacle was "Major Sanders'
Pageant." During the entire month of March Pirmil
was the scene of extraordinary activity. Sheets of tin,
salvaged from packing cases, were being cut into odd
shapes for making coats of mail; women were sewing madly
on fancy costumes of all colors; the battalion P. C. was
transformed into a millinery shop where high conical hats
were turned out by the dozen and wigs made of straw and
mops were manufactured and dyed. When the great day
arrived, the Division and Brigade Commanders and their
staffs and a large crowd of other notables were on hand
to attend the "Funeral of ye Noble Athelstane of
Conningsburg," held on the grounds of an ancient and
crumbly chateau. When it was time for the performance to
begin, a drizzling rain set in which continued all the
afternoon, but it was too late then to postpone the show.
A gorgeous procession of knights in real armor
ladies-in-waiting, men-at-arms, heralds with long
trumpets, archers in green doublets, serfs, monks, and
all sorts of queer Norman and Saxon people wound out from
Pirmil toward the chateau. There the visitors had an
opportunity to view the corpse as it lay in state,
guarded by knights in armor. Then, on a wet and muddy
field, there was a tourney and various maneuvers by the
men-at-arms which the visitors watched, shivering. Before
the program could be completed the men who were taking
part were so wet and bedraggled that the performance was
cut short, and every one was invited to fall to at a
great supper of "baked meates," pies and cakes,
coffee and beer. A sunny day would have made this pageant
one of the most beautiful spectacles imaginable. Even
with the bad weather it was unusual and worth seeing, and
General Alexander was enthusiastic in his appreciation of
the originality and interest of the occasion.
About the middle of March, a series of minute inspections of the
soldiers and their equipment made the day of departure seem very near.
Regimental and brigade and divisional inspections were all but finished and we were
slated for a final looking over by the authorities from
the embarkation center, when suddenly word came that two
divisions had been put ahead of us on the schedule and
all preparations for departure were called off. The men
were bitterly disappointed and loud in their resentment,
but there was nothing to be done about it, so we settled
down once more to the familiar task of waiting.
Colonel Enos who had tried several times already to have
his regiment brought together into one place, now at last
gained his point, and all the organizations were moved
down to the Holding Camp at La Suze. Here the men lived
in barracks along a single street, and were far more
comfortable than they had been in billets. Almost two
solid weeks of sunny days made an enormous difference in
every one's spirits, and on ground, which was no longer
muddy, we had a revival of interest in baseball games and
all sorts of outdoor sports. Having the whole regiment
together renewed old ties and built up the regimental
spirit which had been tending more and more to give place
to battery rivalries.
A large Y. M. C. A. hut, run by a live secretary,
furnished a splendid place of amusement. Here the Second
Battalion put on a show which a special detail of men,
aided by some from Headquarters Company, had been working
up f or several weeks. With scenery painted by Private
Hedinus, of Battery E, printed programs, and all the
paraphernalia of a Broadway show, these men produced a
three-act musical comedy, written by Sergeant Hanft, of
Battery E, and staged by Sergeants Grandin and Pons of
Battery D. Corporal Hagan, of F Battery, and Musician
Strange, of the band, were responsible for the music and
lyrics of about a dozen new and original songs, from the
chief of which the piece took its name: "Oh, Oh,
Mademoiselle!" For three nights they played to
crowded houses, and made such a success that it was
decided to make a regimental affair of the show, and a
number of new characters from the First Battalion were
introduced. A special performance was given in honor of
the Division Commander, at which General Alexander, as
the Colonel's guest, sat in a box; and during the
remainder of our stay in the Le Mans area the "Oh,
Oh, Mademoiselle" Company was busy touring the
towns where 77th Division troops were quartered.
Plays and skits from other organizations came to La Suze
to entertain us. Hardly an evening passed but what
something was going on in the Y. M. C. A. A "wet
canteen," serving hot chocolate, was started by the
Y girls, who together with the secretary, Mr. Harvuot,
did everything possible to promote the men's enjoyment
and contentment. Our own regimental secretary, Mr.
Newberry, after five months of continuous service to the
soldiers, retired from sight to a back room in La Suze.
Here he and the men who, under his direction, were making
the illustrations for the Regimental History maintained a
studio and worked on the pictures which adorn. this book,
while the Y. M. C. A. people of La Suze and the Holding
Camp looked after the more immediate needs of the men's
welfare.
For several weeks we lived on the expectation that our
sailing date was to be April 30th. It was therefore a
glorious surprise when suddenly preparations for
departure were begun ahead of schedule. Final delousings,
equippings, and inspections were completed quickly. Early
on the morning of the 17th the whole regiment was
entrained, and, cheering and singing as the train pulled
out, the men bade good-by to La Suze and to the friends
from the Y. M. C. A. and Red Cross who had come to see
them off.
The Journey was short and comparatively easy. Day break
on the 18th found us in Brest, filing through the
enormous mess halls for a hot breakfast before the
up-hill hike to Camp Pontanezen. The name of our
destination was the same as when we had landed the year
before, but how different was the place! Instead of the
old stone barracks where the men had found sleep so
impossible in 1918, we found ourselves marching through a
huge city of wooden barracks and tents - a camp so large
that the coming and going of twelve or fifteen thousand
troops in a single day was unnoticed. Board sidewalks led
away from the main road into the streets between the
tents. Board floors and iron cots made the sleeping
quarters comfortable. Adequate kitchen facilities made it
possible to feed the whole regiment in fifteen or twenty
minutes. Glorious weather gave promise of a favorable
voyage when we should embark.
There were more delousings and inspections on Friday and
Saturday, and then came the glad news that we were to be
ready to board a transport on the morning of Sunday,
April 2oth.
That was an Easter Day, which the 304th will never
forget. At eight in the morning we all marched to an open
field where, with music by the band and an address by the
Chaplain, a regimental service was held in the glorious
April sunshine. By ten o'clock the First Battalion was on
the road for Brest, and noon saw the last of the regiment
swinging along under full packs', headed for the docks.
Arrived at the pier, we were crowded on to a lighter and
ferried out to where lay the transport Agamemnon, a
splendid four-funnel steamer which but a few months back
had sailed the seas tinder the name of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
A German ship had brought us over and a German ship was
to take us back.
The Agamemnon was not so large nor so steady as the
Leviathan but most of the sleeping quarters were more
comfortable, and all the troops on board had access to
the decks at all times. Besides our own regiment, there
were oil board the 305th and 306th, several hundred
convalescent sick and wounded men, some casual officers
and about a hundred nurses.
It was a most congenial company. There were four
bands-one from each artillery regiment and one from the
ship's crew and they all played several times each day.
There were dances on deck usually for officers and
occasionally for enlisted men. Movies there were, too
three shows for the men and two for the officers every
day, with a daily change of program. A stage was rigged
up on the after well deck where the Liberty Players, from
the 306th F. A., put on two shows, and several vaudeville
performances were given in the mess halls. All of the
welfare organizations-Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Knights of
Columbus, American Library Association and Jewish Welfare
Board-had representatives on the ship, and they kept its
supplied with smokes, games, athletic supplies, books and
magazines.
There was some difficulty with the men's mess, for these
passenger steamships were never built to feed several
thousand troops three times a day, and the men of Battery
A, who had the thankless job of being kitchen police for
the entire voyage, found themselves faced with a good
many kicks. After a man had stood in line for an hour or
two, mess kit in hand, waiting for his turn, and then is
hustled past the servers as they dump the food on his
plate, only to find that he must climb up one steep
staircase and down another balancing his dinner as the
ship sways, and then cat standing up at a table that
swings from the ceiling on chains, he is in no mood to be
easily pleased with the food set before him.
But with only one day of anything approaching rough
weather, the men in general had a lazy and a happy enough
time, and they were going home!
No bugle calls were needed to wake us up on the morning
of the 29th, for we were due to reach New York before
noon ' and every one was on tiptoe to get the first sight
of "God's Country."
A beautiful April sun was shining as the men hung along
the rail straining their eyes toward the west. Presently
a vague shape was discernible on the horizon, and before
long Atlantic Highlands loomed into view. Then Sandy
Hook, and then Coney Island!
At Quarantine came the boats of the Mayor's Welcoming
Committee, laden to the gunwales with eager wives,
mothers, fathers and sweethearts. It was a wonderful
sight to see one group after another recognize their boy
on the deck and almost climb overboard in their eagerness
to reach out to him. All the way up through the harbor
they escorted us, waving and shouting, while bands played
and flags waved their welcome.
At last the good ship docked in Hoboken, where thousands
more of the relatives were crowded along the iron fence
which held them back from the pier. There was little
chance for visiting, however, for the regiment was soon
marched to another pier for lunch, and then onto a ferry
boat which took us around to Long Island City, where we
boarded a train for Camp Mills.
It was hard to wait for passes with New York so near, but
one more delousing (in the United States called by the
more polite name of " sanitation process") was
necessary before any one was allowed to leave camp. Then
what a rush there was for the city! And how the streets
and hostess houses about the entrance of the camp swarmed
with visitors seeking those men who did not happen to
have passes! It was a happy time, and the days passed
quickly until, on May 5th, the entire division was
brought to New York for the great parade of "New
York's Own."
There had been some objection on the part of the men to
having a parade, for they understood that it would
necessitate their staying a few days longer in the
service, and what they desired above all things now was
to get back into civil life. Put their folks wanted a
parade, the regimental and divisional Associations wanted
it, New York City wanted it, and deep down in their
hearts the soldiers wanted it. And why not? Never had the
whole 77th Division been seen in public, and now that the
troops had made for themselves a glorious record in the
war there was not a man whose pride in his organization
did not assert itself and demand public recognition. When
the 304th assembled at the 69th Regiment Armory on the
morning of May 6th and marched to Waverly Place to await
its turn to start up Fifth Avenue, even some who had not
been required to attend were present.
Promptly on the hour at ten o'clock, General Alexander
and .his staff rode through Washington Arch and started
up the Avenue. Instead of the usual open formation with
platoon front, the order called for a massing of the
troops. Four organizations abreast, each in column of
squads, filled the broad street from curb to curb as
regiment after regiment swung into line. The day was
clear and cool, the pace was brisk, and the men marched
with superb snap and swing. Sidewalks and grand stands
which extended along the entire route were filled with
proud relatives and friends who cheered lustily as the
regiments tramped by with bands playing, the colors
fluttering in the breeze and the artillery's guidons
gleaming, in the sun. At each intersecting street could
be seen eager throngs held back a block away by a cordon
of bluecoats. So well had the police done their work that
the way was absolutely clear. There was not a halt nor an
interruption of any kind as the division proceeded
through the great Victory Arch at Madison Square, under
the Arch of Jewels at Fifty-ninth Street, past the
reviewing stand, and straight up Fifth Avenue to One
Hundred and Sixteenth Street.
It was an inspiring finish to a splendid career. The 77th
Division, which had been the first of the National Army
divisions to be sent to France and the first to engage in
active work at the front, had made for itself a
reputation worth having. It had done the work given it to
do, and done it well. It had earned the praise of both
French and American corps and army commanders for its
achievements on the battlefield, no less than the
unqualified approval of the inspectors and transportation
officers through whose hands it passed on the way home.
New York had learned the worth of the 77th Division, and
New York opened her heart to these sons of hers on that
memorable 6th of May.
Sitting in his quarters in Camp Upton, whither the troops
were sent for demobilization after the parade, Colonel
Enos remarked, "I suppose the proudest moment of my
life was when I walked up Fifth Avenue at the head of the
304th Field Artillery." For Colonel Enos, who came
to us after the fighting was over, caught, in a measure
that few men could have equaled, the nature and spirit of
the organization which he commanded. Very unobtrusively
he had fitted into his place in the regiment, and almost
without our knowing it he had become in a very real sense
its leader. The men never knew him personally in the same
way that they had known Colonel Briggs, but all through
those weary months of waiting after the armistice was
signed, the quiet but intense interest, the absolute
squareness, the unfailing kindness of Colonel Enos made
itself felt throughout the regiment, and went far toward
keeping the morale up to its surprisingly high level. No
man was more frankly proud of the organization than he,
and, as he said to the assembled captains the day before
the regiment was disbanded, his one great regret will
always be that he was denied the privilege and the honor
of serving at the front, even for a day, with the 304th
F. A.
No one man or group of men can be said to be responsible
for the character of the regiment. Undoubtedly the
leadership of Colonel Briggs through the critical period
in which he was in command exerted a tremendous
influence; but the spirit which animated all the men from
the top down and from the bottom up was born of a common
experience in a great adventure. Potentially that spirit
was present in the early days at Camp Upton, but actually
its power was not felt until the members of the 304th
found themselves sharing danger and hardship together as
colaborers in a mighty task. Then, with few exceptions,
officers, non-commissioned officers and privates
discovered the secret of disregarding their own personal
interests and conveniences and working together in common
loyalty to a great cause.
Those who laid down their lives are but conspicuous
examples of the selfless devotion which characterized the
whole body of men. We honor them, not simply because of
the great sacrifice they gladly made, but because they
typify to us the spirit we all felt and saw day after day
in the men about us, a spirit which shall live on in the
soul of every loyal member of the regiment.
As a military organization the 304th F. A. ceased to
exist when, on May 10, 1919, in a downpour of rain, the
men marched to the Camp Upton quartermaster's to turn in
their blankets and draw their final pay. Then, in a riot
of joy at the final prospect of home, with scant farewell
they swarmed aboard the train, which was to take them
back to civil life. They left behind a splendid record of
noble achievement, and they carried with them a host of
memories, which cannot but enrich their lives in all the
years to come.