The American Citizen "Buck" Col. E. G. Peyton, Infantry A Colonel, a regular, who commanded him in training and in action describes herein the military growth, development and achievements of the citizen soldier, in which the latter fully merited the admiration, confidence, and affection of his officers.-EDITOR. FTER the signing of the Armistice, and soon after the demobilization of overseas' troops, there was a decided reaction against war,-against everything military. The soldier with a grievance stripped off his uniform and unburdened his soul, on the street corners and in the press, regarding the disagreeable and irksome laws that had been provided for his Government, while in the military service of his country. The democracy and freedom he had breathed and enjoyed all his life, had been denied him in the interest of control. In the Service, he was no longer a free agent. His mind and muscles were subject to control, and his efficiency as a soldier was measured largely by his acceptance of control. Charges involving brutality of officers and Prussianism of the military system have been made, investigations held, and testimony taken, but the officer has not been fully heard adequately expressing his high admiration and true affection for the real fighting man, The American Citizen "Buck." The greatest honor of my military career of twenty-four years service came to me, when, by War Department Orders it became my privilege and sacred duty to train for war and subsequently, to command in action an allotment of thirty-seven hundred and sixty American citizens from Western Pennsylvania, principally from the city of Pittsburgh and surrounding towns. These citizens reported to their appointed rendezvous at Camp Lee, with American flags on the lapels of their civilian coats, smiles on their faces, and cheers on their lips. An officer was designated to receive them and to talk to them, with a view to explaining their change of status from citizens to soldiers and to outline the scheme of training and instruction that had been prepared for them. Upon completion of their registration and organization into units, and even before military uniforms and clothing could be issued to them, their intensive training began. Briefly and to use a slang, but expressive terminology they figuratively "Ate it up," convincing every one that, with fighting men possessed of such spirit, properly trained and their efforts intelligently and rightly directed, American institutions would be safe and autocracy was doomed. From early in the training of these men until the Armistice, the instructional conferences with the officers, in addition to other matters, were uniformly expressive of this idea which, while stated in various ways, was in effect,-"Gentlemen, study, learn and practice the technique and tactics of the modern battlefield, so that you may command right and lead properly the most wonderful enlisted personnel that it was ever an officer's privilege to command." These citizen soldiers sailed for France, and to round out their battlefield training, they entered the line with the British Guards Division on the Arras front. The little strip of ground between hostile trenches commonly known as "No Man's Land" lost its terminology. It became the play ground of the 320th Infantry, who held possession of it, in spite of many disputes as to title. It was the 320th Infantry of American Citizen Soldiers that gave the British in this sector the first identification,—a live German prisoner, that they had had for months. This German prisoner on being questioned, stated among other things that the German high command knew that something unusual had taken place in this sector, and that it had ordered raids for every night, until a prisoner was captured and the unusual situation explained. On one occasion a German raiding party slipped through their "No Man's Land" and pounced upon a corporal and his squad of seven men. Taking the squad by surprise, they killed six men with hand grenades, and demanded the surrender of the two survivors. The corporal, though badly wounded, and the surviving private killed the leader of the raid, and drove the others back to their trenches carrying their wounded. The British were so impressed with this act of heroism that they wired British General Headquarters recommending the corporal and the private for a British decoration and orders promptly followed announcing the award. This was by no means a quiet sector; harassing fire by weapons of all descriptions and calibers, with casualties resulting therefrom, were of daily occurrence. During one of these harassing fires by German trench mortars, a sergeant in charge of his section took a position on a firing bay of the trench, where he could see these big wabbly projectiles coming through the air, and best give directions to his men how to avoid them. Disregarding the enemy snipers, he was indicating with his arms and calling out "Move along to the right, a little more to the right now, DOWN!" The Battalion surgeon heard the explosions, and on arrival at this part of the trench to look after casualties, asked the sergeant what he was doing up there. The latter replied "I am a traffic policeman, and I don't propose to have a traffic jam in this sector." Cheerful, wonderful, steady, making light of the most serious situations were characteristics of the men of this regiment. on When their tour of duty in the trenches was completed, the men came cut under the cover of darkness to avoid enemy observation and fire. They were to assemble at "Shrapnel Corner" preparatory to returning to their billets on flat cars over a little 60 centimeter railroad. At 12 o'clock this particular rainy disagreeable night, I at the rendezvous with two British Staff Officers, superintending the assembly of my units, and awaiting the making up of the little train. When the assembly had been completed and the train made ready the officer in charge called out of the darkness, "Get aboard! thirtytwo men per car." Promptly they climbed aboard, and had soon adjusted themselves, thirty-two men per car and as the train pulled out, they all began singing, "Hail! Hail! the gang's all here, what to .... do we care, etc." The normally stoical and undemonstrative British Staff Major exclaimed, "My God, I wish Hindenburg could see that." I asked him later what it was that occasioned his remark. He said in effect that the spirit, initiative, freshness and enthusiasm of the American citizen soldiers are truly wonderful and really if Hindenburg realized what the Americans had in store for him he would call this war off. The commandant of a British Corps School of bayonet fighting, to which some men of the regiment had been sent, told me that one American Division was equal to four British Divisions. He pointed, how, on account of our superior equipment and strength in machine guns, automatic rifles, and rifles, three British divisions were actually required to equal one of ours, but on account of the freshness, vigor, initiative, and high morale of our soldiers, it required, in his opinion, a fourth British division to really equal one American Division. The high command of the British Guards was so impressed with the steadfastness, spirit and efficiency of the American Citizen soldiers that it gave the 320th Infantry complete charge of a sector in the line, relieving for rest and training a brigade of British troops. This honor, however, was of short duration; in fact before the regiment had settled itself down completely to guard the sector, orders came for the 80th Division to report for duty in the American theatre of operations. We will not attempt to describe in detail the movement thereto nor the marchings therein to take part in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive that started on September 26, 1918, except to mention that the regiment was temporarily diverted from this mission by a dash into the St. Mihiel salient and out again. This enterprise, called by the soldiers the "Battle of the Packs" is of interest in that the regiment without its transportation made a day's march in and a day's march out of the St. Mihiel salient, displaying throughcut a march persistency, spirit and march discipline that was truly remarkable. The march towards the Meuse-Argonne was resumed. Marching by night and hiding by day to pounce upon the Germans unawares, the regiment reached the Bois de Bourrus on the night of September 24. On the afternoon of September 25, orders were given for the assault to be delivered at 5:30 a. m. on the next morning. Training had ceased, the grim realties of actual battle responsibility were now at hand. Coordination of effort that brings about the superiority in the use of weapons which insures success was to have its first battlefield application. The orders of the attack were received with as much interest and enthusiasm as the seriousness of the situation would permit. Groups from the corporal and his squad, to the colonel and his staff held conferences discussing and planning their team play on the morrow. Just before the men were forming to move under cover of night to their assault positions several miles to the front, the Germans started to shell the woods. A first Sergeant was conducting a conference with all the sergeants and corporals of his company when a big German shell struck in their midst, killing or wounding all. Another shell During this march, lightning flashes as far as eye could see indicated that hundreds of our big guns in rear were hurling their destructive missiles far back into the German territory. Gun answered gun, heavy shells roared through the air like trains on tressles sustained by clouds. Two hours before the hour set for the assault, bedlam broke loose again, when thousands of lighter guns poured their iron charges upon the German's line, destroying his wire, weakening his trenches, driving his men to shelter and preparing the way for the American doughboy to take him in hand with rifle and bayonet. The break of day was approaching and with it the jump-off hour. Light was not needed, however, to convince the officers and men of the assault echelons that "hell" itself had broken out of the infernal regions, and its liberated demons were rushing, howling, spattering through the air on wings of fire. The earth itself here and there thrust upwards in apparent effort to join the tempest overhead. The hour to go "over the top" arrived. The rolling barrage, that pillow of flame and fire brought forward from Moses' march from Egypt, moved out leading this devoted band on their determined pilgrimage to victory or death. The advance was steady and rapid until the rolling barrage had reached the enemy's main entrenched. position. Here at 9:30 it remained stationary until the assaulting troops reformed for their further advance against enemy successive positions. At the time stated in published orders, the barrage lifted, and into the smoky, sulphurous gaseous fog, this splendid band of American citizens sprang forward as tragedy itself leaps forth upon the stage. The sun now glared with bloodshot eye. On the crest, the entire line paused 10 pour their small arms fire upon the German line, while auxiliary weapons were brought up to destroy his machine gun nests. Under cover of this fire groups of men rushed to resume fire from closer and more advantageous positions, others crawled under the impenetrable bands of machine gun fire and reformed for further progress. In this manner the advance continued down the slope, across the ravine, then again right up to the cnemy obstacles and trenches, charged with death in every form that lead, iron, steel and gas could be wrought by the destructive genius of man. After desperate fighting these German trenches were taken and the surviving garrison sent as prisoners to the rear. Intervening between this and the final objective were other German lines more strongly held. After a brief pause for a resupply of ammunition, the advance continued in the same manner throughout the day, the night and the next day until the final objective,-The Meuse, was reached. Having accomplished its mission the regiment was withdrawn to a ravine near the village of Cuisy for a short rest that was continuously disturbed and broken by enemy air raids and long range shells. Even divine ser vice conducted by the regimental chaplain was fired upon by enemy planes flying low overhead. The division, having so splendidly demonstrated its fighting value in September by this most successful operation of running over the enemy for a gain of about nine miles and a half in two days, was called on again for service. in the early part of October. No concerted or general attack was ordered or contemplated, but in straightening out irregularities in the line, the regiment was was continuously engaged in some of the fiercest and bitterest fighting of the whole war. It was a narrow front considerably strengthened. The American thrusts here were against the hinges of the door that sealed the fate of autocracy. The Germans realized that they could not give ground and fought like demons. In those terrible days of conflict with gas, bullet, bomb and bayonet, the regiment endured conditions calculated to appall the strongest hearts. The men fought silently but grimly, doggedly and fiercely. On October 12, the regiment was relieved and sent well to the rear for a much needed rest, and for replacement of men and equipment. No sooner had the new men become acquainted with and absorbed the spirit of the veterans of the months of terrific fighting, than the division received its orders to return to the front for participation in the Novemberthe last-drive. To describe this operation would merely mean a repetition of the battlefield scenes already pictured in glittering generalities. It is sufficient to say that the German door was battered from its hinges, and the avenue of approach to victory thrown wide open. After the Armistice this little band of citizen soldiers, having taken every objective assigned them and accomplished every mission given them during September, October and November fighting, were relieved from duty at the front, and turned their backs on Berlin to begin a march to billets some hundred miles to the south. At the first assembly, in uniforms tattered and torn through encounters with German wire and obstacles, I was thrilled with pride over their achievements, looked into their mudstained, smiling faces and unburdened my soul of all the admiration, adoration and affection I felt for these men, saddened, however, by the vacancies in the ranks, due to those who had made the supreme sacrifice. The expressions of praise contained herein are by no means the result of an after thought, nor the isolated opinion of an individual. The teachings of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga., give expression to similar facts. Regarding the emergency officer this paragraph appears in a lecture to student officers: "Somewhere on the statute books, the War Department found an old law, which gave it ample authority for the establishment of training camps for the hundreds of thousands of additional officers that would be needed for the emergency. These camps were promptly filled with the very highest type of American citizen and patroit, furnishing splendid officer material." Regarding the enlisted man the following appears in the same Infantry School lecture: "Before discussing the non-commissioned officer and his problem of getting proper control over his unit, I want to devote a few paragraphs to the American Citizen 'Buck.' In spite |