WAYS AND MEANS

Soon after the men of the 71st began to return home the problem came up as to who should write a history of the 71st in the World War and how it could be done. The history of the Regiment from its beginning in 1850 up to the beginning of the World War had been written. For sixty-eight years its activities had been chronicled. To many it seemed impossible to write a World War history of the 71st as it had been completely wiped out by the transferring of all of its men to other organizations. The problem was further made difficult by the fact that the old regiment when it left the armory in 1917 took with it its official records for the previous year or two and these with the records up to the time of the breaking up at Camp Wadsworth had been sent to Washington and were not available.

To write the history of the 71st Regiment in the World War might be compared to writing a family genealogy by tracing its records through the female members who had married and changed their names. The men of the 71st had been wedded to the 105th Infantry, the 165th Infantry, the 106th Field Artillery, the 106th Infantry, the 102nd Engineers, the 54th Pioneer Infantry and many other organizations, and the history of the 71st Regiment in the World War is embodied in the history of the various organizations with which they served. As will be seen from documents quoted hereafter, about 1400 of the old 71st were transferred to the 105th Infantry, of the 53rd Brigade, of the 27th Division. This story will therefore naturally be, to a large degree, the doings of 71st men in the 105th Infantry. It would obviously be impossible to follow through the itineraries of the 165th Infantry, the 54th Pioneer Infantry, the 106th Field Artillery and the other organizations to which 71st men were transferred in one volume. The reader is referred to "The Story of the 27th Division," by General John F. O'Ryan; to "The Pictorial Record of the 27th Division," compiled by Alexander Starlight; to "The Short History & Illustrated Roster of the 105th Infantry," published by Edward Stern &

Co., Philadelphia, 1918; to "The History and Roster of the 54th Pioneer Infantry," published by that organization at Coblenz, Germany, 1918; to "The Story of the Rainbow Division," by Raymond S. Tompkins; to "The History of the A. E. F.," by Captain Shipley Thomas; to "Father Duffy's Story" and to "The History of the 106th Regiment Field Artillery." In addition to these references no doubt many other books have been published or will be published covering service and battles in which the men of the 71st Infantry participated.

After the transfer of all of the members of the 71st Regiment at Spartanburg, S. C., the name "71st Infantry" of course fails. to appear in the records or in the war histories. How to get the story of the 71st men in these various organizations was a subject of much thought and discussion. The history of the 105th or the 54th Pioneers or the 165th could be given, but more than this was wanted; i.e., to show where the 71st Regiment as such came in. Efforts had been made, in rather a weak way, ever since the armistice, to get a line on the official records of 71st men, of which there were over 2800 in the United States Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Well informed officers advised that these records could not be obtained for a long time to come. The War Department was willing but pleaded lack of funds and clerical forces. It acknowledged that the records were in Washington, but said that almost every State in the Union had asked for the official records of its men and that the job of furnishing copies of several millions of cards could not be done without seriously interfering with the other work of the department. The possibility of getting anything like a fairly complete set of individual record cards seemed hopeless for a while, but after weeks of searching, involving trips to Washington and elsewhere, arrangements were made to obtain copies of these record cards and such record cards are now in the possession of the regiment and abstracts from them are published in this volume. The names of men who enlisted in the 71st Infantry, New York Guard, but were transferred to the United States Army and Navy are rightfully included in this list. There will also appear names of men who were transferred one way or another from the 71st to the United States Army or Navy, but for whom no official cards can be found.

AFTER THE RETURN FROM THE BORDER-UP-STATE SERVICE

The 71st had returned from the Texas border and was mustered out of the United States service October 6, 1916. It had reached a maximum strength in Texas of over 1600 men; a good sized organization in those days. Conditions in Europe and upon the high-seas indicated trouble to come for the United States, and when the regiment returned to its armory in New York, drills were at once started and the men kept in service condition.

Relations with Germany had been strained for some months and it was no surprise when on March 25, 1917, the President of the United States made his first call for National Guard troops, that the 71st was the first Manhattan regiment to be called. The railroads connecting the great port of New York with the other portions of the country had become vital to the war. Shipments of provisions and munitions of war for Europe to a large degree passed through New York and the railroads carrying such supplies in New York State had become prominent as points of possible attack on the part of German agents when the United States entered the conflict. The commanding officer of the 71st Regiment received orders that the regiment would guard and protect railroad property in the First New York District; bounded on the south by New Jersey and Pennsylvania, on the west by Pennsylvania and Lake Erie, and on the north by an east and west line running through Albany and Buffalo, excluding the cities of New York, Albany and Buffalo. Later this territory was decided to be too big for even the 71st to care for and it was reduced in area.

At this period it had been decided that military movements in the United States were of such importance that every effort should be made to conceal them from German agents, and when the 71st left for its up-state duty its destination was not given to the Press nor to the general public, and all through this