Commemorating the First World War Centennial in Kansas
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One hundred years ago on August 12th the 42nd ‘Rainbow’ Division was formed at Camp Mills, near Garden City, NY. You can read more about the Rainbow Division and its Kansas connection here.
Heavily involved in WW2, the 42nd saw no combat service between 1947 and 2001. Today it is made up of National Guardsmen from New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
After the US declared war on the Central Powers on April, 6th, 1917, the War Department faced a herculean task in building and organizing the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) as a military unit suitable for the type and scale of Western Front warfare.
At the time, the regular US Army numbered about 133,000 soldiers plus there were still about 65,000 National Guardsmen on federal duty under the 1916 National Defense Act. The remainder of the Guard numbered about 117,000, some of these not fit for combat service. Nevertheless, in May Congress enacted authorization to federalize the entire Guard, although this wasn’t achieved immediately due to a lack of everything: training space, gear, weapons and men.
The 60th installment seems like a good place to end the annals, as World War I events became fewer and fewer as 1919 wore on.
It also seems like a good idea to release this now, in case it might help anyone who may be interested in the aftermath of the war. We hope you enjoyed these glimpses of Kansas during the war years.
One hundred years ago in Kansas…
November 11, 1918
Approximately 83,000 Kansans served in the war, including those in the Army, Navy, and Marines, and in the armies of Great Britain, France and Canada. Many enlisted in the early years of the war, and several distinguished themselves in foreign service. Kansas had little trouble filling her quotas. The bulk of the men were in the Thirty-fifth, Eighty-ninth, and Forty-second Divisions. The Thirty-fifth was a Kansas-Missouri organization composed of National Guard units. It was trained at Camp Doniphan, Okla., and took part in the Battles of St. Mihiel and the Argonne. The Eighty-ninth was organized and trained at Camp Funston by Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood and also participated in the St. Mihiel and Argonne battles. The 117th Ammunition Train, sometimes called the Kansas Ammunition Train, was part of the Forty-second, known as the Rainbow Division. Ten thousand Kansans served in the Navy, and Kansas was the first state to fill its quota in that branch. One of the largest military camps was established at Camp Funston near Fort Riley. It had a training capacity of 70,000 men. Among the outstanding generals in the A.E.F. were Brig. Gen. Harry Smith, Atchison; Brig. Gen. Wilder S. Metcalf, Lawrence, and Maj. Gen. James G. Harbord, Manhattan, who was chief of staff to General Pershing.
Two Kansans, George S. Robb, Salina, and Erwin R. Bleckley, Wichita, received the Congressional (sic) Medal of Honor, Bleckley’s being posthumously awarded. The number of Kansans killed or wounded was about 2,680.
John Hunter Wickersham (he was called Hunter by his family and friends) was born in New York City on Feb. 3rd, 1890. He grew up in Denver, Colorado and is recognized today on the Colorado WW1 centennial webpage. But perhaps we can claim him as an honorary Kansan as well? Here’s why.
Wickersham attended the first Officer’s Training Camp held at Ft. Riley, Kansas in the summer of 1917. After his commissioning he was sent to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 353rd ‘All Kansas’ Infantry Regiment, 89th ‘Rolling W’ Division, which was being formed a short distance away at Camp Funston, Kansas.
After their arrival in France in June, 1918 hundreds of men from the 353rd were transferred to replace the losses of other units, but shortly before the St. Mihiel Offensive they gained replacements from the 86th Division, mostly draftees from Iowa and Nebraska. At the Armistice the 353rd was still 60% Kansans.
2nd Lieut. Wickersham is particularly remembered for two things. First, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on Sept. 12th, 1918, at the start of the St. Mihiel Offensive. The 353rd had little prior combat experience, having only been exposed to desultory shelling during a brief stint at Saint-Blin on the Vosges Front in August, but they were placed in IV Corps along with the battle-tested 1st and 42nd ‘Rainbow’ Divisions. They were in the van of the attack on the southern side of the salient, under German artillery fire directed by observers on Mont Sec.
Wickersham’s Citation reads:
‘Advancing with his platoon during the St. Mihiel offensive he was severely wounded in four places by the bursting of a high-explosive shell. Before receiving any aid for himself he dressed the wounds of his orderly, who was wounded at the same time. He then ordered and accompanied the further advance of his platoon, although weakened by the loss of blood. His right hand and arm being disabled by wounds, he continued to fire his revolver with his left hand until, exhausted by loss of blood, he fell and died from his wounds before aid could be administered.’
The 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division was formed on July 18th, 1917, under the command of Maj. Gen. C.R. Edwards. The component units were selected from the National Guards of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Due to the proximity of these units to the port of Boston, and the political necessity of getting troops ‘over there’ expeditiously, the 26th was the first National Guard unit to embark for France, arriving on Sept. 21st, 1917, more than a month before the 42nd Division. As a result of this hasty departure, the division needed months of training, which was conducted by the French.
In January 1918 the 26th, along with the 1st, 2nd and 42nd, was constituted as I Corps and shortly thereafter they began front-line service in ‘quiet’ sectors in relief of French units. The 26th was moved into the line between Aprémont and the Bois de Jury in the St. Mihiel Salient sector on April 3rd.
The Germans had been watching the insertion of American units with interest, and their headquarters decided to stage a battalion-sized trench raid to test the fighting ability of these green Americans who had been trained by the French. The burning questions were: would they stand and fight, and if so, how well?
The fortified ruin of the small village of Seicheprey (it’s still small, the population is 81) was selected as the target, a piece of the line held by elements of the US 102nd Infantry regiment, mostly men from the Connecticut National Guard. The Germans delivered a 36 hour box barrage, including the heavy use of gas, and on April 20th a battalion of stoßtruppen infiltrated the gaps in the defenses. The line was breached in places but the defenders rallied and the attackers then withdrew as was their tactical directive. The 102nd lost 80 killed, 424 wounded and 130 prisoners; two rifle companies and a machine gun company were rendered hors de combat. The regiment’s mascot, the famous dog called ‘Sgt. Stubby’, was injured by grenade shrapnel, but recovered. The Germans lost about 150 or ¼ of their assaulting force, so one of the scarce, elite stoßtruppen battalions was sidelined as well.
To the American command, this action was a victory. Their troops had, to use modern football parlance, bent but didn’t break. The experience was a successful employment of the strategy known as ‘Defense in Depth’, a significant achievement for an unseasoned unit.
From the German perspective the attack wasn’t successful, as the Americans had fought tenaciously, withstanding a box barrage, heavy gas, flamethrowers, infiltration and hand-to-hand combat. Not wanting to admit that the experiment was unsuccessful, the Germans instead made a great show of the number of Americans taken prisoner.
Here’s an informative article from the New England Historical Society.
The 26th then went on to serve under French command in the Aisne-Marne Offensives, in a supporting but important role guarding the eastern flank, a task that Pershing didn’t like to entrust to the French.
At St. Mihiel in September, the 26th played a critical role, linking up with the Big Red One (1st Division) to complete the encirclement of the salient on Day 3. After a brief respite for reinforcement they participated in the last phase of the Meuse Argonne Offensive, ending their war near Ville dévant-Chaumont, once again holding Pershing’s eastern flank.
Unique amongst all of the US memorials on the Western Front is the 26th Division Church in the village of Belleau, not far from the wood of the same name. The village was captured by the 26th on July 18th, 1918, during the Aisne-Marne Offensives, several weeks after the Marines had secured Belleau Wood. The current structure was reconstructed in the 1920’s with funds donated by the 26th Division’s veterans and their friends and functions both as the local parish church and a war memorial. The Massachusetts National Guard Association has continued to be a supporter of the church, having recently raised donations totaling €40,000 for roof repairs.
March 30, 1918
The exhibit was available this past weekend at the Muted Voices conference at the National World War I Museum and Memorial. After a short stay at the Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City, it will be back at the Kauffman Museum from October 31 until January 21, 2018. It is well worth a look.
For more information, including booking information, see the link: https://kauffman.bethelks.edu/Traveling%20Exhibits/Voices-of-Conscience/index.html
August 27, 1917
The Annals are an almost daily account of life in the State of Kansas. Most entries are only a sentence or two and deal with organizations meeting somewhere within the state, special events, crimes, and more. For the World War I years, they provide snippets of life on the home front.
The following was compiled by Kansas WWI Committee Member and Kansas State Historical Society Museum Curator, Blair Tarr.
February 19, 1917
February 24, 1917
March 10, 1917
March 14, 1917
When the Legislature adjourned four days later, this is what they had accomplished:
March 27, 1917
March 28, 1917
March 31, 1917
April 2, 1917
April 3, 1917
April 5, 1917
April 6, 1917
April 7, 1917
April 9, 1917
April 11, 1917
April 12, 1917
April 13, 1917
April 16, 1917
April 17, 1917
April 18, 1917
April 19, 1917
April 20, 1917
April 23, 1917
April 25, 1917
April 26, 1917
May 1, 1917
May 12, 1917
May 15, 1917
May 19, 1917
May 21, 1917
May 22, 1917
May 25, 1917
May 27, 1917
May 31, 1917
June 4, 1917
June 5, 1917
June 6, 1917
June 8, 1917
June 12, 1917
June 14, 1917
The Military Sisterhood of Kansas was chartered. Its purpose was to aid families of service men and to send the men articles not considered necessities by the government. (Note: Papers of the organization can be found in the Archives of the Kansas Historical Society [ http://www.kshs.org/archives/40619 ] and some letters and papers can be found at the National World War I Museum and Memorial [
http://theworldwar.pastperfectonline.com/bysearchterm?keyword=National+Military+Sisterhood+of+America
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